Kate tasted the lasagna. “It’s good. I’ve never paid much attention to cooking or eating. I’ve always taken my appetite pretty much for granted.”

“Not me,” Dave said. “I’m really into appetites. Some more than others, of course.”

Kate cut her eyes to him. “Of course.”

He buttered a piece of bread. “You ever get lonely over there in that empty house?”

“Not lately. The loneliest period of my life was when I was married to Anatole. Being alone is different from being lonely, you know.”

Dave stabbed a chunk of tomato. “Ever think about getting married again?”

“Never.” Liar! That morning she’d written “Katherine Dodd” in the dust on her bureau. “Almost never,” she amended. “How about you? Would you like to get married?”

Dave chewed his bread while he thought about it. “Okay.”

“Okay what?”

“Okay, I’ll marry you.”

Kate sat with her fork poised in midair. “When I said would you like to get married, I meant it as a question, not as a proposal.”

“Sounded like a proposal to me. And the answer is yes.”

“Sure is refreshing to find a man with a sense of humor.”

There was just the slightest hint of laughter deep in his eyes. “I’m serious. And you’d better watch your step, or I’ll sue you for breach of promise.”

She knew he was kidding. At least she was practically positive he was kidding. Still, she felt uncomfortable. Writing names in the dust was one thing—an engagement, even a bogus engagement, was something else. “Is there any dessert?”

He put the empty plates on the tray and stood. “Changing the subject?”

“Marriage talk makes me uneasy.”

“No reason to duck the issue.” The laughter spread from his eyes to the corners of his mouth. “Marriage is like riding a horse. You fall off, and you get right back on and try again, and again, and again.”

“Like crashing into garbage cans. Just because I broke my leg this time doesn’t mean I should stop crashing into garbage cans.”

“Yup. You have to keep doing it until you get it right.”

“About dessert…”

He returned in a few minutes with bowls of chocolate ice cream loaded with every imaginable topping. “I didn’t know what you wanted, so I gave you everything.”

“Marshmallow, strawberries, walnuts, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, a glob of butterscotch, and sliced bananas. This is very creative.”

“I’m a creative kind of guy.”

Kate dug into the ice cream. “You should do something constructive with all that creativity. Isn’t there anything you want to do besides play with trains?”