“Right after you said ‘I do’ and delivered our son,” he said. “I told the bakery it was an emergency.”
Kelly leaned down to kiss her cheek. “You should have seen the look on their faces when I stopped to pick it up. Obviously, they’d never heard of an emergency wedding before.”
Melissa swung her legs over the side of the bed and prepared to go over for a closer look.
“Stay right where you are,” Cody ordered, looking panicked.
“I’m not an invalid,” she informed him.
“It’s not that,” he admitted, casting a worried look at the cake. “Actually, it was a little late to come up with an emergency cake. Fortunately, they had a cancellation.”
Melissa stared at him, torn between laughing and crying. “That is someone else’s cake?”
“They got the other names off,” Kelly reassured her. “Almost, anyway.”
Sure enough, when Melissa managed to get near enough for a closer look, she could spot the traces of blue food dye across the white icing on the top layer. Love Always had been left in place, but below it were the shadowy letters unmistakably spelling out Tom And Cecily.
Melissa grinned. “Get on over here, Tom,” she said pointedly. “Give old Cecily a kiss.”
Cody didn’t hesitate. He gathered her close and slanted his lips across hers in a kiss that spoke of love and commitment and all the joy that was to come.
“Okay, that’s enough, baby brother,” Luke said. “Give the rest of us a chance to kiss the bride.”
Cody relinquished his hold on her with obvious reluctance. He stood patiently by as she was kissed and congratulated by all the others. Harlan grabbed a paper cup and filled it with lukewarm water from the tap.
“A toast, everyone,” he announced.
When they all had their own cups of water, he lifted his cup. “To Cody and Melissa. This marriage was a long time coming. There were times I despaired of the two of you ever realizing that you belong together. Now that you have, we wish you every happiness for all the years to come.”
“Hear, hear,” Jordan and Luke echoed. “Much happiness, baby brother.”
“Now it’s my turn to kiss the bride,” Harlan declared, giving her a resounding smack on the cheek.
Cody stole between them. “Get your own bride, old man. This one is mine.”
“Maybe I will,” Harlan said, startling them all.
Cody, Jordan and Luke stared at him in openmouthed astonishment while their wives all chuckled with delight.
“Do it,” Melissa whispered in his ear, standing on tiptoe to give him a kiss. “Find a bride and live happily ever after. No one deserves it more. Mary would want that for you.”
She had a feeling that when Harlan Adams set his mind to finding a woman to share his life, he was going to set all of Texas on its ear. And his sons were going to have the time of their lives getting even for all the grief he’d given them over their own love lives. Melissa was thrilled that she was going to be right in the thick of it all, where she’d always dreamed of being.
Her mother and father came over to her then. “You happy, ladybug?” her father asked.
She clung tightly to Cody’s hand and never took her gaze from his as she whispered, “Happier than I thought possible.”
“About time,” her mother huffed.
Cody leaned down and kissed her soundly. “Stop fussing, Velma.” He grinned unrepentantly at her mother’s expression of shock. “One of these days you’re going to admit it,” he taunted.
“Admit what?”
“That you’re crazy about me.”
Her mother scowled. “You’re too sure of yourself, Cody Adams. Somebody’s got to keep you in line.”
He turned his gaze on Melissa then. “And I know just the woman to do it,” he said softly.
“What if I don’t want to keep you in line?” Melissa asked. “I kind of like your roguish ways.”
“Told you she didn’t have a lick of sense where that boy was concerned,” Velma announced loudly.
Melissa glanced at her mother just then and winked. After a startled instant, her mother chuckled despite herself and winked right back. She tucked her arm through her husband’s and added, “Married one just like him myself.”
“Then I guess Cody and I are going to be okay, aren’t we, Mother?”
Her mother glanced pointedly at Sharon Lynn and the new baby. “Looks to me like you’ve got quite a head start on it.”
Cody brushed a kiss across her cheek. “Indeed, we do.”
Everyone began leaving after that. Finally Melissa was alone with her husband. “I love you,” she told him.
“I love you,” he echoed. His expression turned serious. “Do you really think Daddy’s going to start courting?”
“Sounded to me as if he meant what he said. How would you feel about that?”
Cody hesitated for a minute, then grinned. “Seems like a damned fine opportunity to get even with him, if you ask me.”
“That’s what I love about you Adams men,” Melissa taunted. “You are so supportive of each other.”
“You don’t think he deserves to be taken on a merry chase?”
“By some woman,” she admonished. “Not by you, Luke and Jordan.”
He sighed and folded his arms around her middle from behind. His breath fanned across her cheek. “I suppose standing on the sidelines and watching him fall will have its moments,” he agreed. “He sure seemed to get a kick out of watching that happen to the rest of us.”
“Then I suggest you prepare yourself for the ride,” she told him. “Knowing Harlan, it’s going to be a bumpy one.”
“As for you and me,” Cody proclaimed, “from here on out it’s going to be smooth sailing.”
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from WILLOW BROOK ROAD by Sherryl Woods.
“Sherryl Woods writes emotionally satisfying novels about family, friendship and home. Truly feel-great reads!”
—#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber
Looking for more great reads from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods? Return to Chesapeake Shores for
