Page 14 of Cole

“Is that how you feel?”

Annie shrugged. “When I was your age, I was definitely more restricted than you are. I just didn’t mind as much.”

Her personality was such that she was more willing to accept the restrictions and stick close to home. She hadn’t cared thatshe had tutors, or that she hadn’t been able to go to school or make friends.

Instead, she’d been able to do the things she loved. Like learning to sew, which had eventually led to her current business.

The biggest reason she’d accepted the restrictions so easily was that she had been impacted by the event that motivated her dad. Being kidnapped… losing her twin… She didn’t have a clear memory of any of it since she’d only been three years old.

However, her mom had told her about it when Annie was five. Right before she’d decided she couldn’t handle losing one of her daughters and not knowing what had happened to her. She’d then walked away from the one daughter she still had, choosing instead to only request visitation with Julian, Annie’s older brother.

Even now, as an adult, Annie still couldn’t understand how her mom could have rejected her. More understandable had been her mom’s feelings about her dad. It was possible she had hated her husband for not being able to save both the girls, especially since it had been his wealth that had made them a target.

Annie didn’t focus on it too much, though. But in the back of her mind, the question of if her identical twin sister was actually still alive lingered. Was she living her life somewhere, unaware of who she really was? Or had she been killed and buried in an unknown location?

When they finished eating, Benji left to go talk to Andrew, and Annie went upstairs to her work area. She prepped orders for shipping three times a week, and that day was a shipping day.

She opened her computer, which sat on a desk in the corner of the room, and pulled up the information on the sales she’dmade. It was rare that she had a ton of sales, since she didn’t have a huge amount of stock considering that she made everything herself. Still, she usually had three to four orders each shipping day.

After sending the orders to the printer, Annie got to her feet to begin working on the first one. It was an order for a matching sleep sack, cap, and mittens for a newborn.

She placed some tissue paper in the box, then carefully laid each piece of clothing inside. Once everything was in place, she folded the tissue paper over the items and affixed a sticker with her logo on it to hold the paper in place. Next, she added a copy of the order along with athank youpostcard for the customer.

She sealed up the box, then put a shipping label on it before setting it on the small table near the stairs. Then it was on to the next order.

When she got to the fourth package, the name on the top grabbed her attention.

Cole Halverson.

Her eyebrows lifted as she stared at the name. Why on earth was Cole ordering from her shop? He didn’t have any children. And she hadn’t seen anything indicating that he’d started dating someone seriously who might have children.

Frowning, she read through his order. He had ordered quite a few things, and as she pulled the items together, she shook her head. It was all so random.

As she was double-checking the order, she noticed that he’d added a note to the order.

Hey Annie! It’s me, Cole. We met when I was there in Serenity.

He wrote that as if she would forget having met him. Not. A. Chance.

A couple of my teammates’ wives have had babies recently, so I thought I’d choose a few things. If there’s an issue with what I’ve ordered, give me a call.

She turned her attention back to the items he’d chosen. They were so random with different patterns. Should she call him? She just didn’t know.

Part of her wanted to just send him what he bought and let him deal with it. However, she also wanted to put her best foot forward with any potential new customers.

He’d included a phone number with his note, so she entered it into her phone, then brought up her texting app. She didn’t want to assume he was available for a phone conversation by calling him up out of the blue.

Hi Cole ~ This is Annie. I’m just putting together your order and thought maybe we could have a conversation about it. Please call me when it’s convenient for you.

Almost immediately, her phone rang. Only it wasn’t a phone call. It was a video call.

Annie hesitated a moment, her hand going to touch her hair. But then she brushed off her pride and tapped to start the video.

Cole filled the screen, a big smile on his face. “Hey, Annie!”

“Uh, hi,” she said, returning his smile. “This is a surprise.”

“I know.” He shrugged. “But I like to see the person I’m talking with. So, how are you doing?”

---