A Slice of Heaven

by Sherryl Woods

  The annual fall festival had been moved from the town square to the park since Ronnie had gone away. Once, it had been as much a boon to the local businesses as it was to the artists, produce vendors and food booths. But with the changing times the city fathers deemed it pointless to keep the event downtown, with only Wharton’s left to benefit. And, Annie had told Ronnie, there was a lot more room in the park for the increasing number of people who came to town for the festivities.

  “Dad, there’s Sarah. Can I spend some time walking around with her and Raylene?” Annie begged just as soon as they arrived.

  Ronnie cast a glance at Dana Sue, trying to gauge her reaction. She’d obviously come along grudgingly this morning, and he anticipated that any minute she was going to start making excuses to head for Sullivan’s. If Annie left the two of them alone, it was going to make it that much easier for Dana Sue to take off. Still, he refused to use Annie to keep Dana Sue around.

  “It’s up to your mom,” he said at last.

  Dana Sue looked surprised, but nodded. “Go,” she told Annie. “But you have to find your dad and me before lunch. We’re all going to eat together.”

  Annie groaned. “You’re going to watch me today, too?”

  “You know the rules,” Ronnie said. “But you can have Sarah and Raylene join us, if you want.”

  Annie’s sullen expression faded. “Cool! Okay, I’ll meet you at noon by the gazebo—that’s where all the food booths are.”

  After she’d run off, he glanced at Dana Sue and saw her studying him with a thoughtful expression. “You handled that very well.”

  “By reminding her of the rules?” he asked.

  “No, by including her friends for lunch. I wish I’d thought of that.”

  He grinned. “You were probably too distracted by the prospect of spending a couple of hours all alone with me. You afraid I’ll do something outrageous right out here in public, sugar?”

  Dana Sue shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past you.”

  “Sorry, darlin’, I intend to be on my best behavior. I don’t want to give you any excuses for bolting.”

  “Actually, I wanted to talk to you,” she said, her face turning somber.

  Ronnie knew that expression. It meant he wasn’t going to like whatever it was she had to say. The only way around that would be to keep her from saying it.

  “Not till we’ve looked at all the art,” he said, reaching for her hand and drawing her toward the first booth.

  “Ronnie,” she said, a protest obviously on the tip of her tongue.

  “It’s the fall festival,” he said. “The weather’s gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky. We’re surrounded by folks we know. Annie’s getting back to her old self. So, no serious conversations allowed today.” He gestured toward the watercolors on display. “What do you think?”

  “I think you’re impossible,” she muttered, but she turned her attention to the art. “Pretty, but bland.”

  “My thought, too. Do you suppose Maddie’s mom has a booth this year? I think a couple of Paula Vreeland botanical prints would be lovely in the foyer at Sullivan’s.”

  Dana Sue regarded him with a startled look. “You know, you’re absolutely right. I can’t imagine why I never thought of that. When we opened, I decorated on a shoestring, but I can afford more now, and they’d be perfect against the dark-green wall just inside the door.”

  Ronnie winked at her. “See, contrary to popular opinion, I do have a tasteful bone in my body.”

  As they strolled among the vendors in search of Maddie’s mom, who’d built a national reputation for her art and a local reputation for her eccentricities, Ronnie kept Dana Sue’s hand tucked in his. For once, she didn’t try to pull away.

  The instant Paula Vreeland spotted them, she cut off a conversation she was having with the artist at the next booth and came out to greet them. “Ronnie, it’s good to see you back in town,” she said. “And to see you with Dana Sue.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Vreeland. You’re even more beautiful than you were when I left,” he said. “And just in case you’re not aware of it, your art is all over the place in Beaufort. I can’t tell you how many homes I visited that had one of your paintings on the wall.”

  “And Ronnie thinks I’ve shown an amazing lack of good sense by not having a few prints hanging in the foyer at Sullivan’s,” Dana Sue stated. “For once I actually agree with something he has to say.”

