regret, he couldn’t even remember what she’d looked like, or any highlight of their conversation.
“You want to talk about it?” his companion inquired, taking a sip of her beer. “My name’s Linda, by the way. Folks say I’m a real good listener.” She leaned in closer. “Among other things.”
Ronnie gave her another speculative once-over, but the attraction just wasn’t there for him.
“Come on,” she prodded. “Every man has a story he’s just dying to tell.”
“Not me,” he insisted.
“Broken heart, then,” she concluded. “Men hate talking about being dumped.”
“The broken heart wasn’t mine,” he corrected, then thought about it. In the end, his heart had been just as shattered as Dana Sue’s, and he’d had a load of guilt to go along with it.
“What did you do?” Linda asked. “Sleep around on her?”
“Something like that,” he admitted.
“Then I imagine you’ll do it again. Men always do.”
“Is that so?”
“In my experience, anyway.”
Amused by her world-weary attempt at wisdom, he said, “Then you must have real bad taste in men.”
She laughed. “Says the guy I’ve been coming on to for the past five minutes.”
“Like I said, bad taste,” he agreed. “But your luck’s about to change, because I’m going to do you a favor and take off.” He put some bills on the bar, then met her disappointed gaze. “And just so you know, if I ever convince my ex-wife to take me back, she’ll have nothing to worry about. I learned my lesson. She’s the only one for me.”
“You gonna try to sell me some of that swamp land east of here next?”
“Nope. I’m just gonna wish you better luck with the next guy who comes along,” he said, and walked away.
“I wonder if this ex of yours knows she’s a lucky woman,” she called after him.
Ronnie chuckled at that. “I most seriously doubt it, unless she considers herself damn lucky that I’m gone.”
“Then she’s a fool,” his new friend said.
Ronnie shook his head. “No,” he said in an undertone not meant to be heard, “that was me.”
And sometime in the next couple of months, he was going to try to convince Dana Sue of that.
Back in his dingy room at the motel his boss had made a deal with for the out-of-town construction crew, Ronnie checked the time, figured Dana Sue would still be at the restaurant and called Annie on her cell phone. After the first few months of sounding either angry or distant or both, she’d finally let down her guard. They’d almost recaptured the closeness they’d once shared. He treasured these calls and he was pretty sure Annie did, too. He missed his daughter as much as he missed Dana Sue. The months when Annie had frozen him out had taken a real toll on him, but he’d kept calling.
“Dad!” she said eagerly, sounding like her old self. “How are you?”
“I’m good,” he lied, then listened to the loud background noise on Annie’s end of the line. “Where are you, baby? It sounds like you’re at a party.”
“Wait a sec. I’ll go in the other room so I can hear you,” she said.
It was suddenly quiet on the other end of the line. “Where are you?” Ronnie asked again.
“At home. I have a few friends over.”
Ronnie might not be in line for any parent-of-the-year awards, but that didn’t sound good. “Isn’t your mom at work?” he asked.
Annie hesitated for a long moment, then said, “Yes, but she said I could have a sleepover tonight. In fact, it was her idea.”
“That’s great,” he enthused, but a vague suspicion that Annie was bending the truth continued to nag at him. He finally put his finger on it and asked, “Didn’t I hear some male voices?”
“Must have been the music,” she said glibly. “How are you, Dad?”
“I’m fine, and don’t try to change the subject, young lady. I seriously doubt your mother would be happy that there are boys over when she’s not there.”
“Ty’s here,” she said excitedly. “You always liked him.”
“Of course I did, but not at home with my daughter and her friends when there’s no adult in the house,” Ronnie said. “Is he the only guy there?”
“No,” she admitted.
“Sweetie, you know that’s not a good idea. Does your mom know about the boys coming by?”
The long silence that greeted the question pretty much answered it. He let it go 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
