SUDDENLY ANNIE’S FATHER

Don’t miss this all-time favorite story about finding happiness in unexpected places from New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods

Slade Sutton never really thought of himself as a father, but his motherless young daughter was proof to the contrary. So when Annie was suddenly dropped into his lap, Slade knew he needed help. And he'd take it from anyone—except, that is, the infuriatingly flirtatious Val Harding. Why, if Slade wasn't careful, that little lady would have him roped and tied before he knew it.

Sure, Val knew a challenge when she saw one—and ex-rodeo star Slade clearly qualified. But somehow she saw through his tough demeanor to the irresistible cowboy at heart. Now if she could just convince Slade that they were all meant to be together...

Suddenly Annie’s Father

Sherryl Woods

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Title Page

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Copyright

Chapter One

Slade Sutton knew a whole lot about horses, but he didn’t know a blasted thing about females. The only woman with whom he’d ever risked his heart had damn near killed him in a car crash, then divorced him when he could not longer win rodeo championships. Worse, she’d left him with a daughter who was a total mystery to him.

Annie was ten-going-on-thirty, wise beyond her years, clever as the dickens and the prettiest little girl he’d ever seen, even if he was a mite biased on the subject. While he’d been on the circuit, they’d been apart more than they’d been together, which had left both of them as wary as if they’d been strangers.

Ever since the accident and Suzanne’s desertion, Annie had been living with his parents, but he knew the time was fast approaching when he would no longer be able to shirk his responsibilities. He’d begun dreading every phone call, knowing that most spelled trouble. Annie had a knack for it, and his parents’ level of tolerance was slipping. He could hear it in their tired voices. He’d been making excuses for weeks now for not going home for a visit. He’d half feared they’d sneak Annie into his truck on his way out of town. Every night he prayed she’d stay out of mischief just a little longer, just until he could get his bearings in this new job.

Of course, he’d been working for Harlan and Cody Adams for nearly a year now at White Pines, caring for their horses, setting up a breeding program, breaking the yearlings. He could hardly claim he was still getting settled, but he dreaded the day when his parents called him on it.

He studied the picture of Annie that he kept on his bedside table and shook his head in wonder. How had he had any part in producing a child so beautiful, so delicately feminine? He lived in a rough-and-tumble world. She looked like a fairy-tale princess, a little angel.

Judging from the reports he’d been receiving, however, looks could be deceiving. Annie was as spirited as any bronco he’d ever ridden. She charged at life full throttle and, like him, she didn’t know the meaning of fear.

The phone on the bunkhouse wall rang, cutting into his wandering thoughts. Hardy Jones grabbed for it. Hardy had more women chasing after him than a Hollywood movie star. It had become a joke around the ranch. No one saw much use to Hardy’s pretense of living in the bunkhouse, when he never spent a night in his bed there. And no one besides Hardy ever jumped for the phone.

“Hey, Slade, it’s for you,” the cowboy called out, looking disappointed.

Trepidation stirred in Slade’s gut as he crossed the room. It had to be trouble. Annie had been too much on his mind today. That was a surefire sign that something was going on over in Wilder’s Glen, Texas.

Sure enough, it was his father, sounding grim.

“Dadgumit, Slade, you’re going to have to come and get your daughter,” Harold Sutton decreed without wasting much time on idle chitchat.

Much as he wanted to ignore it, even Slade could hear the desperation in his father’s voice. He sighed. “What’s Annie done now?”

“Aside from falling out of a tree and breaking her wrist, climbing on the roof and darn near bringing down the chimney, I suppose you could say she’s having a right peaceful summer,” his father said. “But she’s a handful, Son, and your mama and I just can’t cope with her anymore. We’ve been talking it over for a while now. We’re too dadgum old for this. We don’t have the kind of energy it takes to keep up with her.”

Slade’s father was an ex-marine and had his own garage. He put in ten hours a day there and played golf every chance he got. His mother gardened, canned vegetables, made quilts and belonged to every single organization in Wilder’s Glen. Slade wasn’t buying the idea that they couldn’t keep up with a ten-year-old. Annie had just stretched their patience, that was all. It had to be.

“Look, whatever she’s done, I’m sure she didn’t mean to. I’ll talk to her, get her to settle down a little.”

“This isn’t just about settling her down,” his father countered. “She needs you.”

The last thing Slade wanted was to be needed by anyone, especially a ten-year-old girl. Between the aches and pains that reminded him every second of the accident that had cost him his career and very nearly his life, and the anger at the woman responsible, it was all he could do to get through the day on his own. He was grateful every single minute of it, though, that his parents had been willing to take Annie in when he hadn’t been up to it. She’d been better off with them than she would have been with him. He’d been too bitter, too filled with resentment toward her mama to be any kind of example for an impressionable kid.

“You know I’m grateful,” he began.

“We don’t want your thanks,” his father said, cutting him off. “We love Annie and we love you. We know the jam you were in after the accident. We understood you needed some time to get back on your feet.”

