The Secret Truth at Dare Ranch (7 page)

     "Great!" Dani nodded her head. "Okay,
I'll see you Friday.” She paused for a moment. "I love you, Daddy,"
she said and hung up the phone.

     Dani climbed down from her perch on the stool
by the phone and ran over to Lexie. She smiled up at her. "Daddy's going
to the party with me on Friday," she squealed as she jumped up and down.

     "I heard. That's great. Run up and brush
your teeth. The movie starts in a half-hour. We don't want to be late."

     "Okay, Mom," Dani chimed and skipped
out of the kitchen.

     Lexie leaned against the counter with her heart
sinking to her toes. She shut her eyes, tight and prayed.
Oh, please God
don't let Mitch walk out on my little girl.

# # #

     Mitch climbed out of his car and strolled
toward the barn. His father was right. Time to wave the white flag and
sacrifice a little bit of his pride. He hoped to hell Lexie didn't knock it out
of his hand and throw it back in his face. He'd decided to wait a couple of
days for his anger to cool and to give himself a chance to mull over what he
planned to say.

     A blue sky spread overhead and a frigid breeze
blew around him despite the abundant sunshine. He stepped up to the doorway of
the barn and saw Lexie standing in the middle of the alley way. No doubt she'd
seen his car. Her shoulders were stiff, her chin lifted. Like an avenging angel.

     "What are you doing here?" she asked
in a sharp tone.

     Great. Her temper hadn't cooled one bit. His
first hurtle would be just getting her to listen. "I want to talk to
you."

     "We did enough talking last night,"
she countered in a voice edged with steel. "I'm done. Go away.”

     She spun and headed for the tack room. Frustration
and anger at her stubborn attitude tangled inside his chest but he tamped the
emotions down. He strolled to her side and pulled the bouquet of flowers he
held from behind his back. Not just any old flowers--roses, white and dewy--her
favorite or at least they used to be. The tight buds nestled amid emerald green
fern and baby's breath. When her gaze fixed on the flowers, she stopped in her
tracks.
Come on Lex, take the flowers.

    
Her gaze flicked from the roses up to his eyes. "What's
this? A peace offering?"

     "I was going to wave a white flag but I
thought I might have more luck with these," Mitch said around a grin.

     She crossed her arms over her chest and faced
him. "Are you saying you're giving up on taking the ranch?"

     "No, I want to make peace--strike a truce
between the two of us."

     She ignored the flowers he still held out to
her. "Why?"

     "For Dani. I want the chance to get to
know my daughter and I can't do that as long as we're at each other's
throats."

     Her lips thinned. "Oh, I see," she
said in a voice ripe with sarcasm. "You're just going to step in and play
dad and I have to accept it. Is that it?"
     His temper burned anew that she thought he wasn't serious about being a
father to Dani, but he held it in check. If he let her get to him, his anger
would explode and they would end up arguing all over again. He dropped his arm
to his side. "Look, I'm asking you to give me a break. That's all. I just
want to spend time with Dani.” Groveling was a new experience for him and he
didn't like it one bit. His pride washed over his determination to remain humble.
"And I will. One way or the other."

     Lexie raised her brows and her body stiffened
at his words. "What do you mean?"

     "It means I'd like to make an agreement
with you without involving an attorney."

     Her face paled a bit at his words. "You
would do that?”

     "If I have to.” He hoped she didn't say no
and force him to see a lawyer because then Dani would be caught in the middle.

     She studied him for a moment with serious eyes.
A corner of her mouth lifted as her lips thinned. "Yes, you would,"
she said in a derisive voice. "But it just so happens I would never try to
keep Dani from seeing you. You're all she talks about."

     Thank God she wasn't going to hammer him silly
with her objections. He thrust out the flowers again and gave the bouquet a
little shake.

     He watched her struggle not to grin. Her
shoulders relaxed. She shifted her weight to her right foot, took the flowers
and sniffed them. "You didn't get these in downtown Chimney Rock,"
she stated.

     "No, I ordered them special.” He'd driven
sixty miles to pick them up earlier that morning. "So does this mean we
have a truce?"

     Lexie shrugged. "That depends on how much
time you want to spend with Dani."

     She wasn't going to make it easy for him. "I
thought I'd let you decide that since you know Dani's schedule better than
me."

     A blend of surprise and satisfaction whisked
over her face. If he had a feather, he could have knocked her over. Lexie
picked up the jacket she'd shed and slung it over one shoulder. Her hair hung
in a messy braid down her back. There were smudges of dirt on her cheeks and
worry in her eyes.

     He had her right where he wanted her. Mitch shifted
closer to her and she backed up a step. He bit back a grin. "You've done a
wonderful job raising Dani, Lexie.” He let his words slide out all smooth and
quiet, the same tone he used with an angry client. It hadn't failed him yet.

     "Thank you. It hasn't been easy raising
her but she's a great kid and a happy little girl.” Lexie narrowed her eyes at
him. "I want her to remain that way."

     Annoyance danced through his stomach. "So
do I," he said with conviction.

     Lexie raked her gaze over his face. "Right
now, everything is all sweetness and light with Dani. But how will you feel
when the difficult times come, when she starts whining or gets sick and seems
inconsolable?"

     Time to play the guilt card. "I don't know
but give me some credit will you? I just got here."

     Lexie looked at him with an expression of
regret on her face. "I just don't want her to get hurt." Her voice
was almost a whisper.

     "I'm not here to hurt our daughter, Lex. I'm
here to get to know her, to start building a relationship with her. I want you
and me to put aside our differences when we're with Dani. I think it's
important that we project a united front--at least where she is concerned.” He
paused for a moment to let his words sink in.

     She nodded. "United front. Interesting
choice of words. And how do you suggest we
project
this united
front?"

