The Cowboy and His Baby
Sherryl Woods
Revisit the Adams Dynasty in this heartfelt story of forgiveness and second chances from New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods.A year and a half ago, a tragic mistake cost single mother Melissa Horton her one true love–and a father for her baby girl. Now Texas rancher Cody Adams was back, shocked to discover he was a parent and determined to make Melissa his wife. But Melissa surprised herself–and him–with her newfound independence. She didn't want just a marriage of convenience. She wanted it all–true love and forever…
Revisit the Adams Dynasty in this heartfelt story of forgiveness and second chances from New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods.
A year and a half ago, a tragic mistake cost single mother Melissa Horton her one true love—and a father for her baby girl. Now Texas rancher Cody Adams was back, shocked to discover he was a parent and determined to make Melissa his wife. But Melissa surprised herself—and him—with her newfound independence. She didn't want just a marriage of convenience. She wanted it all—true love and forever…
The Cowboy and His Baby
Sherryl Woods
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Contents
Cover (#u11faeaaa-e173-56c9-9aa6-dcb023b26f51)
Back Cover Text (#u2db7aef0-eae2-53a2-8a52-82fdfc20f837)
Title Page (#u9e43a911-ea59-5898-91bb-fc9c5074b975)
Chapter One (#ufa88db2d-74f0-5029-ac2b-f0722aafa616)
Chapter Two (#u9272750c-ae55-520f-a35c-24481123370b)
Chapter Three (#u35ea7b61-bb32-5b1e-98a7-3355e49935ca)
Chapter Four (#uac280105-108f-566d-a90f-b7b1b94d930f)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ulink_832b0565-2dba-55d4-9dd0-77d20414e2e9)
Damn, but it was cold, Cody Adams thought as he chased down the last of the herd of cattle he was rounding up. Texas had never been this frigid, not even in the middle of January. He was surprised half the livestock hadn’t flat-out frozen in the harsh Wyoming winter. They’d lost a few head of cattle, but nothing like what he’d anticipated the first time the temperatures had dropped below zero and the snow and ice had swirled around him.
The bitter cold and the frequent blinding snowstorms did serve one useful purpose, though. They kept him so busy—kept his brain cells so frozen, for that matter—that he hardly ever thought about home. He’d freeze his butt off and suffer frostbite on most any part of his anatomy for the blessing of a blank memory. He didn’t want to think about Texas or his family. Most of all, he didn’t want to think about sneaky, conniving Melissa Horton and the way she’d cheated on him.
It had taken him a long time to block out the image of his longtime girlfriend wrapped in his best friend’s arms. Even now, more than a year later, that terrible, gut-wrenching moment sneaked up on him when he least expected it and reminded him that that kind of pain might hide out, but it seldom went away.
With the last of the herd rounded up and dusk falling, Cody gestured to one of the other hands that he was leaving and headed back toward the small but cozy line shack he’d insisted he preferred to the bunkhouse. He’d claimed it kept him closer to the cattle for which he was responsible, but the truth was, he craved the isolation.
For a man who had been a very social creature back in Texas—okay, a notorious flirt—it was quite a change and, for the time being, a welcome one. It was the only surefire way he could think of for staying out of trouble and avoiding the sort of heartache that falling for some woman just about guaranteed.
His boss, impressed by the fact that for years 28-year-old Cody had been running White Pines, his family’s ranch back in Texas, hadn’t argued with his idiosyncratic decision. Lance Treethorn had insisted only that a phone be installed so he could reach Cody on business. He was the only one with the number. He rarely used it. Cody dropped by the ranch house often enough to stay in touch.
On the tiny porch Cody stomped the snow off his boots, gathered up an armload of firewood and went inside. Within minutes he had a fire roaring and had shucked off his skeepskin jacket. He stood in front of the blaze, letting the heat warm his chilled body. Unfortunately, it couldn’t touch the cold place deep inside him.
He’d been standing there for some time, lost in thought, when he noticed the stack of mail sitting on the table in the kitchen area of the one-room cabin. It was sitting atop a foil-covered pan that he suspected from the sinful, chocolaty aroma, contained a batch of freshly baked brownies. He grinned and ripped off the foil. Sure enough, brownies. Apparently, Janey Treethorn had been by again.
The fifteen-year-old daughter of his boss had a giant-size crush on him. Thankfully, though, she was painfully shy. She limited her overtures to dropping off his mail, always with a batch of brownies or his favorite apple pie. In the summer it had been fresh fruit cobblers. She was usually careful to stop by while he wasn’t home. On the one occasion when he’d caught her, she’d blushed furiously, stammered an apology for intruding, and fled on horseback before he could even say thanks.
Unable to resist, he grabbed one of the brownies and ate it as he sorted through the few pieces of mail she’d left, putting the bills aside to be paid later. A small blue envelope caught his attention. Turning it over, he recognized his sister-in-law’s handwriting.
As always, when anything came from a member of his family, his heart skipped a beat. Letters were rare enough to stir a pang of homesickness each time one arrived. Jordan’s wife had been dutifully writing to him once every two weeks or so from the moment she and Jordan had gotten married. For a man who swore he wanted nothing to do with anyone or anything back home, it was downright pitiful how he looked forward to Kelly’s chatty letters and the family gossip she shared with such humor and telling insight. This one was more than a week overdue. Since the others had come like clockwork, he’d been trying not to admit just how worried he really was.
He could tell right off there was something different about this one, too. It was stiffer, more like a card than a letter. He grabbed a second brownie, then carried Kelly’s latest correspondence with him back to his chair in front of the fire.
When he ripped open the envelope, a tiny square dropped out of the card inside. He grabbed for it instinctively and found himself staring at an infant swaddled as tight as a papoose in a blue blanket. He caught himself grinning at the sight of that tiny, red, scrunched-up face.
So, Jordan was a daddy, he thought, amazed by the shaft of pure envy that shot through him. He’d known the baby was due any day now. Kelly had kept him apprised of every detail of her pregnancy, including his older brother’s bemusement at the natural childbirth classes she’d insisted he take with her. He wondered if Jordan had made it through the delivery or if he’d fainted at Kelly’s first big-time contraction.
He closed his eyes against the tide of longing that rolled over him. He was missing so damned much, he thought, once again cursing Melissa for the betrayal that had made staying in Texas where he belonged impossible.
He was missing seeing his other brother Luke and his wife Jessie’s little girl grow. Angela had turned two back in December. Kelly had sent a picture of her with her face streaked with icing and her fist in the middle of the chocolate birthday cake with its two, fat pink candles. He’d tucked it in his wallet, along with the snapshot of Kelly’s daughter from her first marriage, Dani, a little con-artist-in-training who could persuade penguins to buy ice, if she was of a mind to. Now he opened his wallet and inserted the tiny picture of this latest addition to the family.
He stared at the brand new baby one last time and wondered if he’d ever see him. He’d been named Justin James, according to the information on the birth announcement.
“We’re going to call him J.J.,” Kelly wrote in the note accompanying the card. “We can’t wait for you to see him. Jordan swears he hasn’t slept a wink in the past week. I don’t know how that can be, since I’m the one up every time the little monster screams in the middle of the night. I haven’t noticed Jordan pacing the floor alongside me. I think he’s been sleeping with a pillow over his head deliberately, so he can claim he never hears J.J. crying. He swears he only wakes up after I’ve already left the bed. The silver-tongued devil says it’s missing me that wakes him. He thinks a line like that will make me more sympathetic to him. Fat chance.
“No, seriously,” he read on, “your big brother has been a huge help. I think he’s a little awed by fatherhood…or maybe it’s just that mountain of diapers he’s expected to wash every night.”
Cody chuckled at the image of his button-down brother, the big-time oil company executive, changing diapers and warming bottles. Maybe he was taking to it better than any of them had anticipated, including Jordan himself.
“We’re scheduling the baptism for the end of the month and we expect you to be here,” the letter continued. “No excuses, Cody. It’s time to come home.”