“But—”

“Let me finish now. Your mama and I aren’t up to raising Annie the way the girl ought to be raised. We had a houseful of boys. Girls just aren’t the same, even though Annie seems bent on being the toughest little tomboy in the whole town. Besides that, times have changed since you and your brothers were kids. The world’s a different place.”

“Not in Wilder’s Glen,” Slade protested. “It’s perfect for Annie. It’s a small town. She’ll be as safe there as she could be anywhere.”

“Her safety’s not the only issue. Even if it were, she’ll be just as safe in Los Piños. No, indeed, there’s a more important issue, and you know it. She misses you. She belongs with you. We were glad enough to fill in for a while, but it’s time for you to take over now and that’s that. Otherwise the child will be scarred for life, thinking that her own daddy didn’t want her any more than her mama did.”

“But—”

“No buts, and you can forget coming after her. We’ll bring her to you this weekend,” Harold announced decisively, as if he no longer trusted Slade to show up for her.

Slade sighed heavily. The sorry truth was he wouldn’t have, not even with a deadline staring him in the face. He would have called at the last minute with some excuse or another, and counted on his parents to hang in with Annie a little longer.

Hearing a date and time for assuming responsibility for his daughter all but made Slade’s skin crawl. Much as he loved Annie, he wasn’t cut out to be a parent to her. His experience with her mother was pretty much evidence of his lack of understanding of the female mind. He was also flat-out terrified that the resentment he felt toward Suzanne would carry over to their daughter in some way he wouldn’t be able to control. No kid deserved that.

Annie was the spitting image of his ex-wife in every way, from her gloriously thick hair to her green-as-emerald eyes, from the dusting of freckles on her nose to her stubborn chin. Apparently she had her mama’s wicked ways about her, too. She’d caused more trouble in the last year than any child he’d ever known. She’d topped his own imaginative forms of rebellion by a mile and she hadn’t even hit puberty yet. What on earth would her teenage years hold? To be fair, he couldn’t blame his parents for not wanting to find out.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his own voice desperate now. “I don’t think it’s such a good idea for her to come here. She’s comfortable there with you. She’s starting to think of that as home. She spent the school year there. She’s made friends. Uprooting her all over again won’t be good for her. Besides that, the Adamses don’t even know I have a daughter. I’m living in a bunkhouse. Some days I don’t get to bed till midnight and I’m back up again at dawn.”

He’d ticked off a half-dozen excuses before he was done, most of them flat-out lies. He knew that a staunch family man like Harlan Adams would never object to Slade bringing his daughter to the ranch. If anything, he’d be furious Slade hadn’t brought her to be with him before now.

As for the living arrangements, Harlan Adams would make adjustments for that, too. It had been Slade’s choice to live in the bunkhouse, rather than one of the other homes dotted across Adams land. He’d wanted to stay close to the horses that were his responsibility. Horses were something he understood.

He tried one last panicked ploy. “I could get you some help,” he offered. “Maybe a housekeeper.”

“This isn’t about cooking and cleaning,” his father scoffed. “It’s about a little girl needing her daddy. We’re coming Sunday and that’s that.”

There was a finality to his tone with which Slade was all too familiar. Just to emphasize his point, Harold hung up before Slade could think of a single argument to convince him to keep Annie with them.

“Looks like it’s time to face the music, bud,” he muttered under his breath. Way past time, some would say.

Resigned to his fate, first thing in the morning he arranged to sit down with Cody Adams to discuss his housing situation.

“If there’s no place available, I can call my folks back and tell them to give me more time to work it out,” he told Cody, praying for a reprieve.

“Absolutely not,” Cody said at once, then grinned at Slade’s heavy sigh. “Uh-oh, were you counting on me to bail you out of this?”

“I suppose I was,” Slade admitted. “Annie and I haven’t spent a lot of time together. I’m not sure how good I’ll be at this parent thing.”

“Then you’re lucky you’re here. Anytime you’re at a loss, just ask one of us for help.” The rancher’s expression turned sly. “I know one woman who’d be glad to step in and do a little mothering if Annie needs it.”

An image of Val Harding came to mind without Cody even having to mention her name. A petite whirlwind with a nonstop mouth, she had set her sights on Slade during a visit to the ranch a few months back. She hadn’t let up since. Thankfully, she was in Nashville right now with her boss, country music superstar Laurie Jensen, who was married to Cody’s son.

“Thanks all the same,” Slade said curtly. “Last I heard Val was out of town.”

Cody’s grin spread. “Got back last night. The way I hear it from Harlan Patrick, Laurie’s going to take a break for a while. She’ll be working on the songs for her next album. Val should have plenty of time on her hands.”

“I just hope she finds a way to spend it besides pestering me,” Slade muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

Thankfully, Cody let the subject drop. He held out a key. “Check out that house down by the creek. It’s been vacant since Joe and his wife left. It’s probably a little dusty, but it should be fine for the two of you once it’s aired out and had a good cleaning. If it needs anything—dishes, extra blankets, whatever—let me know. I’ll get somebody to handle the horses today. You get the place ready. Call up to the main house. One of Maritza’s helpers can come down to give you a hand.”

