The Maverick's Return Page 12

  But the second knock sounded more insistent. Muttering under her breath, Janie grudgingly paused the action on the TV and went to answer the door. Since her mother obviously hadn’t heard the knock, answering the door was her superheroine good deed for the day.

  Standing on her toes, she looked through the peephole to see who was on the other side. Reluctantly—because she knew her mother would want her to—Janie unlocked the door and pulled it open.

  “Oh, it’s you,” she said by way of a bored greeting when she let Dan in. “Mom, your old boyfriend’s here again,” Janie shouted over her shoulder, then turned to face the less-than-welcome visitor again. “Mom’s in the kitchen,” she told him matter-of-factly. She pointed in the general direction as she closed the door, expecting him to go straight to the kitchen.

  A thousand emotions were racing through Dan as he crossed the threshold, looking at Janie.

  This was his daughter. His daughter. The thought almost paralyzed him. He made no move toward the kitchen.

  After a beat, he found his tongue. “I didn’t come to see your mother,” he told her.

  Janie was already walking away. Reaching the sofa, she took her seat again and hit the pause button on the remote control, unfreezing the action.

  Following Janie, he walked into the living room behind her. His heart was pounding hard although he exercised extreme control over himself not to say or do anything to give himself away. “I came to see you,” he told the girl even though she hadn’t asked. He nodded at the TV. “What are you watching?”

  “Ellie and Her Friends,” she answered. And then she looked at him suspiciously. “Why?”

  “I was just curious what you like to watch,” he told her. It occurred to him that he had faced friendlier bucking broncos during his very brief rodeo days.

  “No,” Janie retorted impatiently, “why did you come to see me?” Her brilliant blue eyes were all but drilling holes into him.

  “Because I’d like to get to know you,” he answered. “I thought maybe we could be friends.”

  “So you can get my mom to like you again?” Janie demanded.

  Janie was obviously not your typical eleven-year-old, he thought. No one was ever going to pull anything over on her. Which was a good thing, he thought, but not right at the moment.

  “You think I’m underhanded?” he asked, then quickly explained, “That means sneaky.”

  Janie looked insulted. “I know what underhanded means. I’m not dumb.”

  Dan backtracked as quickly as he could, knowing that for better or for worse, today was going to be crucial in setting up the groundwork for a relationship between Janie and him.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that you were,” he told her.

  “And,” Janie continued with an imperious toss of her head, “I think all adults are sneaky. Except for my dad,” she quickly amended. Her eyes bored into him, all but nailing him to the floor. “He thinks people should be honest with each other.”

  “Your dad’s right,” Dan agreed pleasantly. He knew this was a competition between Hank and himself, but he couldn’t act like it. “People should be honest with each other. Is it all right if I sit down?” he asked, indicating the sofa.

  Janie’s small shoulders rose and fell in an indifferent shrug. “If you want to,” she sniffed. She regarded him critically for a moment when he sat down on the sofa. “If you think people should be honest with each other, tell me the truth. Why do you want to get to know me?”

  He knew this had to come out just right, otherwise the girl would go completely silent on him. “Because you’re important to your mother and your mother is important to me.”

  A knowing, triumphant expression slipped over her small oval face. “You want her to be your girlfriend again.”

  “I want her to be my friend again,” Dan deliberately corrected.

  Baby steps, he told himself. Baby steps.

  Janie looked as if she didn’t believe him. “And if she says no, she doesn’t want to be your ‘friend,’ you’ll go away and forget all about me, so don’t pretend you want to be my friend,” she told him, annoyed.

  “I’m not pretending,” Dan insisted. “I do want to be your friend.” More than you could possibly guess, he added silently.

  Janie shifted on the sofa to look at him, her hands fisted at her waist. “Even if Mom won’t be yours?”

  “Even if your mom won’t be mine,” he assured his daughter.

  “Huh!” Janie uttered the word as if it were a grunt and said nothing for more than a minute as she went back to watching her program. Then, still keeping her eyes on the TV, she pointed to the dark-haired character who was currently talking. “That’s Ellie,” she told him. “She’s the one who got her superpowers first. There was this magic meadow with this really strange silver rock...”

  Dan tried not to grin. Instead, he solemnly listened as his daughter told him the origin of the group’s superpowers, acting as if he was listening to her reveal the mystery of the Holy Grail. He hung on every one of her words because they were her words and she was imparting them to him.

  As he listened, he couldn’t get over the fact that he was listening to his daughter.

  His daughter.

  The very thought left him in complete awe. He felt as if he was seated beside an honest-to-goodness miracle. A miracle that had been created by Annie and him.

  The very thought left him speechless—and incredibly grateful.

  Janie abruptly stopped talking. She was staring at him. “You’ve got a funny look on your face,” she told him. It was technically more of an accusation than a stated fact.

  Dan quickly tried to explain away the look she was referring to. “I’m just really interested.”

  “Oh yeah?” It was obvious that she didn’t believe him for a moment. “If that’s true, then tell me what I just said. Tell me how the group all got their superpowers.”

  “Okay.”

  And then Dan proceeded to do just that, going back to the very first thing Janie had said and then continuing on to the very end. He left none of the five “superheroines” out. Finished, he smiled at his daughter.

