Rafe turned and folded his arms across his chest. “Oh, can’t I? Want to watch me?”
“Okay, okay, you can,” Khalil conceded. “But why pull out early? Since when did Rafe Kent abandon his buddies for some girl?”
“Don’t you…” Rafe stopped himself, clamping his mouth shut before he embarrassed himself. He’d been about to say, don’t you see, this isn’t just some girl. But then that would draw more questions and how would he explain? He couldn’t even figure out how to explain it to himself. How is it possible that in such a short time Anya had such a hold over him?
He shook his head. “Sorry, guys. I’ll have to wrap this up early. Time for me to get my head out of the clouds and back to work.” Then, not waiting to see if they’d left or stayed, he walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
And with the closing of that door he knew another door had closed, too. He would be leaving Europe, relegating that journey to his store of enjoyable recollections, and from here on Anya Petersen would be nothing but a pleasant memory.
***
Anya couldn’t believe it was summer break already. Where had the school year gone? Most of the teachers had been dying to start summer vacation but not her. Her life was so full when she was with the little ones that she didn’t have a moment to feel bored. Now, though, they were all off on holidays so she would be left to her own devices.
It wasn’t that she didn’t need the rest. When it was work time she gave it her all so a vacation was perfectly in order. She deserved it. The only problem was, now that classes had ended she would have no excuse for putting off a visit to her father in Bonn. A neurologist, he had been sorely disappointed when Anya refused to follow in his footsteps and chose instead to teach at the kindergarten level. She’d had excellent grades in the sciences, acing biology, chemistry and physics. Both of her parents had assumed she would have gone on to study medicine or at least embark on a career in the science field but none of that had appealed to Anya. At the end of the day she had chosen to do what she enjoyed most – working with young children. She loved being a teacher, which gave her the opportunity to mold young minds. She would not give that up for anything.
And that was why it was so hard for her to spend time with her father. With the coming of the summer vacation he would expect a visit. Of course, he would use the opportunity to demand to know when she was going to get serious about utilizing her innate acumen for science. In short, he would harass the life out of her.
Her mother, who was also in the medical field, wasn’t quite so bad. An obstetrician, she’d been happy when Anya excelled in the sciences but when her daughter chose to teach children rather than treat them she’d finally accepted that choice. As she put it so eloquently, you’re the one who’s going to wake up to this every day. Make sure you don’t hate it when Monday morning comes around. Her mother got it so why didn’t her father?
Anya heaved a sigh then pressed the remote to switch off the television. She’d had enough of Tatort for one evening. It was still early yet, only a little after eight o’clock, but she would head for her bedroom anyway. For some reason she felt like making it an early night.
Maybe she felt extra tired because, although it was only the first week of summer vacation, she was already bored. Or maybe it was because she’d been thinking about her father and what excuse she could give him for wanting to stay with him only one weekend. Or maybe…maybe it was because, no matter how she tried she could not get a certain man out of her mind, a dark, handsome American by the name of Rafe Kent.
What had the man done to her? Over three weeks had passed since she’d practically assaulted him then fled, out of the building and out of his life, and yet here she was, still thinking about him. This was insane.
Frustrated with how stupid she was being, Anya shook her head in disgust and got up. She was on her way to the bedroom when a knock at the door made her halt. She frowned. She wasn’t expecting anyone, certainly not at this time of the evening. As she turned to head toward the front door the knocking started again and this time it sounded more urgent. “Coming,” she called out and as she reached out to grasp the doorknob she heard the unmistakable sound of a sob.
Quickly, she opened the door and as she guessed, it was Helga who stood on her porch, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“May I come in?” the sobbing woman asked. “I can’t take it anymore.”
“Mein Gott. Helga, what did he do this time?” Quickly, Anya skimmed her face but there were no signs of bruises. She reached out and took her neighbor’s hand. “Come in. Tell me what happened.”
As she opened the door wide and pulled her inside Anya peered through the shadows of dusk across the street to the house that faced hers. Herr Gruber was nowhere in sight.
As soon as Helga stepped in she closed the door and directed the sobbing woman to the long, low sofa in the living room then sat down beside her. For a long while Helga didn’t speak and, understanding her distraught state, Anya didn’t press her. It took a full minute or more before she stopped twisting her hands on her lap, drew a deep breath then raised her head. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice breaking. “I didn’t want to bother you but I couldn’t stay in the house with him another minute.”
“It’s no bother,” Anya said, quick to reassure her. The last thing she wanted was for Helga to feel guilty for seeking help. “You did the right thing. Sometimes the best thing to do to defuse an argument is to walk away.”
“But that’s the thing,” Helga said, her eyes confused. “We weren’t even arguing. He just came home, his face dark as midnight, and started shouting at me. For no reason.” She shook her head, almost in a helpless gesture. “It’s not like I provoked him or anything.”
“Had he been drinking?” Anya asked. “Did he smell like it?”
Again, Helga shook her head. “Not this time. It looks like he came home straight from the office. I don’t know what could have made him so angry,” she gave a hiccup, “with me. I didn’t do anything.” Her face crumpled again and fresh tears began to flow.
“Did he threaten you?” Anya asked. Helga had run to her for refuge before but this time she seemed even more distressed than usual. “Did he hurt you?”
Helga didn’t speak. She couldn’t. Not with the way her shoulders were shaking and her lips were trembling. Instead, she put her hand to her lips and nodded.