Deliberately, Noelle reached for an earbud that dangled from a loose wire. She jammed the piece in her ear. Her voice louder than necessary, she announced, “Yes, I’m here. The plane landed hours ago, but the stewardess let everyone else off first. Really, Mom, you ought to complain. That was so not first class.”
“Noelle!” Hank’s back stiffened at his daughter’s rudeness.
His ten-year-old looked up from her cell phone long enough to roll her eyes. “Whatever,” she mouthed.
The flight attendant’s rigid expression tightened. “I’ll need to see your driver’s license, sir.”
Hank aimed a sympathetic smile toward the woman while he reached for his wallet. If a child he’d been assigned to watch had behaved so badly, he might have been tempted to hand the brat over to the first person willing to take her, ID or no ID. He checked his watch, not at all surprised to see that less than five minutes had passed, and he’d already gone round one with his daughter.
Without saying a word, the attendant jotted down a few numbers and handed him the clipboard. Hank signed his name. The two women walked off, their suitcases rolling behind them. And, just like that, Noelle was his responsibility. He glanced at the child who continued to type.
“Noelle,” he interrupted. “Thank the ladies.”
Her mumbled response sounded a whole lot more like “For what?” than “Thanks.” The minute they were alone, Noelle’s lips pursed. “Internet service on the airplane was so bad I couldn’t even text my friends.”
“That’s probably because you’re not supposed to use your phone on the flight.”
“Whatever.”
As his daughter repeated a word he was already certain he’d hate by the end of her first week in South Florida, Hank drew in a deep breath. This was not the start he’d envisioned when he insisted Noelle come stay with him, but really, her reaction was exactly what he deserved. Determined to get things off on the right foot with his only child, he reached for the backpack slung across her shoulder. “Here, I’ll carry this. Let’s go get your bags. Where are your claim tickets?”
Noelle’s feet remained rooted to the floor. “That’s all I brought.”
He hefted the bag, judging its weight. “Mighty light for a whole semester, don’t you think?”
“I can send for the rest...if I stay.” Noelle rolled one shoulder in a dismissive move she’d obviously copied from her mother.
Hank swallowed a quick retort. Noelle might be rude but she had a point. Until recently, he hadn’t made his daughter a priority in his life. He’d been too busy building his business, chasing after the almighty dollar, to give his child the attention she deserved. Deep down, he’d known it was wrong to let Amy ignore their custody agreement. To give in when his ex-wife insisted Noelle would rather ski in Aspen or Vale than rattle around in his Tallahassee condo over Christmas vacation. Or that attending summer camp with her friends was better than hanging out by his pool.
All that had changed when his dad died. Both Amy and Noelle had skipped the funeral. Not long after, it had hit home that if he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life a stranger to his only child, he’d have to make some adjustments. Noelle’s coming to stay with him at the Circle P was the first step.
But what had he gotten himself into?
He gave his daughter a long, appraising look on the way out to the parking lot. By his estimation, the wedge heels she tottered along on were far more suitable for a teenage ingenue than for a child who hadn’t celebrated her eleventh birthday. Her lace-trimmed leggings, which ended at mid-calf, wouldn’t last through a day’s work on the ranch. He tsked at the bra straps boldly displayed on each shoulder. A bra? Her body hadn’t even begun to fill out. Was his little girl in such a hurry to grow up?
He shook his head. No matter what the answer, the situation called for a shopping trip.
“We’ll stop in Okeechobee on our way back,” he announced, sliding in behind the wheel. “Afterward, we’ll grab a bite before we head to the Circle P.” Cowboys had the best burgers in town and it was on the way. He put the truck in gear. “First, though, we have to pick up my friend Kelly.”
“Kelly? You brought your girlfriend along?” Scorn dripped from Noelle’s voice. She flopped back onto the seat. “This whole trip sucks,” she declared.
* * *
KELLY STARED THROUGH the tall glass windows overlooking the sidewalk. Briefcases swinging, attorneys in three-thousand-dollar suits blotted sweat from their foreheads as they hustled to and from the courthouse at the end of the block. She smoothed the tailored skirt of the one black suit she’d thought to throw in her suitcase and told herself she should join them. Should step from the air conditioned building where Jim Buchanan had his offices. Yet she couldn’t make her feet move. Couldn’t pry her fingers loose from their tight grip on her satchel long enough to push open the lobby door. Admitting the talk with her grandfather’s lawyer had muddled her thoughts, she took a much-needed moment to digest an overload of disturbing information.
Not for the first time since receiving the call that had upended her life, she wished she had someone to turn to. A friend. A confidante. Her gaze slid across the street to the truck parked beneath a tall palm tree. In the front seat, Hank leaned past the headrest to speak with his daughter.
In her teens, he’d been her go-to person. She’d been able to tell the tall rancher everything, share all her secrets with him. Of course, that was before she’d had to face the consequences of giving in to a potent mix of first love and raging hormones. Before Hank had stormed out instead of living up to his promise to stand beside her no matter what. Yet, she missed their camaraderie. Despite a decade of trying, she’d never shared that same connection with anyone else.
Could they get that easygoing give-and-take back again? If only for a little while? It wasn’t as if either of them planned to stay in Glades County. Soon, Hank would return to his business in Tallahassee. The minute she settled her grandfather’s affairs, she’d head back to Houston. She wanted to believe Hank when he swore neighborly kindness, and nothing more, was behind his offer to help with the chores on the Bar X. After all, good neighbors shared their troubles. They even offered one another advice, didn’t they? Surely, she and Hank had grown old enough, wise enough, smart enough to avoid anything deeper than friendship for the short time they’d be around each other.
A traffic officer pedaled slowly down the street. When he stopped to write a ticket for the vehicle behind Hank’s, Kelly managed to get her feet in motion. Charging into the thick blanket of heat and humidity that passed for weather in West Palm Beach, she raised a hand.
“Hank!” At the first break in the traffic, she crossed to his truck. “Sorry. I hope you weren’t waiting too long,” she offered as the policeman rode past.
“We’ve only been here a few minutes.” Hank’s smooth tone calmed her nerves while she settled her satchel on the floor at her feet and slipped her purse from her shoulder. “Things at the airport took longer than I’d planned.”
From the backseat came an accusatory, “I told you the flight attendant wouldn’t let me leave. She treated me like a baby. I am ten, you know.”
While Kelly buckled her belt, Hank exhaled slowly. “She was just doing her job,” he said, his voice tightening. “If you’d gotten lost, she would have been in big trouble.”
Kelly slanted a cautious look toward Hank before, with a renewed determination to act neighborly, she summoned a smile.
“Hi! I’m Kelly.” Thin gold bands jangled lightly as she extended a hand. “You must be Noelle. Your dad has been looking forward to your visit.”
With