The Rancher and His Unexpected Daughter

by Sherryl Woods

  “That’s the one. Looks perfect for square dancing.”

  “We’re going to be dancing on Saturday?”

  “Darlin’, you can’t have a big to-do in this part of the world and call it a party, unless there’s dancing.”

  “I had no idea.”

  “That’s why you have me,” he reassured her. “I’m going to see to it that you fit right in in no time.”

  “I do so admire a man with a mission,” she said as she grabbed the selected clothes off the racks and carried them into a nearby dressing room.

  Inside the room, she shut the door and leaned against it, drawing in a deep breath. With every single minute she spent in Harlan Adams’s company, she realized she was coming closer and closer to losing her heart. The day when she would have to choose between that and her own personal mission was clearly just around the corner.

  * * *

  On Saturday, Harlan fussed over every detail as the time for guests to start arriving neared. Maritza was beginning to mutter in Spanish, her tone suggesting it would be far better if he didn’t try to translate. Her cousin Consuela, who’d been the original housekeeper at White Pines until Luke had lured her off to his ranch, finally backed him out the kitchen door by waving a dish towel in his face.

  “Go, go. You stay out now,” she ordered, barring the doorway. “You are only in the way in here.”

  “Damn, but you’re bossy,” he grumbled affectionately. “Who’s running that house of Luke’s? You or him?”

  Her dark eyes flashed fire. “You remember that I can walk out before this affair of yours begins,” she threatened, her own tone just as fond. “I will take Maritza and the others with me. How will you manage then, señor?”

  “With my charm,” he quipped.

  She turned her gaze toward heaven as if praying for patience. “It will not feed this crowd you have invited,” she reminded him. “Now, go and talk with your sons or play with your grandbabies.”

  “I’ll go out and check to see if the tent’s set up right,” he said.

  “No,” she ordered at once. “The men have everything under control.” She tilted her head at him. “I do not recall you making such a fuss over details in the past. This party is important to you?”

  He nodded, feeling sheepish. “Silly, huh? We must have thrown a hundred parties in this house, but this is the first time I’ve ever been a wreck.”

  Consuela’s expression sobered at once. “It is because you no longer have Mary by your side,” she said sorrowfully. “I should have thought, Señor Harlan. You must miss her very much at a time like this.”

  That was part of it, he supposed. But he’d come to terms with his loss in the past few months. Though he was likely to miss Mary until the end of his days, he had moved on. No, this sense that he was standing at the edge of a precipice and that the slightest misstep would send him over was due to another woman entirely.

  “No,” he corrected softly. “It is because I want everything to be perfect tonight.”

  Consuela’s eyes widened. “For the señorita, yes?” At his startled look, she explained, “Rosa told me she has seen you together in town many times and then Luke and Jessie described meeting her. They say your eyes light up when you are in the same room. You care for this woman?”

  He nodded, even though that was a pale description of his feelings. “Deeply,” he admitted.

  “Then Maritza and I will see that this party impresses her. Leave it to us, okay?”

  He grinned. “Do I have any choice?”

  “No,” she conceded, and disappeared into the kitchen from which she had just banished him.

  Left at loose ends, he paced. When that failed to calm him, he retreated to his office and fiddled with papers, none of which caught his full attention. He was trying for the third time to add up a simple column of figures when he realized he was no longer alone. He glanced up and found not one, but six pairs of prying eyes studying him with amusement.

  “What’s the matter with the bunch of you?” he grumbled, staring sourly at his sons and their wives. If he could have kept them away from this event, he would have, but he hadn’t wanted to send the wrong message to Janet. He was very aware of how sensitive she was about not being accepted in Los Piños, despite the cavalier attitude she had expressed on the subject.

  “We heard you were driving the entire staff nuts,” Luke said. “Consuela thought you might need company.”

  “Consuela is a busybody.” He noticed Jordan and Cody rolling their eyes. “And you two can be uninvited, you know.”

