"Park the car, Merrick. You owe me an explanation after the evening I've just had," Agatha insisted as he drew close to her house.

Merrick didn't object as he found a parking spot near the back gate and waited for her to lead the way. Once they were in her apartment, she turned on a few lights and closed all the blinds before getting a container of ice cream and two spoons.

"Is this supposed to comfort me?" Merrick asked, accepting the spoon.

"No, it's for me. I didn't want to be rude and not offer you any, and I thought eating popcorn for the very dramatic story you're about to tell me would be in poor taste." Agatha kicked off her heels. "Take off your jacket, Merrick. Make yourself comfortable."

Agatha sat back on the couch and watched him take off his tie and jacket, then slowly roll up his shirt sleeves. She admired the way he could make such simple tasks look so sexy.

When he finished, he looked over at Agatha, watching him. She smiled and patted the cushion next to her in an invitation, but he hesitated.

"Are you scared of little ole me, Merrick?" Agatha asked, making a production of licking her spoon.

He frowned before moving to sit down next to her.

"Start at the beginning, please." Agatha grabbed a pillow to hug as she curled her legs under her. She was sure she wasn't going to like whatever it was he had to say, so she wanted him to get right to the point.

After a few moments of collecting his thoughts, he began. "I met Jade when I was an undergrad. We had fun, and I fell for her, so we got married. I decided to become a doctor and not take up the family business. Rudolph took my place in both the company and Jade's bed. When it became apparent that I was dead set on a medical career, my step-father tried to entirely cut me out of the family. It wasn't a surprise because he wasn't my birth father, and he wanted his son to inherit. My birth father died shortly after I was born. When my step-father married my mother, he married into the company, which meant he couldn't cut me out of anything, but he made enough of a stink about it that Jade got nervous and switched allegiances."

"So you hate women because of what Jade did?" Agatha questioned.

Merrick thought about her question. "No, I love women, but I don't trust them." His voice was hard as he thought about why he didn't trust them.

"So you don't trust me either." It wasn't a question.

Merrick met her eyes. "I trust you more than I have trusted anybody in a very long time."

Agatha guessed it was as good a place to start as any.

"Is this one of the reasons why you don't want a relationship with anyone? Are you afraid it will happen again?" Agatha watched him closely.

"One of the reasons," he agreed, meaning there were others that he wasn't talking about. "I don't trust myself either. I should have seen that marrying the head of the Livingston family was Jade's ultimate goal by the questions she was always asking me." His voice was emotionless.

Agatha felt herself freeze. She knew that name. she cleared her throat. "As in Trisha and Anthony Livingston?"

"Yes." Merrick looked at her with narrowed eyes. "When Uncle Tony died, Rudolph took over the family."

"As in Aunt Trisha?!" Agatha sat up and placed the ice cream on the table in front of her. This was not happening.

"Yes, she's my Aunt," Merrick confirmed.

"My aunt is Lizzy Alexander." Agatha waited, watching Merrick's eyes widen at the news. "I used to spend a few weeks every summer with Aunt Lizzy, and she and Aunt Trisha would take me all over New York with them. How have we never met before?"

They stared at each other, realizing that things may have gotten very complicated because they both knew Aunt Trisha's love for mischief.

"Lizzy Alexander, tell me, is there anyone in your family who isn't famous?" Merrick asked with slight amusement that went over Agatha's head.

"I'm not," she said carelessly, her mind spinning. If they found out, it would be bad, and by they, she meant Aunt Trisha. "I haven't told anyone in my family about you. It should be alright." Agatha buried her face in her hands.

"I see you know Aunt Trisha very well." This time Agatha did pick up on his amused tone and didn't appreciate it.

"I'm glad you're over your bad mood. Why aren't you worried about this?" Agatha asked as she stood and started to pace.

"Because I'm a grown man," Merrick's voice was low and rough, and Agatha felt her knees grow weak at the sound and the knowledge that he was indeed a grown man as she stood still and looked at him.

Stop it! Now is not the time! She told herself, doing her best to say focused on the crisis in front of them.

