Heiress for Hire (Cuttersville #2)(35)
Author: Erin McCarthy

Willie scowled at her husband. "Daniel, why don’t you see if you can find Danny? And you only need five plates, Amanda, not six."

She felt like sticking her tongue out, but restrained herself— which was amazing considering she was starving and without coffee. "One is for Anita, Piper’s friend."

"Is that a friend from around here?" Willie looked surprised. "What’s her last name?"

"She doesn’t have one," Piper said, still clinging to Amanda’s leg like a bony Post-it note.

"She’s invisible," Amanda explained.

Willie’s jaw dropped. She looked ready to speak. Then thought better of it. "Well. I see. What part of the chicken does she like? Leg or thigh?"

"I’m a breast man, myself," Daniel said from the doorway, on his way out.

Willie looked even more astonished, if that were possible. "Daniel Tucker, what has gotten into you?"

"What?" Daniel turned and gave her an innocent shrug, but he ruined it by winking at both Amanda and Piper.

Piper giggled. And Amanda smiled, despite her determination to be miserable.

This Daniel Tucker was just as cute and charming as his son.

"Look at that." Daniel stepped to the side. "Found him already."

And Daniel Tucker, Jr., filled the doorway.

He was sweaty, lifting his baseball cap off his head to mop his forehead with a T-shirt sleeve.

Piper left Amanda’s leg and ran over to him. "Hi!" she said, with an enthusiasm Amanda couldn’t have imagined she’d show a week ago. "We’re having lunch."

Danny’s face lit up at the sight of his daughter. He smiled, wide, all the way from one side of his tanned face to the other. And despite his sweat, and standing in the doorway, Danny bent over and grabbed her at the waist.

He tossed her up in the air and settled her against his chest, her legs straight down and his arms resting at the back of her thighs. "Did you save any for me?"

Piper wiggled her loose tooth with a finger and giggled. "We didn’t even start yet."

With a loud smacking kiss on the top of her head, Danny set her back down. "Good."

And Amanda had to look away, had to busy herself with grabbing paper napkins out of the little wooden holder on the counter. She was happy for Piper and Danny. Painfully happy for them.

But she was also suddenly aware of how completely and totally alone she was.

They were a family, and she was the rich girl intruding in their lives. She was temporary, just a small, tiny part of one short summer, and ten years from then no one would even remember her or give her a second thought.

And God, that hurt. That hurt more than she could have ever possibly imagined.

She wasn’t important to anyone.

Except maybe her personal shopper at Neiman-Marcus.

Danny was still embarrassed about that kiss. Part of him wanted to take it back. Part of him wanted to forget about practicality and repeat it, without clothes this time.

But considering that Amanda looked like she could chew through a tractor tire, he didn’t think she’d go for a repeat performance.

It was an odd experience, eating lunch with his parents and his daughter, her imaginary friend, and one very pissed-off heiress.

Equal parts elation and agony.

Piper was in a really good mood, putting away a whole chicken leg and picking all the potato chunks out of the potato salad, carefully avoiding the onion bits. He felt warm and fuzzy every time he looked at her.

Then he’d glance at Amanda, and she’d freeze him with an arctic glare.

Clearly, he needed to make some kind of amends.

"So, Mom, did Amanda tell you she’s going to paint Piper’s bedroom? Pink, right, Amanda? Then Brady Stritmeyer’s going to paint butterflies on it to match Piper’s new comforter that arrived this morning."

"White," Amanda said.

"Huh?" He just stared at her, sitting across the table from him. She was between his parents, definitely leaning toward his father and away from his mother.

"I’m painting the walls white."

It was hard to get that out through those pursed lips, but she managed it. Then she shot him a glare before giving Piper a brilliant smile.

"That sounds like something special," his father said to Piper. "You’ll have to show us your new things after lunch."

Piper looked up from carefully skinning her second chicken leg and nodded. Using a knife and fork, she slit with the precision of a surgeon.

Danny glanced back at Amanda. She was wearing that orange dress that looked like a bathing suit cover-up to him. It was a soft, towel material and just came to the top of her br**sts. He wasn’t really sure what held it in place, but he was pretty damn certain she couldn’t be wearing a bra.

That wasn’t a good road to travel down with his family sitting around the table. He focused on the color. It was a really bright melon orange. His mother was wearing lime green to Amanda’s left.

"You know, Mom, you and Amanda look like a couple of scoops of sherbet sitting next to each other."

His father and Piper laughed, but neither of the women looked all that amused by his wit.

Willie stood up. "I’ll get the dishes."

Amanda still had a piece of chicken in her mouth when his mother whisked her plate out from under her.

"Mom, I don’t think…"

"You think?" Amanda said under her breath.

Now that was uncalled for. What had he done, besides kiss her? He tried to take it back—what more did she want?

"Danny, why don’t you take Amanda with you and feed the chickens some of these scraps?" His father rested his arm on the back of Piper’s chair and drilled his eyes into him. "Your mother and I are going to see Piper’s new things, then we’ll walk over to the farmhouse and get some dessert."

"I don’t think…" Danny said.

"That’s a good idea," his mother chimed in, looking a little gleeful as she started to scrape the leftover food off their plates and into an empty coffee can she’d unearthed from under the sink.

"Chickens?" Amanda said, lip curling up to reveal a hunk of white meat between her teeth. She took her napkin and spit it out, as delicately as was possible given it was a paper napkin and she’d been chewing for a minute or two already.

Piper jumped up. "What kind of dessert?"

"Peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream." His mother shoved the coffee can at him. "Watch out for Rudy. He’s been cranky lately."

"Are you okay if I walk over to the chicken coop with

Amanda?" Danny asked Piper. "You’ll be able to see us out the window the whole time." He couldn’t imagine Amanda wanted to toss rolls at a bunch of hens, but it would give him a minute alone with her to try and clear things up between them.