by Gina Wilkins
“I can’t believe he did that.”
“He trusted you,” she said simply. “He knew it would be hard for two young men with little credit history to get a loan on a risky endeavor like Country Straight, but he knew you would do everything you could to make your business a success. He knew you wouldn’t let him down. And you haven’t. Granny Fran said Adam’s been very proud of you, as all of them have.”
“I’ll have to thank him—”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Dana told him curtly. “He didn’t want you to know, and I want you to promise you won’t embarrass him, or me, or Granny Fran by breaking this confidence.”
“But—”
“Granny Fran thinks you’re worried that you disappointed your father by dropping out of college, and by getting into the trouble with your accident. She says you’re wrong. Your father brags about you all the time, she said. He says he was never much of a businessman himself, and he admires anyone who can successfully run a restaurant and handle all the paperwork and everything that goes along with being a business owner. They all know that you carry most of that responsibility at the club, that Jake concen trates more on hiring and supervising the employees.
“Your family loves you, Cody. They admire you very much. They trust you. And so do I.”
He turned to her then, his hands unsteady as they settled on her shoulders. “I’ll never give you reason to regret loving me, Dana,” he said fervently. “I’ll never let you down.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “You will.”
He flinched as though she’d hit him, but she swept on without giving him a chance to say anything, trying desperately to make him understand.
“Of course you’ll make me angry. You’ll hurt me with a careless word or action. You’re human, damn it, not a robot. Do you honestly believe I’ll never make a mistake in our marriage, that I’ll never accidentally hurt you or disappoint you? I hope you don’t expect that of me. I’m human, too. I make mistakes. And I’d hate to think you would stop loving me just because I can’t be perfect.”
She could almost see her point sink into him. His eyes widened. “I never expected you to be perfect,” he said slowly. “I don’t care about that. I love you.”
The heady relief made her sag against him. He understood, she thought. He finally, really understood what she’d been trying to tell him.
“Say it again,” she demanded, lifting her face to his.
“I love you,” he murmured against her lips. “Oh, God, Dana, I love you so much.”
He kissed her then, and she wound her arms around his neck, her fingers buried in his dripping hair, her breasts crushed against his damp chest. He felt warm and wonderful and oh, so very human. And she loved him so much it hurt.
She knew there were painful, difficult times ahead for them. But they’d get through them. The love they’d found together would give them strength and comfort. Just as it would bring laughter, and joy, and contentment in the happier days.
“Dana?” Cody murmured as he pressed her down onto the bed.
She had already reached for his towel. “Mmm?” she asked as she tossed the scrap of terry cloth aside.
“Next time you take a shower…brace yourself,” he warned wickedly. “I will have my revenge.”
She laughed. “Sounds like fun,” she assured him.
“I’ll show you real fun,” he promised, a piratical grin creasing his handsome face.
She threw herself wholeheartedly into the celebration of their love.
And found that Cody was right. It really was fun.
Epilogue
Frances Carson sat on the sofa in her living room, a thick stack of photographs in her hands. The pictures had been taken two weeks earlier, at Christmas, when the family had gathered at Adam’s house for a noisy, love-filled celebration of the season.
A clatter from the kitchen made Frances look up for a moment, but she quickly turned her attention back to the photographs. The full-time, live-in housekeeper Adam had insisted on hiring just before his grandmother’s eighty-fifth birthday was a nice lady, but she certainly could make a racket when she fixed dinner.
Frances didn’t complain. The housekeeper had been a compromise: Frances remained in the little house where she’d lived with her husband and children for so many happy years, and Adam could rest easy, knowing she had someone looking out for her welfare.
The photographs were wonderful. They brought back so many happy feelings and memories. There was one of Celia and Reed and their precious four-year-old son, Joshua Damien Hollander, named after a good friend of theirs.
Celia looked lovely, as always, even round with pregnancy again. They were hoping for a little girl this time, though Frances knew they would gladly welcome a son, if that’s what they’d been given.
There was a shot of Seth and Rachel, still looking blissfully happy after six years of marriage, and Paige and Aaron and little Lisa. Paige was getting so grown up, Frances thought with a faint sigh. A teenager now. And Aaron wasn’t far behind her. They were bright and very wellbehaved; Frances was extremely proud of them, as she was of all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The next photograph was of Arlene, surrounded by her own grandchildren—Melissa, Kevin and Emily. Proud parents Adam and Jenny stood in the background, his arm around her waist. Adam looked content, Frances thought in satisfaction. Happy.
And then she laughed when she turned to a photo of Cody and Dana and Andy, a tall, handsome young teenager now. Dana was holding the new baby, Barbara Lynn, who slept soundly, unaware of the festivities around her. Cody stood behind his wife and young brother-in-law, grinning and making bunny ears behind their heads with his fingers.
Her grandson was such a joker, Frances thought with an indulgent smile. She hardly ever saw him without a smile on his face. But they were real smiles now, not a disguise to conceal his insecurities. Dana had helped him become aware of his own self-worth; Frances would love her for that, even if she didn’t love Dana for her own sweet personality.
She’d worried about them at first. Their marriage had certainly gotten off to a shaky start, based on a very tentative foundation. But Frances had long since been reassured that the marriage had quickly become a real one, a partnership that would last a lifetime. Cody was happy and fulfilled; Dana had learned to relax more, especially once she obtained her degree and found a job teaching elementary students, a career she seemed to love.
They’d done a wonderful job thus far raising young Andy, who adored both of them. She knew it hadn’t been easy for them at first. Andy had been grief stricken when his mother passed away only a few months after Dana and Cody married, and it had taken time for him adjust to his new home, and his new life. But the love he’d found with them had given him strength and peace, and he was on his way now to becoming a very fine young man.
Frances loved him as though he’d always been a part of her family, and she knew he was equally fond of his Granny Fran—as all her children were.
“Dinner’s ready, Miz Fran,” Mary, the housekeeper, said from the doorway. “You want to look at the rest of your pictures after you eat?”
Frances set the photographs reluctantly aside. “Yes. Perhaps you’d like to look at them with me.”
“That would be nice,” Mary agreed with a smile. “I always like hearing about that big, happy family of yours.”
Frances’s own smile was proud, and satisfied. She’d done her job well, she thought in contentment. Her. family was a happy one.
They had all been blessed with love.
*****
Dear Reader,
It is a great honor for me to have this chance to participate in Silhouette Special Edition’s Celebration 1000! As a longtime romance reader, I’ve been a fan of Special Edition since the beginning, and have many, many “keepers” in my own personal library. As a romance writer, I feel it’s a special privilege for me to be associated with a line that continually strives for freshness and excellence.
Cody’s Fiancée is my fourteenth Special Edition. In these books, I have often explored the dynamics of family relationships—all types of families. With the Family Way series, I wanted to study an “average” family—people tied together by blood and a common background, yet each individual with special needs and dreams. In the future, I hope to explore other types of interpersonal relationships and interesting characters who find romance in fresh new ways. I have several unrelated ideas brewing now, and perhaps I’ll start a new series when another set of characters present themselves to me.
It’s a great pleasure for me to know that the editors and staff of Special Edition will be there to encourage me with those ideas. It’s also a special treat to hear from readers who have enjoyed my books and tell me they look forward to more. It is my goal to make each book better than the one before—and always, of course, to provide a happy, satisfying ending for readers like myself, who love to escape into the pages of a good romance.
Congratulations, Special Edition!
eISBN 978-14592-8031-1
CODY’S FIANCÉE
Copyright © 1996 by Gina Wilkins
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