Suddenly, Annie's Father

“I am not pregnant,” Laurie repeated with a stubborn jut of her chin.

“Saying it won’t make it true,” Val taunted. “See a doctor, Laurie. Take a home pregnancy test. Do something before you drive both of us nuts.”

She glanced up just then and spotted Annie standing hesitantly on the deck outside.

“Is it okay?” Annie whispered, her awestruck gaze fixed on Laurie, though the question was directed to Val.

“Of course it’s okay,” Val said. “Laurie, this is Annie Sutton.”

“Hi,” Annie said shyly, not budging from outside. “My dad said not to bother you, if you were busy.”

“We’re not busy,” Laurie said. “More’s the pity.”

“You were singing before,” Annie said. “I heard you. I hope that’s okay.”

Val wondered how much more Annie had heard before she’d made her presence known. Her expression, however, was totally innocent. Maybe she’d been so captivated just being near Laurie that she hadn’t been paying any attention to the rest.

Laurie grinned at her. “What did you think of the song? Tell the truth. I can take it.”

“I thought it was awesome, not as sad as what you usually do,” Annie said, creeping inside. “Is it finished?”

“Not yet. I can’t decide if I like it.” Laurie studied Annie intently. “You really liked it, huh?”

Annie nodded. “Especially the part about finding someone new inside. I feel like that sometimes, as if I’m not who I was anymore, but I don’t know yet who I am.”

Val saw the sudden inspiration flare to life in Laurie’s eyes. She grabbed her guitar off the sofa and began to toy with the lyrics that she’d been struggling with earlier. Annie crept closer and sat down to listen, her rapt gaze never leaving Laurie’s face.

Time seemed to stand still as Laurie captured what Annie had so eloquently expressed, and turned it into the beginnings of a song. As the first words flowed, Val grabbed a pad and jotted them down. She knew from experience that Laurie would want to see them in black and white later. For now, she was too caught up in the creative process to take the time to make sure the words weren’t lost as soon as they were uttered.

When the last notes faded away, Annie looked as if she’d been given a precious gift. “That’s what I said,” she whispered. “You sang what I said.”

Laurie grinned. “You inspired it, all right. Thank you. I was stuck until you came in here.”

“You mean I helped? I really helped?”

“More than you’ll know,” Val told her fervently. Maybe now Laurie would realize that the only block to her continued success was in her own mental attitude toward the future. “Now let’s get out of here and let Laurie work in peace. She won’t be happy until every note’s perfect.”

“I thought it sounded perfect just the way it was,” Annie told her.

“Not yet,” Laurie said. “But thanks to you, it’s getting there.”

Annie followed Val to the door with obvious reluctance. Just as they were about to go out, she turned back. “What’s it called?”

“‘Where’d I Go?’” Laurie told her. “But I’m going to think of it as Annie’s song. And whenever I sing it, I’ll tell the audience about the young lady who helped me write it.”

“Oh, wow!” Annie murmured, eyes shining. “Wait till my dad hears about this.” Outside, she gazed up at Val. “Do you think she really meant it? Will she put that song on an album? Will she really tell people about me?”

“She’ll have to run it past some people, but I’d say yes. Laurie usually knows a hit when she hears it.” Unwittingly, Annie had captured Laurie’s own mood with her words. She’d given her an excuse for writing about the changes that scared Laurie to death. The meeting had been good for both of them. “As for telling her fans about you, Laurie always gives credit where it’s due.”

Val grinned down at Annie. “How about you and I go into town and celebrate? I’ll buy you the biggest sundae they serve at Dolan’s. Remember? That’s the place I told you about. If we’re lucky, Sharon Lynn will have her new baby there with her.”

“Really? You can go now? You don’t have to work or something?”

“I can go. Let’s see if your dad says it’s okay for you to come along.”

Some of the light in Annie’s eyes faded. “He won’t care. He’s working. I haven’t seen him all day. He told me to stick close to home and not get into trouble.”

“Ask him anyway,” Val insisted. “He’s probably at the stables. I’ll wait at the car.”

Annie gave her a put-upon look, but she scampered off dutifully. Val resisted the temptation to follow and make sure she actually talked to Slade. Annie needed to have someone trust her, and Val needed to learn to resist the urge to make excuses to catch a glimpse of Slade. It was way past time to try out a new strategy. Straightforward hadn’t cut it. Maybe the old-fashioned way—playing elusive and hard-to-get— would work.

