Sherryl Woods – A Slice Of Heaven (страница 16)

“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.”

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