by Jade Kerrion
“I love you,” she whispered.
Cody did not react.
Felicity chuckled. Go figure—her first confession of love, and he was too mentally distracted to hear her. She raised her voice slightly. “You don’t have to be at the party if you don’t want to be there. It was an invitation, not an order.”
“I know, but you want me there.”
“Parties are best attended with someone else. I’d like to show off my boyfriend, but I get that you’re not big into the crazy party scene anymore.”
Cody’s eyes narrowed. “Boyfriend?”
“You need a title, and ‘My Brother’s Best Friend’ is too much of a mouthful.” She tilted her head and smiled in spite of the nervous flutter of her heart in her chest. “Fancy a promotion?”
He stared at her for so long without doing anything that she began to worry. Could she possibly have misinterpreted his actions somehow?
He did not seize her or kiss her. Instead, a weary smile curved his lips, and he turned so that his forehead touched hers. His shoulders sagged on a silent sigh of quiet relief. “I’ve loved you for a long time, even when I didn’t know it.”
“I know.” She stroked his hair and gently tugged her fingers through the curls at the nape of his neck. “You’re not alone—you never were, and you most certainly are not now.”
He flashed his familiar, dazzling smile and shattered the image of the lonely, heartsick man.
Felicity noticed the transformation, but chose to let it pass without comment. Cody was shying away from vulnerability and emotions too raw to fully process. Another day perhaps, she would take him to task, but not just then.
He laughed, the sound forced. “I think Darrell would have been surprised and a bit appalled at the turn life has taken.”
“Of course,” Felicity agreed. “His sedate sister and his daredevil best friend. Who would have thought it? In a crazy way, he brought us together. He wouldn’t have wanted either of us to be alone.”
“No.” Cody shook his head. He interlaced his fingers with hers and brought them up to his lips. He pressed a kiss to her fingers with an old-fashioned grace and courtesy that drew a smile to her lips. “Did you really mean it when you said you loved me?” he asked.
Her eyes widened. “You heard?”
He nodded. “I wasn’t sure if I heard right, so when you started talking about the party, I figured it was the safer topic.”
“Right.” Felicity nodded. Safe topics. Soon, she and Cody would have to move off those safe topics that brushed around the edges of all the things that no one seemed to want to talk about, but not yet. She wanted a stronger, firmer relationship with Cody before dredging up the past and mending the bridges between Cody and his parents. “And I meant it. I’ll be at the party—I feel I owe it to your parents to be there—but you don’t have to.”
“How long is the party going to be?”
“Most of the night, I expect. It starts at seven with cocktails.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And you really mean it when you say I don’t have to be there?”
To answer him, she raised her face to his. Their lips brushed, the contact tentative. He was holding back; she sensed it in the tautness of his biceps and the arms he kept firmly locked to the side of the bench. He doesn’t believe me, she thought, aching for the lost boy Cody had once been. Words, she suspected, would not be enough to move him. Only time and actions would tell.
She pulled back and smiled at him as she reached out and stroked his cheek. He turned his face into her touch and pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand. Felicity had the unsettling impression of a half-wild animal coming to rest willingly at her feet. She had not set out to tame Cody Hart, but it appeared that he was giving her that choice. The tenderness with which he had responded only deepened her yearning to be the partner he trusted her to be.
And that included trusting Cody to manage his own healing process in his own time.
Support. Don’t interfere, she told herself, even though it went against all her instincts to fix problems, organize things, and make her surroundings beautiful. “Whatever you decide,” she said, “will be fine.”
A ghost of a smile flickered over his lips.
“Love doesn’t come with conditions, or at least, mine doesn’t,” Felicity whispered. Love would make everything easier, wouldn’t it?
CHAPTER TEN
“Felicity?”
Felicity looked up from her attempt to salvage the floral arrangement that seemed determined to sag beneath the weight of the deep purple calla lilies.
