The Backup Plan (22 page)

Cord laughed. “No, nothing like that. He wanted to surprise your mother.”

“I'd say the motorcycle would do that,” Dinah said wryly.

“Only part of the package,” Cord assured her. “And to be honest, he didn't mention that part to me.”

“Then what did he tell you?”

“He wanted to have dinner set up for her on the veranda at Covington Plantation. I took care of getting everything in place before I left there to pick you up.”

“He planned a special meal just for the two of them?” Dinah asked, completely stunned at the magnificence of the gesture. It was perfect. She couldn't think of a thing that would please her mother more. Amazingly, she'd never thought of her father having a romantic bone in his body, but it was apparent now that he did.

Cord nodded. “Did it up right, too. Candles, flowers, champagne. He had a cooler filled with food sent over from the same restaurant they went to on their wedding night.”

Dinah set down her fork and stared at Cord in amazement. “But why? It's not their anniversary.”

Cord's lips twitched. “Some folks think it's acceptable to do impulsive, romantic things any old time,” he said. “Take us, for instance. We seem to be making a habit of coming home to your place or mine and climbing into bed in the middle of the afternoon.”

Dinah winced. “I'm going to get you fired for that one of these days, aren't I?”

“I'm not worried,” he said. “I am curious, though. How long do you expect to keep up that particular tradition?”

She studied his expression, but she couldn't read anything into it. “What are you asking?”

“Just wondering when you're going to get bored and go wandering off in search of more excitement,” he said in such a casual tone that there was no mistaking that the question was anything but casual.

Dinah knew she had to phrase her response very carefully. They'd never been about permanence. Surely Cord understood that. He wasn't any more interested in commitment than she was. And once she'd accepted that the quick fix of marrying Bobby was no longer an option, she'd somehow assumed that she'd eventually get her act together and move on. The progress she'd made today with Warren had reassured her that it wouldn't be too much longer before she'd be able to take off and resume her old life, or at least some variation of it.

“You've gone awful quiet all of a sudden,” Cord said. “Should I read anything into that?”

“I don't know what to say.”

“In other words, you are gonna pack up and leave once the shrink pronounces you cured of whatever's been on your mind,” he concluded flatly, his eyes suddenly dull.

“Journalism is my career,” she said, knowing that she'd hurt him somehow, but unable to be anything less than honest.

“Last I heard we had a few television stations right here in Charleston,” he commented. “I'm pretty sure those folks who cover the news around here and tell us about the rain showers on the way aren't doing it from halfway around the world.”

“I cover wars,” she said fiercely, trying to make him understand.

“Which came damn close to destroying you,” he retorted, real heat in his voice. “And that's what you want to go back to doing? Putting your life and your sanity on the line?”

“It's what I do,” she said, helpless to explain it in any other way.

Cord nodded, his face devoid of expression. “Then I guess that says it all.” He tossed aside his napkin and stood up. “Good night, Dinah.”

She chased after him and caught his elbow. “Cord, don't be angry with me.”

He met her gaze. “I'm not angry,” he told her.

“Disappointed, then,” she said. “You should be glad. If it weren't for you, I might never be ready to go back. You helped me a lot.”

He leveled an icy look into her eyes that made her wince.

“Does my heart good to know that sleeping with me was real useful,” he said, his voice dripping sarcasm. “I'll be sure to put that on my resume with the next woman who comes along. Maybe even add it to my business cards: Cord Beaufort, Cures What Ails You. Has a real nice ring to it, don't you think?”

He brushed past her and walked out of the house, leaving the door standing wide open behind him. She might have felt better if he'd slammed it. There would have been some passion in that. Instead, she had the feeling that he was just giving up and walking away without a backward glance.

Well, what the hell did you expect?
The question immediately popped into her head and reverberated there, awaiting an answer she didn't seem to have. What had she expected?

