Читать книгу Suddenly, Annie's Father - Sherryl Woods, Sherryl Woods - Страница 6

Sunday morning dawned with a sudden storm that rivaled the turmoil churning in Slade’s gut. Lightning and thunder split the air. From inside the house, he could see the creek rising rapidly, though it was not yet in danger of overflowing its banks as it had on a few terrifying occasions in past summers. Just a few years ago, he’d been told, it had flooded out this house, destroying most of the previous tenants’ belongings and washing away a lifetime of memories. In the tenacious manner of the Adamses and everyone around them, they had cleaned it up without complaint and started over.

He shuddered at another crack of thunder, though his unease had more to do with the next few hours than with the storm. Annie would be here all too soon. He had no idea how she felt about him these days. On his few visits to Wilder’s Glen, she had been withdrawn, clearly blaming him for the changes in her life.

As for him, he was nowhere near ready to deal with the changes her arrival would bring to his life. Oh, he’d made a few preparations. He’d moved his things over to their house. He’d gone into town and picked up enough frozen dinners to last for a month. The freezer was so crowded with them, there wasn’t even room for ice cubes.

He’d even gone into a toy store and impulsively bought a huge stuffed bear to sit in the middle of Annie’s bed. When she was little, he’d bought her a stuffed toy or a doll every time he’d come home. She’s always loved them then. Her eyes had lit up with unabashed joy and she’d crawled into his lap, hugging the latest toy tightly in her arms. Her smile had wiped away the guilt he’d always felt at leaving her behind. Maybe it would work one more time.

He trudged over to the barn through the pouring rain, finished up his chores, regretting the fact that they didn’t take longer. When he was through, he went back to the house to shower and wait. That gave him way too much time to think, to remember the way his life had been not so long ago.

He’d been a celebrity of sorts, a champion, whose whole identity had been wrapped up in winning rodeos. He’d had plenty of money in the bank. He’d had a beautiful, headstrong wife who could turn him on with a glance, and a daughter who awed and amazed him. Life was exciting, a never-ending round of facing the unexpected. There’d been media attention and applause and physical challenges.

What did he have now? A decent-paying job working at one of the best ranches in Texas. It was steady employment, no surprises. That’s what he’d told himself he wanted after Suzanne had walked out. Routine and boredom had seemed attractive after the turbulence of their last few weeks together. No emotional entanglements, not even with his own kid. He sighed heavily as he considered the selfishness of that.

He’d pay for it now, no doubt about it. Annie was no longer the joyous, carefree sprite she’d been a year ago. Suzanne was to blame for some of that, but he had to shoulder the rest. It was up to him to make up for the fact that Annie’s mother had walked out on both of them. If he’d been neglectful in the months since, Suzanne had been cruel. He knew for a fact she hadn’t written or called in all that time.

Rainwater dripped from the roof as he watched and waited. The summer storm finally ended almost as quickly as it had begun, leaving the air steamy and the dirt driveway a sea of mud. Dirt splattered every which way when his father’s car finally came barreling in just after one o’clock. Slade grinned at the sight. His father was driving the way he always did, as if he were ten minutes late for a military dress parade. The marine in him had never fully died.

Slade stepped off the porch and went to greet them, wrapping his mother in a bear hug that had her laughing. Only when he’d released her did he notice the exhaustion in her eyes, the tired lines around her mouth. Surely she hadn’t looked that old the last time he’d seen her. Knowing the toll Annie had taken on her was just one more thing for him to feel guilty about.

He studied his father intently as he shook his hand. He didn’t see any noticeable changes in Harold Sutton’s appearance. His close-cropped hair had been gray for years, so Slade couldn’t blame that on Annie. His grip was as strong as ever, his manner as brusque and hearty. He didn’t look like the kind of man who’d let a child get the better of him. Slade had to wonder if that hadn’t just been an excuse to force him to take Annie back into his life.

“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.