A Slice of Heaven (9 page)

He gave her a weary look. “She’s always been a good kid, you know. Great grades. Lots of friends. A zillion different activities.”

“Sounds like an overachiever,” she said. “Ironically, when that same sort of determination is turned to something like dieting, it can backfire. But let’s not worry about that now. Let’s just get her physically healthy and then we’ll take care of whatever issues brought her to this point. Lacy Reynolds, the nutritionist, has already explained the basics of her food plan, so Annie can begin to see food in a more realistic light—as fuel for the body, not an enemy.”

Ronnie nodded, grateful for the calm, reasonable approach McDaniels was offering. Without it, he had a hunch he’d be punching his fists through walls by now.

“Go to your daughter,” she encouraged. “I’ll see if I can track down your ex-wife and send her in, as well.”

“I think she went home to get some rest,” he said.

“I’ll call the house, then.”

“Try her cell phone,” Ronnie suggested, jotting the number down for her. “She’s more likely to answer that.”

“Will do. Thanks. I’ll be in touch later,” the woman said, then strode off.

Ronnie followed her with his gaze, wishing he were half as confident as she seemed to be that Annie would come through this crisis okay. A part of him wished Dr. McDaniels would come with him to visit Annie. She knew exactly what to say to his daughter, while he didn’t have a clue. The situation probably called for calm diplomacy and tact, neither of which were his strong suits. Now that the shock of Annie’s appearance had worn off, now that the doctors were more certain she would recover, he wanted to blast her for the stupidity of her actions. He had a hunch that would be counterproductive.

Schooling his expression into something he hoped was neutral, he went back to her room. At first glance, Annie appeared to be sleeping again. Relieved, he took his customary place in the chair beside her bed and let his mind wander to the way she’d looked the last time he’d seen her before leaving town.

She’d appeared sad and disappointed, but at least she’d looked like a normal teenager, with color in her cheeks, a hairstyle that framed her pretty face and a body that was just beginning to round out with womanly curves. He’d been scared to death about what would happen when her interest in boys turned serious, how he would cope with the whole dating thing, but as he’d sat in his car on the street that day two years ago, he’d realized that he wouldn’t even be around to play a role in whatever decisions she would soon start to make about boys.

If he’d been thinking straight then—or in all the months that followed—he’d never have left her to make her way through that hormonal minefield without a father’s input.
His
input. It was a regret he’d live with till the day he died.

“Hi, Daddy,” Annie said weakly, snapping him out of his memories.

“Hey, sweetheart. How are you feeling?”

“Better now that you’re here. When I woke up before and you were gone, I was scared you’d changed your mind and decided to leave.”

“I promised you I wasn’t going anywhere, didn’t I?”

She nodded.

“You can count on that, baby. I’m back for good.”

She smiled and once again closed her eyes, leaving Ronnie to go back to his bittersweet memories.

Dana Sue was outside Annie’s room and about to push the door all the way open when she heard Ronnie’s voice. She bit back a gasp at this confirmation of what Maddie had told her earlier. Her ex was planning to stick around Serenity even after this crisis passed.

Whirling about, she marched back down the hall to the waiting room, where she’d left Maddie.

“Ronnie is staying. I heard him tell Annie he’s back for good,” she said, pacing agitatedly. “Why would he say that and get her hopes up?”

“Maybe because that’s what he’s planning to do,” Maddie suggested.

Dana Sue scowled at her. “What am I going to do? I have to stop him.”

“Even if this is what’s best for Annie?” Maddie asked reasonably.

Dana Sue stopped in front of her. “Having Ronnie Sullivan back in her life is not what’s best for Annie,” she snapped, then resumed pacing.

“I wonder if Annie would agree with that,” Maddie said, her tone mildly reproachful. “I think you’re projecting your feelings onto Annie.
You’re
the one who doesn’t want Ronnie around.”

Dana Sue scowled at her again and continued walking.

“Sit,” Maddie ordered. “You’re making my head spin. Now let’s consider this rationally. Annie needs her father in her life. Even you theorized that his leaving might have had something to do with this decision of hers to obsess about her weight. Doesn’t it make sense that having him back might—”

When Dana Sue was about to interrupt, Maddie held up a hand. “That it just
might
be the one thing that could turn Annie around?”

