Luckily, Conner only took off his shorts, but he joined in the game.

“Take it back to our own yard,” Gracie called out to them and, miracle of miracles, they actually listened and went running off toward home. “And don’t you dare go inside and wake up the babies.” She turned to Leo who was winding up the hose. “Thank you.”

Though she wasn’t sure she agreed with using force to get her brothers to listen, it was sort of nice having someone help her get them under control. She faced Andrew. “I’m sorry they bothered you.”

“They didn’t,” he said, but then his phone buzzed and he checked it. He sent Luke a furtive glance, then muttered something about being right back. He walked away, texting as he went.

Gracie’s cheeks burned at his dismissal. Well, hadn’t she told him back on Valentine’s Day that they weren’t going to be friends? She shouldn’t be disappointed that he’d taken her at her word.

Luke began picking up her brothers’ clothes, and she hurried over to stop him, sending one more glance at Andrew’s back. “You don’t have to do that.”

“It’s not a problem,” he said, apparently not bothered to be holding their underwear. When she tugged on them, he lifted his eyebrows. “Gracie. Really. I’ve got them. You might want to get your dog, though.”

It was then she noticed Sauron hadn’t gone with the boys but was rolling in the mud. She shut her eyes. Ugh. Why her?

“Sauron, stop it,” she demanded, snapping her fingers. He sent her a look that said “Are you kidding me?” and went right back to rolling. She grabbed his collar and yanked, but all she managed to do was get him to his feet. She set her hands on her hips. “Go home.” For added affect, she pointed toward their yard, where she could now hear a bloodcurdling scream that sounded like Colin’s.

Just when she thought she was going to have to drag him the entire way home—and moving 150 pounds of wet, dirty and now very stinky dog when you topped off at 105 wouldn’t be easy—Luke whistled.

“Sauron,” he called. “Come on, boy.”

Her dog lifted his head, then ran over to Luke, who gave him an affectionate pat.

They walked together through Gracie’s yard, Sauron practically glued to Luke’s side. When they reached her back door, which the boys had left wide open, Sauron raced inside. She could hear the boys inside as they wrestled around. It was only a matter of time before the younger two woke up. “I can take those now,” she said, holding out her hands for the clothes.

“I’ll help you get them into the wash.”

Then Luke stepped into her house, and she wasn’t sure what to do, but she realized she probably should follow him. Luckily, they were in the mudroom where two washers and a dryer were.

“Your brothers are cute,” he said as if he meant it.

“They’re cuter when they’re clean. Do you have younger siblings? You’re very good with little kids.”

“I’m the youngest, but I have an older brother and sister. My parents had me later in life, one of those surprise babies. So now I have nieces and nephews.” The baby started crying, the sound coming through the monitor attached to her hip.

“There’s another one?” Luke asked.

“Two more. My stepmother always wanted a big family, and my father can’t say no to her. About anything. Though he did promise me that they’ll only have one more and stop at an even number.”

“Wow. I guess they keep you all busy.” He opened the washing machine’s lid and added detergent. Then he tossed all the clothes in without a thought as to running colors or anything. Just like her dad when he did the wash. Must be a Y chromosome thing.

“On the plus side,” she said, wrinkling her nose at Colin’s shirt, “this is the first time Colin’s taken this shirt off in almost a week. At least we can get it washed. Hopefully he’ll want to stay naked for a while, or else he’ll have a fit about it.”

Luke laughed. “Man, when I was a kid it was my Power Rangers costume. My mom said I wore it for weeks on end. It got so bad she had to burn it, then she felt so guilty, she went out and bought me a new one.”

Her lips twitched. “I remember when you had that orange-striped shirt in fourth grade. You wore it every other day. You looked like Charlie Brown.”

“Hey, I liked that shirt.” He leaned against the machine as it started.

He was so handsome, her stomach did this little flop, which was stupid because he was way out of her league. He was just like Andrew, and she didn’t want to go down that road again.

Besides, Luke had a girlfriend. The beautiful Kennedy.

Gracie wondered if he knew his girlfriend was basically walking, talking evil?

She cleared her throat. The baby had settled down again, and the older boys were quiet, which meant they were either watching TV or were doing something wrong and possibly illegal. “Thanks for carrying the clothes over,” she said, “and for playing with the boys.”

“They really weren’t bugging us or anything,” he assured her. “I hope they don’t get into trouble for leaving the house without telling you. I should have asked if they were allowed to be over there.”

“They’re not your responsibility.” They were hers. At least part of the time.

“It was fun.” His phone buzzed, but he didn’t take it out, didn’t check it like most people did—as if whatever message they’d received would disappear if they didn’t look at it right away.

Still, it was awkward, having popular, handsome Luke Sapko in her laundry room, his clothes splattered with mud. “I’d better check on the baby,” she said, though the monitor was quiet now. “And I have to give Sauron a bath, so...”

“Need any help?”

She blinked. “No. Thank you, though.”

“Oh. All right. Well, I guess I’ll go.” He gave her a salute and another of those grins. “See you at work.”

“Yeah. See you.”

He walked away.

So what if he seemed disappointed? Why would he want to stick around? They were coworkers. Not friends. He’d just offered to help her because he was nice. Incredibly, surprisingly nice. It didn’t mean anything.

Even if part of her wished it did.

* * *

“NO,” C.J. SAID into his phone to his assistant, Julia, “I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

“You do realize we’re in the middle of a merger here, don’t you?” Julia asked.

His fingers tightened on the phone as he got out of the rental car. “I’m well aware of everything that goes on with the company.” He opened the back door and pulled out a suitcase. “Everything’s under control.”

Julia made a humming sound. “Your father never would have left town with this much going on. With so much hanging in the balance.”

C.J. slammed the door shut. “Senior believed in delegating when necessary. Which was why he always insisted on having the best people work for him. Roger can handle this.”

“He’d better be able to,” Julia said of the company’s vice president—a job Senior had always hoped Oakes would take over. “I only have a few more years until I retire, and I want to make sure you don’t do something stupid and cost me my pension.”

She hung up. C.J. shoved the phone into his pocket. Julia had worked for Bartasavich Industries for over forty years and had been his dad’s assistant. C.J. hadn’t had the heart to hire his own assistant after his dad’s stroke but he wished he had. He didn’t mind Julia speaking her mind. Other people’s opinions didn’t bother him.

Not when he had final say.

But he was tired of being compared to his father. He was proud of Senior, knew how hard he’d worked to make the company what it was, but C.J. wanted to make his own mark. Leave his own legacy.

Not be known only as Senior’s oldest son. His namesake.

C.J. climbed the porch steps, noted how well maintained the bed-and-breakfast was, with new siding and windows, the lawn lush and green. In the background he heard a mower, could smell the scent of freshly cut grass. The sun was warm on his head, the day bright and hot.