A few over-zealous tourists noticed Michael and he obliged them with a quick autograph. Annie made sure to keep the girls safely out of view and turned her back anytime she saw a camera aimed in their direction. For once, she was grateful the focus was on him and not her, as they slowly made their way back up toward Main Street.
Michael settled Sammi into the backseat of the Land Rover first, while Annie waited on the sidewalk with Angel cradled in her arms. Finger by tiny finger, he carefully wiped the stickiness from Sammi’s skin, then secured her safety seat. He was at the back of the vehicle, loading the baby stroller, when he heard Annie let out a startled squeal of fright. Instantly, the flash back of her attack by the disgruntled stage hand seared through his brain. Reacting quickly, he darted around the side of the truck prepared to defend her if necessary.
“Hey!” Michael yelled, with a fearless tone in his voice. Assessing the situation, he was alarmed to see a blond-headed man with his arms tightly encircling Annie and the baby, and his face pressed into her neck. Two long strides and he was beside the man. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked. The man suddenly released his grip on Annie and she spun to face him.
“It’s okay, Michael. This is Jay Preston,” she introduced. “He’s a…friend of mine,” she answered awkwardly.
Jay stuck out his hand and shook Michael’s. “Hi, Mike. How are you doing?”
“Fine,” he answered, his voice still tight and defensive.
“I was sorry to hear about Brian,” Jay added.
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Jay is the bass player for the James Fellowship Band,” Annie explained.
Michael nodded. “I thought your name sounded familiar,” he exhaled, relaxing a bit. “How is Jimmy these days? I haven’t seen him in years.”
“You know James?” Annie asked, unnerved by the fact one of Jay’s arms remained around her waist and the heated glare Michael was shooting at both of them.
Michael took the baby from Annie’s arms in preparation to get her into the Land Rover. “Yeah, we go way back,” he replied, turning his eyes away from them.
When Michael’s body disappeared into the backseat of the vehicle, Jay turned his attention to Annie.
“I thought you said he was no longer in your life?” Jay inquired in a whispered tone.
“He isn’t!”
“Then why is he here?”
“Jay, they’re his kids too, you know, and he has a right to see them,” she answered, a bit more defensively than she probably should have.
“Maybe so, but seeing you together like this makes it appear as if it’s something more than what you’re saying.”
Annie shot him an angry scowl. “I don’t want to discuss this here.”
Michael finished buckling Angel into her car seat and then returned to Annie’s side in a territorial gesture that rattled her nerves. “Can you give us a minute, please?” she asked him.
“Fine. I’ll be in the truck,” he answered flatly through tight lips.
“I’ll see you later, Mike,” Jay added.
Michael tossed a courtesy wave over his shoulder at Jay and climbed into the driver’s side of Annie’s truck.
“How long has he been here?” Jay asked gliding his hands up Annie’s arms.
“Seems like forever,” Annie replied, rolling her eyes.
“I guess that explains why you haven’t been returning my calls.”
Annie smiled and reached out and stroked the side of his face, knowing without a doubt that Michael was watching every move she made. “A day hasn’t gone by that I haven’t thought about calling you,” she lied graciously.
“He’s not staying at your place, is he?”
“Hell no. He’s renting a house somewhere on the island.”
Jay squeezed her hand. His blue eyes sparkling with excitement. “Are you free tonight?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Why? Don’t tell me you have plans with him?” he asked, gesturing toward the truck.
“No! Don’t be crazy. I’m not sure if I can get a babysitter. I’ll give the neighbors a call though. Their granddaughter is visiting them for the summer. Last I heard, she was looking for summer jobs.”
“Great. See what you can do and call me.”
“I will.”
Jay pulled her against his body. Her fingers slid quickly around his neck and connected in the back. Then their lips met. It was short and sweet, but she knew it was enough to push Michael over the edge.
“Call me,” Jay insisted.
“I will.”
The ride back to the house was silent except for the happy babbling of the girls in the backseat. Without asking, Annie knew the depth of Michael’s anger by the way his jaw was set and teeth grinding. It was obvious that he was seething inside, and knowing that gave her a feeling of satisfaction. If he thought she was sitting around the house pining for him, he was sadly mistaken, she thought with smugness.
Michael remained outside and unloaded the truck. Annie half hoped he’d simply leave without coming back inside. She was in the girls’ room changing Angel’s diaper when he made his presence known.
“Everything okay?” she asked coldly.
Anxiously he rubbed at his face. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“You don’t look okay,” she commented, goading him to say something about Jay.
He pulled his hair back in his hands and sighed heavily. “What would you like me to say?”
“What you feel. You’re obviously upset about Jay. Why can’t you admit that?”
“It doesn’t matter what I feel.”
“Sure it does, because it would prove my point that you being here holds more meaning than what you've already admitted. And, it would solidify what I said earlier about it not be healthy for us to be spending so much time together when there is obviously no future in it.”
Michael’s eyes narrowed in anger, the color in them turning cold, and his lips clenched tight. She could tell he was ready to burst. She handed him the baby and laid Sammi down on the changing table.
“Well? Don’t tell me you have nothing to say about seeing me with Jay. No questions, thoughts or impressions, whatsoever? I find that hard to believe.”
Silence filled the room and Michael shifted uneasily, then finally he spoke. “Have you been seeing him long?” he asked, in a voice she was barely able to hear.
“About a month,” she answered quickly. “On and off, when our schedules allow. Does that bother you?” she asked with a hopeful tone in her voice.
He glared at her painfully, the hurt so evident in his pale blue eyes. His mouth opened to speak but no words were uttered and he turned to leave the room, backing down from a confrontation he chose not to be apart of. Then he set Sammi gently into her playpen and continued toward the door.
She followed him into the living room. “What’s the matter? Not man enough to admit that it bothers you to see me with Jay?”
He stopped in his tracks and faced her. “What exactly is it that you want me to say? Tell me and I’ll say it and we can be done with this. Do you even have an answer for that question?” He stepped closer, his eyes burning with fire. “If you’re looking for me to say something negative about you and Jay, I’m not going to. You have the right to do whatever you want and with whomever you want because of the very fact you reminded me of this afternoon - we’re divorced!” He turned back to the deck door and reached for the knob. “Besides, I already have the answers to my questions - without having to ask them.”
“Oh, yeah? Like what?” she spat, following him to the door.
He spun around again and glared at her. “Okay, for one thing I know you’re not in love with him.”
“Oh really, and how do you know that?”