  The fact kept hitting him in waves. Just when he thought he was used to it, it hit again.

  His daughter.

  “Did I forget anything or leave something out?” he asked her, fairly certain that he hadn’t.

  The suspicion vacated those blue eyes of hers, replaced by wide-eyed wonder.

  “No,” she said, her voice tinged with disbelief. “No, you didn’t. You were really listening.”

  “Sure. I told you I wanted to learn about the program you were watching. I’d like to learn more if you’d like to tell me,” he encouraged.

  Dan was rewarded with a guileless smile. A smile that reminded him so much of Annie. It was clear that Janie was warming up to him, he thought happily, at least a little.

  “Okay,” she told him. “About Amanda—” And she was off and running.

  Anne heard the entire exchange between Danny and Janie from the kitchen. It was really hard for her to stay out of the way like this. More than anything, she really wanted to go into the living room and watch her daughter interacting with Danny.

  But she had given Danny her word that she would let him talk to Janie alone, at least this first time. To be honest, part of her had worried that Janie would clam up or sound off like a typical preteen even though she had raised the child to be respectful and polite.

  After all, preteens were unpredictable.

  She was happy to see that this was going far better than she had ever hoped.

  Maybe Janie would learn to like Danny, she thought hopefully. If her daughter did, then maybe, just maybe, in time, they could tell her the truth: that Danny was her real father.

  But
not today. Definitely not today, Anne thought as she continued to prepare the chicken parmesan that was Janie’s favorite dinner.

  But someday, she thought, hugging the idea to her.

  Maybe someday, if things went really, really well, they could finally get to be a real family, the way she’d dreamed so many times that they would be.

  * * *

  Anne finally ventured out of the kitchen an hour and a half later when she’d finished preparing dinner.

  “Dinner’s ready, Janie,” she announced, stopping just short of the sofa.

  Dan had progressed past Janie’s favorite TV program and now he appeared to be in the middle of playing a video game with her. He was making moves like someone who had played video games all of his life. She knew for a fact that he hadn’t.

  Anne had to admit she was more than a little impressed by the display.

  “You play video games?” she asked Dan.

  “He almost beat me,” Janie told her. To Anne’s huge relief, there was no hostility in her daughter’s voice. There was even a smattering of respect. “Not bad for a newbie.”

  Anne didn’t bother trying to hide the smile that rose to her lips. “In case you don’t know, she just gave you a huge compliment,” she told Danny.

  Dan inclined his head and smiled at the girl beside him. “Thank you.”

  “It’s nothing,” Janie told him carelessly.

  “Well, you’re having dinner so I’d better go,” Dan said, retiring his game controller before rising to his feet. He nodded at his companion for the last hour and a half. “Janie, it’s been a pleasure. Thanks for letting me spend the afternoon with you.”

  For a second, Anne thought that her daughter wasn’t going to say anything in response. But then Janie spoke up in a nonchalant voice. “You can stay for dinner if you want.” The girl’s eyes shifted toward Anne. “That’s okay, right, Mom?”

  She wasn’t going to cry, Anne told herself. She wasn’t. But it wasn’t easy.

  Exercising extreme control over her emotions, Anne replied, “Yes, that’s okay—if Mr. Stockton doesn’t have any other plans for dinner.”

  Danny smiled broadly. “I can’t think of a thing I’d rather do,” he told Janie with a wink.

  “But after dinner,” Anne interjected, looking at her daughter as she repeated the familiar refrain, “you have to finish all your homework.”

  “I can do that after Danny leaves—I mean Mr. Stockton,” Janie corrected herself when her mother gave her a reproving look.

  “That’s not how it works, Janie,” Anne told her as all three of them went into the kitchen and she added a third place setting to the table. “You know how important it is for you to do your homework.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll get it done,” Janie insisted. “You know I’m smart.”

  “Maybe a little too smart for your own good,” Anne countered.

  Rather than argue with her mother, Janie turned her eyes toward her new friend.

  Janie was looking for him to intercede, Dan realized. He didn’t want to lose ground with the girl, but he didn’t want to tread on territory that was clearly Annie’s. After all, she was the one who had done all the heavy lifting, been there through everything from diapers to braces and everything in between.

  “I don’t really think there’s such a thing as being too smart,” he finally said, hoping that was diplomatic enough to appease both females. “But just to keep the peace, maybe you should do as your mom says. After all, she spent all that time making this really great meal for you.”

  Annie had told him that chicken parmesan was Janie’s favorite so he felt he was on safe ground bringing the meal up to Janie.

  Janie sighed, relenting. “Okay, I’ll do my homework after dinner.”

  “That’s my girl,” Annie said fondly. She wanted to hug Janie, but she held herself in check, knowing Janie might be embarrassed if she was on the receiving end of any public displays of affection.

  Janie rolled her eyes, “Yeah, yeah, let’s eat!” she declared.

  “Music to my ears,” Dan said as he sat down at the table.

  And mine, Anne thought, glancing first at her daughter, then at Danny.

  * * *

  Dan was being carefully optimistic, but there was no other way to view this.

