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Simon was downstairs and her dad was here, Saffron thought when she heard voices in the house. Once Simon got up she always woke up. Besides, she didn't like sleeping because she had nightmares about being blown up. Maybe she would go and talk to H's wife if they carried on for much longer. Then again she supposed that it was only natural that she was having nightmares after what had happened to her. What she really needed to do was start writing again, put everything down on paper and see where it went. Even if it didn't turn out to be her next book she'd at least feel better for having done something about the way she felt. Hopefully, Gabby would call soon and say that he'd sold her latest book.

Still, Ellise's books were selling very well and it wasn't as if she needed the money. Simon would probably have something to say about her starting writing again.

Being sick was really hard for her to deal with. She wasn't used to struggling when she tried to do even the simplest thing.

At times she felt as if she was letting both Simon and Daryl down because she wasn't able to look after them the way she should. The least that she could do today was cook them a nice supper even though it would take her a lot longer than normal. Simon was right though, they did need someone to come in and help with the cleaning. She wasn't going to have time to do everything when she was writing again or when her and Simon were married and had children. Which she hoped wouldn't be too far off in the future. Maybe that was something that she could start planning for now.

*

"I thought that you were still asleep," Simon said when Saffron entered the kitchen.

"I woke up," she replied.

"You've just missed Bill." he said.

"Did I," Saffron smiled, "that's a pity."

"You're not going to start cleaning again are you," he asked. Because if she was then he was going to stop her.

"No," she assured him, "I thought I'd go shopping. We could use a few things and some fresh air would probably do me good."

"Are you sure that you're feeling up to it?" Simon asked. She didn't look very well and if she went out then he wasn't going to stop worrying about her until she got home.

"I'm sure," Saffron replied, "I'll get a cab there and back so that you don't have to worry about me driving."

"How about you have some coffee then we'll talk about you going out." he said. If he had to he'd go with her. That would be a lot better than letting her go by herself. William hadn't said it but the interference was there that he wasn't taking of her. He'd like William try to get her to do something that she didn't want to.

"Coffee's good, but I'll get it," she said, "So why don't you sit down."

"I can get coffee you know." Simon growled.

"I love it when you do that." she smiled.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Growl," she replied, "it always sends a shiver down my spine."

"You're not changing the subject," Simon said, "we're still going to talk about you going out."

"I'm not trying to change it," Saffron protested, "but I could really use some fresh air and it's been a while since I've seen any of the guys from the station."

"They're all fine," he assured her, "if you want to see them they know that they can come over anytime they want."

Although, Jim and Blair had been the only ones to visit so far. He supposed that the others were staying away because Saffron was still recovering.

"We could have a party," she suggested, "there's enough room." she added pouring two mugs of coffee.

"First we need to get a housekeeper," Simon said, "then we can have a party." It had to be that way around otherwise he'd find her organising everything.

*

He supposed that he should find this sort of thing really gross, Daryl thought entering the kitchen to find Saffron sitting on his dad's lap, but he didn't. It was like her and his dad were supposed to be together and it wasn't as if they were always doing stuff like this in front of him.

"Before you ask I'm not asleep." Saffron said, "and I hope that I'm not setting a bad example."

"You couldn't even if you tried," he replied. Compared to a lot of his friends parents Saffron was a saint. In fact, she reminded him of the moms you saw in really old films. She stayed at home to take care of them. He knew that if he ever got sick at school she'd rush straight there to pick him up and take him to the doctors. She didn't even drink a great deal, but he supposed that was because she was still on painkillers.

"I told you," she smiled, "your dad thinks that I am by doing this."

"Actually I think it's pretty cool." Daryl grinned.

"So how was school?" Simon asked.

"Okay, I have to write a report on what my mom does for a living," he said, "or whatever the second parent is. my teacher said that it would be okay if I wrote about Saffron."

