As promised here is the next chapter. Thanks to everyone reading even after the long update. Happy reading.

Saturday afternoon

"What about this one?" Laney asked, holding up a dress.

Mandy pursed her lips. "I don't know. I think it may be a little too revealing." She plucked at the bodice, frowning at the low cut vee.

The teenager tried not to roll her eyes at her aunt's old fashioned attitude. "Can I at least try it on?" She asked pouting a little. "Just to see what it looks like?"

Her aunt reluctantly agreed. "You can try it on for fun but don't get too attached to it. Your dad would burn it the moment he saw it." She waited a couple minutes as they browsed. "You know speaking of your dad, I think he felt kind of guilty about throwing you out of the house last night."

Laney shrugged as she continued to rifle through the rack. Her feelings for her dad where a touchy subject right now, and she didn't want to ruin her good mood from shopping.

"You know it natural not to want your dad dating. You've had him to yourself for a while now." She continued, trying to remain casual. She peeked over the rack, sighing inwardly at the remote look Laney was wearing.

"What do you think about this one?" The younger girl asked instead, pulling a dress off the rack. She held the dress up to her body, twirling so that the material flared out.

Mandy forced herself to examine the dress."I like the cut and material but the color is a little off." she bumped her niece with her shoulder. "So? Are you going to be a total daddy's girl and attack his girlfriend?" She asked surprising a laugh out of the younger girl.

"I don't know. It's just weird I guess." She turned to her aunt. "I don't care that he had a date. I mean it's not like I want him to be alone forever. But I know the reason he wanted me out of the house was because he wanted to get it on, and that's just something I don't want to think about." She gave a fake shudder. "I really don't want to think about that."

Mandy laughed at the face she was making. They shopped quietly for a few more minutes in companionable silence. "So what do you think of her?"

The younger girl shrugged. "I haven't really got to know her but from what I've seen I think daddy's met his match." Laney answered grinning. "It's going to be interesting."

"It's about time his life was shaken up." Mandy hummed under her breath as she walked toward the dressing room. "He was kind of hurt that you didn't want to go driving with him today." She called back.

Laney turned to stare after her aunt. "Why would he be? And why are you so protective of him today?" She asked trailing after the other girl.

The older girl shrugged. "He just seemed really sad that you didn't want to spend time with him. Besides, I'm in too good of a mood for anyone else to feel bad around me."

Laney held up her arm full of clothes in an attempt to close her ears. "More stuff that I don't want to hear about." She said laughing. "Besides, do you know what happened the last time he took me driving? I never even got to get to turn on the truck and he yelled the entire time." Laney shook her head. "It would be so much easier if you would just teach me to drive."

"Oh honey, he's just worried. You're growing up too fast and he's scared he's loosing his little girl." Mandy advised her. Laney rolled her eyes as she headed into the dressing room.

Calloway residence

"What's going on Paul?" Mark asked as he carried the cordless phone with him into the living room.

"What do you know about the Dave situation?" The other man asked, the words ending in a grunt as Mark heard a crash in the background.

"I didn't know that there was a Dave situation." He answered laughing. He heard sounds of running feet in the background then Paul's aggravated voice came over the line. "Hold on."

"Sorry" He said coming back on the line a few minutes later. "They can be little monsters sometimes."

"Enjoy it while it lasts." Mark advised him. "Now what's going on with Dave?"

"Nobody really knows and that seems to be a big problem." A long sigh came over the line. "Apparently something is very wrong, he's really sick and he's keeping it close to his vest."

"Normally I would say he's a big boy and can take care of himself, but..." He trailed off as he waited for Paul to elaborate.

"But the kids aren't taking it well." the other man finished.

"Which one do you want me to take?" The Texan asked, already knowing the answer.

"Has John talked to you about the problems he's having with Journey?" Paul asked instead.

"I'm aware that there's an issue, but he's not said anything directly or come to me for help. I didn't want to stick my nose in ." Mark admitted, frowning at the empty room. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's possible that John is so frustrated at home that he's trying to hide it by getting angry at everyone

else who isn't as concerned as he his about Dave." Paul said delicately.

"Which is making everything ten times worse." Mark concluded.

"Yeah," Paul agreed. "Journey's brought cakes, cookies, anything she could bake to the house. She's trying to act as if nothing is wrong but she's about to her braking point. Randy just wants to ignore it all and maybe it will go away. Then there's John, determined to find out what's wrong and forcing the other two to face facts."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Mark asked concerned.

"When you consider their history it might be. They've lost their families and now the person that has stepped in as their father is seriously ill. It needs to be handled delicately and Dave had a reason for trying to keep it silent." Paul pointed out.

Mark sighed as he silently agreed. "I'll talk to him." he promised before hanging up the phone.

Wanting to take a couple minutes to compose his thoughts he ambled into the kitchen to get a drink. He popped the top of a can of Pepsi before picking up the phone. Hitting the speed dial he waited as the phone rang.

Thirteen rings later he was talking to the voice mail. "John, it's Mark. Listen, I was wanting to get in touch so give me a call." Pressing the end button he took a long swallow of his drink. "That was very nonthreatening." He decided, satisfied that the younger man would return his call. Deciding he could do a little investigating he turned back to the phone.

"Hello," A soft female voice answered.

Mark frowned at the weariness that infused the delicate tones. "Hey honey, howa you feeling?" He asked gently, not wanting to upset her further.

"Mark, it's nice to hear from you." Journey replied. "You've been holed up in Texas too long." He could hear the smile in her voice.