Annie came back waving a five-dollar bill. “He said okay, but he’s treating.”

Val was oddly pleased by the gesture. It could hardly be counted as a date, since he wasn’t even coming along, but it would be the first thing Slade had ever given her. Too bad she couldn’t preserve an ice cream sundae as a souvenir. Maybe she’d tuck that five-dollar bill into a scrapbook, instead.

* * *

Seeing Annie and Val with their heads together was enough to send goosebumps sliding down Slade’s back. It had been occurring with distressing regularity ever since Annie’s arrival earlier in the week.

Over dinner on Annie’s first night, all Slade had heard was “Val said this” and “Val said that.” He probably should have been grateful that Annie was talking to him at all, but all he could think about was the topic. He had enough trouble keeping his mind off Val without her name coming up every two seconds. Still, he’d gritted his teeth and listened to every word Annie had to say about this new friend she’d acquired.

“And she said she’d take me into town tomorrow,” she’d said, her eyes bright with excitement. “There’s this place, Dolan’s, that has ice cream and hamburgers. It’s owned by a lady named Sharon Lynn. You probably know her. Her dad’s your boss or something. Anyway, Val said Dolan’s is the place to go in Los Piños. Or she said we could go for pizza. It’s not like one of those national chains. It’s made by a real Italian family. I think they came from Rome way back even. Anyway, she said it’s my choice. So, what do you think?”

What Slade thought was that the woman was as pesky as flies at a picnic. There hadn’t been a single day since she’d first turned up at White Pines that she’d minded her own business. If she got it into her head to befriend Annie, it could only mean trouble. It would start with ice cream and pizza, but who knew where it would lead? Still, he couldn’t bring himself to put a damper on Annie’s enthusiasm by saying no.

“If you want to go, it’s fine,” he’d said. “Just don’t take advantage. I’ll give you the money for your food.”

“No, it’s her treat. She said so.”

But when Annie had come to him for permission, he’d insisted on giving her the money for ice cream. A gentleman didn’t let a lady pay. The lesson had been drilled into him by his mother and echoed by his father. It had stuck, which he supposed made him some kind of an old-fashioned oddity in this day and age of dutch treat and ladies doing the asking for dates. On the circuit he’d been astounded by just how brazen some women were, even once they knew he was married.

Annie and Val went for ice cream and burgers on Monday. They had pizza on Tuesday. Val planned a swim in the creek and a picnic on Wednesday. The two of them were thick as thieves. Yes, indeed, it made his skin crawl. Annie needed a new friend, one who wasn’t old enough and sexy enough to make her daddy’s heart pump quite so hard.

Kids her own age would be good, he concluded, and the ranch was crawling with them. Was it possible to arrange some sort of play date at Annie’s age? He could talk to Cody about it. Or should he just pray that the kids found each other before hearing about Val drove him nuts?

The thought had barely occurred to him when he spotted Val striding toward him with a purposeful gleam in her eyes. Watching her walk was a thoroughly entertaining experience. The woman’s hips swayed provocatively enough to make a man’s blood steam, especially when she got the notion to wear a pair of kick-ass heels that made her legs look long and willowy, despite the fact that she was just a little bitty thing. She’d worn those heels today as if she knew the effect they had on him.

He indulged in a moment of purely masculine appreciation before he reminded himself that that expression on her face spelled upheaval.

“Whatever it is, the answer is no,” he announced emphatically when she was several yards away. He turned his attention back to the horse he’d been grooming before he’d caught sight of Val.

When she remained silent for way too long, he risked a glance up. She gave him one of her irrepressible grins. “Good. I have your attention. Just for the record, I haven’t asked for anything yet.”

“But you will,” he muttered. “You always do.”

She laughed. “See, we are making progress. You already know me very well.”

“That is not a blessing.” he retorted.

“Oh, hush, and hear me out,” she said, clearly undaunted. “I was thinking we ought to plan a little get-together in Annie’s honor. She should get to know all the kids in the family. Not that I don’t enjoy her company, because I do, but she needs to have friends her own age. I’m sure she has to be missing the ones she left behind.”

