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