“The caterers are here, but the tables and chairs haven’t been delivered yet.” Mrs. Meredith wrung her hands. “The kitchen is full of the decorations—”
“The caterers can use my kitchen to set up. It’s probably closest to the patio anyway.” She dug the keys out of her pocket and handed them to Mrs. Meredith before reaching for more floral tape.
“Ah, here’s my favorite girl,” Eric’s familiar voice rang through the foyer. He strode up to her and pecked a kiss on her cheek. “How are things going?”
She gave him an exasperated glare. “Welcome to the chaos. I noticed you stayed away all morning when we could have really used your help getting things organized before all the contractors arrived.”
“Hey, some of us have multi-billion dollar businesses to run.”
“Great excuse. Now, there are five more arrangements in my cottage. I’ve labeled them with tags of where they need to go—”
“Hart Floral Delivery at your service.” Eric bowed from his waist.
Felicity laughed. “Is Lisa coming?”
“Oh, Lisa was weeks ago.” His tone was dismissive, but something in his eyes told Felicity he was not as indifferent as he pretended to be. “I know a couple of the ladies on the guest list who would be more than happy to drape themselves over my magnificent self, but officially, I don’t have a date. Do you?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure.” Felicity wrapped floral tape around the wire she positioned alongside the calla lily stem. She held her breath as she removed her hands from the flower. Thankfully, the stem held. “Cody knows about the party, but he didn’t make any promises about attending.”
“Does he ever?”
“Ever what?”
“Make promises?”
Felicity stopped to think about it. “No,” she said finally. “He’s careful not to.”
Eric grunted. “I guess it would be too much to hope that he’d make an exception for one night, just because it’s Mom and Dad’s anniversary. He stays away for one more year, and he would have spent more of his life away from home than at home.”
She frowned. “I wish you wouldn’t joke about it.”
“Humor is really the only thing that gets us all through this. Cody ripped the heart out of this family when he ran away.” He scowled. “You know what? I’m perfectly fine with Cody not being here. The only thing worse than hoping he’ll be here is being disappointed, yet again.”
“Eric—”
“I’ll go get your flowers.” He stalked out of the foyer and toward the glass doors that led out to the back patio.
Felicity had peace for all of nine and a half minutes before Carolyn swept into the hall. “What are you still doing with the flowers? Go get dressed, dear.”
“The calla lilies are drooping—”
“The arrangement is gorgeous. Now, go change. The guests will start arriving in fifteen minutes.”
“That would be unfashionably on time.”
“We’re not the height of fashion here in Boulder, dear,” Carolyn said, with an affectionate smile. “Now, scoot. The flowers look wonderful.”
“I need to check on the ones Eric brought in—”
“I saw Eric and the flowers. They look magnificent.”
“Caro?” Reed walked into the foyer with an untied black bow around his neck. “I knew I should have bought those clip-ons.”
“Too tacky, darling.” With a smile an
d deft fingers, Carolyn tied the bow around the neck of his tuxedo shirt. She pressed a kiss to his cheek, careful not to smear lipstick on his face. “Twenty-five years, and still dashing.”
Reed grinned like a young boy in love. He slid his arm around his wife’s waist. Together they both looked at Felicity.
Their unasked question hung between them. Cody…
But Felicity had no answers for them, not when she did not even have answers for herself.
~*~
Her cottage swirled with activity as the caterer’s wait staff bustled in and out, handing off china plates and silverware with professional ease as they laid out place settings on the recently arrived, black-clothed tables. Decorators scurried among the wait staff, tying large pearlescent-colored bows to the back of each black-covered chair. Silver lights draped between the lampposts surrounding the pool, and soft, piped music turned the tent-covered patio into a fairyland. The clear walls of the tent looked out upon a garden, glittering with ethereal light. Within the tent, portable heaters kept the temperature at a comfortable seventy degrees.
“That’s one way to host a garden party in December,” Eric’s voice came from behind Felicity as she stood on her porch, surveying the preparations.
