Uh-oh. Letting him grill her could be worse than coming forth with a limited amount of information. What if he asked the wrong question?Tell him something, anything!
“Okay, yes. I found my birth father. It’s a little freaky.”
“Yeah… are you sure it’s him, Merry? I mean—he’s so young. He doesn’t look like he’s much over thirty.”
“Yeah, I guess he was very young when I was born.”
“Like five? Thatwouldbe freaky.”
She laughed. “No, he wasn’t five. Some people just don’t show their age. That’s not what I meant by freaky. All your life you’ve known one person to be your father, and then along comes this other person who knows things no one else could know and well…” She shrugged. “I feel like I’m being disloyal to my dad, somehow.” She could tell he wasn’t buying it.
He cocked his head. “It takes a lot to knock you off balance—PMS aside—but I imagine meeting your birth father could do it. But it’s more than that. I know you.”
“Oh! How sweet—and how brave.” She brightened. “That reminds me… I wanted to tell you about your surprise.”
“Are you changing the subject?”
“No. You said PMS. I started on the new extended use pill. It’s a birth control pill that’s taken every day for three months, so your body is fooled into thinking it’s not that time. Now you don’t have to put up with my PMS every month—and I found out there’s an herb that can help lessen the symptoms. Now myhormones won’t turn me into a rabid dog every twenty-eight days. Isn’t that great?”
He smiled. “It is unless you save up all that misery and turn into the bride of Frankenstein if you forget a dose. Will I have to sleep with one eye open?”
She tapped him playfully. “No, smart-ass. It won’t be any worse than any other PMS I’ve had. I can give you back your key at the first sign of trouble if you’re worried.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple. “No, I’m not worried. I was just goofing around. It’s a nice surprise, but don’t feel like you have to do that for me.”
“Believe me, I’ll be doing it as much for me as for you. There’s no joy in feeling like a body snatcher has taken over and you’ve turned into some kind of mad alien.”
He laughed. “Is that what it’s like?”
“Pretty much.”
He shook his head. “Well, I’ve always thought you girls had it easy in some ways, but I may rethink that now. So, I guess it’s good that you don’t have it now, considering…”
Crap, he’s going back to Sly. Quick, think of something else!
“Um, I have another surprise. Guess what? I adopted a pet!”
“Really? That’s great. What kind?”
“A cute, little, white bunny rabbit.”
“Rabbit?” He reeled backward as if she’d said she now owned an anaconda or Bengal tiger.
What the heck?“I thought you loved animals.”
“Oh, I do! I do.”
“But…?”
He shrugged. “But… nothing. It was just kind of a surprise. I thought maybe you’d say a dog or cat.”
Hmmm. I’d better let that go.“And there’s something else, but it isn’t quite so pleasant. I hope you won’t be upset.”
He leaned back. “Ah, now we’re getting to it. Go ahead. Youcan tell me anything. I won’t get mad.”
“Really?”
“I promise.”
