by Soraya Lane
“I meant going out socially, as a woman, not as a mom. Out for dinner, getting dressed up, just letting your hair down like old times?”
She laughed. “I’m always a mom, Cody. It’s not like I can just switch it off whenever I want to.”
“You know what I meant,” Cody said. “So will you let Tanner and Lauren babysit or not? There’s a great new restaurant my assistant told me to try.”
“Your assistant? Do you realize how pompous you sound, dropping that in there?”
Cody frowned. “Should I walk out the door and come back in, so we can start this conversation all over again?”
“Fine. Dinner. Babysitter. No being a mom.” She had to admit that a night out on Cody wasn’t exactly a chore. She hadn’t been able to afford to eat out since she’d taken over her mom’s bills, and she’d do anything for a couple of glasses of good wine and great food.
“You’re sure?”
Her phone buzzed then and she glanced down, moving fast when she saw it was Walter. He liked his privacy, but when he needed her he sent her a text, and she never left him waiting.
“I have to go, but yes.”
“I’ll pick you up at eight.”
She spun around and walked backward. “Eight? Can’t we make it seven? I’ll fall asleep on you if you we go out too late.”
She saw Cody hide his smile, but he nodded. “Sure. Seven it is.”
Her stomach fluttered as she walked quickly down the hall, and she placed a hand there, trying to settle it. This wasn’t a date. This was two old friends going out. She knew all about getting her hopes up when it came to Cody Ford, and she wasn’t letting it happen again. Ever. But there was nothing wrong about looking forward to dinner with a handsome man, was there?
She found Walter out of bed and at his desk, glancing up at her as if she were his secretary popping her head in instead of his nurse.
“What are you doing?”
“Bah, I can rest when I’m dead,” he said. “I was just wanting something to eat, I’m starving. And, ah, something to help with the pain a little.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “So you should be resting and not working.”
He shrugged. “I thought about something I hadn’t attended to.”
“You know, you have two very capable sons, including one who’s chomping at the bit to be working right now. You could always ask one of them for help.”
Lexi turned to leave but Walter’s voice made her turn back.
“It’s nice to see you smile, Lexi. You look happy today.”
She laughed, shaking her head at him. It was almost as if he knew that his son was to thank for her newfound smile. She only hoped it didn’t falter when she went to visit her mom the next day.
* * *
“Dad,” Cody said in a low voice, not wanting to wake the sleeping child on his chest. He didn’t ever remember his dad being quite so hands on when they were kids, but he was practically attached to his grandkids when they were around. It was nice to see a softer side of him, to see that beneath his intense work ethic was a man who knew what was important in life now. Maybe he needed to take a leaf from his dad’s book.
He watched as his father reached for the remote and turned the volume down, his gaze settling on him as he waited for him to speak.
“I was talking to Tanner today, about the deal I’m putting together on a piece of land here,” he said. “I think I talked to you about it last time I was here?”
His father chuckled. “No, you told me about it when I was in the hospital, when I begged you to talk work to me like I wasn’t an old man dying. You remember how everyone else was fussing over me?”
Cody cracked up laughing, shaking his head. His father had hated being cooped up in the hospital and being treated like an old man incapable of working from his bed. In fact, it was also then that he’d insisted Cody sneak his laptop and work files into his room, so he had something to do when everyone was gone. His father never had been the sit-idle-and-watch-television or read-a-book kind of guy.
“It’s one of the biggest deals I’ve put together in Texas. I’m so used to working in New York and LA, but it’s going to be huge. I’ve spent the past month living and breathing it.”
“So what’s the problem? Cash flow?” He turned slightly in his chair so he was facing Cody now. “You don’t have to talk around it, son. You need money from me you just have to ask. It’s a solid deal and I’m happy to partner with you.”
Cody frowned. “It’s not that, I don’t need money, I just wanted to sound you out. Tanner thinks I shouldn’t be messing with land so close to home, even though someone else would have snapped it up if I hadn’t.” He laughed as he thought it through. “Hell, you might have bought it if I hadn’t.”
“Trust me, son, the thought crossed my mind.” His father’s frowned. “You know, this is the first time I’ve ever seen you doubt yourself.”
“So you don’t think I should be, I don’t know, more careful about upsetting the local folk?” Cody asked. “Business has always been business to me. It’s nothing personal, but yeah, I guess he rattled me.”
He watched his dad shift position, and he glanced away as he saw the grimace of pain cross his face as he moved. Talking to his dad, it was like nothing had changed, but physically, the signs were terrifying. He wondered if it was as obvious to Mia and Tanner because they saw him so often and the deterioration was probably slow, whereas he went months without seeing his old man and the truth hit hard when he did.
“Your brother has a lot of heart, Cody. Always has, always will,” he said. “He followed his heart with his career until he retired, and he’s as passionate about this ranch and our other ranching interests as you are about closing deals and acquiring land. It’s the reason I let him take over that part of our business, and why you’ll step into my shoes when I’m no longer capable. If you want to, that is.”
“You know I want to,” he said without hesitating.
“The apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree when it comes to you, Cody. I know you’re the right person to grow our family business.”
