A half hour later he was back in the kitchen with two kittens in a box. Dani had been giving him very precise instructions on caring for them ever since they’d left the barn. Kelly’s expression turned smug when she saw him.

“You are pitiful,” Jordan said, shaking his head. “Is there a female on the face of the earth you can resist?”

“Who are you kidding?” Cody shot back, gesturing to the big tomcat that was curled in Jordan’s lap purring contentedly. “You always hated cats and now you’re surrounded by them. I don’t hear you complaining.”

“You may not hear it,” Kelly said, “but it is almost the last thing I hear every single night. He says ‘Good night, I love you, no more cats,’ all in one breath.”

“I do not,” Jordan said, dislodging the cat and pulling Kelly onto his lap.

Cody listened to their banter and watched their undisguised affection with envy. Until he’d lost Melissa he’d never thought he wanted marriage and kids. He’d been as commitment-phobic as any one of those jerks who made the rounds of the talk shows. Ironically, ever since their breakup, all he’d been able to think about was settling down and having kids. He’d deliberately isolated himself in Wyoming so he’d be far from the temptation to try something at which he knew he’d inevitably fail.

After all, he hadn’t appreciated Melissa when he’d had her and she was as sexy and generous, as kind and intelligent, as any woman he’d ever known. He’d had a roving eye, just the same. He’d taken her for granted, which everyone in the family had accused him of doing at one time or another. He suspected he’d do the same with a wife. What was the point of ruining some woman’s life for his own selfish longing to have just a taste of the kind of love Jordan and Luke had found?

“How long are you sticking around? Have you told your boss when you’ll be back in Wyoming?” Jordan asked after Kelly insisted Cody stay for dinner.

Kelly dished up a serving of stew for him and lingered at his shoulder. “You are not going back until after J.J. is baptized,” she said emphatically.

Cody glanced up at her. “When is that again?”

“Next weekend, which you know perfectly well. I sent you an invitation. We’re going ahead with it. Harlan insisted.”

Something in his expression must have given him away because she frowned. “You ripped it up, didn’t you?”

Cody recalled the scattered pieces of the pretty blue invitation and felt a tide of red rising in his cheeks. Was the woman a damned witch?

“Of course not,” he fibbed.

The response drew a disbelieving snort. “So you’ll be here at least that long,” she said.