Ophelia sat heavily on the small sofa and took a deep breath. Okay, she needed to be realistic, she thought. She would not be ruined if they went back to Oak Island. She had never broken the law or done anything horrible, but she had spent a youth filled with humiliation, and she didn't want the Richards family to know that side of her.

In L.A, she had it all together. She was competent, attractive, and needed. Back home, she was a nobody, an outcast, and if they discovered it, then they might start to see her that way as well.

Ophelia rested her head in her hands and gave a little moan. It was going to be embarrassing, humiliating, awful, and she could see no way of getting out of it.

Polly's wet nose nudged her arm in greeting or consolation.

"You'll still love me, right girl?" she asked as she buried her head in the dog's fur. Polly was a black and white Pitbull mix. She had a large destructive tail and the kindest eyes.

Polly wagged her tail in agreement then gave a little whine.

"You're Daddy's here to get you!" Polly stood up and danced from paw to paw at the news. "Do you want to go out one more time before you hit the road?"

Polly ran to the door and waited patiently for Ophelia to open it and release her into the lush backyard. One of the perks of the job had been the cottage, and she loved it. At first, she had commuted from an apartment on the wrong side of town, but when Reyna realized she would stay, she had offered her the cottage.

It worked surprisingly well for all of them. When Richards' traveled, she could house sit, and her commute was non-existent. Reyna had been very respectful of her off time and didn't bother her unless it was a dire emergency, but then she was the same with her kids. She was not a needy woman and enjoyed being on her own as much as she enjoyed being the life of the party. She was someone that Ophelia aspired to be.

Ophelia opened the door and let Polly out. Getting to keep Polly for Sullivan was a perk of her job. She had always wanted a dog, and she kept Polly so often, it was as if she was partly her dog.

Polly immediately ran towards the small four-foot fence surrounding the ground's keepers shed and started to paw at something.

Ophelia walked towards her and leaned down to notice that she had lost her favorite toy behind the fence, and she was trying to get it back. It must have happened earlier that morning, right before she decided to jump up on Ophelia. Perhaps that was why she had jumped up on her.

Ophelia walked around to the gate and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. She leaned over it and noticed that it was padlocked. Why on earth did it need to be padlocked? With a sigh, because it really wasn't her morning, she walked back towards Polly, where she was trying to dig her way under the fence.

"Stop, Polly!" Ophelia demanded, and the dog listened and sat with a whine.

"I'll try, but I don't think my arms are long enough, girl." Ophelia hiked up her sleeves on her silk blouse and leaned over the fence. She immediately heard fabric ripping and muttered under her breath.

The toy was within fingers reach, and she wiggled forward a little more, grabbing it, but as she went to straighten up, she realized she was too top-heavy, and her hips were on the wrong side of the fence. When she pushed up off the ground, she couldn't get enough leverage.

She could keep going forward, but then she'd be in the same situation only with a slobbery dog in her face.

Ophelia took a deep breath and started to think. Maybe if she pushed off the fence and not the ground, she tried it only to have her face hit the fence. The pickets were now digging into her hips and starting to hurt.

"Can I help you?" Sullivan asked in his usual dry voice. At least he wasn't laughing at her.

Ophelia peaked under her arm and saw that he was indeed amused at her current situation.

"Yes, please," she squeaked as her arm caved.

He stepped forward and grabbed her by the hips. "I'm going to lift you up and back. Can you walk forward with your arms?"

Ophelia nodded, biting her lips as she felt his lower half connect with her lower half. She was so anxious to get out of her current situation that she pushed off a little too hard, and Sullivan lost his balance as she came free.

They both went careening backward, landing on the ground with a thump. It had knocked the wind out of Ophelia, so she knew it had to have done the same to Sullivan. They laid their next to each other silently as they waited to get their breath back. Polly sat looking at them, grinning if that was possible.

Ophelia threw Polly her toy, and she took off with it, unconcerned that they were possibly dying.

"The things I do for your dog!" Ophelia said with a smile and turned to look at Sullivan. He was lying very still and had gone very pale.

"Sullivan!" she said, sitting up and leaning over him. She had forgotten that he still wasn't well. Maybe she had asked him to do too much.

Ophelia's thick blanket of hair had come undone, and she swept it out of her face as she leaned over him, placing her hand in the middle of his chest. "Are you alright?" Her voice wavered in fear.

Sullivan's hand moved to cover hers where it rested on his chest.

"I'm fine!" he said between clenched teeth. "Did you have to wiggle so much?"

