by Gina Wilkins
He couldn’t imagine being alone, without that close family bond he’d so often taken for granted. As exasperated as he became with them at times, he loved his family dearly. Losing any one of them would devastate him.
Dana interrupted his thoughts when she drew herself up straight in her seat and lifted her chin in that stubborn pose -he was beginning to recognize. “I want to get custody of my little brother, Cody,” she said quietly. “And I need your help to do it.”
Cody swallowed a groan.
Dana had been right about one thing, he decided abruptly. Jake’s brilliant idea of a pretend engagement had been a mistake from the start.
Chapter Three
A huge tractor-trailer rig zoomed past on the highway, buffeting Cody’s Jeep in its wake. Roused by the noise and motion, Dana blinked and looked around. “We really should be on our way,” she reminded Cody. “I told Barbara we’d be there in time for lunch and we did get a later start than we’d planned.”
He frowned. “But—”
“I promise I’ll tell you everything while you drive,” she assured him.
He sighed, checked the mirrors and pulled back onto the highway, headed toward Memphis. “Okay,” he said, certain he wasn’t going to like this. “Shoot.”
She drew a deep breath, turned her gaze to the summerparched crop fields they were passing and began. “Barbara is a wonderful woman. Sweet, thoughtful, kind-but rather old-fashioned in many ways. She honestly believes that no woman is complete without a husband and a family. That’s why she stayed in her unhappy first marriage for so longshe didn’t want to be single again, even though her first husband was compulsively unfaithful to her. When she finally realized it was never going to work, she filed for divorce, but she has told me that she was miserable until she met my father.”
“Some people are like that,” Cody commented. “Just can’t stand to live alone.”
Dana nodded. “That’s Barbara. And she can’t stand to see anyone else living alone, either. She’s been so afraid that I’ll end up an old-maid schoolteacher-her words, not mine,” she added quickly when Cody shot her a quizzical look.
“Yeah, that sounds about like my marriage-obsessed family. Granny Fran told me I wanted to be careful not to turn into one of those fussy old bachelors.”
Dana managed a smile. “Then you do understand.”
“I understand that part,” he agreed. “But I’m still not sure how I come into this. Is this pretend engagement your way of reassuring your stepmother that you won’t end up alone?”
“Partly. But that’s not all.”
Cody sighed. “I was afraid of that,” he muttered.
Dana ignored him. “Since the extent of her illness became clear a few months ago, Barbara and I have talked about Andy, and she agrees that Andy would be happy living with me. But she doesn’t think I can take care of him alone. She’s afraid I wouldn’t finish my education and that I wouldn’t be able to have a social life or manage financially with a ten-year-old boy to raise. I wanted to quit and move back home to take care of her when we learned that she was ill, but she wouldn’t hear of it. It upset her so badly that I had to drop the subject. She’s determined that I’m going to finish college this time.”
“She obviously has your best interests at heart.”
“I know. But it’s been very hard spending these past few months away from her.”
“You should have told me, Dana. Jake and I would have given you all the time off you needed,” Cody chided her gently.
She managed a weak smile. “Thanks, but I’ve been able to go home almost every Sunday, since it isn’t very far. And you and Jake have both been very generous when I’ve needed time off.”
Cody remembered a couple of occasions during the past few months when Dana had asked for time off to be with a sick family member. She’d never been specific, but he’d never doubted her excuses, instinctively trusting her honesty.
Now he realized that she must have been spending those days off with her stepmother. He wondered how she’d managed to keep up with her schoolwork and put on such a cheerful face for her customers, even with this burden weighing so heavily on her.
He couldn’t help but admire her spirit. No wonder he’d thought her so serious and humorless at times. She’d had little reason to laugh.
“It isn’t only my education that concerns her,” Dana continued. “Barbara isn’t sure a single young woman can provide the proper upbringing for a spirited little boy. She knows Alan has never really wanted children, but since he’s agreed to give Andy a home, Barbara thinks it might be good for both of them. She says a boy should have a man around to give him guidance.” Dana sounded disgruntled at the admission.
Cody cleared his throat and focused on the license plate of the old black Cadillac traveling ahead of them. Tact had never been his strong point, but he made an effort to phrase his words carefully. “You have to admit that some of her points are valid, Dana. You are a single young woman—a college student working evenings as a waitress. It wouldn’t be easy for you to take on the responsibility of a small boy.”
She started to protest, but he quieted her by raising one hand. “I didn’t say you couldn’t do it,” he emphasized. “I just said it wouldn’t be easy. Your stepsister, on the other hand, is married, established in a career and is apparently willing to take the boy in. I can see why your stepmother would be torn by the decision.” “She knows I love Andy, and that he loves me,” Dana said, her voice low, throbbing with emotion. “She knows there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to make him happy, even if it means quitting school and finding a better-paying daytime job. I’m prepared to do that.”
“And she doesn’t want you to have to,” Cody surmised.
“It wouldn’t be a sacrifice this time,” Dana insisted. “Not if it means I can keep Andy.”
