“I suspect I could use it,” she agreed, wondering at the turn of events that had truly put her and Harlan Adams in cahoots, just as Cody had accused. Maybe Harlan’s wisdom would be more effective than his wife’s advice had been.

“Despite all these centuries that have passed, the caveman instinct hasn’t entirely been bred out of us men,” Harlan began. “Now I know that’s not so politically correct, but it’s the truth of it. A man needs to struggle to claim what he wants. It builds up his passion for it, makes him stronger. Call it perversity, but things that come too easily don’t mean so much. Don’t ever tell ’em I said so, but I made every one of my sons fight me to earn the right to become his own man. They resented me at the time, but in the end they were better for it.”

Sorrow flitted across his face as he added, “Except maybe for Erik. He wanted to please too badly. I made a serious miscalculation by forcing him to work in ranching, one I’ll regret to my dying day.”

Listening to his philosophy about men, Melissa wondered if Mary Adams had put up much of a struggle. Her adoration of Harlan, her catering to his every whim, had been obvious to anyone who knew the two of them. Given Mary’s advice to her about making Cody jealous, Melissa suspected she had given her husband fits at one time.

“Did Mary make you jump through hoops?” she asked.

“She did, indeed,” Harlan told her, chuckling even as his expression turned nostalgic. “I knew the first minute I laid eyes on her that she was the woman I wanted to marry. She was smart as the dickens, beautiful and willful. She claimed later that she fell in love at first sight, too. She didn’t let me know it for a good six months, though. In fact, for a while there I was convinced she couldn’t stand to be in my presence. It was a hell of a blow to my ego.”

He shook his head. “My goodness, the things I used to do just to earn a smile. That smile of hers was worth it, though. It was like sunshine, radiating warmth on everyone it touched. For thirty-six years, I was blessed with it.”

“You’re missing her terribly, aren’t you?” Melissa said softly.

“It’s as if I lost a part of myself,” Harlan admitted, then seemed taken aback that he’d revealed so much. He drew himself up, clearly uncomfortable with the out-of-character confidences. “Enough of that now. You didn’t come all the way out here to listen to me go on and on.”

“May I ask you a question?” Melissa asked impulsively.

“Of course you can. Ask me anything.”

“Did you know Cody had asked me to marry him?”

“He told me.”