  His campaign to win his daughter over was going very, very well.

  He’d been dropping by Annie and Janie’s home in the afternoon for a week now and each time, he and Janie spent at least some time together.

  In addition to playing the video games she loved and watching her favorite programs with her, Dan introduced his daughter to a few old-fashioned board games, ones he used to play when he had been Janie’s age.

  “These are ancient,” Janie hooted when he had produced the first board game out of the backpack he had brought with him.

  “I prefer to think of them as having withstood the test of time,” he told Janie. He emptied out the backpack, taking out five board games in all. “It takes precision and skill to play these.”

  Janie looked at the boxed games disdainfully. “Not interested,” she told him.

  He was beginning to pick up subtle clues on how to deal with his daughter. “Not interested or afraid you’re not good enough?” he challenged.

  Janie tossed her head as she braced her shoulders. The girl was indeed her mother’s daughter, Dan thought affectionately. Like Annie, Janie was unable to walk away from a challenge.

  So they played the board games he brought and eventually they progressed to checkers, and then, finally, to chess.

  When he first set up the board, Annie, who had taken to being around somewhere in the background for this interplay between Danny and their daughter, frowned. Intelligent or not, she thought that chess was far too difficult a game for someone Annie’s age.

  “Do you really think this is a good idea?” she asked Dan.

  “Sure.” A little taken aback by her protest, Dan continued to set up the pieces. “Why not?”

  “Because it’s chess,” Annie stressed. “It requires a great deal of concentration. It’s a game for adults, not eleven-year-olds.”

  Janie did not take her mother’s intercession kindly.

  “I’m not a baby, Mom,” her daughter said, bristling at being dismissed so out of hand. “I can do it.” Her eyes turned toward Dan, this time challenging him. “Teach me,” she all but commanded.

  A satisfied smile spread across his lips. “I fully intend to,” Dan told the girl. Finished setting up the pieces, he put the empty box aside. “My dad taught me how to play when I was about your age,” he told her. He’d really been twelve, but Annie didn’t need to know that. “He loved the game but no one wanted to play with him, not even my mom. So he taught me how to play so he would always have someone to play against.”

  Danny expected her to ask why no one wanted to play his father. Instead, she had a different question to ask him.

  “Were you good?” Janie wanted to know, scanning the way the pieces were laid out on the board.

  Dan smiled nostalgically. “Good enough to beat him once or twice.”

  “Oh.” By the expression on Janie’s face it was obvious that wouldn’t have been enough for her. “Too bad.”

  “No, that’s good,” he corrected Janie, “because my dad was a really top-notch player. Winning against him was really a big deal. The first time it happened, I was walking on air.”

  Even the skeptic, Janie suggested, “Maybe he let you win.”

  The girl was sharp, he thought. “I thought of that,” he admitted. “But my dad said that letting me win wasn’t teaching me anything. He always said that the wins you earn are the ones that really stay with you. Okay,” he said, turning the board toward her, “are you ready to learn?”

 
He could swear her eyes were sparkling as she said, “Ready!”

  “Then here we go,” he said as he began to teach his daughter the basic moves of the game, just the way his father had taught him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Just what were you thinking?” Hank demanded gruffly.

  Annie bristled at his question. At least he’d waited until Janie had gone to her room to unpack from her sleepover at his ranch before he confronted her.

  Startled by Hank’s rare angry tone, the first thing Anne thought of was that her daughter had told him about Danny’s frequent visits. She wasn’t sure just how to answer him. Especially if, just in case, Hank was asking her about something else.

  Glancing toward the rear of the house to make sure Janie wasn’t within hearing range, Anne told him, “I don’t know what you—”

  “Let me make this easy for you,” Hank said angrily. “Janie told me that Daniel’s been coming over pretty regularly these days. She says he’s been teaching her how to play board games, like chess—”

  Anne seized on the last part, trying her best to make Hank see how beneficial these visits were to Janie. “Chess is a very mind-broadening game.”

  Hank scowled, clearly not in the mood to be played for a fool. “Don’t give me that, Anne. This isn’t about chess and you know it. It’s about him trying to wiggle his way into Janie’s life.”

  “He just wants to get to know her, Hank.” She lowered her voice even more, afraid that the sound of raised voices would bring Janie out of her room before she could get Hank to drop the subject. There was too much at stake here. “He’s her father—”

  “No,” Hank retorted forcefully. “I am Janie’s father.”

  “Nobody’s disputing your place in her life, Hank,” Anne stressed, still trying to calm him down. “She loves you. But he’s missed so much—”

  Hank made a dismissive, disparaging noise. “And whose fault was that?” he demanded. “He wasn’t here, remember?” He grabbed hold of Anne’s arms, as if doing so would somehow make her see reason. “Tell me, how do we know, after Janie gets all caught up in whatever tales he’s spinning to win her over, that he won’t just get it into his head to take off again? Have you thought about what that’ll do to her?” Hank asked. “I don’t want to risk this guy upsetting Janie for no reason.” He looked into Anne’s eyes. “I can’t tell you what to do, Anne. But for the sake of our daughter—our daughter,” he deliberately stressed, “I want you to think very hard about this.”