Cody admired her dedication to her little brother. She obviously loved the kid—so much so that it was blinding her to reality. Knowing it wouldn’t do any good, he wouldn’t argue with her about it now, but he suspected her stepmother was right to be hesitant about leaving her son in Dana’s custody.
It took more than love to raise a kid, Cody thought with the airy wisdom of a childless bachelor. A lot more.
As though to forestall him if he did intend to argue, Dana turned toward him and spoke quickly. “When you and Jake started kidding around about a pretend engagement as a practical joke on your family, I started thinking about my own problems. That’s when it occurred to me that Jake might have stumbled on to a solution. If Barbara believes that I’m happily engaged to a man with a steady job and a secure future, she’ll see that I can provide a good home for Andy. She won’t be so worried about naming me as his guardian.”
“But—”
“She’s commented several times that Lynette and Alan don’t seem to have a very warm or demonstrative marriage,” Dana rushed on before he could finish. “She worries that they aren’t terribly happy together. You and I can convince her that we’re crazy about each other, that we can provide Andy with a home full of love and laughter. You’re good with kids—I’ve seen you with your niece and nephew. You’ll like Andy, and I know he’ll like you. Can’t you see?
It’s the perfect solution.”
Cody was getting seriously worried now. The almost feverishly enthusiastic look in Dana’s eyes was new to him; he’d never seen her quite so passionate about anything. He wasn’t sure she was thinking clearly about this—in fact, he was darned sure she wasn’t.
“Dana, you haven’t thought this through,” he suggested. “Even if we do convince your stepmother that we’re a happily engaged couple-then what?”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“How long do you expect us to keep up the charade? Do you plan for me to accompany you as your fiancé every time you come home to visit?”
“Of course not. I’m sure Barbara would understand that you’re a busy man, that you have your own business to run and can’t tak
e time away very often.”
“Still, she would probably expect to see me a few more times, at least. Holidays, family gatherings, that sort of thing.”
Dana’s lower lip quivered. “The next big holiday is Thanksgiving, which is three months away. Barbara. Barbara won’t make it until then.”
Cody’s hands tightened on the wheel. “It’s that close?”
“Yes.” Her anguish was unmistakable.
“I’m sorry.”
Dana only nodded.
Cody was growing more frustrated with every revelation she made to him. She was obviously acting impetuously, motivated by her grief and her fear of losing both her stepmother and her little brother. She wasn’t thinking ahead, wasn’t considering all the consequences.
Oddly enough, he was the one who was usually accused of being overly impulsive, of acting without thinking, of rushing in where angels feared to tread…but this scheme of Dana’s sounded like a mistake even to him.
How had he managed to get himself into this mess?
“So what you’re saying is,” he said, trying to sound logical, “you want us to announce our engagement to your stepmother, spend the weekend convincing her that we’re madly in love, talk her into naming you the guardian of her son, then go back to Percy and I’m out of the picture. From then on, you’ll continue the charade of an engagement for Barbara, making excuses for my absences, assuring her that everything’s just fine and that Andy will have a home with us. Then, after everything is settled and Andy has moved in with you, you’ll announce to whomever is interested that you weren’t really engaged, after all, and that you’ll be raising the boy alone.”
Dana nervously twisted the ring. “You make it sound…”
“What?” he prodded when she hesitated.
“Deceitful,” she muttered.
He thought that pretty well summed it up.
Dana pushed a strand of hair away from her face and looked at him beseechingly. It was all Cody could do not to pull the Jeep over again and take her in his arms. Something about the look in her eyes made him ache to comfort her. The way a friend would, he assured himself. That was all it was.
“I don’t know what else to do,” she said, her voice breaking.
“Maybe…” He swallowed. “Maybe you should forget this idea,” he suggested carefully. “Introduce me as a friend, nothing more. Let Andy go live with Lynette and her husband, at least until you earn your degree and get established in your teaching career. Maybe then Andy could come live with you for a while and…”
But Dana was shaking her head, her chin set stubbornly, her wet eyes glinting. “No,” she said.
“Dana…”
She laid a hand on his arm. “Cody, please. Listen for one more minute, okay?”
He sighed and nodded. Something told him he was going to regret this.
“I know this all sounds crazy to you. Trust me,” she added wryly, “this isn’t at all the way I usually behave. I know there’s a chance it will all fall apart, that it won’t turn out the way I’ve planned—but I honestly don’t know what else to do. I could fight legally for Andy’s custody, but that would upset Barbara, and I just can’t bear to do that to her. And, besides, there’s always a chance I wouldn’t win.”
Cody thought there was more than a chance. He couldn’t imagine a judge granting custody of the boy to Dana, not under the circumstances she’d described to him. But, having promised to hear her out, he kept his opinion to himself.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Dana said. “I know I haven’t explained this very well, that you think maybe Andy would be better off with Lynette and Alan. I can’t help resenting that you doubt I can raise my brother just because I’m single—”
“Hey!” Cody interrupted. “I never said that.”
“No, but you implied it.”