"Well, at the moment I'm not doing a great deal because your dad won't let me," Saffron said, "but I'm sure that I can come up with something for your report."

"You are allowed to do things as long as you don't overdo it." Simon said.

"Great, when can we start?" Daryl asked. He was going to hand in the best report paper ever. Nobody else had a famous step mom to be so anything that he wrote was bound to be great.

"How about in the morning," Saffron suggested, "but I should warn you that being a writer isn't all that interesting to watch."

"You have to do research, right?" he asked.

"Sometimes," she replied, "but it tends to be a pretty lonely occupation. I suppose that we could always go out to the lake and you could see my other business at work."

"I don't think that you're up to driving all the way out there just yet." Simon said, "why don't you wait until my next day off and we'll all go out there."

"I could drive." Daryl suggested.

"You don't even have a learners permit." Simon reminded him.

"It's okay, I'll ask Stephen to take us," Saffron said, "I think he's taken the me nearly dying thing really hard."

"He's not the only one." Simon admitted.

*

She was his little sister, Stephen thought, pouring himself another large drink so why couldn't he bring himself to go and see how she was doing. Maybe because the last time that he'd seen her he'd been afraid that she would die and that somehow it would all be his fault. After all he did have that woman's blood in him. So did Jimmy, but at least Jimmy had something in common with Saffron whereas he had nothing. Dad would say that he was a coward and he was probably right. How could he look her in the eye and ask how she was doing after what had happened to her. She'd lost everything that she'd owned. Her and Simon had had to start from scratch. Although from what he'd heard they were doing okay now.

Perhaps he should go and see her. After all, she was bound to be wondering why he hadn't been to see her before now. He could afford to take some time off work to spend with her. He knew that Simon had had to go back to work because his job didn't really allow him to take extended time off. If he wanted to he could quit tomorrow and never have to worry about money again. The same could be said for Saffron but he doubted that she would give up writing for anything. He had to admit that he was very proud of her and she was the only creative one out of the three of them. That was something that she obviously didn't get from their father.

*

For some reason since her near brush with death she'd found shopping very relaxing, Saffron thought, as Simon drove them to the mall. Or maybe it was the fact that she'd had to do so much of it recently that she'd gotten used to it. She really didn't know what she would have done without Blair's help. He'd done a lot of the running around and organising for her. She certainly owed him a huge debt for everything that he'd done for her recently.

"Simon, does Jim have any time off left?"

"He always has vacation time left," he replied, "why?"

"I was just thinking that he and Blair could use a vacation." she said.

"Saffron, if they want a vacation I'm sure that they can afford to pay for one." he said.

"It was just an idea." she protested. Not that it would stop her from buying the both of them something nice.

"Make sure that's all it is." he growled.

"Yea Simon." she said. She had the money and she was entitled to spend it on her family if she wanted to. Still, when her and Simon got married she's spend as much as she liked on that and on any children they had. More importantly their children would have the one thing that she'd never had, a mother who would always love them and do everything in her power to protect them from all the bad things in the world. She more than most people knew just how bad a place the world could be, or rather how some people in it could act when they were at their worst.

"And Daryl doesn't need anymore video games," he said, "he's already got more than he's ever going to play with."

"Okay, no more games," she said, "but we're going to have to get some stuff for the picnic at the weekend."

"Are you sure that you're up to going?" Simon asked, "there are going to be a lot of people there."

"Simon, I'm really looking forward to going," she said, "my dad and Stephen are going. I've never been to a picnic with my whole family before."

"We'll go, but I don't want you spending the next couple of days in the kitchen." he said.

"I'm not going to break," she said, "you don't have to keep trying to protect me, I'm more than capable of doing it myself."

He had absolutely no idea of how stifling it was being hovered over all the time.

"Watson, you almost died," he said, "I nearly lost you. Do you have any idea how that felt?"

"You didn't though, and nothing like that is ever going to happen again," she said. The next time that she came across a bomb she'd run as fast as she could away from it.

