The Backup Plan

by Sherryl Woods

  “Not mine. I thought it was an absurd waste of money, but my mother insisted it was an important tradition, so I went along with it. Maggie and I were determined not to have a good time, so we invited the most inappropriate boys we could find.”

  Cord grinned at that. “You didn’t invite me.”

  Dinah laughed. “On the inappropriate scale, you were way out of my league. Besides, I was determined to be miserable, not to give my mother a heart attack.”

  “I remember you that night,” he said, catching her completely by surprise.

  Dinah sorted through her memories of the ball, trying to recall Cord being there. An image finally came to mind of him with the quietest girl in their class. “Oh, my God, that’s right. You were there. It was Mitzi Franklin’s grand rebellion. Frankly, I didn’t think she had it in her.”

  Mitzi had been a shy, bespectacled girl that everyone pretty much ignored, Dinah included. Her arrival at the dance on Cord’s arm had definitely stirred a fuss.

  “I suspect you’d have been surprised about a lot of things about Mitzi,” Cord said. “Most people didn’t give her much credit for charm or personality. The boys dismissed her because she wasn’t stunning and didn’t sleep with them. The girls were afraid they’d be tainted by being seen with someone they deemed ordinary.”

  Dinah heard the censure in his voice. She knew she couldn’t deny what he was saying. Her friends had been cruel. “Okay, tell me. What did we all miss?”

  “That Mitzi had had a tough life. That she was shy and quiet because she stuttered until she was sixteen and had worked with a speech therapist for years. That she won a scholarship to Duke.”

  “I knew about the scholarship,” Dinah said in her own defense. “It was the talk of the school. Everyone was astounded that she, of all people, would win a scholarship to Duke.”

  “But did you know it was for music? The girl is a helluva singer.”

  Dinah couldn’t have been more stunned if he’d said it was for stripping. “You’re kidding.”

  “Not kidding. She’s playing jazz clubs in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles now. I’ve caught her act a few times and I have a stash of her CDs at home. Remind me and I’ll play them for you sometime.”

  “You’ve kept in touch with Mitzi?” She didn’t like how that made her feel not only a bit jealous, but small and shallow. Out of some ridiculous teenaged social prejudice, she’d apparently missed out on knowing someone interesting and talented enough to fascinate Cord.

  “Sure, we’ve kept in touch. We had a lot in common. We were both outsiders.”

  Dinah had never thought of Cord as an outsider, except in the way he’d insisted on being. She’d always thought his isolation had been a deliberate choice, not the result of being shunned. Given the way kids were, maybe one thing had spawned the other.

  “We weren’t very nice to you, were we?” she asked.

  “You weren’t,” he admitted, then gave her a roguish grin. “A lot of other girls made up for it. The badboy, outsider thing seems to be a magnet for some women.”

  “Still?”

  “Hard to call myself an outsider, when I’ve got a company doing business with some of the oldest, most revered names in Charleston society. Even your mama finds me perfectly respectable these days.”

  “I suspect my mother’s like every other female on earth. She’s fascinated with that aura of danger you exude. She certainly made the safe choice when she married my father.” She couldn’t help wondering if it was a decision her mother had come to regret. Was that what was causing the tension between her parents? Now that both Dinah and Tommy Lee were grown, were they finding that there was nothing left to hold them together?

  Cord’s expression suddenly turned serious. “What about you, Dinah? You’re the danger junkie. Do I appeal to you?”

  More than she cared to admit, Dinah thought. The times they’d been together had revealed depths she’d never imagined. He was solid and kind in a totally unexpected way. That he’d championed a girl like Mitzi said a lot about his character. Oddly, that made him the most dangerous sort of man for someone who’d come home searching for solidity and strength and tenderness. She was beginning to see that she’d never given him nearly enough credit.

  She was even beginning to see his betrayal as a desperate but well-meaning attempt to protect his brother from making a mistake. Maybe back then he hadn’t been wise enough to understand the folly in interfering in his brother’s life, but surely he’d learned from that mistake.

