Page 54 of Words Unspoken

He gestured that he was okay.

“You scared us all.”

He nodded gravely.

“I am glad you are okay,” Ann tucked a bit of hair behind her ear that had managed to escape the bun.

He took her left hand and rubbed his thumb over her ring finger.

“I didn’t love him,” Ann shrugged then wiped away a tear. “I thought maybe, given time I could learn to but…”

Michael put a hand to her cheek. Then, because he had to know, he motioned to her stomach.

Ann gave a watery laugh. “No. I am not pregnant.”

Good. He was reassured to hear that. She sniffed, so he tugged on her gently until she was resting beside him on the bed, head on his chest, his arm around her. Maybe there was a chance for him after all.

Michael tried to say that George was an idiot. It came out, “I June… June George…”

Ann looked at him confused.

Michael sighed. Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair.

“It is okay, Michael.”

It was not. He stared at the ceiling. Ann sat up. Putting a hand on his cheek, she turned his head so that he looked at her. She looked so sad. “Please don’t be upset. I am upset enough for both of us today.”

He nodded.

“I guess you heard all about the trash they are printing?” she pointed to the tabloid.

It was worse than that. Michael reached over and grabbed the remote, turning on the television. On came Carol and Tom, talking about some celebrity going into rehab.

Ann looked from the television to him. “What is going on?”

He pulled her against him so that she could comfortably see the television and motioned from the tabloid to the television.

“They didn’t?” she asked in horror.

In response, Carol and Tom started a repeat of the previous segment, dragging the Ramesly name through the proverbial mud.

“Everyone is speculating about what is really going on behind the public façade presented by the Rameslys…” a bubbly Carol started again.

Michael let Ann watch the whole thing, her hand covering her mouth as she watched in disbelief. After it was over, he turned the power off.

“This is worse than I thought,” Ann wiped away more tears angrily. “I cannot believe they just talked about us like that.”

He rubbed her back. Part of him was angry at these people who thought they could just speculate on the lives of others. Another part of him was grateful. Ann was not engaged or pregnant anymore. What did it mean though?

The door opened with Noah and Elle coming in. Kelly rolled her eyes from the hall and mouthed ‘sorry’ to Michael and Ann. Noah leaned against the wall, arms folded while Elle took the chair.

“Where are the twins?” asked Ann.

“I left them with my mama. It seemed the best idea,” Elle looked at Noah. “He thinks we should sue.”

Michael sighed. They could sue, but would they win? If they won, it would be worth it even if the retraction would be lousy. If they lost, it would add more fuel to the fire. The truth was, the majority of what was printed were facts. What was pure speculation would be hard to prove was libelous.

“I know what you are going to say,” Noah stated flatly. “That there is no use suing them unless we can win, and we probably won’t. The court will likely throw out the case or rule in favor of those trash tabloids like they have done in the past.”