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her gray
eyes rounded in pools of pain and then turned iridescent in the delight of banter and the unexpectedness of surprise. She possessed a vitality that he found intoxicating and difficult to shake.
    If he was a smart man, he’d go to the Twin Cities, conduct his business and arrange for the sale of RainbowBlaze while out of town. But that would be too much like the coward’s way out. No, he’d stay the course. He wasn’t about to cheat destiny. Certainly a man of his experience and talent could best a woman who’d probably lived no more than a quarter century.
    But why even bother to enter the contest? He could simply flee. No one was watching.
    He could no more flee than sprout wings. There was something about Daisy Matthews that drew him like the sorrowful
call of the loon. He wanted to know more about her. He wanted to listen to her story. He wanted to have some excuse to hug her again. Given her youthfulness, she might not be good for his pride, but she seemed good for his soul.
    A rap on his office door jolted Nick from his reverie. “Yes, come in.” Mary Brown entered and Nick tried not to smile.
    Other than his bedroom, his office was
the only room in the house where she knocked before entering. How often had he felt like an intruder in his own home before the inquisitive eyes of Mrs. B.?
    Maybe it was because he’d inherited her; well, sort of.
She came with the house. The eighty-something bent African American woman had been taking care of residents in this house since she was a teenager. And she had an uncanny sense of showing up when he least wanted to talk. He often threatened to fire her, but they
both knew that he cared for her like a favorite aunt. And if he didn’t watch out, she could easily smother him with love. She’d outlived her family and her friends. She hardly had anyone else to irritate or to love.
    “So, Mister Nick, I was worried when you didn’t come home for supper. You usually call.” Mrs.
Brown stood in front of his desk peering at him with large dark questioning eyes.
    He waved his hand dismissing her concern. “Sorry, I must have gotten overly involved at work.”
    “Harumph. That usually
don’t make you forget your manners.”
Mary Brown bent over and straightened two stacks of papers on Nick’s desk.
    Nick scowled. She backed away abruptly. “Oh, I forgot. Don’t touch a thing in the master’s office,” she chided.
    “I’m not your master,”
Nick responded quickly.“But you’re
right about not touching things in here.”
    “Sounds to me like you’re the one who’s touchy.”
    Nick always found it hard to ignore Mrs. Brown, but he tried his best.
    “My, my,” she said, “how many years has it been since you’ve had a woman throw you off stride?”
    “What?” Nick nearly
shouted.
    “A woman. You know. You
remember what they are.”
    “I know what a woman is.”
    “Good.” Mrs. Brown gave
him a toothless grin. “I was hoping you wouldn’t forget. She must be something.”
    Nick closed his eyes,
took a deep breath and reopened them. The housekeeper was still there . “What do you mean by that?”
    “For the last several days you’ve been moping around here like a tomcat returning from the street who had no luck. There’s no bounce in your step. Indecision about a woman will do that, you know.”
    “I didn’t know that,” Nick responded sharply. “And don’t you have something better to do than worry about my love life?”
    “No need to get huffy.”
Mrs. Brown took another step back from the desk. “If you ask me, you could use some good loving. This old house could use a good woman. It’s getting to be more than I can manage alone. And I’d like to hear the sounds of children again in these walls before I die.”
    “Go to the park and rent
a kid or two.Bring them here and
let them scream their heads off. Just as long as I’m gone.” He glanced at the papers on his desk. “Now, Mrs. B., if you have nothing further, I do
need to get