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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.

No, Laura!

Looking around the room Herb gives a short chuckle as he shakes his head a little.

"The best it can be I guess, though I hate sitting still and thats what they are making me do here. Not to mention Mable cant make me clean here."

"I hurd that Herbert."

Giving a cringes another laugh comes forth and a smile at his wife his eyes show much life still aside form what he has been through.

"Oh nothing dear..no no nothing at all."

Looking back to Carson Herb gives a wink.

Sitting at the quiet restront with Laura Nate was enjoying the small talk. Being here now, its not what he planed but he wasnt disapointed eather.

As the talking shift though Nate can feel the tone in Laura's voice change and see the look in her eye was more serous now.

Nate couldnt help but feel a little bit a nervousness rise inside of himself. He didnt want it to but it just happend. Maybe it was the unknowing of what Laura needed to talk so serous with him about.

Listing to Laura stays quiet. He didnt want to intarupt her or cut her off not when she had something like this to say. Giving nods here and there was all he did to let her know he was listing.

Taking everything in that she said Nate just listened till finally she was finished. Staying silent for a moment Nate works everything through in his head till finally he looks up at Laura. He felt alot of things at the moment and the emotion could be seen in his eye.

"No Laura, I am sorry I dont to start over."

Giving a small sigh Nate reaches out across the table and takes Laura's hand in his.

"I would just like to start from where we left off, and continue to let outself change and grow. I love you so much Laura I could never turn you away."

Running a finger down the side of her face Nate just smiles as he looks into Laura's eyes his love pouring out of them.

"I'll never regret getting sick and kissing you. It was the best thing that ever happend to me.

Looking down at the young girl a smile forms on her face. Something about the girl reminded her of Carson but she wasnt to sure why. She remembered heading about Carson's daughter but only in passing.

"No, he's not here right now, but he should be back shortly if you would like to wait."

Giving another smile Aerith looks around the dinner and than back at the girl as she leans on the counter.

"Would you like a milkshake? Its on the house!"

Looking

Carson grins. "Well I just hope I can live up to your expectations, Herb. I... can't thank you enough. I'm still kinda shocked, but this means... it means a lot to me." He gives a little sigh, but it's one of contentment. "Wait 'til Dani hears about this. She's gonna make me pay more rent." He laughs.

He shakes his head and looks around the room, feeling the opportunity to switch subjects before he had to go, and before he had to think of anything else to say in regards to his accepted offer that was making him just a smidge uncomfortable. "They treating you alright in here?"


Laura giggles and accepts Nate's arm. "We shall. For your stomach's sake." With a quick stop to get her purse, she follows Nate outside, keeping her arm linked with his until they get to his car.

It doesn't take them long to settle in at the little restaurant, both able to order quickly, and enjoy the quiet of the little corner table. Conversation is kept light, with nothing in particular discussed until there is a pause, and Laura seems to grow quiet before speaking again.

"Nate..." Laura takes a bite of her salad and chews it thoughtfully. So many things ran through her mind... so many feelings. Ryder's words continue to bounce around in her head, colliding with her own thoughts and conclusions.

Giving a little sigh, she twirls her fork in her lettuce. "I've been thinking... a lot."

She rolls her eyes at her own hesitance and she finally looks up at Nate. "I know I haven't been the greatest person to be around lately... person... friend... girlfriend." She holds up a hand before he can respond. "Don't tell me otherwise, because I know it's the truth. This Bryce incident hasn't helped matters, but I'm setting that aside."

She sighs again, trying to collect her thoughts. "I know I haven't been fair to you lately either. No... I take that back. I haven't been fair to you from the very beginning."

Looking down for a moment, she thinks back over all the things she'd decided to say...that she'd been wanting to say. After talking to Ryder today, then once again seeing Nate's deep affections, she knew she should take this chance before it was too late.

"After this whole thing with... with Bryce... I, um... I realized that... maybe I don't have quite the handle on myself or my life like I thought I did. I used to be pretty confident.... in myself, my work... but as the world around me moved on, looking back now, I see that I failed to grow as time passed. I was hired at TJY because I was good at what I did... because I wouldn't take no for an answer, and I could beat up most of the guys."

She grins a little before going on. "And all that was great, working with Con, Jamie, Jason, and sometimes you. But then as my job shifted, I didn't. I got lost in my own little world, somewhere along the way, and I started getting confused about who I was. I didn't see it at the time, but I do now."

Laura leans back in her chair and plays with her napkin in her lap. She lets her eyes roam for a moment, trying to put words to her feelings, and finally looks back to Nate again. "Then you came along." A little laugh escapes and she shakes her head. "I had no idea you were watching me, and then when you got sick and you hauled off and kissed me..."

Her amusement is genuine and it sparkles in her eyes as she smiles. "I couldn't imagine anyone wanting me enough to pursue me like you did. All I'd ever had was men after the wrong sort of things, with Con standing behind me, my shelter with a big warning sign ready for any man with guts enough to approach me."

She shakes her head again. "But you won out. Through all the trouble I put you through, you stuck it out like no one ever did." Her smile starts to fade, though the look in her eye was one of peace, not resentment, not fear, not heartache. It was a look that had been absent for a long time.

