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As Nate takes Laura's hand, the tingle runs up her arm and she smiles. "Okay," she agrees. "We start where we left off." Her fingers tighten around his. "Thank you, Nate. I could never ask for anything more than you... as a friend... and as more than a friend."

She leans her face onto his hand as his finger runs down her cheek. Closing her eyes for a moment, she takes a deep breath, wishing that reality didn't always have to run with the clock.

Looking back to Nate, her smile remains. "There's just one problem... I don't know where we left off."


Carson grins at Herb and Mabel, and shakes his head. Looking at the clock, he rises from his seat. "I better go relieve Aerith. You take it easy and I'll come back by to see you. We'll talk more about the restaurant when you're out of here."

Giving Herb's shoulder a pat, Carson heads for the door, but turns one more time. "Oh, and Misty says hi." Still smiling, he continues his route, leaving the hospital, then catching a waiting cab to Mom and Pop's. Soon... soon he'd have his own vehicle.


Mackenzie's eyes sparkle above her smile as Aerith's gentle nature draws her in. "Sure." She nods. "Can it be strawberry?"

She scoots up onto one of the stools, letting it swivel just a bit as she waits. She doesn't have to wait for long, however. When the bell on the door rings, she turns, spotting the one she'd been looking for.

Carson heads through the restaurant, having taken the front route instead of the back this morning. Aiming for the kitchen, he almost doesn't see Mackenzie at the counter, but when he does, he stops short. Blinking, he looks around to see if anyone else was there with her. "Mackenzie?!"

She grins at him. "You remembered my name."

"Of course I did." Carson is totally confused, and looks between her and Aerith, who was in the kitchen. "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting you. And the lady in the kitchen said I could have a milkshake."

Carson finds that hard to believe that Mackenzie was just visiting, and he bypasses his awkwardness for a moment in order to get some answers."Did you come back with Heather?"

"No."

"Well who's with you?"

"Nobody."

Carson's eyes widen. "What? You're alone?" He looks around, then pulls Mackenzie off the stool and into the back hall out of sight from the front customers. "How did you get here?"

Mackenzie shrugs. "A man said he could take me to you."

A strange look of panic hits Carson, and he squats down in front of her, to look up at a better angle to see her eyes. "Who? When?"

"At the orphanage, really early this morning. I got up to get something to drink, and he was there."

"You mean you went with a total stranger?"

Mackenzie withdraws a little as Carson's voice grows stern. "He said his name was John Smith. He really was nice," she tries to convince him.

"Aw Mackenzie." Carson groans and stands up, putting his hands on his head. He turns a little circle, keeping his frustration to a low growl

Mackenzie bites her lip. "Are you mad at me?"

"Yes! No... yes. I don't know yet."

"Well I just wanted to see you, and John said he knew where you were. He wasn't a bad person."

Carson's mind works overtime to figure out this thing. Pacing a moment, he crouches down in front of her again. "It was foolish of you," he chides. "Do you realize what will happen now?"

"I have to go back."

"That, and they're going to blame me for taking you."

"But I left on my own."

"It doesn't matter." Carson desperately tries to explain. "You don't belong to me, and now I'm in a whole lot of trouble."

Fear enters Mackenzie's eyes, along with a couple tears. "But you're my dad. And John didn't say you would get into trouble."

Carson's gaze shows his desperation. How could he make her understand? He had been set up. A do-gooder wouldn't be that stupid. A kidnapper wouldn't have brought her here. Someone from social services wouldn't have left her alone. It was obvious that someone - most likely Heather - wanted to make him look like the ultimate bad guy so there would never be even a chance for Mackenzie to be with him.

Whether or not he wanted to see his daughter was beside the point. This kind of underhanded action and child trickery angered him. "John did it on purpose," he emphasizes, trying to be gentle. "I'm gonna have to call Heather and have someone come get you."

Disappointment flickers in Mackenzie's eyes. "You really don't want me, do you?"

"That has nothing to do with it," Carson retorts. "Don't play that came, 'cause I'll win." Mackenzie might just be twelve, but Carson knew good and well how smart she was.

She sighs in defeat.

Carson stands up again, calming down a little. "Come on." He nods to the kitchen. "Get that milkshake while I make that call." Pushing the door open, he gives Aerith a pleading look for help. "Would you please watch Mackenzie here? I have to go make a quick call, then I'll be right back to start cooking. If customers complain, blame it on me."

Once he's gone, Mackenzie looks to Aerith again. "I guess I got him in trouble." The look on her face is a sad one. "I just thought maybe I'd have another chance." She sits down at the table, folding her arms to rest her chin on them. "I'm not sure I want the milkshake anymore," she mentions quietly. She bravely held back the tears that wanted to come.

Out in the hall again, Carson busies himself, looking for the right phone number, and finally finds it. It takes some doing, but with a little work and a bit of frustration, he finally gets Heather on the line.

