Hello all! Thank you for all the reviews. I'm glad that you are enjoying the tale. Apologies that some of you are upset about the way it's going or with Darien and Serena being incapable of telling each other how they feel. If you look at how they have been these past years with getting together for the sake of Mattie and then spending all these years not once saying I love you to each other it's understandable. Crazy, yes but understandable. Darien thinks she still loves Diamond and he was an easy out for her- a place of security while Serena thinks that he only wanted her to protect the Shield's legacy.

Anyway- I hope you enjoy the next three chapters. The sixth one is super short, but it'll go into a longer one for chapter seven. Best!

Raye was staring at Serena after she'd told her the real bare bones of her marriage as if she'd never seen her before. "When you eloped with Darien it seemed like the most romantic thing ever. I can't believe you never told me the truth. That you bore all that worry alone. I was off at college, but still—"

Serena pressed her fingertips against her aching temples. "I couldn't tell you. It was so humiliating, Raye. Once Diamond got what he wanted from me—" she said, her lips pressed together for a moment, "—he headed on down the road just like my mother warned me he would. But I wouldn't listen. I had visions of becoming Diamond Shields' bride. His wants were rather less romantic."

"And Diamond left town before you learned you were pregnant with Mattie. Then, in steps big brother and you became Darien Shields' bride instead."

It was a simplistic explanation but Serena didn't have the energy to correct her friend. The truth of the matter was much more complicated. "Essentially."

"Darien was protecting you. He cared about you, even then, Serena. For goodness' sake, he was at the height of his rodeo career. He was one of the top competitors in the PRCA."

Serena swallowed. Nodded. He'd not only given up his career, but his inheritance from his father that Lenora had controlled, all to ensure that her child remained a Shields.

Lenora had detested Serena badly enough that after their quiet elopement, she'd packed up her house in Weaver and moved to the more populated Gillette. She'd always considered Serena beneath her, mostly because Lenora and Serena's mother had never gotten on. Even in a town as small as Weaver, there had been definite attitudes. And Lenora had had it in spades.

Darien hadn't let any of his stepmother's disapproval deter him, however. Heavens, he'd been a grown man and not given to taking orders from anyone, much less his stepmother. Which had further cemented Lenora's dislike of Serena. Since then, Darien had built up his reputation as one of the best cutting horse trainers in the country and even now his schedule was booked at least two years out. He still visited Lenora regularly, and Serena generally went along. But the woman's attitude hadn't changed much over the years.

"Then surely that tells you how much Darien cared. He wouldn't have had to marry you, Serena. He might have found other ways to help. He was—"

"Was protecting my child," Serena interrupted. "Because he knew I was going to have to give the baby up for adoption." She pressed her palm to her abdomen at the terrible memory. Her mother had been nearly incapacitated with her penchant for alcohol. Serena supported them as best she could since she'd been fifteen. That summer, after Serena graduated from high school, Diamond had left town and his mother, Lenora, had assured Serena that he wasn't likely to return. She'd been only eighteen years old, but she'd known she couldn't hope to provide a suitable life for her child no matter how badly she'd wanted to keep the baby.

Darien had been back in town during that time recovering from several cracked ribs and he'd learned of Serena's predicament when he'd come across her crying right the women's clinic.

Serena had never felt so alone as she had then. She'd had no means to support a child, no matter how much she wanted the baby. Abortion for her was simply out of the question. She'd known she'd have to give up her child for adoption. But Darien had offered an alternative. And though she'd first refused, he'd hung around for weeks, gently, casually, inexorably changing her mind in that quiet way he had.

"Darien latched onto Diamond's return like a drowning man, Raye." Serena still could hardly believe what had occurred. "He wanted out, obviously. And now he's got an excuse that his conscience can apparently live with. He even told me to hire Melvin Washington to represent me in our divorce."

Raye frowned. "But he's never given you any indication that he wanted out of your marriage before, has he?"

Serena sank onto a high stool and buried her face in her hands. "Oh, Raye. I don't know if there have been signs. All I knew was that I fell in love with Darien. He gave up so much for Mattie and me. I didn't deserve him. I never wanted to hurt him or bring him harm."

Raye tsked and slid a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Who says you have? Or that you didn't deserve him? For goodness' sake, Serena. You two have been together for years. I've never thought Darien was the kind of man who'd put up with an unacceptable situation for seven minutes, much less seven years. You need to tell him how you feel!"

"So he can feel sorry for me all over again like he did when Diamond dumped me? I can't face that, Raye. I just can't. If there's one thing this has made me realize it is that I can't keep on this way." Her hands pressed unconsciously against her abdomen. "I won't be just a responsibility to him. If he doesn't want to be married to me fine. I'll take care of Mattie on my own like I should have to begin with."

"Why didn't you? I mean I know you were scared and you didn't think you had the money but you could have dragged Diamond's ass back here and made him pay up some child support or something. Lenora doesn't care for you but she would have done anything for her grandbaby."

