Cody's Fiancee

by Gina Wilkins

  On an impulse, he followed her example, fleetingly pressing his lips to Barbara’s cool, thin cheek. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you better this weekend,” he told her, and it was the truth. He’d liked Barbara from the moment he’d seen her.

  Her smile was radiant, if weary. “So am I,” she murmured.

  Andy wandered into the room then. “I want to tell Mom about Benji’s cast while you and Cody unpack,” he said, moving to his mother’s bedside.

  Dana nodded. “All right. We’ll see you at lunch, then.”

  “She looks worn out,” Cody murmured as soon as he and Dana were out of hearing range.

  Dana nodded. “Yes. Andy knows not to overtire her. He’ll sit with her and talk quietly for a little while. They both treasure their time together.”

  Cody cleared his throat. “Does Andy know…?”

  “How little time she has left?” Dana nodded. “He knows. I’m not sure he’s fully accepted it, but she thought it best for him to be prepared.”

  Cody sighed. “Damn.”

  She didn’t ask him to explain, didn’t need to. She slipped her hand beneath his arm. “You were very sweet to her,” she said softly. “Thank you.”

  Cody covered Dana’s hand with his own, a gesture of sympathy and understanding. “I like her.”

  Her smile trembled. “Everyone does.”

  Uncomfortable with the hint of tears in her voice, Cody decided to lighten the mood. And he knew just how to do it. “So I have a wicked smile, hmm?” he murmured tauntingly.

  Dana immediately tugged her hand from his arm and moved a step away from him.

  “She was exaggerating,” she said coolly. “I’ve told Barbara all about my life in Percy. But I haven’t talked about you any more than I have Jake…or Kasey or Angela or Caroline or…”

  Cody chuckled. “Okay, I get the picture. You haven’t exactly raved about me.”

  “Hardly.” She sniffed.

  “Mmm. Still…”

  Dana tossed her head and moved ahead of him. “Let’s get our bags.”

  Smiling at her obvious annoyance, he tagged obediently at her heels, much the way her little brother had earlier.

  After they retrieved their bags from the Jeep, Dana led Cody upstairs. She pointed out Andy’s room, then escorted him down the hall to two opposite doors. “You take the bedroom on the right,” she said. “Mine is this one on the left.”

  “Does Hilda live in?” Cody asked.

  “She has a room over the garage. The stairs to her room lead straight down to the hallway in front of Barbara’s room, so Hilda can get to her quickly, if necessary. We’ve set up a monitor system in both rooms so Mom can summon Hilda if she needs her during the night.”

  “I’ve noticed that you call her Barbara at times and Mom at others,” Cody commented.

  Dana nodded. “I always have,” she said. She didn’t add that Lynette had never really liked it when Dana called Barbara Mom. On more than one occasion, Lynette had made a point to not so subtly remind Dana later whose mother Barbara really was.

  Cody opened the door to his bedroom. “I’ll get unpacked. Let me know when you’re ready to go back down.”

  She nodded and opened her own door. It was with a deep sense of relief that she stepped in and closed the door behind her. She sagged against the cool wood for a moment, eyes closed, nerves stretched to the breaking point.

  She had made a terrible mistake.

  It had sounded so simple when she’d come up with the idea—or, rather, had modified Jake’s idea for her own use. Convince the family she was engaged, produce a fiance, reassure Barbara that Dana wouldn’t be left lonely and miserable. Easy, right?

  Wrong.

  She’d known that Barbara had been genuinely troubled about Dana’s rather solitary existence. Dana had never been able to convince Barbara that it was by choice she’d lived that way, that it just seemed easier in the long run. Barbara had always believed, instead, that Dana had been more hurt by her disastrous relationship with Linc Roberts than she was willing to admit.

  Oh, sure, Linc had hurt her, Dana admitted now. But only because she’d been naive and foolish, imagining him to be something he wasn’t. It hadn’t been Linc she’d missed after it was over; it was the mythical lover she’d created in her own mind. Dana had the sense to see that now. And she’d been very careful pot to make that mistake again. She saw people the way they were now, not the way she wanted them to be. Yet they still managed to surprise her occasion, ally.