She realized then that, despite all the evidence she'd
seen to the contrary, some part of her had continued to think of Cord as the same insubstantial, no-account guy who could be easily dismissed when the time came. She hadn't given one single thought to how her actions might affect him. She'd simply been grateful for the time and attention and the sex that he'd willingly shared with her.

Not until she'd watched him walk out that door had she realized how much she was going to lose if he walked out of her life for good. Or if she walked out of his.

Suddenly desperate to make sense of it, she instinctively picked up the phone and called Maggie.

“Can you come over?” she asked without preamble. “Or could I come there?”

“You had a fight with Cord,” Maggie guessed at once.

“How on earth did you know that?” Dinah asked.

“It was bound to happen.”

“Why was it bound to happen?”

“Because you're you and Cord is, well, Cord.”

“Which makes absolutely no sense,” Dinah retorted.

“I have a bottle of Pinot Grigio open. Maybe by the time we finish it, I can make you understand,” Maggie said.

“I'll be there in ten minutes.”

“Make it five. I have a date on his way, so I don't have all night and this conversation could take a while.”

Instantly guilty, Dinah said, “Maybe I should wait till tomorrow. I don't want to intrude on your date.”

“You won't,” Maggie said with a laugh. “Believe me, I am kicking you out the instant he shows up. It's taken him too darn long to getting to asking me out.”

“You're going out with Warren Blake,” Dinah guessed. “I knew it. I knew he wanted to ask you out.”

“You're wasting time. Get over here now,” Maggie said, ignoring Dinah's guesswork.

“I'm on my way.”

 

If Dinah had been startled by the news of Maggie's big date, she was even more stunned when she walked in and found Cord sitting on Maggie's sofa.

“You!” she said, her temper stirring. “You didn't waste any time finding someone new, did you?”

He scowled at her. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “Heaven save me from people who don't communicate,” she muttered. “Okay, here's the deal. I have a date rolling up here in about fifteen minutes.” She glowered at Dinah. “It is not Cord ell. However, you two obviously need to talk, so I am going to wait for my date outside. Do not leave this room until you've settled things. Lock the door on your way out.”

“There's nothing more for us to say to each other,” Cord said, already on his feet. “Dinah's made up her mind to go back overseas.”

Maggie gave him a shove in the middle of his chest that had him sitting right back down. Dinah was impressed by her gumption, if not wildly enthusiastic about her friend's determination to force this confrontation.

“Then convince her to stay,” Maggie told him. She whirled on Dinah. “And you listen for a change, instead of just announcing the way things are going to be. I expect a full report from both of you first thing in the morning and I'd better like what I hear.”

Dinah grinned despite the awkwardness of the situation. “Who died and left you in charge?”

“Since you both came over here for advice, I assume you wanted to hear it,” Maggie said. “Talk. That's my advice. Good night.”

She was gone before either of them could recover enough to argue.

Dinah slanted a look in Cord's direction. His mulish expression had eased. In fact, it almost looked as if he was fighting a grin.

“She's something, isn't she?” Dinah said.

“Pushy,” Cord said succinctly, then met her gaze. “She has a point. I probably shouldn't have gotten all bent out of shape just because you were being honest back at your place. I think I already knew what you were going to say. I just wasn't ready to hear it, after all.”

“And I'm sorry if I made it seem that you're not important to me, because you are,” she said, leaning forward to meet his gaze. “You do matter to me, Cord. I don't think I realized how much until you walked out. That's why I called Maggie.”

“Might have made more sense to call me,” he commented.

“I didn't say I was up to being rational yet.”

“So, now what?” he asked.

“Can we do the one day at a time thing?” she asked wistfully. “I wish I could offer you something concrete about what the future holds, Cordell, but I honestly don't have a clue.”

“Then you're not slamming the door on staying here?” he asked, his gaze searching hers.

She thought about how readily she'd dismissed that possibility earlier, but she wasn't nearly as confident of her opinion now that she'd discovered just how much Cord mattered. Evidently she was going to have to figure him into the equation.

“I'll leave it open for now,” she said at last.

“That's all I'm asking.”