It’s time to come home. Kelly’s words echoed in his head, taunting him, reminding him that nothing would ever make this beautiful, sprawling Wyoming ranch into home. Lance Treethorn was a kind, decent man. He’d become a good friend. His daughters were real little angels and they treated Cody like one of the family. Even so, it wasn’t the same. Not that a little thing like being homesick mattered. Even though his heart ached for the life he’d left behind, he knew he could never go back. He’d rather eat dirt than get within a hundred miles of the traitorous Melissa ever again.
It had been over a year since he’d left Texas, eighteen months to be exact, but not even time had cured him of the rage that had sent him away from everyone and everything dear to him.
Mention Texas and he didn’t think of his beloved White Pines, didn’t think of his parents or his brothers, much as he loved them all. The only image that inevitably came to mind was of Melissa Horton. Sometimes not even an entire bottle of the best liquor in the store could blot out the memories of the woman who’d betrayed him with his best friend.
Even now the vision in his head of Melissa was so vivid he could practically feel the silky texture of her skin and the soft flow of dark auburn hair through his fingers. He could practically smell the sweet summer scent of her.
But along with the sensual memories came the blinding rage, as powerful now as it had been on the day he’d left Texas for good. Accompanying that rage was the anger and frustration of realizing that he was, in part, responsible for what had happened. Maybe if he’d told her he loved her, she wouldn’t have turned to Brian Kincaid in the first place. Maybe if he’d had a clue just how much she mattered to him, instead of taking her for granted, he wouldn’t be lying awake nights aching for her. He’d been a fool. She’d been a cheat. Quite a pair, the two of them. Maybe he deserved to be this miserable. She certainly did, though he had no idea if she was. She could be happily married to Brian now, for all he knew.
Before he’d realized what he was doing, he’d ripped the note inviting him to the baptism of Jordan and Kelly’s baby to shreds. He couldn’t allow himself to be tempted back, not even by something as important as this. He would not go back to Texas. Not now. Not ever.
The decision was firm, but it left him feeling heartsick and more lonely than he’d ever felt in his life. He was almost glad when the ring of the phone shattered the silence. He grabbed the receiver gratefully.
“Hey, boss, what’s up?” he said, knowing it would be Lance Treethorn on the other end of the line.
The widowed father of three young girls, Treethorn had his hands full with trying to run the ranch and raise his daughters to be proper young ladies. He’d succeeded with the oldest. Janey was as prim and proper and dutiful as a father could ever want, but the two younger ones, ten and twelve, were terrors. Cody didn’t envy the thirty-five-year-old man trying to get them raised and married without calamity striking.
“We got the herd rounded up today,” he told Lance. “We only lost one more to the cold.”
“Thanks, Cody, but I didn’t call for an update.”
Something in Lance’s voice triggered alarm bells. “What’s wrong?” he asked at once. “Are there problems with the girls?”
“No, it’s nothing like that. We’re all fine, but you had a call here at the house.”
“I did?” He’d given the Treethorn number only to Jordan, with a direct order that it never be used except for a dire emergency. He knew his brother would never break that rule. His heart thudded dully as he waited for whatever bad news Jordan had imparted.
“Call home,” his boss told him. “It sounded pretty urgent. Your brother asked how quickly I could get a message to you. Obviously Jordan still doesn’t know you have a phone in your cabin.”
“No,” Cody admitted, grateful that his boss had never asked why he insisted on having such a buffer between him and his family. Lance was the best kind of boss, the best kind of friend. He was scrupulously fair. He lent support, but never asked questions or made judgments. There had been no hint of criticism in his voice when he’d commented just now on Cody’s decision to keep his private phone number from his family.
“I’m sorry he bothered you,” Cody apologized anyway.
“You know damned well it’s no bother. I just hope everything’s okay at home. Give me a call if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“Thanks, Lance.”
Cody hung up slowly, thinking of the tiny picture that he’d placed in his wallet only moments earlier. Had something happened to Justin James? Or to Kelly? Why else would Jordan call? Damn, but he hated being so far away. What if…He allowed the thought to trail off.
“Stop imagining the worst and call,” he muttered out loud, finally forcing himself to dial his brother’s number, knowing that this call, whatever it was about, would shatter whatever distance he’d managed to achieve from his past.
Jordan picked up on the first ring. His voice sounded tired and hoarse.
“Hey, big brother,” Cody said.
“Cody, thank God. I was worried sick you wouldn’t get the message for days.”
Jordan, the most composed man Cody had ever known, sounded shaken. The alarm bells triggered by Lance’s call were clanging even louder now. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s bad news, Cody. Real bad.”
Cody sank onto a chair by the kitchen table and braced himself. The last time Jordan had sounded that somber was when their brother Erik had been killed in an accident on Luke’s ranch.
“Is it Dad?” he asked, hating even to form the words. Harlan Adams was bigger than life. He was immortal—or so Cody had always tried to tell himself. He couldn’t imagine a world in which Harlan wasn’t controlling and manipulating things.
“No, he’s fine,” Jordan reassured him at once, then amended, “Or at least as well as can be expected under the circumstances.”
“Dammit, Jordan, spit it out. What the hell has happened?”
“It’s Mother,” he began, then stopped. He swallowed audibly before adding, “She and Daddy were out riding this morning.”
He paused again and this time Cody could hear his ragged breathing. It almost sounded as if Jordan were crying, but that couldn’t be. Jordan never cried. None of them did. Harlan had very old-fashioned ideas on the subject of men and tears. He had set a tough example for them, too. He hadn’t shed a single tear when Erik died. He’d just retreated into stony, guilt-ridden silence for months after the loss of his son. The rest of them had coped with their grief dry-eyed, as well. If Erik’s death hadn’t caused Jordan’s cool, macho facade to crack, what on earth had?
“Jordan, are you okay?” he asked.
“No. Mother took a bad fall, Cody.”
Cody felt as if the blood had drained out of him. Hands trembling, he grabbed the edge of the table and held on. “How is she? Is she…”
“She’s gone, Cody,” Jordan said with a catch in his voice. “She never woke up. She was dead by the time the paramedics got to the ranch.”
“My God,” he murmured, stunned. Forbidden tears stung his eyes. Ashamed, he wiped at them uselessly. They kept coming, accompanied by a terrible sense of loss. “Are you sure Daddy’s okay? Why aren’t you with him?”
“Luke and Jessie are over at White Pines now. Luke’s got the funeral arrangements under control. Kelly and I will be going over right after I get off the phone. I wanted to stay here until you called back. How soon can you get here?”
Cody noticed his brother asked the question as if there were no doubt at all that he would be coming home. “I don’t know,” he said, struggling between duty and the agony that going home promised.
Disapproving silence greeted the reply. “But you will be here,” Jordan said emphatically. “I’m telling Daddy you’re on your way.”
Cody rubbed his suddenly pounding head. “I don’t know,” he repeated.
“Look, this is no time to be indulging in self-pity, little brother,” Jordan snapped impatiently. “Daddy needs you here, probably more than he needs any of the rest of us. He’ll need you to take up some of the slack at White Pines while he pulls himself together. He’s always depended on you. Don’t let him down now.”
Cody said nothing.
Jordan finally broke the silence with a sigh. “We’re scheduling the funeral for Saturday,” he said. “Be here, Cody.”
He hung up before Cody could reply.
Cody sat in the gathering darkness, silent, unchecked tears streaking down his cheeks. He had no choice and he knew it. Mary Adams might not have been the kind of warm, doting mother a child dreamed of, but Harlan Adams had worshiped her. He could not let his father go through this kind of grief without all of his sons at his side. It was the kind of loyalty that had been ingrained in him since birth. As badly as he wanted to pretend it didn’t matter, he knew better. Nothing mattered more at a time like this.
He took some small comfort in the odds that said he would probably never even see Melissa. He doubted she would have the nerve to show up at the funeral. She certainly wouldn’t have the audacity to show up at White Pines afterward. It would be okay. He could slip in and out of town before temptation overtook him and he sought out so much as a glimpse of her.
