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Cody swallowed hard and then sat up and hugged her with all the strength of his nine years. “I love ya, Mom,” he said to his own embarrassment.
“Oh, honey, nothing could be better,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.
“’Cept maybe marryin’ Chase?” he asked.
“What do you think about it—would you be willing to give me away?”
“Huh?”
Dani laughed at his perplexed expression and then explained about a simple wedding ceremony. Though not jumping for joy, Cody seemed to accept the fact that she would marry Chase.
“Okay, I’ll give you away,” he said blushing. “As long as it’s not for good.”
“Silly!”
“Where would we live?”
“Good question,” she said.
“Why don’t you ask Chase? He thinks you deserve a day off from school.”
“Great!”
“I’m not so sure about it—”
“Maybe having Chase as a stepdad wouldn’t be so bad after all!” Cody said, leaping out of bed.
“I don’t think so—but, look, you can’t get out of doing your chores, okay?”
“Okay,” he grumbl
ed, reaching for his favorite pair of jeans.
Still smiling to herself, Dani went into her bedroom, combed the tangles from her hair, put on a little makeup and changed into a summer dress. By the time she was back downstairs, Cody had already talked to Chase and was in the barn feeding the animals.
Chase was seated at the kitchen table, his feet up on a free chair while he sipped coffee. He looked very proud of himself.
“You look like the cat who caught the canary,” she observed as she poured a cup for herself.
“Not a canary, but the prettiest woman east of the Rockies.”
“Give me a break.” But she laughed despite his outlandish compliment. “What have you been up to?”
“More than you want to know.”
“Try me.”
“Okay.” He held up one finger. “I called the police, they already have Blake in custody.”
Shaking, she sat down and let her head fall into her hand. “No,” she whispered.
“Yep. He turned himself in because he was scared to death that he’d hurt or even killed Cody. Apparently, Blake hadn’t thought anyone was home; then he saw Cody just before the gas tank blew and then he couldn’t find the boy. He admitted to being in league with Caleb and the police are up at Johnson’s house now. I told them about the dioxin and they’re trying to get in contact with Larry Cross. You’ll probably hear from the D.A. He’ll want to know if you want to press charges.”
“I see,” she whispered. “So how does that affect you?”
“It doesn’t. Blood or no blood, Caleb Johnson was never my father. But, I did call him; told him everything we knew and believe it or not he’s agreed to lay off you.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it.”
