Sugar Springs (33 page)

“I’d just found papers Roy and Pearl had gotten somehow, about where I came from. I’ve no idea how they had them. Anyway, I found these papers and started reading. For some reason, I’d always had this image that my mother, when I found her, would explain to me that she’d wanted to keep me, but for some reason—money, a teenage pregnancy,
whatever—she was forced to give me up. But I would find her, find out she’d regretted her actions and that she was thrilled to finally meet me.”

“And I take it that isn’t what the papers said?”

Cold eyes turned on her, and she could see that he was mentally somewhere else. She wanted to comfort him, yet he needed to get this out, whatever it was. They couldn’t go beyond the physical if he didn’t.

“What I read was that my mother kept me until I was two. And then she gave me away. Not when I’d been born, but after she had me for long enough to find out I wasn’t worth keeping.”

“Oh, Cody.” She wrapped both hands around his face and pulled him close. She didn’t kiss him, just caressed him and held him to her. “Maybe she had a good reason,” she pleaded, not really believing it but wanting it to be true for his sake.

His entire body went rigid, and he once again focused across the room. “The other thing the papers said was that I had a brother, born on the same day. She kept him.”

Lee Ann didn’t respond to his last statement, and he didn’t know what to take from that. Was she horrified? His own mother hadn’t wanted him but had kept another son who was apparently his twin. What in the hell had been so wrong with him?

And why had Lee Ann gone silent?

Finally giving in, he pulled his attention from the tree and shifted to look at her. Tears streaked down her face, leaving faint outlines of mascara tracking from the corners of her eyes.

“Shhhh,” he whispered. He hated seeing her cry. She hadn’t even cried when she’d walked in and caught him with
Stephanie. He hugged her tight, rocking with her against the couch and tucking her back into the crook of his neck. She made no sounds, but he felt the heat of her tears as they continued to run. “It’s okay, baby. It was a long time ago.”

She sniffled. “But how could she do that to you?”

“I don’t know. I never did figure it out.”

“You didn’t seek her out then? Not even later after you’d calmed down?”

“What?” He reared back, pulling her out from him a bit at the same time. “Why would I seek her out? I hadn’t been good enough for her once. I sure as hell wasn’t going back for round two.”

“But you have a brother. Didn’t you want to know about him?”

The question made him stop. He tried not to think about that one. “There’s a biological sibling out there, yes. But I don’t know him, and he doesn’t know me. There was no need to change that.”

“Except he’s your brother.”

“And you had a sister. Did it make things any better for you?”

She flinched, and he felt mildly sorry about that, but it was the truth.

“She not only didn’t care for you, but she blamed you for everything bad that happened in her life until the day that she died. And then she dumped her kids on you. Kids she’d had with
me
. On you.” He shook his head. “Siblings aren’t anything special, Lee. They’re just additional people.”

She nodded absentmindedly, then slowly eased back against him. “Maybe you’re right, but I can’t imagine the hole Candy and Kendra would both feel if they didn’t have each other. There’s a special bond there I can only ever dream about.”

“They’re lucky,” he said, and he meant it. He brought a hand up to caress the soft skin of her cheeks, and she snuggled more deeply into him. “They not only have each other but they have you. They’re lucky, Lee. More so than anyone else I’ve ever met.”

“And now they have you.” Her smile was small, but he appreciated the effort.

He nodded. “Now they have me.”

Exhausted from the purging, and with Lee Ann seemingly just as drained, he lifted her in his arms. “Let me put you to bed.”

“No.” Her arm reached out as he rose, grabbing on to nothing but air. “Don’t you dare leave me tonight.”

“You’re worn out. I’m putting you to bed. We’ll have plenty of time later.” Putting her to bed was the last thing he wanted to do, but it didn’t seem like the time for more. Too much had been said between them tonight, and each needed to time to think, to adjust.

He reached her bedroom in a matter of steps and had a moment’s pause when he saw the perfectly folded-down comforter and the crisp white sheets waiting beneath, both glowing in the muted light from the small bedside lamp. Beside the lamp was a clear vase holding a small bundle of fresh flowers. He’d seen similar ones at the local grocery store. The pragmatism of it all was so very typical of the woman in his arms.

Unable to keep the words in any longer, he peered down into her eyes. “I love you, you know. The right way this time.”

A wobbly smile and more tears met his words. “I know. And I love you, too.”

“No matter that you’d rather it be anyone else in the world but me?”

She shook her head. “That’s not true. You have your flaws, but who doesn’t? You’re just as good as I always believed you to be. I couldn’t pick anyone I’d rather love more.”

He was the one who had to fight back the tears then. Without another word, he put a knee on the bed and set her gently in the middle of it. He tucked her bare legs under the turned-back covers, and when he moved to stand up, she reached out and stopped him.

“Lie down with me,” she demanded.

There was no place he’d rather be. He shed the gentlemanly notions he’d had for all of ten seconds, then kicked off his shoes and stretched out on the covers beside her. “You’re exhausted, baby. I’ve already kept you up way past your bedtime, and then I’ve put you through...all this crap.” He kissed her temple and whispered, “You need to sleep.”

“Maybe.” Her eyelids drooped. “But you need to stay right here by my side. I’m not letting you run off so easily this time.”