Slade wanted to resist the idea just because it had come from Val, but she was right. He’d been thinking precisely the same thing not minutes ago, albeit for very different reasons. Like Val, though, he could see how much it would mean to his daughter to make some friends. Maybe they could fill in the gaps in her life that he couldn’t. He couldn’t go on relying on Val to keep Annie occupied indefinitely.

“Fine,” he said grudgingly, relieved that she seemed to have some sort of a plan in mind. “Do whatever you want. I’ll pay for it.”

“Oh, no, you don’t,” she retorted. “Not me. You and me,” she said with emphasis. “This is a joint venture. I’ll do the inviting, if you like, but you have to put out a little effort, too.”

He regarded her warily. “Such as?”

“Make arrangements with Harlan to use the barbecue and pool up at the main house, plan a menu with Annie, then pick up the food from town. It’ll mean the world to Annie that you want to do this for her.”

He supposed she had a point. Gestures probably mattered to females of all ages. Suzanne had certainly counted on them. She’d expected flowers, candy or jewelry every time he’d walked through the door.

“Okay, I’ll talk to Harlan,” he agreed. “But I don’t know a damn thing about planning a menu. I’m lucky if I get a frozen meal on the table for dinner without nuking it to death. Besides, in case you haven’t noticed, Anne and I don’t communicate real well.”

Val regarded him with impatience. “Oh, for goodness sakes, how hard can it be for the two of you to put your heads together and come up with a standard barbecue menu? Steaks, burgers, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, dessert. How complicated is that?”

He grinned despite himself. If there was one thing he’d learned about Val Harding, it was that she was frighteningly efficient. “Sounds to me like you’ve got it all worked out. We’ll go with that.”

She looked as if she might argue, but she nodded instead. “Okay, then. You set the date with Harlan, and then the three of us will go shopping. We’ll make a day of it.”

He sighed, thinking of the number of Adamses involved and the likely expense. He had money in the bank from his rodeo days—at least what was left after Suzanne had taken a healthy share of his winnings. He’d been stashing away most of his salary to buy his own ranch sometime down the road. He intended to buy the best horses in Texas, then breed and train them. This little party clearly would put a serious crimp in that plan. The kind of blowout Val was describing cost big bucks. For something that lasted a few hours, it seemed like a waste of good money.

“Maybe we should think about hot dogs, instead. And kids like chips. Maybe some homemade ice cream.” His enthusiasm mounted. “Yeah, that would work.”

One look at Val’s expression killed the idea.

“No way, Sutton. When it comes to entertaining, I believe in going all out. Bring your wallet. I only buy the best.”

“I was afraid of that,” he said resignedly.

“Don’t look so terrified. It’ll only hurt for a little while.” She winked. “And if you play your cards right, I’ll kiss you and make it better.”

Now there was a prospect that could take a man’s mind off the agony of having his budget blown to smithereens. Unfortunately, it also conjured up images that made mincemeat out of all that restraint he’d been working so hard to hang on to.

“Maybe I should just write you a blank check and let you go for it,” he suggested hopefully.

She gave him an amused, knowing look. “The prospect of spending the day in town with me doesn’t scare you, does it?”

“Falling off the back of a two-thousand-pound, mean-spirited bull scares me. Getting trampled by a bucking bronc gives me pause. You...” he gave her a pointed look “...you’re just a pesky little annoyance.”

For an instant he thought he caught a flash of hurt in her eyes and regretted that he’d been the cause of it. He ignored the temptation to apologize, though. If he could get her to write him off as a jerk, maybe he’d finally get some peace.

Of course, then he’d also be all on his own with Annie. That was more terrifying than the bull, the bronc and Val all rolled into one.

“Sorry,” he muttered halfheartedly.

“For what?” she said, her eyes shining a little too brightly. “Being honest? No one can fault you for that.”

“Still, I should have kept my mouth shut. You’ve been good to my daughter. I owe you.”

“Now that’s where you’re wrong. Around here people look out for one another, no thanks necessary.”

“And where I come from, you don’t lash out at someone who’s done you a kindness.”

A faint smile tugged at her lips. “Are we going to argue about this, too?”

Slade shrugged. He figured arguing was a whole lot safer than the kissing he was seriously tempted to do. “More than likely.”

“Maybe we could call a truce,” she suggested. “For Annie’s sake.”