     He shoved his hands into the pockets of his
jeans. "For starters, we should back each other up and not disagree in
front of Dani. We should keep any
discussions
private."

Lexie walked over to Morning Star and rubbed her
neck. "Dani has her Brownie Troop meeting on Thursday afternoons after
school," she said. "Weeknights are okay as long as she gets home
early. Wednesday is a half-day of school for her this week."

     His anxiety that she might not agree with him
dissolved. "Okay, mind if I pick her up from school and take her to
lunch?"

     "No, that would be okay."

     He'd asked for an inch and she was giving him
some real mileage. Maybe he should shoot for the stars. "What about the
weekends? Would you consider letting her spend Friday nights with me and
Dad?"

     She turned toward him and frowned. "Every
Friday?"

     He shrugged. "Sure, why not? We can start
a father/daughter tradition. And it will give you some time to yourself."

     A hopeful light lit her eyes. Okay now he was
getting to her with talk of "alone" time. "You could go to a
movie, spend time with Vivian and take long soaks in the tub.” He let his voice
trail away and watched her. He could almost see the wheels turning in her brain.
"Can you trust Dad and me to take care of Dani?"

     Lexie stepped back. "First a truce then
trust?”  She shook her head. "I don't doubt that the two of you can see
that Dani is taken care of but..."

     Mitch pursed his lips and cocked his head to
the side. "But what?”    

     She rolled her left shoulder. "If I agree
to the Friday night thing it means she'll be with you for almost forty-eight
hours. She's only been away from home for one night at a time to a friend's
house for a sleep-over. Two nights is a long time."

     He could compromise about spending Friday
nights with him and dad if he had to. "Is that a problem? You can always
call and check up on her."

     She gave him a small, rather tentative smile. "Let
me think about it. Friday is pasta/movie night. It's our special time together.
The week days are always so busy. Maybe you could make it Saturday night
instead."

     He felt as though he'd just scaled a slippery,
mountain peak and reached the top. "You got it."

     Mitch held out his hand for a shake. Lexie glanced
at his hand hesitating for a moment before she gripped his fingers. Then she
stared him straight in the eye and smiled as her hand clenched his tighter and
tighter. Instead of returning her vice-like grip he tugged her hand up toward
his mouth. She resisted but he ignored her response and brushed his lips over
her stiff fingers. She stood close, too close for comfort. He let his gaze skim
her eyes; roam over her cheeks before settling on her mouth. Her light, pink
tongue licked over her lips and he almost leaned in to kiss her. What was he
thinking? He let go of her hand and resisted the urge to rub his tingling palm
against his thigh.   

     Lexie straightened her shoulders. "I'll
let her know you'll be picking her up from school on Wednesday. She gets out at
twelve-thirty."

# # #

The
sound of Mitch and Dani's laughter drifted into the barn where Lexie stood
grooming one of the horses she planned to put through his work out. As the
sounds of laughter drew closer, she turned toward the barn door. Mitch and Dani
strolled inside grinning like fools at each other.

Lexie
dropped the curry comb into the grooming tools caddy and reached for a dandy
brush. How could she not believe he cared for Dani when he seemed so genuine? She
smoothed the soft bristles over the horse's neck and withers. Mitch had never
been the kind of person to fake his emotions. If he liked someone he showed it
and if he didn't he showed those feelings as well. A warm glow flowed through
her. His kindness and attention to Dani pleased her. Happiness bloomed inside
her heart for Dani that Mitch spent time listening to her little girl chatter
and wanting to help her learn new things. But at the same time, yearning for
all that she had been denied with her own father tempered the joy.

Dani
trotted toward Lexie with a smile splitting her face. The hem of her jeans
touched the top of her brown, leather boots. Lexie noticed a purple stain on
the front of her long-sleeved white shirt.

A
pair of goofy glasses sat on her nose. The eyes were attached to the end of a
spiraled piece of wire. With the slightest movement, they stretched away from
her face than recoiled back again. Mitch flicked his finger against one of the
eyes sending it bobbing. Dani giggled and he laughed right along with her.

"What
have you got there?" Lexie asked.

"Glasses.
Daddy gave them to me," she gushed.

Lexie
smiled back at her daughter. "They're cool. So what did you guys do after lunch?"

"We
went by Mr. Judson's house--I mean grandpa's.” Dani's face grew serious. She
cocked her head to one side, the funny eyes bobbing in front of her face. "Why
did I never have a grandpa before?"

Lexie
stopped brushing the horse in mid motion. A breeze blew past ruffling her hair.
Regret and anger over Mason's denial of his own granddaughter made her heart
ache like a sore tooth in her chest.

What
could she say? How could she tell Dani that Mason refused to have anything to
do with her? Lexie gave Dani a gentle smile and knelt down until they were eye
to eye. She had one more obstacle as far as Dani and the past was concerned. Lexie
gazed into Dani's trusting eyes. "You didn't know that Mr. Judson was your
grandfather because Mitch didn't know he was your daddy. Understand?"

Dani
shook her head. Lexie heaved a deep breath, glanced at the ground for a second
then back at Dani. She felt bad that Dani hadn't known Judson was her
grandfather, but she couldn't let Dani go around calling him grandpa in front
of everyone. Besides, the whole town thought Dani was Jake's child. And damn
her to hell she kept right on letting them think that. "Okay, let's just
say that I made a mistake. I should have told you, Dani...a long time ago. I'm
sorry.” Lexie brushed a hand over her cheek.

Dani
smiled and grasped Lexie around the neck in a fierce hug. Lexie looked up at
Mitch through a sheen of tears. He looked at her with a now-we're-even
expression on his face. Did this mean he had forgiven her for keeping Dani a
secret? Dani pulled from Lexie's arms and smiled at her. "That's
okay."