The Misadventures of Anna Cabbot

Ready. Set. Go.

Carson:

We're good to go. Got a boat.

Anna:

Got a boat?

Carson:

......bought a boat.

Seriously? He'd bought a boat? They couldn't, like, rent one? Also, technically speaking, 'boat' was a very broad category. A rowboat and a speed boat were both 'boats' but she knew which she'd prefer if pushed came to shove.

Anna:

Does it have a motor or are we rowing our way into the middle of the lake?

Carson:

It's got a motor. Not a very big one but it'll do just fine. Promise. And it won't even sink.

Oh, for fuckssake. This was the opposite of reassuring.

Anna:

You *bought* a boat.

His response was to send her a link to a website that opened to a page for a...theater company? The Stage Players Theatre Company was based out of Hamilton, Ontario, and had been providing live entertainment to the GTA for nearly five years. They even had a few local awards to their name. She clicked around the website a little more and — holy shit.

Carson Callahan Llewellyn was listed as founder and owner of The Stage Players Theatre Company. The accompanying photo made him looking dashing and debonair, though he seemed to be in what she assumed was Shakespearean costume and that had a 50/50 chance of making someone look either like they'd stepped out of a BBC period drama or utterly ridiculous. It helped tremendously that he was on a stage with a prop sword.

Carson:

I have a little bit of cash to burn sometimes.

Anna:

..............

Carson:

FFS IT'S NOT LIKE I BOUGHT A YACHT

Anna put her head down on her kitchen table and laughed until her sides hurt.

Carson:

It's at Fort Erie though so I'll come across the lake with it and pick you up?

She grabbed her planner from where it lay open next her. There wasn't much written in it, and while she wished they were nearer to a holiday for the benefit of a long weekend, she didn't want to wait on this. She'd stopped by to see Erin earlier and had been informed by the outer secretary — who had actually been sat at the reception desk with a bewildered look to rival Anna's own — that Erin hadn't been at work for nearly a week.

Even more curious was that Anna hadn't seen Deirdre since the incident with Ian. Anna refused to think they were connected in any way.

Anna:

Friday night? That gives me all week to get some things straightened out.

Straightened out. It was as good a phrase as any for the bullshit she was going to feed her mother in case Anna happened to accidentally drop off the face of the earth for a few days. She also needed to tell Stevie something and, since Anna was geared more to the mindset of planning for the worst and hoping for the best, she'd put together a contingency plan for the event that things went really sideways.

This right here was why the parents in most young adult books were either dead, missing, or didn't give a damn. Having to explain a reckless and potentially life-threatening situation to someone who loved her? She'd almost have another round of open heart.