The day had been exhausting. The heat had worn Laura down and the clothes had to be her least favorite. She had never seen so much suede and fringe in her life. The only saving grace had been the horses which had been delightful.

Laura had been amused watching Davis as he tried to get Kelly on a horse and finally settled for letting her lead the horse through a pasture.  Carmen was also familiar with horses so she had been equally amused.

They had worked through the sunset and had missed dinner at the house. Rainer and Caleb offered to take everyone out for drinks and dancing, and assured Carmen and Kelly that they would be able to get food where they were going. The last thing Laura wanted to do was go out dancing and drinking, so she passed and went to her room to take a shower and change.

Too tired to mess with her hair or make-up, she put on a pair of blue jeans and t-shirt keeping it simple. She braided her wet hair and put on her glasses before heading down to the kitchen to round up something to eat.

It was quiet when she entered and only Quinn and Davis were sitting at the table eating a sandwich. Davis pushed the plate towards Laura when she saw her, and the sandwiches looked so good she couldn't say no, she reached in the fridge for a beer before seating herself next to Davis.

"You two look exhausted." Quinn smiled.

"It's hard work being beautiful," Davis teased.

"No, it's hard work working for Davis Stevens," Laura countered before she bit into a sandwich. "Where is everyone?"

"Most of them went to the dancehall. Mom and Dad are in the living room with Bryce and Grace, and Dana is upstairs with a fussy Fiona."

"Is she sick?" Laura asked with concerned as she bit into the sandwich, so she missed Quinn's thoughtful expression.

"No, just teething." He rose, taking his mug of coffee to the sink to rinse it. "I think I'll go make sure that everything's O.K."

She and Davis continued to eat in silence after he had left. Davis hadn't mentioned her earlier revelation, and what he thought about it was a weighing heavily on her. Part of her wanted to ask him if he still loved her even though she had failed as a basic human being, and the other wanted him to say that he couldn't love her anymore and put her out of her misery.

When he was done eating he picked up his plate and took it to the sink. As he passed her to go into the living room he paused and kissed the top of her head. "I still love you Laura, you're not getting out of it that easily." It was said softly and she closed her eyes as relief flooded her.

"Why don't you hate me? I hate me," she whispered, pushing the rest of her sandwich away from her.

"Are you done eating?" he asked. Laura nodded, and Davis grabbed her hand and led her into the living room where his parents, Grace, and Bryce were all relaxing. Grace couldn't hide her surprise when she saw Laura's relaxed look and what Bryce was thinking was anyone's guess.

"How can you look so beautiful with no make-up and glasses?" Grace asked with teasing disgust.

"The same way you do Grace," Davis said as he pulled Laura onto the couch next to him.

Bryce was eyeing them with a questioning look. "I must say, you two are confusing the rest of us," he said,watching as Davis flung his arm around Laura's tense shoulders.

"Must you?" Davis grinned, making fun of his brother's proper speech. "How are we confusing you?" Davis asked, not at put off by his brother's direct comment in the least.

"You both say you're not dating and you're just friends, yet your current canoodling state implies that you are dating."

"Canoodling, did you, oh barrister of the Queens realm, just say canoodling?" Davis started to laugh as did Grace.

"Davis, stop your canoodling this instant!" Grace said sternly and then almost fell out of her seat laughing.  She was laughing so hard she snorted which made her and Davis laugh even harder.

Elizabeth and Doug had smiles on their faces and Laura was fighting one as she looked over at Bryce. Bryce wasn't watching her or Davis though, he was watching his wife with a look of such tenderness that it made Laura catch her breath. Did Davis look at her like that?

Bryce was cold like her father, but she had never seen her father look at her mother like that.  Her mother had been a trophy to keep polished and pretty and bring out on special occasions, and to ignore the rest of the time.

She would bet that Bryce would cut off his own arm before he would hit Grace.

Bryce looked away from Grace and his eyes met Laura's, still waiting for an answer, Davis answered for her.

"I'm trying to woo the lady but she's fighting me pretty hard."

"Why?" Bryce fired back

"I'll let you know when I figure that out." Davis's smile was tense.

"Your father is an Admiral in the Navy?" Bryce leaned forward, watching her as if he were questioning a hostile witness.

"Yes." This time is was Laura's turn to be tense.

"I've met him and I didn't much care for him," Bryce said, leaning back to see how she took the news. It was as if he was testing her and warning her at the same time. The warning was that he had more information that he would divulge if and when it was necessary. Laura remained silent, knowing anything she said could and would be used against her.

