When Lucy awoke the house was dark, the only light she saw was coming from Zeb's computer screen. The wind was howling, and she could hear the rain as it drove sideways into the house, and she shivered at the sound of it.

Zeb had put on reading glasses and they made him look more approachable, but he was frowning at something on the screen in front of him which made him look very unapproachable.

"I didn't know you wore glasses," Lucy said in a voice rough from sleep as she sat up. "How long have I been asleep?" she asked.

"A little over four hours," he said, leaning back in his chair as his eyes looked at her searchingly.

"I'm guessing I didn't miss very much." She stretched, if she had been asleep for four hours that should make it about three in the morning, and the storm should be almost on top of them.

"I wouldn't say that." Zeb took his glasses off and threw them on the desk, and Lucy heard something in his voice that made her tense.

"What happened?" she asked, moving to the end of the bed.

"Your mother has arrived." He was watching her closely, but she hardly noticed as she closed her eyes in dread then let loose with a few words that would have made a sailor blush. Normally she didn't cuss, but her mother was definitely worth a stress relieving word or two.

"How did she find us?" Lucy asked, looking around for her shoes. "Where is she?"

"I had hoped you would be able to answer the question of how she found you. I put her in with your grandmother since you were staying here." He stood up and came around the desk, walking towards her. "I take it you're not pleased that she's here?"

Lucy snorted at the ridiculousness of his statement. "No, but I'm sure Etta was pleased to see her."

"She was," Zeb confirmed.

"Who else knows she's here?" Lucy asked. "And why didn't you wake me?" Lucy knew she would have to keep a close eye on the woman while she was here or else she would rob everyone blind. "Has she been on her own this entire time?" The idea made Lucy nervous.

"She's been with Etta." Zeb was watching he closely.

Lucy shook her head. "I'll go talk to her." Lucy jumped up from the bed and left the room before Zeb could ask any more questions. If the fact that she wasn't a social outcast wasn't enough to deter his interest, her mother would be.

She didn't bother to knock as she entered the bedroom she and Etta had been given. Etta sat propped up against the head board with a battery-operated lantern next to her, and her mother, Faith Monroe, was pacing the room like a caged animal. Lucy guessed it was because she was itching for another fix of whatever drug she was currently into.

Faith Monroe had been a beautiful young woman, she had black hair and deep brown eyes and she was small which played into her helpless routine that she usually laid on thick to get what she wanted. However, Lucy would bet that her long sleeves covered track marks and her skinniness was due to the drugs.

"What are you doing here? I told you I had no interest in seeing you the last time we spoke." She must be pretty desperate for money if she had tracked them down in a hurricane. "How did you find us, and how did you get past the road blocks?" Lucy hissed. She was unaware that she had left the door ajar or that Zeb stood outside of it watching and listening to conversation.

"Mother told me where you were, she insisted I come, I'm better now Lucy, I don't do the hard stuff anymore," Faith tried to assure her.

"Then prove it, show me your arms." Lucy waited and when Faith burst into tears and a long tirade about how Lucy didn't trust her own mother, Lucy rolled her eyes. But Lucy didn't need to see her arms to know that she was still using because she twitched and scratched, a sure sign that she was having withdrawals. She had seen it too many times as a kid not to recognize it.

"And the road blocks?" Lucy asked.

Faith shrugged. She broke one law or another almost every day, so a little road block didn't scare her.

"As soon as this storm is over you're leaving, and until then you're staying in this room with either me or Etta," Lucy insisted.

"She's not a prisoner Lucy," Etta said from where she sat on the bed.

"Yes, she is, and I'm sure she incurred several parole violations from several states just being here."

"How can you be so cruel?" Faith cried.

"The same way you've always been cruel to me and Etta, Faith. Who steals from their own mother and daughter?" Lucy ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "I don't want you here. I don't trust you."

"You don't want me to mess up your chances with the handsome man who let me in, is this his house Lucy, is he rich?" she asked with a gleam in her eyes. "You've landed on your feet, I'll give you that." Faith plopped down on the bed next to Etta. "Maybe I can get him to give some money," she suggested. "Or you can just give me some and I'll be on my way."

"I don't have any money to give you Faith, and Zeb won't give you any either." Lucy clenched her hands into fists as anger coursed through her. It was nothing new, every time something good in her life happened her mother would appear and find some way to ruin it. "And neither will Etta."

"Mama, you have a few dollars for me, right?" Faith looked at her mother with tears in her eyes but Etta shook her head sadly, and her refusal angered Faith. She rose from the bed her face red in frustration.

"Fine, then I'll just tell your handsome friend all about your secret, shall I? I'll tell him what a freak you are, and that he shouldn't trust you."

"Go ahead, tell him," Lucy said, knowing that Zeb already knew about her visions and that he didn't seem to care. It was her mother's attempt to ferret some cash out of her, and it may have worked on Lucy when she was younger, but it had no power over her now.

Faith let loose with a little scream as she charged Lucy in frustrated anger, and Lucy put her arms up to protect her face, absorbing the hits and kicks with her arms and legs. She had been through it enough times to know how to protect herself.

When the abuse ended almost as soon as it started, Lucy peeked out from behind her arms to find Zeb holding Faith back with his hand planted squarely in her chest. He wasn't hurting her, but she couldn't get past his locked arm to hit either him or Lucy.

"Enough," he said, his deep voice sending a chill up Lucy's spine as she heard the warning in it.

Lucy closed her eyes in mortification, wondering once again, how much he had heard.

Faith stopped fighting and turned on the tears. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me, I've been so stressed and worried about my mother and daughter." Faith started sobbing and fell on to the bed behind her and Etta leaned forward and rubbed her back. "I'm so glad that you're here to take care of them." She looked up at Zeb, her eyes huge and full of tears.

Lucy watched Zeb's hand clench at his side and the muscle in his jaw jump. He was livid, and Lucy couldn't balm him. She had brought this woman into his house.

"You wouldn't mind lending me a few dollars, would you? I need some money to get back home." She gave a delicate sniff.

"No, I won't lend you money," he said.

Faith's head jerked up, shocked at his direct refusal, men very rarely refused her anything and it confused her. She stood and walked towards him, willing to give it one more try. She placed her hand in the middle of his wide chest and gave her most seductive smile. "Oh please, just a few dollars, and then I'll be out of your hair. I'll make it worth your while."

Lucy felt sick as she watched her mother's hand fist into Zeb's cotton shirt.

Zeb placed his hand around Faith's wrist and removed her hand from his chest. "No."

And that no sent her over the edge just like Lucy's no had. She issued all sorts of threats about knowing who he was and going to the press with information about Lucy, and ruining his business, she threatened to claim that he had even given her the drugs she wanted after paying her for sex. She made all sorts of horrible threats, and Lucy sunk further and further into herself as she realized that her mother would do all of the things she threatened if she thought for a minute it would work.

"Go ahead try it and see how far you get," Zeb offered. "The three of you will stay in this room until morning, then as soon as the storm is over I'll make sure that you get where you need to be Ms. Monroe." Zeb's voice was cold and something in Lucy died at the sound of it.

There was no way he would want her now.

"Thank you, Mr. Abbott, we'll be out of here as soon as we're able," Lucy said, unable to look at him.

As he left he closed the door to the room, and Lucy couldn't help but think he was also closing the door on everything that had happened between them.

Faith started cursing and pacing as Lucy joined Etta on the bed. It was going to be a long night.