Thank you all! I hope you continue to enjoy this story.
Chapter 14
Four Years Ago (The Day it All Fell Apart)
Anna hung up the phone call from her parents and she placed it on the kitchen counter. As she turned, she saw that John was standing in the archway between the kitchen and the living room. His hand was against the wall and his lips were drawn into an apologetic frown. Anna swallowed hard and crossed her arms firmly across her chest.
"I'm sorry," he started. "I shouldn't have yelled."
"It's fine," Anna bit. She didn't want to talk to him right now. Turning back away from him, she began to busy herself by cleaning the sink. There were no dishes in it and it was actually already clean, but she cleaned it again. She needed to do something to keep from exploding.
This…whatever they were now, was a disaster. They were merely roommates who screamed, yelled, and cried. Anna didn't even know how to feel anything else anymore. A soft sob escaped her lips and she grew angrier. She didn't want to cry, but it's all she seemed to do. Her everything was gone.
She could feel John stepping up behind her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she tensed.
"We shouldn't argue, not today," he murmured. Anna ignored him and continued to scrub at the steel. She felt as John's hand came down her arm and rested above her hand to keep her from scrubbing. "Anna, my darling…"
"Don't," she warned. "Don't call me that."
"Anna," he tried to appeal to her again. Anna dropped the sponge in the sink and turned so fast that she nearly made John lose his balance. Her eyes narrowed in on him and she tightened her jaw.
"It was your fault," she growled. She watched as the blood drained from John's face and he took a step backwards, his head shaking. Deep down, she knew she was hurting him, but she didn't care. This was who she was now. A shell of a being. When she lost Emmy, she lost herself. The Anna who knew how to love and love deeply, was gone.
"What…" John breathed, his breath hitching in his throat. "You don't mean that. It was…it was…"
"You were with her, looking at the pumpkins. I turned for a minute and then you turned. Your eyes were supposed to be on her! Yours!" Anna screamed. She heard the front door open, but she ignored it, not caring and forgetting that Mary said she was coming over. "You allowed our daughter to be taken from us, from me. And I will never forgive you!"
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Now
John folded up the blankets on the fold up couch and began to put the couch back to its original stance before the morning light came through the window. He hadn't been able to sleep much since Emmy's return home. The final moments with Anna and the day when his daughter disappeared, kept running through his mind. And he was still trying to figure out how they could work as a divorced family when Emmy wasn't connected to either of them, yet. She did call him Dad or Daddy from time to time and it always melted his heart. However, the connection wasn't as strong as it used to be. He wanted to know how to prove to her that they were both never going to let her down, again.
He sat down on the made up couch and turned on the television. There wasn't much to watch, but he found some old reruns of some sitcom and it entertained him enough to draw him some from his thoughts.
The door from the room Emmy was sleeping in opened and Emmy stepped out of the room. Her blonde hair was a mess around her face and her eyes were sleepy.
"Hey," John whispered. "You're up early."
"Couldn't sleep," she answered, coming down the hallway and then sitting down next to him. She yawned. "Why are there blankets on the couch? Did you sleep out here? When you're married, aren't you supposed to sleep together?"
John swallowed hard. Neither he nor Anna had thought about that. At the house, he realized Emmy hadn't known they weren't sleeping in the same room.
"Sometimes, but I have a bad back. This couch is good for it," John uneasily lied. But it seemed to be enough, because Emmy nodded. She curled up further on the couch, pulling down one of the blankets and placing it over her legs. Her head rested on the couch arm rest and her eyelids were heavy.
"Can we walk on the beach again today and get ice cream?" Emmy asked John. His lips curled up.
"Of course we can, Emmy. We can do whatever you'd like today."
"I like the beach. Did we come here when I was little?"
"We did," John answered. "When you were around 18 months, your mum and I brought you to the beach for a week. You didn't sleep the whole week," John added with a chuckle.
"I didn't? Did we stay here?"
"No, your grandparents didn't own this place, yet. We stayed at a condo. So all night, we'd have to walk you around to keep you from screaming. You'd only sleep in our arms while we walked. It was a very tiring week."
"Why did I cry so much?"
"You hadn't been away from your bed before," John explained. "This was all new to you. As soon as we went back home, you slept great again."
"Did you get mad?" Emmy narrowed her eyes on John, who shook his head.
"No, we just took turns walking you and sleeping. We were exhausted by the time the trip was over and decided we would wait until you were older to travel again," he paused, realizing this was their second trip with Emmy. She was eight years old and they had only taken a holiday with her twice. He frowned slightly. He and Anna had had huge plans of taking her to Disneyland Paris when she turned five and many more holidays. None of those had happened.
Emmy didn't ask any more questions. She just settled further into the couch cushions and fell back asleep. John chuckled to himself. Then he stood and brought the blanket up and over her shoulders. He walked into the kitchen and decided to start breakfast.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Slowly, Anna woke from her deep sleep. There was something about the faint sound of the waves crashing along the beach that always made her fall into a deep slumber. After the incident, her parents basically dragged her here to their beach house for a few weeks. And for the first time in forever, she had slept and begun to take care of herself again. It had been good for her soul to get away from the house and the town. (Although, it was something she would have never dared admitted to after how stubborn she had been to leave it.)
It was after that when she was able to start focusing on her garden again and find a little bit of herself back. She was still a shell of the Anna she had been, but there were parts of her that she could recognize again.
With a large yawn, she rubbed her eyes and sat up. She stood, going over to open the curtains and look over at the beach. A small smile grew on her lips. She really did love it here.
Inhaling deeply, she searched for her robe to cover over her pajamas and stepped out into the hallway. Immediately, she was accosted by the wonderful smells of bacon. She inwardly moaned, her mouth watering. She hadn't realized until then how hungry she actually was. Her appetite was always on and off in the past five years. There had been times that she had to be reminded to eat. Sometimes, she got annoyed by how her parents treated her like a child, but she remembered that they only did it because they loved her.
