Sugar Springs

by Kim Law

  His twin brother? Goose bumps covered her body. When had this happened? How?

  Lee Ann glanced from one man to the other until the newcomer stepped forward and introduced himself. “Nick Dalton.”

  She nodded but couldn’t keep her eyes from welling up. As she wrapped her fingers around Nick’s strong hand, the puzzle piece fell into place and the bars she’d built around her heart years ago sprang free. This was the man who’d held Holly in his arms. Not Cody.

  She looked to Cody for confirmation. As he held both girls in a hug, he peered over their shoulders at Lee Ann. When they made eye contact, he gave her a tight smile.

  “Yes,” he seemed to say. “I know I did wrong but I didn’t do nearly as bad as you believed.”

  Reba emerged from the house. “Come on girls, your father and uncle have been helping in the kitchen for the last couple of hours. Let’s give them a break now. You two can help me finish dinner.”

  If her mother was cooking dinner, it might be as good as Cody’s spaghetti.

  “Uncle?” Two sets of brown eyes sparkled in Nick’s direction when the realization set in. Apparently it hadn’t occurred to them that they now had an uncle.

  Nick pushed away from the deck railing, clapping his brother on the shoulder as he passed. “That’s right.” He smiled at the girls. “Your favorite uncle.”

  Both girls giggled as they made their way into the house. “You’re our only one.”

  When the door closed behind them, the light dimmed and the silence became deafening. Cody stepped to Lee Ann, and she let him snag her hands in his. She couldn’t have stopped him.

  “Lee Ann, I’m sorry.”

  “It was Nick, wasn’t it?”

  He hung his head for a second before looking back at her. “Of course it was Nick.”

  His back was to the light, so she couldn’t see what was really in his eyes, and she felt vulnerable knowing he could so easily read hers. She shifted deeper into the shadows. “I knew it as soon as I saw him.”

  Her admission was as much as telling him she believed in him. Which meant she also still wanted it to work out between them.

  “How did that...he...happen? Did you go find him?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “I probably never would have gone searching for him. But he found out about me last week and came looking for me. He’s a good man. I was floored when I opened my door and saw him standing there.”

  “I’m sure,” she said. “Must have been quite the shock.”

  “Oh, yeah,” he agreed.

  “And you’re okay with this?” She motioned to the house where Nick now was. “I guess you are or you wouldn’t have brought him out here, but really? You’re okay with this?”

  He nodded slowly, and she got the sense he’d been moved by his brother showing up. “I never thought I’d want it, but just in the few days he’s been around I’ve already seen what Candy and Kendra have together. I won’t lose contact with him now, Lee. He’s my brother. And there’s even another one out there we haven’t found yet.”

  She gasped, both at the level of depth coming from him and also the fact he’d gone from having no one in his life a few weeks ago to having two brothers, two kids, and her—if he still wanted her.

  “When did this happen exactly?” It had to have been Saturday. Or maybe Friday night after she’d left.

  “About thirty minutes before I was supposed to be with you and the girls at the party.” He released a heavy breath and pulled her against him. She allowed it but didn’t soften. “I’m so sorry I let you all down. I’ll make it up to the girls, I swear. I’ll never do anything like that again.” He peered down at her. “And I’ll never do anything like that to you again, either.”

  The thought was bittersweet. “I get how having Nick show up at your door could knock you on your butt—I do, really. Maybe not exactly enough to go out drinking and forget to make an appearance at your daughters’ party, but I get it.”

  “I didn’t forget,” he stated quietly.

  She nodded. “You just chose not to go. Because you were looking for an excuse again, weren’t you? And you found a good one. I’m honestly surprised you didn’t leave town that night.”

  With little light to see each other, Cody pulled her tight against his chest and rested his chin on the top of her head. They stood that way for several seconds, until he tilted her face up and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Then he separated their bodies.

  “I love how you don’t hide from the truth,” he said.

  She heard the smile in his voice.