*

"Dad!" Jim said in surprise when he opened the loft door to find his father standing on the other side of it. "Saffron?" He could smell Simon's cigars on him.

"She was sleeping when I left her and Simon's," William assured him, "So is it all right if I come in?"

"Sure," he replied, stepping to one side to let his father in. There had to be something wrong for his dad to pay him a visit, but if it wasn't Saffron, what was it?

"How's Blair?" William asked, "the two of you should come to dinner soon."

"He's fine," Jim replied, "he's not her right now thought. Things are pretty busy at Rainier at the moment."

"Have you seen anything of Stephen recently?" William asked, "you know that he moved back into his apartment, don't you."

"I haven't seen anything since just before Saffron got out of hospital," he said. Which was more that a little strange considering how concerned he had been about her.

"Jimmy, I'm worried about him," William said, "according to his secretary he hasn't been to work in the past fortnight."

"Dad, he might have decided to take a vacation," he said, "it's been pretty rough on all of use recently."

"I've been to his apartment twice, I know he's in there but he's not answering the door." William said.

"Dad, what do you expect me to do?" Jim asked.

"Go over there and talk to him," William replied, "he'll listen to you."

"The chances are that he won't open the door to me either." he said. He'd try but if Stephen wanted to be left alone then there wasn't a great deal that he could do about it. Getting people to open up was more Blair's forte than his.

"Just try Jimmy," William said, "I don't want things going back to the way they were before we got Saffron back."

"They won't," he assured him. Not if he had anything to do with it. They'd all gotten along better since Saffron had rejoined the family. He certainly got on with her a lot better now than he had ever done when they'd been kids.

*

He hated his job, Stephen thought, pouring himself yet another drink. Every day it was the same, he went in to work only to find that every idea he'd put forward had been rejected. Recently there'd even been a suggestion that he had lost his edge when it came to business. Maybe he had but he had other more important things on his mind like Saffron being hurt.

That happening had taught him one thing and that was life was too short to devote all your time to work. Especially, if you didn't enjoy what you were doing for a living.

"Both Jimmy and Saffron had turned their backs on family tradition and were a lot happier for it. Perhaps it was time that he stopped trying to be the perfect son and did what he wanted for a change. His dad wasn't going to be too happy about that but it was time that he started to put himself first rather than the family name. After all, the Ellison name didn't make him any happier than anyone else's surname made them. The last time that he'd felt even remotely happy was when he'd spent time with Saffron at the track. He had to admit that she would probably be disappointed with him if she could see him right now. She wouldn't let something like this get her down. Maybe if he called her she'd tell him how she did it.

Because he didn't know how to be a real Ellison even though he'd spent his entire life trying to be one. Unfortunately, he'd learned the hard way that perfection didn't bring happiness. For all his striving to get to the top of the corporate ladder he didn't have anyone to come home to at night,

He had to admit that life would be a lot easier if he let Saffron pay for everything, Simon thought, but that wasn't the way that he'd been raised, neither did he want Daryl thinking that it was all right to let a woman keep you. It was hard enough to instil the right sort of values in his son without him setting a bad example. Not that Saffron seemed to realise that.

Perhaps when they had children together she'd see just how difficult it was to be a parent. Still, she had grown up to all intents and purposes without parents and it was a little late for Bill to be the father she'd never had while growing up. Still, he had to give the man credit for trying. He wasn't sure that he would have been able to forgive Bill if he'd been his father.