She tugged her wrap around her shoulders and glanced at her watch. “Cutting it a bit close, if you ask me.” She would have a pointed discussion with the company that rented tables and chairs tomorrow.
“Cocktails are in the library. The folks won’t make it out here till closer to seven thirty. We’ve got plenty of time. Speaking of which, we should probably go in and mingle before Mom sends Mrs. Meredith out to find us.” He offered her his arm. “You look wonderful, by the way.”
“Thank you.” She smiled at Eric and allowed him to escort her into the house.
They passed through the foyer on the way to the library. Felicity was looking over her shoulder at the calla lily arrangement to make sure that the obnoxious stem was still cooperating, and was unprepared when Eric jerked to a stop.
“Cody?” Incredulity infused his voice.
Felicity spun around. Cody stood in the doorway. He wore a well-fitted gray suit, but his slightly too-long hair and brooding looks gave him a dangerous appeal that no amount of polish could conceal.
Her smile widened. “You came.”
She let go of Eric’s arm and crossed the foyer to welcome the man she loved. Cody wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in his solid presence. She did notice that he glared at his brother for a little longer than was polite or necessary, but he also did give his brother a nod of greeting. “Hi, Eric.”
“You’re just in time to help us get the party started,” Eric said, polished and polite where Cody was not.
With Cody on one side and Eric on the other, Felicity looped her arms through the arms of the Hart brothers, and together, they walked into the library. Her smile remained cool and collected when in reality, she wanted to fling her arms into the air and scream with delight, “Cody’s home!”
~*~
Cody had been away for years, but he knew his parents well enough to be certain that there would be no drama, and he was right. His parents froze for an instant, but both recovered quickly. His mother pressed her cheek to his in casual greeting, but her eyes glittered and her smile was too bright, too brittle. She was holding back tears of joy.
His father gave him a friendly slap on the back. “Good to see you,” Reed said, his voice rough with emotion.
Felicity’s presence beside him helped him feel at home. With her on his arm and an untouched glass of wine in his other hand, he circulated among his parents’ guests, some of whom he recognized from many years earlier. Felicity seemed to know them all. No doubt his mother had been doing the social rounds with Felicity, introducing her to the “Who’s Who” of Boulder. He wondered how his mother had framed Felicity’s place with the Harts. Had she said, “This is our librarian and interior decorator,” with a knowing smile and suggestive wink?
Cody had not lost sight of the fact that Felicity was the bait and he was the catch, but in that moment, he found he did not particularly care. It was better than the alternative scenario where Eric was the catch.
Felicity tapped a passing wait staff on the arm and gave quiet instructions. The wait staff nodded and returned moments later with trays of canapés and other appetizers. Moments later, Felicity turned back to one of the biggest bigwigs of Boulder and inquired as to the health of her dog. Mrs. Ogden, who Cody was prepared to swear was a witch in disguise, beamed with delight and told Felicity that her precious Mitzi had given birth to five delightful puppies; would Felicity want one?
Speechless with awe, Cody wondered if perhaps Felicity wasn’t the catch after all. She was effectively the hostess of the event, accepted by everyone at the party as a member of the Hart family, irrespective of her relationship with the Hart boys. He stared at the beautiful and slender young woman wearing a silver gown with a draping neckline. The gown accentuated the gray of her eyes. She had, Cody noted, regained the weight she had lost after her brother’s death; it looked great on her. She’s gorgeous, capable, and she doesn’t need me.
Somehow, it felt good knowing that he didn’t need to be needed, but he did want to be wanted.
A commotion by the entrance of the library drew his attention. He heard his mother’s voice raised in alarm. “What are you doing here?”
Cody strode across the room and pushed through the gawking crowd to the edge of the circle surrounding the party crasher. The uninvited guest was an older man, likely in his mid-sixties, his dark hair streaked with gray. Black biker leather showed off a strong, muscular frame. The man’s face was likely once handsome, but it was deeply lined with frowns of discontent.
