Leaving Annalise (Katie & Annalise) by Hutchins Pamela Fagan

Author:Hutchins, Pamela Fagan [Hutchins, Pamela Fagan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction: Contemporary Women, Mystery and Thriller: Women Sleuths, Romance: Suspense
ISBN: 9781939889027
Publisher: SkipJack Publishing
Published: 2013-11-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-nine

At nine o’clock the next morning, someone was knocking on our bedroom door. I could not imagine what they were thinking. I kept my eyes firmly closed.

Nick moaned, but his hand sneaked out and slipped down to a personal area of mine. I gasped. He pulled me to him and whispered, “Please ignore them.”

“Just a minute,” I called to whoever was behind the door.

“OK,” Nick’s mom called in her soft, lovely voice, “but Taylor has breakfast in bed for you two sleepyheads.”

This announcement, made on the other side of a thin door with a flimsy thumb lock, did not seem to get through to my new husband. It seemed that a minute really would be all we would both need. I sank my teeth into his shoulder as the spasms ripped through me. He panted and held me so tight that I knew I would have fingerprints amidst the freckles on my pale white skin. Intense and wonderful.

“Mom, can you stall Taylor long enough for us to get decent?” Nick pleaded.

“Make it fast, or he’ll probably feed it all to the dog,” she said.

Nick raised himself up and smiled at me. “Good morning, beautiful wife.”

“Good morning, my love.”

“We’ll have to save the rest of the indecency for St. John.”

Kurt and Julie were staying with Taylor so we could leave for our honeymoon down island that afternoon. I got up and put on pajama pants and a tank top.

Nick got dressed and went to the door. He looked at me and nodded as he called out, “We’re starving. I wonder if there’s any way to get some breakfast around here.”

Giggles pealed behind the door. Nick threw it open, and Julie guided Taylor into the room. He was carrying a basket as big as he was, and Oso was on crumb patrol. Julie lifted Taylor and the basket up onto the bed.

“Taylor, did you do this for us?” I asked.

He nodded proudly.

“Thank you. You are such a sweet boy.”

We pulled out a red-and-white-checked tablecloth, a thermos of fresh-squeezed orange juice and two cups, buttery biscuits, bacon, and two of Taylor’s plastic bowls with steamed-up snap-on tops that appeared to hold scrambled eggs. I smiled at Taylor, who pointed to his grandmother.

Julie handed us two steaming cups of coffee and said, “We’re all out having our breakfast by the pool. Kurt’s guarding my food from the dogs until I get back, so I’d better hurry. We need to drop you at the seaplane at one, right?”

“Right,” we said in unison.

She picked Taylor back up. “Time for you and Oso to come play out by the pool.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Nick said.

The next few hours rushed by as we enjoyed our guests, showered, packed, and took Kurt and Julie through the hurricane checklist Rashidi had helped us put together. Running the Annalise household presented a test anytime, but even more so during hurricane season. Nick taught Kurt how to operate the critical systems: the cisterns and pump, the generator, and the solar-powered gate. I took Julie through maps to the gas station, hospital, and grocery store.

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