“Of course, but believe me, it was very succinct and focused almost exclusively on what he knows about horses. In the end those were the only qualifications we cared about.”
“How’d he get the limp?”
“A rodeo accident, I suppose. As long as he can do the job, I saw no point in probing into how it happened. Besides he’s made it clear he doesn’t want to talk about it.”
She grinned at that. “He doesn’t want to talk about anything.”
“You didn’t let a little thing like that put you off, did you?”
“Of course not. I considered it my duty to try to get one entire sentence out of him, something beyond yup and nope, that is.”
“And did you?”
“Eventually.”
“What did he say?”
“‘I’m going to the bunkhouse now,’” she reported, then sighed. “Not exactly what I’d hoped for.”
Harlan Patrick chuckled. “He didn’t invite you along, did he?”
“Oh, no. He all but shoved me toward the main house.” Her eyes sparkled with indignation. “I could have been insulted.”
“But you weren’t?”
She shrugged. “It takes a lot more than that to rattle my chains. It just made me more curious.”
“Too bad you don’t have longer to try to figure out what makes him tick,” Harlan Patrick suggested slyly.
She gave him an amused, knowing look. “Oh, something tells me I’ll be back here before too long. And when I am, Slade Sutton doesn’t stand a chance. I haven’t run across a challenge like that man in a very long time.”
Bingo, Harlan Patrick thought triumphantly. He glanced over toward Laurie and found her gaze on him. She looked away at once, but not before he caught the bleak expression in her eyes.
What on earth was she thinking? he wondered, then realized he’d caught her looking at him just that way on the tour bus when he and Val had been huddled together making the plans for this trip. Was it possible that she was jealous of the friendship he and her assistant were forming? Surely not.
Then again, if she was, if she didn’t grasp even now how totally and thoroughly committed he was to her, maybe he could make the insecurity work to his advantage, too.
He settled back and pondered how to go about it. Maybe he should make a point of inviting Val back to White Pines for a visit in Laurie’s hearing. Val wouldn’t mistake the invitation for anything other than another chance to try to unravel the mystery of Slade Sutton, but Laurie? Who knew what she might make of it? Maybe it would shake her if she thought there was a chance she was going to lose him to a woman who had no hesitations at all about making the same choice that Laurie herself refused to make.
Was the plan devious? Of course. Would anybody get hurt? No one he could think of. Was it risky? Wasn’t just about everything?
But on the chance it could work, it was a gamble he was more than willing to take. He intended to get Laurie to realize that they were meant to be together, no matter what it took, no matter how many obstacles had to be overcome. He just prayed his imagination was up to the task.
* * *
Tired of the pointed questions being asked about her plans for the future, Laurie broke free from her conversation with Sharon Lynn and went in search of Harlan Patrick, praying she wouldn’t find him off somewhere with Val. She had no idea what sort of bond those two had formed, but she wasn’t crazy about it. They’d already hatched up one kidnapping scheme. Who knew what they would come up with next.
She found Harlan Patrick outside—alone, thankfully—and joined him.
“I’d like to get back into town,” she said stiffly. “I want to spend a little more time with my mother before we leave tomorrow.”
He slanted a skeptical look at her. “Is that it? Or are you just anxious to get away from my family? Are they getting to you, Laurie? Are you beginning to feel guilty about keeping Amy Lynn from them and from me?”
“I’ve always felt guilty about that,” she retorted candidly. “But I did what I thought was best at the time and, frankly, I’m sick to death of apologizing for it. What’s done is done, Harlan Patrick. I can’t change it, and I won’t let you use it to blackmail me into giving you your