Elsie pressed her lips together and stomped up the stairs. “Chunk off a helicopter,” she muttered. “Can you imagine? A helicopter.” She stopped at Kate’s bedroom door and looked at the bed. Then she looked at the ceiling. “It ain’t so bad,” she said. “I’ve seen worse. So where’s my room?”

Kate’s gaze traveled to the hole in the ceiling. “I was thinking of renting the third floor.”

“I guess that’d be okay. You don’t have loud goings-on in this bed, do you? I don’t put up with that sort of thing.”

“I don’t have any goings-on in this bed.”

Dave raised his eyebrows in a look that said, Oh, yeah? I could fix that.

Kate grabbed the bag of doughnuts, took a Boston cream, and stuffed it into her mouth. “Eg wibe thad smile oaf your fash,” she said, glaring at Dave.

Elsie had gone up to the third floor and was looking down at them through the hole. “Maybe we could cover this with a rug or something.”

Kate swallowed a big lump of doughnut. “I need coffee.”

“We’re going downstairs to make coffee,” Dave called to Elsie. “You want some?” He saw the horrified look on Kate’s face and shrugged. “I like her.”

“Coffee would hit the spot,” Elsie said. “How many doughnuts have you got?”

“A whole bagful.”

Elsie clomped down the stairs and looked at Dave. “You own this place? You always serve continental breakfast on Sunday?”

“Nope. I’m the next-door neighbor, David Dodd. This is Katherine Finn. She owns the place.”

“Shoot. Don’t suppose you have a room to rent,” she said to David.

“Afraid not.”

“All right, then I guess I’m stuck here.” She took Kate’s hand and shook it vigorously. “It’s a deal. I’ll rent your third floor even though you’re kinda dingy. And look at that nightgown. What’s a sweet young thing like you doing in a big ugly nightgown like that. No wonder your bed ain’t seen no action.”

“This is my favorite nightgown. It’s soft and warm, and it has little lavender roses on it.” Kate turned to Dave. “You think this nightgown’s big and ugly?”

He answered without a moment’s hesitation. He did what any intelligent man would do—he lied. “No. Not ugly at all. Not with you in it.”

That much was true, he thought. Kate Finn could make a garbage bag look good. Besides, the nightgown wasn’t exactly ugly. It was just inappropriate. Kate’s tousled hair and bottle green eyes needed satin. A hot pink satin nightshirt without panties. Or a slinky black silk teddy.

“Unh-unh, watch out for this one,” Elsie said to Kate. “He’s got plans.”