But they both knew he was asking for much more. Even without the words, he was asking for a commitment Dinah wasn't sure she would ever be able to give him. She just knew she owed it to both of them to think about a future with him very much in it.

T
he next morning Cord was besieged with anxious subcontractors and the almost impossible task of trying to coordinate their schedules when Maggie showed up at Covington. He was hardly overjoyed to see her. While he and Dinah had come to an understanding of sorts the night before, it still wasn't an optimum solution from his point of view. He doubted he could work up much enthusiasm for Maggie's benefit.

“Don't you give me that go-away-I'm-busy look,” she warned. “I'm in no mood for it. I was busy last night, but it didn't stop you or Dinah from coming over to my place so I could solve your problems.”

“Point taken,” he agreed reluctantly. “So, what brings you by here? I know you didn't just happen to be in the neighborhood.”

“As if you didn't know,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I came for answers. I told you I would.”

“So you did. Sorry, though. I'm fresh out.”

“The two of you didn't work things out?” she asked, her disappointment plain.

“We're not furious with each other anymore,” he said,
putting the best possible spin on things. “Is that good enough to satisfy you?”

“No, it's not even close to good enough,” she said flatly. “What is wrong with you?”

“Me?” he replied indignantly. “I'm not the problem. Dinah's the one who's all set to bail.”

Maggie wandered over to the refrigerator, found herself a can of soda, popped the top and took a sip, her expression thoughtful. When she turned back, she asked, “Have you told her not to go?”

“In so many words, yes,” he said.

She frowned at him. “What does that mean? In so many words? Sounds to me like you danced around it to save your pride.”

“Possible,” Cord admitted.

“Oh, for heaven's sake,” she said impatiently, “just ask the woman to marry you and put us all out of our misery.”

Cord's heart began to pound. He was pretty sure the mention of the M-word was the cause. “What?” he asked, praying he'd somehow misunderstood. The last thing he needed was Maggie pushing him and Dinah down the aisle before they were ready.

“You heard me,” Maggie said, clearly not intending to cut him any slack. “It's going to take a marriage proposal to keep Dinah here. You love her. She loves you. I don't see the problem.”

“Who said I loved her?” he demanded, then sighed at her unblinking stare. “Okay, I love her. Always have. But just like before, I don't know what the hell to do about it.”

“For starters, you tell her,” Maggie said with exaggerated patience. “You use the actual words, I-LOVEYOU. Get it?”

It was as if she were trying to explain something to a two-year-old, an attitude Cord might have resented if he weren't hanging on every word. He waved her on. “Keep going.”

“She's a reporter, not a mind reader. She works with evidence and facts, not conjecture.” She shrugged. “Or so they say.”

Cord grinned. “I thought every time we crawled into bed, the evidence was pretty clear.”

Maggie groaned. “What is it with men and sex? They want us to believe that it and love are two entirely separate things, something that goes entirely against the grain with women. Then when we reluctantly take them at their word, they go and change the rules and we're supposed to guess when that happens.”

“Another valid point,” he conceded grudgingly. “You're just full of them this morning. Does dating a shrink make you all-wise?”

“It has nothing to do with Warren. I've always been wise, which is one of the reasons you came to see me last night,” she suggested. “You admire my clear thinking.”

“Actually I came for a sympathetic shoulder to cry on,” he said.

She frowned at that. “Nonsense!”

He laughed. “I could have sworn that was it. The shoulder, nothing else.”

“Then all the rest is just a bonus. You can thank me later.” She looked him over intently. “You know, if you really wanted to stack the odds in your favor, you wouldn't leave things to chance.”

“Meaning what?”

“There are all those Charleston TV stations you
talked about last night. Surely you know someone at one of them,” she said casually. “Just an idea.”

Before he could contemplate anything Maggie was gone, probably to complete the second half of her morning's mission. He didn't envy Dinah one bit.

