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came home thinking everything would fall into place just the way it was in the old days, and now you’re figuring out that if you want her back, you’re going to have to work for it.”
    “I never expected it to be easy,” Ty insisted. “I know she hates my guts.”
    “If she does, that’s probably a good thing,” Cal said.
    “In what universe?”
    “Hate’s the opposite of love, or so they say. If she had no feelings for you at all, that’s when you’d really need to worry. Have you called her?”
    Ty shook his head.
    “Stopped by the spa while she’s there?”
    “No.”
    “Dropped in over at Ronnie and Dana Sue’s?”
    Ty regarded him incredulously. “You have to be kidding me! Dana Sue’d probably slap me silly with a cast-iron skillet. You weren’t here for the scene she made when she found out Ronnie had cheated on her. That is one scary woman.”
    Cal chuckled. “She is feisty, no question about that. So, what, then? You’re waiting for Annie to make the first move? Good luck with that.”
    “Yeah, I know,” Ty said glumly.
    “Then what is your plan?”
    “I don’t actually have a plan.” He thought about it, then murmured, “Flowers? I could send over a ton of daisies. Annie always loved daisies.”
    “It would break the ice, at least. But I don’t think you can count on flowers doing the hard work for you. When it comes to courting a woman, you have to put yourself out there, take a few risks. Flowers are too easy.”
    “In other words, she’s going to want to see me bleed.”
    Cal bit back a smile. “In a manner of speaking. I think you owe her a little public groveling, don’t you?”
    “Just for starters,” Ty conceded. Truthfully, he owed Annie that and a whole lot more. He stood up, feeling marginally better. “Thanks.”
    “You coming by the field tonight? Ronnie and I could use some help coaching Little League. We have too many kids and too few coaches.”
    “And give Ronnie a chance to beat me to a pulp? No, thanks.”
    Cal chuckled. “You could always hold your little sister or your baby brother. Ronnie would never throw a punch at a man holding a kid.”
    “I am not hiding behind a toddler who’s still in diapers,” Ty said, referring to Cole. “Or Trevor or Jessica Lynn, either, for that matter. That would be pathetic.”
    “So is hiding out from Annie,” Cal said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Deal with her, Ty. At least you’ll know where you stand.”
    Unfortunately, he already knew where he stood with Annie. And Cal was right about one things: flowers—even entire vanloads of them—weren’t going to fix things.
     
    Annie shoved the plate of food aside, untouched. But a pointed glance from her mother had her pulling it back.
    “I’m just not hungry right this second,” she grumbled, even as she ate several bites of Sullivan’s pot roast special only to wipe the look of concern from her mother’s face.
    “You’re upset about Ty,” Dana Sue said. “I get that. And I’m really sorry I kept quiet about him being back here. I was just trying to find the right time to tell you.”
    “I understand,” Annie said. Once she’d cooled down, she’d realized how impossible the whole situation was, especially for her mom and Maddie.
    Her mother regarded her worriedly. “I just don’t want you to…”
    “Stop eating,” Annie said, completing the unspoken thought. “Mom, it’s okay. Really. I ate breakfast this morning—ask Erik. I’d almost finished before I saw the article in the paper about Ty being back. I even had a bowl of soup at Wharton’s for lunch. You can ask Grace, if you want to.”
    “I’m not going to spy on you,” Dana Sue said with a self-righteous display of indignation.
    Annie raised a brow. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
    “That was a long time ago,” her mother replied. “When you first got out of the hospital, yes, your dad and I kept a close eye on your eating habits. We had to.” Unspoken was the fact