by Gina Wilkins
“Thanks, Barbara. I’m glad I thought to throw a jacket and tie into my bag for this weekend. Of course, had I known I’d be getting married, I’d have brought a nice suit.” He would have even bought one for the occasion.
“You look very handsome,” Barbara assured him. “I’m glad I had a new roll of film for my camera. Alan’s volunteered to take pictures for us. He’s an excellent photographer.”
Cody bit the inside of his lip as he thought of how Alan had probably been sweetly coerced to “volunteer.” Barbara had a way of gently getting what she wanted-this wedding, for example. “That’s very thoughtful of him,” he said.
“Yes, isn’t it? I know you and Dana will treasure the photographs, and I’m sure your family will want to see them.”
Cody pulled at the tight knot in his tie. “Yes, I’m sure they’ll enjoy seeing pictures of my wedding,” he agreed, thinking of his cousin Adam’s certain wicked delight in finally seeing Cody shackled.
Cody had taken such pleasure in teasing Adam over unexpectedly tumbling into love with a woman and her tiny infant, both of whom Adam now claimed as his own. Adam wouldn’t miss the chance to have his revenge.
Barbara took Cody’s free hand. “I hope you aren’t having second thoughts,” she fretted. “I’ve been so worried that I’ve rushed you into this.”
“I’m not having second thoughts,” he assured her, gently squeezing her fingers. “I’m absolutely certain that I’m doing the right thing,” he added sincerely.
And he was. For the most part.
Barbara searched his face for a moment, then visibly relaxed, apparently convinced. “I’m so glad. I have something for you. For Dana, actually.”
She held out her hand to him. “I know you didn’t have a chance to get Dana a wedding band. Her father put this on my hand in this very room. I’d like you to put it on Dana’s today.”
Cody took the small gold band with unsteady fingers. “This is going to mean a great deal to her,” he said.
Barbara nodded and touched her own bare left hand. “I want her to have it,” she murmured.
The guilt gremlin took another gleeful bite out of Cody’s insides. He wished fleetingly for an antacid-though he suspected the medication would do nothing to alleviate his discomfort.
Granny Fran would probably take him behind the nearest woodshed if she knew of the lies he’d told this weekend, he thought wryly.
Andy skipped into the room, wearing the same jacket and tie he’d worn for dinner with Lynette and Alan. He looked much happier to have it on this time, Cody noted.
“Is it time for the wedding?” he asked eagerly. “Can I throw rice when it’s over?”
Barbara laughed and motioned her son to her side. “We’ll discuss that later,” she told him fondly. “Oh, look, Alan’s going to take our picture. Smile, Andy.”
Lynette glided in a moment later. “Dana’s ready,” she announced. “Shall we begin?”
Cody’s tie immediately tightened itself around his throat. He tugged at it again.
Judge Herriman stepped forward to introduce himself to Cody with a warm handshake. “We’ll wait for your bride in front of the fireplace,” he said.
“Okay. Sure,” Cody said; grateful his voice didn’t come out a squeak. He put a hand on Andy’s shoulder. “Where does my best man stand?”
Andy beamed. “I’m your best man?”
“You bet.”
Smiling, the judge instructed Andy to stand at Cody’s right side.
Hilda rushed in, flapping a paper tissue. “Music!” she cried. “We have to have music.”
She did something with the stereo system in the entertainment cabinet and a moment later piano music drifted softly out of concealed speakers. Sniffling into her tissue, Hilda moved to perch on the edge of the couch, smoothing what was probably her best dress around her thick knees.
Yanni, Cody thought, recognizing the music. Could this ceremony possibly get any schmaltzier? One more touching addition and he was liable to burst into tears.
Mrs. Herriman took a seat beside Barbara’s wheelchair. Alan made a production of positioning himself with the camera.
The music swelled.
Cody wondered, absently if anyone would notice if he slunk out of the room.
Lynette reappeared in the doorway with Dana beside her. She hurried across the room to take the position of matron of honor, opposite Andy, who stood so proudly.