“No need,” Slade said. “I’ll take care of whatever needs to be done. Thanks, Cody. I owe you.”

Cody regarded him speculatively. “Family counts for a lot around here. We’ll welcome Annie as if she were one of us. You can rest easy on that score.”

Slade knew he meant it, too. The Adamses were good people. Maybe they would be able to make up for whatever he lacked.

He took the key Cody offered and headed toward the small house made of rough-hewn wood. It wasn’t fancy, but there was a certain charm to it, he supposed. Pots of bright red geraniums bloomed on the porch and a big old cottonwood tree shaded the yard. The creek flowed past just beyond.

The house had been closed up since the last tenant had left, a married hand who’d retired and moved to Arizona. A cursory glance around the small rooms told Slade it had everything he and Annie could need, including a small TV that had been hooked up to cable. The kitchen was well stocked with dishes and pots and pans. Fortunately, the refrigerator had a good-size freezer, big enough to accommodate all the prepared meals he and Annie were likely to consume. His cooking skills ran to cold cereal and boiled eggs.

The closets revealed a supply of linens for the beds, a small one in what would be Annie’s room, and a big brass bed with a feather mattress in what was clearly the master bedroom. Staring at that mattress was disconcerting. All sorts of wicked images came to mind, images of being tangled up with a woman again. One particular woman, he conceded with some dismay. He could all but feel her breath on his chest and sense the weight of her head tucked under his chin. It had been a long time since he’d allowed himself to indulge in the fantasy, much less the reality.

“Quite a bed, isn’t it?” an all-too-familiar voice inquired with a seductive purr.

Slade scowled at the intrusion by the pesky woman whose image had just flitted through his mind. “You ever heard of knocking?” he asked.

Val didn’t flinch at his impatient tone. “I wasn’t sure anyone was in here. Nobody’s been living here and the front door was standing open. I was afraid someone had broken in.”

Slade regarded her incredulously. “So you decided to do what—wander in and talk them to death? Didn’t it occur to you that if a robber was in here, you could get hurt?”

She grinned, looking smug. “Worried about me, cowboy? That’s progress.”

She slipped past him into the room, leaving a cloud of perfume in her wake. Slade tried not to let the scent stir him the way it usually did. Sometimes he thought he smelled that soft, flowery aroma in the middle of the night. Those were the nights he tossed and turned till dawn and cursed the day Val had come to live at White Pines and taken an interest in him.

“Nice view,” she observed, gazing out at the creek. “What are you doing here, by the way?”

“Moving in,” he said, backing out of the room before his body could get any ideas about tossing her onto that feather mattress to see if it—and she—were as soft as he imagined.

She turned slowly. “Alone?”

“No.”

Something that might have been disappointment flared briefly in her eyes. “I see.”

Guilt over that look had him admitting the truth. “My daughter’s coming to stay with me.” He tested the words aloud and found they didn’t cause quite so much panic since his talk with Cody. Knowing he’d have backup had eased his mind. Maybe Annie could survive having a father as inept as him, after all.

Val’s expression brightened with curiosity. She seized on the tidbit as if he’d tossed her the hottest piece of gossip since the world had discovered that singer Laurie Jensen had a secret baby by the man who was now her husband.

“You have a daughter?” she asked. “How old? What’s she like? Where’s she been all this time? What about her mother?”

Slade grinned despite himself. “You care to try those one at a time?”

“Oh, just tell me everything and save us both the aggravation,” she retorted. “I wouldn’t have to pester you so if you’d open up in the first place.”

“Is that so? And here I thought you enjoyed pestering me.”

“Getting you to talk is a challenge,” she admitted. “And you know how we women react to a challenge.”

He regarded her intently. “So, if I just blab away, you’ll go away eventually?”

She grinned. “Maybe. Try it and see.”

“Sorry. I’m too busy right now. Maybe another time.”

The dismissal didn’t even faze her. “Busy doing what? Looked to me like you were daydreaming when I came in.”

“Which is why it’s all the more important for me to get started with the work around here now,” he said, and headed for the kitchen again. He’d seen cleaning supplies in there on his first stop. He snatched up a broom, a vacuum, dust cloths and furniture polish. He figured he could give the place a decent once-over in an hour and be back on the job before noon.

Val reached for the broom. “Give me that. I’ll help.”

Slade held tight. “There’s no need. You’ll ruin your clothes.”

The woman always dressed as if she were about to meet with the press or go out for cocktails. He doubted she owned a pair of jeans or sneakers, much less boots. In fact, today was one of the rare occasions when she wasn’t wearing those ridiculous high heels she paraded around in. He had to admit those shoes did a lot for her legs. It was almost a disappointment when she traded them for flats, as she had today.

In flats, she barely came up to his chin, reminding him of just how fragile and utterly feminine a creature she was. It brought out the protective instincts in him, despite the fact that there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that Val Harding could look out for herself. Heaven knew, she protected Laurie with a ferocity that was daunting. No one got anywhere close to the singer without Val’s approval. Slade secretly admired that kind of loyalty. Too bad Suzanne hadn’t possessed even a quarter as much. They might have stayed married.

