A Family for Tory and A Mother for Cindy: A Family for Tory / A Mother for Cindy

The frown lines deepened as he shifted his blue gaze to her. “This doesn’t sound good. What happened?”

Her stomach muscles constricted even more, tension taking a firm grip on her. “Mindy doesn’t like Mrs. Davies.”

“Why?”

“She overheard the woman calling her a crippled retard to someone on the phone. She doesn’t think Mrs. Davies likes her.”

Anger slashed across his face. He flexed his hands then balled them. “A crippled retard?”

Her own indignation stiffened her spine. She remembered the hurt in Mindy’s voice and expression when she had told her earlier and wanted to demand Slade do something about it.

He tossed the pizza box he held onto the swing and surged to his feet. Every line in his body spoke of his rage. “She came highly recommended. Her references were excellent. How can—?” He paused, opening and closing his hands again, took a deep breath and continued. “How can anyone say that?”

“I don’t know,” Tory said, having a hard time herself understanding why Mrs. Davies would say that about Mindy, even if the woman didn’t know the child was listening.

Slade scrubbed his hands down his face, then plopped down onto the swing, facing Tory. “What do I do now? I can’t have someone like her taking care of Mindy, but I need someone to watch my daughter. Mrs. Davies was the best applicant from the batch I had. I—” He snapped his mouth closed and stared at a place behind Tory. When he reestablished eye contact with her, a bleak look was in his expression.

Tory resisted the urge to toss the pizza box to the floor and slip into the place next to him on the swing, taking his hands within hers. It was tempting, but she sat frozen in her chair, watching a play of emotions flit across his features.

A hopeful gleam appeared in his blue eyes. “Unless you’d like to take the job.”

For a moment Tory forgot about her ranch and the horses, her dream, and thought about accepting the offer, turning her back on the past four years. She loved Mindy and didn’t want someone else looking after her. But she couldn’t walk away from her dream and the people who depended on her, Mindy being one of them. “I’ve grown to love your daughter. I’d be glad to have Mindy come out here, but that’s a short-term solution. We could do that until you find someone else.”

“But you’re perfect for Mindy. She’s always talking about you. She’s so comfortable at your place. Isn’t there a way we could work this out?”

“It doesn’t seem practical.” Regret tinged her voice. She thought of the long hours she had to spend taking care of the ranch as it was right now. She could manage to help for a while, but without assistance with the ranch, everything would catch up with her. She could only do so much. “There’s so much I have to do around here. Going back and forth to town would be very time-consuming.”

“What if I moved out here?”

Surprise widened her eyes. “Where?”

He shrugged. “Here?”

“Here!” Her mouth went dry and perspiration cloaked her forehead.

“Yes.” Slade rose. “There’s got to be something that could work.” He began to pace as though he needed to keep moving in order to gather momentum. “Maybe we could get married? For Mindy.” The second he said those words, he halted, his eyes huge with shock.

“Married?” Stunned, Tory watched him begin walking again from the swing to one end of the porch, then back.

Chapter Five

“Yes, married,” Slade said, moving toward her. He came to sit across from her, pulling his chair closer so that his knees were only inches from hers, the shock replaced with enthusiasm. “I could help you with this ranch. You could hire someone to assist you. You’ve been worried about money. With my expansion nearly completed, my company’s going to be doing well. Money won’t be a problem. We could help each other.”

Still stunned, Tory listened to his words as though she were a bystander observing the scene from above. She had a hard time getting past the word married. “But—” Nothing else came to mind.

“Don’t answer me right now. Think about it. We’re friends. We both care for Mindy. You would be a terrific mother for her. In fact, I can’t think of anyone better for that role. Mindy needs someone like you in her life on a permanent basis. This could be a good partnership.” The eagerness in his voice made his words rush together.

Marriage? Partnership? Was that a possibility? She’d given up hope of ever getting married, even though she wasn’t quite thirty. She’d given up hope of ever trusting enough to have a real marriage. Desperate, Tory grasped on to a sane rational reason not to go through with his proposal. “Marriage is a serious step. There’re so many things involved.”

Leaning forward, he clasped her hands. “I know. That’s why I don’t want you to give me an answer right away. Think about it.”

“You should, too.” The intensity in his gaze burned heat into her cheeks. “I mean we aren’t in l—” She couldn’t seem to say the word. It lumped together in her throat and refused to come out.

“We aren’t in love?” One brow quirked. “No, but we are good friends. I can tell you things I haven’t told another. I trust you one hundred percent with my daughter.”

The last sentence produced a surge of pride. For a moment she relished that feeling, but then reality took over, bringing her back to the problem at hand. “But what if you find someone later who you fall in love with and want to marry? To me, marriage is forever.”

A shadow crossed over his face, darkening his eyes as if a storm gathered in them. He pulled away and stood. “I won’t. I had that once in my life.” He paused, angled his head and asked, “But have you?”

Tension constricted her muscles until she had to force herself to relax. The drill of his gaze prodded her to answer by shaking her head. She didn’t think she could ever trust someone that completely that she could let down her guard and fall in love. To be in love was to give more of herself than she thought possible.

“Then perhaps you’ll fall in love one day and want to marry?”

She came to her feet, face-to-face with him, only a yard separating them. “No, I won’t.”

“Why not? You have so much to offer any man.”

But not you, came unbidden into her mind, and she wondered why her heart contracted with that thought. She knew she needed to say something, but what? Silence stretched between them; the only sound drifting to her was from the people talking on the television show Mindy was watching.

Slade took one step closer. “Why not, Tory? You’re a warm, generous person. You would be a perfect mother. I’ve seen you with Mindy and the other children you work with.”

She wanted to back away, but the chair was behind her. For a few seconds she felt trapped, her heart quickening its pace, her breathing becoming shallow. No, this is Slade. A friend. Mindy’s father. Someone she’d been alone with many times. She forced deep breaths into her lungs and said, “I was badly hurt once.”

“What happened?”

The question, spoken low, the words laced with compassion, focused all of Tory’s attention on the man before her. Painful memories, buried deep, threatened to swamp her. She shoved them back into the dark recesses of her mind, where she was determined they would remain. “Not important now.”

He covered the small space between them and took her hands. “I’m a good listener.”

The warm, comforting wrap of his fingers about hers attested to the man she had come to know, a man who loved his daughter so much he would marry Tory to give Mindy a mother. “I know.”

“When you’re ready, I’ll be here for you.”

His quiet statement mesmerized her. She found herself leaning closer, the scent of his lime aftershave enveloping her in a protective cocoon. He released one hand and cupped her face. She stared into the blue depths of his eyes, no longer stormy but gleaming like diamonds on water. She felt herself become lost, drawn toward his kindness. Was it possible to be more than friends? The honking sound of a flock of geese flying overhead broke Tory’s trance.

She pulled back and to the side, forcing a smile to her dry lips. “I appreciate your offer, but to me what has happened in the past is best left in the past.” When several feet separated them, Tory turned toward him.

Slade picked up the boxes of pizza. “I’d better get Mindy home. I need to call Mrs. Davies and tell her I no longer need her services.”

“Bring Mindy out here tomorrow morning. I’d love to watch her until—”

“Until you decide about my proposal?”

She nodded. “Or, you find someone to take care of Mindy.”

His gaze linked with hers. “I’ve already found someone.”

Moonlight streamed through the window in the living room and pooled on the floor near Tory’s feet. Darkness cloaking her, she stared at the circle of light as though there was an answer to Slade’s question written in it. But for hours she had fought the demons of her past and still she was no closer to an answer now than she was when she had tried to go to sleep at midnight.