Melissa’s expression was every bit as skeptical as his own had to be. “Okay,” he said. “He probably has a scheme we don’t know about yet. Even so, are you willing to take a chance? Will you bring her out? It’s time she learned something about her father’s side of the family.”

He was playing to her sense of fairness and it was clearly working. He could practically read her struggle with her conscience on her face.

“I’ll bring her,” Melissa finally agreed with obvious reluctance. “On one condition—no tricks.”

Cody regarded her innocently. Now that he’d gotten her basic agreement, he could go along with almost anything she demanded. “What kind of tricks?”

“No preachers lurking in the shadows. No wedding license all signed and ready to be filled in.”

He feigned astonishment, even though he thought she might actually have a very good idea, one that hadn’t even occurred to him until just that minute. “Would I do that?”

“In a heartbeat,” she said. “And even if you had an attack of conscience, Harlan wouldn’t. No conspiracies, okay?”

“Cross my heart,” Cody said, already wondering if there was some way to pull off such a wedding.

Melissa’s gaze narrowed. “Why doesn’t that reassure me?”

“And you accused me of a lack of trust,” he chided.

“I’m not the one whose brother threw a surprise wedding in place of a rehearsal,” she said, reminding him of the sneaky trick Jordan and Kelly had pulled on his parents to avoid the out-of-control celebration his mother had planned for their wedding. The whole town had gossiped about that little stunt for weeks.

“I’m glad you mentioned that,” Cody taunted. “It does give me some interesting ideas.”

“Cody Adams, I am warning you...”

“No need, sweet pea. I’m not fool enough to take a chance on getting rejected in front of my family and the preacher. When you and I get married, it’ll be because you’re willing and eager.”

“‘When,’ not ‘if’?” she chided.

“That’s right, darlin’. Only the timing is left to be decided,” he declared with far more confidence than he felt. He unloaded the last of their packages under Melissa’s irritated scrutiny. Apparently, though, his certainty about their future had left her speechless. He considered that a hopeful sign.

“See you on Saturday,” he said, escaping before he had a chance to put his foot in his mouth. “Come on out about eight. You can have breakfast with us.”

Besides, he thought, if Melissa was there by eight, that gave him most of the day to convince her to have a wedding at sunset.