Rose Harbor in Bloom (7 page)

“Except for this one flaw.”

Annie raised the tea to her lips. “A pretty major flaw, don’t you think? Unfortunately, Lenny hasn’t been able to accept the fact I refuse to marry him.”

It sounded to me like she’d made a wise choice and was well rid of him.

“What I can’t understand, what’s been so hard,” she said, looking down at the mug, “is that despite everything, I miss being with him.” She snorted a laugh. “That’s absolutely ridiculous, isn’t it?”

“Not in the least,” I told her, and leaning my elbows against the countertop, I held my tea mug close to my lips. “The two of you must have spent a lot of time together. Being with Lenny is simply habit.”

Annie stared at me for a long, heart-stopping moment as she considered what I’d said. “You’re right. I saw him every day; we did practically everything together … or so I assumed.” This last part was added with a smirk.

“I think you’re better off now than making this discovery after you’re married.”

“My thoughts exactly. He swears it meant nothing …” Closing her eyes, Annie shook her head. “He actually claimed the other woman seduced him just so she could ruin any chance he had of finding happiness with me.”

“Do you believe that?”

She motioned with one hand. “I don’t think it matters if I do or not. If she intentionally seduced him, no matter what her reasons, Lenny had a choice, and he chose to … to betray me.”

“It hurts terribly now, but it does get better.” I’d learned that life after a loss wasn’t easy, but gradually one learns to live with that pain.

“I refuse to marry a man I can’t trust.”

Again, I agreed with her.

“Lenny seems to think if he pesters me enough I’ll eventually change my mind. It’s been six months and he still believes there’s a chance for the two of us, despite everything I’ve done and said.”

In order to escape Lenny, Annie had decided to arrive a day early. She was looking to escape her ex-fiancé or perhaps the fear that she might change her mind yet again. Although it was clearly a painful decision, it appeared to be the right one. I just hoped that being at the inn would help her heal, the way it had me. At least now being in Cedar Cove would give Annie the space and strength she needed.

In an effort to distract herself from the broken engagement, Annie had worked hard on this anniversary celebration for her grandparents. Everything had been set into place. The special invitations she’d designed as scrolls had gone out in small tubes. She’d received RSVPs from more than a hundred and fifty family and friends. In addition, she’d met with the local priest and arranged for a renewal-of-vows ceremony to take place on the waterfront. The reception, buffet dinner, and dance to follow should go off without a hitch. The dinner menu was set, and a three-piece band that had come highly recommended had been hired. Two of the band’s original members had been playing in the area fifty years ago, and now their children had stepped into their roles. There was
every likelihood that Annie’s grandparents had danced to the band’s music when they were young.

What Annie hadn’t anticipated was how determined Lenny would be to win her back. The problem, she realized, was that she’d ‘forgiven’ him the first time. Now he seemed to assume that because he’d been able to change her mind once, all it would take was time and that she’d be willing to look past this second indiscretion. Well, that wasn’t going to happen. In an effort to distract herself from the painful breakup, she’d put all her effort into making this anniversary party one the family would never forget.

As if on cue, her cell phone rang. Annie reached for it and glanced at caller ID, although it wasn’t necessary. It was Lenny, just as she suspected.

At first she toyed with ignoring the call, but that didn’t seem to be working. After two weeks of silence, he’d contacted her again by leaving her countless messages. It was clear he wasn’t going to let go until he persuaded her to take him back. If she didn’t put an end to it right now, then he might well ruin the anniversary party.

She punched the answer button but didn’t give him the opportunity to speak. “I told you not to call me again,” she said with a determination born of anger and pain. “There’s nothing left you can say that’s going to make me change my mind.”

“Annie, please.”

“I don’t know how many times I have to say it, Lenny, but it is over. So please leave me alone. Understand?” Her resolve was set, and she had no intention of backing down.

“No, I don’t understand,” he argued. “I don’t understand any of this.”

“I can answer that in one word: Nichole … and Sadie, and whoever else whose names I don’t know.”

The words hung in the air between them, as if caught on an invisible wire.

