turned to Laurie who hid her goodies behind her back.
“I think you’re gonna have to fend for yourself. It really isn’t very hard to fill your plate with food. Here, let me show you.” Tory demonstrated how, by putting a piece of chicken on her paper plate, followed by a scoop of coleslaw then fruit salad.
“How about a cookie? Dessert is the most important food here, in my opinion. That’s why I volunteered to bring it. I know a bakery that makes the best cookies I’ve ever eaten.” Slade inched his hand toward the plate.
Tory gently tapped him on the knuckles with a plastic spoon. “You’re supposed to be setting an example.”
Slade grinned. “I thought I was supposed to be eating lunch.”
“Is your dad always this ornery?” Tory exaggerated a stern look.
Mindy bent over in laughter.
He quirked a brow. “I don’t believe that’s a compliment.”
“Well, at least you’re astute.”
“Mindy, come to your dad’s defense,” Slade said while plucking up the last chicken leg and waving it like a sword.
Mindy and Laurie continued to giggle.
“No help there,” he muttered, and dumped the last of the coleslaw onto his plate. When he took a bite of the chicken, he smacked his lips and said, “Mmm. This is better than my mother can fix.”
Tory nodded, saying, “Thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Of course,” he continued as though she hadn’t spoken, “my mother has never fried a chicken in her whole life.” He looked innocently at Tory while putting a spoonful of coleslaw into his mouth. “And this is as good as Aunt—”
Tory held up her hand to stop him. “I think I’ve had enough of your compliments for the day.”
For the next ten minutes everyone ate their lunch to the sounds of the geese honking across the pond. Mindy craned her neck to see what was going on while cramming a cookie into her mouth, then snatching up another one.
Laurie stood and moved toward the water. “They’re chasing away a beaver.”
Mindy struggled to her feet. “Bea-ver?”
“There’s a family on the other side. They dammed the stream that feeds into the pond and have built their home there.”
“Can we go look?” Laurie asked.
“Can we?” Mindy stood next to her friend, observing the commotion across the pond.
“Let me finish eating and I’ll go—”
“Dad-dy, I can—go a-lone.” Mindy straightened her shoulders and lifted her head.
Slade threw a glance toward Tory, one brow arched in question.
“Stay away from the edge of the pond and stay on the path,” Tory said.
When the girls started toward the other side, Slade came to his feet to keep an eye on their progress. “Are you sure they’ll be all right?”
“They’ll be fine. The path is wide, worn and level.”
Slade bent and picked up his paper plate to finish eating his lunch while he observed Mindy. “You probably think I’m being overprotective, but I don’t want anything else to happen to my daughter.”
“You’re doing what you think is right.”
“It’s the parents’ job to protect their children. I let her down once. I won’t do it again.” Slade popped the last bit of food into his mouth.
“Mindy doesn’t feel that way. She thinks you’re terrific.”
“She talks about me?” Slade dropped his empty plate into the trash bag, then lounged against the tree, his arms folded over his chest, his legs crossed.
“All the time.”
Both of his brows rose, his sky-blue eyes growing round. “And?”
“She wishes you didn’t have to work all the time.”
“So do I, but all her doctor bills and therapy cost a lot of money. I want the very best for Mindy. Hopefully after my company’s expansion is complete, I’ll have more time for my daughter.”
There was so much Tory wanted to say to Slade, but his look didn’t encourage further discussion. She didn’t have the right to interfere, even if she had come to love Mindy like a daughter. “Have you heard from Mrs. Watson? Will she be back soon?”
A scowl darkened the expression on his face. “No.”
“Is there a problem with her niece or the baby?”
“Everyone’s fine. The problem is she now wants to stay and take care of her niece’s baby. She feels her family has to come first and her niece can’t find good arrangements for the baby. I know she’s right, but still—” He clamped his mouth closed on the rest of his words.
Tory pushed to her feet. “What are you going to do now?”
Slade stared at his daughter on the other side of the pond, his brows slashing downward. “I don’t know. I have to find another housekeeper, which I know won’t be easy. I felt so lucky when I found Mrs. Watson.”
“I’ll be glad to watch Mindy until you get a new one.”
“I can’t—” He stopped midsentence and looked back at Tory. “Are you sure you don’t mind? Because frankly, if you do, I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”
“This past week with Mindy has been great. I enjoy the company and she loves working with the animals. She’s even taken to the cat and her new litter that lives in the barn.”
“No wonder she’s been pestering me about getting a cat.”
“She’s named all the kittens, and after feeding and grooming Mirabelle, that’s where she goes next to check up on them.”
“I just found out yesterday about Mrs. Watson not returning. I haven’t had a chance to get in touch with the agency yet, but I will first thing tomorrow. I promise I’ll get someone as soon as possible. In the meantime, I’ll pay you for taking care of Mindy.”
She could use the money, but for some reason she couldn’t find herself accepting payment for something she wanted to do. Taking care of Mindy was important to her—an act of love. “No. Mindy is giving me as much as I’m giving her.”
“But—”
A shout from across the pond snatched the rest of Slade’s protest. He whipped about, every line in his body taut.
Chapter Four
Slade sprinted forward. Tory whirled around, her heart thumping against her chest. Mindy had fallen at the edge of the pond and now sat waist-deep in the water. Her scream of surprise turned to giggles as Laurie plopped down beside her and began splashing her.
Slade slowed to a jog. The tension in his body eased. Tory scooped up two kitchen towels she’d brought, the only thing she had to dry off the girls with, and hurried after Slade, thanking God the whole way that the children were all right.
When Slade halted near Mindy, she paused in her water fight with Laurie, looked at her friend, then they both began pelting Slade. The astonishment on his face made Tory laugh. She stood back from the girls, out of their reach, trying to contain her laughter. She couldn’t.
Slade stepped back, tossing a glance over his shoulder at Tory. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, Miss Alexander.” Water dripped from his face and hair, soaking his shirt. Beneath his mocked exasperation his eyes danced with amusement.
“Yes, I am.” Tory brought her hand up to cover