“All ready to go?” theirconDUCKtorasked.
Jason gave a thumbs-up signal.
Merry raised her eyebrows. “Why are we the only ones on the tour?”
“Because I bought all the tickets.” He gave her a side-squeeze. “I thought we could talk and get to know each other better without a bunch of eavesdroppers.”
“Oh.” Merry knew he could afford it, but did he give her the real reason for wanting the whole thing to themselves, or was he throwing money around just to impress her?Either way, looks good for me.She chuckled. “Okay, what do you want to know?”
The amphibious bus pulled out of the parking area and onto the street.
“Well, for starters, why do you look more like a Martinez than a MacKenzie?”
“Ah, that’s easy. I was adopted. My mother wanted a daughter, had two boys, and then talked my father into adopting me from a local Catholic organization. I know I have Portuguese ancestors, but I don’t know any other details about my birth parents.”
“That makes sense. Any curiosity on your part about finding your birth parents?”
“None at all. I’ve wondered about them, but as far as I’m concerned, my dad and late momaremy parents.”
“Matt is younger, so they decided to have more?”
“My teenage brother was a last-minute surprise. He has ADHD and the little wack-job drives me crazy half the time, but I saw to it he did his chores, finished his homework, and went to school unless he had a fever of one hundred and one. He finallygraduated from high school this past June—with honors!”
Despite the way she spoke about him, she hoped Jason could tell that she was extremely fond of Matt. “He’s the reason I didn’t become spoiled. That honor always goes to the youngest.”
His jaw dropped. “So, you helped raise him?”
She shrugged. “I just did what any good sister would do.”
“Man, that’s a lot to ask of a kid. How old were you two when your mom passed away?”
“Matt was eight and I was sixteen. I stepped into the role of caretaker—but couldn’t replace my mother. While my family recovered emotionally, and it came time to go to college, I commuted. I continued to live at home while working and finally decided it was time to leave the nest before I was old and gray and wondered what had happened to my life.”
“Wow. Even giving up nine years of it to raise Matt was a lot.”
“I know. I didn’t mind, really. It was important. But if I stayed any longer it would’ve just become harder and harder to leave as time went on. Especially for my father.”
“I’m glad you decided to move—and even happier that you moved intomybuilding.”
The way he looked at her sent shivers down her spine. He seemed to be feeling a combination of pride, admiration, and something else. His eyes had taken on a soft glow.
“By the way,” he said, “I’m thinking of going furniture shopping. Would you like to come along and help me pick out colors that go together? I’m not very good at that.”
“Are you sure? You seem like a stylish dresser. So far, I haven’t seen any striped pants with plaid shirts and polka-dotted sweater vests.”
He laughed. “I wear solids so I don’t have to worry about prints clashing, and my uniform isn’t much of a challenge.”
“When were you thinking of going?”
“Tomorrow?”
“That’s the day I was planning to go out to lunch and shopping with my friend, Roz.”
“Oh, well, maybe some other time. It was mostly an excuse to spend more time with you, anyway.”
Merry’s cheeks heated. “You sure are a charmer.”
“Nah.”
