“Good to see you, Son.”
“You, too, Dad.”
“Annie, girl, get on out here and say hello to your daddy,” Harold Sutton commanded in a booming voice left from his days as a marine drill sergeant. None of his sons had ever dared to ignore one of his orders. Punishments for disobedience had been doled out swiftly. For a minute, though, Slade thought that Annie might. She stared out at them from the back seat, her expression mulish.
Eventually, though, she slipped out of the car with obvious reluctance and stood there awkwardly, refusing to come closer. It was all Slade could do not to gape when he saw her.
How the devil had his daughter gone from being a little angel in frilly dresses to this? he wondered, staring at the ripped jeans, baggy T-shirt and filthy sneakers Annie was wearing. He’d been prepared for the cast on her arm, but not for the fact that it appeared she’d been rolling in mud wearing it.
And what the dickens had happened to her curls? The last time he’d seen her, she’d had pretty, chestnut-colored hair, braided neatly and tied with bows. Now it looked as if someone had taken a pair of dull scissors and whacked it off about two inches from her scalp.
Annie regarded him with a sullen expression, while he tried to figure out what to say to her.
“You look real good,” he managed finally.
Annie didn’t even waste her breath replying to the blatant lie. She just continued to stare at him with a defiant tilt to her chin and a heartbreaking mix of hurt and anger in her eyes. He might have responded to that, if his mother hadn’t latched onto his arm and pulled him aside.
“I’ll explain to you about that later,” she muttered under her breath, her gaze pointedly focused on Annie’s hairstyle. “Please don’t say anything about her hair. She’s very self-conscious about it.”
“She darned well ought to be,” Slade retorted. “What were you thinking?”
“It wasn’t me,” she snapped. “When she found out we were bringing her over here, she did it herself.”
He shot a bewildered glance toward his daughter. “But why?”
“I have no idea. She’s a mystery, Slade. Keeps everything bottled up inside. It comes out in these daredevil acts of hers. I never know what kind of trouble 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 eyes struck her as very promising. So far, he’d carefully avoided indulging in anything remotely close to a passionate response. In fact, he made it a point to steer clear of her whenever he could. Yesterday had been one of those rare occasions when running hadn’t been an option.
One day, though, she was going to catch him alone when he didn’t have chores to tend to. She would seize the chance to deliberately push him over the edge. Then she’d finally discover if all this chemistry she’d been feeling for the past few months was one-sided or not.
Now was not the time, however, and Annie was not the best subject to use to provoke a response from him. There were too many complicated emotions at work here that Val didn’t understand.
After she thought for a minute about the scene she’d just witnessed, it occurred to her that for once Slade might be grateful to have her step in. Clearly he was out of his depth, though why that should be eluded her.
She, on the other hand, liked kids. All sorts of maternal feelings washed through her every time she held Laurie’s baby. Now that Amy Lynn was beginning to toddle around on unsteady legs, Val enjoyed chasing after her almost as much as she liked setting up interviews and keeping Laurie’s life on track. She might not have signed on as a baby-sitter, but it was one of the duties she took on willingly.
“Okay, okay,” she agreed finally, giving in to Laurie�
��s urging and her own desire to get involved. “I’m going.” She said it as if she were caving in to pressure, just to preserve the illusion of reluctance. The truth was she was eager to meet Slade’s daughter, just as Laurie had said.
Outside, she strolled casually in the direction in which she’d seen the child go. Surprisingly, she found her near the stables. Apparently she’d gravitated back toward where she knew her father would be, after all. Slade was nowhere in sight, but Val assumed he was inside the barn doing those endless chores he found so fascinating.
“Hi,” Val said, coming up to the corral railing to stand beside her. “I’m Val.”
The girl kept her gaze focused on the horses.
“You must be Annie,” Val continued, as if she hadn’t been totally ignored. Apparently father and child shared a disdain for polite responses. “I’ve been hearing a lot about you.”
“Not from my dad, I’ll bet,” Annie responded, giving her a sullen glance.
“Actually, that’s not true. Your dad is the one who told me you were coming. Then I heard about you again from my boss, Laurie Jensen.”
The mention of Laurie’s name was bound to catch the attention of anyone who’d ever listened to country music. Laurie’s albums were at the top of the charts. Annie Sutton proved to be no exception. She regarded Val suspiciously.
“Yeah, right. Like you actually know Laurie Jensen.”
“Like I said, I work for her.” She gestured vaguely toward Harlan Patrick’s house, which wasn’t visible from where they stood. “She lives about a quarter mile down the road, not too far from your dad’s house. Surely he’s mentioned that to you.”
Annie shrugged. “Me and my dad don’t talk too much.” She focused her attention on the horses for a while, then asked, “So, how come Laurie Jensen lives here?”
“She’s married to Harlan Patrick Adams, who’s one of the owners of this ranch.”
There was a flash of interest in eyes that had been way too bored for any typically inquisitive ten-year-old. “No way.”
“It’s true.”
Her expression brightened visibly. “And you said Laurie Jensen actually knew my name?”
Val grinned at her astonishment. “She did.”
“Awesome.”
Relieved to have caught the child’s interest, Val decided to capitalize on it. Maybe she could forge a bond with Annie more easily than she’d imagined. “Maybe you could come by sometime and meet her, listen to her working on songs for her next album. If your dad doesn’t mind, that is.”
Annie’s excited expression faded. “Oh, he won’t care. He doesn’t want me here, anyway.”
Even though she’d suspected as much, Val was still shocked by the words, angered by the fact that Slade had let his feelings show so plainly. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
“Yes, it is. He hates me.”
“Why on earth would he hate you? You’re his daughter,” Val protested, unwilling to believe there could be any truth to the accusation.
