Twenty-Four
Vivienne
Annie and I both collapse into the booth as soon as we finish wiping the seats down. I’ve been working here for a few weeks now, but this was by far the busiest I’ve ever seen it. I wanted to cry when she flipped the little sign hanging in the window from ‘Open’ to ‘Closed’ an hour ago.
“I still can’t believe you’ve been spending your spare time working here.”
“Not including today, I’ve actually enjoyed it.”
Annie looks surprised. “Have you?”
“Sure,” I answer her while I refill the salt and pepper shakers. “I’ve always loved gossip, and this is the best place to hear it. Plus, I get to hang out with you.”
She smiles. “We get to hang out plenty now that your stubborn boyfriend made me move into your place.”
“Your hard-headed brother is only watching out for you.”
“Well, it was a total overreaction. I haven’t been freaked out since I moved in. I don’t know what was going on, but everything feels like it’s back to normal now.”
“He told me that you could go back home if you wanted.”
“Yeah. We talked last night. I’m going to wait until the craziness of the carnival this weekend is over and then I’ll go back. I barely have time to breathe, much less haul everything home that’s accumulated at your place.”
“Annie? I know everything in town usually shuts down this weekend, but if you need to stay open, I can help you out.”
“That’s very sweet of you, but I fully intend to enjoy myself. All I do is work.”
“Pardon me for being crass and sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, but will you be okay shutting this place down for a few days? Financially?”
She smiles. “Viv, I don’t think you realize how much you’re helping me out financially. Your pastries and yummy treats are drawing people in from all over. I’ve had more business since you started baking for me than I ever have. In fact, I’m thinking of hiring some more people to help me keep up.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. You interested?”
I laugh. “I’ll help out until you get some people in here that know what they’re doing. I’m happy to hear that things are good for you.”
She moves to another booth and starts to clean it before changing the subject on me. “You know, I noticed that not much work is being done on the house.”
“I know. I’m taking my time with it. It’s important that I do it just right.”
“Or, are you taking your time with it because you don’t want to be forced to make a decision when it’s finished?”
We both stop what we’re doing and just look at each other. I’m so torn over what is going to happen in the future. I love Ollie, but I love my job. I can’t picture staying here and keeping up with my business, but I can’t imagine moving back to New York without him. Him coming with me is an impossibility. He has responsibilities here that he can’t walk away from. If he leaves the farm, his mom and brother have no way to support themselves.
“I don’t want to think about that right now.”
The look she gives me is one of pity. “You’ll have to think about it eventually. You can’t live in this limbo.”
“How about we get outta here and leave all this depressing talk behind. We can worry about jobs and work and relationships later. Right now, let’s go get cleaned up and enjoy the first night of the carnival.”
“Sounds good to me. I just need to—” she starts, but I cut her off.
“Nope. Anything you need to do can wait until you open back up Monday. We are taking full advantage of this weekend. No worries, no stresses, just fun.”
“Can I at least get the money out the register and lock it in the safe?”
“Okay. One adult thing.”
A few minutes later and we’re in my car, planning our outfits and hair, just like when we were teenagers. Neither of us has a care in the world. It feels good to be here, with Annie, knowing I’m going home to Ollie.
This is where I need to be, I think.
This is where I belong.
The thought startles me. I gasp, which prompts Annie to ask me what’s wrong.
“I need to be here. This is what I was meant to do. This is where I was meant to be.”
She gives me a tearful smile. “Of course it is, honey. Bellemere is your home. Ollie is your soulmate.”
“I don’t know how to make it work,” I say honestly. Figuring out this is where I need to be is the easy part. The rest of it, that’s what’s hard.
“We’ll figure it out. We’ve got plenty of time for that. But now is not that time. Remember, no worries or stress all weekend, just fun.”
“Just fun,” I repeat. My smile is huge, a replica of hers, as we pull into my driveway. It’s a beautiful thing, figuring out how you want to spend the rest of your life. I can’t wait to share the news with Ollie.
_____
“This has been the most amazing weekend,” I whisper into Ollie’s ear as we wait in line for the Ferris wheel. It was magical, it was cliché, it was perfect. For forty-eight hours, we didn’t worry about anything outside of us. We ate good food, danced, drank, and walked hand in hand, riding fair rides and laughing like teenagers.
