Disclaimer: see chapter 1
A/N: I bet you all thought I had forgotten about him, didn't you...

"Kendall, will you please get back in the damn house!"

She glared at him from the center of the courtyard, resolute. She was hell bent on getting rid of him, and since the normal techniques didn't seem to be working, she had to go to extremes. She was solely focused on getting Ryan out of her house that she didn't feel the rain or noticed that her clothes were soaked through.

"Kendall, get in here!"

"LEAVE!"

"I'm not leaving till you get back in here."

"Well, I'm not coming back inside till you leave, so it would seem that we are at an impasse!" He just stared at her from the front door. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot.

"God, Kendall!" The thunder rolled right above her head. "Is this a good time for you? Are you having fun?"

"Are you having fun with this?"

"I'm thrilled. And you're going to live happily ever after with the man you love -- at least till next week. It's good."

"You're a jerk!"

"Ok. Ah. Ahem."

"Ahem."

"Well, that seals it -- irreconcilable differences. No-fault divorce. You'll be free in no time."

"You're tormenting me, you know that?"

"No, I'm wishing you well."

"Give -- fine. There's no marriage, ok? There's not even a fling."

"So the divorce is off?"

"I was packed up to go stay with Greenlee for a few nights. I didn't want her to be alone."

"She's lucky to have you."

"Yeah, whatever. See you around -- or not."

"Kendall -- I meant what I said. The deal was you stay in this marriage until you don't want to anymore. And if that time is now, we'll end it -- tonight."

"You want to end our marriage? Is that what you're saying?"

"I don't know. It's been working for me business-wise. Casino's doing well, and you've been a great asset."

"Well, I'm so glad I could help you. Call me if you need an extra keno girl."

The thunder made her jump and Zach took a step toward Kendall.

"You all right? So -- Kendall Hart, afraid of thunder?"

"No. No, of course not. I -- my mom and my sister -- they don't like storms. Ahem -- it reminds them of – "

"What's it remind you of?"

"Thunder and lightning brings me back to the night we almost lost Bianca, the night that she had Miranda, and then everything went to hell."

"Why don't you come inside until the storm's over?"

"No, I'm -- I'm fine. I don't -- I don't need to do that. I really just want to -- I want to forget the whole night. When I think I have -- I think I've erased it from my mind -- and then more thunder, and then I go right back to where I was. And now, with Ryan gone -- will every storm rain down pain on me forever? You know, I have enough going on. I have enough things in my life, so I think divorce would just be more of a hassle. Maybe we should just stay married. We should definitely stay married."

Kendall ran her hands up and down her arms as the rain poured down and the thunder rolled again.

"Kendall, get in the damn house!"

"LEAVE!" She missed Ryan glancing over her shoulder quickly and then back at her.

"FINE!" Ryan grabbed his jacket off the couch and threw it over his head. He stalked out of the house and past her, not looking back. She sighed and stared at the direction he went, finally feeling at ease. It was only then that she noticed that the rain wasn't beating down on her anymore. She rolled her eyes up to see the umbrella over her head. She looked over her shoulder and smiled, seeing him standing behind her under the umbrella, a wisp of a smile on his face.

"You looked you like needed a hand."

TBC…