His eyes opened, and the first thing he focused on was her curtain of dark hair, where it fell over her shoulder, brushing his chest.

"I'm sorry! I was doing it for your dog!" she huffed as she sat up in a hurry. When she went to remove her hand, he held it in place.

"Just a minute more, please. I really had the wind knocked out of me."

Ophelia waited, feeling his strong heartbeat behind the solid wall of muscle that was his chest. She couldn't help it when her fingers twitched a little, feeling his chest hair behind the cotton of his button-down shirt.

Then he quickly sat up and whistled for Polly, who bounded over with her toy. They spent a few minutes loving on each other, and then he focused on Ophelia once more.

"Do you have a minute to talk?" he asked, his eyes meeting hers once more.

He appeared to have caught his breath.

"Sure, would you like to go inside? I have to get Polly's leash for you anyway." Ophelia stood and walked toward the cottage watching from the corner of her eye as he appeared to stand up with no issues.

Once he was in the cottage, his massive frame filled the small space.

"You ripped your shirt." Sullivan nodded to her blouse, which had a massive tear up the side seam and hung limply from her frame. She was surprised she hadn't noticed it right away, but then being close to Sullivan had a way of taking over all of her senses.

"Oh!" Ophelia looked down at her shirt. "Would you give me a minute?" she asked as she darted into her bedroom to change. Ophelia quickly took off the skirt and shirt and put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She would change before she went back up to the house.

When she rejoined Sullivan, she noticed her was lying on the sofa with his head resting on the back and his eyes closed.

"Are you tired?" Ophelia asked as she sat across from him.

"My energy is still low, but I'll be fine in a few more days," he admitted. Ophelia was amazed he admitted it. In four years, she had never seen him ill.

He was looking at her hair again, and she pushed it off her shoulders while clearing her throat.

"I didn't realize your hair was so long," he remarked, possibly as an excuse as to why he was staring.

"I've been thinking about cutting it. Something like your sisters maybe," Ophelia said more for something to say then because she was worried about it. Shay Richards had a pixie cut, and it suited her small face.

"Don't do that. It's nice." He reached for Polly's toy and squeaked it.

Ophelia was stunned into silence by the almost compliment.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked after a few minutes of continued silence.

"Why don't you want to go to Georgia to film?" Sullivan asked bluntly.

Good, they were back on firm ground, no compliments here.

"Why do you want to film in Georgia?" she asked in response.

"Because the town is the perfect set, the taxes are lower, and the mayor is cutting me a great deal, but again, why don't you want to film in Georgia?"

"It's not my choice, so it doesn't really matter," Ophelia hedged as she stood to get Polly's leash in an attempt to get him to leave.

"No, it's not your choice, but I would like to know if there is a problem." Sullivan sat forward on the couch, alert and ready for battle.

"There should be no problem," she insisted as she knelt on the floor, and Polly moved towards her. "Are you sure you don't want me to keep her a few more days?"

"I'm sure, just like I'm sure you're hiding something." He stood, towering above her.

"I'm not wanted by the law or anything like that. I only have family in the area I would rather avoid if possible." There, that was the truth.

"I don't think that will be a problem. You'll be too busy to socialize, but I am intrigued to meet your family." He studied her as if trying to figure out from where she came and how much of what she was saying was the truth.

"With any luck, you won't meet them." Ophelia followed his lead and stood. She knew he would meet some of them and probably already had if he knew the mayor.

Ophelia handed him the leash, and he took it, his hand brushing hers.

"One more question," Sullivan looked down at her.

"What's the question?" she asked when he was quiet for a moment longer than was necessary.

"My mother, what's going on with her?" His face was suddenly hard.

"Do you trust me, Sullivan?" Ophelia asked, stepping away from him to regain her equilibrium.

"I do." He nodded, and Ophelia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He had never confirmed it, and she was glad to hear it.

"Then will you trust me when I tell you it really is nothing, but if it becomes something, I will let you know. Your mother trusts me too, and I don't want to betray that trust over something as minor as this." Ophelia crossed her arms defensively.

"Alright," he agreed, turning to go. "Deal with whatever issues you have in Georgia, we will be leaving right after Thanksgiving, and you will be coming. I can't do this without you."

Ophelia's heart leaped at his words, even though he meant that he needed her to work. It still meant something to her, just as his admission that he trusted her did.

"I'll deal with it," she agreed.

When he left, he took all of his energy with him, and with Polly gone too, she felt suddenly lonely.