The heat of the day had finally lifted. The majority of the crew were staying in the temporary trailers onsite, and Beth had agreed to share with Mave. It was tight quarters, but it was no different than when they had gone camping as kids.

Beth had hoped for a little time to herself, so she decided to take a short walk, but she didn't get very far before Mave caught up with her, and started talking insistently. It was mostly about her co-star, Brandon Kenneth, and how he wasn't even trying. Bored with the conversation, Beth wandered towards Slave Row.

It was early evening and Beth knew the buildings would be locked, but she still wanted to see them. The wind was blowing through the trees, the cicadas were humming, and the tourists had left for the day. The place was quiet and still except for Mave chattering away beside her.

As children, she and Mave had been total opposites. Mave had been the shy one because she was teased about her red hair. Beth had been the strong one, standing up for her at every turn, but when puberty had hit, it had all changed. Mave had realized that she was beautiful, and she had thrived, coming out of her shell and always wanting to be the life of the party. Beth, on the other hand, had turned into herself as she watched her twin fight for all of the attention. It hadn't bothered her overly much because she had her books and the occasional date and felt comfortable with who she had become.

Beth rounded the curve on the road and saw the cabins sitting in the evening shadows.

"Where are we?" Mave asked.

"This is Slave Row," Beth said as she walked towards the cabin that held Mary's information inside.

There was a display of artifacts outside, and Beth wandered over to it, looking closely at all of the information displayed. Mave was peeking in the windows, talking about how desolate it looked when they heard the squeaking of a golf cart behind them as it rolled to a stop.

"Hello, ladies. Are you doing a little exploring?" a southern drawl said from behind them.

Mave turned towards the voice with a smile, the charm turned to high, just in case they might be in trouble.

"It is allowed, isn't it?" she sweetly asked as she approached the cart, recognizing Shell.

Beth looked at them from afar, her palms started to sweat and her cheeks flushed as she noticed Wyatt sitting next to his father. In the seat behind them was Kay, and the girl that Beth guessed was named Katherine.

"Of course, darlin'. Let me introduce my son, Wyatt, and our friend, Katherine. We were out showing her the grounds," Shell said with a smile.

"Mave Stevens," Mave said, holding her hand out to Katherine first and then Wyatt. It didn't take a mind reader to see that Mave was smitten with Wyatt, and why wouldn't she be? He was as handsome as she remembered.

He was wearing a t-shirt that was stretched tight across a large chest in a green that matched his eyes. His dark hair was longer than it had been, and Beth could see an attempt to try to control the waves, and his jaw was covered in stubble, whereas last time, he had been cleanly shaven.

"Would you care to join us?" Shell invited.

There was room on the back of the cart, facing the opposite direction, but Mave, much to Beth's relief, shook her head. Beth knew her sister well. Mave had either said no because of the open hostility in Kay's expression or because she didn't like the idea of being placed in the back of the cart. "No, thank you. Beth and I haven't spent all that much time together lately, so we're getting caught up right now."

Everyone's eyes turned to Beth, and she gave them a friendly but forced smile and a little wave. When her glance bounced of Wyatt, he didn't seem to express any more interest in her than he had her sister.

Beth felt her spirits sink as she realized he probably didn't recognize her. She looked back down at the artifacts as if they were the most exciting things in the world.

"Would you like us to open the cabin so you can take a look?" Shell asked, preparing to do that very thing, but his wife placed a restraining hand on his arm.

"Not right now, dear. We have coffee and dessert waiting at the house." While Kay's smile was friendly, her eyes were not.

"But it will only take a minute, Kay," Shell insisted.

"I can stay and open it then meet you back up at the house when they're finished looking," Wyatt suggested, getting off of the cart.

This wasn't the solution that Kay wanted, and Beth watched discreetly as her face became twisted in anger.

"Would you like to see the cabin, Katherine? You can walk back with Wyatt when you're done," Kay offered in an attempt to save the situation.

"Sure," Katherine said with a smile as she joined Wyatt. She was a striking woman; tall and thin like Kay with luxurious black hair and a nose that was a bit too sharp and a chin too square. Beth would place her in her mid to late twenties. She was the type of woman that you saw on the fashion catwalks of Paris.

"You youngsters have fun!" Shell called as he turned the cart back towards the house with a toot of the horn. Beth suppressed a smile as she watched Kay lay into him the entire way down the road.

The exhibit Beth was standing in front of was placed next to the entrance of the cabin, and as Beth looked away from the cart, she looked right into Wyatt's eyes as he approached the door to open it.

He gave her a polite smile as he pushed open the door, stepping inside. Katherine followed behind him, but Mave stopped in front of Beth. "How hot is he?" she hissed under her breath with a giggle.

Beth gave her sister a weak smile and watched as Mave stepped into the cabin and immediately launched into questions about the history of it. Wyatt started on the same presentation that he had given Beth five years earlier.

Taking a deep breath, Beth stepped into the cabin, noting that nothing had changed, the same photo of Mary was there as was the trunk that had held the quilt that he had wrapped around them. She wandered over to the window and looked out of it and up at the big house, wondering if it was the same view that Mary had had in her days on the plantation.

