Chapter 67
I knew I needed to find Barnett as soon as possible. If I put it off too long, I’d never get up the nerve to tell him the truth. I tried to find him at his apartment building, but no one answered the door when I knocked.
I went down to the front desk, thinking I could leave some sort of message for him. The man behind the counter looked up as I approached. “Hi, Mrs. Leonard,” he said. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m looking for Barnett, but he isn't here. Can I leave him a message?”
“Oh, Mr. Cogsworth hasn’t lived here in a while. In fact, he rarely stays here. I think he’s been staying at one of his other properties.” Other properties? How many did he have?
“Oh, okay. Never mind, then.”
He gave me an apologetic smile before turning back to his computer. I trailed back across the lobby, my thoughts all over the place. If he hardly ever lived here, why was he around the whole time I stayed in that apartment? Was it just to be near me? Could Lily have been right about his intentions this whole time?
There was a hoard of paparazzi outside and I had to brace myself to go outside. They swarmed the moment I stepped outside, hurtling questions at me.
“Anna Leonard. Anna Leonard. How do you feel about Julia and Barnett getting back together? Did Barnett leave you for Julia?”
I put my head down and shoved through them until I got to my car. They didn’t move until I turned the car on and inched forward a little. They stepped aside at the last minute, and I tore out of the parking lot, tears pricking at my eyes.
What if I never found him?
When I got home, I decided to re-download Soul M8s. Maybe I could reach him there. I looked it up, but no app appeared with that name. I even searched through my recently downloaded section, but it wasn’t there. How could an entire app just disappear?
I decided to just call the software development company. The phone rang for a while before an automated voice picked up. They put me on hold, and I listened to the music, nausea churning in my gut. Dr. Williams had me on a special diet to help with my IBS, but there wasn’t anything to do about the morning sickness. It was something I just had to endure.
Finally, someone came on the call.
“Hello?” a female voice said. “How can I help you?”
“Hi, I just have a question about one of your apps. I was trying to find Soul M8s, but it’s not showing up anywhere. I’m just a little confused about what happened to it?”
“Soul M8s, did you say?” the woman asked, a renewed interest in her voice.
“Yeah. It’s a dating site.”
“I know, it’s just…” she trailed off. “What did you say your name was?”
“I don’t think I did,” I said, growing more confused by the minute. What was going on? “It’s Anna Leonard.”
“Well, this is one of the most interesting cases I’ve seen.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you're one of only two users on the app.”
“I am?” How was that possible?
“It looks like the creator deleted the app.”
I let her words sink in. “Oh,” I finally said. “Well, I guess that’s all I wanted to know then. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
I hung up the phone before she could ask any more questions.
Could it be true? Did Barnett create a dating app just for me? The thought made butterflies dance in my stomach. If he did, then Lily was right all along. Barnett had feelings for me. The thought caused a spark of joy that quickly faded away.
Barnett did all those things for me, and I still pushed him away. It was right in front of my face all along, and I was too afraid to see it. Now it might be too late.
I picked up the phone and tried to call him, but it went straight to voicemail again. He was probably ignoring my calls, that or he had my number blocked.
I tried to call Lily next, but her phone just rang and rang. I eventually hung up and looked her up on social media. I scrolled through her page, my brow furrowing. She was in Egypt for work, and she never even told me she was going.
I couldn’t reach either of them.
The next morning, I decided that my only option was to go through Barnett’s divorce lawyer. I still had his contact information from when he did my divorce. He should know where I could find Barnett.
He picked up right away when I called.
“Mrs. Leonard, it’s great to hear from you. How are you?”
“I’m good,” I said. “I’m actually looking for Barnett. I can’t get a hold of him, and I was hoping you could tell me where to find him.”
“I don’t know,” he said, “I shouldn’t–”
“Please,” I said, cutting him off. “I wouldn’t ask normally, but it’s an emergency.”
He sighed, then told me an address. “He’s been staying at his villa, I think. You should be able to find him there.”
I wrote it down, then thanked him.
“Good luck,” he said before hanging up. I grimaced at the phone and put it down. I really didn’t want to resort to calling his lawyer, but I was running out of options. Barnett wasn’t making it easy for me to find him.
I decided to stop at his place on the way to work. I still had a few hours before I needed to get to Arthur’s, and I didn’t want to wait until later. The more time that went on, the more anxious I became. He needed to know the truth, not only about how I felt but also about the babies. They were his too, and I wanted him to be involved, or to at least clarify that he had no interest in being in our lives.
The thought made me a little sick, and I resolved to go to his villa right away.
I got dressed and put on some makeup before loading my things into the Aston Martin. I put his address into the GPS, then drove through the city.
I should have expected his villa would be nice, but I wasn’t expecting it to be as big as it was. A sprawling gravel driveway circled up around a fountain where a marble statue held up an elaborate carved bowl, water spilling down over the edges. The house itself was huge, with sprawling balconies, a six-car garage, and a series of meticulously manicured gardens.
There was a guard booth at the end of the driveway, but the guard there opened the gate the minute he saw the car pull up. He probably recognized the license plate and thought Barnett was driving.
I pulled up to the part of the driveway closest to the elaborate front walkway and got out of the car. I moved to walk up to the door, but before I could even take a step, the front door opened, and Julia stormed outside.
“What are you doing here?” she growled.
I forced myself to hold my ground. There was no way I was going to let her intimidate me. “What are you doing here?”
