Family by Design. Roxann Delaney

to the bay door, Nick stopped and looked back. “Not me.”

      Tony gave him a slow grin. “She still getting under your skin?”

      “You’re crazy,” Nick replied and continued on his way.

      “She won’t have a car if you don’t take it to her.”

      Nick gritted his teeth. The last thing he wanted to do was see Becca again. He hadn’t been able to forget the come-hither look in her eyes or her sexy pout when she’d opened Raylene’s door the night before. Even knowing it hadn’t been for him and was only a joke, the thought of it still did things to him he didn’t like happening.

      “Nick, she and her husband—”

      “Okay!” He took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll take her car out there and Travis can pick me up as soon as he gets here.”

      Fifteen minutes later, after enduring Tony’s devilish grin while he backed the car out of the garage bay, Nick slowed Becca’s car as he approached her house. His house, he reminded himself, looking for signs of life. He had driven by once to check out the house since he’d returned to Katyville, but hadn’t seen anyone outside. Too busy adjusting to the slower pace of small-town life and getting his company set up, he hadn’t inquired about his tenants. He hadn’t cared, knowing his attorney had taken care of everything. But it hadn’t been taken care of, he reminded himself. Not yet, anyway.

      Determined to get this over with as soon as possible, Nick parked the car in the gravel driveway and got out, concentrating on the house and what would need to be done before he could start the renovations to bring it back to its once-glorious condition.

      After a quick rap on the door, he waited, prepared to face Becca and uneasy about bringing up the subject of his ownership of the house.

      The door swung open to reveal the little blond girl he had seen the night before. The spitting image of her mother, right down to the green eyes, she stood silently staring at him.

      “Is your mom home?” he asked.

      Her fingertip went straight to her mouth, and her wide-eyed innocence made him smile. She shook her head, sending the short, sassy ponytail she wore dancing back and forth.

      He looked past her to see her older brother standing in the entryway, studying him.

      “You’re the guy who helped Mom with the car last night.”

      Nick nodded. “And I’ve brought her car back, all fixed again.”

      The boy’s serious expression didn’t change. “Thanks.” But he seemed to be struggling with something. “My name’s Danny and this is April.”

      “And I’m Nick. Nice to meet you both. And you’re welcome.” Not only had he had the flat fixed and the slow leak in the spare taken care of, but he’d also added a minor tune-up to the work order. He figured that if her husband didn’t have the sense to have it done, the guy deserved to be surprised with the bill for the work.

      “Mom’s in the backyard.”

      Wishing for a chance to look around inside the house, Nick thanked him, deciding it would be best to curb his curiosity until Becca knew he was now the owner. Until then, she might not appreciate him poking around.

      “I can show you where,” the boy said.

      “No, that’s okay. I think I can manage. And she knows I was bringing her car.”

      The boy gave a stiff nod. “Close the door, April,” he told his sister.

      Nick grinned as he stood staring at a door that had closed much quicker than it had opened. It was pretty clear the boy was leery of strangers. And protective of his mother.

      As he walked down the steps of the broad, wraparound porch, Nick made a mental note of the repairs and materials he would need, once he could start work.

      But something wasn’t right. If her husband was a stockbroker, the condition of the house sure didn’t show that he had spent time thinking about upkeep. Of course, some renters didn’t feel they needed to bother with it, and considered it the landlord’s responsibility. But what he really wanted to know was why the hell they were renting, not living in some fancy new house. And why this place?

      His first reaction the night before when he had learned Becca was living here was that he would tear it down. But he had instantly known he wouldn’t let her ruin his dream. By now, Becca and her hotshot husband should have received the letter explaining the sale and the date they were to vacate. Although she hadn’t mentioned anything about moving, and he wondered why. Did she remember the plans they had made? But she couldn’t, not and live there now with her husband. She couldn’t be that heartless.

      Or could she? After all, it had been ten years and—

      When he turned the corner at the back of the house, he saw Becca, bringing him up short and reminding him that he would have to tell her exactly who he was—the man evicting her family.

      BECCA BLEW ON HER nearly numb fingers and wished, once again, that Katyville had a Laundromat where she could sit back and read a book while her laundry tumbled until it was too hot to touch.

      “There you are. I was looking for you.”

      Startled by Nick’s voice, Becca dropped the shirt she was attempting to hang on the clothesline. Darn it, anyway. It figured he would show up at the worst time. Again.

      His long strides brought him across the barren backyard, and he bent to retrieve the shirt from the ground. “Don’t you think this is taking fresh-smelling clothes a bit too far?” he asked, grabbing her hand and examining her fingers.

      Snatching her hand away, she hid it and the other behind her back. “How would you know about fresh-smelling clothes?”

      “You must’ve forgotten my Italian mother,” he answered.

      Seeing that he was about as out-of-the-loop as anyone could be, she didn’t bother to tell him that she knew his mother well.

      And then she did the unforgivable. She looked up and met his gaze.

      His sexy, lopsided grin was all too familiar. She wished he would go away, back to Denver or anywhere besides her backyard. At least he hadn’t reminded her that the old Becca wouldn’t have been caught dead hanging clothes on a line outside, even in the best of weather.

      As if he could read her thoughts, he broke the gaze holding hers. “Your car’s in the driveway,” he told her, picking two clothespins from the bag and hanging the shirt.

      “You don’t need to do that.” She had the urge to shove him aside, but she knew that physical contact with him would be her undoing, so she pulled out one of Danny’s T-shirts instead and attempted to fasten it to the line with cold, trembling fingers. “And thank you for taking care of my car.”

      He took a step back and crossed his arms on his broad chest, leveling his gaze on her. “How’s Daisy this morning? Any better?”

      “Much better,” she answered. The baby’s fever had broken during the night, and she was breathing easier. Both of them were. There would be no trip to the emergency room this time.

      He said nothing else while she finished hanging the few remaining items. When she bent to pick up the empty basket and bag of pins, he stepped forward and took them from her.

      She gave him a quick smile to thank him, realizing that he wasn’t leaving immediately. “Isn’t someone here to take you back?”

      “Travis should be here any minute,” he said as they walked to the house.

      Just having him near set her pulse to racing, but she tried to ignore it as they stopped on the small porch leading to the back door. “There’s coffee left. Would you like a cup while you wait?”

      Nick hesitated. “I’ll wait in your car, if that’s okay. It shouldn’t be long. Besides, I wouldn’t