He chuckled, lightness knocking on his heart for the first time he could ever remember. Everything about his life was beginning to feel like it was falling into place. “I’m not running anywhere, babe. It’s you and me. We’ll figure it out together.”

She let out a half laugh–half breath, and then she was asleep. He lay there for several minutes, replaying the conversation they’d just had through his mind and said more than one silent “Thank you” for having fallen in love with such a forgiving sort. Whether he’d found out his mother hadn’t wanted him or not, he still didn’t deserve to be forgiven the way he knew Lee Ann now had. Likely, he could never live up to the goodness that was her, but he had every intention of giving it his best shot.

After several minutes, he rose to turn off the lights on the tree, double-checked the locks on the doors, then returned to the bedroom and clicked off the lamp. He then undid the buttons of his shirt and stripped out of it and removed his belt from his pants. He climbed in beside her. He didn’t want to be too forward, but he sure hoped they woke up in time to do what they hadn’t gotten to tonight.

He may have the occasional gentlemanly tendencies, but he suspected he would have a very hard time following any come morning.

Sunlight slanted through the open blinds, spearing Lee Ann’s eyelids and letting her know she’d slept later than normal. She rolled to her side to check the clock and met Cody’s sleeping face. Oh, yeah. She returned to her back.

The night before came back to her then, and she lay there soaking in the moment. What she hadn’t told him was that she’d already forgiven him before he’d ever shared with her the why behind his actions. Though hearing that the boy who’d spent his life running—the kid who’d simply been trying to find a place to fit in—had found out that even his own mother didn’t want him had cracked her heart in two. There was no way she could have held on to any residual anger after that.

Cody had been messed up when he’d come to town as a seventeen-year-old, and he’d been broken when he’d left. She’d only imagined she could tame him long enough to capture his love. The kind of love that stuck. But if his actions of late were anything to go by, he had finally reached a point in his life where loving him fully might be more than a pipe dream.

He loved her. And she him.

So where did they go from there?

She returned to lying on her side and watched him, appreciating the male form that lay beside her. He was on his back on top of the sheet, one arm thrown over his head, no shirt on, but his dress slacks from the night before still covering him from the waist down. The fastener and zipper had been loosened, though, and she caught a glimpse of what appeared to be navy briefs underneath. The sight made her mouth water as she wondered just what he’d look like without the pants.

The red digits of her clock showed that it was only seven, and that meant that since the girls were spending the rest of the day with Joanie—they were going to try out some cupcake recipes of Joanie’s—she and Cody still had hours to make up for their change in direction of the night before.

She slipped quietly from the bed and padded to the bathroom, where she was horrified to look in the mirror and see traces of mascara running down to her neck. The man could have at least told her she’d dripped all over the darned place. She brushed her teeth and scrubbed her cheeks, then made a face at her reflection showing the bedhead she was sporting. Could she look any worse? Good thing she’d snuck out before she woke him up.

She did her best to fluff the flat side of her hair back into some semblance of order, then stepped back and took inventory. Not perfect but far better than when she’d entered the bathroom. It was the best she could do, anyway, without bringing out the heavy-duty stuff. And lazy Sunday mornings were not made for makeup and hair product. Cody would have to deal.

Flipping off the lights, she quietly opened the door but found herself staring at a hard chest and an eye-catching tattoo instead of a rumpled bed. His brown eyes were only half open,
but he seemed to be awake enough to have the same thing in mind that she did.

“Good morning,” he said.

Her blood heated. Yes it was. And she was tired of waiting.

She untied the robe and dropped it to her feet, standing there wearing nothing but the only pair of sexy underwear she’d been able to locate. It was a black-and-white thong Joanie had given her for her birthday a couple years ago as a hint that she needed to date. It may not have gotten any use before, but Cody seemed to be appreciating it very much now. He slowly scanned all the way down her body, and with each second that passed she got more turned on.

“Turn around,” he said. The deepness of his voice caused her to involuntarily pull her shoulders back, pushing out her chest. It wasn’t a large movement but enough to be noticed. Her nipples beaded.

“What?”

“Turn.” He rotated his finger in the air in a slow, circular motion, indicating what he wanted her to do. “I need to see if the backs of those things are as hot as the front.”

She was standing bare-chested in front of him, but he wanted her to turn around? She rolled her eyes. Whatever. Apparently he was an ass man. When she was facing the opposite direction, she bit her lip at his soft “Oh, yeah,” then tossed him a look over her shoulder.

“That doing it for you?”

“Oh, baby.” His eyes gleamed as they watched her. “Everything about you does it for me.”

She completed the circle until she faced him once again. “Then please, tell me why you have yet to put your hands on me.”

With a groan, he did exactly that. He reached out for her, clasping his hand on her bare rear, and pulled her into his own hardening body. His mouth fused to hers then, and she lost herself in the taste and feel of him.

Wanting still more, she slipped her hands inside the waistband of his slacks and pushed until they landed on the floor with a soft swish.

“They can keep my robe company,” she whispered. She stepped past him before turning back to take in the full image. Then she took her own time perusing his body as he had done hers. She could spend hours doing this simple pleasure.

And it was navy boxer briefs, not plain briefs, but she liked them even better than what she’d imagined.