  She gave him an impudent look. “You appeal to me enough to get out on the dance floor with you one more time,” she told him lightly. “Then we probably should get home. I imagine you need a lot of rest to keep up with my mother’s demands.”

  He laughed. “I can handle your mother on a couple of hours of sleep. You’re the tricky one.”

  “How so?”

  “I understand your mother. She’s a perfectionist and she knows her own mind. You’re a little unpredictable. Something tells me if I keep hanging around you, I’m going to be up to my eyeballs in trouble.”

  “You’re afraid of me?” Dinah asked, surprisingly pleased by that idea. No one had ever accused her of being too much of a handful before, not as a woman, anyway. As a reporter, she’d run across more than her share of skittish subjects who were afraid of the questions she might ask. She’d also encountered a lot of competitors who’d feared being beaten by her cut-throat ambition and talent. This, though, was new. She smiled at Cord. “I think I like that.”

  “Of course you do,” he teased. “You’re a woman who likes to control things.” He met her gaze. “But one thing you need to know about me, Dinah. I’m not one bit like my brother. I am not going to let you have your way, not all the time, anyway.”

  The little shudder that washed over her at his words was not entirely unpleasant. In fact, it was downright loaded with anticipation.

  Cord stood on the front steps of Dinah’s house and looked down into her eyes. The combination of a little wine and some energetic appointment had made her unmistakably sleepy and just a little off her game. She looked so damned kissable that it was taking every bit of willpower he possessed not to devour that tempting mouth of hers. A kiss was also what she was clearly expecting. He figured she was long overdue for a little unpredictability from him.

  “Good night,” he said softly, his gaze locked with hers. “Sleep well.”

  A spark of indignation flickered for just an instant in her eyes. “Good night? Just like that?”

  He hid his amusement. The tactic had worked like a charm. “Isn’t that usually what people say when one person’s going inside and the other’s going home? I thought I had that part of the dating thing nailed down.”

  “What about a kiss?” she demanded.

  That was definitely the wine talking, Cord concluded. “I kissed you before we went out,” he reminded her. “Though I’m happy to oblige, as I recall you gave me a very firm lecture at the time. Now you want me to do it again?”

  “No, I do not want you to do it again,” she said, immediately contradicting herself once more.

  He shook his head sorrowfully. “Is it any wonder men don’t understand women? They keep changing the rules.”

  “Forget the damn rules,” she muttered.

  Before he knew what she had in mind, she grabbed his shirt and yanked his head down. Her mouth covered his and her tongue dove inside on his gasp of surprise. The kiss was hot and edged with just a hint of desperation. It made Cord’s blood shoot straight from his brain to another part of his anatomy.

  Just as his head started to swim from the lack of oxygen, she released him just as unexpectedly. “That’s how you say good-night,” she declared emphatically, then swept past him and went inside, slamming the door behind her. She was obviously very pleased with herself.

  Grinning at her display of pure sass, Cord leaned on the doorbell. She threw open the door, and Cord picked her up, hauled her against his chest and
kissed her until they were both gasping for air. Satisfied, he set her back on her feet. She looked thoroughly dazed and not half as sure of herself.

  “I like my way better,” he said, then walked away.

  Damn, but this was turning out to be fun.

  As soon as Cord got home, he called Dinah on her cell phone so he wouldn’t wake the rest of the family.

  “Sweet dreams,” he said for the second time that night.

  “You confuse me,” she responded, sounding genuinely bewildered. “Same here.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, Dinah,” he said patiently. “Just when I think I have you all figured out, you go and do something surprising.”

  “Such as?” she asked. “I need to know. Maybe I shouldn’t do it anymore.”

  Cord laughed. “Oh no. I’m not telling. I like your kind of surprises.”

  “You must be talking about the kiss,” she concluded.