At least, that’s what he told himself on the long, sad drive back to Texas after he’d cleared his departure with Lance. He’d chosen to drive to delay his arrival as long as possible. Maybe to come to grips with what had happened in private. He’d spend a few days with his family to grieve. A few days to do whatever he could for his father. A few days to spoil his nieces and hold his brand new nephew. A few days to soak up enough memories to last a lifetime.
With all that going on, Melissa would be the last thing on his mind.
The very last thing, he vowed with grim determination as he finally turned into the lane to White Pines.
He slowed his pickup and looked around at the land that he loved, the land he’d hoped one day would be his since Luke’s mile-wide independent streak had sent him chasing after his own dream and his own ranch and Jordan was only interested in oil.
Even in the dead of winter, it was starkly beautiful, at least to him. He was home and suddenly, despite the sorrow that had drawn him back, he felt at peace for the first time since he’d driven away more than eighteen months before.
* * *
Melissa Horton took a break from her job behind the lunch counter at Dolan’s Drugstore and perched on a stool with the weekly newspaper and a cup of coffee. Her attention was riveted to the story of Mary Adams’s tragic riding accident.
The 55-year-old woman had always been incredibly kind to her. Melissa had figured Mary pitied her because she’d been mooning around Cody for most of her life. Once Mary had even tried to give her some advice. It had turned out to be lousy advice, but Melissa was certain Mary had thought she was doing her a favor.
Mary had sat her down one afternoon over tea and told her that Cody was taking her for granted. Not that that was news. At any rate, Mary had claimed that the only way Melissa would ever win him would be to make him jealous. Tired of being ignored except when it suited Cody, and taking the well-meant advice to heart, Melissa had tried to do just that by going out just once with Cody’s best friend.
What a disaster that had been! Had she chosen anyone else, maybe the plan would have worked, but she’d foolishly selected the one man she’d figured wouldn’t get hurt. Brian had known her heart belonged to Cody. He’d known their date meant nothing, that it was only a ploy to shake up Cody. He’d even tried to argue her out of it, warning her it could backfire, but her mind had been made up. She had risked everything, certain that Mary Adams was right. She’d seen it as the only way to get Cody to finally make a commitment to her.
She should have guessed that Brian understood Cody even better than she did. Every time she thought of the anger and hurt in Cody’s eyes that night, it made her sick to her stomach. He had stared at them for the space of one dull, thudding heartbeat. He’d looked not at her, but through her. His gaze riveted on Brian, he’d said, “A hell of a friend you turned out to be.”
He had spoken with a kind of lethal calm that had been more chilling than shouted accusations. Then he’d turned on his heel and walked away. He had taken off the next morning and never once looked back.
For the past eighteen months she’d had no idea at all where he was. Brian hadn’t heard from him, hadn’t expected to, for that matter. She hadn’t had the courage to ask Cody’s family for information. Her shame ran too deep.
There had been times when she’d considered being in the dark a blessing. It had kept her from chasing after him, from destroying what few shreds of pride and dignity she had left.
Now, though, she had no doubts at all that Cody would be coming home. She might have driven him away with her betrayal, but his mother’s death would surely bring him back.
Had he changed much? she wondered. Had he lost the flirtatious, fun-loving nature that had charmed her and half the women who’d crossed his path? Would she have to live with regrets for the rest of her life for turning him into a bitter, cynical man?
“No good’ll come of what you’re thinking,” Mabel Hastings advised, coming up behind her to peer over her shoulder at the front page of the newspaper.
“How do you know what I’m thinking?” Melissa asked defensively.
Mabel shook her head, her tight gray curls bouncing at the movement. When Mabel had a permanent, she meant it to last. She’d been wearing the exact same hairstyle as far back as Melissa could remember. It did not suit her pinched features.
“I been reading you like a book ever since you set eyes on Cody Adams way back in junior high school,” Mabel informed her huffily. “You seem to forget how many times you sat right here at this very counter making goo-goo eyes at him.”
Melissa chuckled despite her irritation at the unsolicited interference. “‘Goo-goo eyes’? Mabel, exactly how old are you? A hundred, maybe? Not even my mother would use an expression like that.”
The older woman, who was probably no more than sixty, scowled at her. “Don’t matter what you call it, the point is you’ve been crazy about that boy way too long and just look where it got you.”
Melissa sensed the start of a familiar lecture. Listening to it was the price she paid for having a job that paid enough in salary and tips to keep her financially afloat and independent. She didn’t have to take a dime from her parents.
“Okay, I get your point,” she said, trying to avoid the full-scale assault on her sense and her virtue. “Drop it, please. I probably won’t even see Cody.”
She was bright enough to know it would be far better if she didn’t. Her life had taken some unexpected twists and turns since he’d left, but it was settling down now. She was at peace with herself. There were no more complications, no more tears in the middle of the night over a man who didn’t love her—at least, not enough—and no more roller coaster ups and downs.
No way did she want to stir up old memories and old hurts. One look into Cody’s laughing brown eyes and she couldn’t trust herself not to tumble straight back into love with him. She’d clearly never had a lick of sense where he was concerned.
Now, though, the stakes were way too high. Now she had more than her own heart to consider. She had someone else to protect, someone more important to her than life itself—Cody’s daughter, the child he didn’t even know he had.
Chapter Two (#ulink_0152f146-02e3-5d46-8556-177ddb8b9f23)
The entire family was walking around in a daze. Cody had never seen them like this, not even when Erik died. He supposed they were all following Harlan’s lead. His father hadn’t spoken more than a word or two to anyone. He hadn’t eaten. He wasn’t sleeping. He had refused a sedative prescribed by the doctor. Not even his unusually subdued grandchildren, tugging on his sleeves and competing for his attention, drew so much as a smile. He looked haggard and lost.
On Saturday morning Cody found Harlan in his office, staring at nothing, his complexion a worrisome shade of gray. Cody walked over and perched on a corner of his desk.
“Hey, Daddy, are you doing okay?”
Harlan blinked, his gaze finally focusing. “Cody, have you been here long?”
The vague question startled Cody. Normally nothing went on at White Pines that Harlan didn’t notice. “Actually, I got here yesterday.”
His father’s lips quirked for a fraction of a second. “Hell, I know that. I haven’t lost my marbles. I meant now. Have you been standing there long?”
Relief sighed through Cody. “Nope. Just walked in. Everyone’s been looking for you.”
“Must not have been looking too hard,” Harlan grumbled in a manner that was more in character. “I’ve been right here all night long.”
Cody was dismayed. “You didn’t sleep?”
“Off and on, I suppose.”
“Daddy, you should have been resting. Today’s going to be rough enough without facing it exhausted.”
His father shrugged. “I couldn’t go upstairs.”
“Damn,” Cody muttered. Why hadn’t any of them thought of that? Of course it was going to be hard for their father to spend time in the suite of rooms he had shared for so many years with his wife. It was hard for the rest of them just being in the house where their mother had reigned over every last detail. “I’m sorry. I’ll go upstairs and bring some clothes down for you. It’ll be time to go to the church soon.”
He had barely reached the door when his father’s voice stopped him.
“How could a thing like this happen?” Harlan murmured.
His choked voice sounded too damned close to tears. Cody was shaken by that as he hadn’t been by anything else in his life.
“We were supposed to have so many years left,” Harlan went on. “I had promised your mother we’d travel, that we’d see all the sights she’d been reading about over the years.” He glanced at Cody. “Did you know she gave up a trip around the world for her college graduation to marry me? I promised to make it up to her one day, but I never got around to it.”
Guilt sliced through Cody. His departure had kept them from going on those trips. His father had had to take over the running of White Pines again, just when he’d been ready to indulge all of his wife’s fantasies.
“You can’t think about that,” Cody told him, partly because he couldn’t bear to think about it, either. “You’ll make yourself crazy. Think about the years you did have. You made Mother very happy. She loved being your wife. She loved being mistress of White Pines. She was wild about all those fancy ancestors of yours.”
“She loved you boys, too,” Harlan added quietly. “Oh, I know she didn’t pay you the kind of attention she did me. I regret that. I regret that you all thought that meant she didn’t love you.”