"You realize that if the aunts find out, matchmaker mode will be activated, and you and I will be thrown together at every occasion, and this," she motioned between the two of them, "will be public record with my family." Agatha started to pace once again.

"What's the likelihood that Rudy and Jade will go home and mention your new girlfriend from Savannah, Agatha Stevens?" She spun on her heel and looked at him.

"Very unlikely. Aunt Trisha can't stand Jade and makes her life hell whenever they're in the same room." Merrick leaned back in his seat with his legs sprawled in front of him. "They never see each other."

Agatha felt her world exploding around her, and Merrick acted like he hadn't a care in the world. What had changed? 

"What's changed, Merrick?" Agatha looked at him with narrowed eyes as she voiced her thoughts aloud.

"Nothing much. I probably won't have to see Jade or Rudolph again while they're here, and that pleases me." he smiled to himself. "I also quite enjoyed watching you this evening." He frowned. "Although I didn't care for the little show you gave Rudolph." Merrick eyed the swell of her breasts above her well-cut dress, leaving little doubt about what he was talking about.

"Are you jealous?" Agatha asked with wide eyes.

Merrick froze at her question.

Agatha would have usually taken advantage of the situation, maybe given him a show too, but she was too unsure of the current situation. Too much had changed too quickly.

"I can't be as worry-free about this as you are, Roark." Agatha's use of his real name brought him back with a bump. "Unless something has changed in the way you feel about me, I really need you to be Merrick right now."

It was Agatha's way of all but admitting that she had feelings for him.

"Nothing has changed. I'll still be leaving in a month," Merrick said, fixing the pillows around him with methodical precision as if he was gathering his thoughts.

"Why did you join the army, Stevens?" he asked after a moment.

The question caught Agatha off guard.

"Why?" Agatha perched on the chair across from Merrick and clasped her hands tightly in her lap.

"Please, can you answer the question?" He looked at her searchingly.

"I wanted to help. I have friends who have served, and I discussed it with them. They told me that it was demanding but rewarding, and one of my friends, who was injured, told me that seeing a nurse when he had been injured was the best feeling. He felt like he was home. I wanted to represent home and help." Agatha shrugged her shoulders. "And I wanted freedom from my family like you did."

Merrick jerked at her last statement because it hit too close to home.

"You do realize that was part of the reason you joined and stayed so long, right?" Agatha watched him.

"I do, yes," he said carefully.

"But you didn't expect anyone else to see it?" Agatha asked with disbelief.

"Does your family know that's part of the reason you joined?" Merrick asked.

She took a deep breath. "My mother is Cassandra Stevens, and my father is Mason Stevens. I have been trying to escape their shadow since I was a very little girl. They know." Agatha had never purposely revealed that to anyone, and she cleared her throat in nervousness.

Merrick gave her a gentle smile because he sensed that was a hard revelation for her to share. "It explains a lot," Merrick informed her as he let his gaze sweep her body.

"What are we going to do, Roark?" Agatha felt like crying.

"Nothing. I'm calling off our deal. I shouldn't have asked you to help in the first place. I should have handled it myself. Merrick stood and moved to pick up his jacket and tie. "Tomorrow, we'll both go back to work and act like this evening never happened."

It wasn't what she wanted.

"For the record, I meant what I told Jade this evening. I admire, desire, and respect you, Agatha Stevens, and I'm glad we met and served together." He placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

Agatha noted that he had left off the word need.

Needing to act strong, she walked him to the gate and calmly told him good night, and closing the gate behind him felt like she was closing a chapter of her life.

She stood in the middle of the courtyard with her head bowed, listening to his car start up and drive away. She knew what she had to do. Tomorrow she would resign from the hospital. It didn't matter if Merrick stayed or not. She didn't want to be in Savannah anymore.

The gate between the two houses opened, and Sam joined her.

He put his arm around her, and that was all it took. She couldn't be strong any longer, and she started to sob. Sam led her into her apartment and closed the door behind them.

Agatha looked up at Sam. "Don't blame him or me, Sam. It was just one of those things."

Sam nodded and held her close while she cried.

He didn't ask her any questions, but he did carry in her letter of resignation the following morning.