“Oh, for heaven’s sakes, give me the broom,” Val said. “A little dust never hurt anything. You’ll get finished that much sooner if you let me help. Otherwise, I’ll just trail around after you asking more questions you don’t want to answer.”

She had a point about that. It wasn’t likely she’d respond to his dismissal and just go away. Reluctantly, Slade relinquished the broom and watched as she went to work with a vengeance on the wide-plank oak floors in the living room. She attacked the job with the same cheerfulness and efficiency with which she ran Laurie’s professional life.

When she glanced up and caught Slade staring at her, she grinned. “Get to work. I said I’d help, not do the whole job.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said at once, and turned on the vacuum. As he ran it over the carpet in the bedrooms, he could hear her singing with wildly off-key enthusiasm. He wondered if Laurie had ever heard one of her country music hits murdered quite the way Val was doing it.

With her help, he had the house tidied up in no time. Fresh air was drifting through the rooms and filling them with the sweet scent of recently cut grass and a hint of Janet’s roses from the gardens at the main house.

An odd sensation came over him as he stood in the living room and gazed about, listening to Val stirring around in the kitchen. The place felt like home, like some place a man could put down roots. For a man who’d spent most of his adult life on the road, it was a terrifying sensation.

* * *

Slade Sutton was the most exasperating, frustrating man on the face of the earth. Val watched him take off without so much as a thank-you. He looked as if he were being chased by demons as he fled the house. The limp from his accident was more exaggerated as he tried to move quickly. She knew his expression, if she’d been able to see his face, would be filled with annoyance over his ungainly gait and, most of all, over her.

Of course, he had that look a lot when he was trying to get away from her, she admitted with a sigh. It had been months since she’d first met him, and she could honestly say that she didn’t know him one bit better now than she had when she’d paid her first visit to White Pines.

No, that wasn’t quite true. Today she’d learned he had a daughter. Amazing. How could anyone keep a secret like that, especially around the Adamses, who made her look like an amateur when it came to nosing into other people’s lives? Laurie had tried to keep Harlan Patrick’s baby a secret from him and that had lasted less than six months. Of course, the tabloids had had a hand in leaking that news and sending Harlan Patrick chasing after Laurie.

A lot of women would have given up if they’d had the same reception from Slade that Val had had. Why go through the torment of rejection after rejection? Why poke and prod and get nothing but a shrug or a grunted acknowledgment for her persistence? She’d asked herself that a hundred times while she’d been in Nashville this last time. She’d hoped that a little distance from the ranch would give her some perspective, maybe dull the attraction she felt for him. After all, Slade Sutton wasn’t the last man on earth.

But he was the only one in years who’d intrigued her, the only one who hadn’t been using her to get closer to Laurie. In fact, he was the only man she knew who barely spared a glance for the gorgeous superstar. Val had caught him looking at her, though, sneaking glances when he thought she wasn’t aware of him. Maybe that hint of interest, reluctant as it was, was what kept her going.

Or maybe it had something to do with how incredibly male he was. Handsome as sin, a little rough around the edges, he had eyes a woman could drown in. She’d discovered that when he finally took off his sunglasses long enough to allow anyone to catch a glimpse of them. A dimple flirted at the corner of his mouth on the rare occasions when he smiled. His jaw looked as if it had been carved from granite. In fact, he was all hard angles and solid muscle, the kind of man whose strength wasn’t obtained in a gym, but just from living.

Bottom line? He made her mouth water. She sometimes thought that if he didn’t kiss her soon, she was going to have to take matters into her own hands.

Then again, she preferred to think she wasn’t quite so shallow. That it wasn’t all about lust and sex. Maybe she just liked a good mystery.

Slade was certainly that. He’d told the Adamses no more than he had to to get hired. He’d told her even less. There’d been times in the last six months when she’d found that so thoroughly frustrating she’d been tempted to hire a private investigator to fill in the gaps, but that would have spoiled the game. She wanted to unearth his secrets all on her own. It was turning out to be a time-consuming task. At the rate of one revelation every few months, she’d be at it for a lifetime.

It was a good thing her daddy had taught her about grit. Nobody on the face of the earth was more determined or more persistent than she was. She’d used those lessons to get the job she wanted in Nashville, pestering Laurie’s agent until he’d made the introduction just to get her out of his office. Now she was personal assistant to the hottest country music star in the country. Those same lessons made her the best at what she did.

Now they were going to help her get Slade Sutton, too.

She watched him hightail it back toward the barn and his precious horses. She grinned, understanding fully for the first time that she made him nervous. He was every bit as skittish as one of those new colts he found to be such a challenge. That was good. It was a vast improvement over indifference.

Yes, indeed, he could run, but he couldn’t hide, she concluded with satisfaction. Laurie was home for a much-deserved breather, and Val had a whole lot of time on her hands. Slade didn’t stand a chance.

