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emergency vet clinic with him, but Mattie complained so much, Jenna said she’d have to stay with her aunt.
    “Can I go with Callie?” Katie asked, and Al couldn’t say no. Jenna nodded her permission, and Al put Katie’s car seat in his car beside the injured kitty, strapped the kid in, and drove to the vet hospital in Tacoma. Katie talked to the kitty all the way to the hospital, and at one point, Al heard the little cat purr. He hoped she’d be all right, because the kid was getting quite attached to her.
    He sat in the waiting room, Katie on his lap, while the doctor took X-rays and did a thorough exam on the cat. After a few minutes, the little girl leaned her head against Al’s chest and closed her eyes, trusting him completely.
    Holding her soft little body in his arms, he envied Brian.
     

 
    Chapter Five
    T wo days later, Callie came home from the vet with a cast on her leg. She had to stay in a kennel where she couldn’t jump around, but Katie appointed herself the nurse. She watched over the kitty, fed her, and opened the door to pet her when she thought no one was looking.
    Al put his work aside for a few days so he could erect a fence along the edge of the hill. He bought a long rope ladder in case something like this happened again, and he also increased the liability insurance on the property. He still had visions of Katie’s little broken body lying on the rocks down below.
    He thought this would be a good place to raise a family, but remembering the mischief he and his brothers got into when they were kids, he was having second thoughts. Tony would have dared Nick to climb the hill, Angelo would have done it, and Tony and Nick would have gone down after him. And Ma would have had a heart attack.
    Jenna had been inviting him to eat with them. He didn’t mind cooking for himself, but there were days when he got so busy with work that he forgot the time. Jenna didn’t cook Italian, but she did all right. He didn’t go hungry. Mattie complained about the food, but she complained about everything. What made him think he could live peacefully in the same house with Mattie Worthington?
    Al gave Jenna money for groceries that evening and she handed it back. “You saved my daughter’s life. The least I can do is feed you. Besides, there’s a bunch of money in Aunt Mattie’s account. We might as well use it before she decides to give it all away.”
    “It’ll be yours someday, Jenna.”
    “No it won’t. She’s made it quite clear that I’m not getting anything from her, and it’s not worth fighting over. When I’m finished here, I’ll find another job and move on.”
    The thought of her leaving here made the house feel empty, and she hadn’t left yet. He watched her go up to the attic, where she spent most of her evenings. He had work to do, but knowing she was up there alone didn’t help him get it done. He’d fallen for her sweet smile when he was fourteen, and seeing her every day, watching her laugh with Katie and patiently take care of Mattie, made him fall for her all over again.
    He turned off his computer and walked up the attic steps.
    She looked up. “I found my mother’s family genealogy. I thought Aunt Mattie was my grandmother’s sister, but she’s not. We’re not related at all.”
    “What about Charlie?”
    She stared at the paper. “He’s not on here either, and my father’s parents came here from Russia. Aunt Mattie’s family built the inn way back when, and Uncle Charlie’s family lived in Virginia during the Civil War, so I know they weren’t related to my father. If he really was my father.”
    After seeing those pictures, Al didn’t think it likely. “Did you find anything else?”
    “If you mean any record of my parents’ investment in the inn, no, but I have two more boxes of personal papers to go through, and I haven’t even looked in the other closet.”
    He sat on a chair and leaned forward, propping his forearms on his knees. “Jenna, why are you