The Ranch She Left Behind (13 page)

He was powerful and radiated energy even when he was at his mildest. Now, worried for his daughter and furious with her simultaneously, he was almost overpowering.

“You sure you don’t want me to do this?” Max’s dark gaze met Penny’s as she plucked an ice cube from his freezer, having promised to numb Ellen’s ear before she touched the needle.

“Dad, no!” Ellen’s voice thrummed. She was perched on the countertop, her hands squeezing the edge until her knuckles turned white. “I want Penny to do it!”

Max backed away, and Penny shot him an apologetic glance. Ellen must have felt a woman would be more understanding. Judging from the frown on Max’s face, she might have been correct.

One of the silver cooking pots was still sitting on a burner, with an inch of water cooling in it—evidence that the kids told the truth when they said they’d tried to sterilize the needle by boiling it. A small jar of alcohol and a bloodstained cotton ball on the counter told the rest of the tale.

From the corner of her eyes, Penny noted that Alec wasn’t watching the procedure, little chicken. He leaned against the doorjamb and picked at the brand-new wallpaper. Penny touched his shin once with the side of her shoe, to tell him to stop it, and he did. But he still slouched sideways, staring at the wallpaper stripes as if they were the only interesting things in the room.

Penny took her time, making sure Ellen’s ear was so cold the little girl couldn’t feel a thing. The girl was so terrified Penny wondered how on earth Alec had ever talked her into this in the first place.

“You know, I’m still trying to decide which flowers to plant behind the deck,” she said lightly, plucking a topic out of the blue, hoping to distract Ellen while they waited for the ice to take effect. “I want bird feeders, of course. And I’d love to attract butterflies, so I’m thinking pentas and maybe lantana.”

No reaction. Ellen wasn’t a budding gardener, then. Okay. Something more interesting…

“And I have a gazing ball collection, so I need to arrange that, too. I’ve been making gazing balls for years. I brought them all with me from San Francisco.”

Ellen looked up, finally curious. “What’s a gazing ball?”

“They’re glass balls people put in their gardens, all sizes and colors. They reflect the light and flowers and things around them. They’re really pretty. I make mine out of bowling balls.”

As she’d hoped, that got Ellen’s attention for real. “
Bowling
balls?”

Penny took that moment to do the deed, sliding the needle free as deftly and quickly as she could.

“Yep,” she responded, dabbing a piece of cotton to catch the drop or two of blood that followed. Alec was right—Ellen did bleed easily. “They’re superheavy, which is good because they won’t blow around in a storm. I put little pieces of colored glass all over them, making pretty mosaics. I’ll show you sometime.”

She held the needle up in front of Ellen’s face. “Here you go.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “You got it out already?”

Penny nodded, smiling. She hoped Ellen might smile back.

But then, as if her courage had finally stretched too thin and popped abruptly, like a balloon, the girl started to cry. She fell forward onto Penny’s shoulder, hugging hard and making gulping, sobbing sounds. Penny’s eyes met Max’s over Ellen’s weeping head.

He looked as if the sight of her tears pained him—but awkward, as if he weren’t sure any effort he made to console her would be welcome. Within seconds, Penny’s shirt was soggy, and Penny had no choice but to hug her back.

“Oh, brother,” Alec said, but Penny bumped his shin again to shut him up.

The doorbell rang, and they all knew it was Rowena. Alec groaned, but he made no move toward the door, since it wasn’t his house. Max touched Ellen’s back once, softly, and then went into the living room.

Still holding Ellen, Penny listened as Max greeted Rowena. For several minutes after that, Ro’s voice was the only one she heard. Her sister was clearly apologizing all over the place, something she was probably getting pretty good at, considering how often Alec was in trouble.

Suddenly Rowena’s voice grew louder, and very stern. “Alec!”

Alec blanched. He glanced at Penny, as if she might be willing to hide him.

“Go on,” Penny said quietly. “It’ll be all right. Nobody actually died.”

“Aw,
man.
”

One good thing about the crazy kid—he did know how to take his medicine with grace. He inhaled deeply, squared his skinny shoulders, gave Penny a look as grave as a soldier, then marched out to face Rowena.

“Is he going to be in big trouble?” Ellen spoke the question into Penny’s shirt.

“Not really,” Penny said honestly. “My sister tries to be strict with him, and sometimes she makes a lot of noise, but he pretty much has her wrapped around his finger. Her and everybody else. He’s pretty persuasive, as you probably noticed.”

