Tim rolls his eyes. "I can't believe what you just asked me." He hisses under his breath, but loud enough for Raylan to hear him. "You've been married, you're a father for pete's sake… not forgetting there's a trail of cranky blondes from here to Louisville, and probably beyond, yet you are asking ME for dating advice."

He stares at Raylan as though he's never seen such a creature before, "who are you and what have you done with Raylan Givens?"

Raylan rolls his eyes in response, and tries not to look ever so slightly pathetic. "I'm asking you precisely because of that. None of that turned out so good, I don't want to mess this up."

"Even your daughter?" Tim looks severely disappointed. "You do remember you have a daughter?"

Raylan tries to keep the confusion and guilt out of his face, but it doesn't work so well.

"What is that? Guilt or constipation." Tim says snippily, "you really want to impress Rachel? Man up and spend some actual face to face time with your daughter."

Tim's right and that should just make Raylan mad and close off their gradual bonding for good. But Tim and Rachel have slipped under Raylan's defenses and the shut down doesn't work any more. Raylan's surprised, because he thought he could just back out at any time just like he used to. But there's this pang, somewhere down deep in his soul and he can't punish Tim for being honest.

Tim's clearly on something of a roll, "you gonna be one of those fathers then?"

"What kind?" Raylan really doesn't want to hear it, but something is compelling him to stay in this race, even though he's sure he isn't going to like the assessment of his character and backbone.

"Sperm donor. Never changes a diaper, never remembers a birthday, leaves their kid miserable and disappointed." Tim sounds as though he has more than a nodding acquaintance with that kind of father, but Raylan knows better. He knows about the cluster of small round burns on Tim's left arm, on the delicate skin on the inside of his elbow, and the faint whip marks on Tim's lower back. He's never asked, and Tim's never told.

All that Raylan actually knows about Tim's father is that he had the grace to die before Tim could get back with a loaded weapon from Basic and shoot him.

Arlo was an asshole, and Raylan had actually shot his father once. It wasn't anywhere near as fun as he had originally thought it would be. He just knew he didn't want to be that kind of father to Willa. So best to stay as far away as he could. Before he could hurt her.

Knowing this doesn't do anything for the burning in his gut every time he thinks of that perfect little being in Winona's arms.

"Wake up Raylan." Tim isn't done. "Before Willa turns up here and shoots you herself." He gives Raylan a really hard look, one that Raylan is pretty certain he normally reserves for the enemy. "Hell, at this rate, if she does, I load the weapon for her."

It does hurt that Tim is that disappointed in him. Raylan's disappointed in himself, but he can't seem to get past that barrier. He's going to turn into Arlo if he gets near his daughter, and that he can't and won't be.

Rachel wanders back to her desk with a file in her hand, and Tim shoots Raylan a final glare and goes back to whatever he was doing on the other side of the partition.

Raylan picks up the file that's on his own desk and pretends to study it, while he studies Rachel's profile. This beautiful, petite, highly competent young woman who really doesn't need a screw-up like him in her life, who has been let down by an idiot. Raylan thinks that the absent Joe is a moron, letting a fine, intelligent, kind and classy woman go.

It's not as though Raylan deserves her, but since we never mind having what we do not deserve, Raylan just wants to know if he has a chance. Office politics be damned. He knows he can be professional in the office. And despite one or two instances of Rachel winging it, he knows that Rachel is the consummate professional.

Art will kill him.

Raylan doesn't fully understand why he is so attracted to her. Just that he is, and after months of figuring that out, he wants to try. When he was hurt, she helped him through it, even though she was hurt herself. When Tim was hurt and Raylan thought he would die and it would have been all Raylan's fault, Rachel was there to help him through that too.

It's different with Rachel. She grounds him, she makes him want to be better, to shoot less and think first. He remembers back when they were chasing Rolly Pike, sitting down with the old man at the house, how Raylan coaxed the story out of the old man; he remembers the look in Rachel's eyes, the warmth of approval, the pride in his accomplishment. Raylan wants to see that look more and more.

It's different than with Winona. He loves Winona, madly and deeply, but together they are a new wreck, sailing towards the rocks because when it comes down to it, he can't be what he isn't, and Winona cannot have him be what he is. They are at an impasse.

Perhaps he could be what he is with Rachel, and she might love him for it. He really wants to find out.

He's scared of making a mess of it. And Tim's level of disappointment in him as a father is a revelation too. Raylan takes a look at himself. Self-examination is not something he normally indulges in, and it's very uncomfortable. He squirms a little at the pictures that are running through his head.

"Raylan… are you okay?"

He looks up, Rachel is standing next to him, a gentle hand on his arm. He doesn't know what to say, so he just stares at her, knowing that all his defenses are wiped away.

Rachel looks into the hopeful hazel eyes that are staring at her as though she is the last branch before he goes over the cliff. Things that she never thought she would see in Raylan's eyes. She squeezes his arm.

"Lunch?"