Anna’s pace was faster than normal, as though she were trying to outrun the demons on her trail. Sneakers was in his usual spot, sleeping at the front of the treadmill. She wondered what he’d do if he ever caught one of the squirrels he chased in his sleep. She tried to outrun the guilt that surrounded her every time she looked at Sneakers. She should have never adopted him. He deserved a better life than the one she offered. What happens when Danny leaves? Who will run Sneakers? It wasn’t right of her to keep him, but she couldn’t imagine her life without him, despite him being a part of it for only a couple days.
Sneakers jumped up and charged out the door. She looked up just as Danny was entering the gym. She really was slipping if she didn’t even notice him coming down the driveway.
“Good morning, beautiful! Good morning, to you, too, Sneakers.”
Sneakers rolled onto his back and waited for Danny to bend down and rub his belly. Anna bit back a groan as the track pants pulled snuggly across Danny’s rear. Danny’s head turned, and he caught her staring.
“Like what you see?” He asked, while adding a wiggle of the body part in question.
“Go run my dog. He needs a good workout. I tried to wear him out playing fetch in the backyard yesterday, but it wasn’t enough.”
“Your wish, my command. Let’s go, boy. I saw a big, fat squirrel at the end of the block just begging to be chased.”
Anna watched them lop down the driveway and waited for Danny to turn and wave. She almost waved back, but realized he’d never see her through the security film on the window. Forty-five minutes later she came downstairs to find a freshly showered Danny cooking breakfast while Samantha watched.
“I could get used to this.” Samantha sighed.
“What’s on the wedding prep schedule for today?” He asked as he expertly flipped the pancakes.
Anna pulled up the checklist on her phone and scrolled down the list. “Looks like I need to bring the ribbon to the florist and confirm the flowers arrived.”
“We need to bring the ribbon to the florist and confirm the flowers arrived.”
“Fine. WE need to do this. Happy now?”
“I will be once you eat this food and tell me how wonderful I am.”
“Don’t you have a kitchen at your rental house?”
“Hush,” Samantha growled at Anna as she shoveled food in her mouth. “These pancakes are delicious.”
“Sam, you haven’t eaten since before you and Jenna tried to drink St. Helena dry. At this point, crap on a cracker would taste delicious.” Anna took a bite of the pancakes and almost conceded that Danny really was wonderful - at cooking pancakes.
He stood watching her and smiled after she finished the first pancake. “I’m waiting.”
In an effort to eat slower and not shovel it in like Sam, she put down her fork. “It’ll do.”
Danny tossed his head back and howled with laughter.
After they polished off a couple more plates of pancakes each, Anna and Danny headed into town to see the florist.
“This town reminds me a lot of where I grew up. A small, tight-knit community where people watch out for one another. I’d forgotten how relaxed life in a small town could be.” Danny stopped the car in the middle of the block and waved at the group of little old ladies to cross the street in front of him.
“You don’t miss the action of the big city?”
“Oh sometimes, but this is comfortable. I grew up in the central valley of California. Dad is a cop in town, like my granddad before him. One of my brothers is on the force as well. My mom still works at the Catholic school we all attended.”
“How many siblings do you have?”
“I’m the oldest of six - four boys and two girls. The youngest are twins and they’re studying criminal justice at Sac State. They’ll graduate this spring.”
“Why did you join the FBI? Why not just follow in your Dad’s footsteps and join the local PD?”
“I thought about it, but when I went to Washington, D.C. on a school field trip and we toured the Hoover building I felt I belong there. I wanted to protect something on a bigger scale.” He shrugged. “I talked with the recruiters in college and they showed me how I can make a difference. I got a scholarship to law school and went to the Academy the week after I graduated.”
“Your parents must be proud.”
“Mom still worries about me, but they instilled strong values in us growing up. It’s not that they expected me to go into law enforcement, but it wasn’t a surprise to them either.”
He pulled into the spot in front of the florist and parked the car.
“If you weren’t an Agent, what would you do?” Anna got out of the car and met him on the sidewalk. As he did every time she refused to wait for him to open the door, he scowled at her. She’d told him the first time it happened that she preferred to be moving instead of a sitting duck.
Danny held open the door to the florist shop. As they walked inside, she wondered if he was ignoring her question.