“It’s because of my mom. She almost got him killed when she drove his car into a ditch, and then she left us,” she said matter-of-factly. “I guess I don’t blame him for hating me. Everybody says I look just like her. I heard Grandma tell one of her friends that if I’m not careful I’ll turn out just like her, too. Nothing but trouble, that’s what she said.”
Val was stunned. This was more than she’d ever learned from Slade, and it went a long way toward explaining his attitude toward women. Still, his problems with his ex-wife were no excuse for treating his daughter the way he’d been doing. And her grandmother should have watched her tongue. Val couldn’t see that it served any useful purpose to go knocking her former daughter-in-law where Annie could overhear her.
“Your mom’s leaving must have hurt you both very much,” Val said, treading carefully. “Sometimes grown-ups don’t get over something like that very easily.”
“Like kids do?” Annie retorted. She sighed heavily, as if resigned to the fact that no adult could ever understand what she was going through.
“Of course not,” Val agreed, “but—”
Annie faced her squarely. “Look, you don’t have to be nice to me. I’m just a kid and I’m used to being on my own. My grandma and grandpa pretty much left me alone, except when I did something wrong.”
“I’ll bet you got into trouble a lot then, didn’t you?” Val guessed.
Annie stared at her with obvious surprise. “How’d you know that?” She sighed once again. “Never mind. I suppose he told you. He probably warned you about me.”
Val decided not to tell her it was predictable. Annie probably thought she was the only kid who’d ever used that technique to get the attention of the adults around her. “Nope. Lucky guess,” she said instead. She glanced toward the horses. “Do you like horses as much as your dad does?”
Annie shrugged. “I suppose. My grandma and grandpa lived in town, so we didn’t have horses.”
“But you must have been around them when your dad was on the rodeo circuit.”
“Me and my mom didn’t go with him all that much after I started school. I guess we did when I was real little, but I don’t remember that. My mom said it was my fault he left us behind all the time.”
Val hid her dismay. What kind of mother openly blamed her child for the problems that were clearly between her and her husband? And what kind of father allowed it to happen? She wanted to reach out and hug this sad, neglected child, but Annie’s defensive posture told her she wouldn’t welcome the gesture, much less trust that it was genuine.
“You’re going to really love living here,” Val told her instead. “There are lots of kids around. The Adamses are wonderful people. They’ll throw a party at the drop of a hat. You’ll fit in in no time.”
Annie looked skeptical. “They probably won’t invite my dad and me. He just works here.”
“I work here, too, but they always include me.”
“You’re a grown-up,” Annie said, but she couldn’t hide the wistful look that crossed her face.
“Maybe so, but I was hoping maybe we could be friends. I haven’t been here all that long myself. Maybe we could go into town one day. I could show you around while your dad’s working.”
Annie regarded her skeptically. “Yeah, well, if you’re doing it so my dad’ll notice you, you’re wasting your time. He hates girls, because of my mom. My grandma says he’d be a recluse if he could.”
Apparently Grandma had one very loose tongue. “Well, you’re here now, so being a recluse is not an option,” Val said briskly, giving Annie’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “He may not know it yet, but having you here is going to be very good for him. I can tell that already.”
Despite Annie’s conviction about how little her father thought of her, she gave Val a hopeful look that almost broke her heart.
“Do you think so?” she asked.
“I know so,” Val assured her. If she had to knock Slade Sutton upside the head herself, she was going to see to it.
Three
Val had a giant-size calendar spread out on the floor in Laurie’s music room, while her boss sprawled on the sofa, idly picking out a tune on her guitar.
“This song is terrible,” Laurie concluded, eyeing the instrument as if it were at fault. “I haven’t been able to write worth a lick since Harlan Patrick and I got married.”
“Stop putting so much pressure on yourself,” Val advised. She’d been listening to the same complaint for weeks now. If Laurie wasn’t careful, she was going to talk herself straight into a writer’s block, even though on her worst days she was better than half the songwriters out there. “Take time out to count your blessings. You have a handsome, sexy husband who adores you. You have a gorgeous daughter who is absolutely brilliant for someone barely a year old.”
Laurie managed a ghost of a smil
e at the reminders. “Okay, yes, I am very lucky.”
“Concentrate on that for a few days. After all, you only need two more songs for the new album,” she reminded her boss. “The studio time’s not booked for two more months.”
The faint smile faded at once. “Why two months?” Laurie grumbled, picking out the notes of her last hit on the guitar. “I should be in Nashville now. If I don’t get back to work soon, my fans will forget all about me.”
Val rolled her eyes heavenward. Laurie had been a wreck ever since she had agreed to take a break from her usual hectic recording and concert pace. She blamed her agent, Val and Harlan Patrick for talking her into it. Most of all, she blamed herself for caving in. The forced idleness was making her crazy, especially since her husband was as busy as ever running the ranch and couldn’t devote himself full-time to keeping her occupied.
“No one is going to forget about you,” Val soothed. “Nick and I have that covered. There will be plenty of items in the media. I’ve booked you on at least one of the entertainment shows every single month until the album’s due to be released. There are fresh angles for every story. Besides, I thought you had enough media coverage to last a lifetime when they were chasing after the story of your secret baby.”
Laurie didn’t look pacified. “What if Harlan Patrick was right?”
“About what?”
“What if I refused to marry him for so long because I knew once I was completely happy I wouldn’t be able to write another song?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sakes, that is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You don’t have to be wallowing in heartbreak to know what it’s like. Draw on old memories. For that matter, write something upbeat for a change.” She gave Laurie a wicked smile. “Write about having babies.”
West Texas Nights Page 21
