“That’s something, I guess.”
“Based on my usual rates for that kind of job, it’s quite a lot,” he taunted. He held the kitchen door open and waited impatiently as she hunted for her purse and followed him out. “Shake a leg, sugar. If we don’t hurry up, the window of opportunity for me to make good on the offer is going to slam shut. I have almost no time for myself now and once I open the store, my time’s not going to be my own for a while.”
“I see,” she said, feeling somehow deflated by the news and by the fact that he didn’t seem the least bit disappointed that there would be no time for the two of them.
He glanced over at her after he got behind the wheel of his pickup. “Stop fretting, Dana Sue. You and Annie will still be my number-one priority.”
“You sure about that?” she asked doubtfully.
“Oh, that’s right, I was thinking of sneaking off to Myrtle Beach with Mary Vaughn for a couple of weeks,” he said.
Dana Sue scowled at him. “You are so not funny.”
“And you so don’t have anything to worry about,” he countered. “I...love...you. Only you, okay?”
She finally allowed herself to relax. “Okay,” she said meekly. “If that changes—”
“It’s not going to change,” he said, cutting her off. “Not ever.”
Impulsively, she reached across the console and linked her fingers through his. Some of his strength and certainty seemed to seep into her then.
“You know,” she said, tracing a slow, tantalizing circle in the middle of his palm. “The paint will still be there in an hour, won’t it?”
He gave her a startled look. “You want to...?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said.
Ronnie whipped his pickup around the turn to the Serenity Inn so fast she was almost thrown from her seat.
“I guess that’s a yes,” she said, grinning as he skidded to a stop in front of his room.
A day that had started with worry and uncertainty had just taken a substantial turn for the better.
* * *
Just as he’d warned might happen, Ronnie was so caught up with staying on Annie’s case and getting his business up and running that he barely crossed paths with Dana Sue during the first two weeks of November. When they did happen to meet, he forced himself to do little more than kiss her senseless and keep on moving. The kisses were reminders of everything good between them. He figured it was going to take him opening the store and making a go of it to prove to her that he wasn’t going anywhere again. Even though their relationship had heated up considerably, he was smart enough to know that it would take more than hot sex to make her accept him back into her life for good.
Somehow he had to find a way to prove to her that everything he needed was right here in Serenity—a career he could get excited about, a daughter he was crazy about and the only woman he’d ever craved with every fiber of his being. A woman who most definitely was not Mary Vaughn.
By working practically around the clock himself, and with a lot of help from Annie and the ever-present Mary Vaughn, who wouldn’t take his hints discouraging her, he was actually running ahead of schedule. He was opening the business on Saturday, almost a whole week before Thanksgiving, rather than the pre-Christmas launch he’d been envisioning. Maybe after this weekend he could get serious about his pursuit of Dana Sue.
“Dad, when are you going to ask Mom to marry you again?” Annie asked as she put up the crepe-paper streamers she’d insisted on for the store’s grand opening.
“Maybe I thought I’d wait till she asks me,” he teased.
“Are you nuts?” Annie demanded, regarding him with a thoroughly disgusted expression. “Don’t you know her at all? She will never do that. It’s not romantic enough. You need to sweep her off her feet.”
He grinned at his daughter, grateful to see that she was no longer just skin and bones. She’d gained a few pounds and her cheeks had a healthy glow. The glow seemed to increase a thousandfold whenever Ty was around, which he would be any minute now. She’d apparently coerced him into helping her decorate. Ronnie would have opened the doors without fanfare, but Annie and Dana Sue had conspired on the decorations and on catering the whole thing.
“You’re wrong about what your mom needs,” he told Annie. “She doesn’t need grand gestures and romance from me. She needs to see I’m in this for the long haul. And she needs to believe I’m not going to start looking elsewhere just because she’s gained a little weight, or for any other reason.”
Annie frowned at him. “Haven’t you even noticed that she’s toning up?”
“Well, of course I have,” he said, though he wasn’t about to explain to his sixteen-year-old daughter that a man knew just about all there was to know about his wife’s body. Okay, ex-wife, but that was a technicality he’d remedy when the time was right.
“Have you seen her trainer yet?” Annie asked, carefully avoiding his gaze. “Mom works with him a lot. He’s a real hunk.”
“Is that so?” Ronnie said neutrally, even though his blood pressure spiked at the image.
“A total hottie,” Annie confirmed gleefully.
“You wouldn’t be trying to make me jealous, would you?” he inquired, regarding her with amusement. “Because jealousy is actually a very damaging trait in a relationship, especially for your mom and me.”
“Why?” Annie asked, frowning.
“Because of what happened before,” he reminded her. “Trust is a pretty big deal with us right now. I wouldn’t start messing with that, if I were you.”
Annie regarded him guiltily. “I never thought of that. Sorry.”
He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Not
