Read The Bridal Path: Danielle for Free Online
Authors: Sherryl Woods
been at their age.
He thought back to his own childhood. He’d had exactly the wrong sort of personality for the son of a blustery Texas rancher. It had been a bone of contention between them for years, until his father had required a little computer help to organize his growing business interests. Since then a grudging sort of respect had sprung up between them. Even so, it was easier on both of them if they simply avoided each other. He hadn’t been back to Texas in years now. He missed his mother, but not much else.
He grinned at Timmy and Kevin. “You look very handsome,” he assured them.
Relief spread across their faces. “You’re sure?” Timmy asked.
“Very sure.”
“She’s coming,” Kevin announced, racing toward the front door and slamming it open. Pirate dashed out, barking and leaping into the air, convincing Slade that he’d been a circus dog in some previous life or perhaps even before they’d picked him up from an animal shelter.
“Right here, Dani,” Kevin shouted as if she weren’t already parked in their driveway and being besieged by their dog.
Slade watched as both of his boys practically tumbled down the front steps as they ran to greet her. Before he could wonder how she had conquered their hearts so easily, he saw her hunker down to their level and admire their slicked-back hair, their red shirts and their brand-new sneakers. She did it so naturally, so sincerely it made Slade’s heart ache. That was it, of course. The boys craved a woman’s praise, a woman’s warmth and tenderness. They would have gravitated to any woman who offered it so freely.
He sighed as he watched the three of them. That was the one thing he could never give them, no matter how hard he tried. After he had failed so miserably to make Amanda happy, he had vowed never again to move into a relationship in which he would be so completely out of his depth. He understood the complexities of computers far more readily than he did those of women. There would never be another marriage. Never.
Perhaps, though, the boys would be content enough with a woman like Danielle Wilde in their lives, a surrogate mother who would generously give them all the things he couldn’t. Of course, he was jumping to the conclusion that she would be willing to accept such a role in their lives.
He reassured himself that the conclusion was based on sound evidence. After all, she had welcomed them into her home without a qualm, even after that abysmal introduction and the destruction of all those pies. In fact, she had seemed so eager to have them around that Slade had almost felt as if he were doing her a favor, instead of the other way around.
He thought about that off and on all during dinner, as he silently sat back and watched her interaction with Timmy and Kevin. Why did a woman who so obviously adored children have none of her own? How had the men of Riverton missed noticing the way she lit up a room with her smile? Or the way light caught the sparks of red in her brown hair, giving it a rich, burnished sheen?
Slade shook off the unexpected and very male sensations stirring inside him. Surely this wasn’t the reason he’d issued that impulsive invitation a few hours earlier. Surely he’d done it for his sons, not himself. Danielle Wilde was the last woman a man should consider having a fling with. As briefly as he’d known her, he recognized that she was all about permanence, all about settling down and forever.
No, she was definitely not the woman for him.
And yet, he couldn’t deny that there was more laughter that night than he’d heard since they had moved into this beautiful old house. That, he finally realized with a sense of amazement, was what had been missing–the laughter.
He was stunned when he glanced at his watch and realized it was already after ten, well past the boys’ bedtime and too late for the computer lesson that had been the ostensible reason for the invitation.
“Okay, you two, bedtime,”
He thought back to his own childhood. He’d had exactly the wrong sort of personality for the son of a blustery Texas rancher. It had been a bone of contention between them for years, until his father had required a little computer help to organize his growing business interests. Since then a grudging sort of respect had sprung up between them. Even so, it was easier on both of them if they simply avoided each other. He hadn’t been back to Texas in years now. He missed his mother, but not much else.
He grinned at Timmy and Kevin. “You look very handsome,” he assured them.
Relief spread across their faces. “You’re sure?” Timmy asked.
“Very sure.”
“She’s coming,” Kevin announced, racing toward the front door and slamming it open. Pirate dashed out, barking and leaping into the air, convincing Slade that he’d been a circus dog in some previous life or perhaps even before they’d picked him up from an animal shelter.
“Right here, Dani,” Kevin shouted as if she weren’t already parked in their driveway and being besieged by their dog.
Slade watched as both of his boys practically tumbled down the front steps as they ran to greet her. Before he could wonder how she had conquered their hearts so easily, he saw her hunker down to their level and admire their slicked-back hair, their red shirts and their brand-new sneakers. She did it so naturally, so sincerely it made Slade’s heart ache. That was it, of course. The boys craved a woman’s praise, a woman’s warmth and tenderness. They would have gravitated to any woman who offered it so freely.
He sighed as he watched the three of them. That was the one thing he could never give them, no matter how hard he tried. After he had failed so miserably to make Amanda happy, he had vowed never again to move into a relationship in which he would be so completely out of his depth. He understood the complexities of computers far more readily than he did those of women. There would never be another marriage. Never.
Perhaps, though, the boys would be content enough with a woman like Danielle Wilde in their lives, a surrogate mother who would generously give them all the things he couldn’t. Of course, he was jumping to the conclusion that she would be willing to accept such a role in their lives.
He reassured himself that the conclusion was based on sound evidence. After all, she had welcomed them into her home without a qualm, even after that abysmal introduction and the destruction of all those pies. In fact, she had seemed so eager to have them around that Slade had almost felt as if he were doing her a favor, instead of the other way around.
He thought about that off and on all during dinner, as he silently sat back and watched her interaction with Timmy and Kevin. Why did a woman who so obviously adored children have none of her own? How had the men of Riverton missed noticing the way she lit up a room with her smile? Or the way light caught the sparks of red in her brown hair, giving it a rich, burnished sheen?
Slade shook off the unexpected and very male sensations stirring inside him. Surely this wasn’t the reason he’d issued that impulsive invitation a few hours earlier. Surely he’d done it for his sons, not himself. Danielle Wilde was the last woman a man should consider having a fling with. As briefly as he’d known her, he recognized that she was all about permanence, all about settling down and forever.
No, she was definitely not the woman for him.
And yet, he couldn’t deny that there was more laughter that night than he’d heard since they had moved into this beautiful old house. That, he finally realized with a sense of amazement, was what had been missing–the laughter.
He was stunned when he glanced at his watch and realized it was already after ten, well past the boys’ bedtime and too late for the computer lesson that had been the ostensible reason for the invitation.
“Okay, you two, bedtime,”