The Backup Plan by Sherryl Woods Page A

come in takeout, we don’t have it at our house.”
    â€œYou really were rebelling when you picked her, weren’t you?”
    â€œYou have no idea,” he said, though without the slightest trace of self-pity. “So, what’s up with you? I thought you’d be bored to tears and heading out of here by now.”
    â€œAlready anxious to be rid of me?”
    â€œHardly. With you underfoot, it’s taking the pressure off me.”
    â€œWhat pressure?”
    â€œTo live up to Dad’s high expectations.” He stood up and reached in the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. He popped the top and swallowed a long gulp.
    Since no one else in the house drank beer, Dinah hadto assume that these food forays of Tommy Lee’s were frequent enough that Maybelle had started stocking the beer for him.
    â€œWhat’s going on between you and Dad?” she asked him.
    â€œNothing new,” he insisted. “He wants me to be somebody I’m not. He’s just now waking up to the fact that I’m never going to change.”
    â€œOut of spite?”
    â€œNo, darlin’ sister, out of self-awareness. I’m not the least bit suited to a nine-to-five job hustling money. I know the banking business. I just don’t want to do it.”
    â€œAnd you’ve told him that?”
    â€œIn every language I know.” He grinned. “Which is pretty much limited to plain old Southern. You’d think a man like our daddy would grasp that one.”
    â€œWant me to talk to him?” Dinah asked.
    â€œLord, no,” he said with a shudder. “If you start fighting my battles for me, he really will think I don’t have any gumption at all. No, this will all come to a head soon enough.” He finished the piece of chicken he’d stolen from Dinah’s plate, snagged a couple of forkfuls of potato salad, then drank down the rest of his beer. He sat back with a satisfied sigh. “Damn, I miss Maybelle’s cooking.”
    â€œMe, too,” Dinah said. “I used to wake up nights thinking about her corn bread and her mashed potatoes and gravy.”
    â€œNot a lot of that on the menu where you’ve been, I imagine.”
    â€œNot even close,” she said.
    He studied her intently. “You really okay, Dinah?”
    She groaned. “Don’t you start, too. Everybody thinks I’m cracking up. It’s getting tiresome.”
    He held up his hands. “Since nobody knows how that feels better than I do, I’ll quit poking around in your life right this second. You change your mind, though, I’ve still got a big ole shoulder you can cry on anytime you need it.”
    Dinah reached over and tucked her hand into his. “When did you turn into my big brother? You always were this puny little thing pestering me to set you up on dates with my friends.”
    His expression suddenly turned unbearably sad. “I grew up while you weren’t even looking, Dinah.”
    The momentary melancholy in his eyes disappeared so quickly Dinah wasn’t even certain she’d seen it. He stood up with his more typical jovial expression firmly in place.
    â€œBetter get my butt home with the Chinese takeout.” He leaned down and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll see you around. You need anything, you call me, okay?”
    â€œLove you,” she said as he walked out the door.
    â€œLove you,” Tommy Lee echoed, but only after he was far enough away that she couldn’t see his face.
    He’d always been that way. He’d never wanted any one to see his sentimental side. In fact, after spending just this small amount of time with him, she couldn’t help wondering if he even knew he still had it in him or if the pressures of battling their father’s expectations had driven that little bit of self-awareness right out of him.
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    It had been days now and Cord hadn’t been able to shake the image of