Cody’s tie promptly went into strangling mode again.
God, he thought dazedly, staring at his bride. She looked—beautiful.
Dana met his eyes with a brave little smile that he knew must hide a panic at least as great as his own. And then she started toward him. The single white rose she held-Lynette’s touch, he was sure-quivered as though being shaken by a strong breeze.
Barbara detained Dana as she would have passed her on the way to Cody’s side. Dana bent over the wheelchair for a moment. Cody couldn’t hear their murmured conversation, though he saw Barbara press something into Dana’s hand. Blinking rapidly, Dana pressed a tender kiss to Barbara’s cheek, and Cody suspected that he wasn’t the only one powerfully affected by the visible affection between the two.
Dana straightened, smiled one more time at Barbara and then turned to face Cody. She was pale beneath her skillfully applied makeup, but her steps never wavered as she moved to stand beside him.
Judge Herriman began to speak. Cody hardly heard anything the man said. He thought there were scriptures read, a few words of wisdom imparted. He couldn’t be sure.
He heard the question the judge directed at him. Clearing his throat, Cody managed a reasonably coherent, “I do.”
The judge turned to Dana. Her own response was only a whisper, but it was the appropriate one.
Satisfied, Judge Herriman turned back to Cody. “You have a ring?” he asked.
Cody nodded and groped in his jacket pocket for the ring Barbara had given him. Aware that Dana was watching him in surprise, he turned to face her. “It was Barbara’s,” he murmured, showing the ring to her. “From your father. She wanted you to have it.”
Dana’s eyes filled with tears.
“Please repeat after me,” the judge intoned. “With this ring, I thee wed—”
Cody parroted those words and the ones that followed in a voice he hardly recognized as his own. He slid the ring on Dana’s finger, relieved when it fit perfectly.
“Dana, do you have a ring for Cody?” the judge asked.
Moving almost in slow motion, Dana nodded. She opened her hand, displaying the plain gold band she’d been holding so tightly it had furrowed into her palm.
“It was Daddy’s,” she whispered, looking at Cody. “Barbara just gave it to me.”
“Do you want me to wear it?” he asked, ignoring the others for a moment, his expression demanding that she answer him truthfully.
“Yes,” she murmured, reaching for his hand. “I want you to wear it. It—it will please Barbara,” she added in a hasty whisper meant only for his hearing.
An inexplicable pang went through him, but Cody ignored it. He allowed her to place the ring on his hand, hardly hearing the words she repeated after the judge. The ring was a little big, but not so much that it wouldn’t stay in place.
The judge spoke again, saying something about a long and happy life together, about the gravity of the vows they’d just taken, about the commitment they had just made. And then he officially pronounced them husband and wife.
Cody was greatly relieved that his knees didn’t buckle. Married! The joke was most definitely on him this time. “You may kiss your bride,” Judge Herriman urged, sounding amused-probably at the stunned, deer-in-theheadlights look on the groom’s face.
His gaze locked with Dana’s, Cody leaned over to brush his mouth across hers. He couldn’t help thinking of the kiss they’d shared the day before, alone in his bedroom. Sitting on his bed.
And he couldn’t help thinking that the next time they were alone in a
bedroom together, they would be legally married.
Dana’s cheeks were flaming when the chaste kiss ended. Cody hoped she hadn’t read his mind.
Andy was the one to break the solemn spell of the ceremony. He gave a whoop and wrapped his arms around Cody’s waist. “All right!” he said. “You’re my brother-inlaw now, Cody! That is so cool.”
Cody laughed and hugged the boy, promptly reminded of the reason for this whole charade. How could he possibly regret his actions when this child’s future was at stake?
The rest of the family started forward to offer their own congratulations. The flashbulb on the camera popped dizzyingly as Alan recorded the scene for posterity.
Barbara’s cheeks were wet when Cody leaned down to kiss her. “You can’t know,” she said brokenly, “how happy I am. You can’t imagine how great a burden has been lifted from me.”
