she’d gotten Sharon Lynn’s father to leave her behind was an enigma, but it was testament to her determination to get the answers she wanted from her only daughter.
“Sit,” her mother ordered, after all but hauling her into the kitchen. “Now, my darling girl, why don’t you tell me what this is all about?”
Sharon Lynn cast a look of longing toward the door, wishing Cord would appear, but she suspected her mother’s fierce warning look had been enough to keep him out. “I’m engaged to be married. What more can I tell you?”
Her mother reached across the table and gently brushed a wayward curl from Sharon Lynn’s face. “You could start with telling me why. Not that I don’t happen to think Cord is a hunk.”
“Mother!”
“Well, he is. He’s also a decent guy from all accounts.”
“Yes, he is.”
“And that’s why you’re marrying him,” her mother concluded.
Sharon Lynn heard the trap. There’d been no mention of love. Her mother was waiting to see if she’d add that into the mix.
“That and all the other usual reasons,” Sharon Lynn said carefully, avoiding her mother’s penetrating gaze. She couldn’t bring herself to lie outright, not to her mother.
“That’s utter nonsense,” her mother exclaimed impatiently. “This isn’t your father you’re talking to or even your brother, who seems to have turned into Cord Branson’s best buddy. This is me and I want the truth.”
“Cord asked me to marry him. I said yes. I don’t know what else there is to say,” Sharon Lynn said, clinging tenaciously to her story.
“Sweetheart, you can’t do something like this,” her mother said, clearly unconvinced. “It’s all wrong. You’re not an impulsive woman. You take your time and think things through.”
“I took my time with Kyle and look at how that turned out,” she shot back, refusing to explain that this had nothing to do with marrying Cord Branson and everything to do with keeping the baby. Her mother simply didn’t need to know that.
Though she still looked troubled, her mother said, “You’re happy then? Truly?”
“Very happy,” she insisted, keeping her gaze level and unblinking. It was the hardest deception she’d ever had to pull off and, she found, only a tiny white lie. She might not be deliriously happy, but she was far from miserable about the prospect of being Cord’s wife.
“This is exactly what I want,” she added for emphasis.
Her mother regarded her worriedly for several minutes, then finally nodded, her expression resigned. “Then we’ll get together tomorrow and start planning the wedding.”
Sharon Lynn shook her head. “We don’t want a big wedding. As soon as we get the paperwork out of the way, we’ll have a quiet ceremony with just the family there.”
“Absolutely not,” her mother said, sounding appalled. “If there’s going to be a wedding, it will be done right.”
Sharon Lynn laid a silencing hand on her mother’s arm. “Mom, I’ve had my fancy church wedding and a huge reception. I don’t want that again. It will be too painful.”
Nothing else she could have said would have been more effective. Tears sprang into her mother’s eyes. “Of course. I’m sorry. It’s just that you’re my girl. I want the day to be lovely, something you’ll remember.”
“Mom, I’m marrying Cord. How will it be anything but memorable?” Oddly, even as she said the words to reassure her mother, she knew somewhere deep inside that it was true. Marrying Cord, whatever the reasons for it, would be one of the most unforgettable moments of her life.
* * *
Sharon Lynn wasn’t one bit surprised when her grandfather came into Dolan’s the next morning. Since he hadn’t weighed in with his own opinion the night before, she’d been fairly certain it wouldn’t be long before he did. Because he had impeccable timing, he arrived just as the last of the breakfast customers left.
“Hand over that baby,” he said, peering behind the counter toward the portable crib. “I never got so much as a peek at her last night.”
Sharon Lynn lifted Ashley up and boosted her across the counter into her grandfather’s waiting arms. The baby beamed for him, just as she did for Cord. Obviously they had a little flirt on their hands.
“Do you want a cup of decaf or did you just come in to play with the baby?” Sharon Lynn inquired.
“I came to talk to you. Holding this cute little one is just a bonus.”
“I knew it was too good to be true,” Sharon Lynn murmured.
Her grandfather scowled. “Don’t you go getting sassy on me, young lady.