  Cody had surprised her today.

  The way he’d acted when she’d told him exactly why they were doing this, for example. She hadn’t expected him to express such disapproval and misgiving. He’d thought it was a great idea when Jake had first suggested it. He’d shown no qualms at all about pulling the scam on his family. Dana hadn’t anticipated that he would have serious doubts about fibbing to her.

  Of course, he hadn’t realized when he’d agreed that her reasons for doing this were all too serious. Dana supposed she should have known how Cody would feel about that; Cody didn’t like anything serious. The man seemed determined to turn everything into a spoof.

  His clowning made him extremely popular with the bar customers, of course, but Dana had never particularly admired that part of him. She took life too seriously herself to have patience with anyone who considered it all a big joke.

  Shaking her head, she laid her suitcase on the bed and opened it. As she unpacked, she continued to think about Cody, and the many reasons he was all wrong for her. She’d always admired his devotion to his family, his thoughtfulness as an employer and his skill at running the club, but just about everything else about him had rubbed her the wrong way.

  She knew how he felt about commitment, for example. During the year she’d known him, he hadn’t dated a lot that she knew of—for one thing, he worked late every night at the club—but it hadn’t been for lack of trying on the women’s part. Dana had seen them practically throw themselves into the lanky blonde’s arms. In return, he had teased them, flirted with them, occasionally taken them out, but there’d never been even a hint of a serious relationship.

  Cody liked women, Dana had long since decided. He just didn’t like the thought of making a serious commitment to one.

  Like Linc, she couldn’t help thinking. Except, of course, that Line had been more aggressive in his own pursuit. Linc rarely let an evening go by without a beautiful woman at his side; he never seemed content with his own company, as Cody seemed to be. Nor would he have enjoyed the hours Cody spent with his family, playing with his niece and nephew, visiting with his grandmother, sharing Sunday dinners with his sister and brother-in-law.

  Dana pulled a thick textbook out of the bottom of her bag. She’d thought she might have a chance to study this weekend, maybe at night when everyone else had gone to bed.

  She thought of Cody’s admission to her that he’d “washed out” during his second year of college. And all because he hadn’t been allowed to major in partying, according to his account.

  She thought of those years she’d spent working in a job that bored her, longing to finish her education. How hard she’d worked to get good grades since she’d started at Percy Teacher’s College. As determined as she was to gain custody of Andy when it became necessary, she knew she wouldn’t be able to continue with her studies and raise and support him at the same time. Though she considered the sacrifice well worth making, it hurt to think of walking away from her career dreams a second time.

  And Cody had thrown his own educational opportunities away.

  It was obvious that she and he couldn’t be more different in their outlook on life.

  And yet…

  She thought of the tenderness in his face when he’d sat with Barbara. The melting sympathy in his eyes when he’d looked at Dana and silently acknowledged how grave her stepmother’s condition really was. His apparently genuine concern about Andy’s future.

  It was that particular
reaction that had Dana worrying that she’d made a mistake asking Cody to help her this weekend. She certainly hadn’t expected Cody to agree with Barbara that a single woman couldn’t provide a stable home for a child.

  Cody’s own sister, Rachel, had been widowed young and left with two small children to raise. Dana had often heard Cody brag about what a good job his sister had done with her children. Rachel had recently remarried, but Dana had never gotten the impression Cody thought Rachel particularly needed a man to make her family complete.

  So why didn’t he think Dana could handle it alone?

  She hadn’t liked it at all when Cody had suggested that she let Andy go to New York to live with Lynette and Alan. She knew he’d thought he was suggesting the best solution for everyone…Dana included…but he didn’t understand. He hadn’t yet met Lynette and Alan, didn’t know how strong the bond was between Dana and Andy.

  At least he’d agreed to meet everyone involved before he exressed his final opinion. He’d promised not to interfere with her plans, though he’d refused to actively campaign for her. She supposed that was all she could ask of him.