He didn’t understand, exactly, but he only smiled and kissed her again.
Lunch was a cheery affair. Hilda had outdone herself on preparations, providing a menu any professional caterer would have been proud to claim. Judge Herriman was a naturally talkative man who kept the conversation moving. His wife gossiped happily with Lynette; Alan made the occasional pompously irrelevant comment; Andy chattered; Barbara smiled and contentedly watched everyone.
Cody and Dana were both uncharacteristically quiet. They ate mechanically, seated side by side, hardly glancing at each other during the meal.
Cody was trying to keep up the charade, but it was becoming more difficult as the afternoon progressed. Dana’s smile was growing a bit strained around the edges.
They had coffee and wedding cake afterward in the den. Sensing that Barbara was beginning to watch them closely, Cody forced himself to talk and laugh with the others as naturally as he had before the wedding.
He put his arm around Dana’s waist, as though wanting to keep his new bride close to him. She gave him a bright, glittering, affectionate and completely fake smile. Cody wondered if he was the only one who saw the truth in her eyes.
“Are you lovebirds staying the night here?” the judge inquired as the festivities drew to an end.
Cody managed a rueful smile. “I’m afraid not, sir. Actually, I have to work. I’m expected at my club this evening.”
“And so am I,” Dana explained with a slight laugh. “The boss hasn’t given me permission to take the evening off.”
Smiling perfunctorily, Cody sensed that Dana was operating solely on nerves, and that they were stretched close to the breaking point. He only hoped she could hold herself together for another hour or so, at least until they were alone.
“I can’t believe you’re actually going to wait tables on your wedding night,” Lynette said, shaking her head in implied disapproval.
“Dana knows she can have the evening off if she wants,” Cody replied quietly.
“It’s Kasey’s night off,” Dana reminded him. “I won’t neglect my job.”
“Don’t you think going to college and taking care of your new husband will be enough responsibility for you?” Mrs. Herriman inquired a bit archly. “Should you be tending bar, as well?”
Cody hadn’t cared for Judge Herriman’s wife at first impression, though he’d forced himself to reserve judgment. Now he decided that he really didn’t like her. She had embarrassed Dana.
“My wife is free to do whatever she likes, as far as her job is concerned,” he said evenly. “I would like her to devote as much time as possible to her studies, and I’ll do anything I can to help her. If that means quitting work, it’s fine with me. As for me, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
“And my husband knows that I will continue to help him with his business as much as I can,” Dana added. “I like working with him at the restaurant.” She emphasized the final word, making it clear that Country Straight was not merely a bar.
The judge’s wife arched a thin brow.
Barbara hid a smile behind her hand.
Cody put an arm around Dana’s shoulders and pulled her close. “Speaking of work,” he said, judging the time to be right, “we should probably get ready to go. By the time we pack and change into traveling clothes, it will be time to leave.”
Dana gave him a grateful look. “You’re right,” she said quickly. “I’ll start packing.”
“Would you like for me to help you?” Lynette offered.
“No, thank you.” Dana nodded toward Barbara, who was beginning to droop a bit in her chair. “Why don’t you take Mom back to rest for a while? She looks tired.”
The Herrimans said their farewells and repeated their congratulations to the newlyweds. The judge refused any payment for his services, assuring Cody and Dana that he considered it a privilege to perform a favor for his favorite cousin.
Together, Dana and Cody walked up the stairs to their rooms. They hesitated outside her door.
“Shall we plan to leave in an hour?” Cody suggested.
She nodded. “Fine. I’ll be ready.”
“Need any help?”
“No. Thank you,” she added belatedly.
He nodded and turned toward his own room.
“Cody?” Dana’s voice sounded very small.
He turned to find her watching him, her eyes large and vulnerable. “Tell me we’ve done the right thing,” she whispered.
He cupped her cheek in his hand. Her skin felt chilled. “We’ve done the right thing,” he said obediently. And then he managed a smile. “I hope.”
She drew a shaky breath. “Thanks,” she said dryly. “I needed that reassurance.”
