Lucy walked into the quiet sanctuary of the church, finding a pew in the back, she sank into it as she let the cold air from the HVAC wash over her. She had to admit to herself that she was shaken from Zebadiah's intensity, he had been determined that she stay. When he had blocked her and she had been forced to squeeze by him, it had felt so much like an embrace, and when he had reached out to stop her, all she had wanted to do was stay. However, she knew that if she had stayed Thomas would have failed inspection.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath in an attempt to settle herself, she couldn't help but wonder what Zebadiah had wanted to ask her. What possible favor could he want from her, and why was it so urgent?

"Lucy?" Thomas's father, Fred Kane, joined her.

"Hello Mr. Kane. Thanks for unlocking the church for me." She looked over at him with a smile and he returned it as he sat next to her.

"I was happy to, I don't get to see you all that often anymore." He took her hand in his and patted it.

"I know, I try to keep a low profile, and Thomas has a lot going on right now." She took off her ballcap and sat it on the pew next to her.

"But he should always have time for his friends," the older man insisted. He looked so much like Thomas that it was uncanny sometimes.

"He does, and he is always there when I need him," she defended.

"You should have been at the wedding last year." It was evident that he still hadn't let that one go yet.

"I was invited and Thomas insisted that I come, but it is the bride's day, and Hope didn't want me there, and I love Thomas enough not to make his wife miserable." She rested her head on the older man's shoulder.

He had been like a father to her over the years. Thomas had gotten his father's tender and accepting heart.

"There was a time that I thought the two of you would grow up to get married." He smiled fondly at the memory.

"Nah, we're to much like brother and sister for that to ever happen. Besides, he took one look at Hope and was head over heels in love." Lucy couldn't quite keep the wistfulness out of her voice.

"Why don't you start coming to church Lucy? I would love to have you here on Sundays." He had been issuing the same invitation since she was a girl, and she had been turning it down just as long.

"Maybe, we'll see." The fact of the matter was no one wanted her there. They all wanted to believe that they were good accepting Christian's and every Sunday at church was their time to do that. If she started to attend they would be reminded that they weren't as accepting as they should be. She didn't doubt that most of them would accept her at a Sunday service without a word spoken, but there would be those like Don Mankin that would demand that she be blocked from entering the building.

They talked for quite some time, reminiscing about her and Thomas's youth and talking about the LeClair mansion before he rose to leave.

"I just got back from my daily visit to the hospital and was going to fix me a late lunch, would you care to join me?" he asked, patting her hand once more.

Lucy shook her head. "No, thank you. I have a lot on my mind, do you mind if I just sit here silently for a bit?" she asked.

"Not at all, you know where the key is, lock up behind you." He dropped a kiss on her hair, and Lucy noticed he paused as he looked towards the back of the church.

"Hello," he greeted, "can I help you?" he asked with his usual welcoming smile.

Lucy froze, upset that her peace had been disrupted and now she would have to find somewhere else to wait, she reached over for her ballcap and put it back on her head.

"I wanted to talk to Lucy," Zebadiah's deep voice responded.

"Lucy?" Fred asked her.

Lucy sat up and looked over her shoulder. "Zebadiah Abbott meet Fred Kane, Fred is Thomas's father, Mr. Abbott owns the LeClair mansion." Lucy introduced the two then sat back against the pew and listened as they had a brief friendly conversation about the weather and the mansion before Fred left them.

"Please Lucy, call me Zebadiah," he insisted as he sat next to her on the pew. He was entirely too close for comfort and she could feel the heat as it radiated off his body, especially where his leg and shoulder brushed up against hers.

She nodded, still not saying anything but agreeing to his request. "Why are you here, and how did you know where to find me?"

"Thomas told me, I let him know that I had a favor to ask you, and he sent me to let you know that Don Mankin has left the property."

"A text would have done fine," she insisted.

