the toddler in his lap. "Evie surely wouldn't do anything to her. She's just a baby."
Coming in from the back porch with some fresh kindling, Evie asked, "What won't Evie do to whom?"
Maria reached for the mug that Tyler was lifting. The hot coffee threatened to tilt on her head, and he hastily returned it to the table. "I suspect there isn't anything Evie won't do to anyone, given a chance," he retorted, "but we're just all getting along real friendly like here."
Evie threw Tyler a suspicious glance. "So I see. You better scoot your cup away from the table edge. She'll have it in your lap."
The brat curled up in his lap and spread her arms around him until Tyler was forced to hug her back. Then crowing with delight, she scrambled up and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek, slid down his leg, and toddled merrily off in another direction. She didn't play fair. Tyler reached for his coffee and wished it were something stronger. He could have had that once, but he didn't want it any longer. And it wasn't the coffee he was thinking about.
Daniel chuckled and went back to his book with a final gambit. "Ask Evie how her painting is coming along."
"Painting? What have you two been up to while my back was turned?" She threw a suspicious glance to Tyler, who was finally sipping his coffee.
He shrugged and figured in for a dime, in for a dollar, and asked, "What have you been painting lately?"
Evie threw an irate glare at her brother. "Daniel! What have you been telling him? And how do you know what I've been doing? You're supposed to be in bed, resting that leg."
Daniel shrugged and ignored her tirade, leaving Tyler to handle it. Tyler threw him a look that said Daniel would pay for this later, but he maintained his calm in the face of the storm.
"I just asked a simple question. You don't need to fly off the handle. Maybe I should ask what you mean to see that lawyer about when he returns." That made Daniel's ears perk up, Tyler noted with satisfaction. Let the boy work that one out for himself.
"Let's just take one topic at a time. When did you ever see my painting? Have you been sneaking around here while my back is turned?" Evie shook a piece of silverware at him as she finished setting the rest of the table.
Tyler grinned. The light in here wasn't the greatest, but he could see the flame of irate color on her cheeks. He could see that getting under Evie's skin could be an interesting pastime, particularly since she was so good at getting under his. Besides, it was safer than thinking what else he would like to be doing with her.
"I rummage through ladies' things all the time. It always pays to know a little more about a lady than she knows about me. Are you going to tell me about the painting, or am I going to have to find out on my own?"
"I paint." She said that emphatically, slapping down a spoon she had just polished until the silver should have worn off. "Why don't you go wash before Manuel and Jose get here?"
Tyler rose obediently, but he couldn't resist temptation. He stopped behind Evie and catching her waist, kissed the nape of her neck. He could feel her stiffen, but he didn't dare do more under Daniel's nose. With a chuckle, he tugged one of her curls. "Yes, ma'am, I'm going, ma'am. Do I get to see your painting after we eat?"
"No one will ever see my painting again," she answered with a dramatic sniff and a glare that pinpointed Daniel.
Daniel looked over his glasses in the direction of Evie's bedroom. "Guess again, sister." He nodded toward the doorway.
Maria stood there, both chubby hands wrapped around a piece of wood as tall as she was. She dragged it farther into the room, grinning hugely. "Mine," she pronounced adamantly.
Tyler whooped and grabbed the board, lifting it into the air before Evie could beat him to it. It wasn't a board but a wood frame for a canvas, and he was nearly thrown off balance by the lightness of it as he tried to keep it over his head and catch the subject in the light.
"Tyler Monteigne, if you don't give that back to me right now, I'll never speak to you again!"
"Promise?" Tyler whistled as he recognized the dark-eyed urchin in the