  “It’s probably the thing I love most about you,” he continued.

  “That’s nice to know, but that doesn’t answer my question.”

  He chuckled. “It’s hard to sidetrack you, too, isn’t it?” He moved to the railing and propped against it. “I think last Saturday shamed me more than what I did with Stephanie.”

  Lee Ann remained frozen where she stood, unwilling to move until she heard what he had to say. He’d said it was Nick with Holly, but if it had been worse than Stephanie...Her heart constricted until she was sure it would never beat again. Finally, she forced words past her lips. “I thought you said it was Nick?”

  His gaze shot to hers. “Of course that was Nick, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m a grown man now, not a stupid teenager.” He shook his head in disgust and began to pace. “I let down my entire family. My girls. On their thirteenth birthday. And yes, I did almost run. I’m not even sure what stopped me.”

  Lee Ann didn’t move. It felt like he was heading to something really big, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up as to where this was leading.

  “I saw Nick, panicked, and immediately reverted to childish behavior, with the excuse that it’s just the way I was.” His laugh was hollow. “I’m surprised you ever had anything to do with me.”

  When Cody hit the strip of light splashing across the deck, Lee Ann quietly commanded, “Don’t move.”

  He focused on her, and she could finally read his eyes. She took three steps—until she was within touching distance—and studied him. For the first time she didn’t see the urge to run hiding anywhere in there. She just saw the desire to build. A family, a life. He finally seemed to get it.

  She smiled then. Whatever other issues they might have they could work out. He was hers. And she was his, as she always had been. “I’ve been waiting for this man to show up.”

  Before she could move, Cody swept her into his arms. “I love you, baby,” he moaned into the side of her neck, “so much there’s no way I can ever live without you. Or my girls.”

  Lee Ann wrapped her arms around his neck and clasped them together. She savored the man and the love between them. “The girls and I were talking.”

  “Yeah?” With his lips on her neck, Cody began nibbling and moving her backward.

  “About what you suggested the last time we were...uh...” She squirmed in his arms as his hot tongue dipped into the crease of her shoulder, heat spiraling through her body. “You know, the last time we were...together.”

  Cody leered at her before lifting her off the ground and trapping her against the side of the house. He locked a knee between her legs so she wouldn’t fall, then began working on the buttons of her coat. “Whatever it was, I’m more than willing to give you anything you want.”

  A giggle bubbled out of her as his fingers worked frantically to get under her sweatshirt to the skin below. “I’m not talking about anything sexual,” she whispered, certain her anxious girls were on the other side of the wall listening.

  His fingers stilled on her stomach an inch from her breasts, and she couldn’t help but thrust toward him, encouraging him to continue. But he didn’t take the bait. Instead he readjusted her clothing and let her slide to the ground. “You mean about moving?”

  She nodded but feared he didn’t see the movement. “Yes. The girls and I talked and decided we could move with you at the end of the school year.”

&n
bsp; Cody didn’t budge. They had talked about it and were willing to move with him? He closed his eyes, overwhelmed by the feeling of love. He had more than he’d ever dreamed. “You would be okay leaving Sugar Springs?”

  He saw her nod again, but this time she didn’t speak, just searched his face with her heart in her eyes. “I would do anything for those girls.”

  “But you love Sugar Springs. Your life is there.”

  “And we love you.” Lee Ann reached out and trailed a finger down the front of his shirt. He’d walked onto the deck without a coat and hadn’t been aware he’d grown cold until Lee Ann’s heated fingertip scorched him through the cotton. “We want to give you the chance to get used to us. But it does come with a time limit.”

  A smile covered his face. His Lee Ann never gave in easily. And from what he’d seen, his girls were just like her. “Let me guess, they’re in agreement with this stipulation?”

  One quick nod, then she dropped her hand and took in a deep breath. She squared her shoulders. “We all stand together.”

  He laughed out loud. It was good to have his girls. All three of them. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Now, tell me about this stipulation.”