  “Take a look around,” Paula Vreeland said. “And if you don’t find what you want here, come by my studio next week. I have more there. I usually don’t bring the originals here, because the cost is prohibitive for this crowd, but with the discount I’ll give you, you could afford to buy them for Sullivan’s.”

  Dana Sue regarded her with dismay. “I couldn’t ask you for a price break,” she protested.

  “You didn’t ask,” Mrs. Vreeland corrected. “I offered, and not just because you’ve been such a wonderful friend to my daughter, either. Having my paintings in your restaurant will bring me tons of new sales. You’ve drawn a very classy clientele, Dana Sue. I’m as proud of you as if you were my own.”

  Ronnie noticed Dana Sue blinking back tears, so he drew her toward a delicate painting of a magnolia blossom. He could almost feel the velvet texture of the creamy petals. “I think this would be perfect for a business owned by one of the Sweet Magnolias,” he said. “What do you think?”

  Dana Sue studied it, then nodded. “It is perfect,” she said, a catch in her voice.

  “Then consider this one my gift to you. I wasn’t here for the grand opening, so I owe you one.”

  “Ronnie, please, you don’t have to do that, especially not with all the expenses you’re going to have when you open your new business,” she said.

  “Maybe I’m hoping you’ll give me a break on catering the opening party,” he teased. “Don’t argue with me, sugar. I want to do this. Now see if there are any others you want.”

  While she looked at the other paintings, Ronnie chatted with Maddie’s mother, then paid for the one he’d chosen as his gift for Dana Sue. She wrote a check for two others she liked.

  “Can we pick them up later?” Ronnie asked. “When it’s time to go home?”

  “Absolutely,” Mrs. Vreeland told him. “I’ll put Sold stickers on them right now. You two run along and enjoy yourselves.”

  From then on their progress was slow going because the crowd had grown and it seemed everyone in town had heard about Ronnie’s plans for the hardware store and wanted to congratulate him and to thank him for doing his part to make downtown the hub of the community again. Even the mayor put in his two cents, telling Ronnie to let him know if there was anything the town could do to support the business.

  “Just shop there,” Ronnie told Howard Lewis. “And tell your friends about it.”

  “When do you anticipate opening?” the mayor asked.

  “If we can get all the details ironed out, I’d like to open before Christmas,” Ronnie answered, drawing yet another startled look from Dana Sue.

  After Howard had moved on, she eyed Ronnie warily. “You can do it that fast?”

  “If I throw myself into it nonstop for the next six weeks or so,” he said.

  “I guess that means you won’t have much time for Annie.”

  Ronnie frowned at her. “I will always make time for Annie, and for you. You know yourself that getting a business off the ground is hard work, but I intend to balance that with the other important things in my life.”

  “Sure,” she said, radiating skepticism. “You say that now, but when time starts running short, I’m sure spending time with Annie will be the first thing you sacrifice.”

  Ronnie stopped in his tracks and gave her a penetrating look. “Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”

  She blinked at the hard edge in his voice, then sighed. “Probably,” she admitted.

  “Care to explain why?” he asked.

  “I need you to go back to being the villain,” s
he said. “It would make my life so much easier.”

  Ronnie relaxed. “Not going to happen, darlin’. Now, let’s go pick out a couple of pumpkins. I’ll carve the one with the happy face and you can do the one with the scary frown.”

  She gave him a sour look. “Is that supposed to be funny?”

  Ronnie shrugged. “I thought it had the potential to coax a smile out of you. Guess I’ll just have to keep trying.”

  “Even if having you be nice is making me nuts?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Yep, afraid so.”

  Her lips twitched at his response, but she turned away before he could see if it turned into a full-fledged smile. It didn’t matter, though, because he wasn’t going to stop trying until they were back to laughing all the time, the way they once had.

  There was something weird going on with her mom and dad, Annie decided after being out of the hospital for two weeks. They were still watching her every move, making sure someone was with her for every meal, making sure she stuck to the routine they’d worked out with the dietitian. But the two of them were never around at the same time. They seemed to have some uncanny knack for avoiding each other. It was almost as if they’d worked out a schedule behind her back.

