I had trouble sleeping last night so I did a little writing in bed. Thank God for iPads and Bluetooth keyboards!

That was such a sweet thing to say, that I started to tear up. I blinked back the tears and gave him a tremulous smile. Clearing my throat, I looked to change the subject.

"I can't believe that you guys ate the entire pan of lasagna! I guess there won't be any leftovers."

There was a chorus of protests.

"Well, it was good!"

"I was really hungry."

"Hey, we are growing men!"

"You shouldn't have made it taste so good."

"I couldn't resist the last piece."

I laughed and said, "Well, I guess you don't want dessert after eating all that."

"Says, who?" exclaimed Jake looking offended. "The things I had to go through in order to get the cannolis from the bakery!"

"What happened at the bakery?" asked Preston.

"I was sexually harassed! Luckily Delphine was there to save me."

"I didn't save you! Mary did." I chimed in.

"You did too help. I swear if you weren't next to me she would have physically assaulted me." Jake shuddered as he said that. I laughed at his melodrama and started to clear plates to make room for the dessert. All the guys jumped up and took over.

"Uh, uh, buttercup! The deal was that you cook and we clean. Sit back down." Brady told me.

I sighed and sat back down. I watched them work and had to admit that they worked well together as a team and were very efficient.

In no time at all the dinner plates were in the kitchen and the smaller dessert plates were out on the table. Jake brought out the box from the bakery and set it in the middle. He opened it and first took out the cupcake with the pale blue frosting and set it in front of Lexine. Then he looked at me and asked which one I wanted. I pointed to the one with a light green filling.

"Ah, the pistachio! A good choice." Jake said and put in on my plate. He passed out the rest to the guys already knowing which ones they liked. Lexine and I waited until everybody had their dessert and then started to eat ours. I took a bite and had to close my eyes. It was that good!

When I opened my eyes again, the guys were all staring at me.

"Do I have something on my face?" I asked while wiping my mouth with a napkin.

"No! No..." said Preston. "You just looked like you were really enjoying that."

"It is pretty good." I admitted.

"I think that I might have to buy you one every day just to see that look on your face!" Jake told me with a wink.

I just shook my head at him. I was getting used to his outrageous comments.

"Preston, I think that Delphine had some questions for you about apartment rentals." Brady said.

"Oh yeah, I did. I was wanting to get your opinion on some listings that I found today. I want to make sure that I get one in a nice neighborhood."

Preston frowned. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that the others didn't look too happy about the subject either.

"Delphine, let's put the issue of apartments on the back burner for now. Why don't you think about what jobs you might like to apply for first? There really isn't any hurry to move out. You've only spent one night here."

"Um..OK." I felt unsure, like I had upset them somehow. I wished that I knew how to fix this.

"Well, I should get Lexine ready for bed. She needs a bath." I said, without really meeting any of their eyes. I forced a smile and got my girl from her chair. We headed upstairs to our room.

When we reached the top of the stairs, I heard my name called out. Jake was running up to us.

He took two stairs at a time and wasn't even out of breath.

"Delphine, I hope that you don't feel like you did anything wrong. Preston can be..."Jake paused." a little brusk sometimes. He cares, we all do and we are concerned about the two of you living on your own."

"There are plenty of single moms out there Jake. They seem to do just fine." I replied.

"Yes, I know. I didn't mean to imply that you are incompetent in any way, I guess we just like having the two of you around. Today was nice. It wasn't just us gross guys eating takeout and working. So, please don't feel bad about anything ok?" He put his hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes. I nodded and gave him a  little smile. He smiled back, leaned down and kissed my forehead. Scooping up Lexine he gave her a smacking kiss on her cheek and told her, "I'll see you tomorrow sweetie! Good night!" He turned to go back down the stairs.

Yet another kiss from one of the guys! Looking down at Lexine, I thought at least it wasn't just me this time.

"OK kiddo, let's get you in a bath!" and we continued down the hallway to our room.

Once I had her in the warm water, she couldn't stop chattering to me about the really big doggy that was hers now. I smiled at her, internally wishing that the rest of the world could see her like this.

"So what are you going to do with your really big doggy tomorrow?" I asked her and she continued to talk about it as I got her ready for bed.

The Men's Meeting Downstairs

Preston: OK, men. Brady and Jake have caught me up on how they met Ms. Williams and her daughter and subsequently why they were brought here. Wyatt, do you have the background check available?

Wyatt: Yes, and here is a copy for everyone. As you can see, she didn't lie about Texas or her timeline for getting here. Delphine Rose Williams, Age 32, Height 5'1, Weight 110 lbs., Green eyes, Dark brown hair...

Brady: There it is, marriage certificate for Delphine and Richard Williams. Hmm... Death certificate for Richard Williams. It's almost exactly one year since he died.

Jake: I can see that she has a family... Hmm...there is no contact with them. I wonder why?

Chase: I'm looking through the medical records here. It looks like Lexine's issues started a few years ago. She's been taken to specialists, they concluded Selective Mutism, and there have been regular visits with therapists, even in Texas. Delphine's a good mom. Her daughter is up to date on all her shots, regular doctor and therapy visits... I'll have to get detailed notes from her visits. I'll see what I can pull up from the hospital. Delphine's early records show that she was in and out of the doctors office with bruises, sprains and other various smaller injuries. They seemed to have stopped when she turned 18. I have a bad feeling that's why she isn't in contact with her family.

Preston: I'd also like you to pull up whatever you can find on Richard Williams medically. I want to dig deeper into all of this. Judging from her daughter's behavior and Delphine's, I suspect that they have been through quite a bit. Let's not push them too much. There possibly might have been emotional abuse by her husband, her self esteem is low, any praise is foreign to her. Let her volunteer any information to us. Don't let her know that we already have the info. Does anyone have anything to add?

Brady: Yeah, I don't really want her going anywhere alone. She is completely oblivious to men looking at her. At the diner last night, there were some rough looking truckers that kept eyeballing her.

Jake: Number one reason, I invited her back here. There is no telling what would have happened if they had followed her to a motel.

Preston: Understood. Let's all make sure that she has one of us with her outside of the house. Anything else?

Wyatt: Yes, I found some spyware on her iPad when I was hooking it up to our wifi. I got rid of it but sent a deactivated copy of it to my laptop. I want to investigate it to see where it came from. Somebody is interested in keeping tabs on her. Having one of us with her at all times is a good idea.

Preston: Keep me posted on anything new. Let's continue to make them feel comfortable here, so thoughts of leaving doesn't cross her mind. I have to apologize to her tomorrow. I didn't handle the apartment request very well tonight. All right, meeting adjourned.