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“Why?” her father demanded, suspicion flashing in his eyes.
“She’s going to be your wife, isn’t she?”
“Of course.”
“Then you probably should ask her what she wants.”
“I always do.”
One of Mason’s brows rose skeptically. “I’ll bring you the offer. You can read it over.”
John looked about to argue but clamped his mouth shut.
With a nod to Bliss, Mason strode across the wedge of sunlight that had pierced the gloomy interior of the barn, shouldered open the door until it bounced against the wall and disappeared. A few seconds later a truck’s engine roared to life and gravel sprayed from beneath heavy tires.
“No-account bastard,” her father said as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a plug of chewing tobacco. He started to bite into the black wad, then hesitated, as if he’d caught the censure in his daughter’s eyes. “It’s just a little chew, Blissie, and since I can’t smoke… Oh, hell.” He shoved the dark plug back into his pocket. “What’s Lafferty want this place for? He owns property all over the West.” John hung his pitchfork on a peg near the door and walked outside, where the breath of a breeze cooled the air. Leaves, lush and green on the apple tree near the front porch, turned softly in the wind.
“I was hoping you were down here taking it easy,” she said.
“I am.”
“I don’t think working in the barn and arguing at the top of your lungs is what the doctors had in mind.”
“What do they know?”
“Come on, Dad,” she cajoled as they reached her car.
“Don’t you start in on me, too. I’ve spent the last few weeks cooped up in bed, so I thought I’d come into the barn and clean up a bit. Nothin’ more. Then Lafferty showed up.” He glowered at the driveway. “I’ve thought about sellin’ out, but it galls me to think that a no-account like Lafferty wants to buy.”
“What do you care?” she asked and her father’s eyes flashed. “Weren’t you the guy who always said, ‘Money is money, as long as it’s green’?”
“I know, I know,” he agreed as Oscar explored the shrubbery around the house. “It’s just that I care about this place, even if Brynnie doesn’t.”
“Why doesn’t she like it?”
He shrugged. “Too many bad memories here for her, I guess.” He settled a hip against her fender as sunlight bounced off the convertible’s glossy finish.
“Because you were married to Mom?” Bliss asked, her heart wrenching.
“Even though your mother never lived here, it bothered Brynnie.”
“Because you were married.”
“I suppose.”
Oh, God, this was going to be hard. A stepmother. One who had been involved with her father for a long, long time. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe she shouldn’t have come back.
“I’ll look over the damned offer,” he admitted, “but I’m not gonna accept it.”
Oscar romped over, wagged his tail. As Bliss reached down to scratch him behind his ears, she glanced at the wake of dust that was settling on the long gravel drive.
“I know it was tough for you to come here,” he volunteered, swiping at a yellow jacket that buzzed around his head.
“I’m worried about you,” she admitted.
“Yeah, but it’s more than that. You’re curious as hell about Brynnie and the girls.”
Lifting a shoulder, Bliss hoisted a bag from the backseat and hauled it toward the house. Her father carried a smaller case and followed her. “A little.”
