The unexpected command performance made Ronnie extremely nervous. Was Butch unhappy about something? Ronnie didn’t see how he could be, given the way things had been going, but until they sat down and he could look into Butch’s eyes and judge the man’s mood for himself, he was going to be a wreck.
Maybe Butch was already losing patience with his promise to be a silent partner. If Butch didn’t like what he was seeing on the bottom line, would he try to wrest some of the control away from Ronnie? Helen had closed tight any potential loopholes in their contract that might have allowed that, but he was still on pins and needles.
That night, as he waited for Dana Sue to close up, he sat in a booth nursing a beer while Annie did her homework next to him. They’d begun insisting that she have dinner at the restaurant every night, then hang around until closing. Ronnie made it by as often as he could, though not nearly often enough to suit him.
He knew that Annie resented their keeping watch over her eating habits, but she seemed resigned to it. She also seemed willing to balance her annoyance at their hovering against her desire for family time. The holidays had always been special for all of them, and she plainly wanted to recapture that.
Sullivan’s was decorated for the season. White lights sparkled on the outside patio. Inside, several trees had been tucked into various corners, each glittering with tiny white lights and gold ornaments. The hostess station was surrounded by a sea of bright red poinsettias, with more lights nestled among the blooms. It was all very festive and tasteful. Ronnie was impressed with Dana Sue’s talent for making the restaurant so welcoming.
Main Street was brightly lit once again, after several years of neglect. Ronnie had talked to the Whartons, and together they’d gone to the mayor and encouraged him to have workers once again weave lights in the trees on the town square and resurrect the giant snowflakes that had once hung from the lampposts. Next year Ronnie thought he’d see if he could round up some support for holding a Christmas market, or at least bringing back a tree-lighting ceremony on the green. The downtown needed community events like that to encourage more businesses to return.
As he brooded about his meeting with Butch, and all the energy it would take to revitalize downtown Serenity, he realized Annie was studying him warily.
“Dad, are you okay?” she asked eventually. “You look kind of freaked about something.”
“Nothing for you to worry about,” he assured her. “How are you doing with your English essay?”
“Done. I’m doing algebra now,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Do you have any idea why I need to take algebra?”
“It will come in handy someday, I’m sure,” he said, just as he’d been told.
“You took it, right?”
He nodded.
“And you’re over forty. Has it ever come in handy?”
He laughed. “All those ratios and formulas have helped me figure out a few things from time to time.”
She regarded him skeptically. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. For instance, if I have a budget of ten thousand dollars for lumber, and two-by-fours are so much per ten-foot piece, how many can I get for my money?”
“It’s like word problems in math,” she said with amazement.
“Exactly. And I think traffic investigators use formulas like that to calculate the speed of cars involved in a crash. See, there are all sorts of practical uses.”
Her expression turned thoughtful. “Maybe it’s not such a waste of time, after all.”
“I think they try really hard not to make education a waste of time. Even if you’re sure some fact will never, ever come in handy, it might turn up in a crossword puzzle someday,” he teased. “That alone should make it worth learning.”
“Dad!” she protested, giggling.
“How are things between you and Ty these days?” he asked. “I haven’t seen much of him lately.”
Her eyes lit up. “He calls almost every day after school. He’s studying really hard for all the tests we have before the holidays. He got early admission at Duke, but they need to have the midterm grades before his acceptance is final.”
“So, Duke is his first choice?”
She shook her head. “His first choice would be going with a pro baseball team. Cal says he’s good enough, and so did a scout for the Atlanta Braves, but his mom says he has to go to college first.”
“And his dad?” Ronnie asked. Bill Townsend, Maddie’s ex, had always pushed baseball with Ty. It had been a passion the two of them had shared.
“Ty thinks his dad would let him go pro, but his dad won’t go against his mom. You know, the way you and Mom gang up on me.”
“For your own good,” Ronnie said.
“Yeah, right.” Annie rolled her eyes. “That’s what parents always say.”
“Because parents are wise,” he stated.
“You and Mom can’t be that smart. You’re still not living under the same roof.”
Ronnie was frustrated by the situation, too. Not that living at the Serenity Inn was a hardship in any way, but it was kind of like living in a fishbowl. Every time Dana Sue sneaked into his room, it was all over Wharton’s by lunchtime. He wouldn’t be surprised if the regulars over there were placing bets on what time of night she slipped in and what hour of the morning she slipped out. If not, they surely had a pool going on over when he’d finally pop the question.
“Some things can’t be rushed,” he told Annie.
Dana Sue came out of the kitchen just in time to overhear his comment. “What can’t be rushed?” she asked. “I’m sorry if I took too long.”
“Not you,” Annie told her. “You and Dad. You’re like a couple of snails creeping toward the finish line. You’ll make it when you’re, like, sixty
