by Gina Wilkins
“Not at all,” he lied airily. “What favor do you want, Barbara? You name it, you’ve got it,” he assured her boldly.
“I want to see you and Dana married,” she answered simply—devastatingly. “I would gladly give whatever time I have left to share that joy with you. Her father and I often talked of the day when we would see her married. He…he didn’t live long enough to give her away.”
Her voice broke, but she steadied it quickly. “Dana’s father loved her very dearly, Cody. She was the joy of his life. I would give anything to be at your wedding, to represent him—and to bestow my blessing on my second daughter.”
Dana’s hand was trembling wildly now in Cody’s, her fingers icy. Cody knew his own hand was not much steadier.
He really should have stayed in Percy, he thought dazedly. This was getting out of control fast.
The Fates must be laughing hysterically now.
“When—” He cleared his throat. “When did you have in mind?”
Before Barbara could answer, Dana spoke for the first time since Cody had entered the room. “Barbara, we really haven’t discussed a date yet. I’m not sure we—”
Barbara held up a hand. “I can tell I’ve startled both of you with this. Obviously, you’ll want to talk about it. I’ll understand, of course, if you prefer to set your own timetable. I can’t blame you. And yet.” She sighed wistfully.
“It’s not that I’m not anxious to marry Dana, of course,”
Cody assured her. “But—”
“There’s just so little time,” Barbara murmured, lost in her own sad thoughts. “I’m sorry if I’ve embarrassed you.”
Oh, damn. Cody could feel the guilt eating at him from inside out. A quick sideways glance let him know that Dana was sharing his misery.
“Barbara, you haven’t embarrassed us. We understand,” Cody said, aware that Dana was watching him with panic-stricken eyes, waiting for him to do something brilliant to get them out of this.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t feeling particularly bright at the moment, much less brilliant.
“There’s nothing either of us would like better than to have you with us at that special time,” he continued, stumbling for words. “It’s just that we haven’t—we aren’t—er—”
“I suppose it would be impossible to have the wedding this evening,” Barbara murmured, as though she hadn’t heard a word he’d said.
Dana’s hand jumped at the same time Cody’s heart stopped. “That might be pushing it a bit,” Dana agreed hastily, breathlessly. “Maybe we should—”
“We have to think of the legal requirements—blood tests, license, a minister…” Cody couldn’t think of any other excuses. Maybe the ones he’d given would be sufficient.
Barbara didn’t seem fazed. “I could take care of the license and the officiate,” she said confidently. “Judge Lawrence Herriman is my first cousin. I’m sure he could arrange something. As for blood tests, they’re no longer required by the state of Tennessee. There’s no waiting period now.”
Cody swallowed a groan. Oh, great.
What had the legislators been thinking when they’d changed that requirement? What was wrong with requiring a waiting period? Didn’t they understand that people shouldn’t rush—or be rushed—into marriage? This was something that should be carefully planned…say for a couple of years or so.
“Lynette and Alan are staying through Wednesday. I know your club is closed tonight, Cody, so there’s no need for you to go back this afternoon, is there?”
“Well, er—”
“We could probably arrange something for tomorrow afternoon. By the big fireplace in the den-that’s where Dana’s father and I were married. Did she tell you?”
“No, she didn’t.”
Barbara’s smile was misty. “It was lovely. A small, private ceremony. Just us, and the girls and a few special friends. My cousin, the judge, married us. It was the happiest day of my life.”
She suddenly stopped and raised a hand to her forehead, looking stricken. “Oh, would you listen to me? I can’t believe I’m trying to railroad you into marriage. I’m so sorry.
It’s just…well, I suppose my little episode yesterday shook me more than I’d realized. I seem to be trying to tie up all my loose ends today. I’m so sorry.”
Cody took Barbara’s hand in his free one, without releasing Dana, whose fingers had gone ominously limp.
