Thank you all!

Chapter 10

After dinner, John walked Anna to the hotel where she was staying. He went up on the elevator with her and walked her to her room. He had missed her, a lot. She was the thing that had always been missing in his life.

Once Anna had finished crying, they had talked. It had been the deepest conversation that John had ever had with her. They spoke about Daniel. About their hopes and dreams. Anna confessed to him that she had dreamed their son would have his dark hair and eyes. John had laughed and said he thought he would look more like her.

It had been a lovely dinner. John still had so much he wanted to know about Anna. Mainly, he wanted to know why she was the way that she was. What had made her run away when things got tough?

But these were not questions he could ask now. Well, not if he had any hope of seeing her again. He was sure those types of questions would push her further away.

They stood in front of the door and Anna's hand lingered over the nob. He could tell she was debating on whether or not she should invite him inside. While he would love to talk to her more, he should get back to his mother.

"My mum is probably wondering where I am," he started. Anna nodded and smiled.

"I'm sure," she replied. "Tonight was nice. It was good to get that out and to see you again."

"When will you be back to Yorkshire?"

At that, Anna twisted her lips and shook her head.

"I don't know. I am….I stay busy," Anna finally answered. John frowned. She was still running away.

"Come to the museum with my mum and me tomorrow?" He quickly offered, hoping Anna wouldn't have the heart to tell him no. She had already confessed that she had the next day off, so she wouldn't be able to use her work as an excuse.

"Um…" she bit down on her lower lip. "Alright. I'll join you for a little bit."

"Great. We'll come by and pick you up at 1." He almost turned, but then he added, "Call Mary. She misses you. I know you miss her too."

Then he gave her a nod and left.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Anna closed the hotel door behind her and let out a loud sigh. She couldn't explain how she felt. It was odd. It was almost freeing. She hadn't known letting all of those feelings out could feel so wonderful. She still missed Daniel. That pain had not diminished. But there was some solace in not holding all of that pain inside. Not that she would admit that to anyone, especially Mary. Mary would be thrilled to say I told you so.

Another sigh passed through Anna's lips. John was right. She should call her. Mary was the one person who had stuck around when Anna tried to push her away. Well, now John was too.

She walked further into her hotel room and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Before she could change her mind, she dialed Mary's number.

"Hello?" Mary answered with a skeptical voice.

"Hi Mary," Anna said. "I….I'm sorry."

The line went quiet and Anna wondered if she had lost connection.

"Sorry?" Mary nearly squeaked. "You're sorry?"

"Yes," Anna quietly replied. "I'm sorry I was rude to you. I'm sorry I ran away. I'm….well, I'm sorry for all of it."

"Well," Mary coolly stated. "I…I don't think you've ever apologized before."

"I haven't," Anna chuckled.

"Might I ask what has made this change in you? Were you nearly hit by a car? Did three ghost appear to you in your sleep?"

"No," Anna just shook her head. "I ran into John."

"Oh," Mary hummed. "Did you? And he insisted you call me?"

"No. Not insist. He may have said that I should. We….we talked about the baby."

Again the line went silent, but Anna knew Mary was still there this time. She was probably trying to think of the right way to respond. Mary was still pregnant. She probably felt she had to be extra careful with what she said.

"I'm glad you talked about him, Anna," Mary finally said. "You needed to do that, especially with John. I really am sorry. I wish…"

"Me too," Anna murmured. She pushed through and knew that she needed focus some on Mary, as well. "How are you feeling? How's the baby? Have you found out if it's a boy or a girl?"

She could tell that Mary was hesitating to answer, but she did. "I'm feeling fine. Yes, it's….it's a boy."

"Oh Mary! How wonderful for you!" Anna forced herself to be happy for Mary and she was happy for her. Mary had been saying how much she wanted a little boy that looked like Matthew. "I should have been checking in on you. I'm going to do better. I….you might be right that it's time I go to therapy."

She heard Mary let out a small laugh. "Yes, I'd say it's past time."

"You're probably right," Anna had to agree.

"Yes, I am. When will you be back?"

"I'm not sure," Anna honestly answered. "I'll be in London for a while and then I'm headed to New York City for a month."

"For a whole month!"

"Yes, but then after that, I don't know." She paused. "I'm going to the art museum with John and his mother tomorrow."

"You are?" Mary sounded pleased.

"I am."

"Good. I'm glad. You deserve to be happy, Anna."

Anna didn't respond, but she did appreciate the thought.

"Will you check on my plants?" Anna then asked. They were probably all dead now. Mary laughed.

"I've been caring for them weekly." Of course, she had. Mary was more of a friend than she deserved. "You didn't give your key to Edith did you?"

"God, no," Anna playfully said. Mary laughed harder.

"Good. I didn't think you had, but I needed to be prepared unless I ran into her. I ought to get going, but you'll call me again soon?"

"Yes, I will."

"Great. Can't wait to see you again."