At Cody’s expression of shock, he added, “Don’t deny it, son. I know you boys couldn’t help feeling that way. Catering to me was just your mama’s way. When you were little, I don’t think she knew quite what to make of you. She was an only child. She wasn’t prepared for the chaos of four rambunctious boys. But she cared about you and she was so very proud of the way you all turned out.”
“Even me?” Cody asked, unable to prevent the question from popping out. He hated what it said about his insecurities. He had feared that turning his back on White Pines would cost him whatever affection either of his parents felt for him.
Harlan chuckled. “Are you kidding? You were her baby. There wasn’t a day since you’ve been gone that she didn’t worry about you and how you were getting along, when she didn’t tell me how she missed hearing you thundering down the stairs or raising a ruckus in the kitchen.”
“She hated it when I did those things,” Cody protested.
“Only until they stopped,” Harlan said softly. Sorrow had etched new lines in his face. The sadness behind the comment emphasized them.
Cody watched with amazement and new respect as his father visibly pulled himself up, gathering strength from some inner reserve that had been severely tested in the past few days. He stood, crossed the room and put a comforting arm around Cody’s shoulders, sharing that strength with his son.
“Come on, boy. Help me figure out what to wear, so I won’t put your mama to shame.”
Together they climbed the stairs and went to prepare for the funeral of the woman Cody had adored and on occasion admired, but until just this morning had never understood.
* * *
Melissa watched the clock above the soda fountain ticking slowly toward noon. She would not go to Mary’s funeral. She would not! If she did, she would be going for all the wrong reasons.
Drugstore owner and pharmacist Eli Dolan came out from behind the prescription counter, then peered at her over the rim of his reading glasses. “You going?”
“Going where?” Melissa asked.
He muttered something about women and foolishness under his breath. “To that funeral, of course. You ought to be paying your respects.”
She didn’t bother asking how Eli knew that she had been close to Mary at one time. Everyone in town knew everyone else’s business. That’s what had made staying here after her daughter was born so difficult. She doubted there was a single soul that didn’t have their suspicions about the identity of Sharon Lynn’s daddy, but as far as she knew only her own parents and Cody’s brother Jordan and his wife knew the truth for certain.
She wouldn’t have admitted it to Jordan and Kelly, but he had taken one look at the baby and guessed. She hadn’t been able to deny it. Jordan had vowed to keep her secret and, as far as she knew, he’d been true to his word. She was ninety-eight percent certain that he’d never told Cody. Harlan had instilled a deep sense of honor in all of his sons. That included keeping promises, even when extracted under the most trying conditions.
She also had a hunch that if Jordan had told, Cody would have stormed back to Texas and raised a commotion that would have set the whole town on its ear. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part.
“You’d better get a move on, if you’re going to find a place in church,” Eli prompted, clearly not intending to let the matter drop. “It’s bound to be crowded. Folks around here think mighty highly of Harlan and his sons. They’ll be there for them, even if most of them found Mary a little high-falutin’ for their taste.”
“I can’t leave here now,” Melissa hedged, taking another wipe at the already polished counter. “It’s lunchtime.”
“And who’s going to be here?” he shot right back. “Everybody will be at the funeral. I don’t expect we’ll be doing much business. And you seem to forget that I was making milk shakes and sandwiches when you were still in diapers. I can handle things for the next couple of hours. If I make a mess of things, you can say you told me so when you get back.”
He glanced over at Mabel and nodded in her direction. “Or she’ll do it for you,” he said with a sour note in his voice. “Now, go on. Do what you know is right.”
Melissa didn’t question the sense of relief she felt at being nudged determinedly out the door. If Eli didn’t find it odd that she’d be going to the funeral, maybe no one else would, either. Maybe it would have been more noticeable if she’d stayed away.
Bracing herself against the brisk January wind, she rushed down Main Street, glad that she’d chosen to wear a dress to work rather than her usual jeans and T-shirt. Obviously some part of her had known even when she’d dressed that morning that she would change her mind about going to the service.
It was a dreary day for a funeral. Leaden clouds, practically bursting with rain—or, given the rapidly dropping temperature, more likely sleet—hung low in the sky. She tugged her coat more tightly around her, but gave up on keeping her long hair from tangling as the wind whipped it around her face.
All the way to the church she tried to keep her mind off Cody and on the service that was to come. Her best efforts, however, were a dismal failure. She kept envisioning Cody, wondering how he was holding up, worrying how he and all of his brothers were doing and regretting more than she could say that she couldn’t take her place with them and offer the support she desperately wanted to give.
She was so late that she planned to slip into the back of the church and stand in the shadows. Cody would never know she was there. The last thing she wanted to do today was add to his misery.
She ran up the steps of the old church just as the bells were chiming in the tall white steeple. The sun peeked through the clouds for just an instant, creating a terrible glare. Going from that sudden bright sun outside into the church’s dimly lit interior, she was momentarily blinded.
Apparently, whoever was hard on her heels was having the same problem because he slammed smack into her, his body rock solid as he hit her at full tilt. The contact almost sent her sprawling on the polished wood floor.
“Sorry,” he said, gripping her elbows to keep her upright. “You okay, darlin’?”
Melissa’s heart climbed straight into her throat. She would have recognized that voice, that automatic flirtatiousness, even if she hadn’t heard it for a hundred years. The firm, steadying touch was equally familiar and just as devastating. If she’d brushed against a live wire, she couldn’t have felt any more electrified.
“Cody?”
She spoke his name in no more than a whisper, but at the sound of her voice, he jerked his hands away as if he’d just touched a white-hot flame.
“Excuse me,” he said, his voice instantly like ice.
As if she were a stranger, he shoved past her to make his way to the front of the church. No, she corrected, if she’d been a stranger, he would have been less rude, more solicitous.
Trembling from the unexpected face-to-face meeting, Melissa watched him stride up the aisle to join his father and his brothers in the first pew. In that single quick glimpse, she had seen new lines in his face. His sun-streaked, normally untamed hair had been trimmed neatly in the way his mother had always wanted it to be.
It was his eyes, though, that had stunned her. Once they’d been filled with so much laughter. Naturally she had expected to find sorrow today in the dark-as-coffee depths. What she hadn’t anticipated was the cold antipathy when he recognized her, followed by an emptiness that was worse than hatred.
Well, she thought despondently, now she knew. Cody hadn’t forgiven her. He’d looked straight through her as if he’d never known her, as if he’d never teased her or made love to her or shared his deepest, darkest secrets with her.
“Oh, God,” she murmured in what could have been the beginning of a prayer, but instead simply died before completion. Their relationship was clearly beyond even divine intervention. She’d known it all along, of course, but she hadn’t wanted to believe it. The last flicker of hope in her heart died like a candle flame in a chilly wind.
Though a part of her wanted to flee, she moved into the deepest shadows and stayed through the service, grieving not just for the woman lying in the flower-draped casket, but for the death of her own dreams.
“You went to the funeral, didn’t you?” Velma Horton asked the minute Melissa walked through her mother’s doorway to pick up her daughter after work.
“How did you know?” she asked, though it was easy enough to guess. The grapevine had probably been buzzing all afternoon and her mother was definitely tapped into that.
Her mother sniffed. “You think I didn’t know why you wore that dress today. I know what you said, some nonsense about all your jeans being in the laundry, but I’m not a fool, girl. I knew you wouldn’t miss a chance to catch sight of Cody. So, did you see him?”
“Briefly,” Melissa admitted.
“And?”
“And what? We didn’t talk.”
“Then you didn’t tell him about Sharon Lynn.”
Melissa shook her head. “He wouldn’t care,” she said with absolute certainty that was based on the way he’d looked straight through her for the second time in their lives.
To her surprise, her mother breathed a sigh of relief and some of the tension drained out of her expression. “Good.”
There were times, like now, when Melissa didn’t understand her mother at all. When Velma had learned her daughter was pregnant, she’d been all for chasing Cody to the ends of the earth and demanding he take responsibility for his actions.
“I thought you wanted him to know,” Melissa said, regarding her mother with confusion. “There was a time you threatened to go to Harlan and demand that he drag Cody back here. You thought he owed me his name and his money. The only thing that stopped you was Daddy’s threat to divorce you if you did.”
