best girl.”
He knew that for once he’d said the right thing, because Annie’s eyes sparkled.
“Well, if it’s a celebration, that must call for hot fudge sundaes. Am I right?”
“You bet,” Annie said, scrambling onto a stool at the counter.
“You, too, Slade?”
“Why not?”
“So, I hear Val’s gone off to Nashville to work on the last-minute details of Laurie’s next album. How’s my little brother taking the idea of letting his wife go back to Tennessee for recording sessions and then on the road?”
“Haven’t heard a complaint out of him,” Slade said honestly. “I think your little brother has made his own plans for this tour.”
“Such as?”
“You’ll have to ask him,” he said, not sure if Harlan Patrick had told the whole family the news about Laurie’s pregnancy and his intentions to spend the last part of her tour on the road with her.
Sharon Lynn regarded him slyly. “And how are you doing without Val around?”
“We miss her,” Annie said. “Real bad. Don’t we, Daddy?”
“I know you do,” he agreed, and let it go at that. Sharon Lynn’s expression suggested she knew perfectly well that he missed Val, too.
“Where’s Ashley?” Annie demanded. “I thought she usually came to the store with you.”
“She’s in the back room taking her nap.” She glanced up at the clock. “She’ll probably be awake any minute, if you want to check on her.”
“Great,” Annie said, sliding off her stool. “Ashley’s the best, Daddy. She’s real smart. It’s almost like having a little sister. Do you think maybe one day—”
“If you’re going to check on her, go,” he said gruffly, cutting her off. He did not want to get into a discussion of babies with Annie, not with a very interested Sharon Lynn listening in. Whatever he said would be all over White Pines by nightfall. Val would hear it right after that.
Sharon Lynn regarded him with sympathy. “Getting a lot of pressure from all sides lately, aren’t you?”
“You can say that again.” The irony was it was Val they ought to be bugging, not him. He’d asked her to marry him, after all, though he doubted she’d mentioned that to a soul. Everyone clearly thought he was the holdout.
“I’m an Adams, so I can say this—we’re a family of meddlers. Don’t let us push you into something.”
“Not likely,” he said curtly.
She laughed. “You say that like you think you’ll see the clever wiles and sneaky meddling coming, but, believe me, you won’t. Grandpa, particularly, can score a direct hit before you even realize he’s in the game.”
“I’ve noticed that,” he said. “I’m not worried.”
“You’re made of tougher stuff, right?” she asked with amusement.
Slade scowled. “Yes.”
She patted his hand. “That’s what you think.”
She slid his sundae in front of him, then went to check on Annie and her own little girl.
Slade took a bite of the ice cream and thick fudge sauce, then sighed and pushed it aside. The only thing sweet he really wanted right now was one of Val’s kisses. The best sundae in the world couldn’t hold a candle to that. How he was going to convince her of that, though, was beyond him.
* * *
A few days after the debacle with the paint and the adoption scheme, when Annie asked Slade if she could help him, he was more open to the idea. Not that he could imagine her being of much assistance, but at least he’d know firsthand what she was up to. He also knew she was feeling very much at loose ends since Val had left town.
“I’m getting ready to muck out the stalls,” he informed her, figuring that would put her desire to be like him to the ultimate test. “Are you sure you want to help?”
To his astonishment, her eyes brightened. “You’ll really let me?”
He hesitated, then shrugged. “Sure. Why not?” He gave her terse directions, then stood back and watched as she threw herself into the task with energetic enthusiasm. She was a constant source of amazement to him.
“Hey, Dad,” she called after she had thoroughly cleaned two stalls and left them spotless.
“What?”
“Do you suppose you could teach me to ride sometime?” she asked hesitantly. The wary expression in her eyes suggested she was prepared to be rebuffed, and the tilt of her chin hinted that she wouldn’t take it lightly.
He considered the out-of-the-blue request and wondered what had brought it on. “You were never interested in riding before,” he noted.
She stood in front of him, her expression serious. “But you love it, don’t you? I mean, even