She sank lower in her seat and tried to relax. This was her own fault, she thought. She had taken on too many private students, and now she couldn’t fit them all in. Every Monday she was stuck in this mess because her lessons ran late. Someone was going to have to go. But that was easier said than done. She liked all her students. And she needed the money; now that Anatole was gone, the house payments were killing her. Tomorrow she’d try to find time to call a Realtor.

At six-thirty she backed into a parking space in front of her house and hurtled out of the car. She grabbed a grocery bag, crooked her finger around a nylon tote filled with sheet music, slung her big black purse over her shoulder, and slammed the car door shut with her foot. She turned and bolted for the stairs, barely stifling a scream when Dave rose from the shadows of her small front porch.

“Damn.” She leaned against the wrought-iron railing and took a deep breath.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s not your fault. I wasn’t paying attention, and you took me by surprise.” She sighed and straightened. “You do that a lot.”

He took the grocery bag and the key and opened her front door. “The carpenters and roofers left at three. They’ll be back tomorrow to finish up. Elsie went to a bingo game at her church. Your mother called and wanted to know what I was doing in your house…”

Kate sighed.

“I explained I was keeping an eye on the carpenter, but I don’t think she believed me, so I invited her to dinner on Saturday.”

“Oh, no! How could you have done such a thing? My mother will expect real food. She’ll want to sit at a table and eat off real dishes. Last time my mother came to my house for dinner she left with a migraine that lasted for three days.”

Kate switched on the lights and looked at her empty living room. “My mother will be wearing heels and stockings. She’ll expect to sit in a chair. I haven’t got a chair,” she wailed. “And worst of all, she’ll bring my father.”

Dave set the bag on the kitchen counter and began unpacking. Graham crackers, cream cheese, a bag of carrots, quart of skim milk, and strawberry yogurt. “Boy, you really get uptight about your parents.”

Kate took the yogurt and dug for a spoon in her silverware drawer. “My parents are very traditional people. They live in a house with furniture.”

Dave grinned. “Not to worry. I didn’t invite them to your house for dinner. I invited them to my house. I figured they’d want to check me out.”

“Ohmigod.”