The Wedding Bargain. Lee Mckenzie

      Ben abandoned the television and wandered back to the kitchen.

      “Would you like a scone?” Sophia asked.

      “Juice.”

      “Juice, please.”

      Ben gave her an eager nod.

      “Can you say it?”

      “Yup. Juice puh-leeeeez.”

      “Good boy. Sit with Michael and I’ll get it for you.”

      Ben settled into the next chair. “Mikey wants juice?”

      “No, thanks. I’ll stick with coffee.”

      “Don’t like coffee,” Ben said. “Like juice.” As soon as his mother set the glass of orange juice in front of him, he grabbed it and took a gulp. “See? Mustache!” he said, pointing to his upper lip.

      Sophia handed him a napkin.

      Michael laughed. “I see that.”

      “We’ll fix the car?”

      “Not today,” Michael reminded him. “I’m going to see Aunt Ginny this morning.”

      “Ginny’s baby got lost. Me ’n’ Poppy are looking for it.”

      “Are you? Ginny must be happy about that.”

      “Yup. Dogs are good at finding people.”

      “They sure are.”

      “What time did you say you’d be back?” his mother asked. She looked more tired than usual and he wondered if she was feeling all right.

      “I should be back here by two o’clock.”

      Ben drained his glass and set it on the table with a loud thunk. “Then we’ll fix the car?”

      “Not today. But I met a mechanic in the city yesterday, and he’s going to help me find some of the parts we need. As soon as we get those, we’ll fix it. Okay?”

      “Okay.”

      “How about we take Poppy for a walk this afternoon?” He had thought that would free up some of Sophia’s time to work on the birthday dinner preparations, and her look of gratitude told him he was right. He was happy to do that for her, just as he was happy to spend the time with Ben, and it had been months since he’d walked through the vineyard here at the house.

      “Go for a walk an’ look for the baby.”

      “Good idea.” He could see that his mother was losing patience with Ben’s repeated references to the missing baby, but it was his way of processing information. Sophia had decided it best not to try to explain the miscarriage to him and that had probably been a good idea, but he had overheard her say that Ginny had lost the baby, and he had taken it literally. Ben’s preoccupation with the missing infant would last until something else out of the ordinary captured his attention.

      Sophia Morgan’s impatience was uncharacteristic, though, which caused him another little niggle of concern. He and his sisters tended to take her for granted, but she wasn’t getting any younger. If looking after the house and Ben and the dog were becoming too much for her, then they needed to find a solution. Since none of them were in a position to take on the responsibility of caring for Ben, it was time they looked into hiring someone who could. He watched the way his mother efficiently organized baking pans and utensils and the ingredients for Ben’s birthday cake, and dreaded the day he’d have to break that news to her.