“Honestly, I don’t know. It’s been my goal for so long that I never thought about anything else … until recently.”
That surprised her. “What’s changed?”
This time he didn’t answer her at all.
After they left the florist shop, she asked him to drop her off at POSH. She spent the afternoon thinking over all he’d said. Anna was starting to get a clear picture of Danny’s life. He believed in right and wrong, that the law was black and white. And, there didn’t seem to be much room for gray in his life. She wondered on a scale of 1 to 10, just how appalled he’d be at the things she’d done. She guessed he’d probably hit triple digits.
* * *
Danny had hoped for better results from his change in tactics on Monday. He thought that by talking about his family and letting her know they were a normal, all-American family, she would begin to trust him more. Instead, it seemed to backfire on him. He was taking Jenna’s advice and giving Anna room. He wasn’t pushing her to talk to him, but she didn’t seem to be opening up on her own. In fact, ever since Saturday night, she seemed to be withdrawing. Then, on the way home from the florist yesterday afternoon, she was almost in another zip code.
He’d called Mike for advice yesterday, but Jenna answered and told him the same thing she had said before. Give her time. Don’t push and have more patience. So, it was time to pull out the big guns. He called his mom and got her famous Stuffed French Toast with bananas and cream cheese recipe. Anna seemed to like his cooking, so he’d find a way to her heart through her stomach.
Except, she’d stonewalled him again.
He arrived at the garage behind the Victorian at the same time every morning. Today, the garage was locked, and Sneakers was curled up on his bed in the kitchen. There was a note on the back door with his name written in bold letters.
Danny,
Sneakers is ready to go. Thanks for your help. We’re all set. See you Saturday at the wedding.
A-
Oh, hell no! Did she really think she’d get away with this? He went downstairs to her office, but it was locked up. He banged on the door, but there was no answer. He went upstairs to Samantha’s office, but she wasn’t in yet. Danny tried calling Anna, but she didn’t pick up. The whole time he was searching for her, Sneakers was right at his heels. Well, he might as well run off some frustration before he confronted her.
“Come on, Sneakers. Let’s race!” Sneakers barked once, then took off.
After a grueling workout, he came back to find Samantha forlornly eating cold cereal but still no Anna.
“Do you know where she is?”
“No, but I saw what you brought for breakfast. If you want to try a new recipe, I’m a hungry guinea pig.” She looked expectantly at him and batted her eyelashes for good measure. He laughed and gave in.
Samantha polished off three pieces of the French toast. That was close to being a record in his family. Only Danny and his next oldest brother had ever eaten three pieces at once.
“I can’t believe I ate all that. That was the best French toast I’ve ever had. You need to sell that recipe to someone. You’d be rich!” Samantha leaned back from the table and rubbed her stomach. She eyed the leftovers, then smiled. “You’ll leave those here, won’t you?”
Wednesday was a repeat of Tuesday. She’d even left the same note from the day before. After taking Sneakers for a run and feeding Samantha breakfast of made-to-order omelet’s, he went to visit Mike and Jenna.
“No matter where I go, she’s always just left. How does the woman know I’m coming?” He paced in front of the sofa that Mike was basically living on this week.
“Jenna and Anna are really busy. Just give her time. Besides, you’ll get to spend all day with her on Saturday.” Danny decided Mike really sucked on consoling him.
“Yeah, we’ll be a little busy helping you two get married! It’s not like we’re going on a date or anything.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. She’s not letting us in either. Something spooked her, and we can’t get it out of her.” Unfortunately, that didn’t ease Danny’s mind.
“Can you keep trying to get through to her? Let her know we all just want to help?” Danny hated to beg, but he was starting to feel desperate.
“Look, Danny, give it till the wedding. Jenna is -”
“What?” Jenna walked over to the sofa and leaned down to kiss Mike.
“Oh, hey baby. I was just reminding Danny he needs to give Anna time. He’s not a patient guy.”
“Do you have any idea what’s going on with her?” Danny felt like a broken record. “When I call, she doesn’t answer her cell, but she’ll text me back to say she doesn’t need my help.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened. She’s not telling me either. She probably doesn’t want to stress me out right before the wedding. I’m with Mike, give her some room. See what happens on Saturday.”
At this point, he didn’t have a choice. He’d give her all the room she needed. Until Saturday. Then, all bets were off.