trip. It certainly is a cheerful color. It doesn’t suit you at all.”
Slade let the deliberate jab pass. “Well, I can’t let her get away with it, of course. I’ve grounded her for a week, but I can’t very well stop working to stay with her and see that she abides by the rules.”
Val stiffened as if she’d already guessed what was coming next. “No.”
“I haven’t even asked yet.”
“I’m not going to stay with her. She’s your daughter, Slade, not mine. Hire a baby-sitter.”
“She’d run roughshod over a babysitter. She needs someone she respects to keep her in line.”
“And that’s me?”
“You know it is. Look, if I could think of some other way, believe me, I’d grab it. I know how you feel about the two of us.”
She gave him a penetrating look. “Do you really?”
“Yes. I suppose you like Annie well enough, but you’re fit to be tied with me. Rightfully so, from your perspective.”
“And from yours?”
“Okay, I have to admit, I don’t entirely get it,” he said. “I know you have feelings for me and, like I just said, you care about Annie. Was it so wrong to suggest we get married?”
“Yes,” she said succinctly. “But I am not going to discuss it with a man as dense as you apparently are. It would be a waste of my breath.”
“Try me.”
She almost did. He could see that she was tempted to try to spell it all out for him, but at the last second, she apparently changed her mind. “I’ll look out for Annie the next few days, but let’s be clear on one thing. I am doing it for her sake, not yours.”
Slade concluded now was not the time to press her about the rest. And at the moment, he was willing to accept her help on whatever terms she set. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Spending time with Annie is my pleasure. I wish you felt the same way.”
Before he could respond to that, she’d whirled away and gone back inside, slamming the door in his face.
If Laurie and Harlan Patrick hadn’t been right inside, he would have gone after her and kissed her silly, he told himself. As it was, he just sighed and wondered if he could manage to dig the hole he was in any deeper.
* * *
“How come things didn’t go so good with you and Daddy the other night?” Annie asked within five minutes of Val’s arrival the next morning.
Val noticed that Slade had already made himself scarce. She told herself that was for the best, but deep down she knew she’d been hoping to catch at least a glimpse of him. Dumb, dumb, dumb! Hadn’t she learned anything the past few days?
“So,” Annie persisted. “What happened?”
“Who says anything happened?” she asked.
Annie gave her a pitying look. “I can tell. He’s been mean as a snake and you haven’t been around.”
“Well, it’s between your father and me.”
Annie shook her head. “No, it’s not. I live here, too, remember? I’m just a kid. Somebody ought to fill me in so I don’t feel left out. Did you know that scars from childhood can last an entire lifetime?”
Val held back a grin. “Is that so? Where did you hear that?”
“On Oprah.”
“I thought you weren’t supposed to be watching TV.”
“Oh, this was a long time ago,” Annie assured her. “Weeks and weeks ago at least. It was probably while I was still at Grandma’s.”
Val thought she was protesting a little too vehemently, but let it pass. “Well, right now, you are a kid who’s in very big trouble. Let’s concentrate on that instead of whatever deep psychological scars you think you might get from being left out of the loop.”
Annie shrugged. “Whatever.”
“Suppose you tell me what possessed you to paint the house.”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides, it worked, didn’t it?”
Val studied Annie intently. “Meaning?”
Annie suddenly seemed just a little too fascinated with her cereal. Val doubted she was counting the little os still floating in her bowl.
“Okay, kiddo, what are you up to?”
“Nothing, I swear it,” Annie said, her expression totally innocent.
“I don’t believe that for a minute.”
“It’s true. I just thought the house was a boring color, that’s all.” She wrinkled her nose. “Daddy wants to paint it back to white.”
“And you don’t?”
“Nope. I was thinking maybe yellow,” she said, her gaze on Val, her expression serious. “What do you think? It’s your favorite color, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Val agreed. “I do like yellow, not that that should have anything