"And it was then that I started falling to pieces. On the inside. While you were offering me love and stability, every time I saw you, I crumbled. I liked to hide it. I liked to pretend that I was just playing hard to get. But... looking back... I know that the fact was, that you shook up my world enough that I was beginning then to question myself and who I was. I wasn't supposed to need anybody - I was strong enough. Yet I felt like I was starting to need you. I wasn't supposed to want anybody - I was just fine on my own. Yet I felt like I was starting to want to spend all my time with you."

A little laugh escapes before she grows sober again. "It scared me because I wasn't used to feeling those things... even though I wanted them, they made me feel out of control. So in order to stay in control, I pulled back all the harder, making it all the more difficult for you. I thought that... I could have both."

She nods, showing that she had found the truth of her own actions. "I thought that I could be stubborn and as self-reliant as always and have you at the same time. But... I was too immature to realize that in order to gain freedom in love, I needed to give up a portion of that independence. In order to gain the confidence and strength in love, I needed to give up the reliance on myself. And..."

She shakes her head, brave enough to continue looking Nate in the eye. "...I didn't see those things then like I do now. I didn't see that I was pushing you away and making things so difficult for you. I saw sometimes how I hurt your feelings, yet I was too selfish to change. It wasn't a lack of love or a lack of want for a relationship... it was simply because I didn't want to try and change. I didn't want to make the effort. It was hard for me to get past my own need to take care of myself, and my own pride. Even then, because of the turmoil it caused, I just wound up breaking down and feeling like a child all the time. Which... in turn... made me pull away all the more... especially when you proposed to me."

Laura pauses, taking a sip of her iced tea to regroup a little bit. Taking a deep breath, she lets out out slowly. "Then... after all this mess... something finally clicked. It feels like I got a swift kick upside the head, and... I want to apologize."

She nods. "I want to apologize for all I've put you through from the very beginning, not just lately. I feel as though my eyes have been opened and I'm just now able to see that while I thought at the time I was in control, really... I wasn't. While I thought my stubbornness was a sign of strength, really... it wasn't."

Her eyes study Nate's, hoping that her words were making sense. For in her mind, they did. The answers had appeared, as clearly as day, after so much thought, prayer, and words of her friends, old and new. "I haven't ever really been myself with you, Nate. Instead of letting confidence and strength support my actions, I let them stand in the way and dictate my actions. Instead of letting myself love and live without fear, I hid behind fear, but labeled it as independence or even let my brother take the blame. In an awful paradox... because of my own pride and stubbornness, I let fear cloud my judgment, and I let independence rule my relationships. And so..."

Laura pauses again, giving her words time to sink in. "...So looking back, I can tell that I never really have just let myself be me. Which, ironically, was what I was trying to be all along."

A sadness enters her eyes, realizing the truth of the matter. But today, the peace remained. She had let go of her fear, somewhere along the way. Through recovering from a tragic and frightening experience, she had learned more about herself than ever before. And while the revealed truth was not something that felt good, it was indeed the truth that must be faced.

She swallows hard, now at the end, and not really knowing what would come next. But she'd started this thing, and she needed to see it through.

"Um... so... I guess..." She gives a little shrug. "I don't know what to do now," she admits. She offers the best smile she can. "I've said for so long now that I love you... and I don't want you to think that that part was never true - because it was. But it's been a reserved love... a love that's only been allowed to go so far before I yanked it back in order to keep it from opening up my walls. You, on the other hand... you've loved me freely, and have opened yourself up to everything, pain and all, because you're simply that generous and willing to sacrifice for me."

A tear appears in Laura's eye. "Never have I felt more humbled, Nate." A small smile surfaces once more. "And... all that to say... I'd like to start over." She gives a nod. "If you say no, I'll understand, because I've made you wait so very long already. But... I want a chance to give you the real me... the me that should have been there all along. I... can't promise the outcome, but I'm not gonna try to. All I can ask for is one more shot. Will you... give me that chance?"

She can't help a light chuckle. "If you say yes, I promise not to make you get sick in order to steal the first kiss again."


The bell above the door at Mom and Pop's rings. It's fairly quiet inside, but a few people have ventured out for their morning coffee. No one seems to pay much attention to the newcomer. Her short height helped aid her in going unnoticed. She stops just inside and looks around, squinting as her eyes roam the faces. Not finding who she was looking for, she heads boldly to the counter. She can just see over it and puts her arms up on it, helping boost herself up just a little more until she can see the woman at the register.

"Hi." Her big blue eyes stare at Aerith with question. "Is Carson Banks here?"

*blinks*

Studying Carson's eye for a long moment Herb can tell Carson ment what he said. There was no changing his mind. Herb wouldnt trust the restront in anyone elses hands.

"I am happy you said yes. Once I get out of here we can draw up the papers, and on the slower days we can go over a few things."

Though Herb didnt say it he was excited and look forward to teaching Carson things about the business. It was like the son he had always wanted and God had provided even if it wasnt what he had exspected.

"This going to be a whole new adventure for me too Carson. I know you will do great."

Looking at Laura Nate grins feeling warm and fuzzy inside that Laura liked the gifts. It was nothing big but if it put a smile on her face than thats what mattered.

"Mmmm...you could starve me as long as I got to spend a little time with you."

Nate stomach at that moment makes a loud gigaling sounds as he looks down and than back at Laura.

"I guess my stomach disagres with me so I guess we should feed it."

Standing and grabbing his jacket Nate throws it on and than hold out his arm to Laura.

"Mi lady shall we?"