Heiress for Hire (37 page)

"Mark was here," Amanda said in a low voice. "But we're okay."

Danny stood up, Piper in his arms, making low shushing noises to her. Anger settled over him, cold and furious. "What did he want?"

"Apparently he wants to dispute your custody of the child," the sheriff said. "Only when he tried to take her, your girlfriend here wouldn't let him."

Kissing the top of Piper's head, Danny looked at the bruise on Amanda's cheek. "He hit you?" he asked in outrage.

She nodded, looking nervous.

"Are you okay?"

Amanda nodded again.

He wanted to say exactly what he thought of a motherfucker who would hit a woman, and in front of a child, no less, but he couldn't while holding Piper. Turning to the sheriff, he asked, "Did you arrest him for hitting her? Trespassing? Attempted kidnapping? Piper is my biological daughter, and he does not have legal custody. My lawyer can tell you that. I'm in the middle of petitioning for permanent full custody. Mark was just her stepfather, and a verbally abusive one at that. Now that her mother is dead, she belongs with me."

Piper's shoulders started to shake, and Danny realized with horror that she was crying. In all this time, in the four weeks he'd had her, she had never cried. Not once. Not even when talking about her mother.

She pulled back from him now, and she was sobbing, her cheeks streaming with tears, her anguished breathing ripping his heart out of his chest. "It's okay, baby, it's okay. He's gone now, and we would never let him hurt you."

"I don't want to go back with him… I want to stay with you. Anita was really scared." Her words were punctuated by sobs that scraped and scratched at his raw emotions.

"You're never leaving me, understand? Never. You're my daughter. Forever. No one can take you away from me. You belong here with me and Grandma and Grandpa."

"And me." Amanda stood up, her shorts rumpled and her hair tangled. "I'm staying, Danny."

He shifted Piper's weight, lifting her higher, and stared at Amanda. Piper was cutting off his windpipe a little with her tight hold, but he didn't think he had passed out. This was real. Amanda was saying she was going to stay. With him.

Or for Piper? But they needed to talk about that later. In private. Danny turned and locked eyes with the sheriff, a middle-age man with a thick middle, a man Danny recognized as a volunteer coach for one of the local ball teams. "Can we wrap this up? I want some time alone with my daughter. She's been through hell."

Piper's crying had slowed, and she was giving dry, shuddery sighs, wiping her face on his T-shirt. "Dad, can you finish with the sheriff in the kitchen? And where's Mom? Amanda could use some ice on that cheek."

"She's at the outlet mall for the day, of all things."

"I'm fine," Amanda said, touching her fingertips to the purple mottled bruise.

"Lucky for him." His voice came out like a snarl.

The sheriff held out his hand. "Now don't be thinking about going after him yourself or anything foolish like that. I know you're upset, and rightly so, but let us handle this. We'll go have a talk with him."

"I have no intention of going after him." But if Mark ever set foot on Danny's land, or came near his daughter or his girlfriend or his parents, he'd shoot him. No questions asked. But he couldn't exactly say that in front of Piper.

Danny Tucker wasn't a violent man, and he was as easy-going as the day was long, but no one threatened his family.

And no one was taking Piper away from him.

The phone rang, and his father answered it. "It's the lawyer," he said, handing it to Danny.

With Piper still wrapped around him, he took the handset and had a brief conversation with the lawyer, outlining what he knew had happened. The lawyer mentioned a restraining order and a few other legal lines to take, and Danny authorized him to do whatever he needed to.

"All this mess today aside, I've got some really good news," Bill said.

"What's that?" Danny's arm was going numb from the position he was standing in, Piper in his arms and the phone propped with his ear. He could use good news.

"I put a call into the lab on the off-chance they'd have your re-suits back, given these new circumstances, and they do. They're ninety-nine point six percent certain Piper is your daughter. Which is definitely a match. She's yours, and I don't think we'll have any trouble getting a judge to give you full custody."

Danny closed his eyes. He'd known it was the truth. But it was such a relief to hear the facts proved it too. "Thank you. That is very good news."

When he hung up the phone he looked at Amanda. His father had taken the sheriff into the kitchen and was answering questions from the looks of it. Danny gave Amanda a grin. "DNA results came back. They're positive. She's my daughter, without a doubt."

Amanda stood up and put one hand on Piper's back and one on his arm. Her eyes were shining with tears. "That's awesome, Danny. That really makes a lousy afternoon better."

"What are you talking about?" Piper asked, peeling herself off his chest and leaning back to look at him. "What's positive?"

Danny kissed her forehead. "Remember when they took blood out of your arm and out of my arm? Well, they looked at both our blood and compared them. The patterns in yours match the patterns in mine, and that means you are definitely my daughter. It also means Mark can't ever come near you again without getting in trouble. No one can take you away from me."

She didn't say anything, just rested her head back on his shoulder. Danny knew he'd probably have to repeat those words many times. For both of their benefit.

"An hour later, the sheriff was gone, Willie had returned home, and Piper was tucked up on the couch between both her grandparents watching Scooby-Doo. She had a blanket and Baby draped over her, and she was licking a Popsicle.

