Lizzy was up with the sun not having slept well the night before. Brian had confused her with all of his talk of not wanting to hurt her with his feelings. He had said he wasn't a white knight, but what he hadn't realized was that she loved him despite his flaws. She had never thought he was perfect, and the fact that he thought that she thought that just proved how he had never understood her.

Her head was pounding. Maybe some hard work would help her put all of her thoughts in order. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and put on a pair of old jeans and boots with an old faded t-shirt. If her guess was right Dana would be sleeping in this morning and someone would need to get breakfast on the table.

She walked into the kitchen to find Quinn looking out the window, drinking a cup of coffee.

"You're up early." He turned to her with a smile.

"Yes, I guess it's the country air, it's making me fall back into the patterns of my youth." Lizzy poured herself a cup and joined him at the window. "I figured Dana would need to sleep in this morning." She gave Quinn a cheeky grin. "I can still muck a stall with the best of them, and I turn a mean piece of bacon."

"Hopefully not at the same time," Quinn laughed.

"I'll be sure to wash my hands." She put her arm around his waist and leaned against him taking some of his constant strength.

They finished their coffee in companionable silence and then Quinn put her to work. She spent the next three hours working like she used to when she was growing up. Quinn didn't let her slack on any of it. He knew she knew how to do it and he expected her to do it well.

She stopped working at about half past seven, and she went into the house to start breakfast only to find Dana slumped over the counter and nursing a mug of coffee while still in her bathrobe.

Lizzy filled a glass with water and set it in front of her. "This is better for you," she said softly. "Why don't you go get a shower. I'll take care of breakfast."

"Bless you," was all Dana said as she slowly went upstairs.

Lizzy was putting the last of the bacon on the table when Caleb and Quinn came in the backdoor.

"Perfect timing." She smiled. They were filthy and had already put in a full day's work before nine in the morning.

There was a knock on the back door before it opened and Brian entered, taking off his cowboy hat and setting it on the counter. It looked as if he had been working right along with them.

He gave Lizzy a brief nod good morning, not saying anything about her obvious surprise in seeing him there. "I managed to get the fence in the south pasture mended," he said, sitting down at the table like he belonged.

Quinn nodded and passed him the bacon.

"Brian would you like a cup of coffee?" Lizzy offered in an attempt to to appear unaffected by his sudden appearance.

"Depends, did you make it?" he asked, making a sandwich of his eggs, bacon, and toast.

"No, Quinn did," she answered, watching as he polished the sandwich off in three bites

"Then yes, I would love a cup of coffee." He grinned at Lizzy, his white teeth a sharp contrast against his tan skin. "No offense, but you never could make a good cup of coffee."

Quinn and Caleb just nodded their heads in agreement.

"I see none of you are having any trouble eating the breakfast I just cooked." She sniffed as she poured Brian a cup of coffee.

She set it down in front of him then took her seat at the table.

"I never said you couldn't cook. If I recall you were always good at breakfasts." He gave her a wolfish grin, and Lizzy was glad she was sitting down.

She had, of course, made plenty of breakfast for him and her brothers whenever he had come home with Bryce for visits when she was younger, and that is how Quinn and Caleb would no doubt interpret it, but Lizzy knew that was not what he was talking about. He was talking about breakfasts that sometimes never got eaten.

Lizzy sipped her coffee not touching the food.

"Aren't you going to eat, Lizzy?" Caleb asked in a concerned voice.

"I munched while I cooked," Lizzy lied.

"Lizzy..." Quinn looked at her and then at the plate in front of her. She stared at him, debating about whether it was worth an argument. Finally, she put a piece of bacon and a spoonful of eggs on her plate.

Caleb reached over and added a piece of his toast with butter.

They were all silent while she ate. "There, are you happy?" she asked when had she finished the last bite.

Quinn nodded then rose. "I think I'll go check on Dana."

Lizzy followed his lead and started to clear the table.

"What was that all about?" Brian asked Caleb as Lizzy started to run water in the sink.

"Lizzy got really sick awhile back, and she had to go into the hospital. She had stopped eating, and they had to put her on a strict diet and give her all kinds of supplements before she was well again."

"How long ago was this?" Brian asked softly, she could feel his eyes boring into her back.

"About seven or eight years ago, I would have been a senior in high school. Does that sound about right?" Caleb asked Lizzy. He had risen and was gathering up the empty plates to put in the sink for Lizzy to wash.

"Sure, why not," Lizzy said over her shoulder with a carefree smile.

"Why did she stop eating?" Brian asked Caleb as he moved back to the table to gather the rest of the dishes. She knew he wasn't asking her because she wouldn't give him an answer if he did.

"Don't really know. She claimed that she just wasn't hungry.Lizzy why did you stop eating?" Caleb asked as if he had never thought about it before.

"Just a stage I guess." Lizzy dismissed the conversation. "So who's going to load the dishwasher?"

At the suggestion Caleb remembered something in the barn that Quinn wanted him to finish before lunch, and he was out the backdoor like a shot. Caleb hated doing dishes he would rather be out working the land or building a house then stuck in the kitchen.

Lizzy continued to do the dishes, trying to ignore the deafening silence that was coming from Brian's corner. The only sound in the kitchen was the clinking of the plates as she rinsed them and placed them in the dishwasher.

"Elizabeth..." Brian began but before he could go any further, and much to Lizzy's relief, Janie came into the kitchen holding her head.

"Coffee," she croaked. "Why do you have to keep banging those dishes so loudly?" She slumped into the chair at the bar.

Lizzy filled a glass with water and sat it in front of her. "This is better for you."

"I think I am going to die." She sipped her water.

Brian rose from the table realizing that his chance to talk to Lizzy was gone, and she breathed a sigh of relief. He walked to his hat and picked it up holding it in his hands and studying it.

Lizzy could tell he wanted to say something to her, but he didn't know what. Was Brian Alexander at a loss for words? He looked up and met her eyes.

"I'll be by after lunch to take you and Janie to the house, Janie." He nodded in her direction before putting on his hat and pulling it low over his eyes. Without another word he turned and walked out the backdoor.

"How can he look so good in a suit and also look good in old dirty jeans and a cowboy hat?" Janie moaned as she put her head in her hands. "I look awful."

Lizzy gave a sad smile. Every woman that met Brian wanted to look good for him, and he had never had an issue with showing them his appreciation. She remembered all of the times that Bryce and Brian had come home from a night on the town and given each other a hard time about their chosen date for the evening. They had all been stunners, and little Lizzy had felt like the gawky teenager she had been. Even years later, when she had started working for Brian, she had still felt that way. She had always wondered why he had even started a love affair with her. Love affair, Lizzy shook her head at the thought. For her maybe, but for Brian it was just a dalliance, a fun way to pass a long hot summer.

If she was honest with herself, she knew why she had thrown herself at him, she had wanted him more than she had ever wanted anything in her short life, and she still felt the same way.

She turned off the water and wiped her hands on the towel next to her, fighting back tears.

"Make yourself at home Janie." She waved her hand around the kitchen as she moved to the back door. What she needed was a ride.