When Cody walked through the door as he’d gotten into the habit of doing around closing every day, Melissa’s hands trembled. This time nothing on earth could have persuaded her to so much as touch a glass in Cody’s presence.

Not even giving Cody time to get settled, she drew in a deep breath. “We need to talk.”

“Okay,” he said, giving her that crooked smile that made her heart flip over. “What’s up?”

“In the back,” she said.

Cody groaned. “Not again.”

She glanced at Eli and Mabel, who were both suddenly extremely busy, their backs to the counter. “Will you just come on?” she muttered, holding the door open.

Cody trailed along behind her and propped a booted foot onto an unopened shipment of new glasses. “What now?”

Melissa tried to gather her courage. Finally she blurted, “I’m pregnant.”

Cody’s eyes widened incredulously. “You’re going to have a baby?”

She nodded, watching him carefully, not quite able to get a fix on his reaction.

“A baby?” Cody repeated.

“Yes.”

“Oh, my God.” He sank down on the box, which gave way just enough to shatter the two dozen glasses inside.

At the sound of all that cracking glassware, Melissa started to chuckle. Cody bounced to his feet, but there was no hope for the crushed shipment.

“You okay?” she inquired between giggles. “No glass in your backside?”

“Forget my backside. It’s just fine. Tell me more about the baby. When is it due?”

“You should be able to figure that one out. We only slept together that once since you got back.”

“I can’t even add two and two right now. Just tell me.”

“A little over six months.”

He nodded. “Good. That’s plenty of time.”

Melissa regarded him suspiciously. “Plenty of time for what?” she asked, although she thought she had a pretty good idea of the answer.

“To get married,” he said at once. “Finish fixing up my house at White Pines, decorate a new nursery.”

Melissa held up her hands. “Whoa, cowboy. Who says we’re getting married?”

A mutinous expression settled over his face. “I do. No baby of mine is going to be born without my name. It’s bad enough that we haven’t taken care of getting Sharon Lynn’s name legally changed. I’m not doubling the problem.”

“Okay, say I agree to get married—which I haven’t,” she added in a rush when she saw the instant gleam in his eyes. “Then what?”

He stared at her blankly. “What?”

“Are you planning for us to live happily ever after? Are you intending to get a divorce as soon as the ink’s dry on the birth certificate? What?” Please, she thought to herself, let him say he loves me. Please.

“You know better than that,” he said.