Sugar Springs (17 page)

“And you believe him?” Candy asked. “Just like that? Why not believe Stephanie instead?”

Pain flickered across Lee Ann’s features. “Your biological mother rarely told me the truth about anything. I should have known better when it happened, but I wanted to believe she’d contacted him. I wanted your mother to care that much.”

“But then that meant
he
didn’t care,” Candy rebutted.

“Yes,” Lee Ann agreed. “But since he was gone, and Stephanie was family, it was easier to believe her. But Cody’s explained it to me. He never talked to her. I believe him.”

Kendra matched her sister’s glare as they both stood silently beside their mother. She then lowered her eyes and leaned forward to made eye contact with her sister. Time stood still as the two communicated with a look before Kendra settled back in place. Nothing had been spoken, but it was clear they’d come to some agreement. He only hoped it was to believe him instead of tell him to hit the road.

Relaxing his features, he smiled at the two young ladies he may not have known what to do with but did know he wanted to get to know. Desperately. He also recognized the odd desire of hoping they felt the same way. “I truly am happy to meet you.”

They shrugged out from under their mother’s grasp and stepped forward together, both crossing their arms over their narrow chests, matching a stance he’d seen many times on Lee Ann.

“We need some time to adjust to this,” Candy said, and his heart fell. He silently prayed that at the end of their adjustment, he would come out on the good end of things.

He nodded. “I understand. It’s a pretty big shock. For all of us.”

At his last words, Kendra’s face crinkled up in concentration. “That’s right. We didn’t think about that. You just found out about us, too.”

That meant that they believed him. Pressure lifted from his shoulders as a breath whooshed from his chest. He nodded anxiously. “That’s right. I’m as blown away as you are.”

“Hmmm,” she said. She seemed to be more willing than her sister to give him a chance, as her shoulders had softened a bit. Candy remained motionless and a bit squinty-eyed.

Her distrust didn’t keep her from jumping back into the conversation, though. “We still need time to think about it.”

He nodded again. “Absolutely. You know where I live. I’ll give you all the time you need. You just let me or your mom know when I can come back and visit with you and I’ll be right here.” He smiled then, and it came out feeling normal. “I really do want to get to know you both. I hope you decide that you want that, too.”

He gave Lee Ann a quick look, then began backing toward the door. Seemed the best thing was to get out of there before any of them changed their minds completely and told him never to come back.

“Wait.” Kendra took a step toward him. “You can’t just go. You’re still coming for Thanksgiving tomorrow, right?”

He blinked. Was he still invited? He looked at Lee Ann and she gave a single nod. He looked at Candy. She seemed to be the one with the most concern about the whole situation.

“What do you think, Candy?” He couldn’t believe he was considering begging to come to Thanksgiving dinner. “Should I come on down or wait for you to call me?”

Her face read bullheaded and stubborn, but Kendra turned pleading eyes to her. “He’s got to come, Can. Then he can also dance with us at our birthday party, and it’ll be so much better than Sadie’s.”

She turned to him. “You will come to our party and dance with us, right? A father-daughter dance.”

It was almost too much to take in at once, but the sight of those gazes staring up at him—one hopeful and excited, the other uncertain and not quite trusting—did something to his insides. Something squishy yet nice.

These were his daughters, and he wanted to do whatever they’d possibly allow him to while he was in town. He nodded. He wanted to dance with them at their party. “If you both agree that you’d like me there, then yes, I would love to come dance with you at your party. I would be honored to, in fact.”

Afraid Lee Ann would be able to read every emotion currently running through him, he kept his gaze averted and focused on his daughters. He needed to get out of there and think. What he needed was to get Boss and go for a
really
long run.

He had two girls. The idea still blew him away.

Yet one of them also seemed to want little to do with him. That could be a problem. He could only hope she came around, because he couldn’t imagine not having them both in his life at this point.

Lee Ann watched the man in front of her and alternated between wanting to turn back time to keep him from showing up in their lives and wanting to rush forward and welcome him into the family. Whether he wanted her to see or not, she could tell this meant something to him. Just as it meant something to the girls.

And whether they were both ready to admit it or not, it meant the world to them. They now had a dad.

What remained to be seen was how active a dad he would be. They had time, though, to figure out the logistics.

“Candy?” she asked. “You’re good with him coming over tomorrow, right?”

At her daughter’s snarled look, Lee Ann reminded her that they didn’t like people to have to be alone on the holiday and Candy grudgingly nodded.

“It’s settled then.” Lee Ann forced a smile. She couldn’t believe she’d just been the one to convince her daughter that Cody needed to be at their house tomorrow. What she personally needed was some breathing space and for the man not to show up anywhere near her house for a good long while. But that wasn’t reality. “We have a lot of preparations to do tonight, and I’m sure all of you need some time to adjust.” She knew she did. “We eat dinner tomorrow night at six, Cody. We’ll see you then?”

He nodded, the movement not quite smooth. “Tomorrow it is.”

If she had to guess, she would say his dog was about to get a really good workout. She’d caught the two of them running most mornings as she’d headed to the diner, and understood they did the same every afternoon.

As he started to step away, he took one last look at the girls, and then his gaze locked on hers. What she read in their
depths was thankfulness, and suddenly his dark eyes reminded her of melted chocolate and the hot kisses they’d once shared. Parts of her she hadn’t thought about in years roared to life at the memory.

