Ain’t She Sweet?

Gigi giggled.

Sugar Beth smiled at her. “We’re all works in progress, honey. And believe me when I tell you that I’ve had to work harder than most.”

“I think you’ve done a good job.”

Sugar Beth shouldn’t have felt so good about winning the approval of a thirteen-year-old, but she did.

As they neared the Galantine house, she ducked into the strip of woods at the side so she could watch Gigi climb the rail. Before she made it to the top, she started to goof around, leaning back and waving her arms and legs, deliberately trying to give Sugar Beth a heart attack and not doing a bad job of it. Sugar Beth forced herself to spoil the fun by turning away.

A branch cracked. Something moved in the woods in front of her, and Ryan stepped out of the trees.

He looked as shocked to see her as she was to see him and no happier about it. He was dressed in a navy sports coat, light blue dress shirt, and muted tie, an outfit she couldn’t imagine anyone, except maybe Colin, wearing for a walk in the woods. “Sugar Beth? What-”

His head jerked as he caught sight of Gigi doing her acrobatics on the balcony post. “Gigi!” He rushed toward the house. “Get down from there right now!”

Gigi grabbed the post. Even from across the yard, Sugar Beth could see that she looked stricken. In a rush of memory, Sugar Beth recalled too well what a father’s disapproval felt like. Gigi inched down the railing, moving as slowly as she dared, but not slowly enough for her father’s anger to cool because the moment her feet hit the ground, he grabbed her arm and gave her a little shake. Sugar Beth instinctively rushed forward, but by the time she’d reached them, he’d let her go.

“What are you doing outside? And where have you been? Your mother and I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“I took a walk,” Gigi said stubbornly. “You weren’t supposed to be back yet.”

“We left the reception early, and you were told not to leave the house.”

“I was suffocating,” she cried, with all the drama of a soap star.

Ryan turned back to Sugar Beth, his expression hard. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I don’t ever want you around my daughter again.”

It shouldn’t have hurt so badly, but this was Ryan, and they’d watched Scooby-Doo together.

“Sugar Beth didn’t do anything!” Gigi exclaimed. “I ran into her while I was walking. It was an accident. We didn’t even talk. I don’t even know her.”

It had been a long time since anybody had tried to protect her, and Sugar Beth was touched. She gave Gigi a wry smile. “I’m afraid the jig’s up.”

“No, it’s not! It’s-”

“Ryan?” Winnie rushed around from the front of the house. Like her husband, she was dressed up, but her hair was windblown, her expression tense. “Ryan, what-” She froze. Her gaze flew from her daughter to Sugar Beth, then to her husband.

“Get inside right now,” he snapped at Gigi.

In the kind of blatant miscalculation only a thirteen-year-old could make, she turned mulish. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Ryan’s face flushed with anger, and Sugar Beth took a quick step forward. “Gigi…”

“Get inside!” he roared. “Go to your room. And stay there, do you hear me?”

Gigi turned on her parents, her hands in fists, eyes flooding with tears. “I knew this would happen. You’re stealing my power! Just like Sugar Beth said you would!”

Oh, boy… Sugar Beth winced.

Winnie looked ashen, Ryan furious, but Gigi wasn’t done. “I’m not going to let you! I’m not letting anybody steal my power.”

Ryan’s fist punched the air. “Get inside right now.”

Gigi gave Sugar Beth a beseeching glance, but there wasn’t a thing Sugar Beth could do that wouldn’t make the situation worse.

Gigi stomped off toward the front door. A moment later, Sugar Beth heard it slam. She wished she could go to her room, too. She braced herself for Winnie’s attack, but Winnie focused only on Ryan, who was looking at Sugar Beth as if he hated her. “She’s only a kid,” he said. “How could you have done this? You know we don’t want you around her.”

Gigi was in too much trouble already for Sugar Beth to rat on her. “She’s my niece. I was curious.”

Winnie came out of her daze. “Don’t you ever come near her again. Do you hear me? I won’t have it.”

Sugar Beth ignored her to concentrate on Ryan. “Exactly what do you think I’m going to do to her?”

“We don’t care to find out,” he said pompously.

“You can’t protect her from life.”

“We can protect her from you.”

Sugar Beth couldn’t bear his self-righteousness and her temper flared. “You’re too late. I already told her everything I know. How to smoke a joint. Steal money from her dad’s wallet. Get laid in the back of a Camaro.” It was a low blow, and Sugar Beth was ashamed of herself. Or at least she would be soon. “Go to hell, both of you.”

Winnie watched numbly as Sugar Beth strode away from them, moving with her familiar long-limbed grace. Panic welled inside her. What if Sugar Beth stole it all? Her husband and her daughter?

“If we hadn’t left the reception early-” Ryan broke off. “I’d bet this was Gigi’s doing. She’s been curious about Sugar Beth for weeks.”

He was going to defend his old lover. Heartsick, Winnie turned away and headed back into the house.

Upstairs, they had the predictable scene with Gigi, who stood in the corner of her room, an ink-stained Laura Ashley pillow clutched to her chest, and proceeded to blame Winnie for everything. “I needed somebody I could really talk to. Sugar Beth listens to me. She understands me.”

“I’m your mother, Gigi. I understand you. And you can talk to me whenever you want.”

“No, I can’t! You just want me to do everything your way.”

Winnie found herself wondering who this demon child was living inside her precious daughter’s body. “That’s not true.”

“At least Dad listens sometimes!”

Ryan stepped in. “This isn’t about your mother. This is about you. And you gave away something precious today. You gave away our trust.”

Gigi tucked the pillow under her chin.

“Why don’t you think about that?” he said, curling his fingers around Winnie’s arm. “And about how long it’s going to take you to get it back.”

He drew Winnie from the room and closed the door behind them. They heard the mattress squawk and Gigi’s sobs. She was Daddy’s little girl, and Ryan hesitated for a moment.

“Leave her,” Winnie said. “She needs time to think.”

They walked downstairs together and into the family room. Winnie felt sick to her stomach. Ryan tossed aside his sports coat and loosened his tie. “Sooner or later we’ll have our daughter back.” But he didn’t sound convinced.

Upstairs, rap began blaring from Gigi’s room. Winnie snatched up the sections of the Sunday paper he’d left everywhere. “When did I turn into the enemy? I have no idea. One morning I woke up, and there it was.”

“This isn’t about you. It’s about her.”

“It doesn’t feel that way.”

He unbuttoned his collar and slumped into the burgundy leather chair she’d bought at an estate auction. “I should have known she’d find a way to meet Sugar Beth. She gave me enough clues.”

“What do you mean?”

“She asked a lot of questions. I forbid Gigi to contact her, but she’s so damned hardheaded. I might as well have waved a green flag in front of her.”

“You didn’t say anything about this to me.”