kindness. She’d gathered that Annie had done the style herself in a fit of anger over being sent to live with her father. “I could try to trim it a little more evenly, if you like.”
Annie’s eyes brightened. “Could you?”
“I’ll take a shot at it, unless you’d prefer to get it cut in town.”
Annie shook her head. “My dad would never pay for it. He’d say it was a waste of money to fix something I did to myself in the first place.”
Val had a feeling they had already had exactly that discussion. She couldn’t honestly say she blamed Slade. Still, Annie had probably suffered long enough for her ill-conceived moment of rebellion.
“I’ll get the scissors. You go and wash your hair,” she told Annie. Beyond shaving the child’s head, she doubted there was anything she could do that could possibly make her hairstyle worse than it was.
Fortunately, Annie had a little curl to her hair and the delicately shaped face of a pixie. Val snipped and trimmed until her hair was short as a boy’s. The curl softened the effect, feathering against her cheek and drawing attention to her lovely green eyes. Val stood back and surveyed the results.
“I think you look beautiful, if I do say so myself,” she said, handing Annie a mirror. “You have the perfect face for a style this short. Those gorgeous eyes of yours look huge. You are going to be a heartbreaker one of these days, young lady.”
“No way,” Annie said, then took the mirror Val held out. She gazed into it, then up at Val. “I’m almost pretty,” she whispered in an awestruck voice.
“Well, of course you’re pretty,” Val said, glad she’d been able to take away one of Annie’s worries.
“But what will I wear?” Annie moaned now. “All I have is a ratty old bathing suit that’s too small. You saw it the day we went to the creek. I can’t wear that.”
Val had to concede it no longer fit and had been faded by too much sun and chlorine from the town pool in Wilder’s Glen. “I’ll bet if you explain that to your dad, he’ll let you get a new one.”
Annie looked defeated. “He won’t go for it.” She glanced up at Val hopefully. “Maybe you could ask him. He’ll listen to you.”
“No,” Val insisted. “You discuss it with him.”
“He doesn’t listen to a word I say,” Annie grumbled. “Did you know I told him about Laurie writing a song for me? He mumbled something that sounded like ‘that’s nice,’ then went right on reading a bunch of old horse magazines.”
“Obviously you picked a bad time.”
“It’s always a bad time,” Annie complained. “I’m always interrupting something more important.”
Val vowed to speak to Slade about paying more attention when his daughter tried to have a conversation with him.
“I wish I were your daughter,” Annie said with a heavy sigh. “You listen to me all the time.”
“That’s because when you and I are together, you have my undivided attention. If you tried to talk to me when I’m working, I probably would be every bit as distracted as your dad. Lesson one, kiddo, if you want something from someone, make sure it’s a good time before you ask, otherwise the answer will be no for sure.”
“How can you tell?”
“Instinct.”
“I don’t think I have that,” Annie said glumly.
Val chuckled. “You will. It takes time to develop. You’re only ten. It just means being more sensitive to other people’s moods.”
“Like if my dad’s worried about some old horse or something, I shouldn’t ask him for something,” Annie said, her expression thoughtful.
“Exactly. Either leave him alone or ask about the horse. Sympathize with him.”
“Okay, I get it.” She jumped off the kitchen chair and headed for the door. “Bye. Thanks for the haircut.”
“You’re welcome. Where are you off to?”
“I’m going to see if my dad’s in a good mood or not so I can ask about the bathing suit.” Her step faltered. “If he’s in a bad mood, do you think you could help me bake him chocolate chip cookies? Those are his favorites. He’s bound to listen to me after that.”
“See if you can’t pull it off using your wits,” Val said. “But, yes, if all else fails, I’ll help with the cookies.”
So, she thought after Annie was gone, chocolate was the way to Slade’s heart. She just happened to have a recipe for a chocolate cake that had been known to bring grown men to their knees. It might be just