"She's fierce-looking!" Mave said as she looked at Mary's photo.

Wyatt didn't say anything, but Katherine joined Mave and nodded. "She would have to fierce to survive being someone's slave." Katherine turned to Wyatt. "Does it bother you that your family owned slaves?" she asked her voice full of curiosity.

Wyatt considered her question seriously for a moment. "Perhaps, but if we look far enough into any of our family's histories we'll all find things we don't like or things of which aren't proud. What I think is important is that we don't repeat those same mistakes."

Beth kept her attention focused outside the window, listening to his deep voice with its slight southern drawl. "And sometimes we'll find family histories that make us proud," Beth said as she turned towards the others.

"I'm proud of our family!" Mave spouted.

"And we're proud of you, Mave," Beth returned with a smile.

They looked around for a little more, and Katherine stepped outside of the cabin calling to Wyatt so she could ask him a question and Mave followed, wanting to keep the handsome man close.

Beth took a moment to look at Mary's photo. She had one of her own at home, but somehow seeing it here made it look different. "So much for hoping, eh, great-grandmother?" she asked with a sad smile before she turned and left the cabin.

As she stepped over the threshold, her toe caught on the uneven ground, and she stumbled. Wyatt's hand reached out and grabbed her arm, keeping her from face planting. With burning cheeks, she looked up at him. "Thank you."

He nodded, giving her another polite smile before turning his attention back towards Katherine, while Mave rolled her eyes at Beth.

"If it was anyone else but you Beth, I would swear you did that on purpose." Mave giggled.

Beth's face turned an even deeper shade of red as she quickly looked up at Wyatt to see if he heard Mave's comment. He appeared not to, as he answered Katherine's question with a serious expression.

Beth tried hard to calm her burning cheeks as Wyatt turned to lock the door behind them, and Katherine started a conversation with Mave as they walked back towards the main road.

"No female wiles, if I recall," Wyatt said into her ear as he finished locking the door.

Beth jumped at the feel of his breath in her cheek. "You remember?" Her brown eyes looked into his searchingly.

"I do," he said before walking off to join the others.

Mave linked her arm thought his. "What do you do, besides being a rich land owner's son. I assume that's not all that you do, although it would be enough to keep you busy, I'm sure."

"You know all about landing owning, do you?" Wyatt returned with a twitch of his lip, finding Mave's comment amusing as he politely extracted his arm on the pretense of helping her around an ant bed.

"We do actually," Beth defended in her soft voice. "Our grandmother's family owns a ranch in Texas, and our grandfather's family owns a farm in England."

"Beth's very serious about our family roots," Mave explained. "But do you do anything else?" she asked again.

"I'm a lawyer," Wyatt placed his hand on Katherine's lower back as he turned them towards the road and away from the cabins, and Beth swallowed hard against the jealousy that rose up in her at his minor action.

"Here, in South Carolina?" Mave questioned, eager to learn more.

"No, in New York. That's where I went to school and decided to stay."

Mave placed a hand on Wyatt's arm, excited by his news. "Then you might know our uncle, Bryce Stevens!"

Wyatt stopped and looked at both Mave and Beth. "You're related to Bryce Stevens?"

Mave nodded, wearing an excited smile.

"And Alice Stevens? She was one of my professors at school?" he asked. His eyes glued to Beth.

"She's our mother!" Mave crowed, practically jumping from foot to foot. Our other aunt teaches with her and is married to Uncle Bryce, Grace Winston."

Beth watched Wyatt take a deep breath then give a self-mocking smile. "A farm in England, uh?" He raised an eyebrow, his eyes never leaving Beth's. "That means your father is Rainer Stevens," he said as all of the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

"We're no more special than anyone else," Beth muttered as Wyatt propelled them all into walking towards the house.

Katherine had caught on about who they were discussing and bombarded Mave with all kinds of questions. Then the questions somehow took the conversation to the movie that was being filmed on-site, leaving Beth and Wyatt to bring up the rear.

"You're the granddaughter of an Earl and a slave. I would say that makes you pretty special, Beth." The way he said her name made her shiver, and she looked up at him. "Mary would be pleased."

He did remember.

She was about to ask him why he had pretended that he didn't remember when they heard Kay's voice calling them.

Katherine tried to insist that they join them, wanting to learn more about the Stevens family, but Wyatt cut it short, saying there would be more time to talk tomorrow.

"My father told me you wanted to see the archives?" he asked Beth.

She nodded, unable to say anything as he searched her face.

"They're kept at our place in Charleston. Can you meet me at the house at nine o'clock tomorrow morning?"

Beth nodded and watched as he placed his hand in the small of Katherine's back once more and led her towards Kay's waiting figure. "Pack an overnight bag, just in case," he called over his shoulder.

"I like him," Mave said with a grin as she grabbed Beth's arm and pulled her back towards the trailers. "Let's see if we can find anything to eat. I'm starving!"

Somehow, Beth wasn't hungry. Her heart had jumped at the word overnight. Meeting Wyatt again hadn't gone as she had expected, not that she knew what she had expected, but he did remember her, and that was something.