He kisses the tip of my cold nose and we move farther up in the line. While we wait, he talks to people as they call our names, about everything from the projected prices of crops in the spring to if he thinks the local football team will make it to the playoffs. Every day that we’re together, I see more of the old Ollie coming out.
I love every second of it.
The attendant gets the bar secured over our laps and our car starts the slow journey to the top of the wheel. “You know,” Ollie says to me, his voice low. “I like havin’ you in my bed every mornin’. I like your shit scattered all over my countertops. Like my bathroom smellin’ like you.”
I scoot closer to him, even though his huge body is taking up the majority of the space. “I like it, too.”
“You should move in with me.” The car jolts to a stop when we reach the top. The wind gently rocks us back and forth. “Move in with me,” he repeats. “I want you in my bed every mornin’. I want your mark all over that barn. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”
“I… I… um.”
“Is that not what you want?”
I shake my head back and forth. “I’ve never wanted anything more. I just don’t know how to make it work.”
He takes my face in his hands. “We work. The rest will fall into place. Let Davis worry about the company. That’s what you pay him for, right?”
“Yeah,” I breathe out. The car starts to move again and I’m dizzy, from both the movement and the conversation.
“Got a plan that involves you takin’ my name and havin’ my babies. This is the first step in that plan. Need you on board with it. You with me?”
Rather than answer him, I close the space between us, pouring everything I want to say into the kiss. The ride goes round and round, but we never break the kiss. Out of all the kisses we’ve shared through the years, this one is the best. This one is my favorite. This one is the beginning of our lives together.
The clearing of a voice has us pulling away from each other. The carnie is unlocking the steel bar that’s over our waists and chuckling. Ollie helps me out of the car and I beg him to help me find Annie and Davis. I want to share our news with them.
Davis is over the moon, already making a list of calls he has to make in the morning when Westbrook Marketing is open. Little did I know that he’s been anticipating this and had a plan ready to execute.
We search for Annie all night but can’t find her anywhere.
_____
Nobody has seen or heard from Annie since Sunday afternoon at the Winter Carnival. The sign at her café remains on the ‘Closed’ side. Oliver has spent the last forty-eight hours searching the woods for her. He’s called in favors from every SEAL he’s kept in contact with to help find his sister. He’s had men go talk to Ronnie, but he’s got an iron-clad alibi for the night she disappeared. Daniel, however, is nowhere to be found. When Ollie scared off her ex, he ran off and nobody knows where he is.
Taylor and his cops are hitting up every business in Bellemere and surrounding towns, pulling surveillance footage. In sleepy southern towns, not many places have video cameras monitoring their storefronts, but the few that he was able to pull don’t show anything relevant to Annie’s disappearance. Her credit cards have been traced, APBs have been issued.
She’s disappeared.
I’ve never seen Oliver like this. He’s not eating or sleeping and only speaks if it is about finding his sister. In typical Oliver fashion, he blames himself.
“There was nothing you could have done.”
“Bullshit, Viv. I could have made her leave town. I could have forbid her from going to that fucking carnival.”
“Listen to yourself. Do you really believe any of that would have worked?”
“It was my job to protect her. She’s gone because of me!” The glass in his hand goes flying, hitting the wall and shattering into a million tiny shards.
“You’ve got to stay positive,” I say slowly. The words taste sour coming out of my mouth. He’s lost hope. So have I. We both believe that whoever killed those other women took Annie. We’re just too scared to say it.
“Smith’s coming tomorrow with some dogs.”
“She’s not there.” Ollie and Ace combed through those woods and came up empty-handed each time. It was both a curse and a blessing.
“I might have missed something. He’s got tracking dogs. They can find things I can’t.” He pinches the bridge of his nose and takes deep, measured breaths. My heart is breaking. I can’t help him, I can’t help Annie. I’ve never felt worse in my life.
“Why don’t we try to lay down for a few minutes and rest. You’ve got to keep your strength up.”
“I’m going back out.” He grabs his coat and walks out, slamming the door on his way out. I do the only thing I’ve been able to do since we found out she was gone. I sink down on the floor and cry.