Chapter Two

Sunday morning dawned with a sudden storm that rivaled the turmoil churning in Slade’s gut. Lightning and thunder split the air. From inside the house, he could see the creek rising rapidly, though it was not yet in danger of overflowing its banks as it had on a few terrifying occasions in past summers. Just a few years ago, he’d been told, it had flooded out this house, destroying most of the previous tenants’ belongings and washing away a lifetime of memories. In the tenacious manner of the Adamses and everyone around them, they had cleaned it up without complaint and started over.

He shuddered at another crack of thunder, though his unease had more to do with the next few hours than with the storm. Annie would be here all too soon. He had no idea how she felt about him these days. On his few visits to Wilder’s Glen, she had been withdrawn, clearly blaming him for the changes in her life.

As for him, he was nowhere near ready to deal with the changes her arrival would bring to his life. Oh, he’d made a few preparations. He’d moved his things over to their house. He’d gone into town and picked up enough frozen dinners to last for a month. The freezer was so crowded with them, there wasn’t even room for ice cubes.

He’d even gone into a toy store and impulsively bought a huge stuffed bear to sit in the middle of Annie’s bed. When she was little, he’d bought her a stuffed toy or a doll every time he’d come home. She’s always loved them then. Her eyes had lit up with unabashed joy and she’d crawled into his lap, hugging the latest toy tightly in her arms. Her smile had wiped away the guilt he’d always felt at leaving her behind. Maybe it would work one more time.

He trudged over to the barn through the pouring rain, finished up his chores, regretting the fact that they didn’t take longer. When he was through, he went back to the house to shower and wait. That gave him way too much time to think, to remember the way his life had been not so long ago.

He’d been a celebrity of sorts, a champion, whose whole identity had been wrapped up in winning rodeos. He’d had plenty of money in the bank. He’d had a beautiful, headstrong wife who could turn him on with a glance, and a daughter who awed and amazed him. Life was exciting, a never-ending round of facing the unexpected. There’d been media attention and applause and physical challenges.

What did he have now? A decent-paying job working at one of the best ranches in Texas. It was steady employment, no surprises. That’s what he’d told himself he wanted after Suzanne had walked out. Routine and boredom had seemed attractive after the turbulence of their last few weeks together. No emotional entanglements, not even with his own kid. He sighed heavily as he considered the selfishness of that.

He’d pay for it now, no doubt about it. Annie was no longer the joyous, carefree sprite she’d been a year ago. Suzanne was to blame for some of that, but he had to shoulder the rest. It was up to him to make up for the fact that Annie’s mother had walked out on both of them. If he’d been neglectful in the months since, Suzanne had been cruel. He knew for a fact she hadn’t written or called in all that time.

Rainwater dripped from the roof as he watched and waited. The summer storm finally ended almost as quickly as it had begun, leaving the air steamy and the dirt driveway a sea of mud. Dirt splattered every which way when his father’s car finally came barreling in just after one o’clock. Slade grinned at the sight. His father was driving the way he always did, as if he were ten minutes late for a military dress parade. The marine in him had never fully died.

Slade stepped off the porch and went to greet them, wrapping his mother in a bear hug that had her laughing. Only when he’d released her did he notice the exhaustion in her eyes, the tired lines around her mouth. Surely she hadn’t looked that old the last time he’d seen her. Knowing the toll Annie had taken on her was just one more thing for him to feel guilty about.

He studied his father intently as he shook his hand. He didn’t see any noticeable changes in Harold Sutton’s appearance. His close-cropped hair had been gray for years, so Slade couldn’t blame that on Annie. His grip was as strong as ever, his manner as brusque and hearty. He didn’t look like the kind of man who’d let a child get the better of him. Slade had to wonder if that hadn’t just been an excuse to force him to take Annie back into his life.

“Good to see you, Son.”

“You, too, Dad.”

“Annie, girl, get on out here and say hello to your daddy,” Harold Sutton commanded in a booming voice left from his days as a marine drill sergeant. None of his sons had ever dared to ignore one of his orders. Punishments for disobedience had been doled out swiftly. For a minute, though, Slade thought that Annie might. She stared out at them from the back seat, her expression mulish.

Eventually, though, she slipped out of the car with obvious reluctance and stood there awkwardly, refusing to come closer. It was all Slade could do not to gape when he saw her.

How the devil had his daughter gone from being a little angel in frilly dresses to this? he wondered, staring at the ripped jeans, baggy T-shirt and filthy sneakers Annie was wearing. He’d been prepared for the cast on her arm, but not for the fact that it appeared she’d been rolling in mud wearing it.

And what the dickens had happened to her curls? The last time he’d seen her, she’d had pretty, chestnut-colored hair, braided neatly and tied with bows. Now it looked as if someone had taken a pair of dull scissors and whacked it off about two inches from her scalp.

Annie regarded him with a sullen expression, while he tried to figure out what to say to her.

“You look real good,” he managed finally.

Annie didn’t even waste her breath replying to the blatant lie. She just continued to stare at him with a defiant tilt to her chin and a heartbreaking mix of hurt and anger in her eyes. He might have responded to that, if his mother hadn’t latched onto his arm and pulled him aside.

