“But—”

“Go on now.”

The way Keenan’s face crumpled would have softened an ogre’s heart. Dragging his feet, he headed out of the kitchen.

“I can’t take him with me everywhere. . . .” Coop began defensively.

“Of course not. He’s just overtired. I couldn’t have let him go, in any case.” She hesitated, wishing she could ignore her instincts. “Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s fine.” He didn’t know why he shouted it. He didn’t know why he felt like something slimy stuck to the bottom of a shoe. “I have a life, you know. I don’t need kids climbing up my back or you fixing me dinner. And I don’t have to explain myself.”

Her eyes turned very cool, her face very composed. “You certainly don’t. I appreciate you helping me out the past couple of weeks. Let me know if I can return the favor.”

“Look, Zoe—”

“I’ve got to get dinner on the table or I’ll be late for work.” She let the screen door slam between them. “Enjoy the game.”

She knew exactly how long he continued to stand there while she worked at the stove. Knew exactly when he turned and walked away.

It wasn’t unexpected, she reminded herself. This backing away was typical, even understandable. Perhaps it had taken Coop a few weeks to completely comprehend that she didn’t come as a single. She was part of a pair, a ready-made family, with its share of responsibilities and problems and routines.

And he was opting out.

He might not even know it yet, she thought, but he was in the first stages of a full retreat.

Her eyes blurred, her chest heaved. Resolutely she choked the tears back. She would indulge herself with a nice long cry later, she promised. But for now she had a little boy to soothe.

When he came back in, she crouched down until they were eye-to-eye.

“You had a good time with Coop today, didn’t you?”

Keenan sniffled, nodded.

“And he’s taken you a lot of places. You’ve had fun, and done a lot of new things.”

“I know.”

“You should be grateful for that, baby, instead of pouting because you can’t have more.”

She straightened again and hoped she could take her own advice.

Chapter 9

“You’re spending a lot of time around here.” Ben edged a hip onto the corner of Coop’s desk. All around Coop’s cubicle phones rang, keyboards clattered.

“So?” Without taking his eyes from the computer screen, Coop hammered out the draft of his weekly column.

“I just figured you had it made in that apartment of yours. I mean, great location.” He thought of Zoe. “Great view. You didn’t spend as much time in here when you lived downtown.”

“I needed a change of scene.”

“Yeah.” Ben snorted and picked up a baseball from Coop’s desk. “Trouble in paradise?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. And I’ve got a column to write.”

“Pretty obvious the last few weeks that you’ve been stuck on the landlady.” He tossed the ball from one hand to the other. “I mean, when a man hauls a kid around, buys little baseball jerseys, it follows that he’s hooking a line into Mom.”