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

to California to visit Francesca, instead of the original plan of her coming here to visit me.

In the time that had passed since the suicide of Karlyn Wells, Francesca mustered up the courage to go forward with holding Dominick Cavlan responsible for what he had done all those years ago. Her sadness over another person’s life being taken because of his actions turned to anger, and she was ready to go after him with a vengeance. She had spoken with an attorney who had advised her on what steps needed to be taken. He then put her in touch with a reputable reporter from one of the major news channels, who had set up an exclusive interview with her to drop the bomb. When she had asked me to come there to support her during the long weekend I had off from school, I couldn’t refuse. I was a little sad that she wouldn’t be meeting Kara or my father as planned, but at the same time I was elated that she was taking this courageous step.

“Yeah, I’m pretty excited.” I smiled.

“Girl, you are going to love it! Maybe you’ll meet a rich, handsome movie producer and have a long-distance love affair,” she teased. I shook my head and laughed off her silly fantasy. What I failed to mention to my very best friend of forty-plus years was the weird kind of liaison I had with my ex-husband. I wasn’t quite sure how to classify what Jack and I had together. I just knew in the month and a half that had passed, we had been spending a lot of time with one another. We’d gone to dinner, the movies, and he was spending more overnights with me than in his own house. At first it seemed odd, as if we were dating all over again, but through the peculiarity, there was also a normality. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” she shouted.

“No. Not really.”

“Oh yes, there is! You’re seeing someone, aren’t you? Who is it? That guy from work?”

It took me a quick second to figure out who she was referring to. Once I did, I shuddered at the mere thought. “Michael? Oh, God, no!”

“Then who?” She widened her eyes.

I sucked in a deep breath, prepping for what was to come once I answered that question. “Okay, you have to promise that when I tell you, you’re not going to get all judgmental.”

“Promise.” She held up her hand.

“Well…it kind of just happened, and I really don’t know what we’re even doing.”

“Spit it out, Steph. Who is he?”

“Jack,” I mumbled under my breath.

I wasn’t quite sure if she heard me or not because she was mute, staring into space as if she had just found out she was pregnant or something. “And does Jack have a last name?”

“Very funny, Julie. You know his last name.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.” Her tone was a mixture of sadness and disgust.

“Just don’t, okay. I’m a grown woman, and I don’t need a lecture.”

“Okay, I promise no lecture, but can I just tell you my opinion as your friend?” Somehow I knew her opinion would end up being a lecture, but I nodded and let her continue. “He hurt you really bad with what he did. I’m allowed to say this because I was the one who was there to help you pick up the pieces of your heart afterward.”

“No. We both hurt each other, Julie. I wasn’t exactly a pleasure to live with after…after we lost the baby.”

“Yes, but you didn’t cheat on him.” She was painfully blunt. “I’m sorry, Steph. Once a cheater, always a cheater. You’re going to let him back into your life, and it’s more than likely going to happen all over again. Despite how I feel about him, he’s charming, and he has this unusual knack of actually getting cuter with age. Women eat that up, and it’s only a matter of time before the next one comes along.”

I didn’t believe that about Jack. Yes, he messed up and was unfaithful, but I truly believed he regretted it. Unlike Julie’s ex, who rubbed it in her face, which was the reason for her strong stance on cheaters. “I don’t think that’s true. He’s different. We’re different now.”

“No. You’re not different. You’re just comfortable with him. There’s a difference.” She raised her eyebrow, gazing at me like a mother speaking to a lovesick teenager. “It’s easier for you to be with him because you have a history, you have a daughter together, and for some unknown reason…you feel guilty because your marriage ended.”

“That’s not true at all!” I interjected. “Of course there’s a comfort level with him. I’ve known him for over half my life. And yes, the love we have for Kara is a common love, and I’ll always care about Jack because he is her father…no matter what happened in the past.”

“Umm, I have a child with my ex too, but unlike you, I couldn’t care less if he got run over by a bus.”

“Well, Jack didn’t try to stick it to me with our divorce and then start another family before the ink on the divorce papers was even dry.” I realized I was being a bit harsh, but so was she. What right did she have to sit there and analyze my relationship with Jack? Yes, she was there for me when Jack and I separated, but I did the same for her. I even went a few steps further by saving her from getting herself arrested when she was ready to take her frustrations out on her ex-husband’s car.

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot; Jack can be more easily forgiven because he continued to pay for the house you live in to alleviate his own guilt over what he did. What can I say? We all can’t be kept women.” My jaw dropped. She’d gone from being blunt to just plain old hurtful.

“I can’t believe you just—”

“Sorry we’re late. Traffic was a nightmare,”