The Bond Between Us (Anastasia and Herman)

Anastasia had no way to defend herself. No matter what she said, Katelyn wasn't going to believe her, and honestly, Anastasia was too exhausted to argue.

But then Autumn showed up, and Rowan's warning about her flashed through Anastasia's mind. Her gut had been right all along-Autumn was trouble.

Getting caught like this was bad enough; Anastasia couldn't let Autumn make things worse in front of Katelyn. She knew all too well how Katelyn was easily swayed, especially if someone got in her ear.

"Mom, let's talk about this at home," Anastasia said, trying to pull Katelyn away. She had to get her away from Autumn, no matter what.

But Katelyn dug in her heels, face red with anger. "No, you're not moving an inch until you tell me who that man was. What's his name?"

This was the last thing Katelyn wanted to deal with. She couldn't even bring herself to talk to Herman about it yet. Her son's lost memory, her daughter-in-law sneaking around with some man-her head felt ready to burst.

Autumn jumped in, just as expected. "Anastasia, you really should explain this to your mother-in-law. I was next door with her tasting wine for Pattie's birthday, worrying about everything, and you weren't helping at all. Then you show up holding hands with some man? Looked like he gave you something, too. Am I wrong?"

Katelyn's eyes narrowed, remembering the thing she'd seen. "Anastasia, was that some kind of keepsake between you two? Hand it over and let me see."

There was no way Anastasia could give her the chip-it was too important. Rowan had warned her about Autumn for a reason, and he'd never let her down. She'd promised to keep the chip safe, and she wasn't about to break her word.

"Mom, that man's just a friend. He's leaving town and asked me to hold onto something for him. You're both making way too much of it." Then she turned to Autumn, voice hard. "Mrs. Walker, we were just saying goodbye. What is this, the 1800s? Are women not allowed to shake hands with men anymore? Are you going to accuse me of something every time I so much as touch someone? Seriously, you're blowing this out of proportion just to make me look bad. Did I offend you somehow?"

Anastasia's words hit their mark-Autumn was left speechless for once.

Right then, Dailey showed up, totally confused by the tension in the air.noveldrama

Katelyn snapped, "What are you doing here?"

Anastasia quickly stepped in. "I asked him to come. We were supposed to talk about something."

Dailey nodded, "Yes, Mrs. Evans, Ana called me here. Ana, I found out about that thing you asked me to investigate—"

Autumn perked up, clearly wanting to hear more, but Anastasia cut him off. "Let's talk about that later."

Autumn looked frustrated, but she didn't press.

Anastasia turned to Katelyn again. "Mom, let's do the wine tasting another day. Dailey's here already, so let's just head home. Sorry, Mrs. Walker, hope that's okay."

Katelyn clearly felt awkward about leaving Autumn, but Anastasia didn't give her a choice-she linked arms with Katelyn and gently dragged her away.

Katelyn could only apologize, "Sorry, Autumn, let's catch up another time."

Once Katelyn was in the car, Anastasia had Dailey drive. She ignored Katelyn's silent, simmering anger and turned her attention to Dailey. "So, what's the deal with Adam's family?"

As he drove, Dailey started his report. "Adam's got a son and a daughter, Rretty normal folks, nothing special. His son's a bit of a mess can't hold down a job, and just got out of the hospital. If he doesn't find a liver donor soon, things aren't looking good. Surgery alone is going to cost over fifty grand-not to mention the rest."

Anastasia frowned. "That bad, huh?"

Dailey nodded. "Adam's daughter married a decent, honest guy, but they're barely scraping by. They'vez been helping her brother's family out, even taking care of his medical bills. The brother's wife already left, so now the sister and her husband are raising his three boys too. Adam gets a small pension-about three thousand a month-and lives alone in an old apartment from his factory days. The main problem is, well... they're broke."

Anastasia's frown deepened. "And Adam still has time to go dancing at the community center?"

Broke, sick, son in the hospital-who'd have the energy for line dancing and chasing after life's little joys?

Katelyn finally piped up, "What does he even do with that pension, anyway?"