On Mystic Lake

She was standing at the edge of the archway that separated the living room from the formal dining room.

She was home again. Now, at last, everything would be all right.

He moved cautiously toward her. “Annie?”

She turned away from him and walked into the living room, standing alone at the windows. “I have something to tell you, Blake. ”

It unnerved him, the way she wouldn’t look at him. The sight of her, so stiff and unyielding, was a sharp reminder that she was not the same woman he’d left only a few months before. His throat was dry. “What is it?”

“I’m pregnant. ”

His first thought was no, not again. He couldn’t go through that again. Then he remembered the other man, the man Annie had slept with, and he could hardly breathe. It was as if someone had just run an ice cube down his spine. “Is it mine?”

She sighed, and it was a sad little sound that didn’t reassure him. “Yes. I’m three months along. ”

He couldn’t seem to think straight. He shook his head, sighing. “A baby . . . Christ, after all these years. ”

She turned and gave him a quirking smile, and there she was at last. His Annie. He realized then what he hadn’t before. It was the baby that had brought her back to him. “A baby. ” This time he could smile. “Our baby . . . ”

“All those years I thought God wasn’t listening. It turns out He’s got a mean sense of humor. He obviously wanted me to go through menopause and potty training at the same time. ”

“We’ll make it work this time,” he said softly.

She flinched at the words, and he wondered if he should have phrased it as a question. “Blake—”

He didn’t want to hear what she was going to say. “Whatever happened in Mystic is over, Annie. This is our child you’re carrying. Our child. We have to become a family again. Please give me another chance. ”

She didn’t answer, just stared for a long time at his hand on her stomach. Then, unsmiling, she looked away.

Please give me another chance.

Annie closed her eyes. God, how many nights had she lain in her lonely bed, aching to hear those words from him? Yet now they fell against her heart like stones down an empty well. Clattering, bouncing, signifying nothing.

And what had she said to him, all those months ago? I can’t believe you’d throw it all away. We’re a family, Blake, a family.

“Annie—”

“Not now, Blake,” she said in a fragile voice. “Not now. ”

She heard him sigh, a tired, disappointed sound that she knew well. He was confused and more than a little angry; he didn’t know how to lose or how to be patient or how to hold his tongue.

“I’ll have to be bedridden, just like with . . . Adrian. ” She gazed up at him. “It’s going to take some work on your part. I won’t be able to be good old Annie, taking care of everyone else. For once, you’ll have to put me first. ”

“I can do that. ”

She wished she could believe it.

“I know it won’t be easy for you to trust me again. I screwed up. . . . ”

“A mammoth understatement. ”

His voice dropped to a plaintive whisper. “I can’t believe you don’t love me anymore. . . . ”

“Neither can I,” she said softly, and it was true. Somewhere, deep inside of her, a shadow of their love had to remain. She’d loved him for twenty years. Certainly that kind of emotion didn’t simply disappear. “I’m trying to believe in what we had, and I pray we can find our way back to love, but I’m not in love with you now. Hell, I don’t even like you much. ”

“You will,” he answered with a confidence that set her teeth on edge. He leaned toward her. “Let’s go to bed. ”

“Hel-lo Blake. Have you been listening to me? I’m not ready to sleep with you yet . . . besides, Dr. North said it was risky. Remember? Early contractions. ”