LITMIR.BIZ

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yourself you’re not dating each other exclusively. What if he thinks you’re going with some other guy?”

      “But I would never do that,” Annie said, her expression dismayed. “I don’t even want to see other boys.”

      “Then, if you want him to go, ask him. A man appreciates a woman who’s direct with him.” He winked at her. “Unlike women, we’re pretty simple creatures. Be straightforward and honest with us and we’ll go along with the program. Women are the mysterious, complicated ones.”

      “I wonder if Ty thinks I’m mysterious and complicated,” Annie asked, looking intrigued with the idea.

      “I can just about guarantee it. He’s nineteen. I doubt he gets anything about women yet. I’m still working it out and I’m twice that age.”

      Annie hopped down off the stool and hugged him. “Thanks.”

      “Why didn’t you just ask your dad or your mom about this?” he asked.

      She shrugged. “They’re parents. They get all worked up thinking I might wind up disappointed and I get a half-hour lecture on not counting on too much where Ty’s concerned. That usually turns into a conversation about disappointment leading to depression and bad decisions and eating disorders, yada-yada-yada.”

      “You mean I just blew this entire conversation by not including a lecture?” Erik demanded, mostly in jest, of course, though he did find these little tests of his untried parenting skills to be disconcerting.

      “For which I am very, very grateful,” she assured him. She grabbed a brownie off the tray he’d just taken from the oven and took a bite as if to prove a point. “Have a good day.”

      “You, too, sweet pea. Let me know how it goes when you talk to Ty.”

      She smiled, looking more carefree than she had when she’d arrived. “I’ll call you tonight right after I talk to him.”

      No sooner had Annie exited through the back door than Dana Sue pushed open the door from the dining room. “Was that my daughter I saw sneaking out the back?”

      Erik regarded her with his most innocent expression. “Was it?”

      Dana Sue rolled her eyes at his pitiful attempt at evasion. “What did she want?”

      “To talk to me.”

      “About?”

      “Sorry, confidential.”

      Her gaze narrowed. “You and my daughter are having confidential conversations? I’m not sure how I feel about that. It was bad enough when she was having them with Maddie.”

      “I don’t think this was something she felt she could ask Maddie,” Erik said.

      “Then it was about Ty,” Dana Sue guessed at once.

      “I never said that.”

      “Is she inviting him to prom or not?”

      “I know nothing,” Erik insisted.

      “We could talk about you and Helen instead,” she suggested.

      “Sorry. Gotta run.”

      “Run where?” she demanded.

      “Someplace where you’re not,” he said readily. “But don’t take it personally. You know I love you.”

      “I think you love Helen,” she countered. “Or at least like her.”

      “What was that?” he asked, already closing the door. “Can’t hear you.”

      The door snapped open before he could make his escape. “I said that I think you’re crazy about Helen,” she shouted after him. “And just so you know, I think she likes you back! Can you hear me now?”

      Unfortunately, Erik figured half the people of Serenity had heard her. And if they had, his life had just gone from peaceful and quiet, the way he liked it, to downright complicated. There was no more popular sport in town than watching, and then discussing, a cat-and-mouse game between a man and woman.

      Erik had barely walked to the outer fringe of downtown Serenity when he literally bumped right into the woman who’d become the bane of his existence. Helen was striding purposefully along with her head down and her thoughts obviously somewhere else.

      “Hey, where are you heading in such a hurry?” he asked, steadying her as she blinked up at him.

      To his shock her makeup was streaked and her eyes were swimming with tears. “Helen, what’s wrong?” He dug in his pocket and found a fistful of clean tissues. He handed them to her.

      Even as she accepted them and mopped her eyes, bright patches of color bloomed on her cheeks. She tried to push past him. “I’m fine,” she muttered.

      “Sure you are,” he scoffed. “The strongest, most in- control woman I know is walking around town crying her eyes out and claims to be fine. Not buying it, sugar. Talk to me.”

      “Erik, please,” she pleaded. “Just leave me alone.”

      “Sorry. It’s not in my genes to walk away from a woman in distress.”

      “I’m not in distress. I’m just confused, and before you ask about what, it’s not something I want to talk about.”

      “Okay, then, we’ll just go to Wharton’s and get one of those hot-fudge sundaes I hear you Sweet Magnolias turn to whenever you’re upset.”

      She regarded him with surprise. “You know about those?”

      “I’ve worked with Dana Sue long enough to know a lot of things,” he said.

      “She blabs?”

      He laughed at her indignation. “No, I have amazingly astute powers of observation for a man. Plus, I hear things.”

      “You eavesdrop?”

      “I remain attuned to my surroundings,” he contradicted.

      “How is that any different from eavesdropping?”

      “If you come with me, I’ll explain it to you.”

      “I don’t want to come with you,” she murmured.

      He fought a grin. “Do it anyway. Just think about what I’m offering—a hot-fudge sundae and someone willing to sit quietly and listen to all your woes. Do you know how many women would beg to be in your place?”

      “I’m not one of them,” she claimed. “I just want to be left alone.”

      “I’m sure that’s your usual way of coping with things,” he agreed. “Doesn’t seem to be working out so well today. How about trying something new?”

      “Spilling my guts to you?”

      He nodded.

      She actually seemed to be weighing the offer. When she finally nodded, he felt a far greater sense of relief than he should have. He attributed that to having been spared tossing her over his shoulder and carrying her into Wharton’s.

      “Let’s go, then,” he said, tucking her arm through his. “I’ll do my best to make this painless.”

      “Whatever,” she said, sounding a little like a petulant child.

      “Think of it this way. If you had to spill your guts to a shrink, you’d be paying a hundred dollars or more an hour. I’m a bargain.”

      “And you’re throwing in a hot-fudge sundae, too,” she said grudgingly. “Is this my lucky day or what?”

      “Told you so.”

      It remained to be seen if it was going to be Erik’s lucky day or if this was going to be just one more step down a very slippery slope.

      5

      Helen

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