Page 35 of Lost in Love
Chapter 9
Anna stretched back against the picnic bench and soaked in the sunshine. Her mind drifted back to the previous night.
She hadn’t known how to wake Katherine on her return and couldn’t resist stroking her soft face. She had been left drained by her confession and had felt sick since. Knowing that Katherine was carrying around such an immense loss every day, likely scared to open herself up again, pained her.
Anna cringed at the thought of the times she had flirted with her. Now all she wanted was to take away her pain. She wasn’t sure how she would ever recover from something like that. Her own problems paled in comparison to Katherine’s.
She vowed to keep a distance in future and not flirt with Katherine; it wasn’t fair to her. She was sure Katherine had been tempted to kiss her last night but had struggled. She had to be left to make the next move and to be sure of her feelings towards Anna. She couldn’t be in any doubt now as to how Anna felt about her, though; Anna felt that her desire to scoop her up in her arms, kiss her, and make everything better for her was inevitably clear.
Trauma of that kind was hard to run from, let alone ever escape. Katherine would no doubt have to learn to live with it, and she was likely learning every day.
A voice pulled her from her thoughts.
“Hey.”
Anna sat up and blocked the sun with her hand. “Hi, Carrie.”
Carrie joined her on the bench. “They are talking to the investigators, and then Margaret wants to see you. It’s typical it happened your first time on call. Was your dad all right on his own?”
“Katherine came over and sat with him.”
“Oh, yeah?” Carrie nudged at Anna’s side with her elbow.
“What?” Anna tried to contain a smile.
“You and the doc are becoming pretty close.”
Anna’s mouth betrayed her. “I adore her, Carrie.”
“I’m just glad to see you happy. You look so much lighter.”
“I feel it. It’s nice to have someone looking out for you and caring for you.”
Carrie nodded. “Situations like yours can be very lonely and all-consuming.”
Two police officers strolled past them and gave them a nod.
“Looks like I’m up.” Anna stood and stretched. “See you in a bit.”
The meeting room door was already open, so Anna stuck her head around the door. “Hi, Margaret.”
Margaret looked up from her position at the end of the long meeting table. “Anna, come in. Close the door please.”
Anna took the seat beside her.
“Did the police find out how they broke in?”
Margaret shook her head and dropped her glasses down her nose to look at Anna. “They didn’t break in, Anna; the outer gates were left unlocked.”
Anna’s face fell flat. “But I locked… up.” Anna retraced her movements after Katherine had left the abbey the previous afternoon. Her mind scrambled to fill in the blanks. A line etched between her brows. “I’m sure I did.” She could visualise closing the gates and putting the lock on, but she had been distracted, her mind full of Katherine and her admittance to being enraptured.
“They examined the combination lock, and there is no sign of it being tampered with. It just appears to have not been clicked in properly. Seems we were the victims of opportunists. Of course, without a crime, there is no insurance payout.”
“Shit.” Anna put her hand to her mouth. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. You must be disappointed.”
“Am I going to be fired? I need this job. I love this job.”