“Stop apologizing,” he ordered Barbara compassionately. “We really do understand. We’re both touched that you want to bless our marriage.”
Somehow he said the M word without choking.
“Of course we are, Mom,” Dana echoed, her voice a bit higher than usual. “There’s nothing either of us would like better than to have you with us.”
“I suppose you had a more elaborate ceremony planned.”
“No,” Cody said sincerely. “We hadn’t.”
Dana was shaking her head. “Absolutely not. I wouldn’t even want a big, elaborate, expensive affair. I’ve always thought small, private ceremonies were the most touching and romantic. But—”
“I’m sure you’d want your family around you, Cody,” Barbara went on. “And of course there would be no way to get them all together so quickly. It was a silly idea.”
“It was no such thing,” Cody heard himself arguing. “I agree with Dana, small ceremonies are the nicest. My sister Celia eloped—didn’t have anyone from the family at her wedding. Everyone understood.”
It occurred to him that if he didn’t shut up, he was going to find himself a married man before he left Memphis.
Dana seemed to read his mind—and to agree with him. She tightened her hand around his until he winced.
“I think Cody and I should talk this over before we make any decisions, Barbara,” she said gently. “You understand, of course?”
“Yes, dear, I do understand. Please, think carefully before you give me an answer. If you decide you want to wait, I’ll understand. Of course, I would be delighted if you choose to be married tomorrow while the family is together,” she couldn’t resist adding.
“We’ll talk about it,” Dana repeated, her expression strained. “You look tired, Barbara. Why don’t you get some rest now?”
“I am tired,” Barbara said with a faint exhale. “It has been an eventful weekend.”
Dana kissed her stepmother’s cheek. “Get some sleep. I’ll be back to check on you soon.”
Barbara’s eyes were already closing. She was still smiling faintly when Cody looked back at her as he and Dana left the room.
Chapter Ten
“I can’t believe this.” Dana paced Cody’s bedroom, her hands clasping the sides of her head. Each time she turned, the diamond on her left hand glinted in the overhead light, catching Cody’s attention. “I cannot believe this is happening. How could I have gotten us into this mess?”
Sitting on the end of the bed, Cody sighed. “Dana, you’ve been pacing and muttering for the past ten minutes. Would you please sit down so we can talk rationally?”
“Rationally?” She spun to face him, her green eyes blazing in her blanched face. “Rationally? How can we possibly talk rationally about this…this disaster? This catastrophe? This complete fiasco? Oh, God.” She clutched her hair again.
Cody stood, gripped her wrists and pulled them firmly to her sides. He guided her to the bed and all but shoved her down onto it. As soon as she was seated and he was convinced that she was going to stay there, he perched beside her. “Now,” he said. “Calm down and let’s discuss our options.”
She exhaled deeply and shook her head. “We have no options. We’re going to have to tell her the truth. And it’s going to break her heart. Oh, why did I ever start this? I should have known it would never work.”
“Dana,” Cody said, resisting an impulse to shake her. “Stop it. Getting hysterical isn’t going to do the least bit of good.”
“I’m not hysterical,” she muttered resentfully. “It’s just that I wasn�
��t prepared for this. I wasn’t expecting it.”
“You think I was?” he asked incredulously. “Damn it, Dana, she wants us to get married tomorrow! She’s probably calling her cousin the judge right this minute.”
“She wouldn’t do that. Not without our permission.”
Cody noticed that Dana didn’t sound entirely confident.
He took a deep breath. “Okay, first things first. She’s already called her attorney, named you Andy’s guardian.”
Dana nodded. “Yes. She told me you helped convince her that it was the right thing to do.”
She hesitated a moment, then added almost shyly, “Thank you, Cody. I know you were reluctant to get involved—and Barbara probably didn’t give you much choice—but she said you told her you believed I could provide the best home for Andy. I know you wouldn’t have said it if you didn’t think it was true.”