  Tonight her dad had barely walked out the door when her mom walked in. Annie regarded her with a perplexed expression. “Did you wait down the block till you saw Dad leave before you came home?” she demanded.

  “Why would I do that?” her mom asked, her guilty expression revealing the truth.

  “Because you don’t want to see him,” Annie said dryly. “What’s he done now?”

  “He hasn’t done anything,” she said. “He’s busy these days. So am I. You know I’ve been neglecting the restaurant and the health club. I need to make up for the time I’ve missed.”

  She made it sound pretty reasonable, but Annie wasn’t buying it. “Will you both be at the family counseling session tomorrow?”

  When her mom regarded her with a startled expression, Annie knew she’d forgotten all about it. “You can’t get out of it,” Annie declared. “The whole point of family counseling is for all of us to be there. Dad’s coming. I reminded him tonight.” In truth, he hadn’t seemed any more eager to be there than her mom, but he’d agreed.

  Her mom sighed. “Of course I’ll be there. It just slipped my mind, that’s all.”

  The sessions the shrink had had with just Annie hadn’t been so bad. Dr. McDaniels was pretty cool, after all. She got the things Annie tried to explain to her, and she didn’t make a lot of judgments. She just pushed and prodded till Annie started to look at situations differently.

  Like her parents’ marriage, for instance. She knew now that there was probably nothing any of them could have done to keep it from falling apart after her dad had cheated. But whatever the real reason was that he’d slept with that bimbo, it was his issue, not her mom’s and certainly not Annie’s. And her not eating was a pretty dumb way to go about protesting her dad leaving town.

  Not that she’d realized at the time that was what she was doing, some sort of stupid hunger-strike thing, but that was what it amounted to. She might not trust herself to eat right all the time yet, but she was pretty sure she’d never be that dumb again.

  In her attempt to figure out what was going on between her mom and dad, Annie had forgotten to share the good news she’d had that morning.

  “Guess what?” she said, unable to contain a grin. “Dr. McDaniels said if the cardiologist says it’s okay when I see him day after tomorrow, I can go back to school next week.”

  Her mom beamed. “Wow, that is good news! You’ve worked really hard to get better. I know it’ll be great to be back in class and with your friends again.”

  The best part would be seeing Ty every day, Annie thought, but she didn’t tell her mom that. He’d been coming by a lot while she’d been at home, but she couldn’t wait to see if he would spend time with her at school. Not that he was acting like a boyfriend or anything. He’d never kissed her, except on the cheek, the same way he kissed her mom. But Annie thought it would say a lot if he treated her like a friend in front of all the guys on the baseball team and the other seniors. Like she was special.

  “Are you all caught up with your assignments?” her mom asked.

  Annie nodded. “Sarah and Raylene have been bringing them and I’ve sent all the homework in with them. I might have to take some tests I’ve missed, but it shouldn’t be too hard to catch up. Ty said he’d tutor me if I need it.”

  Her mother regarded her intently. “That was nice of him. He’s been a good friend, hasn’t he?”

  “The best,” she said, feeling her cheeks heat.

  “You aren’t counting on anything more, are you?” her mom asked, looking worried.

  Annie knew the point she was trying to make—that Ty was her friend, not her boyfriend. But she didn’t need reminding of that every minute. “No way,” she said. “Why are you making such a big deal about it?”

  “I just don’t want you to be disappointed.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time in my life I’ve been disappointed,” Annie told her.

  Her mom frowned at that. “Are you talking about me and your dad?”

  “Exactly,” Annie said.

  Her mom suddenly looked tired and incredibly sad. “And look at how you dealt with that,” she said gently. “I couldn’t bear it if Ty hurt you, and it sent you down that path again.”

  “Did it ever occur to you that maybe he won’t disappoint me?” Annie demanded heatedly. “Thanks for believing in me, Mom.” Hurt and anger were all mixed up inside her as she ran upstairs to her room and slammed the door behind her.

