Midnight Caller Read Free

pot’s contents with a wooden spoon. She opened the door to the oven, peering inside at a loaf of French bread and turning on the broiler to brown its top.
    â€œDon’t let me forget about that.” Closing the door, she moved around the kitchen, pulling out dishes from an overhead cabinet. In that instant, she reminded Trevor oftheir mother, during the better times when she hadn’t been drinking.
    Annabelle turned around, leaning against the counter as she spoke. “You’re surprised I’m still living here, aren’t you?”
    â€œYeah, I guess I am.”
    â€œThere were some good memories here, too. It took me a long time to remember that. You, Brian and I were still together.”
    Annabelle returned to the table with plates and a stack of paper napkins. Trevor stood and took the plates from her, putting one in front of each seat while she went to retrieve the silverware from a drawer next to the sink. When she came back, she said, “When Scott and I split up, the truth is I didn’t have anywhere else to go. Haley and I needed a home, and Mom left this house to all of us.”
    â€œYou’ve done a great job with it.”
    â€œBrian and Alex have been a big help. They painted the house, put in the new kitchen floor and rebuilt the porch.”
    â€œAnna, the bread.”
    Using a dish towel as an oven mitt, she withdrew the plump loaf and dropped it on top of the stove. “One-third of the house belongs to you, you know. With the prices they’re getting in Marigny these days…”
    â€œI don’t want anything. It’s enough for me if you and Haley are happy here. I’ll sign my share of the house over to you, if that’s what you want.”
    â€œBrian said the same thing, but I’d prefer it if we all still owned a piece of it.” She paused, running her hands along the top of her jeans. “You don’t have to keep sending me checks, Trevor. I’m back on my feet now, and I’m working at the gallery four days a week, handling the bookkeeping. In fact, I want to pay you back when I can.”
    He shrugged. It had been only a few hundred dollars amonth, but he thought his sister could use the money, with Haley to care for. He knew the child-support payments arrived sporadically at best. “Don’t pay me back. Just put the money in my niece’s college fund, okay?”
    Annabelle’s eyes filled with emotion. She walked to Trevor and hugged him.
    â€œIt’s good to see you,” she whispered. He held his sister in his arms.
    When they pulled apart, she tried to hide the glimmer of tears. “Dinner’s ready. I’ll go get Haley. She doesn’t wash her hands if you don’t stand over her.”
    Trevor’s gaze moved to the table. He’d already noticed it had been set for only three.
    â€œBrian flew Alex’s Cessna down to Naples,” she explained. “Some pain-in-the-ass client keeps changing his mind about the artwork for his beach house and Alex couldn’t go in his place. He said to tell you he’s sorry, and that he’ll call you tomorrow.”
    â€œI hope they’re giving drug tests to private pilots these days, too.”
    Annabelle looked at him. “He’s been clean for nearly two years now. And he really does want to see you.”
    He merely nodded, watching as his sister left the room. He thought of the last time he’d seen Brian and the hurtful things they’d said to one another. Trevor hadn’t meant a word of it, but he’d been frustrated and angry. He’d also been terrified Brian’s problems were his fault.
    He’s been clean for nearly two years now.
    More than anything, Trevor realized, he wanted Annabelle’s declaration to be true.

2
    D espite her urging, Trevor didn’t stay with Annabelle, preferring to sleep somewhere that didn’t hold his history within its walls. Instead, he’d booked