A Slice of Heaven (25 page)

“Have you seen her trainer yet?” Annie asked, carefully avoiding his gaze. “Mom works with him a lot. He’s a real hunk.”

“Is that so?” Ronnie said neutrally, even though his blood pressure spiked at the image.

“A total hottie,” Annie confirmed gleefully.

“You wouldn’t be trying to make me jealous, would you?” he inquired, regarding her with amusement. “Because jealousy is actually a very damaging trait in a relationship, especially for your mom and me.”

“Why?” Annie asked, frowning.

“Because of what happened before,” he reminded her. “Trust is a pretty big deal with us right now. I wouldn’t start messing with that, if I were you.”

Annie regarded him guiltily. “I never thought of that. Sorry.”

He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Not to worry. It’s just something you should think about before you start trying to matchmake.”

“I just want you guys back together before you’re too old to do stuff, you know?”

Ronnie almost choked at the comment, but recovered without giving himself away. “I don’t think that’s something you need to worry about,” he said when he could get the words out without chuckling.

“Well, what’s holding things up?” she demanded, handing him the end of a streamer while she climbed nimbly up a ladder. “You love her, right? And I know she still loves you.” Annie stretched and slapped the streamer up with some tape, then scampered right back down.

“We’re still working on the whole trust thing,” he said. “And she needs to know that I am not going anywhere ever again, at least not without the two of you.”

Annie nodded sagely. “Okay, I get it.
That’s
why you’re opening this place, instead of just getting another construction job.”

“Exactly.”

“I think a flower shop might have impressed her more. She loves flowers, but I don’t think she gets all that worked up over hammers and paint,” Annie said, her expression filled with doubt as she looked around the store. “I mean, this place is painted beige, for goodness’ sake. How boring is that?”

“What would you have suggested? Purple?” He grinned. “As for a flower shop, can you honestly see me making up bouquets of posies?”

Suddenly Annie was laughing, her expression more carefree than Ronnie had seen it in years. If nothing else, his coming home had been good for her.

And very soon, he thought hopefully, Dana Sue might finally see it was good for her, too.

Dana Sue was setting out hors d’ oeuvres on tables that had been tucked in various corners of Ronnie’s store when the bell over the front door chimed. From where she was, she couldn’t see who had come in, but the next thing she heard was Mary Vaughn’s chipper voice.

“Ronnie, sweetie, I’m here,” she called out. “I came early to see what I could do to help.”

Dana Sue set her basket of light-as-a-feather cheese straws down with a thunk and marched around the end of the display unit. “Hello, Mary Vaughn.”

The Realtor’s eyes widened, but she was too good a saleswoman to appear rattled. “Dana Sue,” she said warmly, giving an air kiss somewhere in the vicinity of Dana Sue’s ear. “I had no idea you’d be here.”

“Sullivan’s is providing the food,” Dana Sue said without elaborating. Some devilish little imp inside her wanted to deliberately give the impression that she was nothing more than the hired help.

Mary Vaughn seemed to relax. “Oh, of course, I believe Ronnie did mention something about you catering the grand opening. I suppose I assumed you’d just drop off the food and leave. Or perhaps send Erik. This must be uncomfortable for you.”

Was the woman living in a cave? Dana Sue wondered irritably. The whole town had been speculating for weeks about the reconciliation between her and Ronnie. Mary Vaughn had apparently turned a deaf ear to it simply because it didn’t suit her. Or perhaps she was so confident in her own powers of seduction, she’d assumed Dana Sue wouldn’t stand a chance against her. Knowing Mary Vaughn’s ego, Dana Sue found it easy to imagine that she could blow off all the gossip as premature or misguided.

“Why would I be uncomfortable?” Dana Sue inquired innocently. “Ronnie and I were married for a lot of years. We have a daughter. We’ve spent a lot of time together since he came back to town.”

“Because of Annie, of course,” Mary Vaughn said, though she was starting to look just a little uncertain.

“Of course,” Dana Sue said sweetly.

Just then Ronnie emerged from the back room, took one look at the two of them squared off facing each other and turned pale. To his credit, he apparently sized up the situation in a glance, because he strolled over, bent down and kissed Dana Sue with so much heat she worried that some of the nearby hors d’ oeuvres might get singed.

With his arm still firmly around her waist, as if he feared she might take off, he smiled warmly at Mary Vaughn. “Thanks for coming. Have you tried any of the food yet? Dana Sue and Erik outdid themselves.”

