The Maverick's Return

by Marie Ferrarella

  He let her go and strode toward the door. But before he left, he looked at Anne sharply as he repeated, “Very hard.”

  Anne remained where she was standing long after Hank had closed the front door behind him. His words continued to echo in her head.

  She hadn’t wanted to admit it while Hank had berated the situation, pointing out what he felt was the obvious, but she was actually harboring the same fears that Hank had raised. And not just concerning Janie’s reaction to Danny’s possible disappearance from her life.

  What if she were to get together with Danny, gave her heart to him the way she had before, and then he suddenly disappeared on her again the way he had twelve years ago? She had barely survived that at the time, but she had had a baby to think of and to take care of.

  It was different this time. And she really didn’t think her heart would be able to take that sort of abandonment a second time.

  C’mon, Anne, he’s not going anywhere. Look at how hard he’s working to get Janie to like him, to build a relationship with her. That’s not a man who’s going to take off in the middle of the night. That’s a man who’s here to stay.

  It made sense.

  And yet...

  * * *

  “C’mon, it’ll be fun,” Anne coaxed, holding up a pirate costume that was clearly intended for a man to wear.

  Dan looked at the costume dubiously. Along with the ruffled shirt and wide black pantaloons, Annie had a black eye patch attached to the hanger. “I don’t know about this.”

  “The veterinary office is sponsoring a Halloween costume parade—emphasis on the word costume,” Annie told him as well as her daughter. “That means you can’t be in it unless you’ve got on some kind of a costume.”

  He saw the excitement on Janie’s face, but he was still very reluctant to put on something that, in his judgment, made him look like a fool.

  “I can stand on the sidelines and watch the parade,” Dan offered, adding, “I’m really good at cheering and clapping.”

  “I’m going to be in it,” Janie told him proudly. “I’m going as Ellie,” she added, referring to the superheroine she’d told him about the first afternoon he had been over to her house.

  “And I’ll be your cheering section,” Dan said, still hoping that was good enough. “Everyone needs a cheering section, even a superheroine.”

  He was weakening, Anne thought. She could see it in his face. He really wanted Janie’s approval.

  “There’ll be lots of people in town who’ll be on the sidelines,” she told Danny, then emphasized, “This is your time to step up for Janie.”

  “Where are you going to be?” Dan wanted to know. And then it hit him why she was so adamant about having him dress up. “Wait, don’t tell me, let me guess. You’re going to be on the sidelines, watching us.”

  “Hardly,” Anne countered. “I have to organize and dress up some of the tamer pets whose owners want them to be in the parade.” She paused, then added what she felt was the proper inducement. “Dr. Smith’s bulldog is going to be wearing army fatigues.”

  Dan laughed as he tried to picture that in his mind. He’d seen the animal, a large, squat dog whose expression reminded him of one of the guests at the dude ranch this summer, a disgruntled man who’d found fault with everything during his entire vacation. “I guess that’ll be worth the price of admission.”

  “They’re charging admission?” Janie asked, puzzled as she looked at her mother.

  “It’s an expression, honey. Danny is being funny—or trying to be,” Anne told her.

  In the last few days, she had relented and allowed her daughter to refer to Danny by his first name. She’d decided the familiarity might make the ultimate transition from family friend to father a little easier in the long run.

  At least she could hope that it would.

  “I guess that is kind of funny,” Janie agreed, glancing in his direction.

  “I knew that seeing the bulldog in fatigues would change your mind,” Anne told him.

  “It didn’t change my mind,” Danny contradicted. He looked toward Janie before he said, “Actually, the opportunity to walk beside ‘Ellie’ in the parade was what changed my mind. I’ve always had a weakness for superheroines,” he said, winking at Janie.

  Janie giggled, obviously pleased.

  It was a sound that she rarely heard of late coming from her daughter, Anne thought. Hearing it now really heartened her.

  Maybe this was going to turn out well after all, Anne thought, despite all of her fears.

  “We could all really use this diversion,” Anne told her daughter and Danny. “It’s been an utter madhouse at the lately clinic. I don’t ever remember it being this busy.”

  “Why don’t you just hire more vets to help you?” Janie asked.

  “Out of the mouths of babes,” Danny commented with a grin. He saw the indignant look that crossed Janie’s face and could guess at what she was thinking. “Just another expression,” he quickly said so she wouldn’t think he was insulting her. “There’s no way that I’m saying you’re a baby. No one who can play chess the way you can could possibly be mistaken for a baby.”

  And he meant what he said. Janie had been getting really good at the game, absorbing everything he taught her like the proverbial sponge. He was in fact rather in awe of the girl’s ability to think several moves ahead the way she did, given her age.

  Janie looked properly placated. “Okay,” she said, graciously accepting his explanation. Turning toward her mother, she asked, “So, are you going to be getting more vets?”

  Anne nodded. “Dr. Smith is definitely trying to. He just asked Dr. Hadley Strickland, a friend of his who practices in Bozeman, to fill in at the clinic while she’s here visiting over the Thanksgiving holiday,” she told them. “He’s hoping that might wind up convincing her to stay on.”

