by Diana Palmer
"What in hell was she doing on that horse this morning?"
"Showing everybody that nothing short of death will ever keep her down," Tim said simply. "Never did catch your name, stranger."
"Burke. Todd Burke."
"I'm Tim Harley. I'm proud to meet you."
"Same here." He hesitated for just a minute before he turned and went back along the aisles. He felt odd. He'd never felt so odd in his
life before. Perhaps, he thought, it was that he wasn't used to proud women. She'd surprised him with the extent of her grit and stubbornness.
She wasn't a quitter, in spite of impossible circumstances. He didn't doubt that she'd ride again, either, even if she didn't get back into
competition. God, she was game! He was sorry he'd managed to get off on the wrong foot with her. He'd been irritated by the remarks she'd
made about his daughter. Now he realized that she was trying to help, and he'd taken it the wrong way.
He was sensitive about Cherry. His daughter had taken more vicious criticism from her own mother than she was ever likely to get from a
stranger. He'd overreacted. Now he was left with a case of badly bruised pride and a wounded ego. He smiled a little bitterly at his own
embarrassment. He deserved it, being so cruel to a woman in that condition. It had been a long time since he'd made a mistake of such
magnitude.
He wandered back down the lane to join his daughter, who was excitedly talking to one of the rodeo clowns.
"Dad, did you see her, that blond lady who accepted the plaque?" she asked when he was within earshot. "That was Jane Parker herself!"
"I saw her." He glanced at the young cowboy, who
flushed and grinned at Cherry, and then quickly made himself scarce.
"I wish you wouldn't do that," Cherry said on a sigh. "Honestly, Dad, I'm fourteen!"
"And I'm an old bear. I know." He threw an affectionate arm around her. "You did fine, partner. I'm proud of you."
"Thanks! Where did you disappear to?"
"I helped your idol into her motor home," he said.
"My idol...Miss Parker?"
"The very same. She's got a bad back, that's why she doesn't ride anymore. She's game, though."
"She's the best barrel racer I ever saw," Cherry said. "I have a video of last year's rodeo and she's on it. The reason I begged to come to this
rodeo was so that I could meet her, but she isn't riding this time. Gosh, I was disappointed when they said she'd retired. I didn't know she had a
bad back."
"Neither did I," he murmured. He put an arm around her and hugged her close. She was precious to him, but he tended to busy himself too
deeply in his work, especially in the years since her mother had walked out on them. "We haven't had much time together, have we? I'll make it
up to you while we're on vacation."
"How about right now?" She grinned at him. "You could introduce me to Miss Parker."
He cleared his throat. How was he going to tell her that her idol thought he was about as low as a snake?
"She's so pretty," Cherry added without waiting for his answer. "Mother's pretty, too, but not like that." She grimaced. "Mother doesn't
want me to come up next week, did she tell you?"
"Yes." He didn't add that they'd argued about it. Marie didn't spend any more time with Cherry than she had to. She'd walked out on the
two of them for another man six years ago, declaring that Cherry was just too much for her to handle. It had devastated the young girl and
left Todd
Burke in the odd position of having to forego board meetings of his corporation to take care of his daughter. He hadn't minded, though. He was
proud of the girl, and he'd encour-aged her in everything she wanted to do, including rodeo. Marie had a fit over that. She didn't approve of her
daughter riding rodeo, but Todd had put his foot down.
"What does she see in him?" Cherry asked, her gray eyes flashing and her blond pigtail swinging as she threw up her hands in a temper.
"He's so picky about everything, especially his clothes. He doesn't like pets and he doesn't like children."
"He's brilliant. He has a national bestseller. It's number one on the New York Times list. It's been there for weeks," Todd replied.
"You're smart, too. And you're rich," she argued.
"Yes, but I'm not in his class. I'm a self-made man. I don't have a Harvard degree."
"Neither does he," Cherry said with a giggle. "He hasn't graduated. I heard Mama say so—not so that he could hear her, though."
He chuckled. "Never you mind. If she's happy, that's fine."
"Don't you love her anymore?" she asked.
His arm contracted. "Not the way I should to be married to her," he said honestly. "Marriage takes two people working to make each other
happy. Your mother got tired of the long hours I had to spend at work."
"She got tired of me, too."
"She loves you, in her way," he replied. "Don't ever doubt that. But she and I found less in common the longer we lived together.
Eventually we didn't have enough to sustain a marriage."
"You need someone to look after you," she told him. "I'll get married one day, you know, and then where will you be?"
He chuckled. "Alone."
"Sure," she agreed, "except for those women you never bring home."
He cleared his throat. "Cherry..."
"Never mind, I'm not stupid." She looked around at the dwindling crowd. "But you need someone to come home to, besides me. You work
late at the office and go on business trips all over the place, and you're never home. So I can't go home, either. I want to go to school in
Victoria in the fall. I hate boarding school."
"You never told me that," he said, surprised.
"I didn't want to," she admitted reluctantly. "But it's just awful lately. I'm glad I'm out for the summer." She looked up at him with gray
eyes so similar to his own. "I'm glad you took this vacation. We can do some things together, just you and me."
