She grabbed a dinner plate drying in the dish drain and smashed it on the floor. “Feel better?” she asked herself. No. She’d have to smash service for eight to feel better today. Now what? She needed a fast shower, and she couldn’t take it in the dark. She returned to her bedroom, threw lingerie, shoes, and makeup in her bag, and took her black cape and a black velvet gown from her closet.

She knocked at Dave’s door, but no one answered, so she let herself in and found him on the kitchen floor, playing with a train. He’d set up an elaborate system of tracks with tunnels and fake mountains and railroad crossings that flashed red lights.

He looked up when her shoes entered his field of vision. “Do you believe this? Isn’t this great? Listen to this, I can make it sound just like a steam engine…”

Kate looked at him coolly. He was thirty-one years old, and he was on his hands and knees playing with a choo-choo. And that wasn’t the worst of it. She was falling for him. Katherine Finn was falling for a man who spent his entire day playing with choo-choo trains. While she was scrambling from one activity to the next, trying to earn a living, trying to become a better cellist, trying to be a good teacher, David Dodd was perfecting the sound of steam. It was frightening. She didn’t have the time or the emotional energy to come to terms with it now, so she filed it away.

“Would it be all right if I use your shower?”

“Sure. Do I get to scrub your back?”

“No.”

“How about your front? I can do amazing things with soap.”

“No! I’m in a hurry.”

He followed her upstairs. “You’re always in a hurry. You need to slow down…”

“I don’t want to slow down. I like being busy.”

Dave took the gown from her and hung it in his closet. She was crackling with energy. Her green eyes flashed at him, and her hair looked as if it might catch fire at any minute. No wonder they called her the Formidable Finn, he thought. Although he knew he should keep quiet, he couldn’t resist making one further comment. “Don’t you think your day seems just a smidgen crowded?”

She kicked her shoes off and pulled the sweater over her head, leaving her in jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt.

“I’ll admit I could benefit from a little organization, but I love all the things I do. Even the practicing. You know, I can’t wait to get up in the morning and sit down with my cello. That’s why I practice so early. It isn’t to get it over with, it’s because I can’t wait any longer to play, to perfect a new piece, to enjoy an old favorite.”