Life as she knew it, would never be the same. She left all those behind in South Africa, hoping for a new start, a new beginning when she came to New York.
It ended being a nightmare. The prince she thought she married was a vicious snake who didn’t hesitate to steal from her or hurt her. She didn’t care about his affairs. He was welcome to them. If he had another woman prepared to put up with him, playing his horrible little games, he was staying away from her, and Annie preferred it.
Today, however, he went too far.
She had known that this day would come and she had prepared for it for the last year.
Annie looked down at the little girl now sleeping in the cot. Tears were clinging to her lashes, and Kent’s handprint was still visible on the tiny cheek.
She had enough. She had enough of Kent Brodie and his abuse.
She looked up from her daughter to where Kent was rummaging in her bag for more money. Good luck to him. She didn’t have much cash in her purse. The card he was taking out of her wallet, had not much on it either. He was welcome to it as long as he took it and leave.
Kent flung the bag on the floor, disgusted with what he found and stormed out of the front door. Annie listened to his footsteps, where it stopped in front of the elevator. When she heard the bell announcing the car, she waited for the swoosh-sound of the doors opening and closing, and then Annie exhaled the breath she didn’t know she was holding.
She rushed to the window, and when she saw him, exiting the building to cross the street, she sprang into action. She didn’t know how much time she had before he returned. It might be hours, or it might be days, but when he came back, she didn’t want to be here.
She dug her phone out from where she had pushed it under the cushion of the couch and sent a quick message. That done, she rushed to collect the tapes from the cameras she had installed and flung the last of their clothes she hadn’t hidden at the office, in two bags. By the time she finished, there was a knock on her door, and her saviours arrived. It didn’t take them long to leave the apartment that had been her home her whole miserable married life, behind.
It was time to start anew.
Although her heart urged her to go home, she wasn’t sure she was ready yet. There were too many memories, and reminders waiting for her there.
And if Annie wanted to tell the truth, she felt ashamed. She thought she made a grownup decision to marry Kent, but it had all been a mistake and now felt like a failure. She should’ve known what type of man he was, but she was too desperate to be away from Marcus.
Not once in her married life had she been back home, and although her parents came to visit her, Annie never confided the actual state of her marriage to them. The truth would be a shock to them.
No, she would first lick her wounds in silence, get a divorce and then she’ll decide what to do.
New York, however, was too small for her and Kent Brodie. She would stay here until the divorce was final, but then she’ll find a place of safety for her and her daughter. Maddie deserved a mother who would protect her and be strong. New York wasn’t the place to do it.
And Stellenbosch was still way too small for her, Marcus Walker and his wife.
She needed someplace else. She just needed to find it.
Annie’s peace didn’t come. While she waited for the divorce to become final, she had been living on tenterhooks.
Kent didn’t make it easy. He disappeared every time before the court date, and when they got hold of him, he tried to oppose, but Annie had prepared herself for this eventuality for years. She had enough evidence.
She had found refuge in a shelter where she and Maddie were safe. Annie had resigned from her job when the time came for her to flee. Kent would’ve looked for her there. He wasn’t stupid.
At least her stepfather had insisted that they got married out of community of property. Kent couldn’t lay a hand on her trust fund. Annie used those funds to support her and Maddie and pay for her divorce for the first time, but she didn’t mind. It was worth every cent.
The day when the divorce became final, arrived at last. Annie breathed a sigh of relief when the judge granted her freedom. He gave Kent a stern warning to stay away from her. He even made his warning official by making it an order of the court.
After Annie had a celebratory drink with her lawyers, she left them at the restaurant. All she wanted to do was hug her daughter and then make plans for their future.
She should’ve been more aware, but she was so deep in thought she didn’t see the man before his fist connected with her cheek. Annie screamed, “Help!” but by then he hit her in the stomach with a second blow. She bent forward, breathing in when he brought his knee up to crunch it into her face. The pain exploded in her head, and she fell backwards, feeling the shoe hitting her ribs, but then everything went black, and she didn’t feel the pain anymore.