Mary Vaughn evidently didn’t need to be hit in the head with a baseball bat to get the picture when it was spelled out right in front of her face. She managed a weak smile and said, “I was just thinking I’d love to try one of those cheese straws. A party in the South wouldn’t be complete without them.”

“So true,” Dana Sue confirmed, refusing to take offense at the implication that they were unoriginal. “I believe you’ll find that mine are a slight variation on the traditional cheese straws.”

She bit back a grin when Mary Vaughn swallowed her first bite and nearly choked, then grabbed for a bottle of water. “Jalapeños,” she whispered, waving a hand in front of her face.

“Didn’t I mention that?” Dana Sue said. “Sorry. Most everyone in town knows Ronnie likes things a little spicy.”

Ronnie gave her a look, then gently nudged her toward the front. “Let’s give Mary Vaughn a chance to catch her breath,” he said. “You can help me greet people.”

“Whatever you need,” Dana Sue said, casting a smug look back at the other woman.

Up by the old-fashioned cash register, which Ronnie had insisted on keeping, he regarded her with amusement. “I thought men were the only ones who marked their turf,” he said.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Dana Sue replied. “Women are just more subtle about it.”

He laughed at that. “Sugar, if that was subtle, I’d hate to think what you’d do if you wanted to make things any plainer.”

“Are you complaining that I put my brand on you back there?” she asked.

“Not a bit. I just wish you believed that it wasn’t necessary.”

“Maybe not for you,” she conceded, “but Mary Vaughn doesn’t respond to anything less than a two-by-four hitting her between the eyes, so to speak.”

“So I’ve noticed,” Ronnie said wryly. “And given the number of two-by-fours out back, I suppose I’m lucky you didn’t decide to get your message across literally. Are you going to relax and have fun now?”

“Absolutely,” she assured him. “But I think I’ll keep my eye on her, just the same.”

Ronnie cupped Dana Sue’s face in his hands and kissed her again. “Just one more to help you get the message,” he said when he released her. “You don’t need to worry about Mary Vaughn.”

“Maybe I should,” Dana Sue said, grinning. “Especially if it means you’ll keep on kissing me like that.”

“Darlin’, I’d do that anyway. Anytime, anyplace you’d like.”

The front door opened before she could reply, and Maddie and Cal came in, followed by Annie and Ty.

“We’ll finish this conversation later,” she told him. “Go say hi to your first customers. Cal could probably use some help buying tools to put together all that unassembled baby furniture he bought the other day. He decided his daughter needed more than a bassinet, and bought out the entire baby department at some fancy store over in Charleston.”

“You just want to brag to Maddie about putting Mary Vaughn in her place,” Ronnie teased in a low voice, before heading off to greet Cal.

“Well, of course I do,” she called after him. “What’s a victory if you can’t share it with your friends?”

Maddie frowned as she joined Dana Sue. “What are you gloating about?”

“Nothing I can talk about here,” Dana Sue told her with a pointed glance toward the back. “Could I show you some nails or bolts or something?”

“No, you can show me the food,” Maddie said. “You promised there would be food.”

Dana Sue laughed. “One of these days you’re going to regret this free-for-all eating you’re still doing. Nachos in the middle of the night, now this. At our age, the pounds don’t come off that easily. Besides, do you really want to give Helen and me this much of an edge in our contest? I’ll have you know I didn’t sample one little hors d’ oeuvre that I made.”

“Good for you,” Maddie said serenely. “And don’t worry about me getting too far behind you and Helen in reaching my goals. I have every intention of behaving myself once I stop nursing the baby, but until then I am going to enjoy every mouthful.”

“What about our goals? Does Helen have any idea you’re secretly slacking off?”

Maddie looked vaguely uneasy. “No, which is one reason I need to get to the food now before she’s here to lecture me.”

“Then I recommend you start with the mini crab cakes,” Dana Sue advised. “Erik outdid himself with those. He insisted that the crab meat be flown in from our supplier in Maryland. Since it’s out of season, it cost an arm and a leg. They’ll be the first things to go.”

Maddie grabbed three and put them on a plate, then added a couple of cheese straws. “So, when is Helen supposed to get here?” she asked, glancing nervously toward the front door.

Dana Sue grinned. “Actually, you might want to sit down for this.”

Maddie regarded her with alarm. “What? Has something happened to her?”

“Not exactly,” Dana Sue said. “But she volunteered to help Erik in the kitchen at Sullivan’s today, since Karen called in with another emergency and I needed to be here.”