She had hoped that might make Ellen laugh, but apparently she was striking out today. Ellen just sniffed.

“Hey, there.” Penny touched Ellen’s hair. “Want to meet my sister? I think you two might like each other.”

Ellen lifted her head, but shook it. “I can’t. She’ll know I’ve been crying.” Her brows knit together. “She’ll think I’m a baby.”

“Well, let’s see.” Penny smoothed Ellen’s hair, then brushed away the remaining dampness from her cheeks. When she had adjusted her collar and checked the ear one more time for blood, she smiled.

“Nope.” She pronounced the verdict with conviction. “No one could guess a thing. You look fine.”

She stood back so Ellen could hop down from the counter, and tossed the cotton balls into the under-counter trash can.

“Besides,” Penny added casually, as if it had just occurred to her. “It probably would look more grown-up to come out and be polite. It would show Alec you’re doing fine. And it would prove you’re not afraid. Which, of course, you aren’t.”

Ellen frowned. “Of course I’m not,” she said, pulling down on her shirt, which was a little snug over her blue jeans. “It was just weird to have a needle hanging out of my ear, that’s all.”

Penny hid a smile. This was almost too easy. Growing up with Rowena had been like a master class in handling people like Ellen. Once Penny had couched it in terms of pride, Ellen had no choice. She had to stand up and put on her game face. She was desperate to erase the impression of those tears.

She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, in an unconscious imitation of Alec’s earlier moves.
That wasn’t really me, hugging you in front of everybody,
the posture said.
That wasn’t really me, crying like a baby.

Penny’s heart tugged toward the brave little girl. It wasn’t easy being so proud. She’d seen it so clearly with Rowena. If you didn’t allow yourself to ask for the love you needed, you often didn’t get it.

She had the strangest sense of protective frustration, wishing she could teach Ellen a better way to handle her emotions. She didn’t want her to have to wait until she was a grown woman, as Rowena had, to mellow and let people in.

And Ellen was lucky—she didn’t really
need
to wait. Unlike Rowena, she had a loving, patient father, just standing by, hoping to get a chance to shower affection on her.

But Ellen wouldn’t listen, even if Penny had felt she had the right to tell her any of that. She didn’t know Penny well enough yet. She didn’t trust her. In fact, trusting people seemed to be one of Ellen’s most basic issues.

Well, Penny understood that, too. It was something she struggled with, herself. Only in Penny’s case, the person she’d never learned to trust was herself.

So she just held out her hand, as if it would be perfectly normal for Ellen to take it. After a brief hesitation, the girl did. Then, together, they moved through the swinging door and entered the living room.

Rowena stood near the front door, grasping Alec by both shoulders, fixing him directly in front of her. She was clearly not going to let go until he’d made an apology that suited her.

He seemed to be winding down from a long speech. “And so that’s it, Mr. Thorpe. I really mean it. I’m really, really sorry.”

Alec twisted his head up at Rowena, as if checking to see if he’d satisfied all requirements. Her face seemed expressionless, but its very blankness must have told him something, because he sighed and turned around again to face Max.

“And…let’s see…oh, yeah, I’m
also
sorry that I came into your house without your permission, because I know that probably feels creepy to you, doesn’t it?”

Max’s mouth twitched. Penny had to force herself to stop looking at it, because the motion of repressed laughter was so attractive.

So oddly sexy, given the situation.

“I honestly didn’t think of coming off like a creeper,” Alec explained. “I was just thinking it would be fun, and that Ellen would be happy to have pierced ears so that she could wear her earrings. And…oh, and I’m also sorry I fainted on your carpet, and I guess I could pay to get it cleaned or something, but to tell you the truth I don’t even remember any of that, so if I slobbered or puked on it or anything—”

“That’ll do.” Rowena made a choking sound. “I think Mr. Thorpe gets the idea.”

Rowena suddenly seemed to notice Penny and Ellen. She wiggled Alec’s shoulders. “There’s Ellen,” she said meaningfully.

He screwed up his mouth, but he obviously knew the drill. He walked over to Ellen, and he gave her a serious look. She stared back, equally solemn, still holding Penny’s hand. She didn’t relent an inch. Though her fingers tightened around Penny’s, her gaze at Alec was poker-straight.