Cody let it all sink in, his father’s words washing over him. It was strange, talking about a time when his dad might not be the family patriarch, but he knew how much it meant to his old man to have everything planned for every possible situation, including his own death. And he was right about how different he was from his brother too. Tanner was more like their mom had been, with a head for business but more inclined to follow her heart when she needed to, whereas Cody had learned from his father, inherited his desire to conquer any obstacle in his path. He thought with his head and his bank balance, and he didn’t let anything get in the way of his success.
“So I don’t need to start second-guessing myself then?” he asked. “I thought maybe I’d started to lose perspective.”
“The day you start second-guessing yourself is the day you fail,” Walter said. “It’s not healthy and if you do it once, you’ll never trust your instincts again. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do things differently next time, or that you won’t make mistakes, but don’t let anyone else get in your head and influence your decisions.”
Cody nodded, rising when Mia came in looking for her daughter. He glanced at his watch, happy to see it was almost seven.
“Where are you heading out to dressed so sharp?” Mia asked, eyebrows raised as she studied him.
“Just dinner, that’s all.”
“Dinner with who?” she asked.
Cody laughed. “Sorry, Mom, I didn’t know I had to tell you everything. Do I have a curfew?”
Mia narrowed her gaze, and Cody laughed at her.
“If you must know, I’m going out with Lexi.”
“For dinner?”
“Yes, for dinner,” he replied. “Is that okay with you? You don’t have to sound quite so shocked that a beautiful woman wants to have dinner with me.”
“I don’t think it’s such a good idea.”
> Cody folded his arms. “Hold up. Last night you told me to apologize and make amends. Which for the record, I did.”
“Leave him to go have fun,” Walter interrupted, waving his hand. “But if you do something stupid and lose me my nurse, you’ll be the one caring for me until my last breath.”
Cody blew out a breath and looked from his sister to his father. He had no idea whom to be more afraid of.
“Don’t wait up for me,” he said, making his getaway and heading out the door.
“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Mia called back.
Cody headed to the front door, feeling a weight on his shoulders that certainly hadn’t been there the last time he’d taken Lexi out. Or maybe he just couldn’t remember back that far.
Chapter 7
AS Cody walked the short distance between the main house and the guesthouse, he looked up, seeing how unusual the sky appeared. It had a lightness about it that reminded him of snow, and he wished he’d checked the forecast. As much as he was starting to enjoy being back, the last thing he wanted was a heavy snowfall to ground him longer than the few more days he had left.
Why was that always where his mind turned to? He was like a flighty animal always needing to see an exit, needing to know he could flee if and when he needed to.
“Wait up!” he heard Tanner’s call and turned, tugging his scarf up higher against the chill of the wind as it slowly started to pick up.
Cody opened his arms as they neared, happy to see Lauren tucked against Tanner’s side. She stepped out to hug him, and he kissed her cheek as he pulled her close.
“Good to see you, Lauren,” he said, before his brother had his arm around her again. They’d been parted for a while and it showed.
“You boys been behaving while I was gone?” she asked.
“Ahhh, I don’t know if I’d call it behaving exactly,” Cody teased. “It depends on your definition.”
“Well, it’s good to have you back anyway. Now can we please get moving? It’s freezing out here!”
Tanner somehow bundled her even closer as Cody walked beside them.
“Thanks for doing this tonight,” he said. “I know babysitting probably wasn’t on your list of things to do on your first night back.”
“Hey, we’re all just waiting to see what a train wreck this turns into,” Tanner joked. “It’s kind of like watching reality television, but in our own backyard.”
Cody balled and flexed his fists a few times, refusing to take the bait and explode at his brother. “There’s no train wreck. I’m just taking an old friend out for dinner, that’s all.” He raised his hand to knock, rapping three times lightly on the door.
“So you’re going to tell her about the development you’re doing?” Tanner asked. “Because that’s where the train wreck part comes in, just in case I wasn’t clear.”
“What development?” Lauren asked. “What exactly am I missing here?”
“Lover boy here is tearing down that assisted-living facility. You know the one that had the big signs out in front saying HELP SAVE BRIGHT LIGHTS a few weeks back?”
Lauren’s eyes grew wide. “Oh shit.”
“I’ll tell her when I’m good and ready. Quit making such a big deal out of it,” Cody grumbled.
“Big deal? I think you’re the one making the big deal, literally. And no, I won’t stop, because you wouldn’t let up when it came to my career and telling me when you thought I was in the wrong. I remember you being pretty happy to be part of that intervention.”
“First of all, that was different, and second, can we stop talking about that now before Lexi—”
The door creaked and swung open. “Before Lexi what?” she asked, eyebrows arched, her little boy wrapped around one of her legs and staring up at Cody with a big grin on his face.
“Ahhh, before Lexi opens the door,” he said with a smile, hoping she didn’t notice the tension between him and Tanner. “Hey, Harry, how are you?”
The kid grinned up at him. “Is this why you asked me what Mom likes to do when we hang out? I told her that’s why you knew she’d like dinner at a restaurant.”
