A Slice Of Heaven

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“That’s right,” Dana Sue confirmed. “We’re not going anywhere. All your friends are here, too. Sarah’s mad as heck at you for spoiling the sleepover. She says she’s expecting you to throw another one ASAP. And Raylene says she’ll keep track of all your assignments at school, so you won’t fall behind. I think she said it because she’s jealous you’re going to miss a few classes, and wants to be sure you don’t get out of any of the homework.”

Ronnie couldn’t be sure, but it almost looked as if Dana Sue’s words stirred a faint hint of a smile on Annie’s face. He glanced up and saw the nurse motioning to them. He walked around the bed and laid a hand on Dana Sue’s shoulder, then leaned down and pressed a kiss to Annie’s forehead.

“We have to leave you for a little while—they won’t let us stay,” he told her. “See you later, kiddo.”

Dana Sue stood reluctantly, her eyes filled with tears. “You’re going to be fine, sweetie. I promise. We’ll be back soon.”

Outside the room, she wobbled on her feet. As furious as he was at his daughter’s condition, Ronnie took her elbow and steadied her.

“We need to talk,” he said tightly.

“Not now,” she pleaded.

“Yes, now. We’ll go to the cafeteria. You look like you’re about to pass out. You need some food.”

“I can’t eat.”

“You can,” he said firmly. When her chin jutted stubbornly, he asked, “Do I have to throw you over my shoulder and carry you down there? I will, you know. As mad as I am, the prospect of causing a scene doesn’t bother me in the slightest.”

Her defiant gaze clashed with his, and for a second he thought she might test him. But she finally gave him a disgusted look and started down the hall on her own.

He followed her to the cafeteria, got a tray and began piling on food. Juice, fresh fruit, a bagel and cream cheese, scrambled eggs, pancakes and two cups of coffee.

“You feeding a lumberjack?” Dana Sue asked when he reached for a second plate of pancakes.

He studied the array of food on the tray and decided there was enough for the two of them. He knew Dana Sue. Despite her claim that she wasn’t hungry, she always ate in a crisis. And it had been a very long time since that fast-food dinner he’d had the night before.

“I guess this will do,” he conceded, paying the cashier. Then he led the way to a table just being vacated near a window. After all those hours in which time had seemed to drag, he was surprised to see the sun well up in the morning sky.

The cafeteria was bustling with visiting families and staff. It was a far cry from the few exhausted customers who’d been here when he and Maddie had come down for coffee earlier.

Ronnie put all the dishes on the table, then placed the empty tray on a neighboring one. He divided the eggs and pancakes between them, put a plate in front of Dana Sue and began to eat. When she continued to sit perfectly still, her food untouched, he grinned at her.

“You’re going to need fortification to fight with me,” he commented. “Eat. The pancakes are good. The eggs are edible. They won’t be once they get cold.”

“Now there’s a reason to dive in,” she retorted, but she picked up her fork and tasted the pancakes.

“Well?” he asked.

“Not as good as the ones I do for Sunday brunch at Sullivan’s.”

He bit back a smile. Even under these circumstances, her competitive streak kicked in.

“Once Annie’s well, I’ll have to come by and try yours,” he said, taking a sip of orange juice. “I seem to recall they were pretty spectacular when you made them for us on holiday mornings.”

“Don’t start dredging up ancient history, Ronnie,” she said. “I have no desire to stroll down memory lane with you.”

“Okay, then, let’s talk about something more recent,” he said, looking directly into her eyes and removing the kid gloves with which he’d been treating her. “How the hell did Annie get into the shape she’s in?”

“A lot of teenage girls have eating disorders,” Dana Sue said defensively.

“I only care about our teenage daughter. How did things get this bad without your taking some kind of action?”

Dana Sue dropped her fork and burst into tears. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I honestly don’t know. I thought I was on top of it. I fixed good food for her. She swore to me she was eating it. I guess I just didn’t want to believe she would lie to me about something so important.”

Ronnie was too angry to allow himself to feel even a moment’s pity for her obvious anguish. “You were here. You had to know there was something wrong. Good God, she can’t even weigh ninety pounds.”

Eyes blazing, Dana Sue glared right back at him. “Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think I’ve asked myself a thousand times why I didn’t force the issue sooner? I did the best I could, Ronnie. I talked to her. The whole sleepover was supposed to give me some idea if she was doing this on her own or if her friends were just as obsessed with dieting as she was.”

“Too little, too damn late!”

“Don’t you dare blame all this on me!” she said. “Where were you?”

He dismissed a momentary pang of guilt and retaliated with a barb of his own. “I was where you wanted me to be—gone.”

“Because you cheated on me!” she said furiously. “And that’s what started this whole mess.”

He stared at her incredulously. “You’re blaming Annie’s anorexia on me because I cheated on you?”

“Yes, I am,” she said fiercely. “She convinced herself that if I’d been thin enough, you wouldn’t have cheated, so she decided to starve herself so she wouldn’t wind up alone like me.”

“That’s absurd,” Ronnie declared. “Did she tell you that?”

“Not in so many words, but it was right there every time she got on my case about my weight. She hated you for cheating on me, Ronnie, but she hated me just as much because she thought it was my fault.”

Ronnie sank back in his chair and raked a hand over his head. It was an automatic gesture he hadn’t stopped even after he’d shaved his balding head. Some habits die hard.

As Dana Sue watched him, her stark despair faded for just an instant. “I like the new look,” she said. “You still getting used to it?”

Ronnie nodded. “I saw little point in pretending I wasn’t going bald, so I figured what the hell.”

“It suits you. On you bald is very sexy.”

“Really? That’s quite a compliment coming from you.”

Her expression promptly closed down. “Don’t let it go to your bald head,” she said.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he assured her.

“Maybe we should limit our conversation to Annie,” Dana Sue suggested.

“It would be safer turf,” he agreed. “Although you never used to take the safe route, sugar.”

“I’ve changed,” she said tersely. “Let’s stick to what Annie needs.”

Despite his desire to continue to spar with Dana Sue, if only to put some color in her cheeks, he sighed. “That poor kid,” he murmured. “I honestly thought she was doing okay. She sounded fine when we talked.” He glanced warily at Dana Sue. “You knew we’d been talking, right?”

“I just found out a few days ago,” she admitted. “How long has it been going on?”

“I started calling from the beginning.” He shrugged. “She hung up. A while back, maybe six months ago, she finally started talking. To be honest, I don’t think she wanted you to know.”

“Then it wasn’t your idea that she keep it from me?”

“No, of course not. I figured she’d know the best way to handle it.”

“You left it up to a sixteen-year-old to decide whether to lie to her mother?”

“Omit the truth,” he contradicted. “I wasn’t violating our agreement, Dana Sue. I’d had the right to talk to her and see her all along. If she didn’t say anything to you, it’s probably because she didn’t want to upset you.”

Dana Sue regarded him with surprise, as if she hadn’t expected him to understand that. “You’re right,” she conceded with obvious reluctance. “I suppose on some level I needed to believe you didn’t give a damn about either of us anymore.”