Just asking for trouble, he decided.

Besides, Kate wouldn’t be thinking about marriage. Would she? Of course not. She’d barely settled back into town herself. She had her school to think about. She had her freedom.

She spoke French, he thought irrelevantly. She’d been to France. And England and Russia. She might want to go back. Why wouldn’t she want that? And he was anchored in West Virginia with a child.

Anyway, he and Connie had been stupid in love. Young and stupid, he thought with a gentle tug of sentiment. He and Kate were grown-ups. Sensible people who enjoyed each other’s company.

Too sensible to get starry-eyed.

The hand that dropped on his shoulder had him jerking and nearly dropping the electric drill on his foot.

“Jeez, O’Connell, got the willies?”

Hissing out a breath, Brody got to his feet and turned to Jerry Skully. Rod’s father had been a childhood pal. Even though he was over thirty Jerry maintained his cheerfully youthful looks and goofy smile. It was spread over his face now.

“I didn’t hear you.”

“No kidding. I called you a couple of times. You were in the zone, man.”

Jerry put his hands on his hips and strutted around the room. Put a suit and tie guy in a construction area, Brody thought, and they looked like strutters. “Need a job? I got an extra hammer.”

“Ha ha.” It was an old joke. Jerry was a whiz with math, great in social situations and couldn’t unscrew a light bulb without step-by-step written instructions.

“You ever get those shelves up in the laundry room?” Brody asked with his tongue in his cheek.

“They’re up. Beth said elves put them in.” He cocked his head. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

“I don’t hire elves. Their union’s a killer.”

“Right. Too bad, because I’m really grateful to those elves for getting Beth off my back.”

It was all the acknowledgment and thanks either of them required. “Downstairs is looking real good,” Jerry went on. “Carrie’s driving Beth and me crazy about starting up with this ballet stuff. I guess it’s going to get going next month after all.”

“No reason it can’t. We’ll be up here awhile longer, and there’s some outside work yet, but she’ll have the main level ready.” Brody started to set the next cabinet. “What’re you doing hanging out in the middle of the afternoon? Banker’s hours?”

“Banker’s work a lot harder than you think, pal.”

“Soft hands,” Brody said, then sniffed. “Is that cologne I’m smelling?”

“Aftershave, you barbarian. Anyway, I had an outside meeting. Got done a little early, so I thought I’d come by to see what you’re doing with this old place. My bank’s money’s getting hammered and nailed in here.”

Brody tossed a grin over his shoulder. “That’s why the client hired the best.”

Jerry said something short and rude that symbolized the affection between two men. “So, I hear you and the ballerina are doing some pretty regular dancing.”