  “Us?” Jordan said innocently, exchanging a look with his younger brother. “What did we do?”

  “We’re giving him a taste of his own medicine,” Cody retorted, clearly undaunted by the threat. “Looks like he can’t take it.”

  Harlan heard the sound of footsteps clattering down the stairs. “Aren’t those your little hellions I hear?” he demanded. “Damn, but they make a racket. Can’t you control them?”

  “Those are your precious grandchildren,” Luke corrected. “And you’re the one who said you wanted this to be a family event. How come, Daddy? You have big plans for tonight? Maybe an announcement of some kind?”

  Harlan was startled by the suggestion, even though he could see how they might have leapt to that conclusion. “Don’t go getting ideas. This shindig’s just to let Janet get to know the family and some of my friends.”

  “How big’s the guest list?” Jordan prodded, his expression entirely too smug.

  “Two hundred, okay?” Harlan retorted, frowning at him. “Once I got started, I figured I might as well invite everybody at once.”

  “I hope Janet’s not expecting an intimate little gathering,” Jessie said worriedly. “I’ll never forget that birthday party you threw for me when I was first married to Erik. I’d never seen that many people gathered together outside of a church revival in my entire life.”

  “Well, we’ll know soon enough,” Kelly stated. “She and Jenny are just pulling up.” She grinned at her father-in-law. “Did you tell her to come early to play hostess?”

  Harlan shook his head in disgust at their teasing. “Never mind what I told her,” he said as he strode past them.

  “He must not think we’re up to the responsibility,” Kelly said to Jessie and Melissa. “Think we should stage a protest?”

  “I’m for it,” Melissa teased.

  Harlan turned back and glared at the lot of them. “If you all don’t behave tonight, I’m disowning every one of you.”

  “I win!” Cody said with a whoop.

  Harlan scowled at his youngest. “Win what?”

  “We placed bets on how long it would take you to threaten to disown us. I figured less than ten minutes. Luke and Jordan thought you’d hold your temper longer.”

  “I was counting on Janet being here to keep him in line,” Luke explained.

  “Out of the will, every one of you,” Harlan declared as he walked off and left them laughing.

  Only after he was out of their eyesight did he allow himself to smile.

  * * *

  Harlan must have invited everyone within a hundred-mile radius, Janet decided as she stared at the throng of people filling their plates at the heavily laden buffet tables.

  As if he sensed that she might be overwhelmed, he had stuck close to her side ever since her arrival, silencing gossip with a frown, introducing her to people who could bring her their legal business, shielding her from his sons’ excessive teasing.

  He’d left her just a moment before to greet the governor, promising to bring him back to meet her. The governor, for heaven’s sake! At what Harlan referred to as a little backyard barbecue. Obviously he took such illustrious guests in stride.

  To her, the sheer size of the event was daunting without even taking into account the importance of some of the guests. Her ex-husband would have had whiplash from looking this way and that to be sure he didn’t miss anybody. The fancy New York parties they’d atten
ded had been nothing compared to this assembly of Texas’s rich and powerful.

  “A little daunting, isn’t it?” Jessie inquired, magically appearing by her side just when Janet was beginning to feel exactly that way.

  “It’s second nature to him, isn’t it?” she replied, watching the ease with which Harlan escorted the governor from cluster to cluster. As many parties as she’d been to, she’d never been entirely comfortable with the small talk required.

  “You wouldn’t have thought that, if you’d seen him earlier,” Jessie revealed. “He was like a kid throwing his first party and terrified nobody would come. Of course, in his case, I think you’re the only guest he’s been really worried about.”

  Janet couldn’t get over the idea that Harlan might have suffered a bad case of stage fright. “He was nervous?” she asked incredulously.

  Jessie nodded. “Because of you. He really wanted tonight to be special for you.” She studied Janet intently. “Are you two involved? I mean, happily-ever-after involved.”

  Janet evaded a direct answer by asking a question of her own, “What does he say?”

