It was at that, Rich burst out laughing.

I looked to him and felt something inside me loosen. It might have had to do with the fact that Rich laughing was the only time he looked a lot like his son, in other words, extremely handsome rather than just plain handsome. It mostly had to do with the fact that he was doing it at all and it was me who made him do it.

I didn’t want to be a brown nose but I felt it important to press the advantage, so when he quit laughing, I told him, “I’ll eat your crêpes in the morning, Rich.”

Still grinning, he replied, “They’re pancakes, Emme.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

“Can you two do me a favor and bond when it’s not three thirty in the morning?” Jacob asked.

There it was again, screwing things up.

I tipped my head back and glared at him.

He caught my glare, the scowl left his face and he grinned at me.

Then he bent and brushed his lips on mine, pulled back and said, “Buford’s lonely.”

I had no chance to reply because Rich offered, “I’ll walk you to your room, Emme.”

Jacob and I looked to his dad.

“It’s down the hall, Dad,” Jacob pointed out. “I think she can make it there unaided.”

“Yeah. I know. She’s still gettin’ there with me,” he returned.

I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

“She gets there, she gets there good to go back to sleep,” Jacob warned.

Clearly, Jacob was thinking it was bad.

“Already told you I’m done bein’ an ass,” Rich replied.

“See that’s true so my girl can sleep easy,” Jacob ordered.

I wasn’t breathing easy then. Father and son were in a stare down. I didn’t exactly know why since it seemed everything had worked out so I didn’t exactly know what to do.

What I did know was that Jacob wasn’t wasting any time “taking my back” with his dad.

Which made me feel all mushy.

But me, being me, also didn’t let it go on for the time it appeared it was going to (that was, eternity), so I waded in.

“I started my day with sawhorses, utility knives and sheets of drywall. So I should probably rest up so I’ll have the energy to eat pancakes tomorrow in whatever form they come to me.”

This worked. The stare down ended. Jacob wrapped an arm around my waist, gave me a squeeze and bent to give me a kiss on the side of my head before he let me go.

I moved to his dad, doing it looking over my shoulder and saying, “ ’Night, honey.”

“ ’Night, Emme,” Jacob murmured then his eyes went to his father. “Dad.”

“Deck,” Rich replied, his lips twitching.

I made it to the door. He moved out of my way and we both moved down the hall. It wasn’t a long distance but we did it in silence so it felt like a football field.

I stopped at Jacob’s door and heard Buford’s quiet snoring.

I got a handsome, tall, strong, affectionate man who was a genius and didn’t snore.

Total score.

But he came with a dog who hogged the bed and did snore, even though it was quietly.

This was a tie. It forced me to cuddle with Jacob, seeing as I had no room to move, but then again, I had no room to move. And snoring—dog, man, Martian—was no fun. Still, Buford was droopy cute and liked me so I shouldn’t complain.

I pushed these thoughts aside and turned to Rich.

“Well, thanks for walking me,” I said lamely.

We were in shadows but I still saw the white flash of his teeth before he replied, “ ’Night, Emme.”

“ ’Night, Rich,” I mumbled, moved into the room, put my hand on the door and was about to close it when I stopped, seeing Rich was still standing there.

This indicated to me we weren’t done.

I braced and it was a good idea.

“That other one, she did a number on him,” he told me quietly.

“I know,” I said the same way.

“I was worried.”

That was sweet.

I pulled in a breath, forced what I hoped was my last fake smile for the next year and said, “I’m sorry. And I’m sorrier I did something stupid to make you worry.”

He accepted that with a nod but noted, “You two are goin’ fast.”

“I know.”

“He’s in deep.”

He’s in deep.

I said nothing but I felt everything. Too much of it. Too much to breathe.

“Deck, he doesn’t like simple,” Rich continued. “Never did. Doesn’t have the patience for it. He likes complicated. The more complicated the better. But, see, Emme darlin’, some puzzles, they don’t have solutions. He’s lucky, he’s never found one he couldn’t solve. Doesn’t mean he won’t find one. And my son, the way he is, the way his mind works, if he encounters that, he’ll keep searchin’ for the solution until it drives him crazy.”

I didn’t know what he was driving at so I took a wild guess. “I… do you think I’m a puzzle, Rich?”

“I think there’s a reason my boy’s in deep. I think that’s because you’re complicated. That doesn’t mean he won’t be happy when he finds the solution. I’m just hopin’ whatever it is can be solved.”

I shook my head. “I’m not a puzzle.”

“Three girls I met today, Emme. One didn’t care enough to remember to meet her man’s parents. One was stiff and nervous. One was soft and sweet. That’s all I know. I don’t know about a puzzle. I just know that’s complicated.”

I didn’t want to go over that day, again. I also didn’t want to remind him he had a part in it going bad.

So instead, I warned him carefully, “I’m not sure this discussion will give me sweet dreams.”

At that he leaned in so suddenly it stunned me.

“Be that girl,” he whispered fiercely. “Be that girl who just gave my boy sweet. Please be that girl, Emme.”

Startled, I whispered back, “I am that girl, Rich.”

“Deck, that other woman, he was in so damned deep. Like his dad, he finds what he wants, he gives it his all. She wasn’t worth it. Be the girl that makes it worth it.”

It wasn’t his business just as it was, unfortunately, and we were suddenly having an intense conversation about important things, also unfortunately, so I shared, “I’m in love with him.”

“So was the other one,” he replied.