Chapter twenty

Annie sank deeper into the caressing warmth of the steaming mineral water, and watched rain patter into it with deepening melancholy. A stream cascaded to the left of her, and bare trees towered over her, their tops wreathed with fog. Billows of fallen leaves softened the bleakness of winter, their rich red and gold tones glowing in the pearly gray light of late afternoon. Tendrils of steam curled slowly up from the pool, giving it an eerie, mystical look.

The pool was deep and clear, lined with coloured pebbles and glittering white sand, as hot as the most perfect bathing tub. It was ringed by flat boulders of white stones, veined with flashy, glittering pink streaks of quartz that gleamed in the rain. It was magical. A place to clam down, to ponder her future, to renew her faith in herself. 

And all she could think about as she stared at the rain was the bleak, hurt look in the Jacob's eyes. 

Oh, get over yourself, she thought. She sank deeper into t