Peg climb up a poor excuse for a ladder and disappear

into the attic, then poke her head back down through the

hole.

“Peter, go stand beside that rol of wire over on the back

wal and watch as I pul it up here. If it fal s off the stand, you

set it back on, okay?”

“Okay,” Pete said, running to where she was pointing.

Peg disappeared, and thirty seconds later Duncan saw

the rol of electrical wire start to unwind. Ten seconds after

that it came off the stand and Pete grabbed the broken

broomstick being used as the axle and lifted it back on the

stand—having to perform the job four more times before

the spool stopped.

“Okay, go back to sorting wood,” he heard Peg cal from

the attic.

Duncan looked down when his fork arrived at his mouth

empty and saw it was because his paper plate was empty.

After looking around to make sure everyone was busy, he

lifted it to his mouth and licked off every last drop of maple

syrup, along with some of the paper. He sure as hel

wouldn’t mind if Peg wanted to move in with him one panty

and bra at a time if she made him a weekly apple crisp like

this one, and he wouldn’t even care if she snuck her kids in

with her.

He went back to grinning like the vil age idiot when he

heard muttering drifting down from the hole in the attic, and

laced his fingers over his bel y with a sigh as he felt his

eyelids growing heavy—only to snap them open when

something banged overhead, fol owed immediately by a

rather colorful curse.

“Nobody heard that!” Peg hol ered through the ceiling

insulation. “Keep working.”

Duncan ran an unsteady hand over his clean-shaven

face, wondering how he was going to survive the next

couple of days sitting here waiting for Peg or one of the

children to get hurt.

“Mom,” Charlotte cal ed out as she started climbing the

ladder. “If two wires are coming out of one of the big boxes,

does that count as two switches or just one?”

“I made a place on the sheet for multiple switches,

Charlie; put a check mark down for every double and triple

switch you find. Same for the outlets, but you should find

doubles only in the kitchen.”

“I see it on the paper, Charlotte,” Isabel said. “I think that

word is double.”

Duncan laced his hands over his bel y again once

Charlotte was safely back down the ladder and tried to

think of a way he could persuade Peg to let him have his

crew finish her house before he went insane with worry. He

knew this project had become a matter of pride for her, but

surely he could talk her into letting him at least help. Maybe

if he told her a couple of his men were crackerjack

Sheetrockers who needed a little extra work because …

Wel , he could invent them having a baby or something and

needing the money. Hel , he could have her moved in here

in three weeks if he dedicated several of his crewmen to

the job.

Then again, maybe the house fairies could keep making

special deliveries every night until it was done, because

who could argue with fairies?

“Mr. Duncan,” Jacob whispered from right beside him.

Duncan snapped open his eyes with a flinch, realizing the

pain meds were dul ing his senses. “Yeah, Jacob?” he

whispered back, smiling when he saw the boy holding a

fist-sized rock in his open palm.

“I sneaked outside and got this for you to hold. I got a big

one ’cause your hurt looks big, so I thought a smal rock

wouldn’t do no good. You want it?” Duncan reached out, but

the boy pul ed back. “Only you can’t put it in your pocket

when you’re done rubbing it, okay, ’cause it’s too big,”

Jacob continued in a very serious whisper, “and it’l look

like your peanut’s … you know … hard.”

Duncan rubbed his hands over his face to stifle a bark of

laughter, having to love the kid’s determination to keep him

civilized. He final y took the rock with his bandaged hand.

“Then I definitely won’t put it in my pocket,” he said thickly.

He reached into his jeans with his other hand and pul ed out

the worry stone the boy had given him last week. “I do

believe that between the two of these, I should be feeling

right as rain in no time. Thanks, Jacob. I appreciate the

thought.”

“How come you don’t got any kids?”

Okay, it appeared somebody intended to take

advantage of the fact the boss was out of sight. “Wel , I

suppose I should find a wife before I get kids, don’t you

think?”

“So how come you don’t got a wife?”

“Because I haven’t found a woman wil ing to put up with

me long enough that I can ask her to marry me.”

Duncan stifled his smile when Jacob frowned. “What’s

put up with you mean?”

“It means the women can’t handle my tendency to be

bossy, I guess. And I do get a little grouchy sometimes, and

I’ve been told I’m a little scary when I’m angry.”

The boy smiled. “You need to find someone like Mom.

She’s not afraid of no one.” His eyes suddenly widened.

“Hey, she could put up with you long enough for you to ask

her to marry you. And then you could have your own tribe of

kids. No, not tribe,” he said, shaking his head. “What did

you cal your family the other day?”

“A clan.” Duncan glanced toward the attic hole, then

leaned closer to Jacob. “But just between us men, your

mother sort of scares me when she gets angry.”

Jacob’s eyes widened again. “She does?”

Duncan nodded. “Doesn’t she scare you when she gets

angry?”

“Naw,” the boy scoffed, even as he patted Duncan’s arm.

“She’s just trying to act scary when she gets al scowly,

’cause she’s wanting us to be good so people wil know

we’re serverlized. She’s real y al soft inside.” He patted

Duncan’s arm again. “But you gotta act afraid if she scowls

at you, okay, ’cause it makes her feel good.”

“I’l do that,” Duncan said with a large sigh of relief.

“Thanks for tel ing me.”

“So if you ask Mom to marry you, you could come live in

our new house with us. You can sleep with Pete and me,

’cause Mom’s getting us our own bunk beds. That means

we’l have four beds,” he thought to explain.

Okay; apparently Jacob didn’t have the finer points of

marriage pinned down. “That’s very generous of you, but

usual y when people get married they sleep together in the

same bed,” Duncan told him, figuring Peg was definitely

going to get al scowly when the boy gave her that new bit of

information.

Jacob’s eyes widened again and he giggled. “You won’t

fit in Mom’s bed with her. It’s smal like Pete and mine are.”

“Real y?” Duncan asked in surprise.

Jacob nodded. “How come your dog don’t got a name

yet?”

And that was the end of that discussion, apparently.

“Wel , the pup and I just met last night, and I haven’t been

able to think of a name for him yet. Any suggestions?”

Jacob looked at the pup that was trying to carry a piece

of two-by-four lengthwise through the wal studs as Pete

rushed over to turn the board so it would fit. “I think you

should cal him something to do with his color, like Yel ow or

something.”

“Or we could come up with a noble name for him,”

Duncan suggested, just now realizing that leaving this

particular job to the children might end with his owning a

dog named Sue. “Because he’s a real y special dog. He

took very good care of me when I got hurt until Alec found

me. In fact, he was just like a rescue hero, so we should

choose a strong, brave name for him, don’t you think? I’l tel