“I’ll get it for you.”

“You’ve got better things to do than bring me food at work.”

“I’ll get it for you right here. Doc gave you the afternoon off.”

Her eyes widened with surprise. “He did? Why?”

Joe finished the soda and put the can on the coffee table before he reached for her hand and linked their fingers. “Because he’s worried about you. He says you seem down about something.”

Frowning, she looked away from him, gazing at her German shepherd, Riley, who stood watch over her, as always. “So you guys really were talking about me.”

“Not in a bad way. He called me because he was worried, and he didn’t want to upset you by bringing it up. You know he loves you as much as anyone, except for me, of course. I love you best of all, which is why I’m hoping you’d tell me if something was worrying you or upsetting you or causing you to lose your sparkle.”

“Is that what he said?”

Joe brought her hand to his lips, kissing her softly. “Uh-huh, which led me to wonder why I haven’t noticed your missing sparkle. Are you keeping something from me, hon?”

“No! I don’t do that. You know I don’t.”

“I know you don’t usually, but since he’s seeing something I’m not, I can’t help but wonder. That’s all.”

“We’ve had a lot going on. With the pregnancy and the accident and my brothers and your mom and Seamus… It’s been…a lot.” Her chin quivered ever so slightly, but he saw it.

“What is it, honey? Talk to me. The accident was so upsetting, but the boys are fine—or they will be. In time. You know that, right?”

She nodded, her eyes glistening with unshed tears that broke his heart.

“Come here.” He released her hand, raised his arm and waited for her to get comfortable against him before he put his arm around her and pressed his lips to the top of her head. “What’s wrong?”

“You won’t want to hear it.”

“What does that mean? Of course I want to hear it.”

“I tried to tell you once before. I tried to tell Adam, too, but he said the same thing you did—”

“About what, Janey?” Joe asked, becoming more alarmed by the second.

“About the baby and school and how I might’ve changed my mind about some things.”

“We talked about this—”

“You talked about it. You told me I’d be making a big mistake to give up on vet school when I’m so close to being done.”

“I still think that’s true.”

“But what about what I want? Does that matter at all?”