“How many times do I have to tell you all this is their fault? They seduced me.”

Annie struggled with the fact that Lenny couldn’t even own up to his own part in his betrayal. “You’re right, you were tricked. It was all a mistake, a life-changing mistake, a break-the-engagement, never-want-to-see-you-again kind of mistake.” She’d made that clear for the last six months, but apparently he hadn’t gotten the message.

“Where are you?” Lenny asked instead of arguing. “I’ve been sitting outside your condo for over an hour, waiting to talk to you. Can’t you see what this is doing to me? I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. We’ve got to settle this once and for all before I go mad.”

Frustrated, Annie’s fingers bunched up the bedspread. Everything Lenny said related to him, revolved around him. It shocked her that she hadn’t seen this earlier. Perhaps her mother was right and she’d fallen in love with being in love. After all the time and effort she’d put into this anniversary party for her grandparents, she would have assumed Lenny would guess her whereabouts. If there was anything to be grateful for, it was his short, self-absorbed memory. “I’m not in Seattle.”

“I know.” Aggravation bled into his words. “Where did you go? Tell me and I’ll come join you and we’ll reason all this out. I’m miserable without you, Annie. Have a heart and put me out of my pain.”

The last thing Annie intended was to see him. “Lenny, it’s over. I don’t know how many times I need to tell you that, but our relationship is kaput, finished, done with. We are not getting married.”

“My family, especially my mom, once she finds out …”

“You mean to say after six months you still haven’t told your mother and sister?” Unbelievable! Well, she’d take care of that in short order. “Listen,” she said, ever so sweetly, “if you want me to tell your mom and family myself, and save you the trouble and the embarrassment, then I will.”

“No, don’t.”

“Then stop pestering me.”

“I can’t and I won’t until we talk this out.” Lenny, as he so often did, ignored anything he didn’t want to hear, didn’t want to believe.

As far as Annie was concerned, there was nothing left to be said. Her eyes had been opened, and she wasn’t going back. Lenny was a fun guy, the kind of person people liked being around because he was witty and charming. He was the perfect car salesman and often the top seller of the month. He enjoyed being the center of attention, but as she’d come to realize, it was all surface with him. Life was a game to be played. Talk was cheap, as her dad said. What she should have recognized long before she did was that there was no depth to him.

“Mom thinks the world of you, and …”

“I’m sure she’ll like Nichole or Sadie, too.” In his mother’s eyes, her precious son could do no wrong.

“Annie, please, just tell me where you are so we can talk face-to-face.”

“Where I am is really none of your concern.” Nor was she about to tell him.

“You’re intent on avoiding me, aren’t you?”

One thing she could say about Lenny: he missed nothing. She hadn’t contacted him in months, and she refused to answer his phone calls or the countless text messages he’d sent, pleading with her to reconsider. Talking to him now was probably a mistake, but she wanted this out of the way so she could concentrate on the family party.

She waited until the air between them went still.

“Annie?”

“Lenny. Please. Listen to me.” She made every word distinct, with a short pause after each one.

“Of course. I’ll do anything to make this up to you. Anything. Just name it and I’ll do it.”

She could almost believe him, almost trust him, but at the same time she knew better. “What I want, what I need, is for you to listen, because what I’m about to say is serious.”

“I’m serious, too, baby.”

“I didn’t return the engagement ring because I was angry. I was—”

“I know,” he said, cutting her off, rushing his words. “You could have clawed my eyes out, but you didn’t. You were so calm, so unemotional, which leads me to believe—”

“Lenny, you’re talking. You’re not listening.”

“Okay, okay, go ahead and say what you want and I promise to give you my full attention.”

Annie inhaled deeply and held her breath while she sorted out the words in her mind. She needed to reach him and at the same time be abundantly clear. “I returned the engagement ring because you and I will not, under any circumstances, ever be married.” Once she’d finished she gave him a moment to absorb her words and then asked, “Do you understand what I’m saying, Lenny?”

After a brief hesitation he murmured, “I think so.”

“Good.”

“But when can I see you again?” he asked.