"Miss Jones, this is Carson Banks... from Nevada?"

"Mr. Banks." Heather's tone is a cool one. "Where is Mackenzie?"

Carson grits his teeth. If Heather wasn't involved, she'd certainly pounced on him quickly. "You tell me," he counters.

"This is no time for games," Heather warns. "Your daughter has been missing since early this morning. I find it highly coincidental that you would call me on this particular day."

"You'd like to think I did something, wouldn't you?"

"If you know something, you had better say so right now."

Carson leans back against the wall. "Ya know, It's interesting that you've known she was missing, you suspected me, yet you didn't contact me. Now why is that?"

"Mr. Banks." Heather's voice grows even more irritated. "Have you seen her or have you not?"

"I have. And somebody needs to come pick her up."

"So what did you do? Send one of your henchmen to get her?"

"I did no such thing!" Carson can't help it as his anger spills over. "You yourself made such a point that I wouldn't want anything to do with Mackenzie, now you accuse me of taking her? Why would I?"

"Who knows. I don't have the mind of a criminal. Ransom? Just to make a point?"

Carson rolls his eyes. "Look, just send somebody over here to get her, alright?"

"There have been storms here, Mr. Banks. It will be at least tomorrow morning before someone can be there. I suggest you take Mackenzie to your local social services office in order for her to receive proper care until the morning."

"I..."

"Either that, or I will call the local authorities and have you arrested. You take Mackenzie down to social services the moment you hang up. Do you understand me?"

Carson tries to collect his thoughts as quickly as possible. "Why aren't you calling the authorities now, Miss Jones?"

"Call it the benefit of the doubt."

"That's hard to believe."

"Someone will be in town directly in the morning. They will come to your place of work and expect to pick up Mackenzie there. If you or the girl are not found, you will wind up behind bars before you know it."

The click on the line makes Carson growl as he slams down the receiver. He knew exactly what Heather was doing. It was obvious now. She wasn't going to call the police because she knew good and well that he hadn't taken Mackenzie, and she was banking on that fact to be confident he would not do anything to harm the girl either. More than likely, this "Mr. Smith" was keeping an eye on him somewhere, just to be on the safe side. Heather was devious, but Carson wouldn't want to believe she'd allow a child to be harmed. But... if he didn't take Mackenzie somewhere by morning, she would have him in trouble anyway - and in deep trouble.

But... Carson groans and leans against the wall. God, what am I supposed to do now? What are you doing to me?

If he didn't turn Mackenzie over to social services, he would be in deep trouble. But if he did, she would be put through an unnecessary ordeal that would upset her even more than she already was. And she wasn't at fault. Wouldn't that be harsh? No... he had to. He had to follow the rules by the letter, or else Heather would have him in trouble so quickly it would make his head swim.

Turning back to the phone, he dials TJY's infirmary, thankful when he hears Misty answer the phone. "Hey, Babe, it's me. Listen, I need your help... I'm in a bit of a jam. Can you come down to the restaurant?"


Climbing up onto a large rock, Kyle stands, looking out across the rippling lake. It brought back swift memories of home. He takes a deep breath, taking in the fresh air. He saw Jen and Phil, smiling and laughing, spending time on the little sandy beach. He saw the fun times with friends... Katie, Jason and Mike. He saw Misty and their favorite lookout point.

"Kyle!"

The scenes faded before Kyle's eyes, and he was once again at Coral Lake in Wyoming. he turns around, looking down at the group. It takes him a moment to come back to reality, and another moment for his usual smile to return. He waves at Myla. "Yeah?"

"We got the food ready. You joining us or what?"

"Uh-huh." Kyle nods, but turns back around, not quite ready to get down yet.

Myla sighs. "He okay? He's had a lot of these moments lately."

"He's alright. Take it easy on him," Hunter advises. Those on the bus had discovered Kyle's frequent ups and downs during the trip, though he himself seemed unaware of his mood swings. No one drew attention to it, and no one was upset over it. They accepted Kyle like anyone else, though if asked, they might admit he was a little different to work with than originally thought. But no one would ever want him off the team. He was a valuable teammate, and even more valuable a friend. Hunter gives a little nod, knowing in a few minutes, Kyle would be back.

Sure enough, two minutes later, Kyle comes bounding back to the group, barging in on the picnic lunch. "Now this is a rest stop."

"Here here," Heath agrees, lifting up his bottle of lemonade.

"Mmm..." Kyle takes a bite of his sandwich. "Who's the cook?"

Myla raises her hand.

"Oh, you sweet woman." Kyle slings his arm around her, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Heeeey," Jordan growls teasingly.

Kyle steps back and holds up his hands, grinning. "Just a friendly thank you, there, killer."

Jordan laughs. "Just be sure you keep it that way."

The teasing continues, and Kyle winds up flopping down on the ground next to Alice, stealing one of her potato chips.