The Daddy Project. Lee Mckenzie

      “Red.”

      Purple, red and blue. Not going to happen. She slid a sample of soft, pale apple green from the palette. “What about this? If we paint your walls pale green, we can use your favorite color as an accent for things like bedding and curtains.”

      “I yike purple and green,” Martha said.

      “Me, too.”

      “I wonder what your dad thinks,” Kristi said, glancing at Nate, who was leaning against the door frame.

      “Doesn’t green clash with purple?”

      Kristi flipped the pages in her binder and showed him the color wheel. “They’re on opposite sides of the wheel, so they’re actually complementary colors.” She ran her finger in a line across the page. “Think of a plant that has purple flowers and green leaves.”

      He leaned in for a closer look. “Okay, that makes sense.”

      She congratulated herself on the plant analogy. “I suggest a very light shade for the walls, and then we can put together some accessories the girls will enjoy now and that they can take with them. Before we can start painting, we’ll need to move all your stuff into the guest room,” she said to the girls. “Would you like to help with that?”

      Molly bounced on her bed. “Yup. We’re good helpers.”

      Martha stuck her thumb in her mouth and shook her head.

      “Why not?” Kristi asked.

      “She likes sleeping here,” Molly said.

      “Martha, is that true?”

      The little girl nodded.

      Kristi looked to Nate for help.

      “I have an idea,” he said. “How about we turn this into a little holiday? I’ll set up the tent in the family room, and you can sleep in there till your room is ready. It’ll be like a camping trip.”

      Martha’s eyes lit up and she gave her head a vigorous nod.

      Molly jumped off the bed. “Sleeping bags! Can we have hot dogs? And marshmallows?”

      “Sure we can.”

      Martha leaned close to Kristi and pulled her thumb out of her mouth again. “You, too?” she asked.

      Kristi didn’t know if she was being invited for hot dogs or the whole camping holiday.

      “Thank you for asking me,” she said, avoiding looking at Nate. “But I have to go home and have dinner with my daughter.”

      “She can come.”

      “How old is she?” Molly sounded as though she was looking for a new playmate.

      “She’s fourteen. A lot older than you and Martha. She likes hot dogs, though.” Camping not so much. “Are you ready to get started?”

      Nate stepped into the room. “If we’re having hot dogs, we’ll have to make a trip to the market. Do you mind if we leave you on your own for a while?”

      “I want to stay,” Molly said.

      Martha’s head bobbed in agreement. “I don’t yike the market.”

      “If you don’t like the market, I could sure use some help here.” Kristi wondered what Nate would think of that. “They’ll be fine with me if you’d like to go on your own.”

      “Are you sure?”

      “Of course.” She loved kids and these two were adorable. Besides, she had a hunch they would be more willing to cooperate with her cleanup plan if their dad wasn’t here.

      “Girls, are you okay to stay with Kristi?”

      “Yes!” they chorused.

      The telephone rang, interrupting their conversation. “I’d better take that,” he said.

      “While you’re still here, I’ll bring in the bins I use for sorting.”

      Kristi followed Nate as far as the foyer. From there he went into the kitchen to get the phone and she let herself out the front door.

      Several minutes later she returned with as many plastic bins as she could carry. She set them on the floor inside the front door and went in search of Nate. She hoped he would agree to pare down some of the toys, especially the stuffed animals, but she hadn’t wanted to ask in front of the girls.

      The dog, still doing a bear-rug imitation, gave her a lazy blink. Nate stood by the patio doors in the family room, his back to her, phone to his ear.

      “Mom, I’m sure your friend’s daughter is very nice,” she heard him say. “And I’d be happy to meet her some other time, but it’s Britt’s birthday so this should be about her.”

      He paused to listen to his mother’s reply.

      Kristi cringed. His mother was obviously trying to set him up with someone, and it was just as clear that he didn’t want to be set up. Poor guy. She could relate. Yesterday’s call from her mother still echoed in her head, and remembering the story she’d made up brought on a fresh wave of guilt. And she shouldn’t be listening to Nate try to wriggle out of a similar situation. This was way too personal.

      “Here’s the thing,” he said. “I’m sort of seeing someone.”

      Okay, you really need to get out of here, Kristi told herself. But curiosity kept her rooted in the doorway.

      “Oh. Ah, her name is Kristi. She’s—” He turned around and stopped talking.

      Their gazes locked and held.

      He ran a hand through his hair. “Mom, I’ll call you back. I have to check on the kids.” He ended the call without waiting for a response.

      The room was suddenly warm and much smaller.

      “Oh, God. I am so sorry. I didn’t mean for you to hear that.” He spiked his hair again. “It’s just that my family has this thing about introducing me to women. I was trying to figure a way out of it this time, but I shouldn’t have mentioned you.”

      “A blind date?” Kristi laughed. She couldn’t help herself. “Trust me, you do not have to apologize. My family does the same thing to me all the time.”

      “Really? So…you’re not seeing anyone?”

      “No, I’m not.” Although she was surprised he asked. “A fact that makes my mother a little crazy. Yesterday she called about my aunt’s Fourth of July barbecue. She was going to invite this guy who used to live across the street when I was in high school.”

      “How did you handle it?”

      Should she tell him? If she did, it might make him less uncomfortable. “I did the same thing you just did.”

      His eyes narrowed.

      “I told her I’d met someone, and your name kind of slipped out.”

      There was no humor in his laugh. “So your family thinks you’re taking me to your aunt’s barbecue.”

      “I guess so. I’ll have to come up with some excuse why you won’t be there but—”

      “And my mother will expect you to be at the cocktail party she’s throwing for my sister’s birthday.”

      She didn’t respond, but then he didn’t really seem to be talking to her anyway.

      “This could work. You come to my sister’s birthday party. I go to your aunt’s barbecue.” He sounded calm and rational, as though he was laying out the steps in a lab experiment. “What do you think?”

      She was pretty sure he didn’t want to know what she was thinking. “I don’t know. I used to lie to my mother about some of the guys I was dating,