"Yes, it would have, but as I said I wanted to talk to you, and I didn't want you to get away again." Zebadiah looked around the small church. "Do you attend church here?" he asked, taking his time in getting to the point.

"No," she responded, keeping it simple. She reached up and tucked a piece of hair under her hat.

"Why do you wear the hat all of the time?" he asked looking down at her.

Lucy could feel his eyes on her, but she refused to look up at him. "My hair makes people uncomfortable," she supplied.

"Then why don't you let it go back to its natural color?"

"This is its natural color, and before you suggest I dye it, I used to, but it was too expensive to maintain, and the town would only think I was trying to hide something." She shrugged as she remembered how she had thought it would make a difference when she was younger. The hat seemed the best comprise.

"Did you get your C/O?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yes," his response was curt, as if he wasn't pleased by the fact, or maybe it was her asking the question that displeased him.

"You wanted to ask me for a favor?" she asked, in an attempt to direct him towards his reason for being there so that she could make her escape. His nearness unsettled her.

He nodded and shifted his body so that he could look at her. "I need a date."

"And your first choice is me?" she asked, her disbelief obvious.

"Yes, it is my company's non-profit's annual gala. We host it every year, this year the theme is black and white."

"And you thought my hair would be a good match?" she smiled at the little joke.

"I hadn't thought about it." His serious reply left her with little doubt the he hadn't thought about it.

"Won't Gianna mind?" she asked.

"Don't worry about Gianna," he insisted with such coldness that she would hate to be in that poor girl's shoes, she must have done something to make him mad.

"A lover's tiff?" Lucy asked off-handedly, there was no way she could seriously consider the offer.

"No, she disrespected you in my house," he responded in a hard voice.

"So, you pity me and are going to use me to prove a point and upset your girlfriend?" Lucy fired back, suddenly angry. She stood, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the pew.

"No, I don't pity you. If you must know the truth, Gianna is proving to be a nuisance that I would rather not have in my life. I am asking you to attend the gala with me in an attempt to drive into her brain that my interests lay elsewhere," he said softly.

"Do they, lay elsewhere?" Lucy asked.

Zebadiah grinned and laughed aloud, and Lucy felt the gentle rumble of it all the way to her toes.

"Possibly, but either way, I get the feeling that you're not borderline psychotic," he said with an amused smile.

"No, but you should probably stay away from me just the same," she said sadly as she thought of all the grief that she had brought Thomas over the past years. "Besides, I don't have anything to wear to a gala." She stood and this time he let her.

"I'll be the judge of who I want to spend time with, but I thank you for the advice, and I will take care of the dress." He watched her as she watched him, they were both trying to figure out what the other one was thinking.

She really wanted to go, but did she dare?

"It's this Saturday in New Orleans, we will leave from here and return here, I promise to be a perfect gentleman, but I can't promise to have you home by midnight."

Lucy knew that it wasn't just about a date for her, it also meant going into a crowded room with a lot of people, and it would inevitably leave her ill, her senses overwhelmed when she saw visions of the choices that people made and where it would lead them. Parties, where the alcohol flowed freely, were the worst because people made very bad decisions.

But he couldn't know exactly what he had asked of her, and she really did want to go, maybe she could keep her eyes down and make sure she didn't talk or look at anyone.

Yeah, she would make a wonderful date. She shook her head once more. "There are more reasons-"

"Please," he asked simply.

Lucy didn't think he ever begged anyone for anything, so why was he begging her? It must be important, and she knew the moment she looked into his dark eyes that she had caved.

"Fine, but when it goes horribly wrong; I will be the first one to say I told you so," she insisted.

"I'm very rarely wrong Lucy, I feel that that is something that you should know about me." He stood and followed her out of the church, watching her as she locked the door.

"I'll let you know more later this week," he assured her as he got in his car, and she watched as he drove in the opposite direction of the house.

Lucy had the impression that he had already forgotten their conversation as he moved on to the next challenge of the day, whatever that might be.