Annie resisted the urge to simply hang up. “You weren’t really listening, Lenny. We will never see each other again.”

This appeared to shock him. “
Never?
You can’t be serious.”

“As serious as a bounced check to the IRS.” This was a problem Lenny had encountered the year before when he learned it wasn’t a good idea to tangle with the Internal Revenue Service.

“You mean to say you don’t want to even see me? Not ever?”

Apparently, he hadn’t paid attention during the last six months. “Not ever,” she reconfirmed, keeping her voice cool and unemotional. He was right about one thing, though—she wasn’t angry. Instead, she was resolved. It seemed no matter how she said it Lenny couldn’t believe she was serious. Annie didn’t know what
she could say or do to make this decision any more plain. Lenny couldn’t seem to grasp that this was her final decision. He’d gotten so good at persuading people when it came to selling cars that he seemed to think he could use the same techniques in his personal life with the same results.

“What reason would I have to see you?” she asked.

“Ah …” Lenny hesitated as if he wasn’t sure himself.

Annie resisted the urge to laugh. In all this time since their split she noticed that he hadn’t once declared his love. His big concern, it seemed, was how he would explain the broken engagement to his mother.

“Please don’t phone me again, Lenny.”

“Never?”
The word seemed to be stuck in his mind, which might not be so bad.

“You got it. Never. Our engagement, our relationship, is over, and before you can claim I don’t mean it, let me assure you that I do. If you continue to pester me and my friends, then you leave me no option but to put a restraining order on you.”

“You wouldn’t,” he said with a gasp.

“Don’t try me, Lenny. I can, and I will.” Not waiting to hear any further arguments, she ended the call. She waited a few minutes to be sure Lenny wouldn’t try to connect with her again, and when he didn’t, she dropped her cell back into her purse, with the utmost hope that this would be the end of his harassment.

As difficult and painful as this time apart had been, it was necessary. If Lenny had cheated on her, not once but twice, before the wedding, then she knew it was just a small taste of what awaited her if they were to get married. She knew he liked to flirt, but it was easy to dismiss that tendency because he was so outgoing and friendly. Perhaps it was a downfall of hers not to be the jealous type.

Like Jo Marie’s first guest, Annie wasn’t interested in eating dinner, either. She read for a while and resisted the urge to call a friend
and review the conversation with Lenny. It didn’t take her long to decide against it. If she talked to Elise or anyone else, she might admit how much she missed him and how difficult breaking off the engagement actually was. It was far more comfortable to focus her attention on her grandparents and forget she’d ever been in love.

Despite the unpleasant conversation with Lenny, Annie slept the entire night through. It was as if the fresh air off the cove had lulled her into a deep, easy sleep. In the morning, she felt worlds better.

As far as Lenny was concerned, Annie had shed her last tears. These few days away were exactly what she needed. Even if she’d be working the entire time, it was worth it to ensure this was the high point of her grandparents’ marriage. The fact that her grandparents had been in love for more than fifty years gave Annie hope that love and commitment could and did last a lifetime. All she needed was to find a good man. Although it was painful now, Annie accepted that she’d made the right decision, and she wasn’t turning back.

Mary Smith was already at the breakfast table when Annie came down the stairs. The afternoon before, Annie’s conversation with the other woman had been brief. Almost as soon as Annie arrived at the inn, Mary had made an excuse and gone up to her room. She let it be known she wasn’t looking for company or in the mood for chitchat. Annie wasn’t in the mood to socialize, either, so that suited her fine.

“Coffee?” Jo Marie asked as soon as Annie came into the breakfast room. She stood just inside the room for a moment to soak in the light. The sun sparkled off the windows, filling the room with both light and warmth. This wasn’t the typical weather for the end of May, and it came as a pleasant and most welcome surprise.
Annie had dared to hope they’d have sunshine this weekend for the party. Now if only it would hold for the next few days.

Annie reached for her coffee cup, and Jo Marie promptly filled it.

“I understand you two have already introduced yourselves,” Jo Marie said, glancing from one to the other for confirmation.

“We did,” Mary answered for them both.