  “But that’s just one person,” Janie wisely protested. “You need more than one person, right, Mom?”

  Dan decided to help Annie out.

  “Right,” he answered, joining in. “But it’s a start,” he pointed out. “Maybe if they can get this Dr. Strickland to come work at the clinic, she might know of someone else who Dr. Smith can hire, as well.”

  Anne said wistfully, “While he’s at it, I hope Dr. Smith can see his way clear to hiring an assistant for the reception desk.”

  “Are you quitting, Mom?” Janie asked in what could only be taken as alarm. The girl had never reacted well to change and having her mother quit her job at the clinic was definitely a major change.

  “Oh no, I love my job. How could I leave a bulldog in fatigues?” Anne teased. “But it would be nice to have a little extra help when it gets crazy at the clinic.” She slipped her arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “I like coming home with some energy to spare for my girl while she still wants to hang around with her old mom.”

  “You’re not old, Mom,” Janie said, speaking up quickly. And then she qualified with a mischievous grin, “Not exactly.”

  “I’ll show you who’s old,” Anne declared. Grabbing her daughter, she pulled the girl closer to her and tickled her.

  She let Janie go after a minute, knowing that the girl wanted to retain some of her new “dignity” around Danny.

  “In Janie’s defense, you did start it by referring to yourself as ‘old,’” Danny pointed out.

  That earned him a wide smile from Janie.

  “Two against one, no fair,” Anne cried. And then she suddenly remembered to look at her watch. It was getting late. “C’mon, you two, you have to get into your costumes,” she urged. “You don’t want to be late for the parade.”

  Danny gave her a look. “Try me.”

  “I bet I can get into my costume faster than you can,” Janie declared, cheerfully challenging him.
/>   With a resigned sigh, Dan took the pirate costume from Anne, who was holding it out toward him. He made no effort to hide the disdainful look on his face. “Who came up with this whole costume idea anyway?”

  “Dr. Smith,” Anne reminded him as she went to get her own costume that she’d left hanging in her room.

  “No, I mean originally,” Dan said, calling after her, “way back in time.”

  “Probably some very bored people,” Anne guessed just before she closed her bedroom door. She regarded her costume for a moment, hoping it would knock Danny’s boots off.

  * * *

  He supposed it was worth it, Dan thought as he finished putting on his costume. Wearing this would make his daughter happy, and after all that was his ultimate goal—making Janie happy and getting her to accept him into her life. He knew it was still a big leap from there to telling her that he was her father, but he needed all the goodwill he could build up.

  And if looking like an idiot, he thought, regarding his reflection in the mirror, helped contribute to that goodwill, so be it.

  Damn but he hated Halloween, Dan thought as he walked out of the bathroom. He was carrying his own clothes folded up under his arm.

  He encountered Janie first. She was standing in the living room, wearing her blue costume and flowing cape, her hands fisted on her waist. She looked like the very picture of confidence.

  Dan pretended to do a double take when he saw her. “Wow, Ellie, have you seen Janie around anywhere? I know that she’d love to get your autograph,” he told the girl, doing his best to maintain a straight face.

  Her eyes sparkled as she giggled. “Danny, it’s me, Janie.”

  Dan pretended to look around the room as if he were trying to locate the source of the voice.

  “Janie? Are you here somewhere?” he said, pretending to be mystified. “I hear your voice, but I don’t see you.”

  Janie tugged on his sleeve. “Right here, silly. It’s me. I’m Janie. This is just my costume.”

  “Wow, it looks so realistic,” he cried. “I really thought that you were Ellie.”

  “No, you didn’t,” Janie told him. But she was fairly beaming over his reaction to her costume.

  “Where’s your mom?” Dan asked. “She’s the one who was trying to get us to hustle and it looks like she’s the one who’s still getting dressed.”

  He saw Janie grinning just before he heard the voice coming from behind him.

  “No, I’m not. I’m right here. Behind you.”

  Dan turned around, expecting to see Annie wearing something mundane, like scrubs, which would have been the easiest costume for her. Or maybe some furry costume so she could look like one of the animals that were treated regularly by the vets at the clinic.

  He was not prepared for the pirate hat with its jaunty feather, the tall black high-heeled boots or the short, willowy skirt topped with a laced-up black velvet vest over a white blouse with wide, flowing sleeves.

  “Are you a pirate, too, Mom?” Janie asked.

  “Actually, I’m a pirate queen. I thought of being a superheroine,” she said matter-of-factly, “but I didn’t want to steal your thunder. This is better,” she told her daughter.

  “A lot better,” Dan commented, his eyes sweeping over her appreciatively.

  All he had seen Annie wearing up until now was her vet clinic uniform, or a pair of jeans with a baggy sweater draped over them. He’d forgotten just how sexy she had looked back when they were going together in high school.

  As a matter of fact, she looked even better now than she had back then. So much so that he was having trouble taking his eyes off her.

  “Does that make me a pirate king?” he asked her.

