Secrets of the Great Oak

Chapter 11

The next morning was snowy and cold as Anna ate her oatmeal, waiting for Jake's brisk knock on the door. It came and she followed him out to the old Buick, with a quick goodbye to her parents.

Jake seemed to be avoiding her gaze this morning. Last night, they had toed that line again. Maybe he was feeling awkward about being so flirtatious in front of Tam or about the fact that they would now have to go be in front of Tam again. They would need to find different seats to occupy until this whole thing blew over.

However, when they walked into class, Tam was nowhere to be seen. It looked like she made the choice easy for them.

The plan they settled on was to lie low and let Tam come to them when she was ready. Don't rock the boat. No physical contact in eyesight. And no provoking Tam into a conversation she wasn't prepared to have. Leaving things so open-ended like this was hard for Anna. But, Tam needed space to figure out how she felt and what she really wanted. This seemed like the best route to give her that.

They met Stella for lunch. Just Stella. And the conversation was awkward and clipped. Stella didn't want to give too many details about Grayson with Jake sitting right there and Anna didn't want to leave Jake alone. Shortly after lunch wrapped up Grayson appeared and swept Stella away to their history class with a peck on the lips and a hand on her back.

"So those two are getting married." Jake laughed, trying to lighten the mood. Anna laughed along with him and followed his lead to the rest of their classes for the day.

***

Most of the week passed with little to mention. School, homework, work, looking over the case file again. And again. And again. Still no word from Tam--she had even switched her shifts around to avoid Anna, it seemed. And time scheduled to see Stella over the weekend.

But, then Thursday came and it was time to interview the first of the reporters they contacted.

"You've got the questions ready?" Anna asked for the third time.

"Yes." Jake sighed.

"And the recorder."

"Yes, Anna"

"And--"

"And the address, and the original article, and everything else we could possibly need. We've been over this list a hundred times already!" She gave him a sheepish grin and saw his expression soften. "We're ready. Don't worry."

Jake had been distant this week. Pensive. He wasn't as flirty, even when they were alone. The small touches were less frequent and overall he was just being weird. Anna wasn't sure why but, the lack of physical contact between them was unsettling to her. So when he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before he parked the car in front of the newspaper offices, she leaned into it a bit.

"Alright, let's go." He lifted himself from his chair and Anna followed suit. Turning to pick up her backpack with all of their stuff in it but, before she could even fully turn around to close the car door, Jake was there, hand extended for the bag. She smiled, turned on the recorder, and handed it over. "Are you ready?" The question was quiet, concerned.

She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Yeah. I'm ready. At least, I think I'm as ready as I will be."

"That's a good start." His messy hair shifted in the breeze. "So," He turned towards the path leading to the front door, "the woman we're meeting--"

"Morgan Wilson." Anna supplied.

"Right, Morgan, she's worked for the Tennessean for 10 years now. She's a lead crime reporter. And she was there when your parents filed the missing person report. So, we'll ask her our questions but, I can take the lead on this one if you want. You can just take notes or however you want to play this."