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“Merit, put me down.”
“You need to schedule that doctor’s appointment.” He started toward the door that led into
the house. “Is this normal? Honor hasn’t mentioned anything about fainting.”
“I didn’t faint. I stood too fast and got dizzy.”
He shouldered the door open and carried her inside. Before she could fully enjoy the moments in his arms, he set her down on the couch. When her hand brushed over the old, worn cushions, she grimaced at what he’d think of it compared to the nice, supple leather of his furniture.
“You don’t have to keep doing that.”
He crouched down in front of her. “How often does this happen?”
“Not often.” When his dark brow arched in disbelief, she insisted, “Honestly. And usually I can feel it coming on. It really was that I stood up too fast this time.”
“This time. That doesn’t sound very reassuring—especially after the same thing happened at my house less than a week ago.”
“I’m fine. I swear.”
His gaze traced over her face and body before he rose to his feet, lifting a hand to rake his hair off his forehead. The unruly locks fell right back into place.
“What can I do? Are you feeling okay now? Do you need some water? Do you want to lie down?”
Oh, man, would she love to lie down. Even better if he— “I can’t. I have to fix the mower.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“One of the mower blades broke.” She slumped back against the couch as the weight of the week started to catch up with her. “Feels like I’m fixing something on it every other month.”
“Why don’t you get a new one?”
She scoffed at his perplexed question. “What, you think everyone has a ginormous trust fund to just get a new one?”
His jaw tightened, and he looked away. “What can I do to help?”
Mae narrowed her gaze. He seemed so concerned, she almost believed him. But she’d bet it would only take a little pushing to get him to reveal his true colors. Guys like him were not dependable, and she needed to prove it to both of them before her heart started to overrule her mind.
“You want to help, Merit? Buy me a new one or fix the one I got.”
Chapter 9
Merit stared at Mae’s lawnmower, his hands braced on his hips. Well, it was either figure out how to fix the damn thing, or admit he couldn’t afford a new one because his father cut him off without a cent and he hadn’t heard back from a single job he’d applied for over the past week with his anemic resume.
Just thinking about saying any of that out loud made him feel like a loser, so here he stood. With no clue where to even begin. Because, like his parents, he paid a service to take care of his lawn. Then again, common sense said the blades were on the bottom—
“Merit?”
He looked up to see Ian standing in the doorway to the house, his short, blond hair a mess, wearing a tan shirt with a big soccer ball on the front, shorts, and tennis shoes. He seemed confused to see him there, and he supposed it was a little strange since they’d only ever seen each other at the bakery a few times before the wedding.
“Hey, little man. How are you?” The boy shrugged, then stood there looking as lost as Merit felt. Sympathy tugged at his heart. “Wanna help me?”
His face lit up as he nodded vigorously.
“Well, then, come on. Let’s get to it.”
Ian leapt from the top step to the garage floor and ran over. Then he stood next to Merit and put his hands on his hips as he, too, studied the mower.
“What do we do?” he asked.
