Suddenly, Annie's Father

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 (#u4b441edf-c270-5aa5-a5c5-96d54d54a7b6)

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.”