“Won’t work,” he said succinctly.

“Why on earth not?”

“Well, now, the way I see it, you and I are destined to butt heads.”

“Because that’s the way you want it,” she accused.

Slade grinned. “No, because you’re a woman and I’m a man. Simple as that.”

“Tell me something I didn’t know. Why does that mean we have to fight?”

“Human nature.”

“Sweetheart, if that were human nature, the population would dwindle down to nothing.”

He gazed directly into her eyes, then quaked inside at the impact of that. Still, he managed to keep his voice steady. “Now, you see, sweetheart, that’s where God steps in. He set it up so all that commotion would be counterbalanced by making up. Bingo, you’ve got babies.”

Val listened to him, her eyes sparkling with growing amusement. When he’d finished, she grinned at him. “Seems to me like you’ve just given me something to look forward to, cowboy. Let me know anytime you’re ready to start making up.”

She turned then and sashayed off, leaving Slade to stare after her in openmouthed astonishment. Just when he thought he finally had her on the ropes, dadgumit, she won another round.

Chapter Four

Slade was just starting to check out a prized new stallion that had been delivered when he glanced up and saw Harlan Adams waiting just outside the stall, his gnarled hands curved over the top rail.

“Something I can do for you?” he asked the rancher. Slade had to wonder if this had something to do with the party. They’d already discussed it, and Harlan had embraced the idea with the expected enthusiasm.

Harlan Adams might have relinquished the day-today running of White Pines to Cody and Harlan Patrick, but no one who knew anything about him doubted the influence he still held over the place. Even in his eighties, his mind was sharp as a tack. Only the physical limitations of aging kept him from doing everything his son and grandson did. Slade always tried to grant him the respect he was due, even when the man hadn’t just done him a huge favor.

“Just came down to get a look at that horse you and Cody spent a fortune of my hard-earned money on,” he replied, his gaze moving over Black Knight as if he expected the horse to be nothing less than solid gold.

“We’ll get some excellent foals for you in a year or two,” Slade said. Even though Harlan’s grumbling remark about the stallion’s cost had been made good-naturedly, Slade was unable to keep a hint of defensiveness out of his own voice. “He was worth every penny.”

“Oh, he’s a beauty, all right,” Harlan agreed readily. “Don’t get all lathered up, Son. I trust your judgment. Cody carried on so, I just wanted to see him for myself. Thought it might give us a chance to talk some more, too. You were in too big a hurry when you stopped by the house to ask about the party.”

The casual announcement set off alarms. Harlan Adams never came out to the stables merely to chat. He came when he wanted to poke and pry into matters that were none of his concern. Slade waited warily to hear what was on his mind.

Harlan found a stool and dragged it over so he could observe as Slade expertly went over the horse. Not used to having anyone watch his every move— except when he’d been in the rodeo ring—Slade was unsettled by the intense scrutiny. His nervousness promptly communicated itself to the powerful stallion. Black Knight turned skittish, prancing dangerously close to the walls of his stall. Slade smoothed a hand over his flank and murmured to him until he settled down.

“You’ve got a way with these animals, don’t you?” Harlan observed with apparent admiration. “Cody claims he’s never seen anyone better.”

Slade shrugged, though he was pleased by the compliment. “I suppose. I just treat ’em like the magnificent creatures they are.”

“The way a man treats his stock says a lot about him, if you ask me.” The rancher paused, then asked with disconcerting directness, “You as good with your daughter?”

Startled by the abrupt shift in subject to something so personal, Slade snapped his head up. Defensiveness had his stomach clenching again. “Meaning?”

Seemingly oblivious to the tension in Slade’s voice, the old man pointed out, “You kept her hidden away long enough. Didn’t even mention her when you applied for work. Never knew a man to hide the fact that he had family, especially a daughter as clever as your Annie. Why was that?”

“With all due respect, sir, I think that’s my business.”

Harlan Adams regarded him unrepentantly. “Well, of course it is. That doesn’t mean I can’t ask about it, does it? Around here, we like to think of the people working for us as part of the family. You’ve been here long enough to know when it comes to family, we tend to meddle. It’s second nature to us.”

