"And what if you don't end up liking it? Does that mean you two won't be compatible? Or will you just continue to act like you do?" He sounded a lot more annoyed than he intended.
"Wow. You're in a mood."
"No, I'm just trying to understand."
"Understand what?"
"What makes you so sure that Luke Seeley is the one? I mean, before you'd said two words to him, you were already picking out the names of your kids. What do you know about him other than he plays golf, served some humanitarian stint for a couple of years, and is a doctor?"
"First, the fact that we both are in the medical profession says a lot about his character already. That we have common interests and goals and worked hard to get where we are. Second, I know that he feels just as strongly as I do about family and marriage. His parents have been married more than forty years, and he, like me, wants to emulate that."
"So if a person comes from a broken family, maybe raised by a single parent, you're saying they wouldn't be compatible with someone whose family is intact, for lack of a better word."
"No, you're twisting my words. I'm just saying that he believes that a good marriage can exist. That there is such a thing as happily-ever-after. Unlike some people, who think a meaningful relationship is two people who make it to lunch the next day."
"You don't think I believe in marriage?"
"Well, do you? I seem to recall you expressing your cynicism before that such a thing was akin to a fairy tale."
"I never said anything about a fairy tale." However, he couldn't deny that up until recently, he'd been convinced that that stuff only existed in Hallmark movies. Or in commercials that aired over the holidays to make everyone feel incompetent and wistful over something that wasn't real.
Only, having spent time with Benny, he was actually starting to believe that such things were real. That maybe a man and a woman-or two women or two men or whatever fate chose-could find a special spark with another person and that they could be happy to spend the rest of their lives happy to experience the ups and downs of life together.
Not that he was going to try and explain that to Benny. "Let's just say that you've made me believe a lot more things are possible."
She grew quiet, so he risked a glance at her. She was looking at him with an odd shine in her eyes. He turned his attention back to the road in time to catch their exit, and they rode in silence the last few minutes to the club.
"See where you want it to go. Now tap it. Very gently. If you hit it too hard, it's going to sail right past."
The ball was six feet from the hole. It might have taken too many swings to count to get her there, but she was, and was so close to getting it in she was wired.
Benny took in a breath and lifted the club and brought it lightly down. The ball moved gracefully one then two then the final three feet and for a minute looked like it was going to miss, but it looped in the curve of the hole and, for a long second, hung there before it finally dropped in.
"Woo-hoo!!" Benny cried and moved her hands in front of her in her trademark dance. Henry lifted his brows, a smile on his face as he watched her in amusement. But she didn't care.
Wow. Is this what it's like once you master actually hitting the ball with the club? This invigorating feeling as they finished another hole?
"Grab your ball, tiger," Henry said. "We've got to get to the next hole before the mob waiting behind us takes matters into their own hands."
The disco beat of "We Are Family" trilled from her phone, and she pulled it from her back pocket, already knowing who it was. "Hey, Daisy."
"Wow. Don't you sound chipper. What are you doing?"
"Golfing."
"Again? I thought after you nearly maimed Henry last weekend you gave up on that. Who are you with?"
"Henry."
Daisy laughed. "He's a brave man. Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to come and hang out here and drive over to the parents' for dinner, but I can see you're already busy. You should bring him tonight. Henry, I mean. The kids loved playing Twister with him, and it would be worth it just to see Cruz and Dominic going all psycho on him again. They're really ridiculous sometimes."
"I'll think about it. He might have other plans."
"Ask. Because if you're not interested, then I might try my own wiles on him. Before you tell me how much of a womanizer he is and that his attention span is the lifetime of a mosquito, let me remind you it's been nearly a year since Leo left me and even longer than that since I've had any kind of action. Sometimes a girl needs to get out and remember she is a girl and just have some fun."
Benny's grip on the phone tightened. Daisy and Henry? Daisy was certainly beautiful enough to hold someone like Henry's attention. But the two of them? Henry holding Daisy, kissing her and doing untold things to her no. The thought made her want to claw her eyes out. Actually, everyone's eyes out.
But she managed instead to only say, "We'll see."
"Oh, and while I'm remembering, have you talked to Payton about arranging for the tables and chairs for the party next week?"
Benny groaned, having totally forgotten. Party planning was not her thing, but fortunately for her, her new sister-in-law had a knack for it. But Payton hadn't wanted to step on any toes, being new to the family, and had been holding off until Benny could work out some of the details with her so she didn't feel that Payton had taken over. Not that Benny would.
"You haven't," Daisy said, clearly annoyed. "You know Mom and I are doing all of the food planning and Kate and Dominic are working on the present. This is the only thing you have to do. So give her a call this week, since we can't very well talk about it tonight, not if we want this to be a surprise party for Dad."
"I know, I know. I promise I will. But look, I have to go, we need to move to the next hole."
"Is that your sister?" he asked her as she returned the phone to her pocket and slipped the strap of the golf bag Henry was holding for her over her shoulder.
"Yes. Why?" she asked sharply, far more sharply than necessary. Had she heard a tone in his voice? Interest in Daisy?
"No reason," he said, looking at her strangely as they walked across the grass running beside the club's pond. A pond that had already taken four of Benny's balls.
"Yes, sorry. She just wanted to make sure I was coming to the family dinner tonight and to give me a guilt trip about forgetting to do something for my dad's big surprise party next week."
"A surprise party? How old is he going to be?"
"Fifty-nine."
He looked puzzled. "Am I missing something? I could see a big shindig for sixty, but why fifty-nine?"
"Last fall he had major heart surgery, and up until then, things were kind of scary. And now that he has this clean bill of health, we wanted to do something big to celebrate his life."
He nodded. "That's nice."
She remembered that Henry had lost his own dad at a young age, and she worried she'd put her foot in her mouth. Sometimes she forgot how lucky she was. "I'm sorry, Henry. Going on about my family and dad and obligations. I probably sound ungrateful."
"Not at all. Your dad seems to be an amazing man. I'm glad he's in good health now, and I think this party is going to make him feel even more blessed to be around."
They reached the start of the next hole, and Henry stood for a moment, practicing his swing. Like before, she couldn't help but appreciate the strong form he presented, so sure and smooth, as he whipped the iron through the air. Or the cute butt that she was free to stare at while his attention was diverted.
But it was more than that. She just liked looking at him. Being with him. Talking about her day as they cozied up on the couch. Laughing with him or at him or some combination of the two.
Which was completely terrifying.
Because if she were honest with herself, she knew that her feelings for Henry had intensified somewhere in the past few weeks. That the way she was looking at him and thinking about him were far from platonic.
She was falling for him.
How was that possible? She had been in love with Luke for months.
She considered Daisy's suggestion about inviting him to dinner. The prospect of hanging out with him and the rest of her family was enticing. "I know this is silly, and you probably have a million things to do after this, but if you are free you're welcome to come to dinner again tonight."
"And risk brain injury from your brothers?" He grinned at her, though, as he pulled a golf ball from his pocket. He bent over to push it and a tee into the grass, and when he straightened, he looked more thoughtful. "I don't know. I don't exactly have a reason to impose."
"Believe me, my mom loves to feed everyone, and she'll be overjoyed to have you. Daisy and the kids, too." Her brothers? Well, they'd just have to get over it.
He hesitated another moment, and her stomach sank. What had she been thinking? Of course she might be having feelings for him, but this was Henry Ellison. Playboy extraordinaire. Why would he want to hang out with her and her family?
"If you consider a rematch at Twister, then maybe I will."
Immediately, her spirits buoyed, and she returned his grin. "Not a chance."
Although she'd be lying if the thought of the two of them tangled up again didn't have some appeal.