Cody was just pouring himself a cup of coffee when his father came in. He surreptitiously studied his father’s face. Harlan looked tired and sad, but his complexion no longer had that unhealthy-looking pallor it had had when Cody had first arrived.
“You’re up mighty early,” Harlan observed, his expression sour as he surveyed the food the housekeeper had set out. “Dammit, I can’t seem to get a decent piece of meat in the morning anymore.” He shot a hopeful look at Cody. “Want to drive into town and get a real breakfast? Maybe a steak and some eggs?”
“And bring the wrath of Maritza down on my head? I don’t think so. The fruit looks good.”
“I don’t see you eating any of it.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Late night?”
“Something like that.”
“I thought you were past carousing.”
“Who was carousing? I had dinner with Melissa.” He paused and drew in a deep breath. It was time to test the words on his lips, time to test his father’s reaction. It would be a good barometer of what others would have to say.
“And my daughter,” he added.
Harlan merely nodded, clearly not startled by the profound announcement.
“About time,” he said succinctly.
Cody stared at him, his blood suddenly pumping furiously. “You knew, too? Dammit, Daddy, you’re every bit as bad as Jordan,” he accused. “You kept it from me, just like he did. What is wrong with everyone in this family? I thought we were supposed to stick together.” He was just warming up to a really good tirade when his father cut in.
“Settle down, son. Nobody told me, if that’s what you’re thinking. Didn’t take much to add up two and two, once I’d seen that child. She’s the spitting image of you at that age. I’ve got a picture of you boys on my desk that would have reminded me, if I hadn’t seen it for myself.” He shrugged. “Besides, Melissa never had eyes for anyone but you.”
Cody couldn’t think of a thing to say. Apparently his father had been willing to stand on the sidelines and wait for Cody to show up and discover he had a daughter. It didn’t fit with his usual manipulative style. Either his father was mellowing or he had some other kind of devious scheme up his sleeve.
Harlan speared a chunk of cantaloupe, eyed it disparagingly, then ate it. “So,” he began, his tone one of such studied indifference that Cody immediately went on alert. “Is that why you took off? Did Melissa tell you she was pregnant?”
Cody was horrified his father could think so little of him. Was that it? Had Harlan thought he’d already made his decision about marrying Melissa and being a father to his child?
“No, absolutely not,” he declared indignantly. “Do you honestly think I have so little backbone that I’d run from a responsibility like that?”
His father shot a bland look in his direction. “I wouldn’t like to think it, but the evidence was staring me in the face.”
“What evidence?”
“You were gone. Your girl was pregnant. She quit college. She had to take that piddly job at Dolan’s to make ends meet, which suggested that no one was paying a dime to support her or the baby. Didn’t take a genius to add it all together and figure out that one.”
“Well, your calculator malfunctioned this time,” Cody snapped. “She never said a word, never even tried to track me down. The first I knew about that baby was when Velma Horton brought her into Dolan’s when I was there the other day. Even then, I thought someone else had to be the father. It never crossed my mind that Melissa would hide something that important from me.”
“I see.” Harlan scooped up a strawberry, eyed it with disgust, then put it back. “Now that you know, what do you intend to do about it?”
“I proposed to her last night.”
Harlan’s eyes lit up. His expression was suddenly more animated than it had been in days. “Well, hell, son, why didn’t you say so? Congratulations! When’s the wedding?”
“No wedding,” Cody admitted dully. “She said no.”
Harlan’s openmouthed expression of astonishment reflected Cody’s feelings precisely.
“She flat-out turned you down?” his father said incredulously.
“Without so much as a hesitation,” he said. “It was downright insulting.”
Harlan chuckled. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“You don’t have to sound so amused,” Cody grumbled.
“Sure, I do, boy. Seems tame little Melissa has grown up into a spirited young woman. The next few months or so ought to be downright interesting.”
Cody glared at him. “Months? Forget it. I’m giving her a day, maybe two, to get over this contrariness. Then I’m hauling her to a justice of the peace.”
His father started to laugh, then smothered the sound with a napkin. “Sorry,” he mumbled, then gave up the fight and chuckled. “Son, you’re going to be able to sell tickets to that one.”
Cody’s frayed temper snapped. He stood and tossed his own napkin back on the table. “Well, get out your checkbook, Daddy. The best seats in the house are going to cost you. Melissa and I might as well start off our married life with a nice little nest egg.”
* * *
Melissa wiped down the counter at Dolan’s after the last of the lunch crowd had left and eyed Cody warily. He’d been skulking up and down the aisles of the drugstore since noon, but he hadn’t come near the soda fountain. He seemed unaware that Eli and Mabel were watching him with overt fascination. Thankfully, he was also unaware of what his presence was doing to her pulse rate. Who knew what he would do to capitalize on that little hint of a fissure in her resolve.
“Mabel, why don’t you take the rest of the afternoon off,” Eli suggested, playing straight into Cody’s hands.
“What’s wrong with you, old man?” Mabel grumbled. “You planning on shutting down business?”
Eli gave her a pointed nod in Melissa’s direction. “Go on, Mabel. You’ve been wanting to check out the new seeds over at the