"You mean why did I just cave and marry Darien?"

"Well- yeah. I'm not trying to judge you. I'm not. I just want to understand. I think that things happen for a reason. Darien just happened to be in town at the exact moment when you were sitting on the steps of the clinic crying. He didn't have to marry you nor you him. But you both must have felt something."

"He was providing for Mattie. He didn't want her to grow up as something other than a Shields."

"Then why stay this long? He could have walked away when Mattie was older and still provided for you both. Gone back into the rodeo circuit."

"I don't know Raye. You know Darien. He's committed to his family- making sure that everyone is okay and cleaning up after people. He doesn't want a tarnish on the family name."

Raye sighed. Realizing that she wasn't getting anywhere going down this road she changed the subject. "I still can't believe Diamond is going to be working at GameZone," she muttered. "And he really doesn't suspect anything about Mattie?"

"No. And he's not going to, if I have anything to say about it. Darien may not want me, but he is Mattie's father. On that, at least, we agree. Some day we'll tell Mattie when she's old enough to understand. But not now. Not yet."

Both women looked up when the bell over the door tinkled softly. At the sight of her handsome hunk of a husband entering, Raye patted Serena on the back. "You and Mattie come to dinner tonight," she said softly before moving around the counter toward Justin and the baby he held.

"I can't," Serena said. "There's a parent/teacher meeting at school."

"Tomorrow then," Raye insisted. "And I know you probably don't feel like company, but if you don't come to us, we'll come to you. Promise me, now."

"Marriage has made you bossy," Serena observed, striving for some sense of normalcy.

"Motherhood has made her bossy," Justin Sorenson corrected, his smile crooked and utterly indulgent. "And your son here is making it obvious that there are some things he prefers you for, sweetpea."

Serena watched Justin transfer the blanket-bundled baby Erik from his arms to Raye's as they left with a wave. If ever there was a man besotted with his wife and child, it was a former jetsetter named Justin Sorenson.

She closed her eyes and wished she were a better person. The kind of person who wouldn't feel envious of her very best friend's happiness.

Then the bell jingled again signaling the steady start of her day with retiree activities and Serena could only be grateful, for it gave her little time to sit and brood.

She didn't take a break until lunch. Even then she sat in the back where she still had a view of the front door. Her sandwich held little appeal, but she forced a few bites down, mindful of what Dr. Patricia had told her. The door chimes jingled and she was glad of the interruption from her depressing thoughts. She tossed away the half-eaten sandwich and went out front.

Her stomach lurched unsteadily. "Darien," she breathed. Had he changed his mind? "What are you doing here?"

It had been two hellish days since Serena had silently moved out of their home. And the sight of her was like glimpsing sunshine through a blizzard.

Before he did something stupid, like beg Serena to come home whether she loved someone else or not, Darien set the small duffel bag on the counter. "Mattie called me."

A look he couldn't decipher flitted through her eyes. "When? She's in school right now."

Darien dragged his gaze away from her face, only to be distracted by the sweet shape of her breasts beneath her sunny-yellow, skinny-knitted sweater. He realized that Serena was still waiting. "This morning. Before school," he said. "She wanted this stuff. Told me you'd said to drop it by here."

"I didn't…" Serena unzipped the bag, peering inside. She frowned a little and pulled out a pair of hightops from the jumble of trading cards and balls and GameZone games. "Are you sure? She outgrew these shoes months ago, Darien. Perhaps she meant another pair or something."

Hearing his name on her lips had always driven him a little nuts. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his aging down vest so they wouldn't do something stupid. Like reach for her. "There are no other pairs. You left her closet very nearly empty, which you know good and well."

She blinked and slowly Darien the zipper closed. "What did you expect? That I'd leave behind half of her things? This was your idea, remember? You wanted this."

And she hadn't uttered so much as one protest. His fingers tightened into fists. "Have you talked to Melvin yet?"

Her chin angled. "I didn't realize you were in such a hurry."

He swore. "Serena—"

But she waved her hand, shaking her head. "Just…go away, 're getting what you want. I'm out of your life so you can continue on as if we never happened."

"Serena-"

"I'll make sure Mattie gets this bag. The doors behind you."

"You're still going to bring her home for the weekend, right?" They'd agreed to that in excruciatingly polite tones before she'd begun packing up the contents of his daughter's closet.

She turned away, setting the duffel behind the counter. "I said I would, didn't I?" Her voice was muffled and he wondered for an impossible moment if she was crying. But when she turned around again, tossing her glorious curls around her slender shoulders, her blue eyes were bright but dry. "Is there anything else?"

She'd spoken to him like he was merely a visitor, and nothing more.

Sure in hell not as if he were the man who'd shared her bed and her body for the better part of their life together. His hands came out of his pocket and he leaned over the counter, thrusting one hand unerringly through the silky coils of her hair to curl about her neck and catching her shoulder in the other.

He caught the shocked expression on her face in the bare moment before his mouth covered hers…