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He charged his mother?

Even as she thought it, Maggie laughed. “Okay, two weeks of me fixing you dinner, then.”

Cody grinned suddenly. His strikingly light green eyes seemed to flash in the morning sunlight that gilded his blond hair. The effect was devastating. That was so not fair.

Britt shook off her reaction and focused on the simple fact that there was no denying every one of the Rafferty boys adored this petite, blond woman with the pixie haircut.

If you want to know how a man will treat his wife, watch how he treats his mother.

The old saw rang in her mind before she could stop it. She had no idea why. Because how Cody Rafferty might someday treat the woman crazy enough to marry him was no concern of hers.

Maggie turned back to Britt. “You should come over for the unveiling, as it were. Your folks are coming, come with them.”

She heard a strangely strangled sound from Cody. “I doubt the video maker would want me there,” she said dryly.

“But I’m paying the bill for that video, so I can invite who I wish,” Maggie said airily.

“Dinner for two weeks?” Britt asked, the corner of her mouth twitching.

“If you’d ever eaten his cooking,” Maggie said in a quite audible stage whisper, “you’d know it’s a worthy price. Barely edible. You can’t imagine.”

“I’m afraid I probably can,” Britt admitted with a rueful laugh. “Because I’m awful in the kitchen.”

Cody gave her a quick glance, as if she’d surprised him by admitting to anything in common with him. Understandable, she supposed. But it was the truth; she sucked at cooking. She could fix, like grill a steak or make a great salad, but actually cook? Except for Mom’s meat loaf, not happening.

Besides, she wasn’t about to get into one of their usual spitting matches in front of his mother.

“Then you should come for dinner as well,” Maggie said.

“You don’t have to do that. I only rode over now to see if you were done, and the UFOs would all be on the ground.”

Cody gave her a longer look that time. “They’re not unidentified.”

“The U stands for unsightly, in this case,” she said sweetly. “Or just plain ugly.”

“You two,” Maggie said with a shake of her head, and Britt wasn’t sure if she was only pretending exasperation or seriously feeling it. She went on briskly enough that Britt decided she’d been putting it on. Mostly. “Cody says it will only take a day or two to put it all together now that he has the aerial video, so we’re going test run it on the big screen Friday evening. The whole family will be there, so you might as well come.”

Britt smiled at the obviousness of her pointing out there would be plenty of…insulation around in the form of family members. Which Britt knew to Maggie included Sydney, Ariel, and Kaitlyn. And of course, Lucas.

“Unless you have plans, of course,” Maggie added, one brow raised. “Friday night and all.”

Friday night. Date night. Right. As if. Who had time—or the patience—for that? Her dating life had ended with that short connection with Wayne Matthews, which had ended amicably enough when he’d walked away, saying he felt like the abandoned party in that Garth Brooks song about rodeo. She hadn’t been angry or even hurt much, which she supposed was a sign; Wayne was a good guy, but her first love was indeed her career. And that had been…

Her brain did the math but couldn’t accept the result. A year and four months? Had it really been that long? She worked it out again. Same result. That was a bit much, even for her. She might have to be a bit more open to possibilities this year on the circuit. But truth be told, those usually ended up a quick hookup, and that wasn’t her. She didn’t mind going in knowing it wouldn’t be serious, but it would be nice if it at least lasted the season. She wanted the stability.

Or you just don’t want to have to search for company, because it takes time away from the plan.

Some part of her mind realized she should be paying attention, perhaps at Maggie’s mention of a specific time.

“—about six o’clock for dinner, then we’ll have the viewing,” Maggie was saying, then she laughed. “Sounds like we’re unveiling a newly discovered Rembrandt or something, doesn’t it?”

I’m sure the creator thinks it’s on par.

She didn’t say it, and as she remounted Nugget to head home, she congratulated herself on staying civil for the whole—well, almost—conversation. Maggie’s presence, obviously. Because Cody hadn’t taken a single swipe at her, really. She couldn’t remember the last time that had happened.

Maybe that’s the answer—never deal with him without his mother around.

Three days later, she wasn’t smiling at all. She was yanking on a jacket in aggravation, wishing she’d never told Maggie she’d come. Wishing she’d never told her parents she would, making it doubly impossible to cancel.