Harlan’s eyes lit up. His expression was suddenly more animated than it had been in days. “Well, hell, son, why didn’t you say so? Congratulations! When’s the wedding?”

“No wedding,” Cody admitted dully. “She said no.”

Harlan’s openmouthed expression of astonishment reflected Cody’s feelings precisely.

“She flat-out turned you down?” his father said incredulously.

“Without so much as a hesitation,” he said. “It was downright insulting.”

Harlan chuckled. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

“You don’t have to sound so amused,” Cody grumbled.

“Sure, I do, boy. Seems tame little Melissa has grown up into a spirited young woman. The next few months or so ought to be downright interesting.”

Cody glared at him. “Months? Forget it. I’m giving her a day, maybe two, to get over this contrariness. Then I’m hauling her to a justice of the peace.”

His father started to laugh, then smothered the sound with a napkin. “Sorry,” he mumbled, then gave up the fight and chuckled. “Son, you’re going to be able to sell tickets to that one.”

Cody’s frayed temper snapped. He stood and tossed his own napkin back on the table. “Well, get out your checkbook, Daddy. The best seats in the house are going to cost you. Melissa and I might as well start off our married life with a nice little nest egg.”

Melissa wiped down the counter at Dolan’s after the last of the lunch crowd had left and eyed Cody warily. He’d been skulking up and down the aisles of the drugstore since noon, but he hadn’t come near the soda fountain. He seemed unaware that Eli and Mabel were watching him with overt fascination. Thankfully, he was also unaware of what his presence was doing to her pulse rate. Who knew what he would do to capitalize on that little hint of a fissure in her resolve.

“Mabel, why don’t you take the rest of the afternoon off,” Eli suggested, playing straight into Cody’s hands.

“What’s wrong with you, old man?” Mabel grumbled. “You planning on shutting down business?”

Eli gave her a pointed nod in Melissa’s direction. “Go on, Mabel. You’ve been wanting to check out the new seeds over at the hardware store so you can get your garden in at the first sign of spring. Go do it.”

Melissa almost chuckled as she watched Mabel struggle with herself. She’d been talking about those seeds for a week, ever since the hardware store owner had told her they’d arrived. She also hated to miss out on something with the kind of gossip potential that Melissa’s next confrontation with Cody was likely to have.

“Go,” Eli repeated, shooing her toward the door and taking the choice out of her hands. “I might not feel so generous again anytime soon.”

“Don’t doubt that,” Mabel retorted sourly.