“Okay, then, how do I get through to Cody? It’s my fault. I’ve told him that, but he says Jordan should have ignored my wishes.”
“He probably should have,” Kelly concurred. “I could have told Cody myself and I didn’t. There’s enough blame to go around. The point now is to make things right. I wanted it settled before the baptism tomorrow so that Cody could be J.J.’s godfather. But until this is resolved, Jordan and I have decided to postpone the ceremony. It was only going to be a small family gathering anyway.”
“Maybe if Jordan made the first move,” Melissa suggested.
Kelly shook her head. “It wouldn’t work. This is Cody’s call, I’m afraid. The trouble is, we’re dealing with the stubborn Adams men here.”
“Can you all stick around?” Melissa asked. “I’ll think of something.”
“Sure,” Kelly agreed. “Our dinner’s just now being served anyway. I can’t imagine what you can do, but let me know if you think I can help.” She paused on her way to the door. “By the way, it’s good to see the two of you together again. How are things going?”
“Don’t ask,” Melissa said.
Kelly grinned. “That good, huh? Does that mean you haven’t signed up at the Neiman-Marcus bridal registry yet?”
“No, and I wouldn’t be holding my breath for that if I were you. I am not inclined to marry a man who is as thoroughly, unrepentantly, exasperating as Cody is.”
“Interesting,” Kelly murmured, a knowing twinkle in her eyes.
“Don’t start with me. I’ve just been subjected to Harlan’s knowing looks for the past few hours.”
“Not another word,” Kelly promised readily. “Nobody understands the perverse streak that runs in this family any better than I do.”
After Kelly had gone, Melissa slowly put her comb into her purse and headed back to their table. She saw at once that Cody had been joined by Kelly’s precocious six-year-old, Dani.
“I came to see the baby,” Dani announced when Melissa had joined them. “She’s cuter than my brother. I wanted a sister, but somebody got mixed up and gave me a brother instead.”
Melissa grinned at her. “I bet you’ll be glad of that when you’re older. I always wished I had a brother who’d look out for me.” She shot a pointed look at Cody when she said it.
Cody rolled his eyes. Clearly, he didn’t think Jordan had done such a terrific job of looking out for him when it counted.
Dani stood closer to the table and leaned her elbows on it, propping her chin in her hands as she regarded her uncle. “You know, Uncle Cody, I was thinking.”
He visibly contained a grin. “What were you thinking, you little con artist?”
“Maybe Sharon Lynn should have a kitten of her own.”
“Maybe she should.” He glanced at Melissa. “What do you think?”
“I think you two were plotting this,” Melissa charged, trying not to chuckle at the guilty expressions. “Sharon Lynn does not need a kitten. More importantly, a kitten does not need Sharon Lynn. She’d probably scare it to death.”
Dani’s brow knit as she considered the argument. “She’s probably right, Uncle Cody. Babies don’t understand about kittens. Francie thinks that my brother is a pest.”
“A valid point,” Cody agreed. “Maybe after Sharon Lynn gets to know how to behave around those kittens you talked me into taking, she can have one of her own.”
“Good idea,” Dani said. “Francie will probably have more by then.”
“Over my dead body,” Jordan said, arriving to stand behind his stepdaughter. “Hello, Melissa.” He looked straight at Cody, who avoided his gaze. “Cody.”
After a visible internal struggle, Cody nodded curtly.
Jordan stood there, looking uncharacteristically indecisive for another minute before sighing and saying, “Come on, Dani. Your dinner’s getting cold.”
When the pair of them were gone, Melissa said, “You were rude to him, Cody. He made an overture and you didn’t even say hello.”
Cody closed his eyes. When he opened them, his stubborn resolve seemed to be firmly back in place. “I had nothing to say to him.”
“Cody, I’m the one who betrayed you, not Jordan. I’m the one you thought had cheated on you. I’m the one who kept it a secret that I’d had your baby. You’re speaking to me. You’ve forgiven me.”
She studied him intently. “Or have you? Are you taking all the anger you don’t dare express against me because of Sharon Lynn and projecting it on to Jordan?”
She saw by the way his jaw worked and his gaze evaded hers that she’d hit the nail on the head. She sighed. “Don’t do this, Cody. Don’t let what happened between us come between you and Jordan. Please,” she pleaded.
When he didn’t respond, she gave up. “Just promise you’ll think about what I said, okay?”
“Yeah,” he said tersely. “I’ll think about it.”
With great reluctance, Melissa finally conceded it was the best she could hope for. For now, anyway.
Chapter Twelve
Sometime well after midnight, Melissa woke to the sound of Sharon Lynn whimpering. She tumbled out of bed, flipped on the hall light and raced into the baby’s room.
Sharon Lynn was tossing restlessly. Her skin was dry and burning up.
“Oh, baby,” Melissa soothed as she scooped her up. “Are you feeling bad? Come with Mommy. I’ll get you some water and check your temperature.”
She had barely made it into the kitchen and flipped that light on when the front door burst open, scaring her half to death. She grabbed the frying pan and peeked through the kitchen doorway, prepared to do battle with a lunatic. Instead it was Cody, his clothes rumpled, his hair tousled, who stood in the foyer.
“Cody, what on earth?” she demanded, trying to slow the pounding of her heart. She set the frying pan down, though she wasn’t entirely convinced he couldn’t do with a good whop upside the head for scaring her so badly.
“What’s going on?” he asked, casting worried looks from her to the baby and back. “I saw the lights come on. Are you okay?”
She ignored the question and