As he tried to solve the half-dozen scheduling issues with his subs, Maggie's suggestion remained in the back of his mind. He had had quite a few contacts with one of the stations in town and it just so happened to be an affiliate of Dinah's old network. In fact one of the reporters there had been itching to do a feature on the work at Covington. Normally agreeing to that would be up to Mrs. Davis, but Cord thought he could get away with dropping by to see the man and offering him an exclusive. If Mrs. Davis had a fit, he could always tell her the real reason he'd done it…to get Dinah through the doors of a television studio again without her realizing what he was up to.

Unfortunately, subtlety wasn't his strong suit and that's what the situation required. He was smart enough to recognize that if Dinah ever realized that he was trying to manipulate things behind the scenes, his plan would blow right up in his face. Oh, well, he'd just add it to the potentially explosive items stacked between them, including his meddling between her and Bobby.

After all, what was life without a few risks, he concluded. That was certainly a philosophy Dinah could appreciate.

 

“How was your date with Warren?” Dinah asked the minute Maggie arrived at the house. She was hoping to forestall all the questions Maggie obviously had about Dinah's efforts at detente with Cord.

“Challenging,” Maggie responded. “He kept asking
me how things made me feel. I felt like I was on the couch in his office, instead of sitting beside him on the one in his living room.”

Dinah grinned. “Yeah, I imagine the whole shrink thing doesn't translate all that well into everyday conversation.”

Maggie shrugged. “Of course, it does tend to make him very attentive. I've never had a man actually listen to what I'm saying the way Warren does. Unfortunately, just when I'd start thinking it was kind of sexy, I had this odd vision of a bill for his time turning up in tomorrow's mail. It took the edge off the romance.”

“Did you try turning the tables on him and asking him questions?”

Dinah asked.

“Oh, yes. It made him damned uncomfortable.” Maggie chuckled. “Come to think of it, that was the best part of the evening, seeing Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected get all rattled. In fact, that was so much fun, I kissed him to see what effect that would have.”

Dinah grinned. “And?”

“Good kiss,” Maggie assessed. “Right up there with the best, all slow and soft and sweet. You know, the kind that you want to go on forever, instead of the kind that makes you want to jump straight into the sack.” Her cheeks turned pink. “Of course, he was pretty good at those kind, too.”

“You didn't!”

“Didn't what?” Maggie asked, looking flustered. “Go to bed with him? No, I did not, though it wouldn't be any of your business if I had.”

“I don't know. I feel kind of responsible,” Dinah said, regarding her friend thoughtfully. “I did give the man a nudge in your direction. I'd hate to think you completely overwhelmed him on the first date.”

Maggie laughed. “Trust me, Warren was not over-
whelmed. Once he got the hang of things, he held his own quite nicely.”

“Really? How fascinating. Another date in the works?”

“Tonight, as a matter of fact.” Maggie frowned at her. “And while all that sharing was perfectly lovely, now it's your turn. I want your take on the whole Cord situation.”

“We resolved things,” Dinah said carefully, even though she knew that Maggie would never be satisfied with such a bland response.

“Resolved things how? So you're comfortable with them?”

“Well, yes.”

“And Cord?”

“I guess he's okay. He agreed we'd just keep things light and casual for now.”

“You guess he's okay,” Maggie muttered. “What is wrong with you? Are you or are you not in love with him?”

“I can't be,” Dinah said.

Maggie gave her a look that would have intimidated anyone who hadn't known her since grade school as Dinah had. “And precisely why is that?” she demanded.

“Because he's here and my life isn't,” Dinah said succinctly.

“Let me get this straight,” Maggie said in a way that suggested she understood everything perfectly, but didn't like what she was hearing. “You could have settled down here with Bobby, whom you haven't seen in ten years and with whom you have no idea if you could ever really feel anything more than friendship, but you
can't make the same commitment to Cord, who obviously makes your toes curl. Do I have that right?”

“Pretty much,” Dinah said, realizing the admission made her sound idiotic.

“Gee, that must have made Cord's heart go pitter-pat. I'm not entirely surprised he walked out on you.”

