Home In Carolina

Ty winced. “Yes, it was. Pretend you didn’t hear that, buddy, and whatever you do, don’t tell your grandma.”

Annie had to hide her amusement over Ty’s obvious fear that his son would tattle on him. She was in no mood to let him think she’d enjoyed anything about this encounter.

“I have to go to work. Bye, Trevor,” she said, pointedly excluding his father as she left without trying to track down her check. She’d pay Grace when she picked up her lunch later.

“Bye-bye,” Trevor called after her.

Ty merely watched her go. She could feel his knowing gaze on her all the way out the door, and sure enough, when she glanced back once she was on the street, he was still watching her. What bothered her the most, though, wasn’t that he couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away, but that his expression was so undeniably sad. That was something she understood all too well.

“Well, that went better than I’d expected,” Grace Wharton said to Ty after Annie had gone. Miraculously, she’d emerged from the kitchen the second Annie was out of sight. He suspected Annie wouldn’t be pleased about that sudden reappearance after Grace’s timely absence.

“Thanks for calling to let me know she was here,” Ty told Grace. “I know everybody in town is on her side, you included, but all I want is a chance to make things right. The only way that’s going to happen is if we keep running into each other. Sooner or later I’ll chip away at all that anger. For a minute there, we had an actual conversation.”

“If you ask me, I think you’re being overly optimistic,” Grace told him. “I think it’s going to take a grand gesture, not two minutes in public with the two of you trying to be civil with each other.”

Ty shrugged. “I have to start somewhere.” He met Grace’s gaze. “You’ll let me know next time she’s in here?”

“As long as I don’t see any evidence that you’re making her miserable. If Annie’s upset, our deal is off. Like you said, much as I like you, I’m on her side.”

Ty nodded. “Fair enough.”

“Now, shall I bring this young man a pancake? And scrambled eggs with bacon and whole-wheat toast for you?” she asked.

“Thanks, Grace.”

She started away from the table, then came back. “Don’t you hurt that girl again,” she warned. “If this is just some game to occupy you while you’re doing rehab, stop it right now or, at the very least, leave me out of it.”

He couldn’t blame her for thinking the worst. Ty held her gaze. “It’s no game, Grace. I swear it.”

She studied him intently, then finally nodded. “Okay, then.”

Grace had barely walked away when Ronnie Sullivan slid into the booth opposite him. “What are you and Grace in cahoots about?” Ronnie demanded, even as Trevor scrambled into Ronnie’s lap, rubbed a hand over his shaved head, then gave it a little pat. “Did I hear right? Does it have something to do with my daughter?”

Ty groaned. “Where’d you come from?”

“I was grabbing a cup of coffee at the counter when I overheard just enough to send a chill down my spine.” He sipped from his take-out cup and said slowly, “Now, I’m not likely to take Grace apart limb by limb, but I can’t say the same where you’re concerned.” He leveled a threatening look into Ty’s eyes. “Clear enough?”

“Ronnie, I’m not the enemy,” Ty swore. “I’m trying to fix things with Annie. I miss her. You know how it was when you were trying to make things right with Dana Sue and nobody wanted to cut you any slack? Well, that’s how it is with me right now. I screwed up, and thanks to the tabloids, the whole world knows about it. I can’t change that, but maybe with time I can prove to Annie that it will never happen again.”

Ronnie’s gaze narrowed. “And that really matters to you? You care what Annie thinks of you?”

“Always have,” Ty declared.

“You had a damn strange way of showing it,” Ronnie said.

“Nobody knows that better than I do.”

Ronnie studied him intently, clearly trying to gauge whether or not Ty could be trusted. Eventually, like Grace, he seemed to like what he saw. He nodded. “Okay, then, I’ll give you a break for the time being. But if you make that girl cry or upset her in any way, all bets are off.”

“Seems perfectly reasonable to me,” Ty said, swallowing hard as he considered the certainty that Ronnie meant exactly what he’d said.

Ronnie’s gaze didn’t waver. “However, I can’t speak for Dana Sue. You understand that, right? She may not be inclined to be as generous.”

“Which is one reason I’m not stepping foot inside Sullivan’s until Annie and I make peace. I’ve seen your wife handle the knives in that kitchen, to say nothing of all those skillets,” Ty said with a shudder.

