LITMIR.BIZ

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on, knowing that Annie was incapable of lying to him. She might avoid the truth, but she wouldn’t outright lie.

      Eventually she asked, “Are you gonna call Mom and tell her?”

      Though she’d tried to sound meek, Ronnie heard the knowing tone in her voice and figured she was counting on him not to do that. He debated surprising her by making the call, but he doubted Dana Sue would be happy about the news or about his being the messenger. Maybe he could settle this himself and save them both a lot of grief.

      “You have them out of there in the next five minutes and it’ll be our secret,” he told Annie. “Deal?”

      “But, Dad—”

      “That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”

      “How will you even know if they’re still here?”

      “I suppose I won’t know for sure. But I’m trusting you to keep your word. You going to give it to me, or do I call your mom?”

      “I should go ahead and let you call her,” Annie said. “At least it would get the two of you talking again.”

      “Okay with me,” he said. “What’s it going to be, kiddo?”

      Again, he let the silence build, knowing she was struggling with herself over doing the right thing.

      “I’ll tell the boys they have to leave,” she finally said grudgingly. “But we weren’t doing anything wrong, Dad. I swear it. You know Ty always looks out for me. He would never let things get out of control.”

      “You had them over without your mom’s permission,” Ronnie said. “You were doing something wrong the second you let them in the door.”

      “When did you get so strict?” she grumbled.

      “Last five minutes,” he replied, chuckling. “Up till now, you never gave me any reason to think I needed to be strict.”

      “If you came home, you’d know what I was up to all the time,” she said.

      “I imagine you’d see that as a mixed blessing in no time at all,” he responded.

      “Probably,” she admitted, then added, “But it would be worth it, Daddy. I miss you.”

      “I miss you, too, angel. Now, go send those boys packing. Then you and your girlfriends can talk about them all night long, the way you did when you were a few years younger.”

      “Did you and Mom actually listen to us?” Annie asked indignantly.

      “Never,” he said piously. “We just interpreted the giggles coming from your room. Those were a dead giveaway, at least to your mom. Don’t forget, she was your age once. There’s not much you could do or think that she didn’t do before you, including breaking the rules.”

      “That’s what you think,” Annie muttered.

      “What?” he said sharply, not liking her tone.

      “I love you, Daddy.”

      He sighed and let it go. Long-distance parenting pretty much sucked. “Love you, too, baby. Take care of yourself and give your mom a hug. Just don’t tell her it’s from me.”

      “I wish things were different,” Annie said wistfully. “I wish they could go back to the way they were.”

      “Me, too. Now, go shoo those boys out before your mom catches them there and we both end up in hot water.”

      “’Night, Daddy.”

      “’Night, angel.”

      Ronnie clung to the phone for a long time after Annie had hung up. She was growing up so fast and he was missing it. Maybe it was his own fault. Maybe he even deserved to be shut out of Annie’s life. According to Helen, Dana Sue had wanted him gone completely from both their lives, but he’d balked at that. He’d demanded visitation rights. What he hadn’t guessed was how hard it would be to get Annie to go along with them. His teenage daughter was every bit as stubborn as her mom, but she, at least, was mellowing.

      He realized now what he should have seen two years ago. He didn’t have to let things be that way forever. Dana Sue might not be happy about him moving back to town, but she’d just have to get over it if he and Annie wanted to reestablish their relationship. And while he might not know that much about teenage girls, he knew a whole lot about teenage boys. Annie could use a dad around to keep her from making the kind of mistakes that could ruin her life.

      Once again, he resolved to figure out some way to go back to Serenity before he missed out on even more memories.

      Dana Sue was ninety percent certain that the car pulling away from her house as she drove up was filled with teenage boys. Cursing under her breath, she turned into the driveway. It was a good thing she’d decided to leave the restaurant half an hour earlier than usual. She was sure Annie must have calculated the boys’ departure based on her usual time for getting home.

      When she walked into the kitchen, Sarah regarded her with a startled expression that bore a trace of guilt. With her basic honesty and pale, freckled complexion, she lied poorly and blushed easily. Her cheeks were a telltale rosy pink right now.

      “Hi, Mrs. Sullivan,” she said with obviously forced cheer. “Great party. Thanks for letting us stay over.”

      “Anytime,” Dana Sue said. “I’m glad Annie decided to make it a big party, instead of just asking you and Raylene. Everyone having fun?”

      “Absolutely. We all brought over some CDs and we’ve been dancing. We’ll probably watch a DVD after a while. Annie says you guys have a whole bunch of chick flicks.”

      “Our favorites,” Dana Sue confirmed. “Is there enough food?”

      “Plenty,” Sarah confirmed. “I can’t remember the last time I stuffed myself with pizza, and those brownies you brought home from the restaurant are fabulous. I’ve had two.”

      Dana Sue fought the urge to ask whether Annie had indulged in either the pizza or the brownies. Sarah took it out of her hands.

      “You want to know if Annie’s had any, don’t you?” she asked.

      Dana Sue nodded. “You know why it matters, don’t you, Sarah? If it weren’t so important, I would never ask you to rat on her. I’m afraid she’s in real trouble.”

      “I know. I worry about her, too,” Sarah admitted in a low voice. “I think she’s—”

      “Sarah, what’s taking so long?” Annie called out, walking into the kitchen. When she spotted the two of them together, her eyes immediately narrowed in suspicion. “Hi, Mom. You’re early. How come?”

      “Erik said he could handle things, so I decided to make an early night of it,” Dana Sue said, disappointed that Annie’s untimely interruption had kept Sarah from answering her question. She forced a smile. “Having fun, baby?”

      “We’re having a great time, aren’t we, Sarah?”

      “The best,” she confirmed, avoiding Dana Sue’s eyes.

      “You’re not going to hang out with us, are you?” Annie demanded.

      “Of course not,” Dana Sue said, noting her daughter’s flushed cheeks and wondering if that was due to excitement or guilt about the boys who’d been there. “I’m heading upstairs to bed.”

      Annie nodded. “Okay, then. Sarah, I’ll help you grab those sodas. Everybody’s hot from dancing.”

      Dana Sue waited while the girls took half a dozen cans of diet soda and bottled water from the refrigerator. As they left the room, Sarah glanced back and gave a subtle shake of her head to say that Annie hadn’t been eating along with everyone else. Dana Sue felt like sitting down at the kitchen table and crying.

      She’d wanted so badly to believe

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