“I came by to see if you could keep Sharon Lynn here tonight,” he said.
“Why?” Velma asked bluntly.
“So that Melissa and I can have an evening together alone.”
“Seems to me you two have found enough time to be alone without my help in the past. She’s about to have a baby again, isn’t she? She didn’t get that way in public, I suspect.”
Her sarcasm grated. Cody held back the sharp retort that came to mind. If this was going to work out, it was way past time he made peace with Melissa’s mother. “Exactly what has she told you about our relationship?”
Velma didn’t give an inch. “She doesn’t have to say a word. I can see plenty for myself.”
“What do you think you see, then?”
“That you think your money and your power give you the right to be irresponsible. You’ve used my daughter, left her, then come back here and used her again without ever giving a thought to the consequences.”
“Are you aware that I have been trying to persuade your mule-headed daughter to marry me since the very first instant I got back into town?”
Velma blinked, but she didn’t back down. Talk about stubborn pride. Velma had it in spades, which probably explained Melissa’s streak of it.
“Too little, too late, if you ask me,” she retorted.
Cody started to tell her he hadn’t asked her, but of course he had. “Look, I don’t blame you for resenting me, but the fact of the matter is that I love your daughter, stubborn as she is, and I want to marry her and be a father to our children. I think she loves me, too, but she thinks she’s a fool for doing it.”
He saw from the set expression on her face that Velma had probably reinforced that belief. Maybe if he could win over the mother, she’d change her tune with Melissa and give him a fighting chance.
“You want her to be happy, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” she said indignantly. “What makes you think I don’t?”
“Because I think she’s taking her cue from you. I think if she and I had just a little time alone, we could work this out, preferably before another one of our children is born without my name. Will you give us that chance?”
Velma spent the next minute or two in an obvious struggle with her conscience. “What is it you want, exactly?”
“Keep Sharon Lynn here tonight. Don’t interfere with my plans. That’s all.”
“You think you can convince her in one night, when you haven’t made any progress at all in the past nine months?” Velma inquired with a shake of her head. “You don’t know Melissa half as well as you think you do.”
She sighed heavily. “Okay, I’ll keep Sharon Lynn for you,” she relented to Cody’s relief. “But it’ll have to be for the whole weekend. If you ask me, it’s going to take you that long, maybe even longer, to turn that girl around. She’s scared spitless she’ll admit she loves you and you’ll turn around and leave again.”
“I won’t,” he swore. He circled Velma’s waist and spun her around. “Thank you. You’re an angel.”
She kept her lips in a tight line, resisting him to the bitter end, but Cody thought he detected a spark of amusement in her eyes. “See that you do right by her, young man, or I’ll have your hide.”
He kissed her cheek. “Not to worry, Velma. This is going to be a weekend to remember.”
He was already making plans to sweep Melissa away to a quiet, secluded cabin for a romantic weekend by the time he hit the driveway.
His first stop was her house, where he managed to sneak in without being caught by the sheriff or a neighbor. He rummaged through her drawers and closets to find lingerie and the prettiest, sexiest maternity clothes she owned. He packed them, along with perfume and cosmetics, praying that he got the right ones. He didn’t want her dissolving into tears because she couldn’t find her blush or her mascara. Her hormones had her reacting in the most bizarre ways these days. He figured he ought to get a whole lot of points for just managing to stick by her anyway.
He’d considered taking her off to someplace fancy, maybe the most expensive suite in Dallas, but then he’d decided that would put her too close to taxis or planes or other means of escape. He wanted her all to himself.
He fought all of his old past resentments—most of them, as it had turned out, unwarranted—and tracked Brian down in San Antonio, where he was practicing law. He pointed out that his former best friend owed him one for the scam he and Melissa had tried to pull on Cody years before.
“I’m just grateful that you didn’t come after me with a shotgun,” Brian said. “Anything you want is yours.”
“Does your family still have that cabin by the lake?”
“You bet.”
“Can Melissa and I borrow it for the weekend?”
“It’s all yours,” Brian said at once.
He told Cody where to find the key, offered some unsolicited advice on taming the reluctant Melissa, then added seriously, “I’m glad you called, buddy. I’ve missed you.”
“Same here,” Cody said. “Next time you’re down this way, we’ll have to get together. You do have your own woman now, don’t you?”
Brian chuckled. “Do I ever. Good luck. You and Melissa should have worked this out long ago. I’d have told you the truth myself, but Melissa swore me to secrecy.”
“Secrets are her specialty, it appears,” Cody said. “Anyway, thanks again for the cabin.”
Those arrangements made, Cody loaded groceries, flowers and nonalcoholic champagne into the back of