  “Not a darn thing, really. It’s driving all of us crazy.” She grinned. “I figure it serves Luke and his brothers right. On the other hand, I want to be in on the secret.”

  “There is no secret,” Janet assured her.

  Jessie’s expression turned serious. “If he asks you to marry him, what will you say?”

  Janet swallowed hard. It was clear that Jessie felt her question wasn’t nearly as premature as Janet hoped it was. “I can’t answer that,” she said. To soften the response, she added, “And even if I could, you’re not the one I’d be telling. Harlan would be the first to have an answer.”

  Jessie nodded approvingly. “Good. Now I know that all the bullying from these Adams men won’t force you into a corner.” She grinned. “It takes a strong woman to put up with them. I think you’ll do just fine.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Janet said. “But sometimes trying to say no to Harlan is like swimming in quicksand.”

  “You ever need a lifeline, just let me know,” Jessie offered. “The same with Kelly or Melissa. We’ve all been there.” She glanced up and caught sight of Harlan approaching with the governor at the same time Janet did. “Whoops, I’m out of here. I voted for his opponent. I’d hate to have to admit that in front of Harlan.”

  Janet was still chuckling when Harlan reached her. She acknowledged the introduction to the governor and his wife with a smile and sufficient small talk to cover her nervousness. Fortunately, the band struck up a slower tune just then.

  “That’s my cue,” the governor said, beaming at his wife. “Shall we?” As they headed for the dance floor, he said, “Call my office next week. I’d like to talk with you a bit about your interest in Native American affairs.”

  Janet stared after him openmouthed. “How did he know about that?”

  Harlan shrugged. “I might have mentioned it. All that talk about Lone Wolf and his ancestors led me to think you might have a particular interest in the subject.”

  As if he thought he might have already said too much, he glanced toward the crowded dance floor that had been set up under the stars. “How about it? You willing to risk a turn around the floor with me?”

  The request didn’t give her time to wonder how a few comments about Lone Wolf had led Harlan to guess how deep her interest in Native Americans ran. Before she could even form a question, she was in his arms and they were swaying to the soft music.

  The feel of his body pressed against hers made every inch of her flesh tingle. With her head tucked against his shoulder, she felt warm and secure and desired. His heat surrounded her, making her senses swim.

  Suddenly she was no longer aware of anything but the provocative rhythm of the music and the feel of his muscles playing against her own. She could hear the steady sound of his heart pounding, feel the quickening of his pulse. A desperate hunger began to build deep inside her, a hunger that was clearly matched in the man who held her so tightly.

  “You’ll stay the night?” he asked out of the blue, his gaze searching hers.

  “Jenny,” she said, unable to manage another single word.

  He nodded his understanding of her concern. “Not to worry. I’ll speak to Cody. Melissa will think up an excuse to have her baby-sit. Will that do?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, sighing as she settled her head against his shoulder. She was grateful for his consideration, anxious to get this entire crowd on its way before she had time for second thoughts.

  He leaned back and gazed down at her. “You want me to send everybody packing as badly as I want to do it?” he inquired, a teasing glint in his eyes.

  “Yes,” she admitted. “Isn’t that terrible, especially when you’ve gone to all this trouble?”

  “Wanting it isn’t so bad,” he claimed. “We’ll just have to think of it as a test of character that we don’t act on it.” He winked at her. “Besides, a little anticipation isn’t all bad. It’ll just make the rest of the night all the sweeter.”

  Janet regarded him skeptically. It seemed to her the next few hours were going to be the longest of her entire life. And if Harlan had a brain in his head, he wouldn’t give her anywhere near that long to reconsider the decision she’d just reached in the provocative circle of his arms.

  He leaned down then to whisper in her ear. “Don’t look so impatient, darlin’. You’ll be giving folks ideas about what’s on your mind.”

  “No question about that,” Luke said impudently as he tapped his father on the shoulder. “I’m cutting in before you two make a spectacle of yourselves.”