Dana Sue sank onto one of the hard, plastic chairs. “Maybe,” she conceded reluctantly. “But I hate the idea. I don’t want him here. I want to be the one who fixes this.”

Maddie barely managed to contain a smile. “Does it really matter who fixes it, as long as Annie is healthy again?” Her gaze narrowed. “What are you really afraid of, Dana Sue? Are you scared he might actually be able to get through to Annie in a way you couldn’t? That’s what it sounds like you’re saying.”

“No,” Dana Sue said at once. “That would be selfish.”

This time Maddie didn’t even bother trying to hide her grin. “Then it must be that you’re scared he might get to you.”

Dana Sue sighed. Maddie was more accurate than she wanted to admit. She was tempted to deny it, but this was Maddie, her best friend. She’d never let her get away with it. “So what if I am?” she grumbled.

“Then make this all about Annie. Set your ground rules about how involved he gets in your life. Keep your distance from Ronnie, but don’t try to keep him from your daughter.”

“Why do you always have to be so damn rational and reasonable and right?” she groused.

“It’s a natural talent,” Maddie said, laughing. “I probably should remind you that I was none of those things when Cal first came into my life. I fought that just as hard as you’re trying to keep Ronnie from sneaking back into yours.”

“And we all know how well that turned out,” Dana Sue said wearily. She was doomed.

Unless, she thought, brightening, unless she took total charge of the situation, just as Maddie had said. She could establish the ground rules and Ronnie would just have to live with them. He would spend time with Annie on
her
timetable, under
her
conditions.

Then she remembered that one of Ronnie’s favorite pastimes was breaking rules, and some of her good cheer evaporated. Still, she could try. She could raise a fuss, keep him off balance and erect enough barriers to keep an NFL lineman from getting through. She could demand he leave, and then find some compromise, so she’d come across as the reasonable one. Actually, it might be kind of fun to match wits with him again.

“We need to go outside and wait for him,” she told Maddie, leaping back to her feet. “Now.”

“Excuse me?”

“No, hold on,” she said, pausing in midstride. “I’ll go outside and wait for him. You tell him to take a break. I’ll ambush him as soon as he leaves the building.”

Maddie stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “What are you going to do, Dana Sue?”

“I’m going to banish him. He’ll refuse to go, naturally. Then I’ll agree to some compromise, one where I set ground rules, just the way you told me to,” she told her innocently. “Ronnie won’t know what hit him.”

“Couldn’t you just walk down the hall and have this conversation with him in here?” Maddie suggested. “That’s what mature adults do. They work things out.”

“We’re talking about Ronnie,” Dana Sue said. “Quiet, rational conversation doesn’t accomplish much. The decibel level required to get through his thick skull is best reserved for outside.”

Maddie frowned. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“It’s an excellent idea,” Dana Sue assured her. “Just do your part. I’ll take care of the rest.”

When she was satisfied that Maddie would somehow manage to roust Ronnie from Annie’s room, she headed downstairs and outside to lie in wait for him. The prospect of having the upper hand for once had her humming happily.

After a couple of minutes, she realized that the tune she was humming had been their favorite song way back when. She cut herself off in midnote and got busy working her temper back into the danger zone. All it took was imagining him tangled up in some motel room bed with a woman he barely knew. Maybe later Dana Sue would try to figure out why, after two years, she could still summon that image on command. Perhaps it was because it was so handy whenever she felt her resolve weakening.

Ronnie was half dozing beside Annie’s bed when Maddie came into the room.

“You look beat,” she said, regarding him with sympathy. “Why don’t you get out of here and grab some rest yourself?”

“Someone needs to be here when Annie wakes up again,” he told her.

“I’ll stay, and I imagine Dana Sue will be back soon.”

“You got her to go home to take a nap?”

“I tried,” Maddie said.

Ronnie studied her face. “But?”

“She’s back.”

“Mustn’t have been much of a nap.”

“We never made it to her house. She decided there were things she needed to do here.”

“Such as?”

“She thought she should be nearby in case Annie needs her,” Maddie said, but her tone was evasive.

