Naturally, just as he’d predicted, she slapped him when he let her go, but he was ready for it. He merely grinned. “Next time you want to rant and rave at me, sugar, think about that kiss.”
“Never!” she said furiously. “It didn’t mean a thing. It wasn’t the least bit memorable.”
He shrugged. “Then I must be out of practice. But knowing how you love to vent your anger at me, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of chances to get it right. A good ole breath-stealing kiss has always been the best way I know to shut you up.”
He lingered long enough to wink at Maddie. “I told you my being back was going to get interesting.”
Dana Sue glared at both of them. She was still sputtering when he slipped right on past her and went to his car. His smile spread as he considered the very promising heat in that confrontation. Damn, even under these circumstances, it was good to be home again!
Chapter Nine
“Well, that was...interesting,” Maddie said when she joined Dana Sue and stared after Ronnie as he drove away from the hospital.
“Don’t start with me,” Dana Sue said sharply.
“I’m just saying—”
“I don’t want to hear any of your opinions or observations about what just happened,” Dana Sue said.
“I was merely going to comment on your knack for compromise,” Maddie said, barely holding back a grin. “Impressive.”
Dana Sue scowled at her. “Rub it in, why don’t you? He didn’t give me a chance to compromise. He made me so mad, all I could think about was getting him out of town as fast as humanly possible.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s not going anywhere now,” Maddie said, her expression gloating. “What man would leave after a kiss like that?”
“Oh, go suck an egg,” Dana Sue retorted. She’d never been so humiliated in her entire life. Except, maybe, for the day she’d kicked Ronnie out of her house and the whole neighborhood had come out to watch. Today was definitely a close second. She held up her hand to ward off whatever words were still on the tip of her friend’s tongue. “Not another word,” she warned.
Maddie grinned. “Okay.”
“And don’t tell Helen.”
“Okay.”
“Or Annie,” Dana Sue added. “Especially don’t tell Annie.”
“Got it,” Maddie confirmed. Apparently not content to leave it at that, though, she added, “I’m supposed to keep my mouth shut about your ex-husband laying a kiss on you that could have steamed up every window in the state.”
Despite her annoyance, a grin tugged at the corners of Dana Sue’s mouth. “It was hot, wasn’t it?”
“You’d have to be the one to say,” Maddie said piously. “I’m not supposed to comment on my observations.”
“Maddie, what am I going to do?” she asked, unable to keep the desperate note out of her voice. She still wanted the man, damn him to hell.
“Am I supposed to answer that?”
“Please.”
“Give it time, sweetie. Maybe he’ll change his mind and leave once he knows Annie is okay.”
Dana Sue met her gaze. “Maybe, if I’m being honest, I don’t want him to.”
Maddie’s determinedly serious expression gave way to a full-fledged grin. “Something tells me he’s counting on that.”
She was probably right, Dana Sue thought. Maddie knew Ronnie inside out, understood him on some level that eluded her. Probably because Dana Sue never used logic when it came to Ronnie. She listened to her heart and her hormones. She’d been his partner, his lover, his grand passion, but Maddie had been his friend. In some ways, Dana Sue was jealous of that. Maybe if she and Ronnie had talked more, if they’d had the kind of relationship she had with Erik, for instance, they would have been able to work through their problems. Instead, the breakup had been just as passionate and unthinking as the relationship.
“What if there’s still this wild, out-of-control attraction, but neither of us has really learned anything?”
“You’ll survive,” Maddie said. “You not only survived the last time, you thrived.”
“Because I had to,” Dana Sue said. “I had Annie to consider. I couldn’t just fall apart and let her suffer. She was in enough pain as it was.” She glanced toward the hospital. “And look how that turned out. I did a lousy job of protecting her.”
“For the hundredth time, you did not fail Annie,” Maddie insisted. “If parents blamed themselves for every single foolish decision their kids made, they’d never get out of bed in the morning. Teenagers are going to make mistakes, more than likely a lot of them. All we can do is be there to pick up the pieces, and hope they learn from them.”
Maddie gave her a thoughtful look. “You know, it might be easier to get through all this with Annie if you were sharing the burden with someone.”
“I have you and Helen,” Dana Sue said defiantly. “Even Erik has been a rock. You guys are enough.”
“But daughters and dads,” Maddie said, “they have a special bond.”
Dana Sue thought about her too-brief relationship with her own dad, who’d died when she was only seven. She’d never felt entirely safe after that, which may have been why she’d put so much faith and trust in Ronnie. He’d made her feel that way again.
“You think I should let him stay, don’t you?” she asked.
Maddie lifted a brow. “I’m not sure whether he stays or goes is your decision. Ronnie has a mind of his own. However, I do think you could find a way to look on the bright side if he does stay.”
“More chances to kill him?” Dana Sue suggested, not entirely in jest.
“I was thinking of letting him share the work it’s going to take to get Annie back on track. But there is a benefit for you, as well.”
“Oh?”
“There are a lot of unresolved issues between you. Because he took off, you never dealt with anything.”
“I threw him out. I’d say that had a certain finality to it,” Dana Sue argued.
Maddie looked amused. “You threw him out in a fit of temper,
