The Man She'll Marry. Carole Mortimer

now that she could think straight, that Dani would agree to marry someone and then not tell her own mother about it. Admittedly, Dani seemed to have kept the intensity of this particular relationship with David Kingston to herself, not seeming to have mentioned him any more than the other new friends she had made in the last couple of months. But a marriage proposal, and its acceptance, was something else entirely...

      Merry looked up at Zack Kingston with a new confidence. ‘I don’t believe they have decided to marry, immediately or otherwise,’ she told him calmly. ‘I think you may have been a little premature in coming here today, Mr Kingston—’

      ‘For God’s sake call me Zack!’ he exploded. ‘And no matter what you may think, Merry, I did not imagine David’s announcement to me this morning—it totally destroyed my appetite for breakfast!’

      Merry felt her mouth twitching with humour, had to bite her lip to stop herself from smiling. She could picture Zack now, seated at the end of a long dining table, newspaper spread out in front of him, while some meticulous, silent servant served him bacon and eggs—the latter would be scrambled, of course, no messy egg-yolks for this man to deal with’ And then, just as he was about to take his first mouthful of the mouthwatering food, David dropping his bombshell!

      ‘I trust you managed to eat lunch, Zack?’ she said soothingly. ‘It really isn’t good for the blood sugar for you to go without food for too long. It impairs your judgement, and—’

      ‘My judgement is not impaired, Merry,’ he bit out. ‘David told me—’

      ‘I’m not disputing what he told you,’ she assured him evenly. ‘I’m merely questioning the validity of the news that Dani intends marrying him. I must admit I was thrown for a few minutes after your initial announcement, but I’ve had time to collect my thoughts now. I know Dani, the two of us are friends, as well as mother and daughter, and if she were serious about your nephew then I believe she would have told me about him.’ Merry’s confidence increased even as she spoke the words. She did know Dani, and what this man was suggesting didn’t sound at all like her daughter. ‘I don’t disbelieve that David told you how he felt towards Dani—’

      ‘Thank you for that, at least!’ Zack snapped with sarcastic impatience.

      She couldn’t exactly blame him for feeling this way; he had obviously had a tough day since David’s intentions had destroyed his breakfast. They had certainly dispelled her own earlier tiredness too!

      ‘I don’t mean to sound patronising, Zack,’ she assured him. She might not have meant to, but in retrospect that was exactly what she had sounded! ‘I’m just doubtful of Dani’s part in all of this.’ She absently poured them both another glassful of wine, wordlessly handing his over. ‘Dani and I have never had secrets. There’s never been any reason for us to,’ she revealed, thinking of her own years without romantic involvement.

      When Dani had been very young there just hadn’t been the time, between studying and caring for a young child, and there had only been the occasional date in the years following. Most men of a similar age to herself were either already married, running away from an unhappy relationship, or had no interest in a woman with a young child. None of them had appealed to Merry either. In fact, there had been no relationships that she couldn’t happily talk to Dani about because there had been none that were serious!

      ‘If Dani were in love,’ she told Zack assuredly, ‘then I believe she would have told me about it. And about him!’

      ‘I—’ Zack broke off as the sound of the front door opening and closmg could clearly be heard.

      ‘That will be Dam now,’ Merry warned him softly, putting a lightly restraining hand on his arm. ‘Let me handle this, please,’ she advised gently as she heard Dani walking down the hallway.

      ‘Mum, I’m home—’ Dani broke off her cheerful greeting as she entered the kitchen and saw that her mother wasn’t alone, her glance resting interestedly on the man who stood there.

      Merry looked at her daughter with pride; she would never cease to be amazed that this gloriously beautiful creature was her own daughter. Almost six feet in height, Dani towered over her. Her hair was a long riot of honey-blonde curls that reached down the length of her spine, and her face as beautiful as any model’s, with eyes of deep honey-brown.

      Merry glanced sideways at Zack Kingston to see what his reaction was to this vision of loveliness that was her daughter. He looked stunned! But then so did every other man who looked at Dani. Including Zack’s nephew, it seemed...

      But, seeing Dani now, Merry was even more assured that her surmise concerning that situation was correct; Dani looked as carefree and open as she always did, and if she were hiding something as serious as a secret engagement then she wouldn’t have done. Dani had never been any good at keeping secrets!

      ‘Hello, darling.’ Merry moved to hug her daughter. ‘Had a good day?’

      ‘Pretty good,’ Dani responded vaguely, obviously fascinated by the man standing watching them from across the room—which wasn’t surprising, considering what conclusion she must have come to concerning Zack’s presence here; it was over a year since Merry’s last date, and she certainly hadn’t brought him home!

      ‘This is Zack,’ Merry introduced. ‘He just called in for a chat,’ she added meaningfully—for his benefit!

      ‘Zack,’ Dani greeted, politely shaking the hand he offered before turning to her mother. ‘I’ll just go and freshen up, and then I’ll help you with dinner. Will you be eating with us, Zack?’ she added mischievously, obviously intrigued by this male friend of her mother’s who had just dropped by for ‘a chat’.

      Zack looked briefly at Merry. ‘Er—no,’ he answered huskily. ‘As your mother said, I only called in briefly.’

      ‘Oh, well.’ Dani shrugged lightly. ‘Perhaps I’ll see you again some time.’ She left the kitchen, her movements unconsciously graceful, taking her boundless energy and effervescence with her, her footsteps soft on the stairs.

      Merry gave Zack another glance from beneath lowered lashes. If he had looked stunned before, he now looked speechless!

      He swallowed hard.

      ‘She takes after her father,’ Merry told him.

      ‘Tall, blond, and gorgeous,’ he acknowledged heavily.

      Jeff had been all of those things. He had also been a lot of other things Dani wasn’t...

      ‘Yes,’ Merry confirmed quickly. ‘But the important thing is that Dani doesn’t look to me like a young girl in the emotional throes of a secret love affair.’

      ‘Or to me either,’ Zack rejoined, obviously deeply annoyed now at the embarrassing situation he found himself in.

      Which wasn’t surprising, really. Zack Kingston gave every impression of being totally self-assured, in control of any situation he should happen to find himself in; Merry could only imagine the inner squirming he was going through at this moment!