“And you let her?” Maddie asked incredulously.

“It was my idea, as a matter of fact,” Dana Sue said blithely. “It’s only for a few hours. How much damage can she do to the place’s reputation in that amount of time? Erik’s keeping a close eye on her.”

“But who’s keeping an eye on Erik to make sure he survives?” Maddie asked. “You know how Helen is. She’s even more of a control freak than you are. Doesn’t matter if she has a clue what she’s talking about. She’ll probably start telling him how he ought to do things, and who knows where that could lead? Murder? Mayhem?”

Dana Sue grinned. “I know. It kind of boggles the mind, doesn’t it?”

“And you’re okay with the potential for bloodshed?” Maddie asked.

“As long as they clean the place up before I get back there, I think it will be good for both of them to butt up against another immovable object.”

“Erik already has you for that,” Maddie reminded her. “This could be more than he can take.”

“Not a chance,” Dana Sue said calmly. “When it comes to a battle of wills between those two, my money’s on Erik.”

Maddie stared at her, suddenly looking suspicious. “What are you really up to, Dana Sue?”

“Not a thing,” she swore innocently. “Just making sure the restaurant’s covered for a couple of hours.”

If something else heated up in that kitchen, well, that would just be nature taking its course.

S
ince opening his store, Ronnie had been working night and day. He’d had no idea how time-consuming owning his own business would be, especially one that required him to get out and meet with developers several times a week. He did his best to schedule those meetings over dinner, so he could spend at least a little time with Dana Sue and Annie at the end of the day, but it didn’t always work out that way. Too often several days would pass without him catching so much as a glimpse of either of them. He began to wonder if he’d been a little too ambitious for his own good.

How was he going to prove anything to Dana Sue if he almost never crossed paths with her? Even Annie seemed to be losing patience with the number of times he’d had to cancel plans with her because of a last-minute business meeting with a potential client.

Serenity Hardware & Supplies had been open for three weeks and he was well ahead of his most ambitious projections, when Butch called on Tuesday to schedule a Friday-night dinner meeting with him at Dana Sue’s restaurant.

“I know Christmas is just around the corner and you probably have a million things to do, but we need to talk,” the older man said, his tone ruling out any excuses.

The unexpected command performance made Ronnie extremely nervous. Was Butch unhappy about something? Ronnie didn’t see how he could be, given the way things had been going, but until they sat down and he could look into Butch’s eyes and judge the man’s mood for himself, he was going to be a wreck.

Maybe Butch was already losing patience with his promise to be a silent partner. If Butch didn’t like what he was seeing on the bottom line, would he try to wrest some of the control away from Ronnie? Helen had closed tight any potential loopholes in their contract that might have allowed that, but he was still on pins and needles.

That night, as he waited for Dana Sue to close up, he sat in a booth nursing a beer while Annie did her homework next to him. They’d begun insisting that she have dinner at the restaurant every night, then hang around until closing. Ronnie made it by as often as he could, though not nearly often enough to suit him.

He knew that Annie resented their keeping watch over her eating habits, but she seemed resigned to it. She also seemed willing to balance her annoyance at their hovering against her desire for family time. The holidays had always been special for all of them, and she plainly wanted to recapture that.

Sullivan’s was decorated for the season. White lights sparkled on the outside patio. Inside, several trees had been tucked into various corners, each glittering with tiny white lights and gold ornaments. The hostess station was surrounded by a sea of bright red poinsettias, with more lights nestled among the blooms. It was all very festive and tasteful. Ronnie was impressed with Dana Sue’s talent for making the restaurant so welcoming.

Main Street was brightly lit once again, after several years of neglect. Ronnie had talked to the Whartons, and together they’d gone to the mayor and encouraged him to have workers once again weave lights in the trees on the town square and resurrect the giant snowflakes that had once hung from the lampposts. Next year Ronnie thought he’d see if he could round up some support for holding a Christmas market, or at least bringing back a tree-lighting ceremony on the green. The downtown needed community events like that to encourage more businesses to return.

As he brooded about his meeting with Butch, and all the energy it would take to revitalize downtown Serenity, he realized Annie was studying him warily.

“Dad, are you okay?” she asked eventually. “You look kind of freaked about something.”

“Nothing for you to worry about,” he assured her. “How are you doing with your English essay?”

“Done. I’m doing algebra now,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Do you have any idea why I need to take algebra?”

“It will come in handy someday, I’m sure,” he said, just as he’d been told.

“You took it, right?”

He nodded.