“No. I wouldn’t have. If I’d thought the boy would be better off with Lynette and Alan, I’d have said so, for his sake. But now that I’ve met them, I know it isn’t true. I can’t help but believe he’d be miserable with them. From what I can see, they aren’t all that delighted with each other.”
“Andy wouldn’t be at all happy with them.”
Cody remembered the boy’s tearful words from the evening before. “No. Not the way he’ll be with you. How did Lynette take Barbara’s decision?”
“She was relieved, I think. Oh, she made a token protest. Said she and Alan were both willing to give Andy a home. But she agreed that…that you and I would probably make better parents for him. She said it’s obvious that Andy has bonded with you, and that you’re very good with children, which she and Alan obviously aren’t.”
Dana pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “She said Andy’s made his choice clear. She asked that she be allowed to see him whenever she wants, and she wants me to stay in touch with her concerning Andy—but she won’t fight my custody of him.”
“That must have been quite a relief for you.”
She drew a long, shuddering breath. “You just couldn’t know how much,” she admitted. “I’ve been so worried. So upset at the thought of sending him with them, knowing how unhappy he would be.”
Cody touched Dana’s hand. “Andy’s very lucky to have you for a sister.”
“I’ll do my best for him.”
Cody thought of all the sacrifices Dana was prepared to make for the boy. “I know you will.”
“We have to tell Barbara the truth,” Dana said after a heavy moment of silence. “About us, I mean.”
Cody winced. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. She’s too frail, too worried about the future. Telling her that you and I aren’t really engaged would be too much of a shock for her. Do you really want to risk that?”
“Of course not,” Dana whispered miserably. “But—”
“And besides,” he cut in. “What about Andy? Barbara changed her mind about leaving him to you because she thinks you and I will be married, that we’ll be raising the boy together. She still believes—whether you agree with her or not—that raising him would be too much for you alone. You tell her you’re going to remain single, and she’s likely to decide he’ll be better off with Lynette and Alan, after all.”
Dana’s breath caught. “She—she wouldn’t do that. Not now. Would she?”
“I don’t know, Dana,” Cody said honestly. “From what she has said to me during the weekend, I think it’s entirely possible that she would. It isn’t because she doesn’t love you, or doesn’t trust you. She just wants the best for you, and for Andy. She’s terrified of ruining your future. She made me promise that no matter what happens, I’ll encourage you to finish your education and pursue the career you’ve always wanted.”
Dana buried her face in her hands. “Oh, Cody, I’m so sorry,” she wailed, her voice muffled. “I never should have gotten you into this. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was just so stupid. So—”
“You didn’t know what else to do,” Cody cut in, laying his hand on the back of her bent head. “I understand, Dana. In your position, I might have done exactly the same thing.”
She lifted her head a couple of inches, still not looking at him. “When did you change your mind? About me and Andy, I mean.”
“When Andy cried in my arms last night,” Cody admitted. “He and Alan had been sitting right there in the den without touching—or even talking—even though it was obvious the kid was terrified. All he wanted was a hug, some reassurance, and Alan couldn’t even give him that. I knew then that sending him to live with the Manninglys would be a terrible mistake.”.
“Maybe—” Dana chewed her lip thoughtfully. “Maybe if you tell Barbara that. Explain to her that you think I could give Andy the best home even if I am single. Tell her—”
“Tell her that her daughter is an unfit guardian? That Lynette is spoiled and self-centered and her husband is a shallow, unfeeling money grubber? Do you really think that’s going to make Barbara happy?”
Dana groaned. “No. She loves Lynette, of course, and she wants desperately to believe that Lynette and Alan are happy together. We can’t say anything to disillusion her about them.”
“It would be cruel. It would hurt her terribly.”
“Yes. Oh, God, Cody, what are we going to do?”
“I, uh, I think we’re going to have to get married,” Cody said, and then wondered if he’d completely lost his mind.
Dana seemed to share the sentiment. Her head snapped up, her jaw dropping. “You—what?”