Velma rolled her eyes. “Your father’s got more pride than sense. Anyway, that was before Sharon Lynn was born, back when I didn’t know how you’d manage by yourself. Seems to me you’ve done just fine. There’s no sense in trying to fix what’s not broke.”
It was a reasonable explanation for the turnaround, but Melissa didn’t entirely buy it. “There’s something else, isn’t there? Some other reason you don’t want Cody to find out the truth?”
“There is,” her mother admitted, an ominous note in her voice. “Harlan Adams is a powerful man.”
“That’s not news. What’s your point? What does he have to do with this? It’s between me and Cody.”
“Not if Harlan gets it into his head to claim his granddaughter,” her mother stated, a note of genuine fear in her voice. “There’s no way we could fight a man like that.”
Melissa was stunned by what her mother was suggesting. “Don’t you think you’re being a little paranoid? Jordan’s known for almost a year now and he hasn’t even spilled the beans. I suspect the rest of the family will react with just as much indifference.”
Her mother didn’t seem to be reassured. “Just watch your step. I’m warning you, Melissa, keep that baby as far away from Cody Adams as you can.”
Though she didn’t think the warning was necessary, Melissa nodded dutifully. “I don’t think we have to worry about that. Cody will probably be gone before we know it.”
Just then the sounds of her daughter’s cheerful, nonsensical babbling echoed down the narrow hallway. Melissa smiled. Her heart suddenly felt lighter than it had all day. The baby had had that effect on her from the moment she’d been born.
“Did she just wake up?” she asked as she started toward her old bedroom.
“I doubt she’s even been asleep. She didn’t want to go down for her nap. I think she sensed the tension in both of us. You go on in. I’m going to fix your daddy’s dinner.”
Melissa went to pick up her daughter from the crib her mother had put up next to the twin bed Melissa had slept in for most of her life. Sharon Lynn was standing on shaky, pudgy little legs, hanging on to the crib rail. Her eyes lit up when she spotted her mother.
“Ma…ma…ma.”
“That’s right, darling girl,” Melissa crooned, gathering her into her arms. “I’m your mama.”
She inhaled the sweet talcum-powder scent of her baby and sighed as tiny little hands grabbed her hair and held on tight. “You’ve got quite a grip, little one. You must have gotten that from your daddy. I’m the original hundred-pound weakling.”
“Da?” Sharon Lynn repeated, echoing a sound Melissa had taught her while showing her a snapshot of Cody. Her mother would have pitched a royal fit if she’d known.
“Oh, baby,” she murmured, tightening her embrace. “Your daddy’s right here in town. He has no idea what he’s been missing all these months. He has no idea that he has a precious little girl.”
Cody would have made a wonderful father, she thought with a sigh. He would have been too indulgent by far, too readily conned by sweet talk and a winning smile, but, oh, how he would have cherished and protected a child of his. Her foolish actions had cost him the chance to prove that. Worse, they had cost her daughter a chance to be loved by an incredible man. There were days when she almost made herself sick with regrets.
“We do okay by ourselves, though, don’t we?” she asked, gazing into round, dark eyes that reminded her too much of Cody. The baby returned her gaze with the kind of serious, thoughtful look the question deserved. Melissa wondered how many years it would be before that innocent contemplation turned to something far more accusatory because her mother had robbed her of any contact with her father.
“Don’t,” her mother pleaded, coming up behind her.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t tell him.”
“Who said I was going to?” Melissa asked.
“I know that look. You’re making up pipe dreams about what it will be like when Cody finds out he has a baby girl. You’re expecting him to declare he’s never stopped loving you and sweep you off to get married.”
Her expression turned dire. “It won’t be that way, I’m telling you. If he cares about the baby at all, he’ll take her from you. That’s how much he hates you for what you did to him. You made a fool of him in front of the whole town by going out with his best friend. A man never forgets a betrayal like that. I don’t care if it was just a bunch of foolishness on your part. The results were the same as if you and Brian had had something going.”
“You don’t know anything about Cody’s feelings,” Melissa argued, even though she had just seen with her own eyes that Cody did despise her. She didn’t want to believe he could be cruel enough to try to take their daughter away from her.
“Are you willing to take that chance?” her mother demanded.
The baby whimpered, either because she was picking up on the sudden tension or because Melissa was holding her too tightly. “No,” she whispered, fighting the sting of tears as she kissed her daughter’s silky cheek. “No, I’m not willing to take that chance.”
She had been weaving pipe dreams, just as her mother had guessed. The risk of trying to make them come true, though, was far too great. Rather than winning back Cody, she could very well lose her child. She would die before she let that happen. Sharon Lynn was the most important thing in her life.
All the way home she assured herself that she only needed a few days. If she kept the secret just a few more days, Cody would be gone and that would be the end of it.
Later that night she sank into the rocker beside Sharon Lynn’s crib and set it into motion, hoping to lull the baby to sleep and to quiet all those clamoring shouts in her head that told her she just might be making the second worst mistake in her life by keeping silent. As much as she hated to admit it, her mother was right about one thing. If Cody did learn the truth from someone else, there was no telling what he might do to exact revenge.
Chapter Three (#ulink_ead8f717-a653-5c0b-b1e0-584cc8775448)
For the past two days Cody hadn’t been able to stop thinking about his brief meeting with Melissa at the funeral. She looked exactly as he’d remembered her, her long hair a tangle of fiery lights, her body slender as a reed except for the lush, unexpected curve of her breasts.
Even before he’d heard her voice, in that instant when he’d caught her to prevent her from falling, he’d known it was her just from the way his body had reacted to touching her. He had hated that reaction, hated knowing that his desire for her hadn’t waned at all despite the months of self-imposed exile. That seemed like the cruelest sort of punishment.
Late that night after the funeral he’d been pacing downstairs when his father had come out of his office and caught him. Harlan had guessed right off that his agitation had to do with Melissa, though he’d been uncommonly cautious in broaching the subject.
“I thought I saw Melissa at the church today,” Harlan had said casually after he’d pulled Cody into his office and they were both seated in comfortable leather chairs in front of a blazing fire, glasses of whiskey in hand. At the reference to Melissa, Cody had put his aside without tasting it. He’d feared if he got started, he’d never stop.
“She was there,” he’d conceded, his voice tight.
“Did you get a chance to talk to her?”
“We have nothing to say to each other.”
“I see,” Harlan said. He’d let the silence build for a bit, taking a sip of his drink before adding nonchalantly, “I heard she’s been working at Dolan’s Drugstore, running the soda fountain for Eli. Doing a good job, too. Eli says business is up. The kids are hanging out there again instead of driving to the fast-food place out on the highway.”
Cody hadn’t even acknowledged the information. He’d just tucked it away for later consideration. Ever since, he’d been considering what to do about it.
He could drive into town, march into Dolan’s and confront Melissa about what she’d done to him, something he probably should have done the very night he’d found her with Brian. He could raise the kind of ruckus that would be the talk of the town for the next year. It would go into the textbook of Cody Adams lore that had begun when he was barely into puberty. If half the tales had been true, he would have worn himself out by the time he was twenty.
Sighing, he conceded he couldn’t see much point to adding another wild exploit to his reputation. A scene would only rake up old news, embarrass Melissa—not that he cared much about that—and tell anyone with half a brain that Cody wasn’t over her. Otherwise, why would he bother to stir up the cold ashes of their very dead relationship?
No, for the sake of his own pride if nothing else, it was better to stay the hell away from town. He repeated the advice to himself like a mantra, over and over, until he should have gotten it right.
Even as his old red pickup sped toward town late Tuesday morning, he was muttering it to himself, swearing that he’d have lunch with Luke and Jordan at Rosa’s Mexican Café, then turn right around and go back to White Pines. A couple of beers and a plate of Rosa’s spiciest food would wipe all thoughts of Melissa straight out of his head.
Unfortunately he hadn’t counted on his brothers getting into the act. He’d been certain that they would leave the subject of his love life alone. He hadn’t counted on the fact that both of them were now happily married and apparently intent on seeing that he took the plunge, too.