"I've been thinking about it for a long time," he confessed. "I'm looking forward to having a few weeks off," he lied convincingly, and
wondered how he was going to survive the lack of anything challenging to do.
She grinned. "Good! You can help me work on those turns in barrel racing. I don't guess you noticed, but I'm having a real hard time with
them."
He recalled what Jane Parker had said about Cherry, and he allowed himself to wonder if it might not do both women good to spend a little
time talking together.
"You know," he mused aloud, "I think I may have some ideas about that."
"Really? What are they?"
"Wait and see." He led her toward their car. "Let's get something to eat. I don't know about you, but I'm starved!"
"Me, too. How about Chinese?"
"My favorite."
He put her into the old Ford he'd borrowed while his Ferrari was being serviced, and drove her back into Jacobsville.
They had lunch at the single Chinese restaurant that was nestled among half a dozen barbecue, steak and fast-food restaurants. When they
finished, they went back out to the arena to watch the rest of the afternoon's competition. Cherry was only in one other event. She did poorly
again, though, trying to go around the barrels. When she rode out of the arena, she was in tears.
"Now, now." Todd comforted her. "Rome wasn't built in a day."
"They didn't have barrel racing in Rome!" she wailed.
"Probably not, but the sentiment is the same." He hugged her gently. "Perk up, now. This is only the first rodeo in a whole string of them.
You'll get better."
"It's a waste of time," she said, wiping her tears. "I might as well quit right now."
"Nobody ever got anywhere by quitting aft
er one loss," he chided. "Where would I be if I'd given up when my first computer program
didn't sell?"
"Not where you are today, that's for sure," she admitted. "Nobody does software like you do, Dad. That newest word processor is just radical!
Everyone at school loves it. It makes term papers so easy!"
"I'm glad to hear that all those late hours we put into developing it were worth the effort," he said. He grinned at her. "We're working on a
new accounting package right now."
"Oh, accounting," she muttered. "Who wants any boring old stuff like that?"
"Plenty of small businesses," he said on a chuckle. "And thank your lucky stars or we'd be in the hole."
Cherry was looking around while he spoke. Her face lit up and her eyes began to sparkle. "It's Miss Parker!" The smile faded. "Oh,
my..."
He turned and the somber expression on his daughter's
face was mirrored in his own. Jane was in the wheelchair, wearing jeans and a beige T-shirt and sneakers, looking fragile and depressed as Tim
pushed her toward the motor home with the horse trailer hitched behind it.
Unless he missed his guess, they were about to leave. He couldn't let her get away, not before he had a chance to ask her about working with
Cherry. It had occurred to him that they might kill two birds with one stone—give Miss Parker a new interest, and Cherry some badly needed
help.
Chapter 2
Miss Parker!" Todd called.
She glanced in his direction, aware that he and a young girl with fair hair in a pigtail were moving toward her. The wheelchair made her
feel vulnerable and she bit down hard on her lip. She was in a bad temper because she didn't want that rude, unpleasant man to see her this
way.
"Yes?" she asked through her teeth.
"This is my daughter, Cherry," he said, pulling the young girl forward. "She wanted to meet you."
Regardless, apparently, of whether Jane wanted the meeting or not. "How do you do," she said through numb lips.
"What happened to you?" Cherry spluttered.
Jane's face contorted.
"She was in a wreck," her father said shortly, "and it was rude of you to ask."
Cherry flushed. "I'm sorry, really I am." She went to the wheelchair, totally uninhibited, and squatted beside it. ' 'I've watched all the videos
you were on. You were just the best
in the world," she said enthusiastically. "I couldn't get to the rodeos, but I had Dad buy me the videos from people who taped the events. I'm
having a lot of trouble on the turns. Dad can ride, but he's just hopeless on rodeo, aren't you, Dad?" She put a gentle hand over Jane's arm.
"Will you be able to ride again?"
"Cherry!" Todd raged.
"It's all right," Jane said quietly. She looked into the girl's clear, gray eyes, seeing no pity there, only honest concern and curiosity. The
rigidity in her began to subside. She smiled. "No," she said honestly. "I don't think I'll be able to ride again. Not in competition, at
least."
"I wish I could help you," Cherry said. "I'm going to be a surgeon when I grow up. I make straight A's in science and math, and Dad's
already said I could go to Johns Hopkins when I'm old enough. That's the best school of medicine anywhere!"
"A surgeon," Jane echoed, surprised. She smiled. "I've never known anyone who wanted to be a surgeon before."
Cherry beamed. "Now you do. I wish you didn't have to leave so soon," she said wistfully. "I was going to pick your brain for ways to get
over this fear of turns. Silly, isn't it, when the sight of blood doesn't bother me at all."
Jane was aware of an emptiness in herself as she stared into the young face. It was like seeing herself at that age. She lowered her eyes.
"Yes, well, I'm sorry, but it's been a long day and I'm in a good deal of pain. And we're interviewing today."
"Interviewing?" Cherry asked with open curiosity.
"For a business manager," Jane said sadly, glancing at Tim, who winced. "Tim can't manage the books. He's willing to keep on as foreman,
but we're losing money hand over fist since Dad's death because neither one of us can handle the books."