The next time she woke up, she couldn’t open her eyes. Her body ached everywhere.
Maddie. Where was Maddie? Was she safe?
She didn’t know she had squeezed the words through her parched lips because the next moment she felt warm hand folding over hers and a familiar voice reassured her, “Shh, don’t worry. Maddie is safe. She’s at the shelter for now. They can take better care of her than I can.”
“Luke?”
“Yes, little sis. It’s me. I’m here to take you home,” he said.
The familiarity of her stepbrother’s voice and accent, caused the tears to flow, stinging cuts and bruises on her face but Annie didn’t care then. When the tears stopped, possibly because of Luke’s gentle stroking of her hair, Annie could manage, “Kent?”
“He’s in custody. He will be in jail for a while, not only for the attack but also for violating the court order. He could be lucky he’s in jail, and I couldn’t get my hands on him. But I’ve seen him. If he ever gets near you, I’ll kill him. I never liked the little bastard.”
If her face hadn’t been so swollen, Annie might’ve laughed.
“As soon as they release you and you gave your affidavit, I’m taking you home,” Luke informed Annie the following day. Her eyes were not as swollen, and she could see him for the first time in five years.
Her heart ached when she studied him. Apart from the colour of his eyes, he was just a younger version of Marcus.
Annie shook her head, “I don’t want to go back to the farm. I don’t want to see…”
She stopped and sighed, “I don’t want to see Linda. She had known what type of man Kent was.”
Luke’s eyes widened, and then he said, almost uncomfortable, “Anne-Marie, when last had you spoke to anyone at home?”
Annie flushed, “About eight months ago when I left Kent and moved into the shelter. I wanted no one to know where I was or why. I worried Linda would tell him.”
Luke shook his head, “Linda died of cancer seven months ago. They found cancer when she was six months pregnant with Cody, but she refused treatment to give Cody a chance. It was then too late.”
Annie stared at him in shock. She hadn’t expected that news. Geez, she hadn’t even known Linda was sick or she and Marcus had another boy. She didn’t want to know anything about them and never allowed her mother to talk about them.
She kept her contact with the family in the last few months to a bare minimum, so it was her fault that the news hadn’t reached her.
And it didn’t matter whether she hated Linda, she felt terrible that she had died. Her mind drifted to Marcus and his two little boys, but she stopped it. She should not think about him.
But could she go home knowing she had to face Marcus?
As if he could read her mind, Luke urged, “Come on, Anne-Marie. Mum is worried sick about you, but she can’t get away now. Come home and heal and take your time to find your feet again.”
“I don’t want to go in public like this,” Annie hedged.
“You don’t have to. The police are coming to take your statement in an hour here at the hospital. I’ve asked the shelter to pack all your stuff. A car will take us there to pick up Maddie and your things, and from there we’ll go to the airport where my plane is waiting.”
Annie gaped at him, “Your plane?”
Luke chuckled, “Yes, just shows how out of touch you are with the family. I must admit, though, it’s not only my plane. Nate, our cousin Mark and Nicholas Carter all put in to buy it. It’s much easier to get around on short notice.”
“Geez, I didn’t know you make that kind of money. Any of you,” Annie muttered.
“It’s time to come home, little sis. Get to know your family again. You have an opportunity now. I have to wait another year, but my turn will come too. So will Nate and Matt and Reid when the time is right.”
Annie closed her eyes thinking of the farm she had grown up on in the heart of South Africa’s Winelands. In her minds’ eye, she could see the blue mountains forming a perfect backdrop to the big house nestling in the vineyards. She could smell the soil after winter rain and taste the familiar dishes from her childhood.
Luke was right. It was time to go home.
And it was time to face Marcus.
Ten years was a long time to bear a grudge.
Marcus’ hand stopped at the car door, and he stared, shocked. His heart was beating so fast, and it felt as if he couldn’t breathe.
Annie.
He hadn’t seen her in five long years.
No, he hadn’t seen her in five years, two months and twenty-two days. He might count the exact time to the last second if he wanted to, but he didn’t need a reminder.