“Hey, Cody, why don’t you drop by Dolan’s as long as you’re in town?” Jordan suggested after they’d eaten. He said it with all the innocence of Harlan at his matchmaking best.
“Any particular reason I should?” he inquired, refusing to fall into Jordan’s trap.
He lifted the cold bottle of beer to his lips and took a long, slow drink just to show how unaffected he was by the prospect of seeing Melissa, whom Jordan clearly knew worked at Dolan’s. This was probably the whole reason his brothers had suggested meeting in town in the first place rather than gathering at White Pines. They’d been plotting behind his back to try to force a reunion between Cody and his ex-lover.
“They still have the best milk shakes in the whole state of Texas,” Luke chimed.
“We’ve just eaten enough food to stuff a horse,” Cody stated flatly.
Luke and Jordan exchanged a look.
“Worried about your handsome figure?” Luke taunted.
Cody scowled at his oldest brother’s nonsense. “No.”
Luke went on as if he’d never spoken. “Because if that’s it, I’m sure they have diet sodas in there, served up by the sweetest gal in all of Texas, or so I hear.”
“I don’t want a milk shake. I don’t want a diet soda. There is nothing that drugstore has that I want,” he said pointedly, scowling first at Luke and then at Jordan.
“Sounds to me like a man who’s protesting too much,” Jordan observed. “What does it sound like to you, Lucas?”
“Definitely a man who’s scared out of his britches,” Luke agreed.
Cody drew himself up indignantly. “Scared of what? A milk shake?”
“Maybe not that,” Luke conceded. “How about Melissa Horton?”
Ah, a direct hit. Cody sighed. “I am not scared of Melissa,” he said with extreme patience. “I feel absolutely nothing for Melissa.”
“Cluck, cluck, cluck,” Luke murmured, making a pitiful attempt to mimic a chicken.
The sound grated on Cody’s nerves. He balled his hands into fists. He hadn’t gotten into a rip-roaring fight with his big brothers in a very long time, but Luke was pushing every one of his buttons. And, from the teasing glint in his eyes, his big brother knew it, too. Even Jordan sensed that his patience was at an end. He eased his chair between them, a conciliatory expression on his face.
“Now, Luke, don’t rile Cody,” he said blandly. “If he says he doesn’t want to talk to Melissa, then who are we to interfere?”
Cody didn’t exactly trust Jordan’s sudden taking of his side. Jordan had a knack for sneak attacks that could cripple a business adversary before he even knew he was under seige. Cody eyed him warily.
“That’s true,” Luke conceded, his turnaround just as suspicious. “Daddy meddled in our lives enough that we should be more sensitive to Cody’s feelings. Besides, Melissa probably doesn’t want to see him any more than he wants to see her.”
“Why? Is she involved with someone?” Cody asked, regretting the words the instant they slipped out of his mouth. The triumphant expressions on Luke’s and Jordan’s faces were enough to set his teeth on edge.
Jordan stood as if he’d just recalled a business crisis that couldn’t be put off. “Come on, Luke. We’ve obviously accomplished our mission here,” he said blithely. “The man is on the hook. Let’s leave him to decide whether to wiggle off or take the bait.”
“A fascinating metaphor,” Luke commented, joining Jordan. He glanced back at Cody. The teasing glint in his eyes faded. “Don’t be a damned fool, little brother. Go see the woman. You know you want to. It’s time you settled things with her once and for all. We want you back here for good.”
Cody finished the beer after they’d gone. He thought about ordering another one, but decided against it. It would only be delaying the inevitable. Some sick, perverse part of him wanted to see Melissa, just as Luke had guessed. He needed to know if that reaction he’d felt at the church had been a fluke or the undeniable response of a man for the woman he’d belatedly realized that he’d always loved.
He paid the check—his damned brothers had stiffed him on the bill, on top of everything else—and then headed down Main Street. In the middle of the block he hesitated, staring across at the front of the drugstore that had been his favorite hangout as a teenager. His and Melissa’s.
Little had changed. Dolan’s Drugstore was still printed in neat black, gold-edged letters on the door. A display of toys sat on the shelf beneath the big plate-glass window, visible to any child passing by. A rack of comic books stood off to the side. Cody suspected they were the same faded editions that had been there a decade before. The toys looked suspiciously familiar, too. In fact, when he’d crossed the street for a closer look, he was almost certain that there was a ten-year layer of dust on the red, toy fire truck.
Telling himself he was fifty kinds of crazy for going inside, he found himself turning the knob on the door anyway. A bell tinkled overhead, alerting anyone working that a customer had entered.
The soda fountain was on his left, partially blocked by a section of shelves with first-aid supplies and a new display of condoms. Talk about times changing. He couldn’t think of a better example. He recalled the first time he’d ever come into the store to buy condoms. They’d been behind the pharmacy counter then. He’d blushed brick red when he’d had to ask Mabel Hastings to give them to him. It was a wonder he’d ever gone back. His only consolation had been that she’d seemed even more embarrassed. After that he’d always made sure Eli was on duty when he’d returned for a new supply.
A half-dozen teenage girls were sitting on one side of the U-shaped soda fountain, probably discussing schoolwork, or, more likely, boys. An equal number of boys was on the opposite side, tongue-tied and uncertain. The sight of them brought back a slew of memories best forgotten.
There was no sign of Melissa, though clearly someone had served the kids their shakes and hamburgers. Cody fought a bitter feeling of disappointment. He hadn’t wanted to come here, but now that he had gathered the courage, he wanted to get this encounter out of the way. He wanted to shove the past behind him once and for all. He doubted a meeting would be enough to keep him in Texas, but maybe it would buy him some peace of mind.
“Hey, Missy, customer!” one of the boys shouted as Cody slid onto a stool close to the cash register.
“I’ll be right there,” a voice capable of raising goose bumps on any man past puberty sang out from the back.
The door to the storeroom swung open. Melissa emerged, her arms loaded with two trays of glasses piled atop each other. Her gaze zeroed in on Cody with impeccable precision. Every bit of color washed from her face. The trays wobbled, then tilted. Glasses crashed to the floor. Her gaze never wavered from his, despite the sound of breaking glass.
Several of the teenagers sprang to their feet and rushed to clean up the mess. Cody couldn’t have moved if his life had depended on it. Apparently Melissa couldn’t, either. Not even the swirl of activity at her feet caught her attention. He felt as if he’d been punched in the gut.
This definitely wasn’t the reaction he’d been praying for. In fact, it was exactly the opposite. He’d wanted to look into those soft, sea green eyes of hers and feel eighteen months of hurt and anger boiling into a fine rage. Or, better yet, he’d wanted to feel nothing at all.
Instead it appeared his hormones were very glad to see her. Obviously they had a different sort of memory pattern than his brain.
“Missy, are you okay?” one of the boys asked worriedly. He scowled in Cody’s direction.
“Fine,” she murmured.
The youngster, who looked all of fourteen, clearly wasn’t convinced. Just as clearly, he had a big-time crush on Melissa. “Is he a problem?” he inquired, nodding toward Cody.
Apparently the boy’s itch to slay dragons for her got her attention as nothing else had. She jerked her gaze away from Cody and smiled at the teenager.
“It’s okay, David. Cody and I have known each other a long time.” She patted his shoulder. “Thanks for cleaning up the glass, you guys. Your sodas are on me.”
“Nah, you don’t have to do that,” David said, pulling money out of his pocket and leaving it on the counter. “Right, guys?”
The other boys dutifully nodded and pulled out their own cash. Unless costs at Dolan’s had risen dramatically, they were very generous tippers, Cody noted as all of the teens departed.
“See you tomorrow,” David called back from the doorway. He lingered uncertainly for another minute, as if he couldn’t make up his mind whether Cody was to be trusted. When Melissa shot him another reassuring smile, he finally took off to catch up with his friends.
“Quite an admirer,” Cody said. “I think he was ready to mop up the floor with me.”
“David is just testing his flirting skills. I’m safer than those girls in his own class. He knows I won’t laugh at him.”
