“I want you to be happy, Mom. It’s all I ever wanted. And Harlan’s a pretty cool guy. I knew that the minute he caught me after I stole his truck. He didn’t freak out, like some guys would have. I’ve been pretty rotten sometimes since and he hasn’t hated me for that, either.”

She shrugged. “Maybe I was testing him, to see if he’d be like Daddy and abandon me just because I wasn’t behaving suitably.” The last was said in precisely her father’s judgmental tone.

Janet sighed heavily. At last the reason behind Jenny’s behavior for the past few months was coming clear. She’d lost her father, even when her behavior had been exemplary. She’d been testing, not just Harlan, but before that, Janet herself, to see if they would abandon her at the first sign of trouble. Now her gaze was fixed anxiously on Janet’s face. “So, will you at least think about it?”

“I’ll think about it,” she promised.

She did little else for the next twenty-four hours. By morning, she thought she had figured out a way to prove to Harlan that it was him—and him alone—she loved.

15

When Harlan turned up to take Janet to lunch the next day, he sensed right away that something had changed. He couldn’t tell exactly what it was, just a bit more color in her cheeks, maybe a glint of confidence in her eyes.

“I have some papers here for you to sign,” she said when he walked through the door.

He frowned at her businesslike tone. Was she about to get into the land ownership issue, after all? Had she found some blasted loophole she hadn’t admitted to the last time they’d talked?

“What sort of papers?” he asked suspiciously.

“It’s a legal agreement.”

His wariness doubled. “Who are you representing?”

“Myself.”

His heart slammed against his ribs. So it was about the land.

“Suing me, are you?” he asked, keeping his voice light, when he wanted to lay into her at the top of his lungs for spoiling everything, for not trusting him to do what was right.

Her mouth curved into a sensuous smile that made his heart go still. If that smile had anything to do with a land deal, he’d eat his hat. But what, then?

“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” she taunted. “You’re never one to back down from a good fight.”

“Gets the juices flowing, that’s for sure.” He reached for the papers and began to read. His eyes widened at the first line. “A prenuptial agreement? What the hell is this for?”

“It’s an agreement between you and me, before marriage, guaranteeing that I won’t take a dime of your money if the marriage ever breaks up.”