* * *
When Ronnie walked into Dr. McDaniels’s office in the morning, the tension was palpable. Annie and Dana Sue were barely looking at each other and Dana Sue was deliberately avoiding his gaze. He opted to take a seat beside his daughter.
Leaning in close, he whispered, “Did you have a fight with your mom?”
She shrugged. “Sort of.”
“About?”
“Stuff.”
He sat back with a sigh, then glanced at Dana Sue, whose posture was stiff as a board. “What about you? You want to tell me what the fight was about?”
“Not really.”
“Then the next hour ought to be a lot of fun,” he murmured, relieved when Dr. McDaniels came in and closed the door. Maybe a neutral party could sort out the problem.
“How is everyone?” the psychologist inquired, regarding them all cheerfully.
The murmured responses from either side of him were so unenthusiastic that Ronnie felt compelled to make his own hearty. Dr. McDaniels gave him a grateful look.
“I sense some tension here,” she said.
“You think?” Annie muttered.
Dana Sue sighed heavily. “All I did was tell her not to get her hopes up about a young man she likes. I just didn’t want her to be disappointed if he didn’t live up to her expectations.”
So that was it, Ronnie thought. This was about Ty and—Ronnie would be willing to bet—about him. Locking gazes with Dana Sue, he said, “Is this really about Annie not putting her feelings at risk with Ty, or about you being scared to risk yours with me?”
Dana Sue scowled at him. “Your name never came up,” she said tightly.
“I’m sure it didn’t,” he retorted. “That doesn’t mean you weren’t projecting your fears onto Annie and Ty.”
“Okay, hold on a second,” Dr. McDaniels said. “One of you needs to fill me in. Who is Ty? I believe you’ve mentioned him before, Annie. Want to tell me a little more about him?”
Annie leaned forward eagerly and painted Ty in glowing terms. “I like him,” she concluded, casting a defiant glance at her mother. “A lot.”
“Which is why I was concerned,” Dana Sue said. “Ty’s older. He has his own friends, his own interests. He’s been wonderful with Annie, but I’m not sure they’re on the same page when it comes to their feelings.”
“So you want to protect her from being hurt,” the psychologist said.
“Well, of course I do. I’m her mother,” Dana Sue said.
“You can’t protect kids from growing up and making their own mistakes,” Dr. McDaniels said. “What if Annie is hurt? Would it be the end of the world? Every girl has her heart broken at some point.”
“Not now, dammit,” Dana Sue said forcefully. “She’s too fragile. She needs to get healthy and strong again before she has to face something like that.”
The psychologist turned to Annie. “You know you’re taking a chance, right? You know that putting your heart on the line might be risky?”
“Sure,” Annie said. “But it’s okay. How will I feel if I play it safe and never even get a chance to be happy with Ty?”
“Out of the mouths of babes,” Ronnie muttered, his gaze on Dana Sue.
Dr. McDaniels seized on his comment. “You’re seeing some parallels here to your relationship with Dana Sue.”
“Plain as day,” he said.
“How about you?” she asked Dana Sue. “Do you think Ronnie’s right? Are you projecting your own insecurities onto your daughter?”
“Absolutely not!” Dana Sue snapped, then closed her eyes. “Maybe,” she whispered.
Instead of pressing her, the doctor turned back to Annie. “What’s the worst thing that might happen if you put your heart on the line with Ty?”
“He might not like me back the same way,” she said at once.
“And you could cope with that?”
“Better than I could deal with not knowing,” Annie stated.
“That sounds like a pretty mature attitude to me,” Dr. McDaniels said. “What do you think, Dana Sue?”
“I think she has no idea how devastating it will be if he doesn’t.”
“And you know that from experience, right?” the psychologist prodded.
Dana Sue nodded.
“But you survived, didn’t you? You got through all the heartache and made a new life for yourself. Seems to me you’ve accomplished a lot you can be proud of.”
“Well, of course I am,” Dana Sue said, looking puzzled.
“Then what makes you think Annie couldn’t be just as strong?”
“She’s anorexic,” Dana Sue said.
“And she’s working on changing that,” the doctor countered. “Anything else?”
“Well, no,” Dana Sue admitted.
“And what about you? Are you likely to be any less strong if you take a risk and it doesn’t work out?” Before Dana Sue could answer, the psychologist held up a hand. “Let me ask that another way. As I understand it, after you and Ronnie split up, you were pretty upset, right?”
“Of course.”
“You thought your life was over?”
“In some ways, yes,” Dana Sue admitted.
“Yet you risked quite a lot to open Sullivan’s,” the doctor reminded her. “Were you prepared for the possibility it might fail?”
Dana Sue nodded.
“But that didn’t stop you from trying, did it? Why?”
“Because I knew I was strong enough to handle it if it did fail,” Dana Sue said.
“Yet you said you were feeling pretty fragile at the time,” Dr. McDaniels said.
Dana Sue met her gaze. “I see your point.”
“Do you? Do you understand that life is filled with risks? Unless you face them head-on and try, you may as well resign yourself to sitting on the sidelines.”
Ronnie waited with bated breath. He had a hunch his entire future hinged on whatever conclusion Dana Sue reached right now.
“You’re right,” she finally said, looking startled by the admission.
“Well, then, there’s no reason I can see not to reach out for whatever it is you want in life,” Dr. McDaniels said.
Dana Sue regarded her warily. “Are you saying I should give Ronnie another chance?”
“Only if that’s what you want to do,” the doctor said neutrally. “Your decision, not mine. Not Annie’s. Any more than it’s your decision whether she puts her heart on the line with this young man she likes.”
Suddenly Annie was grinning at her mom. “Not so
