A Slice Of Heaven. Sherryl Woods

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      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 СКАЧАТЬ