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boys as
Sheridan
had, Jamie had still been the one to get in the most trouble, the most scrapes, sustain the most injuries. That had been half the justification he’d used five years ago to convince him sending Jamie East would be a good thing. He’d rationalized at the time that the men would be better suited for Jamie there, and his brother had always been a lot more proper than even
Sheridan
.
    It seemed like the perfect solution, but he should have known that anything Jamie pushed for would end in disaster. Now it seemed so clear to him that’s just what happened. His little girl needed a man capable of keeping her safe, capable of controlling her. Whatever city gent Jamie had married obviously hadn’t been up to the task.
    How easy would it be to just give over to Brodie and let the man assume the role he should have taken five years ago?
    The click of the door knob shifting drew his attention up. He watched the vision his daughter had grown into enter the room with a confident, almost regal bearing she’d never possessed before. Jamie stepped over the threshold wearing an old calico dress Bridgette had left behind. Somehow, though, she turned the faded, warn garment into a sophisticated gown just with her posture and strut.
    “You look lovely, honey.”
Sheridan
rose to greet his daughter with a hug he just needed to have. “Absolutely beautiful.”
    “Thanks, Daddy.” Where normally a giggle or a smart comment would have crossed her lips, Jamie’s response held all the restraint of a woman unaffected by the compliment. Releasing him, Jamie offered up a true smile. “It feels really nice to be out of those dirty clothes.”
    Sheridan
sighed at that, wishing the conversation could stay pleasant, but knowing it wouldn’t. “About those dirty clothes, Jamie.”
    With a wrinkle of her nose, she separated from him, moving toward the window. “There isn’t half a story there. Not near what Brodie would have you believe.”
    “You know, darling, I couldn’t help but notice the way you were carrying on with him. It kind of made me wonder…”
    That had her head snapping to the side to pin him with a hard look. “Wonder what?”
    “You can act all cool and controlled now, but I saw that fire in your eyes when you were going at Brodie,”
Sheridan
argued before she could deny his statement. “I’m not the only one who you came back to see, am I, Jamie?”
    He caught a flash of something in her gaze, something dark and painful, before she turned back to staring at the fields beyond the plate of glass. “Brodie’s always been good at ticking me off. I wouldn’t read anything more into it than that.”
    She was being stubborn and
Sheridan
knew he wouldn’t get much further with Jamie on his own. It had been easier with the boys because he understood what they said, even when they didn’t say it aloud. Girls, though, were different.
    Bridgette and Jamie had never been competitive or aggressive with each other the way his boys had. Despite the wide differences in their dispositions, they’d always been closest of all his kids. Losing their mama had just tightened the bond and
Sheridan
knew that Jamie wrote more often to Bridgette than even him. Maybe that’s what she needs, her sister .
    “Fine, then. You don’t have to tell me,”
Sheridan
let the subject go. “You understand this, though, right here, right now, Jamie. You are in my house, and I wouldn’t be tolerating any more of your disrespect to my guest . Is that understood, young lady?”
    “Yes, Daddy.”
    She didn’t sound the least bit sincere and in all honesty,
Sheridan
really didn’t know what he’d do if she disobeyed. Jamie had outgrown spanking and as widow with money, he really didn’t have any say in her life. That didn’t change that he was her father, and he’d decide what was best for his daughter.
      “Okay then, tell me why you’re so mad at Brodie?”
    Even without him in the room, the man riled his daughter out of her