Amanda figured Piper was going to be scared and nervous again for a few days, but with love and patience, they could convince her that she was safe and that she was staying on the farm with Danny forever.

And hopefully with Amanda too.

Danny hadn't exactly turned a cart-wheel when she'd said she wanted to stay. Granted, the timing had been lame, but she would have thought he could have at least mentioned it in the hour since. Which meant maybe he wasn't mentioning it because there wasn't anything to say besides whoops, changed my mind?

"I need a shower," he said to her in a low voice. "But I want to talk to you first. Can we go out on the deck?"

"Sure." She gave a shrug and tried to pretend her heart wasn't about to break like acrylic fingernails. One hit and snap! Right in half.

If Danny wanted to marry her, he didn't look the least bit romantic right now.

He looked dirty and sweaty. Tired and angry. Weary. Yet at peace when he looked at Piper.

The sun wasn't at an angle so the house could create shade. The deck was stifling hot, and Amanda remembered Danny saying it was supposed to rain. It would be welcome, in her opinion, trampling down some of the dust and taking the edge off the blistering heat. She kicked off her gym shoes and let her bare shoes spread on the warm wood.

"Weren't you going to put the corn in the silo this afternoon?" She didn't think he'd take a shower just to get all sweaty again,

"It can wait." He stood at the edge of the deck, leaning against the railing, looking out at the fields.

She moved next to him, gripping the wood and trying to see what he saw. "We need that rain, don't we?" Even she could tell the plants were starting to strain, brown around the edges, wilting under the crushing heat. It had been weeks since it had rained.

"Yep." He turned and moved in close. His hand took her chin, tilted it. He studied the bruise on her cheek, his lips tight and white. "Are you really okay? I'm so sorry he hurt you."

The feather-light touch of his finger across her swollen lip, up to the tender flesh under her cheekbone, made her shiver. "Yes, I'm fine. But did you hear me, Danny, when I said I wanted to stay?"

Maybe it was wrong to ask, needy and grasping, or shrewish and demanding, but the truth was, she just needed to know. She needed to hear what her future was going to be, and for all his enthusiasm that morning, he seemed reticent. Thoughtful.

"How do you want to stay?"

She didn't understand the question. It seemed like what she was saying should be obvious. He had told her he wanted her to stay, as his wife. She was telling him she would. "What do you mean?"

His eyes were opaque, shuttered. When she caressed the front of his shirt, she noticed that his shoulders slumped in fatigue.

"Amanda. Staying will be a big sacrifice for you. Do you want to because you love me, or is this because you love my daughter?"

That he would be the one doubting, feeling vulnerable, amazed her. "I love you, and I would even if there was no Piper. I love Piper, and I would even if you were a complete jerk. The two don't have anything to do with each other." She gripped his chest, shook him a little so he'd get the point.

Danny covered her hand with his. He shook his head. "I don't have any money and can't buy you fancy gifts or take you around the world."

That was irrelevant, because she had enough money for all of them. And even if she didn't, and Danny couldn't stomach the idea of a wealthy wife buying him things, she would give the damn money away. If she had learned anything in twenty-five years, it was that money wasn't worth much if you didn't have anyone to share it with.

Daddy Warbucks knew that, and now so did she. She liked expensive things, had been raised to always have access to them, but at the end of the day, you can't curl up with your Prada pumps. At least not without taking an eye out.

"Danny…" How did she explain what he had given her? That he had softened her jaded edges and coaxed a trust from her that she hadn't thought could ever exist again after Logan?

Before she could speak, he did the unthinkable. He dropped to

one knee, her hand still in his. "I can't give you the world, Amanda Delmar, but I'm offering you my heart, my friendship, my land. And my daughter. Will you marry me?"

Oh, God, oh, God. He was on his knee. Amanda's hand shook, pure joy rising up in her, tears queuing up to drop.

"I'm not Veruca Salt, you know, the bratty heiress from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I don't want the whole world. I never did. I just want a little love and a family." And the fact that she could say that out loud in front of Danny without him criticizing her as trite and simplistic was further evidence that he was the man for her. He understood what she was asking for, what she had been missing.

Danny stood back up and cupped her uninjured cheek. "You've got a boatload of love and a family, if you want it. I love you, Piper adores you, and my parents think I'm stupid for not proposing sooner. Of course, technically this is the third time I've asked you to marry me, and I'm hoping the third time's the charm. I'm starting to get a complex."

She laughed, a teary, blubbery, happy laugh. "Yes, I'll marry you. Right this minute if you want."

Danny kissed her, a pure, passionate, promise-filled kiss that made her toes curls and her heart sigh.

A few delicious minutes later, Danny pulled back and studied her. "You sure you're not going to mind being stuck here in Cut-tersville? Once Piper starts school, you'll be on your own all day. Maybe you can get a job or something."

The horror. She'd seen what working for minimum wage was like and she'd pass, thanks. "I'd rather stay here and dust, if you don't mind. And I might look into breeding poodles. That would be fun, having more dogs."