“It wasn’t for her kid,” he retorted.

“Okay, forget the salesclerk. Should I point out that the one you ended up taking is exactly the same one I tried to get you to buy when we walked in?”

He scowled at her. “What’s your point?”

“That I had already done the exact same research, reached the exact same conclusion. You insisted I come along because you claimed to want my advice. When it came right down to it, though, you didn’t trust me.”

Cody carefully considered the accusation before turning to meet her gaze. “You’re right. I should have listened to you. It’s just that this is new to me. I’m trying to get it right. I don’t want to mess up with something this important.”

Her expression softened. “Cody, I can understand that. Really, I can. I was just as obsessive when I first brought Sharon Lynn home from the hospital. Mother and Daddy thought I was a lunatic. I didn’t trust a piece of advice they offered. I was convinced it was probably outdated. I had to do it all for myself. Talk about reinventing the wheel.” She shook her head. “I wasted more time, only to find myself doing exactly what they’d suggested in the first place.”

He grinned. “You’re just trying to save me traveling over the same learning curve, is that it?”

“Exactly,” she said. She reached over and patted his hand. “I’m not trying to keep you out of Sharon Lynn’s life, or control your input, or anything like that. I promise.”

The impulsive touch didn’t last nearly long enough. Cody grabbed her hand and pulled it to his lips. He brushed a kiss across her knuckles and saw the instantaneous spark of desire in her eyes. “I’ll try to watch the defensiveness, if you’ll do something for me.”

She regarded him with conditioned wariness. “What?”

“Bring Sharon Lynn out to White Pines this weekend,” he coaxed persuasively. At the flare of panic in her eyes, he pulled out his strongest ammunition—her fondness for Harlan. “I think seeing her would do Daddy a world of good. With Mother gone, he needs something positive in his life, something to cheer him up. You should have seen the look in his eyes this morning when I told him she was mine.”

The hint of wariness in her eyes fled and was promptly replaced by astonishment. “You told him?”

“I did. But it wasn’t news. He’d figured it out the first time he saw her, the same as Jordan had.”

Her mouth gaped. “And he didn’t do anything about it? I’m amazed he didn’t haul your butt straight back here or offer to set up a trust fund for the baby or something.”

“Frankly, so am I. Maybe he’s learned his lesson about manipulating.”