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ordering it tonight."
    "Okay, cool." Lindsay walked down the hall. "Blake, Nichole, come on. Let's go get a soda. And guess what?"
    Nichole came running out first. "What?" she demanded.
    "We're having pizza for dinner."
    Nichole clapped her hands together. "I want three slices."
    "You can't eat that much."
    "I can too."
    Blake joined his sisters, but didn't speak. The three of them went downstairs and their voices faded.
    Sandy stood in the doorway of the guest bathroom and stared after her children. Was pizza that big a deal? She tried to remember if she'd ever ordered it for them before. She shook her head. She'd always preferred to cook. It was more economical and nutritious. She'd known Thomas could be counted on to eat junk food when given a chance, and the children didn't always spend their lunch money wisely, so she'd felt it was her duty to provide a good, wholesome meal at dinnertime. But she didn't think she'd been so strict about food that ordering pizza was an event worth noting on the calendar.
    Besides, she needed to pay back her helpers, and she was reasonably sure they would accept food while they would be insulted by an offer of money. Thinking of which, things had been quiet downstairs for some time.
    She followed the children down to the first floor. All the windows were open and a sweet breeze blew through the house. Cans of paint had been neatly stacked in the foyer. The drop cloths were folded next to them, and a ladder lay on the floor of the dining room. The house was silent.
    "Kyle?" she called.
    "In the study," he answered.
    She went down the long hallway beside the stairs. There was a small bathroom behind the living room, then a set of double doors that opened onto a study. She stepped into the room.
    An old stone fireplace with bookshelves on either side filled one wall. Opposite were more bookshelves. Large windows let in sunlight. The room smelled of lemon-scented furniture polish. She and Blake had cleaned all the wooden shelves and paneling the previous day. Only the wall containing the windows was painted. Kyle was on his knees at the windows, finishing the baseboard.
    "Where is everyone?" she asked.
    "Austin and Travis left already."
    "But they didn't say goodbye."
    "They'll be back tomorrow."
    "I was going to order pizza."
    Kyle stood up. "Good, I'm starved."
    She glared at him. "It's not just for you. I wanted to say thank-you."
    "You can thank them tomorrow morning. They'll be here about eight. With all of us working together, we should be able to get all the painting finished."
    "Why is everyone being so nice to me?" she asked, convinced Kyle was trying to pull something on her.
    "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." He frowned. "You know, I never understood what that meant. Who'd want to look in a horse's mouth, anyway?"
    "Why am I sure you're purposely changing the subject?"
    "Because you have a suspicious mind." He crouched down and put the top on the paint can. After tapping it back in place with a hammer, he grabbed the can and his brush and headed for the kitchen. She trailed after him.
    "Travis and Austin left because they both have families who are expecting them for dinner," he said. "They're going to come back tomorrow because I asked them to. I've been helping Travis remodel his house for the last year. Before that, I spent hours working on Austin 's loft. So stop thinking the worst of me."
    "That's it?"
    "That's it." He set the paint can on the counter and stuck the brush under the faucet. "If you're still ordering pizza, I prefer sausage to pepperoni, and I like mushrooms. Or have you changed your mind?"
    She still felt there was something he wasn't telling her, but she couldn't be sure what. "I don't want to keep you if you have plans," she said. "It is Friday night."
    "I'm available."
    For what? she almost asked.
    She stared at his broad shoulders, his narrow hips and long legs. He was the most tempting man she'd ever seen, and she was just staring at the back of him. If