Daphne puffed out her cheeks with a heavy breath. “I wish more people were like Charity John. But they’re not. Some get so set in their ways they can’t accept any kind of change at all. And some are just so entitled. Yesterday, when you won the crown, there was some grumbling about how you hadn’t even entered, and you didn’t deserve to be Miss Bronco.”
“I heard some of that. Randall John shouted it right out.” She shrugged. “You have to admit, he kind of has a point.”
Daphne gave her a sideways look. “So you’re not upset about that stuff?”
“No, I’m not. Ididn’tenter. It’s completely logical that some people would be pissed off about that. For a half second or so, I even considered stepping down.”
Daphne gasped. “What? No! Don’t do that.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not. All the Bronco old guard will have to get over themselves. I’ve got Charity on my side, and all my Young Adventurers are looking to me to stand up and be counted for fairness and change.”
“Excellent. That’s what I needed to hear.” Somehow, as Daphne spoke, she visibly deflated until, once again, she stared down into her fresh cup of tea. “I do love your attitude. I love it a lot.” She sounded downright sad.
Van reached over and squeezed Daphne’s arm. “What has gotten you down?”
“You don’t need to hear it.” Daphne stared into the cup some more, her expression glum.
“If you need to say it, I need to hear it. This isn’t really about the pageant, is it?”
Daphne glanced up. She wrinkled her pretty nose. “It’s just my dad. It never ends with him.”
“Wait a minute. Your dad? I thought everything had worked out between you and him.”
Daphne pushed her cup away. “Not exactly...” Cornelius Taylor did not in any way approve of her vegetarianismorthat she’d created Happy Hearts, where, her father claimed, she made “pets out of livestock.”
“Daphne, are you trying to tell me that you and your dad didn’t reconcile, after all?”
“Back at Christmas, I felt we were doing better with each other, kind of easing our way onto the same page. But the good feelings didn’t last. He just doesn’t approve of me and it shows. Things have really been going downhill between us again lately.”
“What happened, exactly?”
“Well, for instance, last night, after the pageant, Evan and I went out to the ranch for a family barbecue. My dad got all over me for not eating the ribs and started in about what a laughingstock I’ve made of him with Happy Hearts.”
Van wrapped a comforting arm across Daphne’s shoulders. “That’s just wrong. What is the matter with him?”
“I don’t know. The down stroke is we’re right back where we started, as far as I’m concerned. I’m not giving up Happy Hearts, and I’m never eating animal flesh.”
“Of course you’re not.”
“Yeah, well, my dad just refuses to accept that. At this point, I’m not even sure he’s going to come to our wedding.” She and Evan were getting married in October.
Van took Daphne’s hand and wrapped both of hers around it. “Hey. He’s your dad and he loves you. One way or another, he’s going to be there to walk you down the aisle.”
Daphne’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “That’s pretty much what Evan said.”
“Because it’s true.”
“Yeah, it’s true to you and Evan because of how you grew up. Things were different for me.”
“What are you talking about? We had problems with our father, too. Big ones. Our dad deserted us. He walked out and never looked back.” He’d also taken every cent the family owned right along with him.
“It was awful, what your dad did. But I’m not talking about him. I’m talking about your mom and your grandmother. They would walk through fire for you. And now you have Winona, and she is amazing, too. On the other hand, my mother’s remarried.”
“And lives in Billings, right?”
“That’s right. I hardly see her anymore. My first stepmother is long gone. As for my current stepmother, well, at least Jessica tries. We get along well enough, though I wouldn’t say we’re close. I love my brothers, but they can be as bullheaded as my dad. Sometimes I feel like a cuckoo hatched in a nest of eagles.”
Van couldn’t bear the pain on Daphne’s face. “No. Uh-uh. Come here.” She reached out again. Daphne kind of fell toward her. They hugged between their chairs. Down on the floor, Barkley whined at them in doggy sympathy.