“Maybe you should. Better to hurt him now than later,” he said with unmistakable bitterness.
Melissa looked as if he’d struck her. “I’m not going to hurt him at all. He’s just a boy, Cody.” She straightened her spine and glowered at him. “Look, if you came in here just to hassle me, you can turn right around and go back wherever you came from. I don’t need the aggravation.”
Cody grinned at the bright patches of color in her cheeks. Melissa had always had a quick temper. He suddenly realized he’d missed sparring with her almost as much as he’d missing making love with her.
“Actually, I came in for a milk shake,” he said, coming to a sudden decision to play this scene all the way through. He propped his elbows on the counter. He waited until he’d caught her gaze, then lowered his voice to a seductive whisper. “A chocolate shake so thick, I’ll barely be able to suck it very, very slowly through the straw.”
The patches of color in Melissa’s cheeks deepened. She twirled around so fast it was a wonder she didn’t knock a few more pieces of glassware onto the floor with the breeze she stirred.
With her rigid back to him, Cody was able to observe her at his leisure. Her snug, faded jeans fit her cute little butt like a glove. That much hadn’t changed, he noted with satisfaction. With every stretch, the cropped T-shirt she wore kept riding up to bare an intriguing inch or so of a midriff so perfect that it could make a man weep. Her long dark hair with its shimmering red highlights had been scooped up in a saucy ponytail that made her look a dozen years younger than the twenty-seven he knew she was.
And, to his very sincere regret, she made him every bit as hard now as she had as a teenager. He squirmed in a wasted effort to get more comfortable on the vinyl-covered stool.
When she finally turned back, she plunked his milk shake onto the counter with such force half of it sloshed out of the tall glass. Apparently she wasn’t entirely immune to him, either, and she wasn’t one bit happier about the discovery.
She grabbed up a dishrag and began scrubbing the opposite side of the counter, her back to him. Given the energy she devoted to the task, the surface was either very dirty or she was avoiding him.
“So, how’ve you been?” Cody inquired, managing the nonchalant tone with supreme effort.
“Fine,” she said tersely, not even glancing around.
He frowned. Why the hell was she acting like the injured party here? She was the one who’d cheated on him. Getting her to meet him halfway became an irresistible challenge.
“How are you, Cody? It’s been a long time,” he coached.
She turned and glared. “Why are you here?” she demanded instead.
He could have shot back a glib retort, but he didn’t. He actually gave the question some thought. He considered the teasing he’d gotten from Jordan and Luke. He considered his own undeniable curiosity. He even considered the size of his ego, which had found being cheated on damned hard to take. The bottom line was, he had no idea what had drawn him across the street and into the drugstore.
“I don’t know,” he finally admitted.
Apparently it was the right answer because her lush, kissable mouth curved into a smile for the first time since she’d spotted him at the counter.
“You mean to tell me that there’s something that actually stymies the brilliant, confident Cody Adams?”
He nodded slowly. “It surprises the dickens out of me, too.”
She leaned back against the counter, her elbows propped behind her. It was a stance that drew attention to her figure, though Cody doubted she was aware of it.
“You planning on sticking around?” she asked.
“A few more days, just till Daddy’s got his feet back under him again.” It was the same response he’d given everyone who’d asked. Now that he was right here with Melissa in front of him, though, he wondered if she might not be the one person who could change his mind.
At the mention of his father, her expression immediately filled with concern. “It must be horrible for him.”
“It is.”
“And the rest of you?”
“We’re doing okay. Mostly we’re worried about Daddy. He adored Mother. It’s going to be lonely as hell for him with her gone.”
“I’m surprised you’re not staying, then.”
He shook his head. “There’s nothing for me here anymore,” he said automatically, refusing to concede that he had evidence to the contrary in the tightening of his groin at the first sight of her.
She actually blanched at his harsh words. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, looking shaken. “What about White Pines? You always loved it. You were building your whole future around running that ranch.”
She was right about that. He’d fought tooth and nail to get Harlan to trust him with the running of the ranch. He’d spent his spare time building his own house on the property just to make the point that, unlike Luke or Jordan, he never intended to leave. Then in a matter of seconds after catching Melissa with Brian, he’d thrown it all away.
Now, rather than addressing his longing to be working that land again, he shoved those feelings aside and clung instead to the bitterness that had sent him away.
“There’s no way I can stay here now,” he said, unable to prevent the accusing note that had crept into his voice. “You ruined it for me.”
Melissa swallowed hard, but she kept her gaze on him steady. Some part of him admired her for not backing down.
“Maybe we should talk about what happened, Cody. Maybe if we could put it behind us, you’d change your mind about staying. Your decision to stay or go shouldn’t have anything to do with me.”
Talk about finding her in the arms of his best friend? Analyze it and pick it apart, until his emotions were raw? Cody practically choked on the idea. Once he got started on that subject, he doubted the conversation would remain polite or quiet. Eli would be bolting out from behind the prescription counter and Mabel, whom he’d spotted lurking over toward the cosmetics, would get a blistering earful.
No, he absolutely did not want to talk about the past. Or the present. And most definitely not about the bleak, lonely future he’d carved out for himself.
He slid off the stool and backed up a step. “There’s nothing to say,” he said, hoping his tone and his demeanor were forbidding enough to keep Melissa silent. He slapped a five on the counter, then tipped his hat.
“It’s been a pleasure,” he said in a tone that declared just the opposite.
He had made it almost to the door when he heard a soft gasp of dismay behind him. He stepped aside just as Velma Horton opened the door and pushed a stroller inside. His gaze went from Velma’s shocked expression to the chubby-cheeked little girl who promptly reached her arms up toward him, a thoroughly engaging smile on her face. He stared at the toddler in stunned silence, then pivoted slowly to stare at Melissa. Her face was ashen, removing any doubt at all that the baby was hers.
For the second time in a matter of minutes Cody felt as if he’d been hit below the belt. He could count backward as quickly as anyone in Texas. That darling little girl with the big eyes and innocent smile looked to be a year old, which meant she was Brian’s.
His blood felt like ice water in his veins, but he forced himself to walk back toward the soda fountain. “I see congratulations are in order,” he said so politely it made his teeth ache. “Your daughter is beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Melissa said so softly that he could barely hear her.
“I guess you and Brian were meant to be, after all,” he said, then turned on his heel and bolted for the door before he made an absolute idiot of himself.
He brushed past Velma and the baby without giving them a second glance. Damn, Melissa! She’d turned him inside out again. For a fleeting moment he’d actually wondered if he could put the past behind him and move on, maybe get something going with her again since his body was as hot for her now as it had been eighteen months ago. He’d allowed old feelings to stir to life, indulged in a few quick and steamy fantasies.
One look at that baby had shattered any possibility of that. He should have known that Melissa and Brian were together. He should have guessed that the betrayal was more serious than the one-night stand he’d tried desperately to convince himself it was. He should have realized that neither of them would have cheated on him for anything less than powerful emotions they couldn’t control. He should have given them credit for that much at least. He couldn’t make up his mind, though, if that should make him feel better or worse.
It wasn’t until he was back at White Pines, riding hell-bent for leather across the open land trying to work off his anger and his pain that he stopped to wonder why Jordan and Luke would have set him up for such a terrible sucker punch. Couldn’t they just have told him and saved him the anguish of making a fool of himself over Melissa all over again?
Instead they had taunted him into going into Dolan’s. They had poked and prodded at all of his old feelings for Melissa until he could no longer ignore them. Would they have done that if they’d known about Brian? If they’d known about the baby? Harlan had done his share of nudging, too. He’d been the first to plant the seed about finding Melissa at Dolan’s.
It didn’t make a lick of sense. How could they not have known? It was a small town. Harlan sure as hell knew everything that went on. And yet they had sent him like a lamb to slaughter, straight back to Melissa.
He reined in his horse and sat for a long time contemplating the possibilities. For once in his life he was oblivious to the raw beauty of the land surrounding him. Since he knew damned well his brothers weren’t cruel, their actions had to mean something. At the very least, he’d bet that Melissa and Brian weren’t married, after all. At the most…
He thought of that cute little girl who’d practically begged him to pick her up.