Ronnie chuckled. “Yeah, who knew a skillet could be used as a weapon of feminine destruction? I learned that one the hard way.”

Ty barely contained a grin. “I remember.”

Ronnie stood up with Trevor still in his arms, then set the boy back down in the booth. “For what it’s worth, if you really are the man you used to be, then I hope this works out. I’ll never forget the way you looked out for Annie when she was sick. You stood up to her then, got through to her in a way no one else had been able to. You were there for her when a lot of kids your age would have turned their backs. You banked a lot of points with me for doing that. That man is someone I’d trust with my daughter.”

Ty felt a knot form in his throat. “Thanks, Ronnie.”

“Doesn’t mean I won’t beat the crap out of you if it turns out you’re not that man,” Ronnie said, then walked away as the warning hung in the air.

Grace returned and set their plates on the table. Based on her timing, it was evident she’d been waiting nearby for the confrontation to end.

Ty gave her a hopeful look. “I know you heard all that,” he said. “Do you think you could keep it to yourself? It won’t help my cause if Annie knows her father’s tried to put the fear of God into me. She’ll think that’s the only reason I’m on my best behavior around her.”

“Or maybe it’ll stir up her sympathy,” Grace said.

“I think we’d better go with my theory,” Ty told her. “Can we forget this scene ever happened?”

“I can keep my mouth shut,” Grace said indignantly, then shrugged. “Of course, there are other customers in here, and what they couldn’t hear, they’re likely to make up.”

Ty groaned at the accuracy of her assessment. “Just do whatever you can to keep this quiet, okay?”

He had an uphill battle ahead of him as it was. Proving to Annie that he could be trusted was going to be tricky enough without her wondering if he was being nice only because he was scared of her daddy.

Unlike her mom, who was still best friends with the women she’d grown up with, Annie hadn’t stayed in touch with the two girls she’d been closest to in high school. Because of the anorexia, she’d wanted to put those tough times, those awful memories, completely behind her. And since she, Sarah and Raylene had gone to different colleges, it hadn’t been all that difficult to break the ties without anyone’s feelings being hurt. That didn’t mean she didn’t remember them fondly. Like Ty, they’d stuck with her during her difficult recovery from her eating disorder.

The last Annie had heard, Raylene was married to a bright young orthopedic surgeon and living in Charleston. It was exactly the match her very socially connected grandparents in Charleston had hoped for when they’d arranged for her to attend a debutante ball. Annie had met Raylene’s husband, Paul Hammond, at a couple of professional gatherings, and he’d even recommended her to a few of his patients, but she and Raylene had rarely crossed paths during the brief time Annie had spent in Charleston after college. When they had, she’d noted that Raylene had looked every bit the young socialite, a role she’d come to late but adapted to nicely.

Sarah had been engaged by her junior year in college, and after graduation had moved to Alabama to be near her fiancé’s family. To Annie’s surprise, no wedding invitation had ever arrived in the mail. Nor did anyone in town seem to know if Sarah had actually gotten married. Her parents had moved away a few months ago, just before Annie’s return to Serenity.

When Elliott called from the front desk at the spa to tell Annie that her next client had arrived, she was stunned to find Sarah waiting for her. She was even more startled by the amount of weight her friend had gained and, even more shocking, her dull eyes and unkempt appearance.

“I’ll bet I’m the last person you expected to see,” Sarah said, forcing a smile that never reached her eyes.

Annie tried to hide her initial reaction. She held out her arms and embraced her. “You definitely are, but it’s a wonderful surprise. How are you?”

“How do I look?” Sarah asked, her tone bitter, then waved off her own question. “No, don’t tell me. I can’t take brutal honesty right now.”

Annie heard a note of near hysteria in Sarah’s voice that cut right through her. “Let’s grab a glass of tea,” she suggested. “It’s a beautiful morning. We can sit on the patio and catch up.”

“Given the shape I’m in, maybe we should start right in with the exercise. It’s going to take a while to fix me.”

“You don’t need to be fixed,” Annie said fiercely, trying to combat the note of defeat. “Maybe just a little fine-tuning.”