"Maybe but I'm not too out of it to notice that you didn't answer my question." He admonished softly. "You sound tired honey."'

"Just a little worn down. I've been busy and haven't taken the time to relax, that's all." She defended herself.

"You aren't pregnant are you?" He asked bluntly.

She gave a small laugh. "What in the world makes you think that?"

"You're tired, worn down, and...I know you and John haven't been getting along too good lately."

There was silence on the line before she asked quietly. "Did he tell you that?"

Mark sighed at the stiffness that had entered her voice. "No, he hasn't." He was silent for a couple seconds. "But it's obvious that something is wrong. Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about." She answered somewhat bitterly.

"Ah honey, You know it's going to get worse if you don't talk to someone." He advised, silently willing her to confide in him.

"No you misunderstood. There's nothing in our relationship to talk about anymore." Her breath caught on a sob that she quickly tried to control.

Before Mark could comfort her there was a commotion in the background. "Get off the phone Journey." An angry voice came over the line.

"Ari, please don't talk to me like that." He heard Journey respond firmly.

"Whatever, just get off the phone. I want to talk to my friend." The sound of the phone being dropped came over the line followed by a loud buzzing. Mark shook his head as he hung up. "I think I know what the problem is." He muttered.

"Hey Aunt Mandy, what do you think about this one?" Laney asked as she stepped out of the dressing room. Frowning at the accompanying silence she turned in a quick circle, searching for the other girl.

"Excuse me." A heavily accented voice came from her right.

Startled she turned to see a small man with dark skin looking at her expectantly. "Can I help you?" She asked , tossing her head so that her hair swung out.

"Please excuse me for staring, but it is my job to admire such beauty." Eyes shining he reached out to touch the ends of her hair. "Your hair is pure sunlight."

Laney jerked away from him. "Dude you're freaking me out."

"Please, I mean no disrespect." He reached into his pocket and handed her a business card. "I am a photographer."

She looked from the glossy card to the well dressed man standing in front of her.

"I have no doubt that you could be the next model sensation." He assured her when she continued looking at him.

Coming down the isle with two more dresses Mandy spotted her niece in the doorway talking to someone. Curious she tilted her head to see the other person.

Her heart stopped and the dresses fell from her arms as her hands came up to stifle her scream. "No, oh no." She moaned as she rushed through the racks.

"Get away from her you monster, just stay away." She shouted as she slid to a stop, making sure to put herself between him and the younger girl.

Startled he took a step back. "I meant no offense." He exclaimed, holding up his hands.

"So what, you just stand outside of women's dressing rooms for the fun of it?" She demanded as she poked at him.

"Aunt Mandy calm down." Laney whispered as she tried to pull her aunt away.

"No please, you don't understand." He looked around wildly for some help. "I meant no harm."

"S you didn't. You were just waiting here to snatch the first available girl so that you could rape her." She shouted, causing gasps to come from the gathering crowd.

"I apologize for speaking to your niece

but I am not doing what you think." He said, drawing up to his full height as he began to get angry.

"Is there a problem?" A leggy brunette asked, walking out of the dressing room with several articles of clothing in her arms. Seeing Mandy squaring off against the slight man she quickly stepped to his side. "Phillipe, what's going on here?"

"A mix up, nothing more." He assured her. He turned back to Mandy. "Madam I apologize for scaring you. I wanted only to offer your niece a chance to model for my company."

Mandy nodded in embarrassment as she watched them walk away.

Laney spoke up from behind her. "He said I could make it big in the modeling business." she turned to head back in the dressing room. "Guess that's out now."

Laney, " The older girl said as she followed in. "I'm sorry for embarrassing you, but it's better than you getting raped." She reached out and grabbed her arm. "It happens." she said forcibly.

The teenager got a strange look in her eyes as she nodded. "So what do you think about this one?"

Mandy accepted the change in subject gratefully as she examined the dress.

Later that night

Hello." Mark answered the phone, grabbing the remote and turning down the volume on the TV.

"Hey sexy." The warm voice came over the line, causing Mark to choke on his drink. Setting the beer down he reached for a towel to wipe up the wet drops.

"Sammie?" He asked cautiously.

Her laughter filled his head. "Were you expecting someone else?" She teased.

"Didn't you know, I'm too much man for just one woman." He drawled, grinning in to the darkness.

"Well in that case I'll get off." She teased back. "I wouldn't want you to miss a call from one of your numerous ladies."

"No!" he exclaimed, blushing when he realized how fast that had come out. "I always have time to talk to you."

"Okay, I'll stay on the line if want to talk to me that bad." She said, laughing again.

"Hey now darling, you're bad for my image." He responded. "Besides aren't you the one that called me?"

"I just wanted to check up on you. I know I left you in an awkward place last night.

Mark growled. "I managed to survive it."

"I was expecting you to show up at the clinic today." She continued.

He shrugged on his end of the phone. "I didn't want to seem two desperate."

"Are you?" He could hear the interested note in her voice.

"Hell yes." He growled again, causing her to break out in laughter.

"Do you know what I find most attractive about you?" She asked when she had caught her breath.

"My dashing good looks?" He asked suggestively.

"Well there is that, but I wouldn't want your head to get any bigger than it already is." She told him in a dry tone.

"Should I guess again?" He asked when she remained silent.

"You make me laugh and on days like today I really need it." She answered quietly.

"Rough day?" He ventured sympathetically.

"We can't save everyone."