“Ugly,” Banner supplied in resignation. “But he's a good dog.”

“I'm sure he is.”

“Lucy said he's not really ugly, he's just making a fashion statement,” Tim said with a grin.

Brenda looked at him in curiosity. “Who's Lucy?”

“Rick's girlfriend. Or, at least, she would be if he'd make half an effort to keep her.”

Pouring a cup of coffee for Brenda, Banner gave Tim a warning look. “Don't start.”

“What's she like?” Brenda asked Tim, probably knowing better than to ask Banner.

“She's great. Funny and warm and bossy and cheerful. She has a doctorate in mathematics but she looks like a college student. She looks at Rick the way a chocoholic gazes at a hot-fudge sundae. The way an astronomer studies a newly discovered galaxy. The way an art lover stares at an original Van Gogh found hidden in some old lady's attic. The way…”

“That's enough, Tim,” Banner growled, feeling his cheeks warm.

“I get the picture,” Brenda assured them. “I'd like to meet her sometime.”

“That,” Tim said with a look of bravado, “is entirely up to Rick, I think.”

“Drink your coffee,” Banner ordered with a touch of desperation.

He didn't believe for a minute that Lucy had looked at him the way Tim had described it, of course. Nor did he accept Brenda's accusation that he was the one who had been preemptively rejecting everyone for the past few years, rather than the other way around.

But his siblings had certainly given him some things to think about.

Three weeks into the new year, Banner had settled back into his old routines. He rose early, had his breakfast, headed out to the workshop for a long day's hard work. He ate his meals alone in front of the TV, while his dog snored on the hearth rug. He went running with Polston a couple of times when the weather permitted, making it very clear beforehand that they weren't to talk about Lucy. Because Polston had his own secrets, that wasn't a problem.

Tim called a couple of times. He had found an apartment in Nashville and was working as a substitute high school history teacher until he found a permanent job that appealed to him. He sounded satisfied with his choices and eager to move on to new experiences. Banner believed his kid brother was going to end up just fine, no matter what he ultimately decided to do.

He wished he could say the same for himself.

He wasn't sleeping. No matter how hard he worked, nor how tired he was when he crawled into bed, he managed only a couple of hours of restless dozing a night before he was wide awake again, staring at the ceiling and trying not to think about Lucy. He tried sleeping on the couch, but that didn't help, since he could still picture her sleeping there. Same with the couch in the office. Even spreading his sleeping bag in front of the fireplace held too many memories.

He hadn't missed Katrina this way, he thought with a wince as he almost ruined yet another white pine spindle by letting his attention wander away from his belt sander. How could he miss a woman he barely knew more than he had missed the one who had been his wife? And how much worse would it have been if he'd lost Lucy after becoming even more accustomed to having her in his life?

It was that last thought that made him even more convinced she had done them both a favor by walking out the way she had.

“I think it's time for plan B.”

Even though the woman on the other end of the telephone line couldn't see her, Lucy shook her head adamantly. “No. Not yet.”

“It's been more than a month. He's not going to call you.”

“He might.”

“I don't think so, Lucy. He's too guarded. Too shy.”

Lucy sighed. “Maybe he's not interested.”

“No way,” Joan said, sounding absolutely positive. “He was in love with you before Christmas Eve ended. He just needs some pushing.”

“Any suggestions?”

“Maybe I should call him. You know, thank him again for taking us in at Christmas. Ask him if he's heard from you. Casually mention that you would love to hear from him.”

“Too subtle. It's going to take something far more direct.”

“Such as…?”

“I'll probably have to go to him again. I'm thinking about hitting him over the head with a club and dragging him off by the hair.”

Joan laughed. “I don't think I'll try that with Bobby Ray-even though he certainly has enough hair to get a good hold on. But he's much too heavy for me to drag anywhere.”

“As if you'd have to,” Lucy said a bit enviously. “Bobby Ray has no trouble at all making his feelings for you known.”

Joan giggled a bit self-consciously. “No, I suppose he doesn't.”

“Oh, there's someone at the door. I'll call you later, okay?”

“Sure. In the meantime, maybe you should be buffing your club.”