Cody sucked in a deep breath, frozen by the sight of his father.
His real father.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The man cast Carolyn a mocking glance and broke the silence that had fallen over the room. “I’m hurt you didn’t invite me. Been awhile since I was last here—twelve years? Thirteen?” His gaze drifted across the room and locked on Cody. A slow smile spread across his face. “There you are, boy. I waited for you. Where were you?”
The man’s face and voice dragged out the memories of the past.
Twelve years earlier, he had returned from school and walked in on his mother arguing with a man in the foyer. Their voices trailed into silence as the man looked at Cody, his face tightening. “The boy. Is he mine?”
Carolyn raised her chin. “He is not yours.”
But in his mother’s pale face and trembling voice, Cody heard the truth. He stared at the man, rough on the edges with an attitude harder than granite, whereas Reed, the man he thought was his father, was all smooth polish. My father?
The man must have heard the quiver of truth in Carolyn’s voice too. A sneer twisted his lips. “This Reed—” Scorn rang through his voice. “Does he know he’s a cuckold? Raising another man’s son?”
“You leave Reed out of this.”
“You come with me, Carol. You know we’ve always belonged together. Always meant to be.” Raw emotion infused his voice. His gaze burned with intensity.
Carolyn shook her head. “I want you to leave. Right now.”
“I’m not leaving without what’s mine.” His eyes darted briefly to Cody. The man’s narrowed gaze and crooked sneer shot a chill through Cody.
Carolyn placed herself between Cody and the man. “You stay away from my son! Get out, I said.”
The man grabbed Carolyn’s wrist and twisted her arm. Carolyn screamed, and the sound of his mother’s cry shocked Cody into action. He lunged forward and slammed himself against the man, who released Carolyn, probably more the psychological shock of being attacked by a scrawny kid than from the physical impact of Cody’s head-butt.
The man smiled then, a genuine smile that gave Cody a glimpse of the charm and warmth that lay beneath the belligerent attitude. “Got some real fire in you, kid. Good to
know it hasn’t been quenched by the pansy raising you. You come to me tomorrow. I’ll be at the bus station in Denver, waiting for you. We’ll see the world, eh?”
Cody glanced at his mother. Her face was a white as a sheet.
“You can’t take him from here. It’s kidnapping.”
“Not if he chooses to come with me. He’s my kid, Carol, and if he chooses me, I’ll fight you for him, all the way—drag that lofty Hart name through the mud. We’ll see how much Reed wants you after that.”
“You don’t even know Cody. You’re just doing this to hurt me.”
“I know he’s like me, and nothing like Reed. He belongs to me, just like you belong to me. He’ll choose me, Carol. I know it. Got the daredevil gleam in his black eyes—just like mine. I won’t break your heart. He will, won’t you, kid?” He reached out and ruffled Cody’s hair before Cody could duck out of reach. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The man’s voice—now raspy with age—yanked Cody back to the present. “Why didn’t you come as you’d promised?”
“My best friends ran me over with a bicycle.” Cody did not take his gaze off the man even when he heard his mother gasp. “Darrell and Felicity gave me an option that didn’t involve running off with a stranger or wrecking my parents’ marriage. Best damn choice I ever made. Now, get out of here.”
A sneer crossed the man’s face, but his dark eyes had lost their cocky confidence. He looked to Reed, who stood tight-lipped, his arm around Carolyn’s waist. “You didn’t know, did you, that you raised my bastard?”
Reed’s polished voice was cool and firm, resonating with strength of will. “I raised two fine boys—neither mine by blood—”
Cody jolted. His shocked gaze sought out Eric’s, but Eric looked neither startled nor dismayed. Eric too?
“—both I’m proud to call my sons and heirs,” Reed finished. “You can’t do any damage here, Michael. I suggest you leave.”
“Suggest?” Michael raised his voice several octaves as if to mock the polite choice of words. “You—”