Her Name Was Annie by Beth Rinyu (the little red hen read aloud txt) 📕

would want me to open it immediately, and I wasn’t ready for that just yet.

“Okay, so I think she needs to inform the police department handling the drowning and let them know the circumstances, so they could close out the case.”

“The locket,” I whispered. It suddenly dawned on me that the locket Francesca had carried around with her all this time, the one that was meant for me, was being held as evidence. That was another tidbit I failed to mention to Jack.

“What?” Jack inquired.

“The locket that was found on the beach. Francesca bought that when she was pregnant with me. She had named me Annie. When she found it at a flea market, she thought it was fate.” I smiled into the phone. “She carried it around with her for good luck, then gave it to him for luck in finding me. I guess it worked.”

“Oh,” he muttered, not seeming to care about the sentiment behind it. “Well, they’ll more than likely return it once they close everything out. That’s why she has to let them know.” I hated when he got like this—all textbook FBI agent. Even when we were married, he’d slip into that mode, finding it difficult to switch back to who he was at home.

“Yeah, well, I’ll let her know that. I’m sorry to have bothered you. I just wanted to let you know what was happening right away since you’ve invested a lot of your time into this.”

“I appreciate that, and I really didn’t mind at all.” A small hint of Jack the human being was coming through the phone as his voice softened. As glad as I was to have the mystery finally solved, I was also a little saddened as well. Jack and I had gotten closer because of this. We were able to talk and rediscover one another again. I was hoping we wouldn’t lose sight of that and go back to our old ways just because this was over. Yes, we had also slept together because of this, but we were both adults who could manage to put that behind us.

“What about the rape?” His voice changed back into interrogation mode.

“What about it?”

“His brother raped her. He’s been accused again of rape, and is a strong contender for President of the United States. She could really provide some damning evidence against him.”

“Well, that has nothing to do with me. That’s something she needs to want to do, and something no one could force her into.”

“Maybe you should try and give her a push to do it.”

Was he for real? Had he not heard any of the heartfelt story I had just spewed to him over the past twenty minutes and how Francesca was affected by it all? What in the world would make him think she’d want to put herself through the wringer forty-eight years later by reliving it?

“I’m not going to push anyone into revisiting something like that if they don’t want to.”

“Steph, a woman has claimed to have been raped by this man, and he’s trying to make her out to be a liar. Maybe if your moth—” He stopped himself short of calling her my mother. “If she came forward, it might help this woman’s case.”

“Yes, I’m well aware of this woman that he more than likely did rape. I feel horrible for her, but that doesn’t mean someone else needs to open old wounds that took so long to heal either.”

“This woman was the same age as Kara when he did that to her.”

“Jack, don’t you dare coerce me into trying to convince her to do this by making it personal,” I shouted. “And Francesca was only seventeen when he did it to her…who was there to help her?” I added. “Look, I’m not going to get in an argument with you over this. I gave you the information I needed to give you, now I have to get going. It’s been an emotional day.”

We said our goodbyes, hanging up the phone like we had so many times before this whole thing began—distant, irritated, and isolated.

“Well, I guess that was nice while it lasted,” I whispered to Max as he stared up at me, and I patted him on the head. I was amazed by how quickly Jack and I could go from hot to cold.

“Mom!” Kara called from the front door, preventing me from having any more discouraging thoughts about Jack and me.

“I’m in here!” I shouted.

She rushed into the kitchen and placed the bags she was struggling with on the counter, giving her overburdened arms a rest. “Well…how’d it go?” Her blue eyes widened as she unzipped her coat and removed her gloves.

“It was actually…very nice.” I smiled. “I know you want to know everything, and I plan on telling you it all, but I could really use a nap right now.”

“Okay.” She flashed me a sympathetic smile.

I stood up and brushed the side of her cheek with my lips. “I was actually thinking about inviting Pop over for dinner, so I can tell him everything that’s been going on.”

“Oh, that would be great. I’m cooking!” She motioned to the bags she had placed on the counter.

“Wow! Are you feeling okay?” I teased.

“I just know you’ve had a lot going on, so I wanted to do something special for you.”

“Thanks, Kara.” I leaned down and kissed her again.

“I’ll call Pop and invite him over. I’ll pick him up if he wants. I know he doesn’t really like driving in the dark anymore.”

“That would be wonderful.” I meant it when I had told Francesca I was truly blessed to have Kara. She was the most important person in my life, and I had been thankful every day since that accident, that I was spared from losing her as well.

I went upstairs and changed into my sweats. Lying down, I pulled the throw at the bottom of my bed over me and closed my eyes. The scent of Jack’s familiar cologne still lingered on the pillow