was staring at her now, seemingly speechless—not something that happened often, Merry was sure!
She had realised a few minutes ago that he assumed she was Dani’s sister.
‘I suggest we dispense with any misconceptions you may have formed when you arrived, Mr Kingston,’ she told him briskly. ‘Dani doesn’t have a sister, older or otherwise. In fact, Dani is an only child.’ She met his eyes steadily.
Zack Kingston blinked, and then blinked again, his head tilted to one side as he reassessed the situation a second time. Finally he shook his head. ‘You aren’t old enough to be Dani’s mother! Unless—’ His gaze sharpened in dismay. ‘Exactly how old is Dani?’
Merry was unabashed. ‘Daniella—Dani—is eighteen.’
He looked relieved to hear that, but his puzzled vision returned to Merry once again, raking over her appearance once more, from the top of her head down to her bare toes, returning to her face—a face full of good humour, her green eyes clear and bright, her nose small and pert, her mouth wide and inclined to turn up at the corners, giving her a happy look even when she didn’t feel much like smiling.
As she didn’t now. This man, she had come to realise over the last few minutes, had come here to tell her something important about his nephew and her daughter. And in view of the way Dani had made her own way into life, Merry couldn’t help the feelings of foreboding that were seething over her. She no longer found this man’s mistake over her identity a cause for amusement, merely questioned the urgency of his need to talk to Dani’s mother.
Zack drew in a controlling breath. ‘Miss Baker—Er, Mrs—’
‘Miss Baker,’ Merry corrected stiltedly. What was that saying about ‘the sins of the father’...? Did it also apply to ‘the mistakes of the mother’? ‘I’ve never been a Mrs Anything, Mr Kingston,’ she informed him flatly, pointed chin raised defiantly.
He nodded abruptly. ‘Well, Miss Baker, it appears you’re about to have a wedding in the family now! My nephew David informed me this morning that he intends marrying your daughter!’
Merry swallowed hard, feeling the colour drain from her cheeks. Dani. Eighteen-year-old Dani. Beautiful Dani, who had her whole life before her. Dani, who had only been at university for two months. It couldn’t be happening all over again!
Was the mistake of the mother being repeated by the daughter...?
‘HERE, drink this,’
Merry looked up at Zack. ‘This’ turned out to be what was left of the wine in his glass. There could only be one reason—in the present circumstances!—why Zack Kingston was encouraging her to drink it.
She pushed the glass away, glaring at him. ‘I am not in need of restorative alcohol, thank you,’ she told him frostily. ‘Did you say you have been David’s guardian for the last ten years?’
‘Almost ten and a half, to be exact,’ he confirmed, frowning at the question.
Merry couldn’t see what difference that six months made! ‘Oh, let’s, by all means, be exact,’ she snapped caustically, looking him up and down, once again noticing the expensive cut of his clothes, his only jewellery a signet ring on the little finger of his right hand. ‘Are you married, Mr Kingston?’ she demanded in clipped tones.
His mouth twisted. ‘Fortunately not.’
She had thought not; he didn’t give the impression of a man in a hurry to get back to his home. Or a wife. ‘You do have some intelligence, then,’ she replied dismissively. ‘In that case—’
‘You consider it intelligent not to be married, Miss—Merry?’ he interrupted.
She looked at him pityingly. She could well understand his amazement at finding a woman who wasn’t interested in marriage; considering the way he looked, his apparent wealth and his bachelor status, she could imagine he had met far too many women desperate to get married—to him!
‘As I’ve already pointed out to you, marriage is an unknown quantity to me personally.’ She shrugged. ‘And it seems to me, from the amount of separation and divorce, that marriage has become an overrated state to be in!’
‘You—’
‘However, that does not mean I advocate single motherhood, either,’ she continued firmly. ‘I know from experience how hard that can be. For the mother left on her own to bring up the child, not the father,’ she added heatedly. ‘He usually walks away without any responsibilities!’
That deep blue gaze watched her consideringly. ‘Is that what happened to you?’
She bristled defensively. ‘We weren’t talking about me!’ Merry snapped back.
Zack shook his head dazedly. ‘Then I would like to know who we are talking about?’
‘Dani, of course!’ Despite her refusal of his wine a few minutes ago, she now took a grateful sip from her own glass. ‘You are the boy’s guardian. Didn’t you teach him any of the facts of life?’ She shook her head with angry disgust. ‘Or are you one of those men who believe it’s the woman’s responsibility to take care of the precautions?’ That seemed all too often to be the case nowadays; woman’s demand for equality, and therefore independence, had rebounded on them in the case of sexual relationships!
‘Dani suffers from a similar problem to me, in that she is medically unable to take the pill,’ she told Zack coldly.
‘I’ll file that information away for future reference,’ he said, sounding amused.
Merry could feel the heat in her cheeks. This man was making fun of her! ‘I’m glad you find this situation funny, Mr Kingston—’
‘“Funny” is far from the right word to describe how I feel about what’s happened,’ he bit out, suddenly looking at her with an arctic chill in his eyes. ‘You are obviously under some misapprehension concerning Dani and David’s relationship. Contrary to the conclusion you seem to have jumped to, your daughter is not pregnant!’
Merry stared at him uncomprehending. Not...? When Zack Kingston informed her of his nephew’s determination to marry Dani, it had seemed to her there could be only one reason for such impetuosity. Distressing as that conclusion might have been. But he was saying Dani wasn’t pregnant!
‘I don’t understand.’ She shook her head.
‘I didn’t,’ he rasped. ‘But, having now met you, I’m beginning to!’
Merry looked at him blankly. What was that supposed to mean? What could she possibly have to do with his nephew’s announcement that he intended marrying Dani; she had never even met the young man!
‘Perhaps you would care to explain that remark?’ she invited coolly, green eyes sparkling.
He gave an abrupt laugh. ‘I most certainly would,’ he rasped. ‘You obviously have an attitude towards pre-marital