  She heard her mom call after her, but she just buried her face in her pillow. She knew what she’d said was mean, and it wasn’t even true, not really. Her mom had always believed in her. In fact, she was her biggest booster. Annie knew in her heart that she was the one who didn’t believe that she was good enough for Ty. Which was why her mom’s warning had touched a nerve.

  When Ronnie walked into Dr. McDaniels’s office in the morning, the tension was palpable. Annie and Dana Sue were barely looking at each other and Dana Sue was deliberately avoiding his gaze. He opted to take a seat beside his daughter.

  Leaning in close, he whispered, “Did you have a fight with your mom?”

  She shrugged. “Sort of.”

  “About?”

  “Stuff.”

  He sat back with a sigh, then glanced at Dana Sue, whose posture was stiff as a board. “What about you? You want to tell me what the fight was about?”

  “Not really.”

  “Then the next hour ought to be a lot of fun,” he murmured, relieved when Dr. McDaniels came in and closed the door. Maybe a neutral party could sort out the problem.

  “How is everyone?” the psychologist inquired, regarding them all cheerfully.

  The murmured responses from either side of him were so unenthusiastic that Ronnie felt compelled to make his own hearty. Dr. McDaniels gave him a grateful look.

  “I sense some tension here,” she said.

  “You think?” Annie muttered.

  Dana Sue sighed heavily. “All I did was tell her not to get her hopes up about a young man she likes. I just didn’t want her to be disappointed if he didn’t live up to her expectations.”

  So that was it, Ronnie thought. This was about Ty and—Ronnie would be willing to bet—about him. Locking gazes with Dana Sue, he said, “Is this really about Annie not putting her feelings at risk with Ty, or about you being scared to risk yours with me?”

  Dana Sue scowled at him. “Your name never came up,” she said tightly.

  “I’m sure it didn’t,” he retorted. “That doesn’t mean you weren’t projecting your fears onto Annie and Ty.”

  “Okay, hold on a second,” Dr. McDaniels said. “One of you needs to fill me in. Who is Ty? I believe you’ve mentioned him before, Annie. Want to tell me a little more about him?”
r />   Annie leaned forward eagerly and painted Ty in glowing terms. “I like him,” she concluded, casting a defiant glance at her mother. “A lot.”

  “Which is why I was concerned,” Dana Sue said. “Ty’s older. He has his own friends, his own interests. He’s been wonderful with Annie, but I’m not sure they’re on the same page when it comes to their feelings.”

  “So you want to protect her from being hurt,” the psychologist said.

  “Well, of course I do. I’m her mother,” Dana Sue said.

  “You can’t protect kids from growing up and making their own mistakes,” Dr. McDaniels said. “What if Annie is hurt? Would it be the end of the world? Every girl has her heart broken at some point.”

  “Not now, dammit,” Dana Sue said forcefully. “She’s too fragile. She needs to get healthy and strong again before she has to face something like that.”

  The psychologist turned to Annie. “You know you’re taking a chance, right? You know that putting your heart on the line might be risky?”

  “Sure,” Annie said. “But it’s okay. How will I feel if I play it safe and never even get a chance to be happy with Ty?”

  “Out of the mouths of babes,” Ronnie muttered, his gaze on Dana Sue.

  Dr. McDaniels seized on his comment. “You’re seeing some parallels here to your relationship with Dana Sue.”

  “Plain as day,” he said.

  “How about you?” she asked Dana Sue. “Do you think Ronnie’s right? Are you projecting your own insecurities onto your daughter?”

  “Absolutely not!” Dana Sue snapped, then closed her eyes. “Maybe,” she whispered.

  Instead of pressing her, the doctor turned back to Annie. “What’s the worst thing that might happen if you put your heart on the line with Ty?”

  “He might not like me back the same way,” she said at once.

  “And you could cope with that?”

  “Better than I could deal with not knowing,” Annie stated.

  “That sounds like a pretty mature attitude to me,” Dr. McDaniels said. “What do you think, Dana Sue?”

  “I think she has no idea how devastating it will be if he doesn’t.”