And right now he had never been more thankful for that decision. Now he had six whole weeks out of the water. He had time he could spend with Anna. And after everything that had happened, it couldn’t have come at a better time. James needed it more than he cared to admit. He needed the time to just relax; time to just be there for Anna when she needed him. She might have been playing it tough right now, but James wasn’t about to allow the delusions to lead him to believe that she’d stay that way. He’d use the time to find them a home. Take Anna on a proper honeymoon.

“Then hell yeah! When do we leave?” Anna’s smile lit up her whole face.

Chuckling to himself, impressed with his own genius, James jumped to his feet. “Give me ten minutes to make some calls and I’ll let you know. But you know the hard part?”

“What’s that?”

“Someone has to tell the vultures.” He smiled his panty dropping smile, turning back to the kitchen and waving animatedly to their audience, sending Anna into an uncontrollable fit of giggles.

Laughing, Anna yelled, “Bags not!”

“Cheat!”

“Nah uh! Besides, I have an ouchie.” Anna grinned, pointing to the cut on her cheek.

“Fine!” James grumbled. “But that excuse has been used now. Hope it was worth it!”

“Oh, it was.” Anna smiled, melting his heart. The truth was in that moment all she had to do was ask and he would have given her anything. And James didn’t care how pathetic and pussy whipped that made him.

Walking back towards the house hand in hand, Anna felt like herself for the first time. Maybe it was because she wasn’t actually thinking. Her entire focus was on the future and the man at her side. She had neither the time nor the energy to dwell on the past.

“Oh Anna, good timing!” Renee exclaimed as Anna stepped through the door.

Without time to react or object, Renee grabbed Anna’s hand and led her back to the table where Kate and Kelley sat poised with magazines in hand. As soon as Anna’s fingers lost contract with James she felt the loss deep in the pit of her stomach and the nerves came back with abundance.

“So Anna, where are we doing the photos?” Kelley asked.

“What photos?” Anna asked, mystified.

“Your wedding photos? Where are you planning on doing them? Not some place lame, I hope,” Kate added.

“I hadn’t really thought about it. Wherever. I don’t mind,” Anna conceded.

“You’re hopeless,” Kate snapped, her snarky attitude creeping through.

“Kate!” Kathryn scolded as she joined the others at the table, a fresh cup of coffee in hand.

“And not to dampen the mood but you remember that these will also be James’s wedding photos?” Diana added.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kathryn retorted defensively.

“Nothing like that. I just mean that magazines are going to want James’s wedding photos. So there are going to be offers to sell them,” Diana explained.

Anna sighed heavily. Couldn’t she just have something normal for once? “You’re sure?” Kathryn asked, sensing her daughter’s defences go up.

“Sorry to say but, yeah. On this one I think I’m right. I mean hey, they wanted his eighteenth birthday party photos; but his wedding a week after his haul in Manchester–they’d pay the big bucks for them.”

“Do they have to sell them?”

“No, not at all. But keep in mind somehow they will get photos anyway, whether they take them and pay for them or not.”

“Anna? What do you think?” Kathryn offered, watching as she picked at her nails absentmindedly.

“I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it,” she admitted sheepishly. Gone was the girl who barely minutes ago was laughing and full of life as she played in the water with her husband and in her place was a nervous, twitchy replica. “But if they’re going to take them anyway, we might as well control what shots they get.”

“Anna!” Kathryn exclaimed. “You don’t marry someone to get your photo on the front of a magazine!”

“I don’t think Anna is—” Diana began but was cut off before she had a chance to make her point.

“Let me finish!” Anna said, raising her voice, causing everyone to look at her with their mouths gaping open in stunned silence. “They’re going to take them anyway. At least this way we can decide which bits of our—” she emphasised the word to ram home her point “—day they see and what is kept private. So we might as well take the money. But if it’s okay with James, I don’t want the money.”

“If what’s okay with James?” he asked as he sauntered back into the room, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Anna wants to sell your wedding photos,” Renee caught him up bluntly.

James shot Anna a stunned look. Of all the things that they could have been discussing this hadn’t even registered in James’s psyche. “But if they would let me finish, yes, I think we should sell our wedding photos. But I don’t want the money. If it’s okay with you I would rather donate whatever we get for them,” Anna finished.

If they weren’t all stunned into silence before they were now.

“What charity were you thinking?” James asked, stepping behind her and resting his huge hands on her shoulders supportively.

“Lifeline. But it can be anyone. I just think they need the money more than we do.”

“I’ll call Tim and get it done,” James stated, not missing a beat.

“Thank you.” She smiled up at him.

“I love you. You’re perfect, you know,” James gushed, dropping kisses on Anna’s forehead as he pulled his mobile from his pocket and began scrolling through the contacts looking for Tim’s number.

“No, James, I’m not.” Anna smiled sadly. “Perfection is just an illusion. I’m nothing special. I’m just me.”

“Well, you’re everything to me, Mrs. Thompson,” he whispered into her ear so no one else heard but wishing he could shout it from the roof tops. He didn’t want to hide their marriage anymore but another couple of days wouldn’t kill him. But they couldn’t pass fast enough either.

“I’m so proud of you two.” Brandon smiled, clapping James on the shoulder.

“Right, enough with the interrogation, the stalking, and the heavy,” Anna announced, pushing back her chair. “I’m going to the gym for a much needed work out. And,” Anna held her hand up to silence the many comments that were about to come flying in her direction. “I don’t want to hear any more about it. There is a boxercise class in half an hour and I plan to be in it!”

“Can I come?” Renee asked nervously. The truth was she loved that class and usually went but she was worried that Anna would only see it as another person trying to control her.

“Only if you agree not to hold back,” Anna conceded happily before bouncing up the stairs to get ready.

“James?” Diana questioned.

“She’s fine, Mum. She just needs to deal with this in her own way and in her own time. We just need to be there to catch her if she falls.”

Although Diana was sceptical she nodded her agreement and started gathering the dishes to clean up.

***

Anna

An hour and a half later Anna emerged from her boxercise class exhausted and sweaty but somehow energised. It was almost as if she had fought the demons out from inside of her. Instead of letting them eat away at her, she punched and kicked them straight out.

Renee and Anna stood in the hallway outside the room waiting for the line at the water station to die off so they could refill their bottles before heading home. Through the glass Anna spotted James just finishing up his own workout. Even though he was officially on holidays, he still worked out a couple of times a week. Otherwise it would just take too much hard work to get back into it. He claimed it was just easier. And really, he liked the feeling and the freedom a good work out gave him.

In front of Renee a guy in extremely short running shorts bent over and gulped down large, loud mouthfuls of water. Anna turned away, embarrassed when she realised she could see most of his straining underwear.