“And you’re over forty. Has it
ever
come in handy?”

He laughed. “All those ratios and formulas have helped me figure out a few things from time to time.”

She regarded him skeptically. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. For instance, if I have a budget of ten thousand dollars for lumber, and two-by-fours are so much per ten-foot piece, how many can I get for my money?”

“It’s like word problems in math,” she said with amazement.

“Exactly. And I think traffic investigators use formulas like that to calculate the speed of cars involved in a crash. See, there are all sorts of practical uses.”

Her expression turned thoughtful. “Maybe it’s not such a waste of time, after all.”

“I think they try really hard not to make education a waste of time. Even if you’re sure some fact will never, ever come in handy, it might turn up in a crossword puzzle someday,” he teased. “That alone should make it worth learning.”

“Dad!” she protested, giggling.

“How are things between you and Ty these days?” he asked. “I haven’t seen much of him lately.”

Her eyes lit up. “He calls almost every day after school. He’s studying really hard for all the tests we have before the holidays. He got early admission at Duke, but they need to have the midterm grades before his acceptance is final.”

“So, Duke is his first choice?”

She shook her head. “His first choice would be going with a pro baseball team. Cal says he’s good enough, and so did a scout for the Atlanta Braves, but his mom says he has to go to college first.”

“And his dad?” Ronnie asked. Bill Townsend, Maddie’s ex, had always pushed baseball with Ty. It had been a passion the two of them had shared.

“Ty thinks his dad would let him go pro, but his dad won’t go against his mom. You know, the way you and Mom gang up on me.”

“For your own good,” Ronnie said.

“Yeah, right.” Annie rolled her eyes. “That’s what parents always say.”

“Because parents are wise,” he stated.

“You and Mom can’t be that smart. You’re still not living under the same roof.”

Ronnie was frustrated by the situation, too. Not that living at the Serenity Inn was a hardship in any way, but it was kind of like living in a fishbowl. Every time Dana Sue sneaked into his room, it was all over Wharton’s by lunchtime. He wouldn’t be surprised if the regulars over there were placing bets on what time of night she slipped in and what hour of the morning she slipped out. If not, they surely had a pool going on over when he’d finally pop the question.

“Some things can’t be rushed,” he told Annie.

Dana Sue came out of the kitchen just in time to overhear his comment. “What can’t be rushed?” she asked. “I’m sorry if I took too long.”

“Not you,” Annie told her. “You and Dad. You’re like a couple of snails creeping toward the finish line. You’ll make it when you’re, like, sixty or something.”

Dana Sue flushed. “Do you see us both every day?”

“You, yes. Dad, not always.”

Dana Sue shrugged that off. “Okay, but it’s not like he’s not around at all. And you know we love you. You’re not lacking for anything, right?”

“I’m not worried about me,” Annie countered, leaning forward, her expression intense. “It’s you two, Mom. You act as if you have all the time in the world.”

Dana Sue frowned at her. “Who says we don’t?”

Suddenly, to Ronnie’s dismay, tears welled up in Annie’s eyes. As it often did with teenagers, her mood had turned from light to serious in the blink of an eye. Clearly, this was something she’d been worrying about for a while now.

She shoved her way out of the booth. “What if you turn out to be like Grandma?” she asked Dana Sue, her voice small and filled with fear as she stood beside the table, her gaze accusing. “What if you
die?
Look at all the time you’ll have wasted.”

“Annie, I’m not going to die,” Dana Sue said, reaching for her hand. “Not for a long time.”

“But you could if you don’t take care of yourself,” Annie argued. Snatching her hand away, she headed out the door, leaving both of them sitting there in stunned silence.

Ronnie cast a worried look at Dana Sue, who had turned pale. “You okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “I’m fine. Go after her. I had no idea she was so upset about this. She’s never said a word.”

“I’ll bring her back,” he promised. “Get something to eat. You look as if you might pass out.”

“Just go,” she told him.

Outside, Ronnie didn’t have to go far to find Annie. She was huddled in the passenger seat of his pickup, her knees pulled up under her chin.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered with a sniff when he opened the door and slid in behind the wheel. “I shouldn’t have said any of that. Is Mom really upset?”

“She’s worried about you,” he told her. “She didn’t realize this was on your mind. You’ve never mentioned it before.”

“I have, but she blows it off. I know she doesn’t want to talk about it.” Annie shrugged. “It’s just that I think about Grandma sometimes, and I know Mom doesn’t take care of herself the way she should, and I get scared.”