Chuckling, Lucy disconnected the call and headed for the door. She pushed a hand through her tumbled hair on the way, but that was the extent of her primping. She figured her fitted gray T-shirt and gray-piped, black yoga pants looked respectable enough for the delivery guy or friendly neighbor or whoever she would find on the other side of her door.

Of course, if she had known she would find Banner standing there, she might have spent a few more moments in front of the mirror.

“You're here,” she said blankly, gaping up at him.

He leaned against the doorjamb, his arms crossed over his chest, the very picture of handsome nonchalance. “You might have mentioned that you have an unlisted telephone number. And that your home address is a well-kept secret. You never told me your aunt and uncle's last name. And the people at the university gave me your office number, but since you didn't work today, that wasn't particularly helpful.”

Her heart was doing a frantic tap dance inside her chest, but she managed to speak fairly evenly. “So how did you find me?”

“I had to make a few dozen phone calls. I ended up tracking down your father in Texas.”

“You talked to my father?” she said, finding it hard to get past that tidbit.

“Yeah. You mentioned that he was stationed at Fort Hood. He seemed like a nice guy. A little suspicious, maybe, but I guess I can't blame him for that.”

She had deliberately left without giving him her number or address, figuring that if he wanted to talk to her badly enough, he should have to work for it a bit. But she had assumed he would call her at her job, since he knew where she worked. She hadn't expected him to just show up at her home on a Saturday afternoon, five whole weeks after she slipped out of his bed.

“It's so good to see you,” she said, almost afraid to look away from him, just in case he disappeared.

He straightened and dropped his arms, letting a glimpse of emotion show in his eyes now. “Maybe you could ask me in?”

Quickly moving out of the doorway, she motioned him inside. “Please.”

He closed the door behind him, then reached into his jacket pocket. “I brought something with me.”

She tilted her head in curiosity. “What is it?”

He pulled out a sprig of greenery. “Does mistletoe still work after Christmas?”

She felt her smile turn radiant. “Absolutely.”

She didn't give him a chance to hold the mistletoe over her head. Throwing herself at him, she lifted her face to his to kiss him with all the emotion that had been building in her during the long weeks she had been away from him.

Tossing the sprig to one side, he gathered her into his arms, holding her so tightly she could hardly breathe-not that she would have even considered complaining. This was exactly the way she had dreamed of him holding her.

“I think I like your apartment.”

Lucy laughed softly and propped herself on one elbow to study Banner's face. “You think?”

His hard mouth softened with a faint smile. “I didn't get a chance to see much of it.”

“Are you saying I dragged you into bed?”

“Something like that.”

She gave a satisfied nod. “Plan B,” she murmured. “And I didn't even need a club.”

He didn't even bother to ask for an explanation. Instead he pulled her face back down to his and kissed her again.

They had a lot of lost time to make up for, she thought, wrapping her arms around him again.

Lucy and Banner didn't leave her apartment for the rest of the weekend. Letting the answering machine take all her calls, she concentrated fully on Banner, so delighted that he had come to her that she didn't want to think of anything else just yet.

When hunger finally drove them from the bedroom, they cooked steaks in her tiny kitchen. Lucy did most of the talking, of course, chattering to Banner about her job and her friends, catching him up on news of Joan and Bobby Ray and the Carters-all of whom she had spoken to since returning home from the Christmas holiday.

Banner seemed content to listen to her chattering without saying a lot, himself, but she was accustomed to that. He did tell her that he'd finished the big furniture order he'd been working on when she'd visited him and that his friend Polston had agreed to look in on Hulk until Banner returned.

“You could have brought him with you-the dog, not Polston,” Lucy clarified.

“I wasn't sure you could have pets in your apartment.”

“Officially I'm not supposed to, but it probably would have been okay for a visit. Actually, I've been thinking about buying a house so I could get a dog or a cat.”

“Buying a house sounds pretty permanent. You thinking about staying here for a while? Not in any hurry to move to a bigger city or a more impressive university position?”

He had asked the question very casually, but Lucy knew he was intensely interested in her answer. “I like it here very much,” she said. “I like the school and the students and the central Arkansas area. I think I could be quite happy here for a long time.”