  “Definitely memorable,” he agreed. “But that’s not it.”

  “Then what? I didn’t do anything else.”

  “Sure you did.”

  “What?”

  “You let me get away with coming back for more. Next time, I’ll have to see what else I can get away with. Something tells me kissing’s just a warm-up for us.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m not ready to start anything with you or anybody else,” she said, her tone suddenly stone-cold sober.

  “You were ready to marry my brother,” he reminded her.

  “That was different.”

  “You’re going to have to explain that one to me. You don’t think marriage is more serious than a little fooling around just for fun?”

  She fell silent then.

  “Dinah? Is this about the man you claim doesn’t exist? Are you feeling guilty for some reason?”

  “No,” she said with evident sorrow. “There’s no reason to feel guilty. Not anymore.”

  “What does that mean?” he asked, troubled by her somber tone and the odd logic that marrying Bobby was somehow less of a betrayal than sleeping with him would be. And why would she be considering either if there was a man out there somewhere who meant some thing to her?

  She sighed deeply, but ignored the question. “Good night, Cord. Thanks for taking me appointment.”

  He could tell that was all she intended to say on the subject, though he couldn’t begin to imagine why she was so reticent. Was she sparing his feelings? Or her own? Something told him he needed to get to the bottom of that, quite possibly for both their sakes.

  The question of the mysterious man in Dinah’s life was still on Cord’s mind in the morning. He knew she was lying to him. What he couldn’t figure out was why she’d bothered. It wasn’t as if there was any reason to keep a secret about the past. They didn’t owe each other a lot of detailed explanations about their prior love lives. Not yet, anyway. Maybe the time for full disclosure would never come.

  He had to admit he was more attracted to her than ever even though they would never get seriously involved. He didn’t do serious, not even for Dinah Davis. Everyone in South Carolina Low Country knew that. Dinah had her ground rules. He had his. From what he’d seen with his own mama and daddy, there was no such thing as happily-ever-after and marriage was the kiss of death to any kind of fun.

  Besides, he had always attracted wealthy women who were drawn to him for his dangerous reputation but weren’t interested in anything more. He’d achieved a lot, but in certain circles it would never be quite enough.

  Still, he’d never been able to get past the fantasy of someday fitting in. He’d always thought that if and when he decided he wanted marriage, he would be able to marry someone with class, someone like Dinah, who’d always been out of reach. Since the odds of finding such a woman were a million to one, he’d learned to get by on his own.

  Oddly, Dinah seemed more available to him now. He couldn’t help feeling that the woman who’d become identified around the globe with courageous reporting was as vulnerable and fragile as a wounded bird. It made him feel surprisingly protective.

  But he couldn’t help her if he didn’t know why she’d come home and what or who it was she’d left behind. Before he could do any research on that topic, though, he had to get his brother safely out of town.

  He was in the kitchen, half dressed and drinking his second cup of coffee when Bobby wandered in. He looked like a man who’d had a rough night.

  “What happened to you?” Cord asked. “Did the party go on till all hours?”

  “No, the party ended at a perfectly respectable eleven o’clock. I spent the rest of the night battling with Rianna over the wedding.”

  “What now?” Cord asked, though he’d heard just about every variation on the subject he cared to hear. Still, it was evident Bobby needed to get this latest round off his chest.

  “She wants to turn it into some sort of elaborate ceremony fit for a queen or something,” Bobby said with dismay. “It’s gotten completely out of hand. I told her to shave down the guest list, forget about the doves and hire something smaller than a symphony orchestra. She told me I didn’t love her or I’d understand how important this is to her.”

  “Uh-huh,” Cord said dutifully, barely tuned in to the familiar recitation.

  “I do love her,” Bobby declared, “but I sure as hell don’t understand why she’s got her heart set on something that’s going to cost thousands and thousands of dollars. We could build a damn mansion for what she wants to spend on her dress and the cake alone. Hell, what’s wrong with buying a couple of boxes of Duncan Hines cake mix? I asked her that and she dumped a glass of water over my head.”