“Ahhh, you got me,” Cody said, bending a little and chuckling at him. “I just thought it’d be our little secret, bud. Now your mom knows I’ve been asking about her.”
He glanced up at Lexi and saw her sucking in her bottom lip to stop from laughing.
“Ooops,” Harry said with a shrug. “But she said you were kind of a jerk when she used to know you, so I thought I’d better tell her. Mommy, do you really want to have dinner with him?”
“Harry!” Lexi gasped. “That wasn’t to be repeated!”
Tanner was cracking up laughing behind him but Cody managed to keep a straight face, bending down farther until he was the same height as Harry and touching the little guy’s shoulder.
“Dude, I was a jerk back then, but I’ll try really hard not to be tonight, okay? If your mom comes home angry, I’ll let you beat me up. Deal?”
Harry fist-bumped him, but Lexi put her hands over his ears and glared at him. “No fighting in this house, Cody.” She took her hands off her son’s ears and planted her hands on his shoulders instead, leaning forward and kissing his cheek. “Fighting isn’t cool, is it? We don’t beat anyone up, right?”
Harry shook his head but he mouthed “yes” to Cody over her shoulder, and Cody gave him a quick thumbs-up before rising.
“I saw that,” Lexi said.
Cody shook his head. “Moms see everything, Harry. Don’t forget that, okay?”
Harry giggled. “Okay.”
But then Harry’s attention was turned to Tanner, who was already high-fiving him.
“What’s the plan tonight, little man? Pizza? Movie?” Tanner asked. “And you remember the prettiest woman in the world other than your mom, don’t you? Lauren was so excited about seeing you tonight.”
Harry waved. “Yes! Can we go to your place? I really want to see your dog.”
Cody reached for Lexi as she turned to him, seeing in her eyes that she was worried about her son and not even thinking about him. “He’ll be fine. He’s in good hands. Tanner loves kids and so does Lauren.”
“I know, it’s just…” She turned back to Cody, her shoulders slowly falling as if some of the tension was fading away.
“He’s your son. I get it. And you’re used to it being just the two of you, am I right?”
She nodded. “It’s hard to know how it feels unless you’re a parent. I feel like half my life is about feeling guilty now, and the other half is about worrying whether I’m doing the right thing or not.”
“I’ve helped my sister when her husband’s been away traveling for work, and she’s so tired she can barely move from looking after her kids, so I get it,” he said gently. “She told me just the other night that parenting is harder than any show-jumping competition she’s ever prepared for.”
“You can say that again.” Lexi smiled at him, her shoulders dropping down at the same time as she sighed. “Maybe you’re not such a jerk after all.”
Before he could answer Harry came running back into the room, slamming into his mom as he grabbed her leg again.
“Tanner said I have to ask you first, but can we please go to their place? They have pizza and ice cream and a dog and, and—”
“Whoa,” Lexi said, bending and throwing her arms around him in a fierce hug. “You can do anything you want to do, so long as you listen to Tanner and Lauren, okay? I’m only going to be a couple of hours.”
Cody watched as he hugged his mom back before leaping away and running off again, no doubt in search of Tanner.
“You ready to go?”
She took a big breath and reached for her coat, letting him take it so he could help her into it.
“Yes. Ready,” she said. “Bye, Harry! Thanks for looking after him, guys!”
Tanner called back and when she looked like she was about to change her mind, Cody took her hand and opened the door with the other.
>
“Come on, we’re going before you decide to stay home instead.”
Lexi gripped his hand tight and followed him, just as a light flurry of snow floated through the air. She laughed and held a hand out, catching a snowflake and turning to him.
“Harry will be so excited if it snows all night. He’s dying to make a snowman.”
They walked across back to the main house, and Cody gestured toward the garage and pointed to the Range Rover, stepping in front of Lexi to open the door. Once he was in, he started the engine and activated the heated seats, turning the heat up as well and the volume on the radio down.
“I think Tanner was the last person to drive this. Who would have the music that loud?”
Lexi laughed and he turned to look at her before backing out. “It was me.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“I was the last person to drive it! Your dad asked me to run some errands for him, and he always tells me to take this. I had the music blaring.”
Cody reached to turn the stereo back up again. “Better?” he asked.
She cranked it up a little more. “Better.”
Lexi was full of surprises. And it surprised him how much he liked it.
* * *
Lexi unbuttoned her jacket as the seat warmed up and the interior of the car became more summer in LA than winter in Texas. As she settled back, she angled her body so she had a better view of Cody. When she’d first laid eyes on him again, all she’d been able to see was how much he’d hurt her, but now she was wondering if he was just easy to blame because of everything that had happened. It had been a rollercoaster of a year for her, and despite what a jerk he’d been, maybe it was stupid holding onto a grudge. She was starting to see that maybe he might have changed, at least a little bit, and she was the one left feeling stupid for being so easy to rile. Maybe if things had worked out differently for her she wouldn’t have been so angry at him still, but nothing had turned out the way she’d expected.
“You seem more relaxed than when you first arrived,” she said, her thoughts suddenly spilling from her mind.