  She shouldn’t have brought him along, she fretted now, beginning to pace the room where she’d spent so many happy hours of her adolescence. Something was going to go wrong, she just knew it. Her impulsively brilliant idea was unraveling right in front of her, and there was nothing she could think of to do about it.

  All she knew was that she couldn’t give Andy up. Couldn’t lose him, no matter what she had to do to keep him with her. And if Cody wouldn’t help her, then Dana would find a way on her own.

  She had no other choice.

  Chapter Five

  “Tell me more about your family, Cody. You said your sisters both married this past year?”

  Cody swallowed a savory bite of spinach lasagna and turned to Barbara. He’d been surprised when she’d joined them for lunch, brought in a wheelchair by her solicitous housekeeper. Barbara had eaten very little of the excellent lunch Hilda had prepared, but she’d seemed to enjoy watching Andy, Dana and Cody share the meal.

  She also seemed to enjoy asking questions. She’d been subtly pumping Cody for the past half hour, asking about his work, his hobbies, his family. It was more than obvious that she was making sure he was the right man for her stepdaughter; Cody only hoped his answers were serving to set her mind at rest. As for him, he was so wracked with guilt that he was hardly able to taste the food.

  Guilt was an emotion Cody had lived with for years, had finally learned to lock away somewhere deep in the recesses of his mind. He hadn’t expected to find himself assailed with it this weekend.

  But then, he hadn’t expected to spend the weekend lying to a dying woman, either, he told himself grimly, resisting an urge to glare at Dana.

  He only hoped she was having as difficult a time with this crazy scheme as he was.

  And now Barbara was bringing the conversation around to marriage. Cody suspected he knew where it would lead next.

  “Yes,” he said, hiding his feelings behind a smile. “Both Rachel and Celia are married now. Blissfully so, according to them.”

  “Rachel’s your older sister? The one who was widowed young and left with two small children?” Barbara asked, proving that she’d been listening carefully during her gentle inquisition.

  Cody nodded. “She’s a couple of years older than I am.”

  “Do you like her husband?”

  “Actually, he’s one of my best friends,” Cody explained. “Seth Fletcher, an attorney. They met when Seth moved to Percy last year to open an office there. They were married last New Year’s Eve, just four months after they met.”

  “Do the children like him?”

  “Paige and Aaron? They’re crazy about him. In fact,” Cody added with a grin, “they picked him out for their mom before she’d admitted that she was even interested. He’s equally fond of them. And now they’re expecting another baby.”

  Dana looked up in surprise. “Are they? I hadn’t heard.”

  “They just announced it last weekend,” Cody explained. “The baby isn’t due for another seven months.” Cody was aware that Dana knew Rachel only casually, having served her when Rachel and Seth, and sometimes the kids, dined at the club.

  “You have met Cody’s family, haven’t you, Dana?” Barbara asked, seeming a bit surprised that Dana hadn’t heard the news.

  “Of course,” Dana answered quickly. “I’ve met all of them. His parents live in Saint Louis, so they don’t get down to visit very often, but I always see them when they’re in town.”

  Cody bit the inside of his lip against a smile. Dana was telling the truth, in her own way. Cody’s family had all visited the club periodically and always took time to chat with Cody’s partner and employees, Dana included.

  “And what about your younger sister, Celia?” Barbara asked, directing the question to Cody again.

  “As I mentioned, Celia lives in New Mexico now with her husband, Reed Hollander. Reed works for the Treasury Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Celia met him in Texas last November. He was working undercover at the time, and she almost got herself killed when she accidentally stumbled into the middle of his investigation.”

  Barbara gasped.

  Andy looked up from his lunch with sudden interest, having drifted into his own thoughts during the adult conversation. “Your sister married an agent?” he asked in interest.

  “She sure did,” Cody answered. “He carries a gun and everything.”

  “Cool,” Andy breathed.

  Barbara was eager to hear the rest of the story. “What happened?”

