Free One Perfect Honeymoon (Bellingwood) by Diane Greenwood Muir

go."
    "Are you sure?"
    "It's only five thirty. I have plenty of hours left in me."
    "Okay. Just tell me when you're ready to stop. The ski resorts are coming up next. We could probably find a fun place to sleep for the night."
    "With the puppies? These hotels aren't going to be quite as easy going as the places we've been staying."
    She nodded. He was right. Getting the pups to their new home was something fun to look forward to. After only a few days, she was having fun with their little personalities. Khan thought he ruled the roost, but more often than not, Padme put him in his place. She was quiet, but firm with him. Polly was glad they were so young. That meant they slept a lot. Having four highly active pups on this trip would have been more than she or Henry wanted to handle. As it was, they were quite a handful when they were awake.
    "Maybe we should stop anyway in Grand Junction. Get something to eat and give the pups a little freedom in the truck."
     
    ~~~
     
    They were back on the road, with everyone settled in. Dusk had given way to darkness and everything grew quiet.
    "If you want to sleep, that's okay," Henry said. "We'll be in the mountains pretty soon."
    "Have you ever driven out here?"
    "No. This will be a first for me."
    "I wish we were doing it in the daylight. I'll bet it's gorgeous."
    They started seeing signs for ski resorts. Her friends had flown out to Colorado and talked enough about these locations that the names were familiar, but Polly had never found enjoyment in skiing. Sal told her that was because she'd never learned how to do it well.
    "Have you ever gone skiing?" she asked Henry.
    His laughter came from low in his belly. "No. This old Iowa boy would probably find himself rolling down the mountain in a big ole snowball before he crashed through the lodge at the end of the slope."
    "Me either. Sal used to come out here a lot. I wonder if she'll make Mark ski with her."
    "As fancy as he is on his feet, he'll probably be great at it. He seems like a skier."
    Polly chuckled. "And what exactly does that mean?"
    "I don't know. He's just one of those guys that seems like he'd like that."
    "I was just wondering if there was a type."
    "No. I didn't mean anything like that. Although I wouldn't hate it if he broke a leg or something."
    "Henry Sturtz!"
    "What?"
    "He's with Sal and I'm married to you. Don't tell me you are still jealous of him. There was absolutely nothing between us. I thought you guys were friends."
    "I know, I know. And we are."
    "Then what in the world was that all about?"
    "Don't you ever get tired of someone always being perfect? That's Mark Ogden. Always perfect. The women swoon over him and all the farmers think he's the most wonderful vet they've ever known. Perfect. It gets a little old."
    "You are a crazy man," Polly said, poking him in the side. "I would never have thought you had this in you. And just so you know, all of my friends think that you're the perfect one. You never screw up. You always support me. You don't get mad at me when I'm a moron. You read my mind and are always doing nice things for me."
    Henry squeezed her hand. "Well, trust me, I have to work at it awfully hard some days. You put me to the test."
    "What do you mean I put you to the test? I'm not that hard to live with."
    "Not that hard to live with? Sweetie, you're pure entertainment. They know at the convenience store when I'm trying to avoid a fight. I walk in and grab a box of ice cream sandwiches."
    "Those are to avoid a fight?"
    "Or to soothe you when you're stressed."
    "See, that's not so hard. Is it bad that I don't do things like that for you?"
    "I don't need ice cream when I'm stressed. I need it when you're stressed."
    "Okay, so you feed me ice cream. What else do I do that puts you to the test?"
    "There are people in our house all the time. I mean, All. The. Time. If it's not the kids, you have Lydia, Beryl and Andy around or you're down at the barn with the animals or playing with everyone