She went on before he could argue. “Still, I realize that you haven’t met my family, so you don’t have a full picture of the situation. All I’m asking you to do is to play along with me for today—meet Barbara and Andy, spend some time with them. Lynette and Alan are supposed to arrive tomorrow morning. I want you to meet them, too. I want you to judge for yourself whether Andy would be happy living with them.”
Cody was startled. “Me? Dana, I’m not the one to make that decision. This really isn’t—”
“Just meet them, Cody. That’s all I’m asking.”
He hesitated a minute, then asked, “And if I decide that Andy would be better off with them?”
“I’ll listen to your reasoning,” Dana said curtly. “Just as you’ve listened to mine.”
“And how are you going to introduce me?” he asked warily.
“I would still like to introduce you as my fiancé,” she replied, her cheeks a bit flushed, but her voice steady. “I think that would make Barbara happy. If you’re still willing to cooperate, of course.”
Cody lifted one hand from the steering wheel to shove it through his hair. “This is nuts.”
There was a weak ripple of amusement in her reply. “I know. It was your idea, remember?”
He shook his head. “Oh, no. This isn’t anything like what I had planned for my family.”
“But you’ll go along with me?”
He took his eyes from the road ahead long enough to search her face. She looked nervous, worried, a little tired and only faintly hopeful. And suddenly he knew he would do almost anything she asked. He exhaled deeply. “I’ll do it.”
“You’ll pretend to be engaged to me? Act like you’re in love with me?” she asked, as though to make absolutely sure he knew what he was agreeing to.
He nodded. “Yeah. But I’m not getting involved with your family business. I won’t pressure your stepmother into naming you as Andy’s guardian. I’m not going to do anything to influence her decision, is that clear? She’s the boy’s mother. It’s her right to decide what is best for him.”
He started to add that the decision shouldn’t be influenced by belief in a nonexistent engagement between him and Dana, but he’d already given his word that he would go along with that. He wouldn’t back out on her now.
Dana seemed a bit taken aback by his vehemence, but she finally nodded. “All right. We’ll keep the focus on us, and leave Andy out of it this weekend. I’ll talk to Barbara in private about his future.”
“Just don’t use me as an argument in your favor,” Cody reminded her. “That wouldn’t be right, Dana. If you honestly believe you can provide the best home for your little brother, it’s up to you to convince your stepmother. Remember, Andy’s whole future is at stake here.”
“I’m well aware of that,” Dana muttered a bit resentfully.
He nodded. “I hope so,” he said, his own voice grim.
They were well over halfway to Memphis by the time Cody was satisfied that he’d heard the whole story. Neither of them said much after that. Dana seemed lost in her own thoughts, and Cody was busy chewing himself out for letting his impulsive nature get him into another awkward situation.
He knew something was going to go wrong this weekend, that he’d somehow let Dana down. She wanted him to convince everyone that he was the stable, responsible, dependable type—and he just wasn’t sure he was that talented an actor.
He was still surprised that she’d asked him to meet her family and form an opinion about who should be responsible for Andy. He wouldn’t have thought she’d have cared about his judgment one way or the other.
He idly scanned the Memphis skyline as he drove across the bridge that spanned the Mississippi River, connecting Arkansas and Tennessee. It had been a while since he’d been to Memphis. The gleaming aluminum pyramid just on the other side of the river caught his eye. The oddly shaped coliseum was utilized for concerts, sporting events and other large gatherings. Cody had seen Billy Joel perform there a few years ago; it had been a hell of a concert.
Dana broke her silence to give him concise directions to her stepmother’s house on the east side of Memphis, in German
town. Cody knew the area. He navigated carefully through the Saturday-morning traffic. An internationally familiar face loomed on a billboard ahead. Trying to establish conversation, Cody asked lightly, “Ever been to Graceland?”
“Hasn’t everyone?” Dana asked wryly.
“Well—no.”
“You haven’t taken the tour?”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t really an Elvis fan. I mean, he was okay, but a little before my time. I was just a kid when he died.”
“So was I, of course. But it’s hard to grow up in Memphis without becoming an Elvis fan. Odd as he was in some ways, the man had something. special.” “Okay, I’ll grant that. There’s never been anyone else quite like him.”
Which exhausted that subject. Searching for another one, Cody noticed a proliferation of glittery billboards advertising the riverboat casinos in nearby Tunica, Mississippi. “I suppose you’ve been to Tunica a few times.”
She shook her head. “No. I’ve never had enough extra money to risk on the turn of a card or the roll of a die.”
He chuckled dryly. “Smart move. I’ve been twice with friends, and I came home busted both times. I’m afraid I have no luck as a gambler.”
“ ‘Unlucky at cards…” she murmured.
He winced when he recognized the allusion. Cody had been no more lucky at love than he had been at games of fortune—maybe because he’d spent so many years avoiding that particular risk.
“What do you do in your spare time?” he asked, quickly changing that subject. “When you aren’t going to school or waiting tables.”
Dana shrugged. “I haven’t had a lot of free time the past year,” she admitted. “When I’m not in class or at work, I’m usually studying.”
“What did you like to do before you started school last year?”
“Before that, I worked long hours for the insurance company and helped Barbara with Andy in the evenings.”