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face. “What day cares are you considering?”
    That he asked suggested that he might come around on the issue, and because she needed his cooperation to make it work, she answered in an equally careful tone. “First Steps and Wee Watch are the only ones that are on the short list so far. Little Hands looked good, too, but its location isn’t convenient for either of us.”
    “Andrew’s daughter, Maura, went to Wee Watch.”
    “So that would be your choice?”
    “My choice would be to figure out a way to coordinate our schedules so that Oliver doesn’t have to go to day care.”
    She folded her arms over her chest. “Well, I work every day from six a.m. until noon, sometimes with production meetings afterward. Can you work your schedule around that?”
    “Do you understand the word compromise ?”
    “Yes, I do. But I’m not willing to compromise my job.”
    “I’m not asking you to. I’m only asking you to pause to take a breath, to give all of us—and especially Oliver—some time to come to terms with everything that’s happened.”
    “That sounds great in theory, but the last three weeks have been complete chaos and I need to get things settled and get my life back on track.”
    “Do you really think anyone at work needs you more than this little boy—” he picked Oliver up out of his high chair “—does right now?”
    “No—but at least at the studio, I know what I’m doing.”
    It wasn’t something she’d planned to admit, especially not to Ryan. But the truth was, even after only three weeks, it was apparent that he was much more comfortable with Oliver and much better at anticipating the little boy’s needs than she was, making her feel not just inept but dependent on him.
    And that was why she needed to focus on her work: because it was the only place right now that she felt competent and in control. When she was with Oliver and Ryan, she felt overwhelmed and helpless and all kinds of other emotions she wasn’t ready to acknowledge, much less put a label on.

Chapter Four
    R yan wasn’t usually awake at 5:00 a.m.—and he didn’t understand why any sane person would be. But Thursday night, Oliver was even more restless than usual, waking at midnight, then 2:00 a.m. and again at 3:00 and 4:00.
    As a result, Ryan fell asleep in the rocking chair with the little guy in his arms and heard Harper’s alarm go off forty-five minutes later. Then he heard the shower start, and there was no going back to sleep for him after that. Because thinking about Harper in the shower teased him with mental images of her sexy body naked and wet, and suddenly certain parts of him were very wide-awake.
    Not wide-awake enough to want to get dressed and go into work, as Harper did at that ungodly hour five days a week. He didn’t know anything about television, but it seemed crazy to him that she had to be at the studio at six o’clock in the morning for a show that didn’t go on the air until ten. Even more surprising was the fact that she genuinely seemed to enjoy her job.
    Coffee Time with Caroline was an hour-long program, but Harper didn’t leave the studio when filming was done. Instead she went back to her office to review any problems or concerns with the staff and prepare for the next day’s program.
    He didn’t usually get to his office at Garrett Furniture before two o’clock, which meant that he was often in meetings or conference calls with other salespeople from then until five, when everyone else went home because their day had started at a normal hour. It was hardly an ideal situation, but so far it was working for them. Not seamlessly but satisfactorily.
    Day care would simplify both of their lives—he couldn’t deny that. He also agreed that Oliver could benefit from an environment shared with other children and the exposure to alternate routines. But he still believed it was too soon. There had been too many changes in the little guy’s life recently to throw another one at him right