Free The Bridal Path: Danielle by Sherryl Woods Page A

he would rather avoid. After his conversation with Dani, though, he wondered if he’d be able to steer clear of it forever. Maybe it was time to bite the bullet and admit a few things about his past, about his sons’ heritage.
    “Because he’s a rancher,” he said eventually.
    Timmy’s eyes widened predictably. “Like Mr. Wilde?”
    “Exactly like Mr. Wilde,” he said with an edge of dry humor his son couldn’t possibly understand.
    “How come you’ve never told us that before?”
    “Because your grandfather and I don’t get along so well, so I don’t like to talk about him much.”
    “He’s still alive?” Timmy asked, disbelief written all over his face. “I figured he was dead.”
    “No, Duke Watkins is very much alive.”
    “Where does he live?”
    “In Texas.”
    “Can we go there sometime?” he pleaded, clearly oblivious to Slade’s distaste for the subject. “Not to ride horses or anything,” he added hurriedly. “Just to see our grandfather.”
    “I don’t know about that,” Slade said evasively.
    For once Timmy didn’t argue. He apparently had too many questions.
    “Do we have a grandmother, too?” he asked.
    Slade nodded.
    “Wow, awesome!” He hesitated. “Do you think they’d like me and Kevin?”
    Slade sighed, then said candidly, “They would adore you.”
    “Wow! Wait until I tell Kevin.”
    Before Slade could stop him, Timmy rushed from the room and clattered down the stairs, shouting for his brother. So much for old secrets, he thought with a sigh. His past was about to come out of the closet with a vengeance.
    He hoped like hell Dani would be satisfied at the can of worms she’d opened up by dragging the boys out to the ranch. Of course, he had a feeling that even if she’d known precisely what the outcome would be, she would have gone ahead with her plans anyway.
    But when the boys started clamoring for a trip to Texas, maybe he’d just send Dani along with them so she could get a firsthand look at what a real control freak looked like. Maybe then she’d come to appreciate her own father’s far more mild-mannered form of meddling.
    * * *
    As distraught as Timmy had been the night before over embarrassing himself in front of Dani, Slade decided he had no choice but to go with the boys on Saturday when they planned to hold the yard sale at Dani’s. When he saw relief wash over Timmy’s face he was glad he’d reached that decision. Apparently a little fatherly moral support was just what he needed to face Dani again.
    They arrived precisely as planned at seven o’clock. The yard sale had been advertised around town on handmade posters, with a scheduled start time of eight. Already, though, Dani looked besieged. Half a dozen cars were parked at the curb, the occupants looking like an anxious swarm of locusts.
    The Bleecker boys were struggling to get their card table opened and ready for the lemonade sale. Two identical twin boys, Dirk and Kirk Hinson, their mouths covered with chocolate frosting, looked as if they’d already eaten up most of the potential profits from the cupcake sale. Only that daylong trip to Three-Stars had probably saved them from being eaten straight out of the oven two days ago.
    “Thank goodness you’re here,” Dani said, pausing long enough to hug both boys. The look she exchanged with Slade was so frazzled, so unexpectedly vulnerable that he concluded right then he would have fought dragons for her.
    “Did this get just the teensiest bit out of hand?” he inquired, very glad he’d insisted they leave Pirate at home that morning. The dog would have been the last straw. Dani might very well have flipped out right before his eyes with Pirate chasing everyone in sight.
    “Don’t gloat,” she warned. “Just start carting those boxes in the garage out to the lawn. And if one single person gets out of a car, belt them.”
    “Is that how you’ve held them at bay up until now?”
    “I waved my shotgun at the first car. Word spread,”