He was committed now, wisely or not. He drew a deep breath. “Let Barbara call her cousin. He can marry us tomorrow, in front of the fireplace in the den. And Barbara can be there to watch.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Dana asked with a touch of bitterness. “Your usual reaction to a tense situation—turn it into a big joke. Laugh it off.”
Her words hurt. Cody’s jaw tightened. “It’s not a joke, Dana,” he said quietly. “I am very serious.”
She stared at him, nervously twisting the ring on her left hand. “You don’t want to get married.”
“Well—no,” he admitted. “I hadn’t really thought of marrying anyone, at least not for a long time. But it doesn’t look as though we have a choice.”
“But—”
“Look, I know it sounds crazy—hell, it is crazy. You and I have worked together for a year, but we hardly know each other in some ways. I know you haven’t thought of me as anything other than an employer—and one you don’t particularly like at times. Let’s face it, I’m hardly the serious, dependable type. Just the opposite, in fact. I’ve let a lot of people down, and no one is more aware of that than I am. But this time, I give you my word. I won’t let you down. For Barbara, for you—but mostly for Andy—I’m willing to do this.”
Dana looked stunned. Cody thought wryly that this wasn’t exactly the response he would have anticipated from his first proposal of marriage.
“We’re talking about an old-fashioned marriage of convenience, Dana,” he said when she remained silent, apparently unable to form coherent words. “They aren’t exactly unheard of, even in this time.”
She cleared her throat. “Yes, but…what about the future?”
He shrugged. “I’ve never thought about the future much. I’ve always pretty much taken it as it came. I guess that’s what you and I should do now.”
“You mean. get married.”
“Yes. Together, we’ll help Andy through the loss of his mother and give him a good start on a future. And then…well, then we’ll decide what to do about the marriage.”
Dana shook her head, her cinnamon hair swirling around her cheeks, which had gone from pale to flushed to pale again. “It won’t work,” she said flatly. “It’s crazy. We’ll just end up hurting someone—ourselves, probably, if not Andy. Not to mention your family.”
“What about my family?”
“They’ll be horrified.”
Cody was startled int
o a genuine laugh, which surprised him almost as much as it seemed to surprise Dana. “You haven’t been paying attention when I’ve talked about my family, have you?” he chided. “They will be thrilled. No one has to know that it isn’t a real marriage-not Barbara, not Andy, no one.”
“Jake will know.”
“He won’t say anything.”
She searched his face. “You’re actually willing to lie to your family? For my sake? For Andy’s?”
“It seems to be the answer to both our problems,” he said lightly, trying to convince her he knew what he was doing. Even though he wasn’t at all sure that he did. “My family will get off my back about settling down, stop trying to throw me at every single woman in central Arkansas—and Barbara will know that you aren’t alone, and that Andy will have two people who love him and want the best for him.”
“But, Cody—” She moistened her lips, looking torn.
At least she no longer looked horrified, he thought ruefully.
“What about other women? What if you decide there’s someone else you want to marry? Then what?”
He frowned. “I told you, I haven’t thought about marriage. Didn’t think anyone deserved me for a husband,” he added, an attempt at humor that fell flat. Maybe because he hadn’t really been joking. “But if you’re worried that I’ll humiliate you by running around on you-don’t be. I’ve been raised to take marriage vows seriously. Even if the marriage is in name only.”
“You mean—”
He shrugged, oddly embarrassed now. “Despite what you might think of me, I’ve never been one to sleep around, Dana. Sex is more than recreation to me, as it is to everyone in my family. I wouldn’t make a vow to you that I’m not prepared to keep.”
She drew a long, shaken breath, looking at him as though she’d never seen him before. “I don’t—this is—I just—” She stopped, obviously disgusted with herself.
He smiled and gently squeezed her hand. “It’s happening pretty fast, isn’t it?”
“You could say that,” she agreed dazedly.