He chuckled. “That’s what husbands are for, isn’t it?”
She groaned and closed her eyes. “Oh, my God. You’re my husband.”
“And you’re my wife.” The word didn’t sound as disturbing as it probably should have. “Who’d have believed it, hmm?”
She sighed and opened her eyes. “You know, of course, that the next few days are going to be dreadful. We’ll have to tell everyone. Can you imagine how they’re going to react?”
Cody shuddered. “We’ll manage,” he assured her with more confidence than he felt. “If we can survive that wedding, we can handle anything.”
She gave him a wan smile. “I guess you have a point. See you in an hour, Cody.”
One hour, he thought as he entered his own room. In only one more hour, he’d be taking his wife home.
He sank onto the end of the bed, his knees finally giving out.
It was just over an hour later when Cody and Dana finally got away. They spent several minutes alone with Barbara before they left.
“It was a beautiful wedding,” she told them from her bed. “Thank you for indulging me with this. You’ve made me very happy today.”
Dana smiled tenderly at her stepmother. “Then I wouldn’t change a thing,” she said sincerely, knowing she would have married Cody a dozen times over just to see the happiness in Barbara’s expressive eyes.
“I’ve given Hilda my home telephone number and my sister Rachel’s number,” Cody told Barbara. “If Dana or I can’t be reached at home or the club, either my partner or my sister will know where to contact us at any time.”
Home. Dana gulped silently. Was Cody implying that she would be moving in with him when they returned to Percy?
She hadn’t really thought that far ahead…but she supposed it was a reasonable assumption. They were married, after all, and for Andy’s sake, they had agreed to make everyone believe it was a real marriage.
They could hardly live in separate places, nor could she imagine Cody moving into her tiny studio apartment fifteen miles from his club, when she knew he owned a house only a few blocks from Country Straight. She’d seen it when he and Jake had thrown a Fourth of July barbecue party on Cody’s patio for the Country Straight staff. She hadn’t even imagined then that she would actually be moving into that house with him only two months later.
“You and Dana will be living at your place?” Barbara asked C
ody with interest.
He looked questioningly at Dana. “We haven’t actually had time to talk about it,” he admitted. “I have a small, three-bedroom house close to both my club and her college, so I’m assuming we’ll live there, at least for now.”
Dana managed a smile. “Cody has a lovely house,” she assured Barbara. “It’s a red brick bungalow with white shutters and a big, fenced yard. He has a patio in back that’s perfect for casual entertaining.”
“It sounds nice,” Barbara approved. “How long have you lived there, Cody?”
“I bought the house two years ago, not long after Jake and I opened the club. I got a good deal on it, and I thought it was a good investment.”
“The nesting instinct,” Barbara murmured with a smile. “You were preparing a home for your future family.”
“Of course,” Cody agreed easily, his smile so natural that only Dana knew what a big lie he’d just told.
“It sounds as though there’s plenty of room for Andy.”
Cody patted Barbara’s hand. “Always room for Andy. And for you, too. I hope you’ll be able to visit us there soon.”
“I would love to see it,” Barbara said wistfully. “Maybe…”
“We’d better be going,” Dana said, reluctant to leave, but knowing it was time. “I’ll probably drive back over to spend Sunday afternoon with you.”
“We both will,” Cody promised.
“You mustn’t feel you have to spend every free moment here with me,” Barbara chided them. “You’ll want to spend some time together. After all, you should be starting your honeymoon.”
“Dana and I will take care of the honeymoon,” Cody said with one of his wicked grins.
Barbara giggled. “I’m sure you will, at that.”
Dana felt her cheeks warm. She avoided Cody’s eyes as she kissed her stepmother. She was already moving toward the door when Cody bent to kiss Barbara’s cheek.
Dana looked back from the doorway. Barbara lay against the pillows, looking pale and so very fragile. And yet she was smiling, the excitement of the afternoon still glowing in her eyes.
Cody took Dana’s hand. “Ready?”