The compliment seemed to catch her attention. “Okay, talk to me. I’m not saying yes, just that I’ll listen. You have ten minutes. I have another appointment at three-thirty.”
“Since you wasted fifteen minutes of my appointment doing whatever you were doing on the computer, I’m sure you won’t mind if we run over,” he retorted.
She gave him a startled look, then grinned. “You’ve changed. You’re tougher.”
“I prefer to think of it as more businesslike, something you should appreciate.”
“I do, actually. Okay, start talking.”
He explained his arrangement with Butch Thompson, then handed over a file. “Here are the contracts his attorney drew up. I trust Butch implicitly, but I also know enough not to sign anything until it’s been looked over by someone representing my interests.”
“Absolutely,” she said.
“And so you know, this isn’t a one-shot deal. If everything goes the way I’m hoping, there will be contracts with developers throughout the region that will need to be drawn up. I’d like you to do that, as well.”
Helen nodded and turned her attention to the contract, jotting notes to herself as she read. “It’s a fair deal,” she said at last. “At least on the surface. I’d like to go through it again tonight. Can I bring it by the hardware store tomorrow? I’d like to see what you’re doing there, anyway.”
“Of course,” he said, relieved she hadn’t shown him the door. “By the way, can I ask what you were doing when I got here? You seemed awfully absorbed in your internet search. Big case?”
To his astonishment, color bloomed in her cheeks. The ever-confident, often arrogant Helen actually looked embarrassed. Was she trying internet dating, perhaps?
“Just a personal project,” she admitted, which made the whole computer dating thing seem even more likely, if unexpected.
“Okay,” he said, not pushing it. He wondered if Dana Sue knew anything about whatever Helen was up to.
As if she’d read his mind, she gave him a hard look. “Don’t try prying it out of Dana Sue, either. It’s personal.”
“Got it,” he said, and grinned. “Whatever it is has put a real sparkle in your eyes. I hope it works out.”
She regarded him with surprise. “You almost sound as if you mean that.”
“I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I was pretty hard on you during the divorce and since you’ve been back in town,” she said.
“You were protecting Dana Sue,” he countered. “I can appreciate that. And by the way, I don’t intend to hurt her again.”
Helen sat back and studied him, then asked, “Okay, assuming I give you the benefit of the doubt about that, where does Mary Vaughn fit in?”
“She doesn’t,” he said without hesitation.
“Really? I hear she’s spending a lot of time at the hardware store.”
“She volunteered to give me a hand. If I’m going to open before Christmas, I need all the help I can get. Should I have turned her down?”
“That depends on how serious you are about not hurting Dana Sue again. Just a word of advice? If Mary Vaughn really isn’t an issue, you might want to work a little harder to make sure Dana Sue knows that,” Helen said. “Mary Vaughn, too. Otherwise I’m afraid I might have to defend your ex-wife on an assault-and-battery charge.”
“Really?” he asked, taken aback. “She’s that jealous?”
“You never heard it from me,” Helen told him. “And if I were you, I’d wipe that smug expression off your face before you say anything to her about it.”
“Duly noted,” he said. “I’ll take care of that tonight.”
“It might bear repeating. This is Dana Sue, after all.”
He laughed. “From now till doomsday, if that’s what it takes.”
She actually smiled. “There must be something wrong with me,” she said. “I’m starting to like you, Ronnie Sullivan.”
“Ditto, Helen Decatur.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she promised. “Now tell my secretary to send in my next client. Otherwise I’ll wind up being here till midnight, and I’ve made a vow to stop doing that.”
“Who’s holding you to that?” he asked curiously.
“Your ex-wife, for one. Maddie, for another.”
“Take it from a man who’s learned a little something about vows,” he said. “It’ll go better when you start holding your own feet to the fire.”
* * *
Annie felt like an idiot. She was going back to school today, and her mom was hovering as if she was going off on a trip to Mars.
“Mom, it’s not like it’s my first day of kindergarten,” she protested. “I’ve been to school before. I know the kids. I know the teachers. I’ve done my homework. So chill, okay?”
“It’s a big deal,” her mom protested. “You haven’t been there in six weeks.”
“Summer vacation’s longer than that and you don’t go all weird when I go back in September.”
“This is different,” she insisted.
“The doctors all tell me I’m ready,” Annie said in exasperation. “Even Dr. McDaniels, and you know she doesn’t cut me any slack. You’re the only one who’s not ready for this.”
“Your dad’s a little nervous, too,” her mom told her. “He’ll be here any minute.”
Annie regarded her with dismay. “And then what? Are you two going to hold my hands and walk me to school?”
Her mom grinned. “Don’t give me any attitude or we might decide that’s a wonderful idea.”
“Mom!”
“We just thought it would be nice if we had a family breakfast before you left.”
Annie felt her stomach clench. “I don’t need you to watch me to make sure I eat,” she said irritably. “We are so past that.”
“This isn’t about your anorexia. It’s about the three of us being together on an important day,” her mother responded. “You know we always made a big deal about this kind of thing.”
Annie regarded her suspiciously. “And that’s all this is?”
“I swear it,” she said, sketching a cross over her heart. “You look nice, by the way. That blue is a great color on you. It matches your eyes.”
“You don’t think it’s too tight?” Annie asked worriedly. “I’ve gained some weight since I
