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“I think this placement will work. I’ll need Cody to look at it, of course, he’s the expert.”
“What will work?” she asked, her curiosity sparked even as she silently admitted she didn’t like that all it took was the mention of his name.
“A sort of intercom, between your place and here,” her father answered, still looking at the page. “For when you’re allowed to go back there.”
Allowed? Her independent spirit bristled. “I have a phone,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but this is voice-activated, so you don’t have to be able to physically get to it.” Her father looked at her then. “In case you fell, or something else went wrong.”
“Great,” she muttered, thinking of the commercials about the old lady who’d fallen and couldn’t get up.
“Think of it like one of those smart-home things,” he said. “And it’s only temporary.”
“And besides,” her mother said, “it will relieve your poor old mom and dad of a lot of stress and worry. I think it’s wonderful that Cody thought of that and came up with the idea.”
“This was his idea?”
“Yes,” Mom answered. “He knew you’d want to get back to your own place as soon as you could, and that when you did, we’d still be worried.”
The memory was there instantly. Yesterday, he was sitting where Dad was now, when she’d sighed and said how tired she already was of doing nothing but sitting, and that things she needed to do were piling up at her place.
“Probably why your folks want you here,” he’d said. “Nothing to lure you into trying to do too much too soon,” he’d said.
“I can get around a little on my own now. I could start cleaning their house.”
“No, you couldn’t.” He’d said it flatly. As if it were a given. That had sparked the old irritation, the instant antagonism she had always felt around him.
“Why not?” she’d demanded.
“Because I wouldn’t let you.” In that same cool tone.
“Excuse me?” she’d said coldly. “Who appointed you my babysitter?”
He had hesitated then, which was odd when they were almost back to normal. A normal that should make her feel relieved, because the way things had shifted between them made her twitchy in a weird sort of way. And before he could answer, her mother had returned from her shopping trip to town, with the makings of these cookies she loved and would eat too many of. She was going to have to be careful, or she’d have ten pounds to lose before this was over.
“—will be careful, won’t you?”
She tuned back in at the sound of her mother’s worried voice. “I don’t have much choice,” she said, nodding toward her immobilized foot and ankle and holding up her equally immobilized wrist.
“We could cancel,” Mom said. “The Langleys would understand. They know you’re hurt.”
“It’s their anniversary dinner, you have to go. I’ll be fine,” Britt insisted.
“Of course she’ll be fine,” Dad said firmly. “Cody’ll be here.”
Britt blinked. He was coming over tonight? Was that why he hadn’t been here today? “He will?” Gads, she sounded as inane as she felt.
“He promised he’d be here before we left. I’ve got snacks ready. You two can have a nice movie night,” Mom said, as if she were a child she was leaving in the hands of a babysitter.
And that thought had her back wondering what Cody had almost said when she’d asked him who appointed him her babysitter.
“Oh, I’m sure we’ll have a great time, given his likely taste in movies,” she said sourly. She wanted to tell them to forget it, to tell him not to come. But then her mother’s words came back to her. It will relieve your poor old mom and dad of a lot of stress and worry. And she bit back the words.
“I’m sure you can find common ground somewhere,” her father said blithely. “I mean, you haven’t killed each other yet, and it’s been five days.”
“Only because I can’t get to my shotgun,” she muttered.
But she realized, with no small amount of surprise, that her heart wasn’t even in the joke. Because the Cody who had been in essence taking care of her for a lot of those five days bore little resemblance to her nemesis, Cody the Coder.