  “Well,” she said, licking her lips, and Cody fought the urge to take her mouth with his. He’d had just about enough talking. “We all love you and want to give you time, but we’ll only give you the summer at first. We’ll reevaluate at the end of summer, but if things aren’t going well, we’re moving back.”

  He studied the woman he loved and thought about how close he had come to losing her again. Thanks to Nick, Cody’s life was becoming the stuff dreams were made of. “What if I don’t agree with the terms?”

  Lee Ann gaped at him. He couldn’t make out the look in her eyes, but he could guess what was there. She was on the verge of telling him to take a hike. He stopped the verbal attack before it could begin by closing his mouth over hers. Swallowing her soft moan, he pummeled her mouth.

  He held her in his arms, and she finally wrapped those glorious legs around him as he’d wanted her to do earlier. When he had her trapped against the side of the house again, he didn’t stop this time before his hands reached the soft mounds he’d come so close to caressing before. The feel of cool skin and hot body drove him mad. Even hot body covered in conservative cotton.

  Cody pressed into her and deepened the kiss, and her moans became loud enough he was positive anyone in the room behind them would be able to hear.

  She must have had the same thought because she reared back and tried to distance herself from him. He wouldn’t let her. “Cody, stop it,” she whispered. “We still have things unsettled, and I’m sure the girls are right behind us.”

  He scraped his teeth across her throat, and she melted a bit more. But not enough. He reached behind her and unhooked her bra before she could protest. “Nothing between us is unsettled.”

  Lee Ann’s head dropped to the wall, the white skin of her neck glistening in the night. He slipped his hands over her naked flesh.

  “You said you don’t agree with the terms.”

  “So?” He pinched her nipples and groaned as he pulsed inside his jeans.

  “So...we need commitment.”

  His tongue played across her neck and up to her ear. “Ever made love in the woods at night?” he whispered.

  Lee Ann’s heart pounded against his hands, and warmth spread through him. He had the love of his life in his arms, and he didn’t intend to let her get away. She whimpered as he laved his tongue on her ear.

  A thump directly behind Lee Ann had them jerking, killing the moment. Cody stared at the wall before whispering in horror. “They really are in there listening, aren’t they?”

  She nodded, a smile flirting with her lips.

  He hadn’t believed her, but was now mortified that his girls had heard him feeling up their mother. Geez. He lowered her to the ground and helped her adjust her clothes. “I’m sorry.”

  She shrugged. “It won’t scar them for life. They’re more grown-up than you can imagine.”

  Cody put space between them as he concentrated on losing his erection. The last thing he needed was for them to see what feeling up their mother did to him. “Give me a minute and we’ll go in.”

  But Lee Ann shook her head. “We can’t go in yet.”

  “Why not?”

  She sighed. “We’re still unsettled, Cody. What did you mean, what if you don’t agree with the terms?”

  Oh. That. The woman and her body certainly had a way of making him forget his plans. He leaned down and swept a soft kiss over her lips before brushing his thumb across them. “I don’t agree because then I would have to tell Dr. Wright I need to back out of my contract to buy into the practice.”

  Lee Ann’s eyes grew round. “You’re buying into the practice?”

  He nodded. “I am.”

  “But why? And what about Florida?”

  Cody grinned at the woman he loved. The look on her face made him hopeful. “First of all, because she doesn’t want to come back full-time now that she has a baby. And before you ask, I already made arrangements for someone else to take over in my next contract. I’m finished doing that.”

  She simply stared, her mouth hanging slightly open.

  “Secondly,” he said, digging into his jeans pocket and fishing out the engagement ring he’d purchased the previous morning. He dropped to one knee and gazed up at the woman he hoped he would be lucky enough to spend the rest of his life with. “I needed a permanent job before I asked you to marry me.”

  A little squeak came from above him. “Really?”

  He smiled and slipped the ring over her finger.