“Your mother is not going to die,” Ronnie said emphatically.

“She could,” his daughter said stubbornly. “Grandma did. Diabetes can get really bad and the complications can kill you. We learned all about it in school, plus I looked it up on the Internet after you guys told me how Grandma died.”

Ronnie wondered if he was the best person to be having this conversation. Maybe he and Dana Sue should be doing it together. But he was here, and Annie was obviously too upset to be put off.

“It’s true that your grandmother died of complications from diabetes,” Ronnie said slowly. “But she’d had it for years and never took care of herself. She didn’t listen to the doctors. She ate what she wanted. Her blood sugar was always out of control, so she was in and out of the hospital. Your mom’s not like that.”

“Not yet,” Annie said direly. “But she gained weight and that’s bad. I know she’s lost a few pounds and she’s been exercising, but she still grabs something sweet whenever she gets nervous or angry. You weren’t around, Dad. After you left, she ate everything in sight. Pizza, cake, ice cream, chips—you name it, she gobbled down every bite. You all act like I’m the only one in the family with an eating disorder. At least I got help. Mom hasn’t seen Doc Marshall in months now. I’ve heard him trying to get her to make an appointment for herself, but she hasn’t done it. When we go, it’s all about me.”

Ronnie was more disturbed than he wanted to admit, but he needed to defend Dana Sue’s actions. He knew exactly what she would say—that she was, first and foremost, a mom, and good mothers put their children first. “Because you had a major crisis, Annie. We couldn’t ignore that.”

“But I’m better now,” Annie said reasonably. “Why isn’t somebody on Mom’s case about all this stuff? Erik tries to keep an eye on her here, but Mom just blows him off if he gets in her face too much. Helen and Maddie try to talk to her, and they have some sort of bet thing going at the spa, but I don’t think it’s enough.”

Ronnie was distraught about the picture Annie was painting of Dana Sue’s health. He was also concerned that his daughter was so upset about it. The last time she’d needed to find some way to control the things going on in her life, she’d become anorexic. She might be better, but she wasn’t out of the woods. Worrying about her mom was the last thing she needed, when her own recovery was still so precarious.

“How about this?” he suggested eventually. “I promise you that I will insist your mom see Doc Marshall and make sure everything’s okay. I’ll drag her to the office if I have to.”

Annie gave him a wry look. “Good luck with that.”

“I meant it literally, baby. If that’s what it takes, I will carry her in there.”

He’d hoped for a smile, but Annie merely looked relieved. “When?” she pressed.

“As soon as we can make an appointment.”

She leaned across the console and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you.”

“I should be thanking you. I knew your mom needed to pay attention to her blood sugar—Erik and I have even discussed it—but I had no idea things might be really bad.”

“Maybe they’re not,” Annie said, a wistful note in her voice. “I don’t want her to be sick, but wouldn’t it be better to know?”

Ronnie nodded. It would definitely be better to know. He’d just have to pull out every persuasive tactic at his disposal to make Dana Sue see that. Or maybe her seeing Annie freaking out tonight had been enough to do the trick.

“Let’s go back in and get your mom,” he said at last. “It’s time to go home.”

“Would it be okay if I hitched a ride with Erik?” she asked. “He won’t mind dropping me off. Then you and mom could have more time to talk.”

Ronnie nodded. “Run into the kitchen and make sure it’s okay with him. Then let us know when you leave.”

“Okay,” she said, opening her door and dashing for the back door of the restaurant.

Ronnie was slower to exit the pickup. He had a hunch Dana Sue wasn’t going to be happy about his attempt to interfere in her life. And though he’d vowed to drag her to the doctor if necessary, he didn’t want this to become a bone of contention between them, just when their relationship was finally on peaceful ground. But if push came to shove, he wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever it took to make sure her health wasn’t in jeopardy.

Dana Sue nibbled on the plate of cheese and veggies Erik had brought her in lieu of the chocolate cake she’d requested. He hadn’t even flinched when she’d scowled at him, just spun on his heel and returned to the kitchen.

Why hadn’t she noticed how worried Annie was about the whole diabetes thing? Maybe because she tried so hard to ignore the problem herself, as if ignoring it would make it go away. Obviously she’d mastered the fine art of denial when it came to her daughter’s health and her own. She’d been trying to take off the blinders where Annie was concerned. Maybe it was time to do the same thing with her own health.

When Ronnie finally came back and slid into the booth opposite her, she pushed the plate of snacks in his direction.