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
