“I noticed,” she whispered, and flushed.
He ruffled her hair. “I’ll come get you in an hour. Long enough for you to serve something up for your father and Rod?”
“Oh, yes,” she lied. She’d manage something. There were leftovers that she could reheat. “Where are we going?”
“To Jackson Hole,” he said with a grin. “I’m going to take you to a nightclub. Got a flashy dress?”
Her face fell.
Damn! He’d forgotten. Her father wouldn’t be encouraging that sort of thing. She probably didn’t own an evening gown.
“Change of plan,” he said abruptly. “Wear jeans and we’ll hit a casino over near Lander. I’ll teach you how to play the machines.” He grinned.
She laughed. “I don’t own an evening gown. I guess it showed, huh?”
“We’ll have to do something about that,” he began.
“No, we won’t,” she replied curtly. “I pay my own way. Just in case you were thinking you’d buy me one.”
His eyebrows really arched now. “It’s just a dress...”
“I pay my own way,” she repeated. She had a stubborn look on her face.
He recognized it, because he had one just like it. He chuckled. “Okay, Miss Independence. We’ll do things your way.”
She smiled. “Fair enough. I’ll be ready and waiting.”
She was still flushed. He loved her reaction to him. No coy withdrawal, no teasing; she just went in headfirst when he touched her. It boded well for the future. He had one slight twinge of conscience, but it passed quickly. She was old enough to know the score, and he was certain he wouldn’t be her first man. Why did that disturb him? It was stupid. He’d never been the first man.
“I’ll see you in an hour,” he told her.
“Okay.”
She watched him leave. She got into her old, beat-up truck that guzzled gas and looked at herself in the rearview mirror. She looked...loved. Her breath caught as she relived the hungry, passionate kiss, the first of its kind she’d ever had. She was in love with J.C. And he must feel something for her, because he’d come back when he said he wouldn’t.
She smiled all the way home. She only stopped when she had to tell her father she was going out with J.C. and saw the disappointment and sorrow on his face.
* * *
ROD WAS STILL away when she got ready for her date. She’d fixed a meager supper for her father. She wasn’t hungry. Excitement robbed her of any appetite.
“Where are you going?” her father asked gently as he finished the impromptu meal.
She ground her teeth together. “To Lander,” she said with a forced smile. “It’s over near Jackson Hole...”
“Casinos,” her father said with a deep sigh. He studied her guilty face quietly. “It’s your life, Colie. I won’t interfere. But you’re headed down a path I wouldn’t wish for you. I think you already know that J.C. isn’t a person of faith.”
“I know that. People can change,” she said stubbornly.
“They can. But most don’t,” he said, uncharacteristically negative. He locked his hands around his coffee cup. “Try not to let him influence you in bad ways. You were raised to have principles. Don’t discard them for a man who’ll never marry you.”
“He’s not a bad man,” she began.
“I didn’t say that he was. I’m only saying that he’s used to a very different lifestyle than you are.” His eyes were old and wise as they met hers. “People of faith are very challenged in the modern world. It’s hard to hold on to ideals when so many people live without them.”
“I know that, Daddy. But I’ll still be myself, whatever decisions I make.”
He knew that further argument would be futile. He could see in her eyes that she was already too much in love with J.C. to deny him anything.
He managed a smile. “You’ll always be my daughter, whatever choices you make, and I’ll always love you. I’ll be here when you need me.”
“I know that.” She felt her regrets deeply. She was disappointing him, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted J.C. more than she wanted to go on living. “I love him, Daddy,” she said simply.
“I know that, too.”
“It will be all right,” she said. She only wished that she could believe that.
She fed Big Tom, who rolled around her ankles with such fervor that she laughed, picked him up and kissed him before she left.
* * *
THE CASINO WAS big and noisy. The place was run by the Eastern Shoshone tribe, and it was a huge boon to the economy of the Native people. Located near Lander, and the Wind River Range, the view must have been spectacular. It was dark by the time J.C. and Colie arrived, but the beautiful, colorful glitter of lights out front lessened her disappointment in not getting to see the view.
“It’s so...glittery,” she enthused, holding tight to J.C.’s hand as they walked around the huge room.
“I can see the wheels turning in your head,” he teased. “Sinful gaming! I expect your father had a lot to say about this trip.”
“Enough,” she confided. “But it’s my life. I have to make my own choices.”
He glanced down at her. He did feel a pang of regret. She was so sheltered, in so many ways. She didn’t live in the real world, in his world.
She looked up in time to catch that expression. She wrinkled her nose. “Don’t look so guilty. You’re not leading me astray.”
“Feels that way,” he said softly. He searched her soft green eyes and felt a shock of pleasure all the way down to his toes. He smiled reluctantly. “On the other hand, maybe you’re leading me astray,” he mused. “I don’t like attachments.”
“I’ll never send you an email that has any,” she promised.
He chuckled and pressed her hand tight. “Torment.”
“I brought five dollars,” she said, glancing around. “Let’s see how long it lasts!”
He was privately of the opinion that she’d lose it in the first three minutes, but he only nodded.
* * *
AN HOUR LATER, she was still playing.
“This has to be some sort of record,” he said when the fruits lined up on the screen for her.
“I’m lucky,” she said, distracted. She glanced up at him. “Otherwise, I’d never be here with you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re gorgeous, J.C.,” she said softly, and her eyes echoed it. “You could have any woman you wanted, but you’re going around with me.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Everything,” she said miserably. “I’m not pretty.”
He scowled. “Of course you’re pretty,” he said curtly. “You have wonderful qualities. You’re kind and sweet and you never complain, even when you should.”
She flushed.
“I mean that,” he added, sketching her face. “You remind me of my mother, in a way. She had that incurable optimism.” His face hardened. “She was almost too kind and forgiving.”
She wanted so badly to ask what had happened to his