“I’m sorry I got you in trouble,” he said in his best manly voice. “I’m sorry I sucked at ear piercing. I thought it was a lot easier than that. And I had no idea I’d be so dumb about blood.”

He grinned up at Penny—it wasn’t in Alec to be somber for long. “I used to think maybe I’d be a doctor, but now I know that won’t work. So that’s actually a good thing, right?”

“That’s a
very
good thing,” Ellen answered, though the question hadn’t been directed at her. When Alec glanced her way, she smiled—just a fraction of an inch, but he obviously knew he’d eventually be forgiven.

“Want to come meet my second mom?” He gestured toward Rowena. “I call her Rowena, but she’s really my second mom. My first mom moved to Paris and had these two twin babies that are like, wow,
disgusting.
You wouldn’t believe how awful. So Dad married Rowena, and everyone thought I would be mad, but I wasn’t, because she’s actually pretty awesome.”

Ellen glanced over at Rowena, covering her shyness with a frown. She squeezed Penny’s hand, as if trying to send her an SOS.

Penny watched Ro figure Ellen out in a heartbeat. At that age, Ro, too, would have hated the idea of a formal introduction to a stranger, especially a stranger who might be very mad at her.

So Ro just smiled and gave Ellen a friendly “that’s okay” wave.

“Ellen probably doesn’t want to have much to do with anyone connected to you, Alec,” Rowena said. “Anyhow, right now I have to take you to get your head examined. Literally. Maybe later, if she decides to forgive you, Ellen can come over to the ranch for lunch or something. You can show her Trouble.”

“Trouble’s my dog,” Alec put in, as if afraid Max and Ellen would misunderstand. “It’s just a silly name. She never bites or anything.”

“Anyhow, we’ll get out of your way,” Rowena said, glancing toward Max. “Remember, though—this probably really was all Alec’s doing. The boy could talk a rabbit into a steel-jawed trap.”

“So I’m gathering,” Max said blandly. He walked over and held out his hand to Alec. “Thank you for the apology. Your mom brought you up right.” He smiled at Rowena. “Both of them.”

Rowena smiled back at him. Then she cast a quick, sparkling glance at Penny, as if to say
wow.

“Ro, I’ll head out with you,” Penny said quickly, before her sister could start saying embarrassing things. Rowena’s matchmaking wasn’t terribly subtle, she’d discovered at lunch the other day.

Besides, Max and Ellen would need privacy now, to sort things out. “I’ll walk you to the car, and then I’ve got a ton of unpacking left to do.”

She felt a small twitch from Ellen, as if her instinct was to beg Penny to stay. But when she looked down, Ellen’s face had gone stoic, any weakness covered with a layer of bravado. She let go of Penny’s hand.

Penny’s heart tightened again, recognizing the acceptance that she was all alone in this. So heartbreaking—and so unnecessary. If only the little girl could see how staunch an ally her dad would be, if only she’d let him…

“Maybe I’ll see you in the next few days?” Penny smiled. “Maybe you could help me decide where to put the gazing balls?”

“Maybe.” Ellen swallowed hard. “If I’m not grounded.”

Penny glanced at Max—and beneath the impassive mask she saw the truth. He was so darn relieved both kids were unharmed. Any punishment he doled out would be purely a token.

Which, unfortunately, just made her want to kiss him all over again. She flushed, then glanced at Ro, wondering if her sister had noticed.

The twinkle in Rowena’s green eyes was answer enough.

She’d noticed, all right. In fact, the tips of her cheeks looked a little pink, too, as if she might be willing to kiss him herself.

“You won’t ground her, will you, Mr. Thorpe?” Alec sounded worried. “It’s like Rowena said. It was my fault, even if she is a bleeder—”

Laughing, Rowena clapped one hand over her stepson’s mouth.

“Come on, Pea,” she said. With her free hand, she grabbed Penny’s fingers and tugged her toward the door. “I think Alec better quit while he’s ahead.”

* * *

E
LLEN
DIDN’T
FALL
asleep until nearly midnight. Max wondered whether that might be too late to knock on Penny’s door, but her lights were still blazing, so he took a chance.

He went to the back, leaving his kitchen door ajar so he could hear Ellen if she woke up. She slept hard, and ordinarily nothing disturbed her, not even his bad dreams, during which he sometimes cried out so loudly he woke himself. But he didn’t want to take any chances.