So far his family was something that Saffron hadn't asked him about, but he supposed that she would at some point especially when they decided to get married. No doubt Bill would push for them to have a big wedding which meant that he was going to have to come up with some sort of explanation as to why his side of the church would be empty except for Daryl and his cousin. Saffron would understand about families not getting on, that sometimes even when you said sorry it wasn't enough for them to forgive you. He wasn't ashamed that he came from a small tow, in fact he'd gone back there for his high school reunion, but he'd avoided seeing any of the remaining members of his family while he'd been there. Not even Joel knew that any of his family were still alive, and they'd been friends since they'd both joined the force. It was something that Saffron needed to know now rather than later. After everything that had happened to her recently he knew that keeping secrets was not a good thing. He could just imagine

Maybe once they had someone to do the housework his dad would let him have a part of a few friends to sleep over, Daryl thought, as he washed what few dishes there were. He had to admit that it would be cool to have someone waiting on him hand and foot as long as it didn't mean that Saffron stopped making cookies for him. Still, he supposed that with her planning to start writing again she wouldn't have time to do everything for them like she had been doing. As soon as she'd got home from the hospital she'd started working on making sure that they had a home of their own again. Not that he'd really minded staying at Mr. Ellison's, for an old guy he wasn't too bad. Still, it couldn't have been too easy for him to have had two virtual strangers staying with him.

Tomorrow he'd be spending the whole day with Saffron so they'd have a chance to talk without his dad being there. Sure, they'd talked when he was around but it wasn't the same. There were some things that he just couldn't talk about in front of his dad, like girls. His dad had given him a lot of great advice about them but Saffron was bound to know what they looked for in a guy a lot better than his dad did. After all, she had written all those books so maybe he could use some of it to get a girl to like him. Not that he had anyone in particular in mind. Even if she couldn't help him he'd still be able to get a great paper from the day. Saffron might even write it for him.

*

"You know Saffron's not the only one who's been through a lot recently," Blair said as Jim pulled up the exclusive apartment block where Stephen lived.

"I know that Chief," Jim said, "but I don't know what to say to him."

"Maybe you should listen to what he has to say," he said. That was id Stephen would talk to him. For Jim's dad to be so worried there had to be something seriously wrong with Stephen, which was why when Jim had rung him he'd offered to come and help him.

"He hasn't been to see Saffron since he knew that she was going to be okay," Jim said, "he hasn't even called the house to see how she's doing."

"They getting on before so we just have to work out why he's avoiding her now," Blair said, "we know that Saf hasn't said anything to him so it had to be the way that Stephen sees things that's changed."

"And that means?" Jim asked.

"Stephen's always been the perfect son, followed your dad into big business," Blair replied, "while you and Saf have done your own thing, now the two of you are getting all the attention."

"You mean he feels like he's being pushed out!" Jim said.

"That and the fact that the guy who blew Simon's house looked a lot like him," he said, "he probably thinks that you guys won't want to have anything to do with him now, especially Saf."

"Chief, that's stupid," Jim said, "she doesn't hate him."

"I didn't say that she did," Blair said, "just that Stephen might think that she does."

"So how do we fix it?" Jim asked.

"That's the tough part," Blair admitted, "the three of you are still getting to know each other. Maybe if you all spent sometime together that would help." most families grew up together whereas they'd never had a chance to do that through no fault of their own.

"You know we've never done anything as a family before," Jim said, "now dad's retired we can get him involved."

"Jim, I meant you, Saf and Stephen spending some time together, with your dad there none of you would feel relaxed enough to talk." he said, "besides, he's kind of protective where Saf's concerned at the moment."

"He's not the only one," Jim said, "Simon is as well."

"Which mean that by now she could probably use a break," Blair grinned, "the three of you could go up to her cabin for a couple of days and just hang out."

*

Simon hadn't said anything about her not buying either her dad or Stephen something, Saffron thought, but if she bought them something it would only be fair to buy Jim something as well or he was going to feel left out. So what could she buy them that Simon wouldn't object to her spending money on. Not that it was his money to begin with. although, it could be if he just accepted it. Besides, without him letting her go into the station there wouldn't have been any new book let alone one that was going to have her real name on the front cover. Gabby, her agent was really confident that it was going to even outsell the most popular Ellise De Sade books by a long way. She could spend whatever she liked because it wasn't as if she was going to run out of money any time soon and she could always write another couple of Ellise books if she had to. she just wished that Simon would let her take care of him the way she wanted to.