He didn’t even want to consider the astonishing, incredible idea that had just popped into his head. What if she was his? What if he was actually a father?
He tried the idea on for size and realized that a silly grin had spread across his face. A father? Yes, indeed, the possibility fit as well as those tight little jeans had caressed Melissa’s fanny.
Then his grin faded as he considered all the time he’d lost if it were true. If that little girl was his, he resolved there was going to be hell to pay.
Chapter Four (#ulink_b4cdd0d1-bb0c-507a-be49-7a8129ad5f5e)
Melissa stood over Sharon Lynn’s crib and stared down at her sleeping child. The baby’s cheeks were flushed, her dark blond hair curling damply against her chubby neck. Her blue nightshirt was sprinkled with tiny yellow ducks. A larger, stuffed duck was cuddled next to her. It had been her favorite toy ever since she’d been to a duck pond a few months before. She refused to go to bed without it.
A smile curved Melissa’s lips as she watched her baby and fought the desperate need to pick her up, to cling to her. She hadn’t been able to let her daughter out of her sight since that terrible moment in the drugstore when Cody had come face-to-face with his child. In that instant her heart had ricocheted wildly and her breath had caught in her throat as she’d waited for him to recognize Sharon Lynn as his, just as Jordan had the very first time he’d spotted her. She’d almost been grateful that the decision to tell Cody or not to tell him had been taken out of her hands.
But instead of promptly recognizing the baby as his, Cody had clearly leapt to the conclusion that someone else was the father. Given the cold glint in his eyes when he’d stepped back to the counter to congratulate her in a voice devoid of emotion and his comment about her relationship with Brian having been meant to be, he must have assumed the father was Brian Kincaid. It was a further complication in an already complicated situation.
She sighed as she considered the terrible mess she had made of things. She should have told Cody everything straight off, right then and there, but her mother’s terrified expression and her earlier dire warnings had kept Melissa silent, too fearful of the consequences of blurting out the truth.
She couldn’t imagine what her life would be like without her baby. As difficult as things had gotten after she’d learned she was pregnant, there had never been a single instant when she’d regretted having Cody’s child. Every time she looked into that precious face, she saw a miracle that she and Cody had created together. Beyond that biological tie, however, Cody had no right at all to claim his child. She was the only parent Sharon Lynn had ever known. If only she could keep it that way.
Unfortunately, though, there was no way the truth could be kept hidden forever. Cody had already seen his daughter. His brother knew that Sharon Lynn was Cody’s. Sooner or later the pieces of the puzzle would come together, and when they did, she didn’t have a doubt in her mind what Cody’s reaction would be. If he’d been furious when he’d thought she was cheating on him with his best friend, he would destroy her when he found out about the baby she’d kept from him. Maybe he wouldn’t fight her for custody as her mother feared, but he would make her life into the hell she deserved for deceiving him in the first place.
She rubbed her knuckles against Sharon Lynn’s soft skin and sighed again. There was so much of Cody in her daughter. She had the same stubborn tilt to her chin, the same dark blond hair that streaked with gold in the summer sun. And, for the most part, she had the same sunny disposition and laughing eyes Cody had had before he thought Melissa had betrayed him.
It had hurt today to glimpse the old teasing Cody, only to see him vanish in the space of a heartbeat at the first mention of the past. When he’d walked out of Dolan’s, her heart had been heavy with the burden of guilt and fear.
“I have to be the one to tell him,” she whispered finally, her fingers caressing that precious cheek. “I have to tell your daddy all about you.”
Maybe by revealing the truth herself, before he learned it from someone else, she would have some small chance of earning his forgiveness. They could work out a solution together.
Tomorrow, she vowed. First thing tomorrow afternoon when she got off work, she would drive out to White Pines and tell Cody everything. And then she would pray that it didn’t cost her the only person on earth she held dear.
* * *
Too restless to stay in one place for long as he contemplated how to go about discovering whether Melissa’s baby was his, Cody drove over to visit Jordan and Kelly. Six-year-old Dani was always a distraction and he just might get a chance to hold that nephew of his. He had a hunch it would be a bittersweet sensation given what he suspected about Melissa’s child being his own.
“Uncle Cody!” Dani screamed when she caught sight of him. She ran and leapt into his arms, planting kisses all over his face. “I really, really missed you.”
The weight of her in his arms, the peppermint-sticky kisses, filled him with nostalgia and accomplished exactly what he’d hoped for. “I really missed you, too, pumpkin. I’m sorry I didn’t get to take those kittens you had for me awhile back.”
She patted his cheek consolingly. “That’s okay. Francie had more. Want to see? One is all black with a white nose. I think you’ll really, really like him.”
He grinned. “I bet I will,” he agreed. “We’ll go see him later.”
“We’d better go now,” Dani protested. “Later it will be my bedtime.”
“Give me a few minutes inside to say hello to your mom,” he negotiated. “I’m sure it won’t be your bedtime then.”
Dani braced her hands against his chest, leaned back in his arms and studied him intently. “You promise you won’t leave without going to see the kittens?”
“I promise,” he said, solemnly crossing his heart as he put her down.
“Okay,” she said cheerfully, and ran toward the house screaming, “Mommy, Uncle Cody’s here and he says he’s going to take one of Francie’s kittens.”
“Thank goodness,” Kelly called back as she emerged from the house, a grin on her face. “Conned you again, huh?”
He chuckled. “If you’re not careful, that child of yours is going to be the biggest scam artist in the entire United States.”
“I prefer to think she’ll have a career in diplomacy or maybe negotiating strike settlements,” Kelly said. “Come on in. Jordan’s still at the office, but he should be home soon.”
His sister-in-law surveyed him closely. “How are you? You look lousy.”
“Obviously Dani isn’t the only one in the family with a silver tongue.”
Kelly didn’t bat an eye. “Did you see Melissa today?”
“I’m sure you know perfectly well that your husband and Luke badgered me into it.”
“They said they were going to try. I wasn’t sure if it had worked.”
“I saw her,” he admitted. “And her baby.” He watched closely for Kelly’s reaction. She remained expressionless.
“I see,” she said blandly, keeping her attention focused on the vegetables she was chopping. “How did it go?”
Cody thought she was working awfully darned hard to feign disinterest. “Fine for the first few minutes, ugly after that.”
“Oh, Cody,” she protested softly. “Isn’t it time you settled things with her and came home for good?”
Suddenly he didn’t want to pursue the topic. He needed a break from it. They could get into it again when Jordan got home. Hopefully his brother would have answers that Kelly couldn’t or wouldn’t give him.
“I don’t want to talk about Melissa right now. First I want to catch a glimpse of that brand new baby boy of yours,” he declared just as Jordan came in and dropped a kiss on his wife’s cheek.
“Hey, little brother, what brings you by?” Jordan asked, sneaking a carrot from the pile Kelly had just cut up.
“He’s going to take a kitten,” Dani chimed in. “Can we go see them now, Cody? It’s later.”
Since going to see the kittens would keep him from having to deal with the subject of Melissa and her baby a little longer, Cody stood and headed for the kitchen door. Dani tucked her hand in his.
“You should probably take two kittens,” she said on the way out. “One might get lonely.”
“Listen, young lady, I said one kitten,” he protested over the sound of Kelly and Jordan’s laughter.
“But you were going to take two last time.” Apparently she caught his stern expression because she gave a little shrug of resignation. “I bet you’ll change your mind when you see them.”
A half hour later he was back in the kitchen with two kittens in a box. Dani had been giving him very precise instructions on caring for them ever since they’d left the barn. Kelly’s expression turned smug when she saw him.
“You are pitiful,” Jordan said, shaking his head. “Is there a female on the face of the earth you can resist?”
“Who are you kidding?” Cody shot back, gesturing to the big tomcat that was curled in Jordan’s lap purring contentedly. “You always hated cats and now you’re surrounded by them. I don’t hear you complaining.”
“You may not hear it,” Kelly said, “but it is almost the last thing I hear every single night. He says ‘Good night, I love you, no more cats,’ all in one breath.”
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