Annie checked the clock on the dashboard. She had eight minutes to change into her work clothes, grab a snack, and still be on time for her after-school job at Captain Sweeney’s Seafood Market. She turned off the main road and zoomed down the wooded driveway toward the house. When she rounded the last bend, she saw Heidi leaning against the hood of her vintage turquoise Mustang. Annie slammed on the brakes, her Honda Accord skidding sideways on the gravel. Her anger surged at the sight of those ridiculous cat’s eye sunglasses her mother wore. Heidi’s white blonde hair was piled high in a messy bun on top of her head, while hot-pink lipstick accented her dazzling smile. Who did she think she was? Was she auditioning for Sandy’s role in a remake of the movie Grease? What was she doing here, anyway? Annie had asked Heidi repeatedly not to contact her. Couldn’t she take a hint? Annie thought about running her over, and then realized that pelting her with a spray of gravel as she peeled out of the driveway might be a better choice. Heidi stepped in front of Annie’s car preventing her from doing either. Not that she would have. She was not a violent person. Her mother just made her crazy.
Removing her house keys from her purse on the passenger seat, Annie jumped out of the car and marched toward the front door. “Please leave, Heidi. I told you I don’t want to see you.”
Heidi followed her up the brick steps. “I need to talk to you, Annie. Please. It will only take a few minutes.”
“I don’t have a few minutes,” she said, fumbling to insert her key into the lock. “I’m late for work.” Her heart pounding against her rib cage, Annie locked the bolt once inside and slumped back against the door. She forced herself to inhale deep gulps of air until her breathing slowed.
She walked down the hall to her bedroom where she changed into her work polo and blue jeans. She tied her honey-colored hair into a pert ponytail at the back of her head and slipped on her high-top black Chuck Taylors. Grabbing from her closet a hoodie the same shade of moss green as her polo, she went to the kitchen for a snack. She snatched a banana from the bowl of fruit on the counter and rummaged through the refrigerator for a drink, finally settling on one of Bitsy’s juice boxes. She started for the front door, and then stopped in her tracks. So what if she was late for work. If she took her time, maybe Heidi would get tired of waiting and leave.
Leaning against the kitchen counter, she peeled her banana and pinched off a bite. She stared down at the miniature cockapoo, her cute little face eager for attention, in the doggy crate on the floor near her feet. “I’m sorry, Snowflake. I have to go to work. I don’t have time to play with you.”
Santa had given the puppy to her little sister for Christmas. Snowflake barked a lot, but everyone in the family loved her. The family that was Annie’s in every way but name.
Annie stuffed the rest of the banana in her mouth and sucked all the apple juice out of the box through the tiny straw. She removed a dog biscuit from the glass jar on the counter, broke it in half, and fed it to Snowflake through the metal door. “Be a good girl, now.” She stroked the puppy’s silky ear with her finger through the mesh. “Bitsy will be home to play with you soon.”
Straightening, Annie slipped on her hoodie and walked back through the house to the front door. Heidi, her jean jacket held tight against her midsection, waited for her at the bottom of the porch steps, blocking the way to Annie’s car.
“Honey, please. I really need to talk to you. If you’ll just give me a chance to explain.”
Annie glared at her. “You gave up the right to call me honey, or any other term of endearment for that matter, when you abandoned me.” She tried to brush past Heidi, but she grabbed her by the arm.
“That happened a long time ago. I was a different person then. I made a bad decision. But I’m trying to make it right now.”
Annie yanked her arm away. “The decision was right for you at the time. A very selfish decision, I might add. You took off to Hollywood to chase your dreams of becoming a big movie star, and left me with a man who didn’t know how to scramble an egg or balance his checkbook, let alone raise a little girl.”
Heidi’s cobalt eyes glistened with tears. “Was your life really that miserable, sweetheart? I didn’t know—”
“Because you never bothered to find out.” Annie clenched her fists. “At least Daddy loved me, which is more than I can say for you. But he wasn’t a good provider. For the first time in my life, I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to pay for groceries. Or who’s going to cook dinner. The Sweeneys care about me. They ask me about my day. And help me with my geometry homework. Faith buys me new clothes. Bitsy loves having a big sister to take her places. Mike gave me a car for Christmas, for crying out loud.” She flicked her wrist at the silver Honda Accord in the driveway. “Don’t mess this up for me, Heidi. Just go away and leave me alone.”
Annie stalked off toward her car, but Heidi teetered after her on spiked-heel booties. “You and I were getting along so well together back in December, before you found out who I was. We were becoming friends. We share so many things in common. I know we can build a life together based on that friendship. You can come live with me. I recently signed a lease on the second-floor apartment in a newly renovated old home down on Broad Street, on the Battery. I think you’ll like it. I even have an extra bedroom for you.”
“God! You’re not listening to me.” Annie said, her face scarlet with anger. “I told you I’m happy here. I don’t want to move to Charleston. My life is here, in Prospect.”
Annie moved to open her car door but Heidi blocked the way. “You’d love Charleston, if you’d give it a chance. There are so many great restaurants. The place is alive with college kids your age. I hope to start my own business, but I can’t do it alone. I need you by my side.” Heidi brushed a stray strand of hair off Annie’s forehead. “You have to admit, it sounds appealing.”
Annie slapped her hand away. “I’d rather die than work in the same kitchen with you.”
“Please, baby. Don’t be this way.”
“I’m not your baby! You abandoned your baby sixteen years ago.” Shoving Heidi out of the way, Annie jumped into her car and struggled to fasten her seat belt. As she shot off down the driveway, she watched her mother slowly disappear in the rearview mirror. She careened onto Creekside Drive with barely a glance in either direction. Tears blurring her vision, she smacked her palms against the steering wheel. “Ugh! I hate her!” The stoplight ahead turned red and she slammed on her brakes. She removed her cell phone from her bag and thumbed off a quick text to her new best friend: “Heidi ambushed me at home. Why won’t she won’t leave me alone?” She flung the phone onto the floor of the passenger’s side.
When the light turned green, Annie took a sharp left onto Main Street instead of going straight toward Captain Sweeney’s. She punched the accelerator and sped through the business section of town, oblivious to the pedestrians milling about on the sidewalks and window-shopping despite the crisp February chill.
She was driving too fast to react when a Chrysler minivan veered over the line from oncoming traffic.