“But we worked it out,” Dinah protested.

“No, you didn't. I don't hear any hint of compromise. You got your way. That is not working it out, Dinah. That's you being selfish, again.” She shook her head. “I wish to hell I'd told him to give up on you and find someone who appreciates him.”

“I do appreciate him,” Dinah said defensively. “And why are you in the middle of this, anyway?” she added resentfully.

“Because you put me there. Now tell me just how you show this appreciation you claim to feel,” Maggie demanded, her tone scathing. “If you really appreciated him, you wouldn't treat him like this, not knowing that the man's been crazy about you forever. You'd end it here and now before he really gets hurt.”

Dinah saw her point, but she knew she couldn't do that. It would kill her to cut Cord out of her life right now. She needed him and the lifeline he'd tossed to her.

But if all he represented was a lifeline, then why was she still clinging to it so hard, now that she finally had her head above water?

When the phone rang, she was relieved to have the momentary distraction, until she heard Cord's voice.

“You free later today?” he asked.

“I can be. Why?”

“I thought maybe we could take a drive down to St. Helena Island, take a walk on the beach and have dinner
there. You haven't had a good Gullah meal since you've been back, have you?”

Her mouth watered at the prospect of the spicy food with its African-American roots, but thinking about what Maggie had been saying not two minutes before, she hesitated. “Cord, I don't know. Maybe that's not such a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“With everything so up in the air, maybe it would be best if we didn't spend so much time together.”

“I'm confused. I thought we settled that last night. We're taking this one day at a time, right? I'm talking about supper tonight, Dinah, not breakfast, lunch and dinner for the rest of our lives.” When she didn't respond immediately, he sighed. “I get it. Maggie's there.”

“Exactly.”

“What's she been telling you?”

“I really couldn't say.”

“Well, if it has something to do with you giving me space till you figure out what you want, forget it. I'm not worried, Dinah. You shouldn't be either. I'm a grown man. I know the score. I might not much like it, but I can live with it.”

She heard the certainty in his voice, but when she glanced up, there was no mistaking the genuine concern in Maggie's eyes. “Maybe another night,” she equivocated.

“Has to be tonight,” Cord countered. “The rest of my week's a mess.”

Dinah closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see the disapproval on Maggie's face. “Okay, sure,” she said, giving in. “What time?”

“Will four o'clock suit you?”

“I'll be ready.” She hung up the phone slowly, then turned to her friend. “Go ahead, say it. I have the willpower of a gnat.”

To her surprise, Maggie grinned. “Actually you have the willpower and stubbornness of a mule, which should tell you something.”

“What?” Dinah asked blankly.

“If you can't make yourself stay away from Cord for one single evening, maybe you ought to think about spending every evening with him for the rest of your life. There are worse things than spending your life with a man who makes your toes curl.”

Dinah felt shock steal over her. “You think I should marry him?”

Maggie held up her hands. “Not for me to say. I'm just suggesting you add up the evidence and see where it takes you.”

“What evidence?”

“I think I'll let you figure that out. You're pretty good at researching the things that matter to you.” She shrugged. “At least you used to be. Lately, I'm not so sure.”

Dinah frowned. “Is that some sort of crack about me staying away from journalism?”

“I'm sure you can figure that out, too,” Maggie said, then added cheerfully, “And now that my work here is done, I have a life of my own that could use a little attention. I'm going to buy something sexy.” She regarded Dinah innocently. “Want to come?”

Dinah considered saying a prim and proper no, but why should she? Rendering Cord speechless had proven to have a number of perfectly fascinating benefits.

“Black lace or red?” she inquired as she grabbed her purse.

“Red,” Maggie said at once. “Just be sure you know how to resuscitate the man.”

“What about you?” Dinah asked curiously.

“Me, I'm going for something demure and white,” Maggie said. “I think I need to work up to things slowly with Warren.”

“I don't know. The shock factor could work in your favor,” Dinah said. “While he's getting his tongue un-tangled, you could move in for the kill.”