The Bridal Path: Danielle Read online

  “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you, Slade Watkins?” she murmured.

  He shrugged. “I’m beginning to think I just may be.”

  Judging from his tone, Dani wasn’t certain which of them was more surprised by the discovery.

  Chapter Four

  Slade’s eyes were blurring. He’d been staring at his computer screen ever since he’d dropped the boys off at Dani’s, but for the first time in memory he couldn’t seem to concentrate. He kept seeing images of Dani, her T-shirt damp and stretched taut over her breasts, her cheeks flushed with color, her hair tangled, her eyes sparkling with laughter as she leapt into the air to catch a poorly thrown pass. It had been over a week now and the fact that he couldn’t shake that image terrified him.

  He had never known a woman with so much exuberance or so little self-consciousness about what was proper. Even before her accident, Amanda would never have joined in an impromptu game of football with a bunch of rambunctious kids, much less instigated it. When she’d been home at all, she’d been more inclined to suggest a family evening in front of the TV with an old movie and a bowl of popcorn. It had allowed her to avoid any direct interaction with the husband she no longer loved.

  Feeling an odd sort of loyalty to the woman who’d betrayed him, Slade warned himself to stop making comparisons. Amanda and Dani were two very different women and that was that. It didn’t mean that Dani’s way was right and Amanda’s wrong.

  It did seem to him, though, that he’d never felt more alive or more exhilarated than he had the previous afternoon when he’d tossed practical matters aside and done something totally impulsive. Seeing how thoroughly happy the boys were to have him there had reminded him that he’d left them to their own devices far too often for their good or his.

  Not that he could quit working and play all the time, the way he felt like doing at the moment, he reminded himself. He tried to force his attention back to that blank computer screen. Nothing. Absolutely nothing came to him. The whole world of investments, which he normally found fascinating, today seemed totally uninspiring.

  Fortunately, the chiming of his doorbell provided a welcome distraction. More often than not in the past, he would have ignored it, but today any interruption, even from a salesman, would be welcome.

  Instead, though, he found Trent Wilde on his doorstep. He had a sneaking suspicion this wasn’t some sort of Riverton welcome call.

  “Good morning,” Dani’s father said heartily. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything critical.”

  Despite his instinctive wariness at finding Dani’s protective father on his doorstep, Slade was still glad of any interruption. “Hardly,” he said. “I seem to be having trouble getting started today. Come on in. What can I do for you?”

  “I thought maybe you could show me one of those fancy investing programs you made,” Trent claimed. “Now that I’ve got all this time on my hands, I thought maybe I’d start managing my own portfolio.”

  He sounded sincere enough, but Slade’s suspicions mounted. He couldn’t imagine the rancher suddenly changing the way he’d handled investments all these years. More than likely, the powerful rancher was snooping for information about the new stranger in town, the stranger he’d discovered at his daughter’s house a few days earlier. Being Seth and Wilma’s grandson hadn’t lifted him above suspicion there. He was going to have to earn the town’s respect on his own.

  Slade supposed he couldn’t blame Trent for being a bit protective of a woman like Dani. Men were probably constantly trying to take advantage of her good nature and her family ties to a man who dominated so much of Wyoming’s power broking.

  “I’d be happy to show it to you,” Slade told him, then gave him a general summary of the same reminder that appeared on the program’s box. “But let me warn you, it’s risky to take things out of the hands of a professional unless you have real experience with the stock market.”

  “A man’s never too old to learn something new,” Trent retorted. “Besides, it’s my money to throw away, if I’m of a mind to.”

  Slade doubted the man before him had amassed so much land and wealth in Wyoming by throwing his money away, but he kept his impression to himself and led the way into his office. Trent’s eyes widened at the state-of-the-art computer setup.

  “This thing makes my little doodad look like a toy,” he observed, running his hand over the minitower. He absentmindedly tossed his Stetson in the general direction of the sofa, then eagerly took Slade’s seat in front of the screen.

  “What’s that for?” he asked, pointing to one slot in the front of the tower.

  “A CD-ROM.”

  “You mean to play music?”

  “It’ll do that. Or you can get a whole interactive encyclopedia on CD-ROM, slide it in and look up whatever you want.”

  “Show me,” Trent said, turning to face the screen.

  Amused by his obvious fascination, Slade put the computer through its fancier paces. He rarely got to show off anymore, unless it was to the company that produced his programs, and they weren’t nearly as awed by his skills as Trent Wilde obviously was.

  “Well, I’ll be. This thing’s downright remarkable.”

  Delighted to have an enthusiastic audience, Slade broadened the demonstration to include some of his own latest programs. Trent’s fascination never wavered. Slade’s guard eventually dropped. That was why it was such a surprise when Trent glanced over at him and asked out of the blue, “You shown this to Dani yet?”

  Warning bells sounded an alarm. “No, why?” he asked cautiously, wondering if he knew about Dani’s visit for dinner a couple of nights earlier.

  “It always seemed to me she ought to take up something practical as a career. She could learn a lot about computers from you–that is, if you wouldn’t mind teaching her,” he said with a sly look.