  “Really.” He kissed the back of her hand. “Would you, Lee Ann London, please make me the most insanely happy man for the rest of my life by marrying me at your earliest convenience?”

  As Lee Ann smiled down at him and then at the ring on her finger, he knew what true happiness was. But before she could answer, the back door burst open, and Kendra and Candy flew onto the deck. “Don’t forget us.”

  Lee Ann collapsed to sit on his knee as the girls slammed into him, wrapping their arms around both of them.

  Cody hugged his girls to him. “Of course I wouldn’t forget you. You’re all my girls.” Then he realized Lee Ann hadn’t actually answered his question. His heart thundered. “Lee Ann? Are you going to marry me?”

  She hadn’t answered because tears were flowing down her cheeks. With the girls hugging them both, and Reba and Nick standing in the light from the door, Lee Ann finally smiled at him and spoke the two words that meant the most. “I will.”

  EPILOGUE

  Lee Ann rested against Cody’s chest, his arms wrapped around her, and smiled at her family. Christmas morning had arrived with another snowfall, and they’d started the morning with cocoa on the deck, Christmas carols playing in the background. Soon the cold had seeped in, moving them to the living room, where they opened presents by the fire. The cabin had been decorated with a tree when they’d arrived, so it was almost like home.

  “Mom,” Candy said without taking her eyes off the new digital camera her dad had gotten her. “When is Joanie getting here?”

  Kendra sat down and snuggled up beside Lee Ann, the iPad her dad had given her in her hand. Cody reached over and rubbed Kendra’s bedhead.

  “Should be any time. Why?”

  Candy shrugged. “I miss Boss.”

  Lee Ann closed her eyes and snuggled deeper into Cody’s chest. She enjoyed hearing his heartbeat under her ear.

  “Your grandma just happened to tell me Joanie was coming out today,” Cody informed her. “So I thought it would be less hectic with him not showing up until then.”

  Lee Ann cracked her eyes open and smiled at her mother, who was sitting on the other side of the room, feet propped on the coffee table. “My mom just happened to mention several things to you she wasn’t supposed to.”

  Reba shook her finger at Lee Ann. “I al
ways told you this would work out. When he came to the house telling me how he had to find you and promised to never leave again, what was I supposed to do?”

  “Just what you did, Mom. Just what you did.”

  She turned back to Cody. “I can’t believe no one told you where I was before yesterday. And yes, there’s no doubt they all knew. My mother has rarely kept a secret, and I couldn’t see her keeping this one.”

  “I made sure no one told him, though,” her mom added. “That was coming only from me, and only when I knew he was finished being an idiot.”

  “And yes, I tried everyone,” he admitted. “It came out pretty soon that it had been Nick at the Bungalow that night, so I thought I’d get someone to break. Especially Ms. G. I thought she and I had something special with our daily gossip sessions. But that woman doesn’t come off information if she doesn’t want to. Neither would anyone else. They all knew I’d screwed up by skipping the party, and no one was going to give me the chance to do it again. They love you, Lee. All three of you. The whole town would die to protect you. There’s no way I’d want to take you away from that. And no way I don’t want to be a part of it myself,” he said, his words spoken softly. “It’s pretty darn special.”

  She had to agree. It was pretty darn special. But so was he. She snuggled deeper into him as the doorbell sounded. Nick headed their way from the connected kitchen wearing an apron and wielding a spatula. Thankfully, he’d been the one to do the majority of the cooking the afternoon before, and their dinner had turned out perfect. “The first batch of cookies is ready if anyone wants some.”

  Lee Ann began to push up off the couch to answer the door, but Nick waved his spatula in her direction. “Stay put. I’ll get it.”

  “They haven’t met, right?” She looked at Cody for confirmation as Nick headed out of the room. “She’s going to be confused when he answers the door and doesn’t recognize her.”

  Candy spoke from the floor, where she was currently wowing her grandmother with a magic trick. “She’ll know. It’s so obvious he’s not Dad.”