Slade managed a halfhearted grin at that. “So I’ve heard.” He just hadn’t expected to become a target of it. It made him damned uncomfortable having to answer to his boss about his relationship with Annie. He doubted an outsider would understand all the complicated emotions at work.

“Well, then, tell me about your girl,” Harlan prodded again, clearly not intending to let the matter drop. “She made a real good impression when I met her. Val brought her by the house for a visit the other day.”

“What can I say, sir? She’s a handful.” A worrisome thought struck him. “She hasn’t gotten into some sort of mischief around here already, has she?”

‘Of course not,” Harlan said, dismissing that worry. “We’re glad to have her. She reminds me of my Jenny, the way she was when her mama and I first started going out. Whoo-ee, that girl was a hellion back then. Gave her mama and me fits. Not a one of my boys was as much trouble, and believe me, they weren’t saints.”

“Is that so?” Slade doubted Jenny Adams had ever gotten into the kind of mischief Annie could pull off.

“Stole my truck, for starters,” Harlan told him.

Slade stared, thinking of the beautiful, self-possessed young woman he’d met at ranch gatherings. He could think of a lot of ways to describe Jenny, but car thief wouldn’t have been among them. She’d been an activist for Native American affairs. Now she taught school and was darn good at it, from what he’d heard. A bit unconventional, perhaps, but effective.

“You’re kidding me,” he said, sure the old man had to be pulling his leg to make him feel better about Annie’s misdeeds.

“No, indeed. Girl was just fourteen, too. Smacked the truck straight into a tree.” He almost sounded proud of her accomplishment.

“I take it she wasn’t hurt,” Slade said.

“No, thank the Lord. When I caught up with her, she was cursing a blue streak, like the car was to blame. I brought her back into town to face the music. That’s how I met her mama. Janet had just opened up her law practice here in town. Jenny was none too pleased about her mama’s divorce or about being uprooted from New York. She was mad at the world. I brought her out here and put her to work. She tended to be mischievous like your Annie, to put a generous spin on it.” A grin spread across his face. “Took a paintbrush to some of the buildings around here, too. I never saw such a mess.”

Slade shook his head, baffled by Harlan’s amused expression as he told the story. “And you and Janet still got married? Amazing.”

“Nothing amazing about it. Janet and I were suited. I could see that right from the start, though it took a little longer to bring her around to my way of thinking,” he said. “As for Jenny, she came around, too, once she knew I’d go on loving her no matter what she did. Persistence, that’s the ticket. Something you ought to remember. It’s a trait to value.”

Slade didn’t ask why. He was afraid he knew, and it didn’t have a thing to do with his relationship with Annie. An image of Val flitted through his mind. That woman could write the book on persistence.

Harlan clearly wasn’t through doling out advice. “You know, Son, a little spirit in a girl’s a good thing, especially in this day and age. A woman needs to know how to stand up for herself. How else is she supposed to learn that without testing her wings as a kid?”

He grinned. “Besides, most always what goes around, comes around. Being reminded of that gets you through the bad times. Jenny certainly got her comeuppance in due time. She’s a teacher now and a stepmom to a little hellion herself. She’s getting all that trouble back in spades. Knows how to handle it, though, because she’s been there herself.”

“Maybe I should send Annie over to you to raise,” Slade said, only partly in jest. “You sound far better equipped to cope with her than I am.”

“Oh, I suspect you’ll get the hang of it soon enough. In the meantime, you’ve got a pretty little stand-in,” he said, his expression sly. “Val seems to be taking quite an interest in Annie. In you, too, from what I’ve observed.”

Slade had no intention in discussing his love life— or lack thereof—with Harlan Adams. In addition to meddling for the sheer pleasure of it, the man was the sneakiest matchmaker in Texas. Prided himself on it, in fact.

“Val’s been very kind to Annie,” Slade agreed, and left it at that. “So have you. Thank you again for agreeing to this party. It’ll go a long way toward making her feel more at home here.”

“That’s what a ranch like this is meant for,” Harlan said. “What’s the fun in living to a ripe old age, if you can’t surround yourself with family and lots of young people? I’m looking forward to seeing ’em all splashing around in that big old pool out back. Plus it gives me a chance to hear Laurie sing. Nobody has a voice like Harlan Patrick’s wife. Millions of folks pay to hear her concerts, but I can usually coax her into singing a song or two just for family. Gives me pleasure.”