  Slade recognized a master manipulator when he saw one. “I’ve already offered,” he admitted, then added pointedly, “Of course, your daughter seems to have a mind of her own. She strikes me as a woman who’s pretty content with her life just the way it is now.”

  “Baking bread and pies and canning summer vegetables is a crazy kind of a career, if you ask me,” Trent scoffed. “She ought to be doing that for some man. If she wants a job, she ought to choose something substantial, something with a real future, like this. Computer skills would be a big help to her sister and Jake out at the ranch. I imagine Ashley would be able to use a little help in that area as soon as she has that new business of hers up and running. She tells me the reservations for her seminars are pouring in.”

  Slade got the distinct impression it was an old argument between Trent Wilde and Dani over the direction of her life. He could just imagine the fireworks when the two strong-willed people locked horns. He wasn’t about to get caught in the crossfire. Dani Wilde’s decisions were none of his concern.

  “Like I said, I offered to teach her the basics so she could play computer games with the boys, but beyond that it’s not up to me to press her,” he told her father.

  Trent seemed ready to argue, but then his expression turned resigned. He sighed heavily at having his latest strategy thwarted. His disappointment was so obvious, Slade had to hide a smile.

  “Now, if you wanted to learn a little more, I could try to find some time for a few lessons for you,” he offered.

  It was clear, though, that Trent had already covered the real purpose of his visit. He stood up. “I’ll let you know,” he said as he grabbed his hat and strode from the room. At the front door he pinned Slade with a direct look. “A man can get lonely in a small town like this.”

  “I haven’t so far,” Slade responded.

  “Well, if you do, be careful where you go looking for a distraction, if you catch my drift.”

  If Slade hadn’t already made the very same observation to himself about Dani, he might have resented her father’s suggestion. He doubted, though, that Dani would have reacted as charitably to the blatant interf
erence. For her sake, he forced a scowl.

  “Your daughter is a grown woman. Don’t you think she’s capable of deciding what she does with her time or who she spends it with?” he asked bluntly.

  Trent had the good grace to flush at the direct hit. That didn’t stop him from adding, “None of my girls will ever get too old for me to stop looking out for their best interests.” His stiff demeanor gave way to a rueful grin. “Not that they appreciate that much.”

  “I can imagine,” Slade said.

  “At least you and I understand each other, don’t we?”

  “We do, indeed.”

  Evidently satisfied that he had made his point, Trent strolled on out to his four-wheel-drive vehicle and climbed in. He drove off with a wave of his Stetson–and promptly turned not toward home but straight in the direction of his daughter’s. Slade watched him go and tried to imagine how that confrontation was likely to go. He’d put his money on Dani any day.

  * * *

  Thoroughly frazzled and furious with her father, Dani was at her wit’s end by the time Slade walked through the door that evening to pick up the boys. She hadn’t even had time to run a comb through her hair–not that it would have made much difference given the way the humidity had put an extra bit of flyaway curl into it.

  “Rough day?” Slade inquired, settling into what was becoming his usual place at the kitchen table. He looked as comfortable and at home as if he’d been dropping by for years, rather than just over a week.

  “You can’t imagine the half of it,” she said with feeling.

  “Oh? Did the boys do something more outrageous than usual?”

  The question might have been perfectly innocent, but she doubted it. The glint in his eyes suggested he knew more than he was letting on, but she couldn’t for the life of her imagine how. She was not about to fill him in on her father’s annoying visit. It was just the latest in a long string of exasperating encounters, anyway. She ought to be used to his suggestions about her love life by now.

  She forced herself to return Slade’s curious look. “No,” she reassured him. “Your sons were little angels, actually. They cleaned out the garage for me, top to bottom. I told them they could have a yard sale on Saturday and keep a percentage of whatever they made.”

  Slade grinned. “Ah, yes, the profit motive. They’re starting early. Most kids begin with lemonade stands, though.”

  “The Bleecker boys will be selling lemonade,” Dani told him. “And the Hinson twins are selling cupcakes.”

  “Sounds like quite an event. Who’s making the lemonade and baking the cupcakes?”

  “They are,” she assured him. At his skeptical look, she admitted, “Okay, we’re working on it tomorrow.”

  “Need any help? I’m not so hot with cupcakes, but I can probably manage to squeeze a few lemons.”

  Dani stared at him in surprise. “You’ll help?”

  “Why not? It sounds like fun.”

  He almost sounded as if he meant it, but the grimace on his face gave him away. She got the feeling he’d prefer sucking on a lemon to squeezing dozens of them.

  “Never mind,” she told him. “I can handle it. It’ll be a picnic compared to some other things I can think of.”

  “Such as a visit from your father?” he asked, that glint of amusement back in his eyes.

  Just as she’d thought, he did know. Her gaze narrowed. “How did you know about that?”

  “You were his second destination this morning.”

  She groaned. “Don’t tell me.”

  “I can see I don’t need to. As you’ve already gathered, he dropped by my place first thing this morning, ostensibly to get a few computer tips. I got the distinct impression he was headed over here next. About eleven-fifteen, I’d say.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Was he pumping you for information or did he come bearing advice?”

  She shrugged. “He usually does both.”

  “I don’t suppose he mentioned anything about you learning computers so you could change careers.”

