About forty, Ken Taylor had pulled his black hair into a ponytail at the base of his neck. He wore a heavy brown coat over a flannel shirt, blue jeans, and black work boots. He opened the gate at the back of his truck, then grinned at Kaleb.“One of these times, though, you should come into town yourself so you can see the reactions of the people who buy your stuff.”          Shaking his head, he mused.“I mean, they all but applaud when we bring in new stock.”“Well… Good to know,” Kaleb replied.“Still, you should show yourself…”          It was odd, he thought, that he’d taken woodworking, which had once been a hobby, and turned it into an outlet for the creativity that had been choked off years ago. Kaleb liked knowing that his work was appreciate

          A few hours later, that question was still on her mind… Well, Sparkle was thinking about protecting Hayzel, helping Kaleb, preparing for Christmas, keeping up with all of the holiday work she had to do for her clients... Oh, whom was she kidding? At the moment, Kaleb was uppermost in her mind. She was determined to drag him back into the land of the living, and she had the distinct feeling he was going to put up a fight.          That night, things were different… Sparkle could feel that… When Kaleb came to dinner in the dining room, she and Hayzel were already seated, waiting for him. Since every other night, the two of them were in the kitchen, he looked thrown for a second. She gave him a smile even as Hayzel waved at him.“Hi, Kaleb!”          If anything, he looked warier than jus

          Frowning to himself, Kaleb tried to ignore the ripple of regret that swept through him.“Okay… Just for the record, I am not responsible for your latest frown.”“What?”          He turned his head to look at her again. Sparkle laughed shortly.“Nothing… So, what’d you work on today?”“Seriously? Are we playing the conversation game right now?” he asked a bit exasperated.            Usually, Sparkle just launched into a monologue.“Well… Since tonight you’re actually speaking,” she said with a shrug, “I thought I’d ask a question that wasn’t rhetorical.”“Right…”          Shaking his head, Kale

          The next morning, Sparkle didn’t see Kaleb at all, and maybe that was just as well. She’d lain awake most of the night, reliving the whole scene, though she could admit to herself she spent more time reliving the kiss and the feel of his amazingly talented fingers on her body than the argument that had prompted it.          Even now, though, Sparkle cringed a little remembering how she’d thrown the truth of his past at him out of nowhere. Honestly, what had she been thinking, just blurting out the fact that she knew about his family?          As always, she hadn’t been thinking at all… that was the problem. Sparkle had stared into those amazing eyes of his and had seen him shuttered away, closing himself off, and it had just made her so angry, she’d confronted him without considering what

          Buddy pushed up the sleeves of his flannel shirt, took a step back, and looked at the gaping hole where a light switch used to be.“I’ve got the wiring all replaced and brought up to code out in the living room, but I’m checking the rest, as well. Prevention is better than cure, I say. You’ve got some fraying in here and a hot wire somebody left uncapped in the smaller bedroom…”          Hayzel’s bedroom, Sparkle thought and felt a pang of worry. God, if the fire had started in her daughter’s room in the middle of the night, maybe they wouldn’t have noticed in time. Maybe smoke inhalation would have knocked them out and kept them out until…“No worries, Sparks,” Buddy said, looking right at her. “No point in thinking about what-ifs, either, honey,” he added as if he could look a