Redemption

Chapter Forty-One

Reluctantly, she tore her gaze from him and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear as she heard the surprisingly cheery voice of the woman on the other end. Out of everyone who could have phoned her and interrupted whatever Bobby was going to ask, she was the last person Danni expected to hear from. It was only four days that she'd had to rush her and her husband from the apartment to take care of police duty. Honestly, she'd made sure to keep herself busy for long enough to avoid the woman's call, but for some reason, she had to be home at this particular moment. She was now wishing she had taken Sue out for a bit of girl-time, per Bobby's excuse to Jack for not wanting to spend the day with her. It was an excellent excuse, but the time had passed. She couldn't help cursing under her breath for letting the opportunity go.

Her gaze flickered to the man who'd decided to busy himself with cleaning up the mess he'd made, rather than sit and wait for the conversation to end. Danni gently chewed on the inside of her cheek in aggravation. He was avoiding her gaze for a reason; he had something to do with his call and she would find out how and why.

As much as she despised talking to this woman over the phone, she'd decided to grit her teeth and bare it. After all, one of them was taking a step to remedy the situation they'd found themselves in. It was only normal to feel a twinge of guilt. Besides, she really did miss speaking with her. "Hi, Mom," she said as sweetly as possible while shooting an evil glare at Bobby who had looked up at that opportune moment only to smile back in one of his most heart-clenching grins. It was hard to stay angry at him when he smiled like that, but she would find a way. He wasn't going to be let off the hook so easily.

Surprisingly, Charlene's voice came back just as cheerful as it had started off at. She was really trying to make an effort to fix the rift between them and all Danni could do was feel disgust that she was actually calling her. She felt smaller than a thimble and like she was drowning in guilt. "Was that him?" she asked with a hint of anxiousness. After all, no one had actually mentioned Bobby's accent when the topic of him was broached. It was only natural for a woman to fall in love with him over the phone. That resonance was intoxicating.

Danni could almost hear her mother's grin and couldn't hold one of her own back at the sound. "Yeah, that was him," she answered with one more glance in his direction. By this time, he'd collected everything he'd scattered and was stacking it all upon the coffee table. He placed a kiss upon her forehead for some reason and her smile widened, despite her obvious annoyance.

"He sounds just as handsome as he looks." It was meant to as a compliment, but the way it left Charlene's lips didn't make it seem to. Her tone made it sound like Danni was only with Bobby because of his looks. It wasn't what she'd meant at all, so she quickly reiterated and hoped she hadn't upset her daughter. "I mean, he sounds wonderful." She could tell by the sound of his voice that he was a caring man and was probably good for her daughter and that's what she wanted to say, yet she just couldn't find the words and hope they were the right ones to say. This was a big enough leap forward—if she said something without thinking, they'd end up taking two back and that wasn't what she wanted to happen.

"He is wonderful." For saying that, Danni earned another kiss; this time on the cheek. She couldn't help but think she was back in school and she was earning gold stars for doing something correctly. Yet, these gold stars were much more rewarding that a simple sticker.

"Keep saying things like that, Luv, and you'll forget that you were ever mad at me," he said softly, making sure Charlene wouldn't hear. It would be something that could be explained in person during a mother-daughter conversation; not over the phone where things could be taken out of context.

"Hush you," his girl mumbled as she tried to keep her blush at bay without having much luck. She cursed to herself again. That man was so infuriating at times, yet he could always find a way to make her blush. She just hoped he wasn't making a promise he couldn't keep.

"What was that?"

"Forget it, Mom. It's not important." As much as she'd wanted her annoyance to remain, she was happy that it finally subsided. She hated being angry at him. Though, there were times when her being angry made making up so much more worthwhile. She shook her head as she tried to get those thoughts out of her mind. She still needed to uphold a civil conversation with her mother and she couldn't very well do that when she though about the times she and Bobby had made up in the bedroom.

"All right, dear. Anyway, the real reason I called was to thank you for the flowers. They really are beautiful." Danni's brow furrowed into a line as she was trying to comprehend what her mother had been saying. Flowers? What flowers? Before she had the chance to ask, though, her mother continued as if the confused pause hadn't occurred. "Also, your father and I would love to meet you for lunch tomorrow. Bobby will be there, right?"

"Lunch? What are you talking about? And, what flowers?" Fortunately—or unfortunately, she wasn't quite sure—she didn't have to look too far for the answers to her questions. She heard a soft whistling emitting from the man who continued to tidy his mess. She knew he'd had a hand in this and that really upset her.

"You sent the flowers as an apology for having to leave in the middle of things the other night… and in your note you said you wanted to meet your father and me for lunch. We could only assume Bobby would have been there, but if he's busy we understand. Though, we are anxious to meet this young man… in person, that is." The confusion was clear in her voice. Of course, Danni would know what she was talking about. After all, she was the one who sent the gorgeous white carnations to their hotel room. Her name was on the card and not too many people knew her favorite flower was a carnation.

Danni's blue eyes fixed on her boyfriend in a stony glare. If only she had the power to maim him with one small though, she would be the happiest woman in the world. She couldn't believe he would do something like this. "What?" she mouthed to him. He only shrugged his shoulders in a not-so-innocent fashion as an answer and that made her angry. Why would he think he would need to take this matter into his own hands and try to straighten things out? He didn't know the whole story. There was more to the falling out than he knew and she wasn't sure she wanted him to know, now.

"There isn't a problem, is there?" Charlene asked, sensing the tension over the phone. How she was able to do that, she wasn't positive. She only knew that her daughter wasn't happy, though not certain why.

"No, everything's fine. We'll meet you tomorrow." She had to force the words from her mouth, but she'd managed to with as calm a tone as she could muster and without the slightest grumble from deep inside. She was saving that and much more for the Aussie standing in front of her. She stood up from the couch and watched as he continued to bustle about the room. He was deliberately avoiding eye-contact at this moment and that would only be worse for him in the end.

"Tomorrow, then. We love you."

Danni had to closer her eyes and prevent the anger from leaking away. She was prepared to yell and with her mother saying something like that and sounding so heartfelt, she as finding it harder and harder to stay angered. "I love you too," with that, she hung up the phone and dropped it onto the couch, startling Luna and making her run for the safety of her cat bed. She paid little attention to the kitten, because she'd remained focused upon the idiot in front of her. She stared daggers at him as she felt her blood boil hotter than it had ever been with him before. She waited for him to raise his gaze to her before she said anything. She wanted to see the whites in his eyes before she began her relentless attack on him. He had no right to arrange such a thing behind her back and she was going to tell him so. "Bobby Manning," she said when his head finally perked up and she looked into those magnificent blue pools, "I am going to kill you," she growled before she marched up to him.