Annie and the Confirmed Bachelor by Patricia Kay

Author:Patricia Kay
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2003-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Annie knew by Kevin’s disapproving silence that he wanted to argue with her, and she was grateful that he didn’t. Maybe he was right. Maybe she should have reported Jonathan.

She thought about the women she’d met at the center. About how many of them had come from abusive relationships. But she wasn’t like them. She hadn’t allowed Jonathan to beat her for years the way some of them had.

Yes, she’d excused that first time, because she really had thought it was an aberration on his part and would never happen again. But when it did, she’d left him.

And this last time, well, it really was the last time, because now Jonathan knew that no matter what he did or said, she wasn’t coming back to him. That’s why he’d been so enraged. Because she had finally made her position so clear he couldn’t deny it.

But even as she told herself this, she couldn’t get rid of a last remnant of doubt. Because when had Jonathan ever given up? On anything?

“Okay,” Kevin said. “Here we are on Huffman Road. Where are the apartments?”

Annie shook away her gloomy thoughts. Time enough later to figure out what action she needed to take, if any. She pointed. “Turn right at that stop sign. After you turn, the apartments will be about half a mile down, on the left. They’re called Country Garden Apartments. Mine is number eighteen.”

He followed her directions, and when they reached the apartment entrance, she showed him where to park. She looked around nervously as they got out of his truck. It wasn’t that she really expected Jonathan to be lying in wait; it was just that she’d been nervous for such a long time, it was hard to break the habit.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that there was no one lurking about, certainly no black BMWs in the parking area, which was what Jonathan drove. She was also relieved to see that the front door to her apartment was closed. She’d been afraid it might be standing wide-open. When they tried the door, they found it was also locked.

“Let’s go around back,” she said. “See if that door’s locked.” As they approached the back of her apartment, she saw her car parked in her slot. She smiled. It would be great to have a car at her disposal again.

Kevin walked to the door. “It’s locked, too. Do you think you locked up when you left?”

“I don’t know. I don’t remember. I didn’t have any keys on me when you found me, did I?”

“No.”

“The locks are dead bolts. They couldn’t have been locked without one.”

He nodded, looking around. “Is there a manager on site?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go see him.”

She smiled. “It’s a her.”

“Okay. Let’s go see her.”

They were in luck. The manager was in her office, although she was standing behind her desk, gathering up papers, and looked as if she was preparing to leave when they walked in. “Yes?” She looked up. “May I help you?”

“Mrs. Rosen?” Annie said.

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