“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 besi
de 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.”