"You too."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

John and his mother waited downstairs at the hotel for Anna. She had insisted that it wasn't necessary for them to come upstairs for her. She hurriedly left her room and got downstairs about a minute after they said they would be there. Anna hated being late and just that minute made her feel terrible.

However, John's face just lit up when he saw her. He smiled brightly and waved in case she hadn't seen them. But it would have been hard to miss John. He was standing right in the middle of the open foyer of the hotel. No one else was around him or his mother. Anna smiled and made her way toward them.

She was nervous about going out with John's mother. She had only met her briefly the night before and didn't know what they would talk about. Would his mother throw shade at her for basically leaving her son in the lurch? Or would they pretend none of that had happened?

"Nice to see you again," Nora began.

"Nice to see you," Anna said back. She could feel the butterflies moving around in her stomach. She was so anxious.

"Right," John broke in. "We should start the journey. It's a nice day out and only a few blocks away. We thought we might walk if that's alright with you."

"Yes, that's fine," Anna agreed.

As they began their walk down the sidewalk, John's mother was very chatty. She spoke about the area and about her favorite parts of town.

"Johnny and I have gone to this art museum for many years now. I think since we moved here. How old were you then, Johnny?" Nora asked him. John laughed.

"I was fourteen mother."

"Well, as you can tell, Anna. That was quite a long time ago. Right after my John died. Johnny was named after his father. But I called him Jackie."

"Oh," Anna quietly said. She didn't know quite how to respond.

"I was offered a job here. I hadn't worked since I was a young girl. Had to start all over, but we made do, didn't we, Johnny?"

"We did," John agreed, continuing his walk straight ahead.

"What about you, Anna? Where did you grow up? Any fun traditions with your parents?"

Anna paused her steps for a moment. Both John and Nora eyed her carefully. She gave them a quick smile and started to walk again.

"Um, I grew up in Yorkshire and Ripon," she told them. "No fun traditions. My parents died when I was young."

"Oh, Anna, I didn't know they had died when you were younger. John had told me they died, but I wrongly assumed it happened when you were an adult."

"It's fine," Anna said. She stepped forward and paused. Then she turned to them. "I lied. That's…well, it's a lie. Or maybe it's not," she furrowed her brows in thought. "I actually don't know if my mother is alive or dead. My father did die. I was two. I was taken away from my mother a year later. I grew up in foster care."

There. There she told them the big secret. She didn't know why it was such a big secret. There were so many people who had grown up in foster care. She was not the only one.

"I lived in many places. All over."

"So that's why you struggle to make connections," Nora smartly said.

"Mother," John scolded.

"No, she's right," Anna let out a loud breath. "I saw my mother for a few years after I was taken. She kept promising she was going to get me back, but she never did. Then she had another baby, a sister, and I never saw her again. I know it's not fair, but I always resented my innocent baby sister for my mother never coming back to get me. It's silly, really." She glanced ahead. Why was she telling them all of this?

"It's not," John assured her.

"Well, it's over now," Anna forced a smile on her face. "Oh there's the museum. Let's go on inside."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

John had an even better time than he had expected at the museum. His mother and Anna got along very well. Anna hadn't said anything else about her time growing up, though she had told him enough to understand her that much better. A mother who disappeared on her constantly, being moved from home to home. It was enough for anyone to begin to distrust people and to be unable to make connections.

Now his challenge was how did he prove to Anna that she could trust him? That he wasn't going to go disappear?

As they were leaving the museum, his mother, very conveniently, said she had somewhere to be.

"But you stay here. You two go and grab some coffee or something," Nora insisted.

"Where do you have to go?" John asked her, because he knew she really didn't have anywhere to be. He had made their plans for the weekend.

"I have to stop by a friends and pick up something. Go, have fun."

And once again, his mother had made it so that Anna and he would have time alone. He wasn't complaining. He wanted to talk to Anna more, find out more about her. He just hoped Anna didn't see through his mother as much as he did. Though it would be hard for her not to. She was glaringly obvious.

"I…" John stuttered over his words.

"Coffee then?"

He smiled at Anna's words.

"Yes, coffee," he agreed.

There was a coffee shop just across the street. The two of them walked over toward it and John opened the door for Anna. They ordered and found their seats.

"I'm glad you came today," John began, once they had their coffees.

"I am too," Anna said with a smile. "I….it felt good, getting all that off my chest. I think Mary might have been right. I may need therapy." Her lips pursed in thought. "There is a lot unresolved from my past."

"So, you'll be coming back to Yorkshire soon, then?"

"No," Anna regretfully replied. "I have work that I have already signed up for and couldn't get out of. I'll be heading to New York City in a few weeks and will be there for a month. But then I'll come back for a while, until work sends me elsewhere."

John couldn't hide his disappointment, no matter how much he knew he should.

"Oh."

"But we could keep in touch. Call? Write emails?" Anna suggested. This did brighten him up.

"Yes, I'd like that."

TBC...