“I’ll explain to you about that later,” she muttered under her breath, her gaze pointedly focused on Annie’s hairstyle. “Please don’t say anything about her hair. She’s very self-conscious about it.”

“She darned well ought to be,” Slade retorted. “What were you thinking?”

“It wasn’t me,” she snapped. “When she found out we were bringing her over here, she did it herself.”

He shot a bewildered glance toward his daughter. “But why?”

“I have no idea. She’s a mystery, Slade. Keeps everything bottled up inside. It comes out in these daredevil acts of hers. I never know what kind of trouble she’s going to get herself into. She’s a smart girl, but you saw her report cards. She got through the school year by the skin of her teeth. I’m pretty sure her principal will throw a party when she hears Annie’s transferring to another school district.”

She gestured toward the three suitcases his father had lined up on the porch. “That’s everything she has. Your dad and I will be going now,” she said, as if she couldn’t wait to get away, to get some peace and quiet back into her life.

Slade stared at her in shock. “You can’t leave,” he protested. The nastiest bull on the circuit had never set off such panic deep inside him.

“It’s a long way back home. Tomorrow’s a workday for your daddy. Besides, you two need time to settle in.”

“But you’ve driven all this way. I thought we’d go into town for a nice dinner or something,” he said, trying to delay the inevitable moment when he and his daughter would be left on their own.

His mother gave him a sympathetic pat. “Everything’s going to work out just fine, Son. She’s your own flesh and blood, after all. All the girl needs is a little love and attention from her daddy. You remember how she used to worship the ground you walked on. She was a daddy’s girl, no doubt about it. She never mentions her mama, but I catch her staring at the pictures we have of you on the mantel.”

Love and attention, Slade thought, staring at Annie uneasily after his parents had driven away. Too bad those were the two things likely to be in very short supply coming from him.

* * *

Val stood in the office Harlan Patrick had built for her just off her boss’s music room and stared at the scene outside. It was like watching an accident unfold in slow motion, horrifying and tragic. Slade Sutton was regarding his daughter as if she were a rattler he considered capable of striking at any second. His wariness was downright pathetic, but then Slade seemed to be wary of most females.

Watching him with his daughter, she couldn’t hear what was being said, but it was all too evident that neither of them had conversational skills worth a hill of beans. The few feet between them might as well have been a mile.

Hug her, Val coached silently. Neither of them budged. Slade’s hands were jammed into his pockets. His daughter’s were jammed into her own. It was as if they both feared reaching out. Val wondered if Slade even realized that the girl was mimicking his mannerisms.

Abruptly he turned and stalked away. As the girl stared after him, her chin wobbled as if she might cry, but then she, too, turned and stalked off, in the opposite direction. Her suitcases stayed where they’d been left, right on the porch. He hadn’t even bothered to take her inside and show her where she’d be living.

“They’re a sorry pair, aren’t they?” Laurie asked, coming to stand beside her. “I was watching from upstairs. I guess it’s true what I heard, that they’d been estranged for months now. I wonder why.”

“The why’s not important. Somebody needs to see to that poor child,” Val said, her indignation rising. “Slade’s obviously not going to do it.”

“Why don’t you go?” Laurie suggested, regarding her with amusement. “You know you want to. You’ve been itching to find out more about Slade’s daughter ever since you discovered he had one.”

Val shook her head and reluctantly turned away from the window. “I don’t want to meddle.”

Laurie grinned. “That’ll be a first. When it comes to meddling, you could rival Grandpa Harlan. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were an Adams. My relationship with Harlan Patrick wasn’t any of your business, either, but that didn’t keep you from teaming up with him.”

“That was different. You two belonged together. You were just too stubborn to admit it. You needed a little push.”

“Maybe that’s all those two need.”

“Forget it. You know how Slade is. He’ll be furious if I go sticking my nose into his business,” she said, fighting the temptation to meddle anyway. Another glance at that downcast child and she’d let her heart overrule her common sense.

“Since when did his moods bother you?” Laurie asked. “Besides, I thought you took great satisfaction in provoking him.”

Laurie was right about that. Val did like getting Slade Sutton all stirred up. Every now and again the fire she managed to spark in his eyes struck her as very promising. So far, he’d carefully avoided indulging in anything remotely close to a passionate response. In fact, he made it a point to steer clear of her whenever he could. Yesterday had been one of those rare occasions when running hadn’t been an option.

One day, though, she was going to catch him alone when he didn’t have chores to tend to. She would seize the chance to deliberately push him over the edge. Then she’d finally discover if all this chemistry she’d been feeling for the past few months was one-sided or not.

Now was not the time, however, and Annie was not the best subject to use to provoke a response from him. There were too many complicated emotions at work here that Val didn’t understand.

After she thought for a minute about the scene she’d just witnessed, it occurred to her that for once Slade might be grateful to have her step in. Clearly he was out of his depth, though why that should be eluded her.

