About That Man by Sherryl Woods Page A

neat restaurant?”
    Bobby nodded. “That’s mine.”
    â€œWow. My mom took me to eat there once. It was last year on my birthday. We got all dressed up and everything.”
    Bobby grinned. “Did you like the food?” he asked casually.
    Now there was a loaded question if ever Daisy had heard one. “Careful how you answer, Tommy. Bobby’s also the chef.”
    Tommy looked puzzled. “You mean like a cook?”
    â€œYep,” Daisy confirmed. “That’s just a fancy name for it.”
    â€œI didn’t study at Cordon Bleu just so you could call me a cook,” Bobby grumbled, clearly offended. “Isn’t it bad enough that I have to put up with Daddy saying that?”
    â€œHe’s just ticked because you refuse to take over the cattle operation.”
    â€œI’ve been telling him since I turned ten that I was not interested in raising Black Angus. I’m twenty-eight now—wouldn’t you think he’d be over it?”
    â€œDaddy?” Daisy said skeptically. “The man who still hasn’t forgiven his brother for buying a prize bull out from under his nose thirty years ago?”
    â€œI see your point,” Bobby said with a sigh.
    Daisy leaned down and kissed him. “He loves you, though. You do know that, don’t you?”
    Bobby grinned. “Being loved by King Spencer is not necessarily a blessing.”
    She laughed. “You may be right about that. It just means there’s more pressure to do things his way.” She gave Tommy a hug. “Want me to stick around and tuck you in?”
    â€œI don’t need to be tucked in,” he said with an embarrassed glance at Bobby.
    Her brother winked at him. Daisy let it pass. She’d slip in later after the lights were out and make sure Tommy was okay. “All right, then. Good night, you two.”
    â€œDaisy?” Tommy called after her, his voice hesitant.
    â€œWhat, sweetheart?”
    â€œIs my uncle…is he still here?”
    She tried to read his expression and couldn’t. “He’s going to stay through the weekend.”
    â€œHere?”
    â€œNo. They’re downstairs deciding that now. Probably at the hotel by the river.”
    Tommy’s shoulders seemed to ease then, and she realized that, despite his outburst earlier, he didn’t reallywant his uncle to disappear from his life. Family relationships might be complex and frustrating, but they were still the most powerful ties a person had. As terrified as she was that Walker might take Tommy away from her, she couldn’t bear to deny them this time together.
    â€œMaybe when he comes over in the morning, he’ll tell you all about what your mom was like when she was a little girl,” she suggested.
    Tommy’s eyes lit up for the first time since he’d learned that Walker was coming. “That would be cool. She never said much about when she was a kid.”
    â€œThen you ask him,” she said softly, fighting back the sting of tears.
    Bobby followed her from the room and gave her a hug. “You did good in there,” he told her.
    â€œI hope so.” She stared at her brother wistfully. “What if I lose him, though?”
    â€œThen his staying wasn’t meant to be. You’ll survive.”
    Daisy envisioned an empty future and wished she shared Bobby’s confidence.
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    Later, alone in her too-quiet, too-lonely room, Daisy could admit that the meeting with Walker had been a disaster, start to finish. But as she thought back over the evening—from Tommy’s disappearance to the awkward reunion a few hours later—what stuck in her mind was that unexpected kiss she and Walker had shared.
    Why couldn’t she shake the memory? Was she so desperate for a little attention that any man’s kiss would have thrown her off-kilter like this? Maybe so. In fact, that had to be it. It had nothing at all to do with Walker