Ben crumpled the telegram in his fist， smiling weakly at<br > Heather. "It s just.. ~ some kind of joke."<br > She reached out to take the wadded yellow paper from<br > him， not quite frowning as she did. "What on earth，<br > then--"<br > He snatched it away from her and began to tear at it，<br >I so that bits of it fluttered down onto his half-eaten poached<br > eggs. "lt s nothing，" he said more vehemently. "Don t<br > make such a big thing about it." He put the shredded tele-<br > gram next to his spoon. "Somebody at the office， I guess.<br > They get prankish about the time summer comes."<br > Now Heather was definitely curious. "But what was<br >i it， honey? If it s just a prank， why not let me in on it ?" She<br > t[ automatically poured more coffee for him. "Do you want<br > me to be on the alert for more..， pranks?"<br > His head jerked up. "More?" There was a pale line<br > around his mouth and the muscles in his jaw worked.<br > "There won t be any more，" he promised her as he reached<br > for his mug.<br > "All right. If you re sure." She could tell that he was<br > still irritated， so she tactfully changed the subject. "I 11 be<br >