She, on the other hand, liked kids. All sorts of maternal feelings washed through her every time she held Laurie’s baby. Now that Amy Lynn was beginning to toddle around on unsteady legs, Val enjoyed chasing after her almost as much as she liked setting up interviews and keeping Laurie’s life on track. She might not have signed on as a baby-sitter, but it was one of the duties she took on willingly.

“Okay, okay,” she agreed finally, giving in to Laurie’s urging and her own desire to get involved. “I’m going.” She said it as if she were caving in to pressure, just to preserve the illusion of reluctance. The truth was she was eager to meet Slade’s daughter, just as Laurie had said.

Outside, she strolled casually in the direction in which she’d seen the child go. Surprisingly, she found her near the stables. Apparently she’d gravitated back toward where she knew her father would be, after all. Slade was nowhere in sight, but Val assumed he was inside the barn doing those endless chores he found so fascinating.

“Hi,” Val said, coming up to the corral railing to stand beside her. “I’m Val.”

The girl kept her gaze focused on the horses.

“You must be Annie,” Val continued, as if she hadn’t been totally ignored. Apparently father and child shared a disdain for polite responses. “I’ve been hearing a lot about you.”

“Not from my dad, I’ll bet,” Annie responded, giving her a sullen glance.

“Actually, that’s not true. Your dad is the one who told me you were coming. Then I heard about you again from my boss, Laurie Jensen.”

The mention of Laurie’s name was bound to catch the attention of anyone who’d ever listened to country music. Laurie’s albums were at the top of the charts. Annie Sutton proved to be no exception. She regarded Val suspiciously.

“Yeah, right. Like you actually know Laurie Jensen.”

“Like I said, I work for her.” She gestured vaguely toward Harlan Patrick’s house, which wasn’t visible from where they stood. “She lives about a quarter mile down the road, not too far from your dad’s house. Surely he’s mentioned that to you.”

Annie shrugged. “Me and my dad don’t talk too much.” She focused her attention on the horses for a while, then asked, “So, how come Laurie Jensen lives here?”

“She’s married to Harlan Patrick Adams, who’s one of the owners of this ranch.”

There was a flash of interest in eyes that had been way too bored for any typically inquisitive ten-year-old. “No way.”

“It’s true.”

Her expression brightened visibly. “And you said Laurie Jensen actually knew my name?”

Val grinned at her astonishment. “She did.”

“Awesome.”

Relieved to have caught the child’s interest, Val decided to capitalize on it. Maybe she could forge a bond with Annie more easily than she’d imagined. “Maybe you could come by sometime and meet her, listen to her working on songs for her next album. If your dad doesn’t mind, that is.”

Annie’s excited expression faded. “Oh, he won’t care. He doesn’t want me here, anyway.”

Even though she’d suspected as much, Val was still shocked by the words, angered by the fact that Slade had let his feelings show so plainly. “I’m sure that’s not true.”

“Yes, it is. He hates me.”

“Why on earth would he hate you? You’re his daughter,” Val protested, unwilling to believe there could be any truth to the accusation.

“It’s because of my mom. She almost got him killed when she drove his car into a ditch, and then she left us,” she said matter-of-factly. “I guess I don’t blame him for hating me. Everybody says I look just like her. I heard Grandma tell one of her friends that if I’m not careful I’ll turn out just like her, too. Nothing but trouble, that’s what she said.”

Val was stunned. This was more than she’d ever learned from Slade, and it went a long way toward explaining his attitude toward women. Still, his problems with his ex-wife were no excuse for treating his daughter the way he’d been doing. And her grandmother should have watched her tongue. Val couldn’t see that it served any useful purpose to go knocking her former daughter-in-law where Annie could overhear her.

“Your mom’s leaving must have hurt you both very much,” Val said, treading carefully. “Sometimes grown-ups don’t get over something like that very easily.”

“Like kids do?” Annie retorted. She sighed heavily, as if resigned to the fact that no adult could ever understand what she was going through.

“Of course not,” Val agreed, “but—”

Annie faced her squarely. “Look, you don’t have to be nice to me. I’m just a kid and I’m used to being on my own. My grandma and grandpa pretty much left me alone, except when I did something wrong.”

“I’ll bet you got into trouble a lot then, didn’t you?” Val guessed.

Annie stared at her with obvious surprise. “How’d you know that?” She sighed once again. “Never mind. I suppose he told you. He probably warned you about me.”

Val decided not to tell her it was predictable. Annie probably thought she was the only kid who’d ever used that technique to get the attention of the adults around her. “Nope. Lucky guess,” she said instead. She glanced toward the horses. “Do you like horses as much as your dad does?”

Annie shrugged. “I suppose. My grandma and grandpa lived in town, so we didn’t have horses.”

“But you must have been around them when your dad was on the rodeo circuit.”

“Me and my mom didn’t go with him all that much after I started school. I guess we did when I was real little, but I don’t remember that. My mom said it was my fault he left us behind all the time.”

Val hid her dismay. What kind of mother openly blamed her child for the problems that were clearly between her and her husband? And what kind of father allowed it to happen? She wanted to reach out and hug this sad, neglected child, but Annie’s defensive posture told her she wouldn’t welcome the gesture, much less trust that it was genuine.

