Sherryl Woods – The Backup Plan (страница 10)
As she made the trip, she realized what a wonder it was that she’d ever gotten to know Bobby and Cordell. They weren’t exactly poor, but they definitely hadn’t run in the same social circles as the Davises. They had been befriended by someone who did travel in the same circles and so Dinah had met them at an early age. Only much, much later had she realized the enormity of the gift that someone had given them by enrolling them in the best private schools in Charleston.
Cord had been a pain in the neck even then. Two years older and precocious, he’d seemed to sense that he and his brother were tolerated rather than accepted. He understood that they were in that fancy private school because of someone’s charity and he’d resented it. He’d set out to stir things up in a way that pretty much guaranteed that he wouldn’t even be tolerated by the time he hit his teens. Whoever their benefactor had been, he or she had let Cord’s ungrateful behavior pass. Maybe the person had even understood the cause of it. Dinah certainly hadn’t, not back then, anyway.
Of course, as time went by, that dangerous, rebellious streak had only made Cord more attractive to a certain group of risk-taking debutantes intent on giving their mothers the vapors. Dinah had most definitely not been one of them. If she’d held a secret fascination for the black sheep Beaufort brother, she’d been far too sensible to act on it. Even-tempered Bobby had suited her then and he suited her now. She’d come home in search of someone comforting, not a man who exasperated her at every turn, no matter what Maggie thought to the contrary.
Unfortunately, after she’d jarred her teeth driving over the rutted road that supposedly passed for a driveway, she found only Cordell. He was again sprawled in that shaded hammock, beer at his side, jeans riding low on his hips, his amazing abs now in full view. Her impression that he hadn’t changed from being a lazy, good-for-nothing jerk was correct. But for the first time Dinah couldn’t help but admire his body. Maggie had been right. God had given this man a real gift and he was wasting it out here in the middle of nowhere. He ought to pose for his own calendar, so women everywhere could ogle him in the privacy of their own homes. Dinah realized that even that would be too enterprising for Cord Beaufort.
When Cord didn’t immediately call out some insult, she concluded with relief that he was asleep. She decided to creep past him and go in search of Bobby.
She’d almost made it, when Cord’s hand snaked out and grabbed hers, hauling her to a stop. She couldn’t help noticing that despite his annoying, powerful grip, there was something amazingly sensual about the way her hand fit into his, the way his thumb rubbed a lazy little circle over her pulse. She swore to herself that the heat suddenly sizzling through her blood was due to the steamy afternoon temperature and had nothing at all to do with his almost hypnotic touch.
“I thought you were sleeping,” she accused, struggling to free herself.
“That’s not the first mistake you’ve made about me,” Cord said, his mouth curving into a grin. “I imagine you’re still prowling around looking for my brother.”
She saw no reason to deny it. “Yes.”
“He’s still out of town.”
Something in his overly-pleased tone told her that he most likely had something to do with that. “How much longer is he going to be gone?” she asked.
His gaze caught hers and held. “How long are you going to stick around Charleston?”
His words all but confirmed her suspicion. She scowled at him. “Why don’t you want me to see Bobby?”
Cord gave her a stunned look that was all innocence, or would have been if he were the sort to be constitutionally capable of maintaining an innocent act. Dinah acknowledged that it was a fairly decent attempt, though. Lord knew, he’d had enough practice perfecting it.
“Hey, my brother’s a grown man,” Cord told her. “He can see anyone he wants to see.”
“Then you’ve told him I’m here?”
He considered the question with a thoughtful expression. “Could be that it slipped my mind,” he finally admitted.
“Why?”
“I have a lot going on these days,” he said with a shrug. “I can’t remember everything.”
“Yeah, right. I can see for myself just how busy you are. It must be purely exhausting walking clear across the lawn to get your next beer.”
“Sugar, surely you’re not suggesting that I’m lying to you,” he said with a trace of feigned indignation.
“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting,” she retorted.
“Why would I want to keep you and Bobby apart?” he asked, feigning innocence once more.
“I was wondering that very thing myself. I don’t understand it today any better than I did ten years ago when you made up a whole passel of lies to try to come between us. What is it, Cord? Can’t you bear the thought of your brother being happy?”
“With you?” he asked with such blatant skepticism that Dinah winced.
“He loves me,” she retorted.
“Is that so?”
“He proposed to me.”
“When exactly was that?”
“A while back,” she said, unwilling to admit just how long ago it had been.
“Ten years,” Cord said, proving he knew more than Dinah had suspected. “And you assume he’s been sitting around here pining for you all this time? How insulting is that? Bobby and I may not be a bit alike, but saint that he is, he’s still a man with needs, if you know what I mean.”
As smart and intuitive as Dinah had always thought herself to be, she was forced to concede that she’d never seriously taken into account the possibility that Bobby might have moved on. She assumed he’d dated, but she’d only considered then dismissed the possibility he’d found a new love of his life. But maybe Cord was right. Maybe she
Studying Cord, she asked, “Is your brother involved with someone else?”
Cord seemed to be debating the answer to that one, but he finally said, “You’ll need to ask him that yourself. I got in the middle of your business once. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“Meaning he isn’t, but you wish he were,” she concluded with a little sense of triumph. Or was it relief she felt?
“No, meaning this is between the two of you,” Cord responded flatly.
His careful dance around the question echoed what Maggie had told her, which was more disconcerting than Dinah cared to admit. They both implied that they were leaving out an important truth that they thought only Bobby had a right to share with Dinah. She decided to try to get to the bottom of it, though she’d probably have better luck with Maggie than with Cord. He had a stubborn streak that Maggie didn’t share. Still, Cord was here and her best friend wasn’t. She might as well push him a little and see what happened.
“It would be between Bobby and me if you’d given him my message,” she said. “As it is, you’re right in the thick of it, Cordell. Why is that? Surely you’re not jealous.”
His low chuckle grated on her nerves. It spoke volumes about what he thought of that explanation.
“It’s not as if I’m a bad catch,” she grumbled.
“You’d be a challenge, no question about it,” he replied, his smirk still firmly in place. “In fact, if I had to comment, I’d say you’re too much woman for my brother.”
“Now who’s being insulting to Bobby?” she retorted. “Bobby can handle me.”
“Is that so? Then this ridiculous backup plan the two of you hatched was his idea? He talked you into it?”
She frowned at that. “No.”
Cord cupped his ear. “What was that? Did you say no?”
“It would never have worked if Bobby and I had gotten married ten years ago. He knew that,” she said defensively.
“But it will work now?”
“Yes.”
“Because you’ve gone round the world sowing all your wild oats, so to speak?”
“I didn’t sow any oats, dammit. It wasn’t about that,” she said, feeling her temper kick in.
“Oh, that’s right. You had to go and make a name for yourself. You wanted to be somebody special. And now what? You’re ready to settle down and be my brother’s wife and let him count his lucky stars every night that you deigned to come back to him?”
“Why are you so determined to put an ugly spin on this? I don’t have to listen to you question my motives,” she declared, whipping around to go.
“Maybe you should listen,” he said, a quiet command in his voice that compelled her to turn back. “This is all about you, Dinah. I’d wager you haven’t spent more than a minute or two thinking about what might be best for Bobby. You probably sat over there in Afghanistan and got some bee in your bonnet about your own mortality and decided it was time to come home and play it safe. Bobby’s not the love of your life. He’s just convenient.”
Because there was an undeniable element of truth to his stinging words, Dinah flinched. She searched for a ready comeback to put him in his place, but there wasn’t one.
Just then the wind kicked up. Black clouds rolled in the sky above them. Dinah could all but feel the stir of electricity in the air.