Dana Sue flushed. “Do you see us both every day?”
“You, yes. Dad, not always.”
Dana Sue shrugged that off. “Okay, but it’s not like he’s not around at all. And you know we love you. You’re not lacking for anything, right?”
“I’m not worried about me,” Annie countered, leaning forward, her expression intense. “It’s you two, Mom. You act as if you have all the time in the world.”
Dana Sue frowned at her. “Who says we don’t?”
Suddenly, to Ronnie’s dismay, tears welled up in Annie’s eyes. As it often did with teenagers, her mood had turned from light to serious in the blink of an eye. Clearly, this was something she’d been worrying about for a while now.
She shoved her way out of the booth. “What if you turn out to be like Grandma?” she asked Dana Sue, her voice small and filled with fear as she stood beside the table, her gaze accusing. “What if you die? Look at all the time you’ll have wasted.”
“Annie, I’m not going to die,” Dana Sue said, reaching for her hand. “Not for a long time.”
“But you could if you don’t take care of yourself,” Annie argued. Snatching her hand away, she headed out the door, leaving both of them sitting there in stunned silence.
Ronnie cast a worried look at Dana Sue, who had turned pale. “You okay?” he asked.
She nodded. “I’m fine. Go after her. I had no idea she was so upset about this. She’s never said a word.”
“I’ll bring her back,” he promised. “Get something to eat. You look as if you might pass out.”
“Just go,” she told him.
Outside, Ronnie didn’t have to go far to find Annie. She was huddled in the passenger seat of his pickup, her knees pulled up under her chin.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered with a sniff when he opened the door and slid in behind the wheel. “I shouldn’t have said any of that. Is Mom really upset?”
“She’s worried about you,” he told her. “She didn’t realize this was on your mind. You’ve never mentioned it before.”
“I have, but she blows it off. I know she doesn’t want to talk about it.” Annie shrugged. “It’s just that I think about Grandma sometimes, and I know Mom doesn’t take care of herself the way she should, and I get scared.”
“Your mother is not going to die,” Ronnie said emphatically.
“She could,” his daughter said stubbornly. “Grandma did. Diabetes can get really bad and the complications can kill you. We learned all about it in school, plus I looked it up on the internet after you guys told me how Grandma died.”
Ronnie wondered if he was the best person to be having this conversation. Maybe he and Dana Sue should be doing it together. But he was here, and Annie was obviously too upset to be put off.
“It’s true that your grandmother died of complications from diabetes,” Ronnie said slowly. “But she’d had it for years and never took care of herself. She didn’t listen to the doctors. She ate what she wanted. Her blood sugar was always out of control, so she was in and out of the hospital. Your mom’s not like that.”
“Not yet,” Annie said direly. “But she gained weight and that’s bad. I know she’s lost a few pounds and she’s been exercising, but she still grabs something sweet whenever she gets nervous or angry. You weren’t around, Dad. After you left, she ate everything in sight. Pizza, cake, ice cream, chips—you name it, she gobbled down every bite. You all act like I’m the only one in the family with an eating disorder. At least I got help. Mom hasn’t seen Doc Marshall in months now. I’ve heard him trying to get her to make an appointment for herself, but she hasn’t done it. When we go, it’s all about me.”
Ronnie was more disturbed than he wanted to admit, but he needed to defend Dana Sue’s actions. He knew exactly what she would say—that she was, first and foremost, a mom, and good mothers put their children first. “Because you had a major crisis, Annie. We couldn’t ignore that.”
“But I’m better now,” Annie said reasonably. “Why isn’t somebody on Mom’s case about all this stuff? Erik tries to keep an eye on her here, but Mom just blows him off if he gets in her face too much. Helen and Maddie try to talk to her, and they have some sort of bet thing going at the spa, but I don’t think it’s enough.”
Ronnie was distraught about the picture Annie was painting of Dana Sue’s health. He was also concerned that his daughter was so upset about it. The last time she’d needed to find some way to control the things going on in her life, she’d become anorexic. She might be better, but she wasn’t out of the woods. Worrying about her mom was the last thing she needed, when her own recovery was still so precarious.
“How about this?” he suggested eventually. “I promise you that I will insist your mom see Doc Marshall and make sure everything’s okay. I’ll drag her to the office if I have to.”
Annie gave him a wry look. “Good luck with that.”
“I meant it literally, baby. If that’s what it takes, I will carry her in there.”
He’d hoped for a smile, but Annie merely looked relieved. “When?” she pressed.
“As soon as we can make an appointment.”
She leaned across the console and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you.”
“I should be thanking you. I knew your mom needed to pay attention to her blood sugar—Erik and I have even discussed it—but I had no idea things might be really bad.”
“Maybe they’re not,” Annie said, a wistful note in her voice. “I don’t want her to be sick, but wouldn’t it be better to know?”
Ronnie nodded. It would definitely be better to know. He’d just have to pull out every persuasive tactic at his disposal to make Dana Sue see that. Or maybe her seeing Annie freaking out
