“Hey, Cody, why don’t you drop by Dolan’s as long as you’re in town?” Jordan suggested after they’d eaten. He said it with all the innocence of Harlan at his matchmaking best.

“Any particular reason I should?” he inquired, refusing to fall into Jordan’s trap.

He lifted the cold bottle of beer to his lips and took a long, slow drink just to show how unaffected he was by the prospect of seeing Melissa, whom Jordan clearly knew worked at Dolan’s. This was probably the whole reason his brothers had suggested meeting in town in the first place rather than gathering at White Pines. They’d been plotting behind his back to try to force a reunion between Cody and his ex-lover.

“They still have the best milk shakes in the whole state of Texas,” Luke chimed.

“We’ve just eaten enough food to stuff a horse,” Cody stated flatly.

Luke and Jordan exchanged a look.

“Worried about your handsome figure?” Luke taunted.

Cody scowled at his oldest brother’s nonsense. “No.”

Luke went on as if he’d never spoken. “Because if that’s it, I’m sure they have diet sodas in there, served up by the sweetest gal in all of Texas, or so I hear.”

“I don’t want a milk shake. I don’t want a diet soda. There is nothing that drugstore has that I want,” he said pointedly, scowling first at Luke and then at Jordan.

“Sounds to me like a man who’s protesting too much,” Jordan observed. “What does it sound like to you, Lucas?”

“Definitely a man who’s scared out of his britches,” Luke agreed.

Cody drew himself up indignantly. “Scared of what? A milk shake?”

“Maybe not that,” Luke conceded. “How about Melissa Horton?”

Ah, a direct hit. Cody sighed. “I am not scared of Melissa,” he said with extreme patience. “I feel absolutely nothing for Melissa.”

“Cluck, cluck, cluck,” Luke murmured, making a pitiful attempt to mimic a chicken.

The sound grated on Cody’s nerves. He balled his hands into fists. He hadn’t gotten into a rip-roaring fight with his big brothers in a very long time, but Luke was pushing every one of his buttons. And, from the teasing glint in his eyes, his big brother knew it, too. Even Jordan sensed that his patience was at an end. He eased his chair between them, a conciliatory expression on his face.

“Now, Luke, don’t rile Cody,” he said blandly. “If he says he doesn’t want to talk to Melissa, then who are we to interfere?”

Cody didn’t exactly trust Jordan’s sudden taking of his side. Jordan had a knack for sneak attacks that could cripple a business adversary before he even knew he was under seige. Cody eyed him warily.