Cody saw the sheen of tears spring to Melissa’s eyes and realized more than ever what he had cost them all by running off as he had. His parents had always accepted that Melissa would one day be his wife. They had approved of her spirit, her kindness and her unconditional love for him. Melissa had been present on most family occasions, welcomed as if their relationship had been sealed.

Though he’d never asked his parents if they had continued to see her, he had suspected Melissa wouldn’t feel that same sense of belonging after he’d gone. He knew from his father’s comment just now that she had indeed stayed away and that her absence had hurt them all, costing them a relationship they held dear. The severing of ties had been as complete as if he and Melissa had been married and then divorced in an incredibly acrimonious manner that had forced everyone to choose sides.

“Thank you, Harlan,” she said, stepping closer to be enveloped in a fierce hug that included Sharon Lynn. “I’ve missed you, too. And I’m so terribly, terribly sorry about Mary.”

“I know you are. Mary thought a lot of you, girl. She always hoped...” At a warning glance from Cody, he allowed his voice to trail off, the thought left unspoken.

It hardly mattered, though. The damage had already been done. Melissa’s cheeks turned bright pink. Cody could feel the blood climbing up the back of his neck, as well. His father surveyed them both, then gave a brief nod of satisfaction as if he’d learned something he’d hoped for.

“Come on, then,” Harlan said, his voice laced with a telltale trace of huskiness. “Let’s go have some breakfast, before we all turn maudlin and start bawling.”

To Cody’s relief, his father left the subject of the past untouched beyond that single, oblique reference. Either he was far too fascinated by the child he held or he recognized that it was not a conversation to be held in the baby’s presence.

There was no mistaking, though, that more questions lingered in his eyes. Cody guessed they would be as much about the future as the past. He also knew there were no answers his father would like hearing, not yet anyway. Harlan had the same impatience as his sons. He liked things settled to his satisfaction. Between Cody and Melissa nothing was settled at all.

Sharon Lynn patted her grandfather’s face, then glanced to her mother for approval. “Da?” she questioned.

Cody scowled as he realized that he wasn’t unique in his daughter’s view. He caught Melissa’s grin and realized how pitiful it was to be jealous of his own father.