  “Reed and his partner-with Celia’s help, she insistsexposed an illegal arms deal and put the ringleader behind bars. After he saved Celia’s neck, Reed apparently decided it belonged to him. They were married only a week later.”

  Barbara’s eyes were round. “How romantic,” she murmured.

  Cody made a face. “When I first heard that Celia had eloped with a guy she’d known only a couple of weeks, I thought she’d lost her mind. I was sure it would end up in disaster. But after I met Reed, I changed my opinion. He’s a nice guy, and I think he’s exactly what Celia needs. He’ll keep her from getting bored—but he’ll keep her out of trouble, too.”

  Dana snorted. “You make it sound as though she needs a keeper,” she muttered. “Are you aware of how sexist that sounds?”

  Cody only shrugged. “I’ve always said Celia needed a keeper,” he reminded her. “Nothing to do with her gender. She’s simply accident-prone. Just the opposite of Rachel, who was getting along very well by herself until she met Seth and decided she wanted to share her life with him.”

  Barbara seemed pleased with Cody’s response. “You sound like a typical big brother,” she said with a smile. “I think it’s sweet that you were worried about Celia’s wel fare.”

  Cody chuckled. “You should have heard Adam’s reaction when he heard that she’d eloped with a near stranger. He went ballistic. Granny Fran had to almost order him not to track them down on their honeymoon and interrogate the poor guy.”

  “Adam?”

  “My cousin,” he explained. “Adam’s the oldest grandkid on my father’s side and he’s always considered himself the family protector, for some reason.”

  “Adam was recently married, too,” Dana put in, obviously trying to sound as though Cody’s family was quite familiar to her. “In the spring, wasn’t it, Cody?”

  He nodded and waited for her to continue, curious as to what she’d say. She’d met Adam and Jenny when they’d dined at Country Straight with Rachel and Seth a couple of months ago, but he didn’t remember Dana spending any time chatting with them.

  “Adam married a woman with a baby daughter, Melissa,” Dana went on airily, the diamond glinting on her left hand as she reached for her iced tea. “The little girl’s adorable. Big brown eyes, a mop of curly dark hair.”

  For a moment, Cody couldn’t figure o
ut how she could possibly know that. Adam and Jenny had never brought the baby into the club.

  And then he grinned, remembering the photographs that lined the credenza in his office. Rachel, Seth and the kids dressed in Easter finery. Celia and Reed on their honeymoon in Hawaii. A posed portrait of Cody’s parents. Another of Granny Fran. And a small, framed snapshot of Adam, Jenny and Melissa. Dana had been into his office dozens of times for one reason or another. Obviously, she was more observant than he’d realized.

  “It sounds as though you’re marrying into a very nice family,” Barbara told Dana happily.

  “They are a nice family,” Dana agreed, flashing Cody a look he couldn’t quite interpret. “Very nice.”

  Maybe she was implying that she liked his family better than she did him.

  Telling himself he was being paranoid, he glanced at Andy, who was playing with the remains of his lunch and looking bored. “You haven’t had a chance to get a word in edgewise, have you, partner?” he asked. “Anything exciting been happening in your life lately?”

  Andy shrugged, though he looked pleased to have someone’s attention. “Nah. Just school.”

  “Andy won first prize on a school math project this week,” Dana announced proudly.

  “Yeah? Hey, that’s great. What did you do?”

  “Oh, it was just a percentage project,” Andy said, deliberately downplaying the achievement, his green eyes gleaming. “I tracked the accuracy of the three local weathercasters for a four-week period. You know, wrote down their fiveday forecasts, then recorded the actual weather each day. Then I figured out which one had the highest percentage of accuracy.”

  “That sounds really interesting,” Cody encouraged him. “What did you learn from it?”

  Andy grinned. “That what they seem to be doing is mostly guesswork. All of them were pretty close a day or two in advance, but they weren’t as good at predicting more than three days ahead.”

  Cody chuckled. “Even the national weather bureau admits three days is just about the reliable limit. That was clever of you to prove it.”