  “No, you’re just a regular pirate,” she told him. “That means I get to order you around.”

  He leveled a questioning look at her. “And this is different how?”

  Janie giggled again.

  Anne pointed toward the door. “C’mon, you two, let’s go. Like I said, we don’t want to be late.”

  “Yes, we do,” Danny said as he followed them out the door. In fact, he’d rather not go at all. He would much rather spend the time right here, getting reacquainted with the pirate queen.

  But there was Janie to think of, so, with a muted, resigned sigh, he closed the front door behind him and then followed Annie and their daughter to the car.

  Chapter Fifteen

  A whole myriad of emotions were vying for top position within Anne when they arrived home, none of them good. There was sadness, disappointment and a feeling of rejection. And all the emotions were centered around her daughter.

  It hadn’t started out that way.

  Janie, Danny and she had had an incredibly wonderful afternoon, joining in the costume parade that had been sponsored by the vet clinic. Afterward they returned to the clinic, where they’d handed out candy to the excited trick-or-treaters who’d come by the downtown businesses.

  Since this was Halloween, the day’s festivities were to culminate with her taking Janie out trick-or-treating to several of the neighbors’ homes the way they had done ever since her daughter was three and had first begged to take part in the sugar-laden holiday.

  At least, Anne had assumed that the day would end this way.

  But Janie apparently had different ideas.

  “Please, Mom,” Janie begged. “Why can’t I go trick-or-treating with my friends? All the other kids in my class are breaking up into groups and doing it.”

  Anne hated saying no to Janie, but she was concerned for her daughter’s safety. She was also reluctant to give up a much-loved tradition.

  “I’m sorry, Janie. But you’re just too young to go out after dark with only a few girls with you,” Anne said firmly.

  Janie was quick to tell her, “Cassie’s mother is coming with us.”

  “Cassie’s mother,” Anne repeated. She had been replaced by another girl’s mother, she thought. That really stung and though she tried not to, she took it personally.

  Dan had stayed silent, trying his best to keep out of the exchange between mother and daughter. He heard what was being said and heard, too, what wasn’t being said. He could hear that Annie was clearly hurt because Janie wanted to go trick-or-treating with another mother acting as a chaperone, not her.

  Still, he could see Janie’s point. She’d spent the afternoon with her mother and although it had been a lot of fun—she’d clearly looked as if she was having a good time—now she wanted to spend some time with her friends. It was all a part of growing up.

  Though he felt for both sides, he still would have gladly remained on the sidelines, letting this play out without his input.

  But then Janie completely surprised him by turning to him and asking him to back her up.

  “Tell her to let me go, Danny,” she pleaded. “I’ll only be gone for a couple of hours.”

  “A couple of hours?” Anne echoed.

  There weren’t that many doorbells to ring in the neighborhood. What was her daughter going to be doing with her friends that would last for a couple of hours?

  Danny decided to pick a side—kind of.

  “You know how it is,” he said to Annie. “Kids just want to enjoy themselves.”

  Anne looked at her daughter. She wanted to put her foot down and veto this, but having Janie angry and upset with her wasn’t the way she wanted to end the evening, either.

  “How many girls are going?” she finally asked her daughter.

  “Eight,” Janie said, then promptly named every one of them.

  Listening to her, Annie frowned. “I don’t know if Cassie’s mother is up to handling eight girls on her own.”

  “Oh, she’s up to it,” Janie assured her with enthusiasm. “And Cassie’s mom is strict,”
she added, using that as a winning argument. “The only way Cassie could go trick-or-treating with the rest of us was if her mother came along to make sure we behaved.”

  “I like this woman’s style already,” Anne commented, although she wished that she was the chaperone, not Cassie’s mother. Seeing how much this meant to Janie, she sighed. “Okay, you can go—as long as you promise to behave yourself. And if anything goes wrong, anything at all,” she emphasized, “I want you to call me immediately, understood?”

  Janie looked at her, all eleven-year-old innocence wrapped in fledgling eagerness. “What could go wrong, Mom?”

  “You never know,” Anne informed her. “Do I have your word?”

  Janie rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’ll call you if anything goes wrong—but it won’t,” she added insistently.

  “All right,” Anne reluctantly agreed. “I’ll drop you off at Cassie’s house.”

  “No, you don’t have to,” Janie protested. “Her mother’s coming here to pick me up. She’s picking up all the girls.”

  “See?” Danny said, doing his best to nudge her into coming around. “What could be better?”

  What could be better is if I was the one taking the girls, not this other woman.

  Anne gave him a less-than-happy look, but said nothing.

  Just then, the doorbell rang and Janie scrambled to grab the slightly worn plastic pumpkin she used every year to collect her treats.

  “That’s Cassie’s mom now!” she declared, holding onto the pumpkin and rushing toward the door.

  “You wait for me,” Anne ordered, quickly following in Janie’s wake.

  But Janie had already thrown open the front door, clearly eager to make her escape.

  “Hi,” she said brightly, greeting the woman in the doorway. “Mom said I could go!”