“Hey, Val,” Annie said, poking her sharply in the ribs.
“What?” she murmured.
“You just drove past the clinic.”
Dragging her attention back to the present, Val realized she’d driven halfway through Los Piños without even noticing. Thinking about Slade had a way of distracting her. She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the twins standing on the sidewalk in front of the clinic, looking baffled over being passed by.
“Sorry,” she murmured, going around the next block and heading back.
“You were thinking about Daddy, weren’t you?” Annie inquired, her expression smug.
“What makes you think that?”
“Because you looked all dreamy one minute and mad the next.”
Out of the mouths of babes, Val thought wryly. The child had nailed it. That was exactly the way Slade made her feel.
“You know what I think?” Annie asked.
Val was afraid to ask. “What?” she inquired cautiously.
“Since you said you wouldn’t adopt me, I think that you and Daddy should get married. Then you could be my mom. It would be great,” Annie enthused, obviously sold on the idea. “We get along great and you almost never yell at me. You said you’d like to have a little girl just like me, so why not me, right?”
What was it with the Suttons? Val thought. They both seemed to think marriage was about instant motherhood. Fortunately, she was in front of the clinic and Josh and Zack were scrambling into the back seat.
“We’ll discuss it another time,” she told Annie firmly.
“But you do think it’s a good idea, don’t you?” the girl persisted.
“Another time,” she repeated.
“What are you talking about?” Zack demanded, his freckled face alight with curiosity.
“And how come you drove right past us before?” Josh asked.
“She was distracted,” Annie confided. “She was thinking about Daddy.”
Heat flooded Val’s face. If she didn’t change the subject and fast, this story was going to spread through the Adams clan with the speed and intensity of a wildfire.
“What do you guys want on your pizza?” she asked, figuring that most little boys would rather discuss food than mushy stuff any day. She hadn’t counted on the Adams penchant for matchmaking. Obviously it took hold at a very early age and even influenced those connected to the family only by marriage.
“Okay, enough,” Val said, pulling into a parking space in front of the Italian restaurant. “This is not open for discussion.” She scowled first at Annie, then at both boys. “Are we clear?”
Zack looked knowingly at Josh. “She’s got it bad, all right. Remember when Dad used that exact same voice to tell us to keep our noses out of his relationship with Dani?”
“That’s right,” Josh said. “He was always telling us to mind our own business. It was a good thing we didn’t, though. Otherwise, they might never had gotten married.” He looked at Annie. “Sometimes grown-ups are real slow about stuff like this. You gotta give ’em a push.”
Val moaned. “There will be no pushing, no meddling, no discussion,” she said flatly. “Otherwise, there will be no pizza.”
That finally shut them up. But she could tell from the grins they exchanged that as far as they were concerned, the matter was far from ended.
Thirteen
Val the cowgirl was back with a vengeance. Slade watched her heading toward the corral with a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. Her snug jeans gave him almost as many ideas as those heels she’d abandoned in favor of more practical boots. Still feminine to the core, though, she’d knotted her Western-style shirt at the waist. He knew from past observation that if she lifted her arms just a little, the hem of that shirt would glide up and expose a tantalizing few inches of silky skin. His body tightened just anticipating it.
“What bee have you got in your bonnet?” he asked when she neared.
“We have to talk,” she declared, in the kind of no-nonsense tone that always had the contradictory effect of making him think of everything except the business that was clearly on her mind.
“About?”
“Annie.”
Val began striding up and down in front of him at a dizzying pace. Slade reached out and snagged her arm in an attempt to get her attention.
“Whoa now! Why is it that when I want to talk about what’s best for Annie, you act like I’m insulting you? Now you can’t wait to bring up the subject.”