"Gosh, my dad would be perfect for that," Cherry said
innocently. "He's a wizard with money. He keeps the books for his compu—"
"For the small computer company I work for in Victoria," Todd said quickly, with a speaking glance that his intelligent daughter interpreted
immediately. She shut up, grinning.
Tim stepped forward. "Can you balance books?"
"Sure." Tim looked at Jane. "There's the foreman's cabin empty, since Meg and I are living in the house with you," he remarked. "They
could live mere. And you could help the girl with her turns. It would give you something to do besides brooding around the house all day."
"Tim!" Jane burst out angrily. She glanced apprehensively at Todd Burke, who was watching her with unconcealed amusement. "I'm sure
he has a job already."
"I do. Keeping books for my...the computer company," he lied. "But it doesn't take up all my time. In fact, I think I'd enjoy doing
something different for a while." He pursed his lips. "If you're interested, that is," he added with practiced indifference.
Jane's eyes fell to her lap.
"I'd love to learn how to win at barrel racing," Cherry said with a sigh. "I guess I'll have to give it up, though. I mean, I'm so bad that
it's a waste of Dad's money to keep paying my entrance fees and all."
Jane glowered at her. She glowered at him, too, standing there like a movie cowboy with his firm lips pursed and his steely gray eyes
twinkling with amusement. Laughing at her.
"She won't hire you," Tim said with a glare at her. "She's too proud to admit that you're just what she needs. She'd rather let the ranch go
under while she sits on the porch and feels sorry for herself."
"Damn you!" She spat the words at Tim.
He chuckled. "See them eyes?" he asked Todd. "Like wet sapphires. She may look like a fashion doll, but she's all
fur and claws when things get next to her, and she's no quitter."
Todd was looking at her with evident appreciation. He grinned. "Two week trial?" he asked. "While we see how well we all get along? I
can't do you much damage in that short a time, and I might do you a lot of good. I have a way with balance sheets."
"We couldn't be much worse off," Tim reminded his boss.
Jane was silently weighing pros and cons. He had a daughter, so he had to be settled and fairly dependable, if Cherry was any indication. If she
hired anyone else, she'd have no idea if she was giving succor to a thief or even a murderer. This man looked trustworthy and his daughter
apparently adored him.
"We could try, I suppose," she said finally. "If you're willing. But the ranch isn't successful enough that I can offer you much of a salary."
She named a figure. "You'll get meals and board free, but I'll understand if that isn't enough—"
"If I can keep on doing my present job, in the evenings, we'll manage," Todd said without daring to look at his daughter. If he did, he
knew he'd give the show away.
"Your boss won't mind?" Jane asked.
He cleared his throat. "He's very understanding. After all, I'm a single parent."
She nodded, convinced. "All right, then. Would you like to follow us out to the ranch, if you're through for the day?"
"We're through, all right," Cherry said on a sigh. "I'm dejected, demoralized and thoroughly depressed."
"Don't be silly," Jane said gently, and with a smile. "You've got an excellent seat, and you're good with horses. You just need to get over
that irrational fear that you're going to go down on
the turns."
"How did you know?" Cherry gasped.
"Because I was exactly the same when I started out. Stop worrying. I'll work with you. When we're through, you'll be taking home
trophies."
"Really?"
Jane chuckled. "Really. Let's go, Tim."
He wheeled her to the cab of the motor home and opened the door. "I guess bringing this thing ten miles looks odd," Tim murmured to
Todd, "but we had to have a place where Jane could rest. We've carried this old thing to many a rodeo over the years. She takes a little coaxing
sometimes, but she always goes."
"Like Bracket," Jane mused, glancing back to the trailer where her palomino gelding rode.
"Like Bracket," Tim agreed. He reached down. "Let's get you inside, now, Jane."
Before he could lift her, Todd moved forward. "Here," he volunteered. "I'll do the honors."
Tim grinned, his relief all too obvious. Jane wasn't heavy, but Tim was feeling his age a bit.
Todd lifted Jane gently out of the wheelchair and into the cab of the big vehicle, positioning her on the seat with a minimum of discomfort.
She eased her arms from around his neck a little self-consciously and smiled. "Thanks."
He shrugged powerful shoulders and smiled back. "No problem. Where does the chair go, Tim?"
He folded it and the older man climbed up into the motor home and stowed it away. He got behind the wheel and paused long enough to
give directions to Todd about where in Jacobsville the ranch was located before he and Jane waved goodbye and drove away.
"Dad!" Cherry laughed. "Are we really going to do it? What will she say when she finds out?"
"We'll worry about that when the time comes. The ranch budget sounds like a challenge, and you could use some
pointers with your riding," he added. "I think it may work out very well."
"But what about your company?" Cherry asked.
"I've got good people working for me and I'm on holiday." He ruffled her hair. "We'll think of it as summer vacation," he assured her.
"It will give us some time to-gether."
"I'd like that," she said solemnly. "After all, in four years I'll be in school, and you probably won't get to see me twice a year. I'll have to
study very hard."
"You're smart. You'll do fine."