The Douglas Farm, later that evening

Lisa was putting her hotcake batter on the stove when she heard the front door open. She ran to the living room and saw Oliver closing the door.

"Olivah!" Lisa exclaimed. "Vhere have you been? I vas beginning to get worried."

"I'm sorry, honey. I didn't mean to leave you on your first night home. I guess I wasn't thinking clearly." Oliver said.

"I'll say." Lisa replied sarcastically.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Oliver asked, shocked at the tone she used.

"Olivah, you had no reason to yell at Eb like that!" Lisa said angrily. She realized her dinner was going to burn if she did not attend to it, so she turned around and headed for the kitchen, with Oliver at her heels.

"What do you mean I had no right to yell at him! He was the one who caused the fire that nearly killed you!" Oliver yelled.

"Stop yelling, you're giving me a headache." Lisa said as she put her fingers to her temples.

Oliver immediately regretted losing his temper. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. It's just that every time I think about Eb's negligence, I get angry all over again."

"Olivah, you vere too hard on the boy. He hasn't been home for hours. I'm starting to vorry about him."

"I'm glad he's not home. I don't want him near you ever again."

"You're being unreasonable."

"I am not!" Oliver replied angrily. He sat down in his usual spot at the kitchen table and crossed his arms in front of his chest in a stubborn manner.

Lisa scowled and returned to her cooking, but after a while in front of the hot stove, her vision began to blur and she suddenly felt very dizzy. She leaned on the refrigerator for support. Oliver quickly took notice.

"Lisa, are you all right?" Oliver got up from his chair and walked over to her.

"I'm all right. I think the heat from the stove just got me a little dizzy."

"Here, come sit down." Oliver said as he led her to the chair he had been sitting at. Lisa sat down and began taking deep breaths to make the room stop spinning. She leaned her head on her hands and closed her eyes.

"Let me get you some water." Oliver said.

"No, dahling, I'm fine. It's just a small dizzy spell. It's going away."

"Are you sure?"

Lisa nodded. The room grew still again and her vision returned to normal.

"Now see what Eb did to you!" Oliver added stubbornly.

"Olivah, nobody did this to me. It vas an accident. And I think you know that as vell as I do."

"Well…maybe." Oliver replied, finally relenting a little.

"Dahling, deep down, there is something wrong that made you vant to put the blame on someone else, isn't there."

"Well….maybe." he said, relenting a little more.

"You blame yourself, don't you?" Lisa pried.

"Well…maybe." Oliver replied. He looked into her eyes. "Oh Lisa, I've been a fool."

Lisa got up from her chair slowly, walked over to Oliver, and then put her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. Oliver wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight.

"I know it wasn't Eb's fault. I've known all along. It's just that I came so close to losing you. It terrified me. And deep down, I blamed myself for not being there when you needed me most. I needed to put the blame on someone else, or I would go crazy."

Lisa picked up her head and looked into his eyes. "Olivah, you mustn't blame yourself for vhat happened to me. It vas an accident. There vas nothing you could have done. You are completely blameless."

Oliver smiled, knowing and believing she was right. He bent down to her and kissed her sweetly on the lips. After they kissed, Oliver squeezed Lisa lovingly, and said, "Don't you dare ever scare me like that again."

"I'll try not to." Lisa replied and smiled. They kissed again, but then Lisa pulled away. "Dahling, do you smell something burning?" They turned to the stove, which was billowing with smoke.

"My hotscakes!" Lisa exclaimed. Oliver ran over to the sink and filled a bowl with water. He then ran over to the stove and poured it onto the hotcakes. More smoke billowed, but then died down, revealing four charred hotscakes.

Lisa walked over to the stove and examined the damage. "Oh, they're ruined!" Lisa said sadly.

"Nonsense. They're just a little burnt. It can't make them taste worse than they already do." Oliver said.

"Olivah!" Lisa exclaimed.

"I'm just teasing, honey." Oliver said, then he kissed her on the cheek.

Lisa smiled, but then realized something. "Olivah, you must go find Eb and apologize to him, before he leaves us forever!"

"You're right! I completely forgot about him." Oliver said.

"Vhere do you think he is?" Lisa asked.

"I don't know." Oliver replied. "But I have a feeling he's where he always goes when he wants to be alone. I'll go see."

"All right, dahling. Please hurry." Lisa said, worried that he might have already headed off farther than Oliver expected. Oliver gave her a kiss good-bye, then headed out the back door.

Lisa tried to resume her dinner preparations, but was too distracted. Instead, she sat down in the couch in the living room and prayed that Eb was right where Oliver thought he was.