The Bridal Path: Danielle Read Online Free Page B

programs.”
    “Fancy that,” Trent said.
    He looked a little too fascinated for Dani’s liking. She jumped in. “Well, I’m sure Mr. Watkins would like to get to work, Daddy. We should let him go.”
    Amusement lit her father’s eyes. “Don’t rush the man off, Dani. We were just getting acquainted.” He turned back to Slade. “I can’t say that I know too much about computers, but I’d be mighty interested in seeing what you do sometime.”
    Before Slade could reply, he added, “Maybe now, if it’s not too much of an imposition.”
    The very thought of her father going off with Slade Watkins made Dani’s blood run cold. “You can’t,” she blurted at once.
    Both men stared at her.
    “Why the devil not?” her father demanded.
    Heaven help her, Dani thought, as she said, “Because I need you here.”
    Her father seemed intrigued by that, especially since she’d been declaring her independence from him for the past decade. She hadn’t accepted so much as advice on snow shoveling in all that time. Not that that had kept him from offering unsolicited advice on every subject imaginable.
    “Really?” he said. “To do what?”
    “You can supervise while the boys scrub the porch.”
    Her father’s eyes sparkled with merriment. “That would be the porch stained with blueberries?”
    “That’s the one.”
    He turned back to Slade and shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to do it another time.”
    Dani noticed that Slade appeared almost as relieved as she was. Apparently he’d detected all those fatherly undercurrents, too.
    “You’re welcome anytime,” he assured her father politely before his gaze settled on Dani again. “Are you sure…?”
    “If you ask me that one more time, I’m going to be insulted,” Dani told him. “Go on to work and don’t worry about a thing. Anything I can’t handle, I’m sure Daddy can.” She shot a pointed look at her father. “He’s always wanted a houseful of little boys to mold in his own image.”
    “I’ll be back by five,” Slade promised. “Unless you need me before then.”
    “Five will be just fine,” she said, wondering how she’d live through the hours until she caught the next glimpse of him. Lordy, but just the sight of the man was addictive. What would happen if they turned out to be compatible, too? Her body would probably go up in flames from internal combustion.
    When Slade had finally departed with obvious reluctance, her father gazed at her. “Interesting man, wouldn’t you say?”
    “Yes,” Dani said, then briskly turned her attention to the boys. “Let’s get busy with the porch, shall we?” She beamed at her father. “Daddy, I was serious. You can supervise.”
    “I figured you made that up just to keep me from chasing after your young man.”
    Dani shot a worried look at the boys. Fortunately they weren’t paying any attention. They were trying to coax Pirate into chasing a Frisbee.
    “Slade is not my young man.”
    “Whatever,” her father said. “At any rate, I thought I’d run on over to visit Ashley for a bit. See how things are coming with that fool business she’s started up. Whoever heard of making money by teaching women how to fix their faces?”
    If Dani had ever suffered from sibling rivalry or a desire for revenge, she would have let him go, but she figured her sister deserved a break just this once. Besides, keeping him here might break the gossip chain, at least until suppertime when he went back to the ranch.
    “I need you here,” she insisted.
    “In a pig’s eye,” he retorted. “But I’ll stay.” He grinned at the boys, who’d given up on getting Pirate’s attention. “Can’t have a woman getting herself all mussed up doing men’s work, can we?”
    Timmy and Kevin seemed intrigued by the notion that the scrubbing they were about to do qualified as “men’s work.” Dani left the three of them with buckets of sudsy water, stiff brushes and the hose. Pirate finally roused himself from his