Lia had a quick cry then washed her face and moved to the living room to wait for everyone to return. She was on the phone with Chloe when Ben and her family arrived, and Chloe was telling her about how ill Faye had been but that she was on the mend. Lia was thankful that Silas had been there to take care of her.

"Is everything alright?" Ben asked as he grabbed a soda and sat in the chair in front of his makeshift desk. He could have been referring to their earlier conversation or the phone call she had just finished. Lia decided to go with the latter.

"Yes, Chloe was filling me in on Faye, she's was sicker than we thought, but Silas took care of her, and she's doing better." Huck jumped up on the couch and she pushed him down, wanting to make room for her brothers and father. Huck shot her a nasty look then moved to sit by Ben. She wanted to tell Huck that Ben didn't want him either, but Huck was blissfully unaware of the situation.

"Who is Silas?" her father, asked sitting on the couch next to her.

"He's a trauma surgeon at the hospital." There was a lot more to it than that, but it didn't matter to them.

"Is he really?" Ben asked, surprised at the news.

"Yes." She nodded her thoughts not really on the conversation. She was replaying her and Ben's conversation over in her head, and one detail kept sticking out more than any of the others. He had said that he couldn't let her love him, but he had never said that he couldn't love her. Ben was a wordsmith, words were what he did for a living. He wouldn't make a mistake like that.

She looked at him and smiled as hope filled her. He hadn't said he didn't love her.

*******

Ben couldn't begin to fathom what the woman was thinking now. He watched her start grinning like an idiot, and he wondered what trouble she was creating in her own mind. He was at his wit's end, and he didn't know how much more he could take. He was so close to breaking.

Last night when she had admitted to having felt loved because of his actions, it had thrown him and made him look hard at his own emotions. He had watched her sleeping and realized that he had come to care for her; care enough to not want to hurt her because he couldn't commit.

This morning, her declaration of love had made his heart soar and then plummet. He wanted her, there was no doubt about it, and he was in love with her if he was being honest with himself, but he couldn't take the leap, there was something holding him back. A fear he couldn't name or describe.

Meeting her family had been unexpected, but he liked them. They were down to earth, well-adjusted people, and he could see where Lia got her strength of character from and her stubbornness. He had left them that morning so that they could talk about him because he knew that was what they wanted, and whatever their qualms were, Lia appeared to have dealt with them because they were all friends now.

He listened in on their conversation now and realized that they were about to leave. Leo had chartered a deep-sea charter for them and it left in an hour. Lia was offering her car and they had moved on to dinner that evening and what their plans were going to be.

"My parents would like to have you to their place if you're willing?" Ben offered. He had talked to his mother that morning, and she was eager to play hostess to Lia's family. He had told her repeatedly that he and Lia were not really engaged, but he truly believed she was in denial.

They all agreed, and Ben watched quietly as they began to gather their things for their trip. They invited Ben, but he declined, saying he had some work to do. They accepted his excuse and within half an hour they were all walking out the door.

This left Lia and Ben alone once more, and an awkward silence descended as Lia stood in the middle of the living room while Huck decided it was safe to make a move and jumped back up on the couch with a contented groan.

"Are you alright, Lia?" he asked. Making sure that she wouldn't misunderstand the question this time.

"I'm fine Ben," she said with a smile, that once again worried him.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

"Nope, this time I'm not sharing. I'm playing this card close so that you don't know what's coming. I'll play it when I'm ready and when I need to." She walked over to him and put her hands on either side of him on the armrests of the chair. "But know this Benjamin Emerson, I haven't given up just yet." Then she kissed him quick and hard, stealing his breath, or maybe it wasn't her kiss, maybe it was her words. She wasn't giving up, she was giving him time, she wasn't listening to him, and he thanked God for her stubbornness.

When she went to pull away, he held her fast and kissed her longer, until they were both out of breath, but he couldn't say anything, and the way Lia looked at him led him to believe that he didn't need to, that she understood his unspoken gratitude.

Lia stepped away from him and moved to sit on the couch next to Huck.

"I take it you talked to your father and brothers about me. They all seemed much more accepting this morning." He leaned back in his chair, admiring her flushed cheeks and sexy smile. She was beautiful

"I did. They all know of Benjamin Emerson, the famous writer. Lawson can't wait to get back to school and tell all his friends that you're going to be his brother-in-law. It's going to break his heart when we finally break-up." Lia looked at him, testing his response, and he enjoyed watching her eyes spark when he didn't respond.

"But that's not what impressed them the most. They were really impressed that you personally know Brian Alexander. That got them all excited. I think my dad was ready to marry you himself just for the contact."

Ben smiled. "They seemed equally impressed when Brian's brother-in-law, Mason Stevens, and his wife, Cassandra  stopped by right before we returned. Lawson even managed to get a selfie with them." He watched Lia's eyes grow wide and her mouth open and close.

She reached for her phone and pulled up Lawson's Facebook page, and sure enough there it was, a picture of him with Cassie and Mason and another with Ben. The caption under his and Ben's photo read, 'Me and my future brother-in-law, Benjamin Emerson, hanging out'.

"Why didn't you tell me or call me!" she all but screamed. She may not know who Ben was in the grand scheme of things but she did know who Mason and Cassandra Stevens were. She jumped up off the couch and started pacing, upset that she had lost such an opportunity.

"I made sure to set-up a dinner one evening while they are in town. You'll get to spend plenty of time with them both," Ben said, grinning because he knew it would make her happy.

Lia gave a little squeal and threw her arms around him. "Thank you!"

Huck barked, unsure of what was so exciting but wanting to contribute to the conversation.

"But how do you know them all?" Lia asked, pulling away.

"I spent some time traveling with Mason's brother, Rainer, while I was in the foreign press corps. We were in a few tense situations and became good friends. After Ilianna, he invited me to spend time with his family. They tend to take in the weary and wounded, heal them, and then send them back into the world with an appreciation for big families and Texas."

"Texas," Lia asked, hardly listening.

"Yes, it's where their family ranch is located," Ben explained, watching Lia as she danced into the kitchen.

He was glad that he had made her so happy, it was a nice change from the tears he knew he had made her cry earlier, but he was fighting himself on thinking about why making her happy mattered so much. He just hoped she wasn't counting on him finding his way through the mess he had made of his life anytime soon. He needed time, and he prayed she would give it to him.