The last time he had seen Anne-Marie Sinclair—now Brodie—was on her wedding day. For five years she had stayed away from Blue Mountain and Twin Peaks. Why did she come back? And why now, when he had barely managed to pick up the shattered pieces of his life?
Samuel pulled Marcus out of his reverie when he knocked on the window and called, “Daddy, Daddy, I want to get out.”
Marcus flushed. He pulled his gaze away from Annie, who was still standing on the stairs of the big house and opened the car door. He ruffled Samuel’s hair and said, “Sorry, son. Let me help you,” and removed the seatbelt that was the only thing that kept the four-year-old Sammy still sitting in his booster chair. Marcus glanced across and noticed that Cody was still fast asleep. The one-year-old had fallen asleep only an hour ago while they were driving back from their beach holiday near Plettenberg Bay.
Sammy ran, and he was shouting, “Granny, Granny,” as soon as Anna came out the front door to join Annie. Marcus felt relieved that he didn’t need to face Annie on his own.
Marcus couldn’t hear what Samuel was telling Anna, but he guessed Samuel was regaling his grandmother about their holiday. The holiday hadn’t been easy. It was the first time Marcus and his sons had been on holiday on their own. Marcus felt they had coped well. The kids hadn’t starved, and neither of them drowned. They were all back alive and well.
Marcus was stalling when he walked around the car to the other side to get Cody out. He dreaded the moment he needed to face Annie—Anne-Marie.
He shouldn’t think of her as Annie anymore. Not now she belonged to someone else, but Marcus guessed it was an old habit he would struggle to shed. If he called her Anne-Marie, like the rest of the family, he might keep her at a distance. He had no choice.
Marcus frowned. Why could Anna not have mentioned that Annie was coming for a visit? If Anna had, Marcus could’ve prepared himself better—or he could’ve stayed away longer until she had left.
Anna and Marc didn’t know what he had done. If they had, they might never have forgiven him. Hell, he couldn’t forgive himself because he suspected that he was the reason Annie had stayed away. Marcus couldn’t blame her. He had never forgiven himself.
Marcus sighed. It’s no use stalling. He had to face Annie sometime, and he knew Anna would be waiting to see her other grandson.
Marcus could only hope that Cody won’t wake up grumpy. He was tired, and it would be a long evening. He didn’t fancy facing it with Annie and a cranky toddler.
He unstrapped the boy and pushed him over his shoulder. Cody didn’t stir apart from his arms crawling around Marcus’ neck. Marcus locked the car and made his way to the stairs to join the others. He dared not look at Annie yet. He would, in a few minutes but only when he could no longer avoid it.
When he reached them, Marcus leaned in and kissed Anna on her cheek in answer to her greeting. Cody was still asleep and shook his head when Anna wanted to take him, “No, don’t wake him up yet. He’ll be grumpy the rest of the night. Another half-hour should do.”
Marcus then had no choice but to look at Annie. His breath caught when he noticed the bruises that covered her cheek and her arms. What had happened to Annie? Had she been in an accident?
Marcus realised that he was staring and he flushed. He cleared his throat, and for the first time in over five years, Marcus spoke to her. And all he could manage was “Annie.”
Yeah, right? You were supposed to call her Anne-Marie, dummy. Not Annie.
She looked up, and Marcus’ heart broke in tiny pieces. The long, dark-blond hair didn’t hide the cut above her eye. Her eyes, usually bright and laughing, looked sad and they were red-rimmed as if she had cried. That was, however, not what caught Marcus’ attention.
No, it was the fear. Marcus had seen it in her eyes too, but then a brief flash of anger flitted through her eyes when she mumbled, “I’m Anne-Marie. Not Annie.”
Marcus clenched his jaw at the rebuke. He should’ve expected it, but hell, it still hurt. Annie didn’t acknowledge him other than those four words. Her eyes darted downwards, her knuckles shining white as her hands clenched around her arms when she hugged herself.
Marcus frowned when Annie withdrew again. He glanced at her mother—his stepmother—who had been watching their interchange. Anna shook her head and mouthed the word “later.”