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with it. A lunatic for a mother-in-law and a daughter who didn’t speak English. Roxanne was going to have a field day. “Dinner’s served. Grab the kid and the kook, and join me in the kitchen. You and I can talk about your new duties after we get some food in your stomach.” He sounded a little gruffer than he’d intended.
    She looked so grateful, he felt guilty about making an issue over the mess in Helga’s room. What was it about her that turned his guts to mush every time she favored him with her warm, caring smile?
    * * *
    Emily had never tasted such delicious pizza. She could feel Ty watching her as she ravenously devoured an entire pie all by herself. The only person who ate faster and with more gusto was Helga.
    “You gonna eat that?” The older woman eyed a half-eaten crust on Ty’s plate.
    “No. No...go ahead.”
    “Thanks.” Helga stuffed his leftovers into her mouth and winked at Emily.
    Emily had to admit that she admired the way Ty handled Helga. The old woman had been putting him through his paces all through dinner, and slowly but surely his boyish charm was winning the old woman over.
    “Yap,” Helga said as she got up from the table. “I’ll put my friend Carmen here to bed. It’s way past her bedtime,” she explained, and hoisted a sleepy but satisfied Carmen into her arms.
    “Thanks, Helga. Good night...” Emily called after her, her plastic poncho rustling as she moved quickly out of the room.
    As she turned toward Tyler she could still feel his probing eyes following her every move. She smiled self-consciously, wondering if she had added pizza sauce to the grime on her face. A nervous twitch settled into the corner of her mouth and she squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. She still had no idea what this man expected of her.
    In a effort to break the ice, she decided to thank him for having the doctor over so promptly. She felt much better knowing that the child was all right.
    “Thanks,” she began tentatively as she wiped her hands with a paper napkin. “The doctor says that Carmen will be fine. She just had a touch of the flu. He says she’s nearly over it. I didn’t know doctors still made house calls,” she rambled, wishing she knew why he was watching her so closely.
    Ty smiled. “I’m glad she’s going to be okay, because tomorrow is going to be a busy day for all of us,” he said, wadding up his own napkin and tossing it onto his plate. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hand across his jaw. Correctly reading her quizzical expression, he said, “You’re wondering why I brought you here.”
    “Yes.” Fear, mingled with excitement, tiptoed down her spine.
    “Good question.” He sighed and studied her face critically. He looked up at the ceiling for a moment. “Why...did I bring you here?” He repeated the question, as though trying to figure out the answer himself. “Well...” He moved forward in his seat and regarded her seriously. “To put it simply, I brought you here because I need a wife.”

Chapter Three
    “A wife? ”
    “In a word, yes.”
    Tyler could tell that he’d knocked her for a loop. He knew how she felt. This morning he’d gotten up and gone to work, a single, unencumbered, carefree bachelor. This evening he’d come home with three wacky new family members who were already turning his apple-pie-order life upside down.
    His house was suddenly a mess, Helga was only playing with half a deck, and the child barely spoke any English. Not to mention the fact that their strange behavior was giving him a heart attack.
    The only hope he had of turning these unlikely crew members into the family of his dreams, was the woman seated in front of him. The woman who sat there now, looking at him as if he’d lost his mind.
    “As in, till death do us part?” Her eyes were round as dinner platters.
    “No, no, no.” Ty chuckled uneasily. She didn’t have to look so repulsed. Lots of women thought he was a pretty decent catch. “Only for a