A Letter for Annie by Laura Abbot

Her work and early-evening walks on the beach were what kept her going.
    Kyle had continued working on the house, even over the weekend, wanting to surprise Geneva with hisprogress when she returned. To that end, he spent several hours a day working inside replacing window jambs, refinishing wood trim and leveling the kitchen floor. When he was there, Annie either fled to her room or left for the hospital. She couldn’t come to depend upon him. Accepting his help during her great-aunt’s crisis was one thing, but relying on him, taking comfort in his presence—that was not advisable. No, she would pour all of her attention and energy into caring for Geneva and try to forget Kyle and the unaccustomed and disturbing feelings he aroused in her.
    She had just finished putting a zipper in one of the purses when Kyle knocked on her bedroom door. “May I come in?”
    She cursed the pleasant flutter in the vicinity of her chest. Control, Annie, control. “Yes.”
    When the door opened, the pure male scent of sawdust, sweat and varnish preceded him. “Hope I’m not disturbing you, but I need to look at your ceiling.”
    “No, I was just finishing some work.” She shoved the handbag aside.
    Kyle crossed the room and picked it up. “Hey, what’s this? It’s really nice. Did you make it?”
    Against her will, Annie found herself warming to his interest. “I make one-of-a-kind purses for a shop in Arizona.”
    He examined it. “I’m no fashion expert, but I would imagine there’d be a big demand for stuff like this.”
    “This is a recent venture for me. But so far, so good.”
    He looked at her appraisingly, then grinned. “I always suspected you were more than just a pretty face.”
    A pretty face? Her glance swept briefly to the mirror over the dresser. No makeup, freckles, hair tied back in a scrunchie. But that was okay. It had been a long time since she’d worried about her looks. Not since that awful night. “It’s work I love to do.”
    “That’s obvious.” He set the bag down. “Well, good for you. Now, then—” he studied the ceiling “—when would be a good time for me to tackle this?”
    “I’m picking Geneva up at the hospital around noon tomorrow. Maybe you could work here in the morning. That way you wouldn’t disturb her when she gets home.”
    “Deal. Except for one thing. Do you need me to go with you to get her?”
    “They’ll help me at the hospital, and if you’re here when we get home and I need you, I’ll let you know.”
    “Okay, then.”
    End of conversation, but he didn’t leave the room. Annie felt heat rising to her cheeks. He was staring at her, his mouth curved in a gentle smile, his eyes warm. Then he reached out and tucked a flyaway wisp of hair behind her ear, his fingers grazing her cheek. Rooted to the spot, she was helpless to fight the attraction—no, the need—surfacing in her.
    “Annie, I know these next few days aren’t going to be easy for you. But when you feel yourself, well, uh…I guess I’m trying to say, I’m here for you.”
    He was being so nice. Pete’s image rose in her mind. Pete, the one person she had always known she could count on, the one who had promised to be there for her always. What had she ever done to deserve two such good men in her life? And how it had pained her to devastate the one. Now, if she wasn’t very, very careful, she would almost surely hurt the other. “Thank you for your concern, Kyle, but I’m prepared to handle everything.”
    The light faded from his eyes and he nodded. “Have it your way.”
    After he left, Annie crumpled into the chair at her workstation and buried her head in her arms, so tired, so very tired. Despite her good intentions, she’d managed to hurt Kyle. Increasingly, everything about him reminded her of that last bittersweet spring in Eden Bay. She couldn’t indulge in such morbid trips down memory lane. She was going to need every ounce of strength to endure these precious final hours with