Oh, boy, what had she invited into their lives?

The street in front of Lee Ann’s house had cars along both sides as Cody neared it on foot. Some of the visitors were likely at neighboring houses, but knowing Lee Ann and given the list the kids had shown him, the majority would be at hers. He crossed to her side of the road and headed toward the front sidewalk. Stopping at the base of it, he stared at the two-story bungalow sitting there as if waiting for him. As if it had known all along that he’d one day be back.

He was about to join a big, happy Thanksgiving dinner with people from all over town, and he’d once thought it the last place he wanted to be. Only, now that he was here, he couldn’t wait to get inside. He had two kids in there waiting for him.

And Lee Ann.

He started slowly up the sidewalk, thinking about the afternoon before when they’d told the girls. The thought that they might resolutely refuse to have anything to do with him had scared him in a way he hadn’t known before.

It had been terrifying standing there waiting for them to decide. Until that moment he’d thought he was merely doing the “right thing.” But at the thought that they might say “No
thanks” and send him packing, he’d figured out real quick that he was there as much for himself as for anyone. Not because he’d ever wanted fatherhood. He still didn’t know how to reconcile his lifelong thoughts of a life of solitude with who he now found himself to be. But something about those two had gotten to him the instant he’d met them, and he was unable to walk away.

The door opened before he reached it, and Lee Ann’s mother stepped out, fake blue-green eyelashes glittering as she gave him a once-over. When finished, she lifted her gaze to his and greeted him with a genuine smile. “Welcome home, Cody.”

He pulled up short. Did she mean this house or Sugar Springs? Neither was home. Not exactly. It had been for a year, but that had always been temporary.

He nodded, unwilling to correct one of the few residents he’d once enjoyed being around. With her happy-go-lucky ways, she’d often been a frustration for Lee Ann, but he’d found her refreshing and fun. “Good to see you, Reba.”

Reba London had never gone anywhere unnoticed, and today was no exception. A handful of silver and turquoise bracelets jingled from her wrist, and a matching ring covered half of one finger. A gypsy-style skirt floated around her legs as she shifted and motioned for him to finish his walk up the steps.

“You must have been watching for me.”

She held up a cell phone. “Actually, I got a text. I knew you were heading down the street the minute you put Boss back in the apartment after he did his business.”

His feet stalled. She even knew his dog’s name? He smiled, the grin growing larger than he would have thought. Of course she knew his dog’s name. She also probably knew Boss’s feeding
schedule and the brand of food he ate. He shook his head slightly, amazed that didn’t bother him the way he thought it would have, but it was hard to be annoyed with someone like Reba.

“Come on.” She motioned him inside. “Everyone moved to the dining room when I told them you were heading this way. We eat at six, you know. Lee Ann has been fretting because you were already five minutes late.”

Cody followed Reba through the room, trepidation clawing at him. He would much rather get to know the girls without a crowd, but he only had a few weeks, so he’d take whatever he could get. When he entered the dining room, however, Lee Ann was the one who immediately caught his attention.

She entered from the kitchen, a bowl of mashed potatoes in her hands, and looked as good as she had the day before. Better.

He scanned his gaze down her body. A dress the colors of the earth and fall leaves hugged every curve, and a bright swath of orange with lace at the top poked out from between the open buttons marching down her chest. As a teenager, she’d had the kind of chest that made the tight shirts other girls wore inappropriate, but he’d never complained. Nor did he now.

The room grew silent, and he realized that everyone at the table sat watching him take in Lee Ann. Aside from the kids, she would be the other reason he was glad to be here. He shouldn’t care, but since he’d teased her the day before about giving the neighbors something to talk about, he’d been able to think of little else. Clearing his throat, he swept a quick look around and caught Kendra’s shy smile. He knew it came from Kendra because she dressed more like her grandmother, whereas Candy was wearing a scowl and had on more conservative clothes that mimicked something Lee Ann would wear.

Kendra pointed out a vacant chair at the end of the table, and his heart flipped over in his chest. At least she hadn’t changed her mind about him overnight; she still wanted him here. He would work on Candy and get her there, too. Somehow.

Once everyone was settled and the conversation resumed, the food began making its way around the table. Cody passed a platter of rolls to the man on his right, Sam Jenkins, and Sam grunted.

“Saw you at the diner the other day,” Sam said. He took a roll and kept the plate moving. “I remember you. Not exactly a saint.”

“No, sir. I wasn’t.” Out of the corner of his eye, Cody saw Kendra perk up as if hopeful to hear some dirt. Candy seemed to grow still as if listening, too, but she had yet to make eye contact with him. Sam had been a longtime friend of Roy and Pearl Monroe, and Cody had no doubt he would relay how this evening went back to them. He was also the owner of the infamous diabetic dog.

From the other direction a bowl of green beans was thrust in front of Cody by Lee Ann’s friend Joanie.

“How are you today, Cody?” She wore a fake smile for the rest of the table, but her eyes speared him. “Not having another bad day are you?”

Bad day?
He started to ask what she was talking about and then he got it. A glance at the glare Lee Ann shot at her friend confirmed his suspicions. She had told Joanie about him saying he’d gotten some bad news the day he’d slept with Stephanie. Clearly, Joanie wasn’t taking it any better than Lee Ann had.