“Then you’ll listen,” she said. But once Jenny had reluctantly sprawled in a chair in the living room, she had no idea what to say. She wasn’t even entirely sure why her daughter was so furious. She could hazard a guess, though.

“Look, I know you like to think of Mr. Adams as the enemy,” she began. “But he’s not. And there’s no need for you to concern yourself that I’ll marry him, anyway, because I turned him down.”

Jenny shot her a look of disgust. “Jeez, Mom, don’t you think I know that? I heard everything.”

“Well, then, why are you acting as if I’ve gone over to the enemy?”

“You’ve got it all wrong. I think you’re making the worst mistake of your life, if you don’t marry him.”

Janet’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

“I know why you’re turning him down, though. It’s not because of all that stuff about Lone Wolf and the land.”

“Of course it is,” Janet insisted.

“It is not. Not really. He told you that stuff didn’t matter to him anyway. You’re saying no because of your own stupid pride.”

The accusation stung, not because it was unjustified, but because somewhere deep inside it rang all too true. “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” she said stiffly.

“Oh, puh-leeze!” Jenny retorted. “When you left Daddy, you swore you’d show him you could stand on your own two feet. You’re afraid if he hears you’re marrying some rich guy, he’ll think you’ve sold out.”

Before Janet could gather her wits to react to that, Jenny went on.

“Do you think it even matters to him what we’re doing?” she said with adolescent bitterness. “He never calls. He never comes to see us. The only time you hear anything at all is when he sends a child support check. I think you’d tear that up, if you could.”

It was true. Only the awareness that the money belonged to Jenny kept her from doing just that. Every cent was in an account in her daughter’s name, meant for her college education.

“So what’s your point?”

“Just that you’re afraid if you marry anyone, much less a guy like Harlan Adams, Daddy will see it as an admission that you couldn’t make it on your own. Like he really cares,” she said with more of that angry sarcasm Janet had never heard before.

Feeling both bemused and under attack, she asked carefully, “Do you want me to marry Harlan?”