Anna stepped into the kitchen.
"It smells divine," she quietly stated. But her presence still shocked John. He jumped slightly, turning to face her. Anna let out a small giggle. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." He quickly relaxed and smiled. The smile on his face made a weird, familiar warmth spread throughout her body that made her shift uncomfortably on her feet. She dropped her smile and only took a few steps to see what he had made.
"Eggs and bacon," he explained.
"Yum," she simply replied. "Where's Emmy?"
John pointed over at the couch and Anna followed his finger with his eyes to see her daughter curled up on the couch, asleep.
"She woke up early this morning and started watching the telly with me. Then she fell asleep."
"Oh," Anna said. "Well, I guess I could set the table."
"I can do that," John answered. "I already made some coffee. Why don't you get yourself some and I'll let you know when breakfast is ready."
"Alright."
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
The week went by quickly, but it was a week where life seemed to have stood still. Emmy was the happiest they had ever seen her. The salt air and sandy beaches made her smile all the time. Even though it was cool outside, they spent every day by the beach for hours. They would bundle up and Emmy would play catch with the dog or they would walk or play games. There were moments where John thought that maybe everything would be alright and that they had just needed this holiday to get away from the before.
But then he would remember that they weren't a family, not like that at least, not anymore. He had Casey now, who he had spoken to at the beginning of the week, but had only replied to one or two of her texts over the past several days. And even if he wanted to be back with Anna, she certainly didn't want him back. He would be a fool to think that she did. She had made it very clear she wanted him gone four years ago.
"Can we take Butler outside?" Emmy asked John. He had been sitting in the chair by the window, reading a book. Anna left to pick up groceries for the last few days they were spending here. He nodded.
"Alright."
The two of them bundled up into their coats and went out into the small backyard. It wasn't fenced in, so they had to keep Butler on his leash. There was a small path that would lead them directly from the beach, so they would go down it in a moment. John remembered that he left his wallet inside and if Emmy wanted a treat while they were out, he'd need it.
"Hold on tightly to Butler's leash," he reminded Emmy. "Stay right here. I'll be right back."
He quickly ran inside to grab his wallet that was by the door. As he turned, he saw the leash pull out of Emmy's hand and the dog running. Emmy began to chase after him and John tried to call out for her, but she couldn't hear him from inside. He rushed back to the back door and began to rush after her, so that he wouldn't lose sight of either of them.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Anna returned to the beach house to hear John calling after Emmy. She saw him rushing out of the back door and dropped the first set of groceries she had grabbed to on the counter. Then she followed John, not sure what had happened. Her heart began to race harshly within her chest.
Not again. Not again. She said to herself, going as quickly as her feet would take her. Tears stung her eyes, but soon she was caught up with John, who was struggling with his bad knee. She surpassed him, reaching Emmy, who was bent down and holding on to Butler's collar.
"What happened?!" Anna asked, nearly out of breath. John was a few paces behind her.
"Butler tugged hard against his leash and he started running away! So I chased him," Emmy explained, her lower lip wobbling. Anna quickly turned her head to John.
"Where were you?"
"I just stepped inside for a moment," he started to explain. Anna pursed her lips into a thin line, her eyes cutting into him. Then she returned her attention to Emmy.
"You can't just run off like that! You can't! You could have gotten lost or someone could have taken you!" Anna grew frantic, all the fears becoming real again.
"My mum always let me walk alone and she never yelled at me for making a mistake!" Emmy cried back. It was then that Anna saw red.
"She is not your mother! Maggie is an evil person you stole you away from me! I'm your mum! I am! Not her! Me!" She screamed.
"Anna," John started, placing his hand on her shoulder. "That's enough." Anna shrugged his hand away and turned, not allowing herself to notice the tears or heartbreak on Emmy's face, as she walked away.
She walked until there were no more houses. She sunk down onto a piece of drift wood and her face fell into her hands, as she burst into tears. She hadn't meant to react like that. Now Emmy would never trust her or grow close with her. She ruined it all.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Over an hour later, Anna returned to the beach house. It was late and likely that Emmy was already being tucked into bed. She walked in through the back door and saw Butler staring up at her. John was sitting on the couch. As she entered the home, he tried to stand up, but she placed her hand up saying that she didn't want to speak to him.
Instead, she walked down the hallway and glanced into Emmy's room. She was sitting up, looking through one of the books she had chosen from the library. Tentatively, Anna took a step into her room and stood by the doorway.
"May I come in?" Emmy looked up and gave her a small nod, before returning her eyes back to her book.
Anna made her way to the edge of Emmy's bed and sat down.
"I…I wanted to apologize for yelling at you," she began. "I was scared, because I lost you before, but it still wasn't right for me to act like that. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Emmy whispered.
"It's not," Anna strongly stated. "I love you so much, Emmy, and the last thing I want to ever do is hurt you. How did you feel when Butler ran off?"
"Worried," Emmy answered, looking at Anna now.
"Were you scared you might lose him?" Emmy nodded, again.
"You see, that's how your dad and I have felt for a really long time, but we did lose you. It…well, it broke our hearts, Emmy. We're so glad to have you back, but I know it'll take time for you to feel close to us. I just…I hope you can forgive me. I love you. I'll let you go to bed, alright?"
"Alright, goodnight," Emmy said. She reached over and took Anna's hand, giving it a small squeeze. "And I do forgive you. We all make mistakes. Sleep well, okay?" Anna's lips quirked up into a small smile.
"You too, sweetheart. I'll see you in the morning."
To be continued...
Has Anna finally begun to connect with Emmy? More soon. Thank you so much!
