“You have. And you are. I know how to juggle, too, Brody. I think we can keep the balls in the air. As long as we both want to.”

“I want to.”

Her heart settled. “Then that’s also fair enough. Go get Jack.”

“Yeah.” His gaze skimmed down. “Before I do, I’d just like to say you sure look good in flannel.”

“Thanks.”

“You want a lift home?”

“No. I really do have some things to finish up here.”

“All right.” He lowered his head, touched his mouth to hers. Ended up lingering. “Gotta go.” But when he got to the door, he glanced back. “You want to go out Saturday night?”

Her eyebrow lifted. It was the first time he’d actually asked her out. It was, she supposed, some sort of progress. “I’d love to.”

How it got to be spring break when it seemed they’d just gotten through Christmas vacation, Brody didn’t know. School days had certainly not flown by when he’d been a kid.

Added to that, the Skullys had decided to take advantage of the time off to take the kids to Disney World. This had caused major problems with Jack who’d begged, pleaded and had fallen back on whining over the idea that they should go, too.

Brody had explained why it wasn’t possible just now, patiently sympathized. Then had fallen back on the parental copout—because I said so—when the siege had shown no sign of ending.

As a result, he’d had a sulky kid on his hands for two days, and a raging case of the guilts. The combination made it very crowded in the small bathroom where he was trying to lay tile.

“You never let me go anywhere,” Jack complained. He was thoroughly bored with the small pile of toys he’d been allowed to bring along.

Usually he liked coming to the job with his dad. But not when his best friend was in Disney World riding on Space Mountain. It was a gyp. A big fat gyp, he thought, relishing one of the words he’d picked up from the crew.

When his father ignored him and continued to lay tile, Jack stuck out his bottom lip. “How come I couldn’t go to Grandma’s?”

“I told you Grandma was busy this morning. She’s going to come by and pick you up in a couple of hours. Then you can go over to her house.” Thank God.

“I don’t want to stay here. It’s boring. It’s not fair I gotta stay here and do nothing while everybody else has fun. I never get to do anything.”

Brody shoved his trowel into the tray of adhesive. “Look. I’ve got a job to do. A job that sees to it you eat regular.”

Damn it, how was his father’s voice suddenly coming out of his mouth?

“I’m stuck with it,” he added, “and so are you. Now keep it up, Jack. Just keep it up, and you won’t be going anywhere.”

“Grandpa gave me five dollars,” Jack said, tearing up. “So you don’t have to buy me any food.”