Marrying a Delacourt by Sherryl Woods

really. Grace is still looking into some things.”
    “You need any help, White Pines is crawling with good-hearted people who love to meddle. Wouldn’t hurt to have Justin Adams on your side. He’s the sheriff. And, like I said, Harlan is a man you can always count on to sort out something that’s gottencomplicated. His wife knows the ins and outs of the law as well as anyone I’ve ever seen.”
    “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
    Slade slanted a look his way. “I could bring my daughter Annie along tomorrow, if you like. She’s a little older than Josh. I think they’d get along okay. And she knows all the other kids around here. She’d be happy to take these two under her wing and introduce them around. She knows what it’s like to be an outsider. She had a rough patch when she first came to live with me, but she’s adapted real well now.”
    Michael shook his head at that. “Until Grace and I come up with a plan, the fewer people who know about Josh and Jamie the better. Bring Annie, by all means, but let’s keep it at that for the time being.”
    Slade nodded. “See you tomorrow, then.” He touched a finger to his Stetson, then left for one last word with Jamie and Josh before taking off.
    “What were you and Mr. Sutton talking about?” Jamie asked when they finally returned from the barn after putting out feed for the horses.
    “How well you’re doing,” Michael told him.
    “He really said we were doing good?” Josh asked excitedly. “Did you know he was a rodeo champion before his leg got busted up? If he says we’re good, that’s, like, the best.”
    “Well, that’s what he said. And I’ve noticed how responsible you’re being about taking care of the horses. I’m proud of you both.”
    “A cowboy’s supposed to treat his horse right,” Jamie retorted.
    He said it as if it were a simple matter of doingwhat was expected, as if their behavior were nothing special. But despite his words, it seemed to Michael that he stood a little taller because of the praise. He had to wonder how often anyone had bothered to tell the boy what he was doing right, rather than all the things he was doing wrong.
    “Can we go inside and tell Grace about the lesson?” Josh pleaded.
    Michael nodded, amazed to discover that he was almost as anxious as the boys to share the excitement with Grace. Once he had wanted to share everything with her, but long conversations about anything and everything had soon fallen by the wayside, lost to the demands of his position at Delacourt Oil and her studies in law school across the state.
    “Let’s go,” he said. “But you’d better let me peek in the door first so we make sure we’re not spoiling the big surprise.”
    “Yeah, that’s right,” Josh said. “She promised us something real special.”
    “Don’t go getting all worked up,” Jamie cautioned him. “It’s probably just pot roast or something.”
    “But I love pot roast,” Josh said.
    “Yeah, but it’s not a real surprise,” Jamie countered. “It’s just dinner.”
    Michael stayed out of the squabble, but he had a hunch the surprise was more than a good meal. Grace had been too excited.
    “Stay right here on the back deck,” Michael instructed the two of them. “I’ll let you know if it’s okay to come inside.”
    As soon as he was certain they would stay put, heslipped into the house. He was struck at once by the aromas drifting from the direction of the kitchen, most of them enticing, though he thought he also detected something that might have been burnt sugar. Given that and the muttered cursing, he approached cautiously.
    “Everything okay in here?” he inquired, drawing a startled look from the woman bent over in front of the oven. Her cheeks were streaked with flour and flushed from the heat, wisps of hair had curled against her forehead and her eyes flashed with indignation at whatever it was she’d been staring at in the oven. He thought she had never looked more