time, she’d tried to explain very carefully to Annie why that was impossible, but the conversation continued to nag at her.
Annie had been so serious, so terribly vulnerable. And a part of Val had wanted to say yes. She couldn’t deny it. She had come to love Annie already as if she were her own. She blamed Slade’s stubborn streak for making that impossible. If only he could have told her he loved her when he’d asked her to marry him, if only it hadn’t sounded more like he was striking a bargain than proposing marriage, maybe she would have said yes. Then Annie truly would have been her little girl and Slade would have been her husband. Instead, none of them had what they wanted or needed.
“What do I do?” she asked Laurie. “Do I tell Slade? I mean, this is way beyond her saying she wants to run away from home. She’s actually picked out the home she wants to run to.”
Laurie regarded her knowingly. “You’re flattered, aren’t you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You are. A part of you is glad that Annie chose you over Slade. You see it as proof that he’s a terrible parent and that you’d be a better one.”
“It’s not a competition, dammit!”
“No,” Laurie agreed mildly. “It’s not. Or at least it shouldn’t be. You and Slade both want the same thing here. You both want Annie to feel loved and secure.”
“That’s certainly what I want,” Val said. “That’s why I’ve stepped in—to fill in the gaps in her life.”
“Oh, really?” Laurie said. “I thought that was more about using Annie to get Slade’s attention.”
Val stared at her friend. “That’s a rotten thing to say.”
“Is it?”
Instead of snapping back an answer, Val considered the accusation. “Okay,” she admitted reluctantly, “at the beginning, I suppose there might have been some truth to that, but no more. I care about Annie.”
“Good. Now we’re getting somewhere. And the truth is that Slade’s been using you, because he’s at a loss about how to handle his daughter. Correct?”
“Yes,” Val said, not liking the picture that was emerging of two selfish adults with a ten-year-old caught in the middle.
“Don’t look so glum. It’s not all bad,” Laurie said. “Annie is getting the attention she needs and you and Slade care more about each other than either of you wants to admit.”
“Oh, I’ll admit it,” Val said. “He just doesn’t want to hear it.” He just wanted a practical marriage of convenience with no messy emotions involved.
“Then back off,” Laurie suggested. “Give him time to miss you.”
“I thought that was what I was doing,” Val said. “Then he came over here and begged me to stay with Annie.”
“Obviously this arrangement is way too convenient for him and it’s sending very mixed messages to Annie,” Laurie said, her expression thoughtful. “I think maybe I was wrong when I said you shouldn’t go back to Nashville for a while. I think maybe it’s a good idea, after all.”
A gut-sick feeling washed over Val. “You’re sending me away?”
“Don’t look so put out. It was your idea, remember? And it’s not Siberia.”
“But why now? You just finished telling me a few days ago that you couldn’t spare me.”
“I was wrong,” Laurie said succinctly. “Besides, I think both you and Slade need to remember who you are. You’re a career woman, Val. You’re the best personal assistant I’ve ever run across. I know a dozen people who’d snap you up in a heartbeat if I ever let you get away. The last few weeks haven’t been typical at all. You’ve had time on your hands to cater to Slade’s every whim and to Annie’s.” She nodded decisively. “Yes, I think it’s for the best. I’m putting you back to work.”
Val opened her mouth to argue, then realized that Laurie was probably right. She needed to gain some perspective on everything that had gone on the past few weeks. She’d settled into some sort of fake domesticity, complete with a ready-made family. She needed to weigh that against the life she’d had before Laurie had married Harlan Patrick and they’d started spending most of their time at White Pines.
Could she really juggle both a family and a career and be fair to both? She’d always assumed she could. She’d been instrumental in making Laurie see that she could have it all. Val didn’t want to accept it, but maybe the reality was that she would have to choose.
“I’ll call the airlines and make the arrangements,” she told Laurie.