  “Go away,” Harlan said, refusing to release her.

  Janet chuckled as the two of them stared each other down. “I think Luke has the right idea,” she said, slipping out of Harlan’s embrace. “Go dance with somebody else for a while.”

  Harlan frowned at his oldest son. “You’ll pay for this,” he muttered irritably, but he did start off. He hadn’t gone more than half a dozen steps before he turned back to Janet. “You and I have a date, darlin’. Don’t be forgetting it.”

  “Not a chance,” she promised.

  She looked up to find Luke chuckling. “What?” she demanded.

  “Another five seconds I’d have had to hose the two of you down.”

  “I’m beginning to see why your father finds you so irritating,” she muttered.

  He laughed out loud at that. “Jessie was right.”

  “About?”

  “You’ll fit in just fine.”

  The approval behind the comment stayed with Janet for the rest of the seemingly endless evening. She was glad that Luke and Jessie thought she’d be right for Harlan. She couldn’t help wondering, though, how they’d feel if they discovered what had originally brought her to Texas. Would they be as open and generous then? Or would they do everything in their power to see that she and Harlan never spent another single second alone together?

  Chapter Thirteen

  “We’ll all meet here for a late breakfast,” Harlan said to Jenny as she prepared to leave with Cody and Melissa and their kids after the party. He’d been trying to shoo people off for an hour now, to little avail. His sons particularly showed no inclination to go.

  To Janet’s surprise, though, Jenny didn’t seemed particularly thrown by the change in plans. She was probably thrilled to be spending the night under Cody’s roof. Fortunately her daughter had missed the earlier exchange of winks between Cody and his brothers when they’d learned that Harlan was sending Jenny home with Cody and his crew.

  “You’ll be back then, too, Mom?” Jenny asked sleepily as she climbed into Cody’s car.

  Janet nodded. “I’ll be here,” she promised.

  Jenny yawned. “Okay. See you.”

  A moment later they were gone and Janet’s heart climbed straight into her throat at the look of pure longing in Harlan’s eyes. Despite the irreversible commitment
she’d made to stay, despite her own yearning to make love to this incredibly gentle, thoughtful man, she was more nervous than an innocent bride on her wedding night.

  She still had so many questions about why he seemed to have forgiven her for what must have seemed to him a hiding of the truth at least. That he still hadn’t mentioned what Jenny had told him kept her from relaxing and falling entirely under his spell. She kept waiting for him to reel her in and then turn on her when she least expected it.

  “What about the others?” she asked, delaying their return to the house.

  His gaze never left her face. “What others?” he murmured distractedly, his attention clearly riveted on her.

  “Jordan and Kelly, for instance,” she said, though she was a bit distracted herself by the intensity of his gaze and the electricity arcing between them.

  He stroked a finger along her cheek. “They’ve gone home. Slipped away a while ago, in fact.”

  Janet swallowed hard before managing to add, “And Luke and Jessie?”

  “Upstairs in their suite.” Her expression must have given away her trepidation, because he quickly added, “It’s at the opposite end of this big old place from mine. Think of it as being like a fancy hotel. You wouldn’t think twice about who was down the hall.”

  “But this room is occupied by your son and his family, not strangers.”

  He shrugged off her concern. “I promise you it’s not a problem.”

  Janet disagreed. “How will they feel when they find out I’ve stayed the night?”

  “For one thing, I don’t think any of them had a doubt in the world that you would be here come morning. Besides that, you seem to be forgetting whose house this is.”

  “Hardly.”

  “Okay, but whatever Luke’s opinion might be, he’ll keep it to himself.”

  Janet chuckled at the unlikelihood of that. “Are we talking about the same Luke?”

  “Stop fussing,” he soothed, cupping her face in his hands. “If you want to put this off, just say the word. You’ll have your own room for the night. I can even fix you up on a different floor, if you’d prefer. Give you a key for the lock, too, if it’ll make you feel better.”