“You’ve got the touch, and the ear.” Catching Rachel’s eye, he passed her Katie and changed positions with her so that he sat with Nick on the edge of the piano bench. “Know any Muddy Waters?”

“Some. You dig Muddy Waters?”

“Sure.” He began to play the bass. “Can you pick it up?”

“Yeah.” Nick laid his hands on the keys and grinned. “Yeah.”

“Not too shabby,” Rachel murmured to Zack.

He was still staring at his brother, dumbfounded. “He never told me. Never a word.” When Rachel reached for his hand, he gripped hard. “I guess he did to you.”

“A little, enough to make me want to try this. I didn’t know he was that good.”

“He really is, isn’t he?” Overwhelmed, he pressed his lips to Rachel’s hair. Nick was too involved to notice, though several pairs of eyes observed the gesture. “Looks like I’m going to have to get my hands on a piano.”

Rachel leaned her head against his shoulder. “You’re all right, Muldoon.”

It took him nearly a week to arrange it, but taking another deep dip into his savings, Zack bought an upright piano. With Rachel’s help, he dragged furniture around the apartment to make room for it.

Puffing a bit, her hands on her hips, she surveyed the space they had cleared under the window. “I wonder if it wouldn’t be better against that wall there.”

“You’ve already changed your mind three times. This is it.” He took a long pull from a cold beer. “For better or worse.”

“You’re not marrying the stupid piano. You’re arranging it. And I really think—”

“Keep thinking, and I’ll pour this over your head.” He caught her chin to tilt her head up for a kiss. “And it’s not a stupid piano. The guy assured me it was the best for the money.”

“Don’t get started on that again.” She eased closer to link her arms around his neck. “Nick doesn’t need a baby grand.”

“I’d just like to have done a little better for him.”

“Muldoon.” She pressed her mouth to his. “You did good. When’s it supposed to get here?”

“Twenty minutes ago.” Wound up, he began to pace. “If they blow this after I went through all that business to get Nick out for a few hours—”

Rachel interrupted him, amused and touched. “It’s going to be fine. And I think it was inspired of you to use beer nuts to get him out of the way.”

“He was steaming.” With a grin, Zack dropped down on the couch. “Argued with me for ten minutes about why the hell he had to go check on a missing delivery of beer nuts when he was getting paid to wash dishes.”

“I think he’ll forgive you when he gets back.”