Angela had been avoiding Gray ever since the Firefly Festival, which was just fine because Gray had been avoiding her too. She had felt her heart opening up to him, and that was dangerous. She was not willing to let herself feel what she had once felt with Darryn. When she had walked away from Darryn right here in Sundae Inn, she had promised herself that she would not allow herself to ever be that vulnerable to a man again. She was failing miserably at keeping that promise to herself. Gray and his sad blue eyes were weakening her defenses. It had been hard to keep control of her wild emotions. Staying away from Gray had seemed like the safest option.

Molly had hounded her non stop after the festival, asking what happened. Angela had done the best she could to divert her sister's attention. Avoiding Gray had cased Angela to become a bit of a recluse. Finally, Molly had forced Angela to come out to the bar.

"It's good to see you here," Hayden said with a smile. Angela smiled in return. She really enjoyed the bartender's company.

The door to the bar opened, she turned to look at who the patron was. She recognized the familiar dusty brown cowboy hat of Calvin. She had not seen him in a while, he had gone off on some other adventure, but apparently was back. He smiled when he saw Angela's face, and strolled over to her.

"Well hello pretty lady, did you miss me while I was gone?" he asked, and leaned against the counter casually. Angela had certainly not even noticed that he was gone until now.

"Oh yes, I barely knew what to do with myself," Angela replied sarcastically. Calvin did not seem to flinch at the sarcasm in her voice. Instead he tipped her head gently with his finger under her chin.

"Why don't you come with me next time?" Calvin asked, it almost sounded like a purr coming from him. Angela chuckled.

"I think that would hinder your being able to flirt with all the other ladies you met," Angela said with a smirk on her face. Calvin just laughed back at Angela.

"Why don't you let an old man buy you a drink?" Calvin replied.

"I already have one," She answered him, lifting the glass in her hand towards his face.

"Yes but one can never have too many drinks."

"I beg to differ," Angela muttered. Calvin merely smiled, not allowing any of her disinterest affect him, he simply shrugged.

"Well if you change your mind..." Calvin was simply too much of a flirt to be ruffled by Angela's rebuff. Angela also knew that Calvin was not simply going to be hurt by her, because he simply was not that interested. "Hayden, a Cranberry Cocktail if you will please." Hayden merely nodded. "So how has Waffle Island been since I've been gone?"

"About the same," Angela muttered.

"That's all I'm going to get from you isn't it?" Calvin asked. "Ah well, I gave it a shot." He chuckled to himself.

"I think Phoebe just walked in," Angela said, knowing that the young inventor would catch Calvin's unwanted attention away from her. Calvin winked.

"Good catch, say Angela, if you ever want to be my wingwoman, let me know."

"Oh yes, will do. As you can imagine I am just dying for the position." She heard Calvin chuckle once again as he walked away.

Angela felt Gray standing next to her before she saw him. He had come up to the counter to get a drink. He was standing so close to Angela that if she moved they would have touched each other. He was looking straight forward at Hayden.

"Hello Gray," Angela greeted shyly. Gray turned his steely blue eyes to her. The same icy glare she had been greeted with when they first met was in the them. Angela stared back at him refusing to allow him to see that the glare had any effect on her.

"Hi," he said gruffly, and grabbed his drinks from Hayden. He quickly returned to the table he was sitting at with Owen and Kathy. Angela sat in stunned silence. True she had been avoiding Gray, but hadn't he also been avoiding her too? It stung to see the icy glare return to that handsome face of his. Angela pushed the thought out of her mind, and uncharacteristically ordered another drink.

"Are you sure?" Hayden asked, knowing that Angela usually only had one drink then left.

"Yes," Angela replied. Hayden looked at the petite brunette concerned. This was very much unlike the responsible Angela he knew, but he sighed and poured her another drink. Angela quickly downed the second drink. What was it with the men in her life being so unreliable? Her father, Darryn, and now Gray. Not that Gray really was a man in her life, just someone she had shown interest in. What was with Gray and his mood swings? One moment he was rude, then next shy and embarrassed, and another he was sweet and charming? This man infuriated her. She glanced over at him. Well she didn't care. She walked back up to Calvin who was standing at the other end of the bar, Phoebe had only come in to drop something off to Hayden. Tonight she didn't care, she'd flirt with the explorer, at least with Calvin, she knew where she stood.

XxXx

It irked Gray to watch Angela flirt with that playboy Calvin. He had thought Angela more intelligent than to be entranced by the likes of him. He kept staring over in their direction, glaring.

"You know, you could just talk to her," Kathy teased. Kathy was one of the few people who had figured out Gray's blossoming feelings for Angela.

"She looks quite content with the company she's keeping," Gray scowled. Kathy shook her head, wondering if all men were just dense. She had see the sidelong glances Angela had made towards Gray, but he was too busy brooding to notice. She was about to say something to him, when she saw Owen hitting on Luna, she walked away to deal with him instead.

Gray sat back in his chair, unable to take his eyes off Angela. It was crazy for him to feel such jealousy, she was free to flirt with whomever she pleased. But even as he thought that, he knew that he was kidding himself. She had gotten to him somehow. He wasn't sure how, but he was starting to care about her.

XxXx

Much later as the bar patrons were starting to trickle out of the bar, a very concerned Hayden looked at Angela who was still rooted on the bar stool. She was far past drunk, even though Hayden had cut her off. Molly had gone home with Chase hours ago, and he needed to close up the bar. He quickly scanned the room, very few patrons were left, Owen was still there, but Owen was always so drunk it was amazing he got himself home. Hayden then saw Gray sitting with Owen. Gray had always been responsible, he very rarely got drunk. Hayden went over the table where the two men were sitting.

"She's gonna kill me for getting so sloshed again..." Owen murmured. Hayden gritted his teeth. He still couldn't believe he allowed his daughter to marry this good for nothing drunk. He would deal with that later.

"Gray, I need your help," Hayden stated. "Angela's pretty drunk, she needs someone to make sure she get's home okay." Gray's gaze shifted to Angela who was leaning against the bar with her head in her hands. Gray scowled. The last thing he wanted to do was to take care of her. He looked around, no one else was left in the bar.

"Yeah I can help her," Gray sighed. He had been carefully trying to decide how to approach her, since the night of the Firefly Festival. Thinking about his deceased grandfather had made him think of his life back in Flowerbud, which always made him think of Popuri. Tonight had also reminded him of his heartache. Angela had avoided looking at him when he had walked in, and then had continued to flirt with the explorer Calvin. Gray felt stupid for having opened himself up to her, but she was still someone who needed his help, and Gray knew that he could not just leave her there.

"Angela it's time to go," Gray said to the drunk girl softly. He placed his hands on her shoulders and started to lift her off the barstool. Angela turned to Gray. "Come on let's get you home."

"I don't need your help," Angela said twisting her shoulders to get out of his grasp. Gray gritted his teeth, this woman was getting on his last nerve.

"Come on!" Gray insisted.

"I said no!" Angela shouted.

"Angela, you are way too drunk to..." Gray stopped mid sentence, Angela began to fall off the bar stool, and he caught her quickly before she could hit her head on the ground. Mumbling he picked her up and started to carry her home.

Gray stood in the dimly lit farmyard, trying to find Angela's keys in her purse. Shit she keeps enough stuff in here, He said to himself. Her keys were no where to be found, which meant that they were probably left at the bar. Too late to go back now. Gray rolled his eyes and grumbled some more to himself. This woman is nothing but trouble. Then he quickly lifted Angela back up and started walking to his house.