Ronnie regarded her quizzically. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“I think maybe I’ll let you figure this out on your own,” she said. “All that matters is that I can sit with Annie for a while.”

“Since you’re here and not Dana Sue, that means she’s somewhere on the premises hoping to ambush me,” he concluded. He knew how these two worked as a team. He supposed he ought to be grateful that Helen wasn’t in on whatever scheme they’d hatched.

“I never said that Dana Sue’s return had anything to do with you,” Maddie responded.

“No, of course you didn’t. You’d never betray her,” he said, then grinned. “But you’d set me up.”

She flushed guiltily. “No comment.”

He latched on to her hand. “Look, I need to get out of here for a little while, that’s true. I need to find a motel room, clean up and get some rest. Annie’s sleeping for the moment, so why don’t you come along with me? We can take a little walk together.”

Maddie balked at the door. “I should stay.”

“Annie’s asleep.”

“Not two minutes ago, you thought someone needed to be here.”

He laughed. “I don’t imagine this will take all that long. Dana Sue’s probably lurking right outside the front door.”

“If you know that, why drag me along?”

“I want a witness to whatever she’s up to,” he said. “Come on, Madelyn. Protect me.”

“As if,” she grumbled, but she went with him.

Sure enough, just as they exited the building, Dana Sue appeared in front of him, hands on hips, her expression filled with sass and vinegar. What that woman could do to a man’s libido with just a look ought to be outlawed! Ronnie thought.

“You,” she began, poking a finger in his chest, “are…not…staying…here.” Each emphatic word was accompanied by another jab. “I won’t have it, do you understand me? This town is not big enough for the two of us. I’m not even sure the entire state of South Carolina is big enough for the two of us.”

Ronnie could barely contain a smile. He managed a shrug. “I’m afraid you’ll just have to learn to deal with it, sugar. I’m staying.”

“Did you not hear a word I just said?” she demanded.

“I’m sure every patient at Regional Hospital heard you,” he replied calmly. Then he turned to Maddie and silently mouthed, “Told you so.”

Maddie looked away.

Dana Sue frowned at his comment about her volume, and the next time she spoke, her voice was lower, but no less incensed. “If I’d thought calling you was going to give you some crazy idea about coming back here permanently, I would never have picked up the phone.”

“And if something had happened to Annie without me being here, I would never have forgiven you,” he responded quietly. “Let’s get one thing straight, Dana Sue. I love that girl. I was a fool to leave town just because it was what you wanted, and I was an even bigger fool not to demand joint custody instead of visitation, but I’m not going anywhere ever again.”

He decided now was not the time to mention that he still loved Dana Sue, as well. She’d just throw those words right back in his face, accompanied by a long-winded reminder about why they were divorced.

With apparent effort, she finally simmered down a notch. “I know you love Annie. That’s why I did call. But, Ronnie, seriously, I don’t want you to stay.”

“You’ve made that plain enough.”

“Then you’ll go?”

“No.”

“Dammit, Ronnie, you can’t want to be here again, not knowing the way I feel about you, not knowing that it’s going to dredge up a lot of bad memories and gossip.”

Once again, he was forced to contain a grin. “I can live with a little gossip and, indeed, I do know how you feel,” he said. He doubted she knew it half as well as he did. She wanted to believe he was beneath contempt—and to be honest, he couldn’t deny it—but that didn’t mean she didn’t still love him.

He probably could have proved that with a kiss, too, but then she’d have to slap him silly out of some sense of pride.

“I think we should table this discussion till things settle down a bit,” he said. Then, knowing it would provoke her, he added, “I’m sure you’ll be more reasonable then.”

“Reasonable!” she snapped, clearly outraged by the suggestion she was out of control now. “You want reasonable? How’s this? If you stay here, Ronnie Sullivan, I will make your life a living hell. I will…” She paused, apparently to consider all the vile things she intended to do to him.

He knew the only way to shut her up once she got this wound up was to kiss her, so he decided to risk life and limb to do it. He dragged her against him, sealed her mouth with his and kissed her until she turned weak in his arms. He felt none too steady himself. Dana Sue definitely hadn’t lost her ability to make him see stars.