Shoreline Drive
chest melt in a flood of happiness. “I don’t care what people say about you,” she said, going for teasing and hitting husky instead. “You’re not the biggest crank on Sanctuary Island.”
    Predictably, Ben scowled. “Yes I am.”
    “Nope. You’re sweet as candy. You’re the gooey, chewy nougat at the center of a chocolate candy bar.”
    “If I’m chocolate, I’m the bitter kind,” he said grumpily.
    “Nope,” she told him, her spirits lifting. “You can’t fool me anymore with that scowly mask you put on. Like with Java—I thought you didn’t care about his suffering, but that’s not it at all, is it?”
    It was intensely satisfying to watch the dull flush of red darken the tips of his ears. “You’re going to be hell on my reputation.”
    “You care,” Merry said relentlessly. “You care a lot.”
    What had Ben gone through in his life, Merry wondered, to make him think he needed to convince the world he didn’t give a crap about anything?
    In the stall, Java seemed to have worn himself out a bit. He kicked at the door, but it was half the strength and force of his previous loud protests. Ben glanced at his patient and flexed his long, dexterous fingers.
    “I have to be unaffected,” he explained. “Horses are prey animals—their instincts make them sensitive to the slightest hint of danger. If I go in there angry and upset, Java will feel threatened … and with an animal like this, that could be very dangerous.”
    “I get it,” Merry said around the lump in her throat. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”
    “I’m sorry you have to talk to your mom about all this by yourself. If you wait, I’ll go with you.” He grimaced. “But I can’t swear I’ll be much help. I don’t do well with big emotional conversations.”
    “Oh, I don’t know about that. I think you’re doing okay.” Merry smiled at the look on Ben’s handsome face. Surprised and pleased—it suited him.
    Giving an amused Sam Brennan a good-bye wave, Merry marched down the hall to beard her mother in her den, feeling more confident than ever that she was making the right decision.
    Maybe a life with Ben wouldn’t always be easy or smooth—but it would certainly be interesting.

 
    Chapter Eight
     
    When she entered her mother’s office, the first thing Merry’s eyes went to was her baby’s playpen next to the battered old desk.
    Alex lay on his back surrounded by plush toys, kicking his little legs—and as she watched, he gave a mighty wriggle and rolled over onto his stomach. She rushed across the room to get an up-close view of even more kicking, and some funny swimming motions his chubby arms made as they waved through the air.
    “Look at my big boy! Did you see that, Mom? He rolled over on his own.”
    Jo stood up from her desk and leaned over the playpen, a wide smile lighting her face. “What do you know! He’ll be crawling before we know it, and then we’ll have to watch out.”
    Jo paused. “Or … I suppose not ‘we,’ but you and Ben will have to watch out.”
    Merry swallowed. “Mom. I’m sorry you found out like that. I wanted to tell you, but it just happened, literally a few hours ago, and when you called with an emergency…”
    “No, I get it,” Jo said, holding up her hands. “Don’t apologize. I was only surprised because … well, honestly, I didn’t think you and Ben had figured out that you like each other yet.”
    Merry blinked. “What do you mean?”
    Laughing a little, Jo sank back down into the swivel chair behind her desk. “You two have struck sparks off each other since the moment you met—but I was sure you were resisting the attraction.”
    “Attraction!”
    Jo frowned. “Yes,” she said slowly. “I … aren’t you attracted to him? You must be, to have agreed to marry him.”
    “Well.” Merry palmed the back of her neck, not sure at all how to deal with this. “Look, there are lots of reasons people get married—love and romance and … attraction.

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