“You’re going to really love living here,” Val told her instead. “There are lots of kids around. The Adamses are wonderful people. They’ll throw a party at the drop of a hat. You’ll fit in in no time.”

Annie looked skeptical. “They probably won’t invite my dad and me. He just works here.”

“I work here, too, but they always include me.”

“You’re a grown-up,” Annie said, but she couldn’t hide the wistful look that crossed her face.

“Maybe so, but I was hoping maybe we could be friends. I haven’t been here all that long myself. Maybe we could go into town one day. I could show you around while your dad’s working.”

Annie regarded her skeptically. “Yeah, well, if you’re doing it so my dad’ll notice you, you’re wasting your time. He hates girls, because of my mom. My grandma says he’d be a recluse if he could.”

Apparently Grandma had one very loose tongue. “Well, you’re here now, so being a recluse is not an option,” Val said briskly, giving Annie’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “He may not know it yet, but having you here is going to be very good for him. I can tell that already.”

Despite Annie’s conviction about how little her father thought of her, she gave Val a hopeful look that almost broke her heart.

“Do you think so?” she asked.

“I know so,” Val assured her. If she had to knock Slade Sutton upside the head herself, she was going to see to it.

Chapter Three

Val had a giant-size calendar spread out on the floor in Laurie’s music room, while her boss sprawled on the sofa, idly picking out a tune on her guitar.

“This song is terrible,” Laurie concluded, eyeing the instrument as if it were at fault. “I haven’t been able to write worth a lick since Harlan Patrick and I got married.”

“Stop putting so much pressure on yourself,” Val advised. She’d been listening to the same complaint for weeks now. If Laurie wasn’t careful, she was going to talk herself straight into a writer’s block, even though on her worst days she was better than half the songwriters out there. “Take time out to count your blessings. You have a handsome, sexy husband who adores you. You have a gorgeous daughter who is absolutely brilliant for someone barely a year old.”

Laurie managed a ghost of a smile at the reminders. “Okay, yes, I am very lucky.”

“Concentrate on that for a few days. After all, you only need two more songs for the new album,” she reminded her boss. “The studio time’s not booked for two more months.”

The faint smile faded at once. “Why two months?” Laurie grumbled, picking out the notes of her last hit on the guitar. “I should be in Nashville now. If I don’t get back to work soon, my fans will forget all about me.”

Val rolled her eyes heavenward. Laurie had been a wreck ever since she had agreed to take a break from her usual hectic recording and concert pace. She blamed her agent, Val and Harlan Patrick for talking her into it. Most of all, she blamed herself for caving in. The forced idleness was making her crazy, especially since her husband was as busy as ever running the ranch and couldn’t devote himself full-time to keeping her occupied.

“No one is going to forget about you,” Val soothed. “Nick and I have that covered. There will be plenty of items in the media. I’ve booked you on at least one of the entertainment shows every single month until the album’s due to be released. There are fresh angles for every story. Besides, I thought you had enough media coverage to last a lifetime when they were chasing after the story of your secret baby.”

Laurie didn’t look pacified. “What if Harlan Patrick was right?”

“About what?”

“What if I refused to marry him for so long because I knew once I was completely happy I wouldn’t be able to write another song?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sakes, that is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You don’t have to be wallowing in heartbreak to know what it’s like. Draw on old memories. For that matter, write something upbeat for a change.” She gave Laurie a wicked smile. “Write about having babies.”

Laurie’s scowl deepened. “Now you sound exactly like Harlan Patrick. He wants me barefoot and pregnant.”

“Maybe that’s because he missed seeing you pregnant with Amy Lynn. Maybe he just wants to be in on the next pregnancy from start to finish. Maybe it’s not some evil scheme to see you trapped down here on the ranch.”

Laurie sighed. “I suppose.”

“You know what I think?”

“What?”

“I think you’re already pregnant.”

Laurie’s idle strumming screeched into something wildly discordant. “Oh, God. Bite your tongue.”

“Stop it,” Val chided. “This is exactly the mood you were in when you were carrying Amy Lynn. To be honest, you were unbearable. Of course, then it was understandable. You had to hide out so Harlan Patrick wouldn’t find out about the baby. There’s no need to hide out now. You can go on the road. You can do anything you’d do if you weren’t pregnant. It wouldn’t be a calamity, Laurie. And Harlan Patrick and the rest of the family would be over the moon at the news.”

“I suppose,” Laurie conceded, clearly unconvinced. She glanced down at the calendar Val had been working on. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to finalize next spring’s concert tour.”

Laurie’s expression brightened. “Let me see,” she said, putting the guitar aside to kneel down beside Val. “Dallas, Tucson, San Antonio, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver. Why is everything in the Southwest? Does Nick know something I don’t? Am I losing fans in the South?”

“No, you are not losing fans anywhere. The schedule won’t be like this when Nick is finished with the bookings,” Val assured her, then grinned. “We both just thought you’d prefer to be close to home around the time the baby’s due.”

“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.

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