“Okay,” she said cheerfully, and ran toward the house screaming, “Mommy, Uncle Cody’s here and he says he’s going to take one of Francie’s kittens.”

“Thank goodness,” Kelly called back as she emerged from the house, a grin on her face. “Conned you again, huh?”

He chuckled. “If you’re not careful, that child of yours is going to be the biggest scam artist in the entire United States.”

“I prefer to think she’ll have a career in diplomacy or maybe negotiating strike settlements,” Kelly said. “Come on in. Jordan’s still at the office, but he should be home soon.”

His sister-in-law surveyed him closely. “How are you? You look lousy.”

“Obviously Dani isn’t the only one in the family with a silver tongue.”

Kelly didn’t bat an eye. “Did you see Melissa today?”

“I’m sure you know perfectly well that your husband and Luke badgered me into it.”

“They said they were going to try. I wasn’t sure if it had worked.”

“I saw her,” he admitted. “And her baby.” He watched closely for Kelly’s reaction. She remained expressionless.

“I see,” she said blandly, keeping her attention focused on the vegetables she was chopping. “How did it go?”

Cody thought she was working awfully darned hard to feign disinterest. “Fine for the first few minutes, ugly after that.”

“Oh, Cody,” she protested softly. “Isn’t it time you settled things with her and came home for good?”

Suddenly he didn’t want to pursue the topic. He needed a break from it. They could get into it again when Jordan got home. Hopefully his brother would have answers that Kelly couldn’t or wouldn’t give him.

“I don’t want to talk about Melissa right now. First I want to catch a glimpse of that brand new baby boy of yours,” he declared just as Jordan came in and dropped a kiss on his wife’s cheek.

“Hey, little brother, what brings you by?” Jordan asked, sneaking a carrot from the pile Kelly had just cut up.

“He’s going to take a kitten,” Dani chimed in. “Can we go see them now, Cody? It’s later.”

Since going to see the kittens would keep him from having to deal with the subject of Melissa and her baby a little longer, Cody stood and headed for the kitchen door. Dani tucked her hand in his.

“You should probably take two kittens,” she said on the way out. “One might get lonely.”

“Listen, young lady, I said one kitten,” he protested over the sound of Kelly and Jordan’s laughter.

“But you were going to take two last time.” Apparently she caught his stern expression because she gave a little shrug of resignation. “I bet you’ll change your mind when you see them.”