In the morning, she didn’t have a chance to act on any of the myriad possibilities that had occurred to her. When she and Jenny got to White Pines, Harlan was nowhere to be found. It was Cody who waited for them on the front porch.

“Come on, short stuff,” he said to Jenny, who brightened immediately. “You and I are going out to look for stray calves this morning.”

“Oh, wow!” Jenny said, clearly pleased to be asked to help her idol with such an important task. It was the first time Janet had seen a smile on her face since their argument the night before.

“Where’s your father?” Janet asked Cody, hoping that her heart wasn’t sitting in plain view on her sleeve.

He shrugged. “Beats me. He left me a note to take Jenny with me today. Didn’t say where he was heading or when he’d be back. He took his plane, though. He might have had business over in Dallas or something.”

“Oh.” Janet fought against the tide of disappointment that washed through her as Cody headed over to the two horses he’d saddled and had tethered to a fence rail. She should have been relieved, but she wasn’t. She brushed a kiss across Jenny’s forehead, ignoring her daughter’s embarrassed protest. “Have a good day, pumpkin. See you tonight.”

“Yeah, Mom. Bye,” Jenny said, already rushing off to keep up with Cody’s long strides.

Feeling abandoned on all fronts, Janet stood where she was until Cody and Jenny had ridden off. Only after they’d gone did she admit to herself that she would rather have had Harlan screaming at her than ignoring her this way. There was little doubt in her mind that he’d deliberately made it a point not to be at home this morning.

Maybe he really had had unexpected business to take care of, just as Cody had suggested, she consoled herself as she drove into town. Right, she scoffed right back. Without telling Cody the details? No way. He was very careful not to step on his son’s managerial toes. No, the truth of it was, he was avoiding her because his discovery of her treachery was eating at him.

She resigned herself to waiting until Harlan turned up again before settling matters between them. The delay wouldn’t make much difference. She doubted she’d have any clearer an idea how to handle it hours or days from now than she did right this minute.