  Cord regarded him with amusement. “Did you eventually resolve the impasse?”

  Bobby nodded, his expression miserable. “In a way.”

  “What does that means?”

  “She called off the wedding.”

  Cord’s heart thumped unsteadily. He knew his dismay was not entirely pure. “She’ll calm down,” he assured Bobby.

  “I don’t think so. I’m not even sure I want her to. If we’re this far apart on the wedding, how would we ever make our marriage work?”

  “From what I hear, one thing has nothing to do with the other,” Cord told him. “Right now you’re messing with a little girl’s dream. She’s probably been planning this wedding since she was eight.”

  “That’s what she said,” Bobby admitted.

  “Then let her have it. Indulge her. You’ll live in a smaller house to start with. You won’t hire a nanny for the first kid. Besides, the company’s doing better every year. You’ll make up the money in no time.”

  “I don’t think that’s the point. I think we want different things.”

  Cord shook his head. “You want different weddings. There’s a difference. Come on, Bobby. This is just a bump in the road. Go back over there and make things right before you go back to Atlanta. Don’t let this turn into a big deal you can’t fix.”

  “I thought you were on the fence about Rianna,” Bobby said, regarding Cord with a perplexed expression. “Why are you suddenly so anxious for us to patch things up?”

  Cord tap-danced his way through an answer. “Because even I can see that she makes you happy. She’s crazy about you. Don’t turn your back on that over a couple of doves flying around pooping on the wedding guests.”

  Bobby chuckled, just as Cord had hoped he would.

  “You are so crude,” Bobby accused.

  “Maybe so, but I’m right and you know it. Now, go. Tell her she can have the doves and all the rest of it.”

  “Hold on. I came over here to figure out what’s going on with you,” Bobby protested. “So far all we’ve done is talk about my problems.”

  Cord grinned. “No time for that now. Besides, I don’t have any problems worth discussing. I have to get to work.” He grabbed his shirt off the back of a chair and headed for the door. “We’ll talk later in the wee
k.”

  “You’re not off the hook,” Bobby called after him.

  Cord merely waved in response.

  Instead of heading straight for Covington Plantation, though, he turned toward town. He’d concluded overnight that his best source for information on Dinah’s state of mind would be her best friend.

  Because it was early, he found a place to park right in front of Images and went inside. He’d already devised what he considered to be a brilliant ploy for being there.

  “Cord,” Maggie said with surprise when she found him wandering around looking at the art. “What on earth brings you by here, especially at this hour of the morning? I don’t even have the OPEN sign out yet.”

  He hesitated. “Is it okay for me to be here, then? I had a few minutes to spare this morning and I thought I’d check out what you have. We’re going to need some art for Covington once we finish up the work out there.”

  “Of course, it’s okay. You’re always welcome as long as I’m around.”

  Despite the welcome, she seemed skeptical, probably because his excuse was so pitiful. To give credence to the bald-faced lie, he made a thorough tour of the place, asking about everything and everyone except the one person on his mind.

  Eventually Maggie regarded him with amusement. “You’re not fooling me with this casual act, Cord.”

  He gave her a rueful look. “I’m not?”

  “Please. You haven’t set foot in here in all the weeks since you and I went out on that date. Only one thing could possibly bring you in here now.”

  “I came to look at the art,” he insisted.

  Maggie rolled her eyes. “You and I both know that Dorothy Davis is not about to let you pick what paintings will hang on the walls out at Covington Plantation. You’re here about Dinah.”

  Since she was on a roll, he figured he’d give her enough lead to finish what she’d started. “Oh? What makes you think that?”

  “I heard the two of you had dinner at Murrells Inlet a few days ago. I also heard you were out appointment just last night,” Maggie said.

  “Damn, that grapevine sure is quick,” he commented.