she’s going to get herself into. She’s a smart girl, but you saw her report cards. She got through the school year by the skin of her teeth. I’m pretty sure her principal will throw a party when she hears Annie’s transferring to another school district.”
She gestured toward the three suitcases his father had lined up on the porch. “That’s everything she has. Your dad and I will be going now,” she said, as if she couldn’t wait to get away, to get some peace and quiet back into her life.
Slade stared at her in shock. “You can’t leave,” he protested. The nastiest bull on the circuit had never set off such panic deep inside him.
“It’s a long way back home. Tomorrow’s a workday for your daddy. Besides, you two need time to settle in.”
“But you’ve driven all this way. I thought we’d go into town for a nice dinner or something,” he said, trying to delay the inevitable moment when he and his daughter would be left on their own.
His mother gave him a sympathetic pat. “Everything’s going to work out just fine, Son. She’s your own flesh and blood, after all. All the girl needs is a little love and attention from her daddy. You remember how she used to worship the ground you walked on. She was a daddy’s girl, no doubt about it. She never mentions her mama, but I catch her staring at the pictures we have of you on the mantel.”
Love and attention, Slade thought, staring at Annie uneasily after his parents had driven away. Too bad those were the two things likely to be in very short supply coming from him.
* * *
Val stood in the office Harlan Patrick had built for her just off her boss’s music room and stared at the scene outside. It was like watching an accident unfold in slow motion, horrifying and tragic. Slade Sutton was regarding his daughter as if she were a rattler he considered capable of striking at any second. His wariness was downright pathetic, but then Slade seemed to be wary of most females.
Watching him with his daughter, she couldn’t hear what was being said, but it was all too evident that neither of them had conversational skills worth a hill of beans. The few feet between them might as well have been a mile.
Hug her, Val coached silently. Neither of them budged. Slade’s hands were jammed into his pockets. His daughter’s were jammed into her own. It was as if they both feared reaching out. Val wondered if Slade even realized that the girl was mimicking his mannerisms.
Abruptly he turned and stalked away. As the girl stared after him, her chin wobbled as if she might cry, but then she, too, turned and stalked off, in the opposite direction. Her suitcases stayed where they’d been left, right on the porch. He hadn’t even bothered to take her inside and show her where she’d be living.
“They’re a sorry pair, aren’t they?” Laurie asked, coming to stand beside her. “I was watching from upstairs. I guess it’s true what I heard, that they’d been estranged for months now. I wonder why.”
“The why’s not important. Somebody needs to see to that poor child,” Val said, her indignation rising. “Slade’s obviously not going to do it.”
“Why don’t you go?” Laurie suggested, regarding her with amusement. “You know you want to. You’ve been itching to find out more about Slade’s daughter ever since you discovered he had one.”
Val shook her head and reluctantly turned away from the window. “I don’t want to meddle.”
Laurie grinned. “That’ll be a first. When it comes to meddling, you could rival Grandpa Harlan. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were an Adams. My relationship with Harlan Patrick wasn’t any of your business, either, but that didn’t keep you from teaming up with him.”
“That was different. You two belonged together. You were just too stubborn to admit it. You needed a little push.”
“Maybe that’s all those two need.”
“Forget it. You know how Slade is. He’ll be furious if I go sticking my nose into his business,” she said, fighting the temptation to meddle anyway. Another glance at that downcast child and she’d let her heart overrule her common sense.
“Since when did his moods bother you?” Laurie asked. “Besides, I thought you took great satisfaction in provoking him.”
Laurie was right about that. Val did like getting Slade Sutton all stirred up. Every now and again the fire she managed to spark in his