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

Guy Antonaci had been sentenced to thirty years for human trafficking and attempted murder on a federal agent, among a slew of many other charges. Jack was there front and center on the day the guilty verdict was read and also for his sentencing, obtaining the same sense of closure I had gotten that day in the hospital.

Francesca and I were as close as mother and daughter could be. We’d FaceTime every chance we could get. She’d come out and visit when she could, and Jack and I had even payed her a visit over the summer. She had gotten to know my father through her visits, and they had actually become good friends, bonding over their mutual love of me and wine. She was still trying to convince him to come to California to visit and experience the wineries in the Napa Valley.

As expected, more women began to speak out against Dominick Cavlan. He was still adamantly denying any allegations, but it was definitely being investigated. I was certain it was only a matter of time before charges were brought out against him. These women had all found their voice, thanks in part to Francesca sharing her story.

Kara had graduated from college in the spring and was fortunate to land a first-grade teaching position at a nearby school district. Jack had definitely softened toward Ian in the months that passed. He too came to realize Ian was a great guy, even though he never came out and said it. He and Kara were inseparable, and it didn’t come as any shock when Ian approached Jack and me a few nights prior, requesting permission to ask Kara to marry him. He had planned on popping the question on the day of their first anniversary. More like the day he first spoke to her after she had led him through a wild goose chase in the woods when he was assigned to watching her. I was beyond excited for the two of them and had to be super mindful whenever I was around her to not slip on the surprise.

I looked up at the bright autumn sky as the cool wind whipped down the beach. Such a stark difference from that stormy day one year ago. So much like the change that had occurred in my own life.

“Are you ready?” Jack asked.

I nodded, reaching into my coat pocket and gripping the letter I had written. I was fully aware it would never be seen by the person it was intended for. Instead, it was written for myself as a means of expressing the words I never got the chance to say.

Jack stood up first, reaching out his arm to me and hoisting me up from the sand. We trekked down to the water, observing the waves crash upon the shoreline in a thunderous boom. I thought back to that day as I watched the man who was my biological father step into these same unforgiving waters. Back then he was just a stranger. Some unfortunate soul who found it easier to face Mother’s Nature’s wrath than the trials and tribulations of life.

“We have so much to thank him for,” I said to Jack. “If it wasn’t for him, you and I would’ve probably still been in the same place we were a year ago. Kara would’ve never met Ian, and I wouldn’t know the wonderful woman who gave birth to me.”

“That’s so true,” Jack said, wrapping his arm around me. “It’s weird how one small action can create such a chain reaction. I’m sad it had to happen this way, but I’m happy so much good came out of it.”

“Me too.” I squinted up at him, standing on my tippy-toes and placing a peck on his cheek.

I pulled the letter from my pocket and took a few steps closer to the ocean, stopping just where the waves washed up on the sand. Bending down, I placed the piece of paper in the water, watching it spin around in the current until a bigger wave crashed up on the shore, pulling back and taking the letter with it. My hand clenched to the gold locket hanging around my neck, the same one that was found in the sand one year ago. As I ran my fingers over the name etched onto it, I thought about the baby it was intended for. A baby whose mother spent most of her life yearning for a piece of her heart that had been taken away and whose father redeemed himself at the end of his life by getting it back for her.

My life and the lives of those I loved had changed so much in that past year, and it all had to do with one man. A man I never met, but who had shaped my future in ways he could’ve never imagined. He had reunited me with my birth mother. He had led my daughter to the love of her life and helped me find my way back to mine. I would be forever grateful to that stranger in the ocean and the woman who so bravely gave birth to a baby she knew she’d have to give away. I was honored to be part of their bittersweet love story, and so happy they could be part of mine.

The End

Author’s Note

I hope you enjoyed the story! Whether it’s your first book by me or if you’ve read them all, I appreciate you taking time from your busy life to get to know my characters. This book was a little different than my usual. When I first started writing, most of my characters were always in their mid 20’s just starting out adult life. As the years progressed, I found myself wanting to write my main characters a little older, so I started making them in their 30’s. This is the first time I’ve written my main characters in their 40’s (actually closer