She ran a fingertip along the countertop. Brody had been right about the breakfast bar, she thought. He had been right—no, they had been right, she corrected, about everything.

The apartment, just like the rest of the building, had been a team effort. And it was perfect.

She hurried into the bedroom where Brody was kneeling on the floor installing the lock sets on her closet doors. Jack sat crossed-legged, tongue caught in his teeth as he carefully tightened a screw in a brass plate on a wall plug.

Mike snored contentedly between them.

“There’s nothing quite like watching men at work.” They glanced up, and made her heart sing. “Hello, Handsome Jack.”

“We’re punching out,” he told her. “I got to come help because Rod and Carrie had to go to the dentist. I went already and no cavities.”

“Good for you. Brody, I’ve been so involved downstairs that I haven’t taken in what you’ve done up here. It looks wonderful. It’s exactly right.”

“Still got a few details. Some outside work, too. But you’re pretty much good to go.” But he didn’t have that lift of satisfaction he usually experienced toward the end of a job. He’d been depressed for days.

“I love it.” She crouched down as Mike woke and gamboled over to greet her. “And I just signed two more students. Now, if I could just find a couple of handsome men who’d like to go out and celebrate, it would really round things off.”

“We’ll go!”

“Jack. It’s a school night.”

“I was thinking about an early dinner,” Kate improvised as Jack’s face fell. “Burgers and fries at Chez McDee.”

“She means McDonald’s,” Jack explained, then fell on his father’s back, hugging fiercely. “Please, can we?”

Cornered again, Brody thought. “Pretty tough for a guy to turn down a fancy meal like that.”

“He means yes.” Jack swung over to Kate and hugged her legs. “Can we go now?”

“I got some things to finish up here.” Brody pushed his hair back. And just looked at her.

He’d been doing that quite a bit, Kate thought, since they’d come back from New York. Looking at her—and looking at her differently somehow.

Differently enough to have frogs leaping in her belly again.

“An hour okay with you?” he asked.

“Perfect. Do you mind if I steal your helper here? I want to go tell my mother. We can give Mike a little exercise on the way.”

“Yeah, sure. Jack? No wheedling.”

“He means I can’t ask for toys. I’ll get Mike’s leash. Dad, can I—” He broke off then ran over to whisper in Brody’s ear.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“We’ll be back in an hour.”

“Great.” Brody waited until they’d chased Mike downstairs, then sat back on his heels.

He was going to have to make some decisions. And soon. It was bad enough he was stuck on Kate, but Jack was crazy about her.

A man could risk a few bumps and bruises on his own heart, but he couldn’t risk his child’s. The only thing to do was to sit down and have a talk with Kate. It was time they spelled out what was going on between them.