Mark, he heard, was almost eleven, a fifth grader who’d taken the move philosophically and had already signed up for soccer.

“Boys,” she said, with an expressive shrug. “They always seem to play in mobs and accept one more kid without question. Girls, now…”

Her fifteen-year-old, whom Joe had seen over Teresa’s shoulder last week, was another story. When he asked about her, an odd expression crossed her face, half amusement, half exasperation.

“She had friends—although I didn’t like them very much. Moving is a lot harder at her age. I just wish she’d try.”

“With her looks, she won’t have any trouble getting dates.”

“Thank you.” Teresa flashed him a grateful smile. “She is pretty, isn’t she?”

“Looks a lot like her mother.”

A shadow crossed Teresa’s face. “I don’t know if that’s a blessing or a curse.”

He heard a car out in the driveway and assumed his men were back, but she didn’t seem to notice. “Because you have trouble being taken seriously?” he asked.

“Uh-huh.” Her faraway expression faded and she jumped to her feet. “Listen to me. And I tell my kids not to whine. Will you have some apple pie, Joe?”

He ran an internal check and decided he could squeeze in a slice.

While she cut it, she chattered some more. “We have four cats and the two dogs—you’ve met them. Most vets have even more animals than that. It’s an occupational hazard. I keep encountering ones that need homes. At least they’re happy here.” She set two plates of pie on the table.

“From our own trees,” she said with satisfaction, lifting a forkful to her mouth. “This is the life.”

For how long? he wondered. About as long as he’d interest her? Or was he misjudging her?

If he was smart, he wouldn’t bother finding out. But he’d never been accused of belonging in any program for the intellectually gifted, now had he? He told himself he’d hurt her feelings if he didn’t ask her out. They’d made too many spoken and unspoken acknowledgments to each other for him to drop it here.

He insisted on carrying his dishes to the sink. There, he turned to face her. “Any chance you’d have dinner with me Friday night?” he asked casually enough that she wouldn’t feel pressured if he was reading her wrong.

She smiled saucily. “I’d say there’s a chance.”

“You remind me of my sister,” he said without thinking.

“Jess?”

“No, the other one. Rebecca.”

“Looks? Or because we’re both mouthy?”

He hesitated a little too long. Sooner or later she’d meet Rebecca and discover they didn’t look anything alike. Sure enough, it was the smart mouths they had in common.

Apparently unoffended, Teresa laughed. “I’ll look forward to meeting her. Tell me her husband is a dairy farmer.”

“Nope. Owns a string of rental stores.”

“I’ve been in the one here in town. His?”

“Mmm.”

“Is there any pie your family doesn’t have its finger in?”

“Not many,” Joe admitted. “My brother, Lee, owns an auto-body repair place on Third. Rebecca sells wallpaper and blinds out of Browder’s Flooring. Jess—but you know her. Her firm cleans the veterinary clinic, as I recall. Our father sold insurance until his heart attack a few years back.”

“You must have a heck of a grapevine.”

He grimaced. “You have no idea.”

“Your men are peering in the windows,” she said suddenly.

He turned and waved, hoping he wasn’t blushing. He could imagine how they’d razz him if they got a good look at his stocking feet and the pretty table set for two.

“Six o’clock?” he said.

She blinked. “Why does that remind me of five hundred dollars?”

He stared at her. “I have no idea.”

“Six,” she agreed, and he nodded.

“Thanks for lunch.”

He got another one of those impish grins. “Thanks for not dropping a tree on my house.”

“Bad for the insurance rates,” he said laconically, and let the screen door slam behind him while he sat down on the porch to lace up his boots.

WHEN JOE HAD ASKED about Nicole, the very mention of her name had been enough to prick Teresa with exasperation, amusement, puzzlement, frustration and even reluctant admiration. She’d no doubt gotten an odd look on her face. There was a good reason for it. In the past week, Nicole had obviously changed her tactics. Teresa wasn’t foolish enough to think she’d given up.