Thankfully Dana entered with a fussy Fiona.  "Quinn and I have both tried to calm her and neither one of us has been successful. Would one of you mind trying?" she begged, looking exhausted. The baby continued to fuss as she was passed around the room, everyone trying to calm her.

"Here Laura, you try. I seem to remember that you calmed her last time." Davis said as he placed Fiona in her arms.

Laura's heart melted as the little girl stopped crying and made little whimpering noises snuggling into her neck. Laura patted the baby's back, giving her little kisses, loving the baby smell that surrounded her.

"Thank God!" Dana sighed at the silence. She was not surprised, neither was Davis, or Quinn when he entered the room a few minutes later, but everyone else was still with shock.

After a few moments everyone else fell back into conversation with no one talking about anything in particular. They must have stayed that way for over an hour before everyone else came wandering back from the dancehall.

Laura had loved every moment of holding the small little body against her own, wondering what it would be like if she had her own baby. Would she screw it up like her parents had? Maybe not with someone like Davis by her side. A little voice whispered in the back of her head.

"I swear the woman looks good doing anything," Lizzy said, taking in the scene of her sitting next to Davis and holding Fiona.

"Lizzy!" Elizabeth reprimanded.

Laura slowly rose, taking the baby over to Dana and passing her over to the woman her face a cold mask. "It's all right Elizabeth, Lizzy has made her dislike of me very clear, I'm not surprised by it nor do I particularly care."

"Tell me, do you feel anything, ever?" Lizzy asked, crossing her arms defensively.

"That's enough Elizabeth!" Brian warned. Laura had noted earlier that he always referred to Lizzy as Elizabeth.

Laura ignored her question and turned to Bryce. "That makes two of you who aren't members of the Wren family fan club. It's turning out to be a trend in this family."

Bryce's eyes narrowed. "You don't seem to particularly upset that I don't like your father."

Laura gave her polite smile again,."I'm not." Turning to Davis, who was watching her closely, her smile faltered. She had probably let him down again. "What time tomorrow?"

"Five, were going to catch the sunrise."

She nodded as the others all came tumbling into the room. In all of the noise and confusion she slipped out and up to her room where she closed the door and let the tears come. It was a good thing that she had decided not to love Davis because his family couldn't stand the sight of her.

How awkward would it make family gatherings if she was always there? There must be something distinctively unlovable about her for this family, who seemed to be kind an accepting of almost everyone, not to be accepting of her.

At least Fiona seemed to like her.

There was a knock at her door and she cursed her weakness for letting the tears come when she wasn't safe in her own home. She wiped them away and looked at herself in the mirror, at least she wasn't wearing any make-up.

When she opened the door it was to find Bryce leaning against the wall opposite her door. His observant gaze missed nothing, including the tears on her face, as he silently regarded her.

"I wanted to apologize," he said, "I don't like your father, but there was no reason for me to tell you that."

"Sure there was. You wanted to try to get a reaction out of me just like everyone does. It's a challenge everyone tries, make the Ice Queen feel even if you have to hurt her to do it."

"The Ice Queen?"

"That's what everyone calls me."

"How long have they called you that?"

"Since I was thirteen maybe, boarding school." Laura matched his cool gaze. She couldn't hide the tear stained face but there was no reason she had to let him see her emotions.

"Has anyone ever won the challenge?"

"Yes," she admitted it grudgingly.

"Davis?"

"Yes." She remembered the first time she had met him. He had gotten past the challenge with their first conversation.  She really hadn't stood a chance. The only way she would win was to never see him again.

Suddenly, she knew what she had to do. She had to leave, give up modeling and start on a normal life.  It was a little earlier than she had intended to do it, but she had enough saved so she could manage it. This was the last of that years photoshoots for Landau.

"You're a contract lawyer, right?"

"Yes." His eyes narrowed.

"I'd like to hire you."

"What for?"

"I want you to get me out of my Landau contract."

He was silent as he deliberated. "Get me a copy and I'll look it over. If I can't get you out of it we might be able to renegotiate it."

"Thank you," she said watching as he turned to leave.

"Why?" he asked, stopping the turning to look at her.

"To make my father happy," she lied.

Bryce's head tilted in thought. "No, that's not it, but I don't suppose it's any of my business."

"No, it's not," she said, closing the door. She had a plan, now all she had to do was to be strong enough to see it through.