  Since Slade obviously already knew the gist of at least one aspect of her latest battle with her father, she sighed and sank into the chair opposite him. “Why can’t he see that I am doing exactly what I want to be doing?”

  “Because in his mind, real jobs are serious business. You strike him as having too much fun at yours.”

  “Do you suppose that’s it? I hope so.” Unfortunately that had been only a small part of her father’s real mission. She regarded Slade worriedly. “He didn’t get into anything else with you, did he?”

  “Such as?”

  The devilish gleam in his eyes was answer enough. She groaned. “He did, didn’t he? He warned you to steer clear of me. Did he say anything about the two of us making a spectacle of ourselves in the park yesterday?”

  Slade’s outraged expression was answer enough, but he said, “We were playing touch football, for heaven’s sakes.”

  “I know. The way he talked about it, you’d have thought we were mud-wrestling.”

  “Naked?” Slade inquired dryly.

  “Exactly,” she said. “What’s wrong with him?”

  “My hunch is he was indulging in a little reverse psychology, hoping to throw us straight into each other’s arms.”

  “Oh, God,” she whispered with a moan. She might be scheming the very same thing herself, but having her father in on the act was humiliating. He didn’t know the meaning of subtlety.

  “I thought it was kind of sweet,” Slade offered by way of consolation.

  She frowned at him. “Sweet, my hind end. He was meddling. It’s his favorite pastime, now that he’s retired. I told you that. I had hoped this little romance he’s been carrying on lately with Matilda Fawcett would distract him.”

  “Who’s Matilda Fawcett?”

  Delighted to focus on somebody else’s love life, Dani elaborated on her father’s current flirtation. “Matilda Fawcett is the retired algebra teacher from Riverton High. Much to our amazement, my sisters and I have recently discovered that she and Daddy very nearly had a fling thirty-some years ago, even though she was his teacher at the time. All indications are that they are about to take up where they left off.”

  She sighed heavily. “I was so hoping he would. Or if not Matilda Fawcett, then maybe Annie, our housekeeper. Not that she’d have him. She knows him too well.”

  “In other words, you were hoping he’d be so busy he’d back off and leave you alone?”

  “Precisely. You have no idea what it’s like to have a father who’s a control freak.”

  Slade’s expression darkened. “I think I do,” he said.

  Something in his voice and the suddenly harsh lines of his face suggested that Dani had inadvertently wandered onto dangerous turf. “You, too?” she asked cautiously.

  “Let’s just say my father makes yours seem like a disinterested third party.”

  Dani’s eyes widened. “Oh, my. I didn’t know it was possible to be any worse than Daddy.”

  “That’s because you haven’t met Duke Watkins.”

  Still treading carefully because the subject obviously made him uncomfortable, she said, “You two don’t get along?”

  “Like oil and water.” He shrugged. “Actually, it’s not so bad anymore.”

  “Maturity set in?”

  “No. I just haven’t been anywhere near Texas for the past fifteen years.”

  Dani couldn’t hide her shock. As aggravating as her father could be, she couldn’t imagine him not being smack in the middle of her life. When he’d run off to Arizona a year or so before to kick up his heels, as he put it, she’d missed his drop-in visits and even his meddling more than she could say. One of the things she loved most about Riverton was that her family was all practically within shouting distance. Maybe they did make nuisances of themselves from time to time. It was a small price to pay for that sense of connection.

  “You haven’t seen your family in all that time?” she as
ked, thoroughly dismayed by the idea, even though Slade was clearly content with the arrangement.

  “My mother came to visit once when Timmy was born, but after that she concluded the visits weren’t worth the grief she took from my father.”

  Slade apparently caught her distraught expression, because he forced a smile. “Hey, don’t look so sad. It’s for the best. There’s no point in spending time with folks if all you’re going to do is butt heads and shout.”

  “But the boys don’t even know their grandparents,” she said impulsively. “That’s the kind of relationship that gives kids a sense of continuity, of their place in the universe.”

  “I can’t argue with that,” Slade agreed. “But the situation my kids face is more the norm than not these days, what with the way people move around and divorce.”

  “I still think it’s a shame, especially when it could so easily be changed,” she said.

  Before she could say more, Slade regarded her wryly and asked, “Now who’s meddling?”

  Dani was about to protest when she realized he was exactly right. She was meddling in something that was none of her business. It was just that she was already coming to think of Timmy and Kevin as an important part of her life. She had their best interests at heart. How awful that they had grandparents they’d never even met and undoubtedly knew very little about, judging from Slade’s reticence on the subject.

  It was awful for Slade, as well. Cutting ties with his family had to hurt more than he cared to admit. She resolved to see what she could do about getting him to mend fences. But not today. His forbidding expression warned her she would get nowhere.

  She held up her hands. “I surrender.”

  An odd light flared in his eyes at her choice of words, then faded so quickly she was certain she must have imagined it. He looked as if he were preparing to bolt, so she quickly improvised an invitation that would assure them of spending some time together soon.

  “I was thinking of taking the boys out to the ranch day after tomorrow, if that’s okay with you.”

  “I suppose,” he said after a very long hesitation.