“The—best!” His daughter’s expression came alive. “I—helped. I got—to—ride.”
“You’re becoming quite the rider.”
Mindy straightened her shoulders, her chin tilting at a proud angle. “Yep.”
Tory pushed the screen door open with her foot. Slade rose and quickly took the pitcher of lemonade from her. After the drinks were served, she sat in the chair next to Slade’s, across from Mindy.
“We—wait-ed,” Mindy said, carefully putting her glass on the table next to the swing.
Tory bowed her head with Mindy following suit. Slade stared at them for a few seconds, then lowered his. The words of the simple prayer weaved their way through his mind. Had he given up on God too soon? Had he been wrong to stop going to church, to keep Mindy at home? Tory seemed to draw comfort from the Lord. But then she hadn’t been responsible for her child struggling each day—
“Dad-dy!”
Mindy’s voice penetrated his thoughts. He looked up to find both of them were staring at him as though he were an alien from outer space. His daughter had a piece of pizza in her hand, one bite taken from its end. Tory had nothing. Then he realized he still held the other two boxes in his lap. He quickly passed Tory’s to her and opened his own.
“I’ll share if you’re that hungry,” Tory said in a teasing tone.
“Even though I forgot to eat lunch, that one is all yours. The least I can do is provide dinner for you after you watched Mindy for me.”
“Looks like I got the better end of the deal. You shouldn’t work so hard that you forget to eat.”
“Had a flight to catch and a gal to get back to. A mighty pretty gal if I do say so myself.” His gaze strayed to his daughter.
Mindy giggled, her mouth stuffed with food. She started to say, “Da—”
“Nope. No words from the peanut gallery, especially when a certain pretty gal’s mouth is still full of pizza.”
Giggling some more, Mindy covered her mouth.
Tory watched the exchange between father and daughter, the love deep in their eyes. Mindy washed her food down with a big gulp of lemonade.
Slade leaned over and handed his daughter a napkin, pointing to her chin. “You have a red beard.”
Father and daughter’s shared laughter pricked Tory with longing. She wanted that with a child. She wanted a family. And time was running out for her. She didn’t see any way she was going to accomplish that goal. Too many obstacles.
“Was your business trip successful?” Tory settled back in her chair, her stomach knotted.
Picking up his pizza laden with everything but the kitchen sink, Slade said, “Things are proceeding according to my plans. Hopefully I won’t have to travel as much in the future.”
Mindy clapped. “Goo-dy!”
“I figured you would like that,” Slade said, taking a bite of his food.
The little girl popped the last piece of her third slice into her mouth, then took a large swallow of lemonade. Pushing herself to her feet, she said, “Save—for—later?”
“Sure, but I thought you were hungry?” Slade’s brow knitted in question.
“My—show—is on.” She started for the door.
“Show? What show?” Slade asked as his daughter banged the screen door closed behind her.
Tory shrugged. “Beats me. She doesn’t watch much TV when she’s here.”
“She’s always been a fast eater, but she beat her record this time.”
“I think she wanted to leave us alone so I could talk to you.”
The frown lines deepened as he shifted his blue gaze to her. “This doesn’t sound good. What happened?”
Her stomach muscles constricted even more, tension taking a firm grip on her. “Mindy doesn’t like Mrs. Davies.”
“Why?”
“She overheard the woman calling her a crippled retard to someone on the phone. She doesn’t think Mrs. Davies likes her.”
Anger slashed across his face. He flexed his hands then balled them. “A crippled retard?”
Her own indignation stiffened her spine. She remembered the hurt in Mindy’s voice and expression when she had told her earlier and wanted to demand Slade do something about it.
He tossed the pizza box he held onto the swing and surged to his feet. Every line in his body spoke of his rage. “She came highly recommended. Her references were excellent. How can—?” He paused, opening and closing his hands again, took a deep breath and continued. “How can anyone say that?”
“I don’t know,” Tory said, having a hard time herself understanding why Mrs. Davies would say that about Mindy, even if the woman didn’t know the child was listening.
Slade scrubbed his hands down his face, then plopped down onto the swing, facing Tory. “What do I do now? I can’t have someone like her taking care of Mindy, but I need someone to watch my daughter. Mrs. Davies was the best applicant from the batch I had. I—” He snapped his mouth closed and stared at a place behind Tory. When he reestablished eye contact with her, a bleak look was in his expression.
Tory resisted the urge to toss the pizza box to the floor and slip into the place next to him on the swing, taking his hands within hers. It was tempting, but she sat frozen in her chair, watching a play of emotions flit across his features.
A hopeful gleam appeared in his blue eyes. “Unless you’d like to take the job.”
For a moment Tory forgot about her ranch and the horses, her dream, and thought about accepting the offer, turning her back on the past four years. She loved Mindy and didn’t want someone else looking after her. But she couldn’t walk away from her dream and the people who depended on her, Mindy being one of them. “I’ve grown to love your daughter. I’d be glad to have Mindy come out here, but that’s a short-term solution. We could do that until you find someone else.”
“But you’re perfect for Mindy. She’s always talking about you. She’s so comfortable at your place. Isn’t there a way we could work this out?”
“It doesn’t