Of course, she understood that he had his pride but did he really have to let it get in the way all the time. It wasn't as if she was asking him to give up his career so that he could stay home all the time. Just that he let her help him out financially until his insurance company finally settled the claim for his house. They were certainly taking their time doing that. Maybe she should try approaching the subject with him when he was relaxed. The question was how to get him so relaxed that he would agree to almost anything. She had a few ideas, all of which could be a lot of fun for the both of them.

*

"Go away," Stephen shouted when there was a knock on his apartment door. Why couldn't people just leave him alone.

"Stephen, it's Jim, open the door," came a voice from the other side of the door. "We need to talk."

"I don't want to talk to anyone," he shouted, "especially you." It was obvious that jimmy had only come because their dad had been to see him. Well, he didn't need his big brother interfering in his self pity.

"You either talk to me or I'll go get Saffron," Jim warned him, "if you upset her you're going to have Simon on you."

"I'll open the door." he said reluctantly. Maybe once Jim had said what he had to he'd leave. The last person he wanted to see right now was Saffron. She knew what he'd said about her and Simon being together, that a part of him was like that man who had tried to kill them. She was never going to forgive him even though he'd apologised for what he'd said,. "What do you want?" he added opening the door.

"I thought I'd drop by and see how you're doing," Jim said pushing past Stephen with Blair following him.

"I'm fine." he replied.

"Stephen, don't lie to me," Jim said, "you're not fine, none of us are. Our little sister nearly died."

"I know that," he snapped, "I was at the hospital, I saw what he did to her." It was something that he was never going to forget as long as he lived.

"Don't you think that you should have visited her once she got home?" Jim asked, "or don't you care about her?"

"Of course, I care," he said, "that's why I've stayed away." Seeing her would only serve to remind her of what had happened to her.

"Stephen, you're not responsible for what he did," Jim said, "and she knows you're not. She doesn't hate you, none of us do."

"Jimmy, he looked like me," he said, "we have the same mother."

"So do I," Jim said, "I'm nothing like him and neither are you. We both have too much of dad in us to be. And that woman didn't raise us, Sally did."

"You know what you need, don't you," Blair said, "to get away from Cascade for a while."

"And go where?" Stephen asked. As if a vacation was really going to do him any good.

"Saf's cabin," Blair said, "it's still in one piece."

"That's not funny," Jim said, "but he's right it would give us all a chance to get to know each other better."

"What makes you think that Saffron would want to get to know me?" Stephen asked. Because he wasn't exactly the nicest person to be around at the moment.

"Because we're family," Jim replied, "now the only question is how do we persuade Simon to let her go."

"That's easy," Blair grinned, "you guys are going to make her rest."

*

"Could I look at some engagement rings?" Simon asked, he was only looking, he had absolutely no intention of buying one but he wanted some sort of idea of what they had ready for when he did want to buy one. Getting engaged was a big
step for him to be taking, not that it was one that he didn't want to take. It was just that he was a little old-fashioned about some things like being able to provide for his family and that was something that he was having a little trouble doing at the moment. His insurance company was taking it's time about settling his claim and until it had Saffron was keeping both him and Daryl because just because the house had gone it didn't mean that the mortgage didn't still need to be paid. Then there was his car, he was dreading the repair bill for that.

"Any particular price range?" the sales assistant asked.

"I'm not sure," he replied. He didn't want to spend a small fortune on it but he also knew that he was going to be judged by how much he spent on it. As if the more money he spent the greater his love for Saffron. She wouldn't care about something like that but other people would. Other people's opinions always counted for so much.

Growing up he'd had to fight against other people's opinions just because he'd been born in the wrong part of town. He'd proved everyone wrong though because most of the people who had put him down hadn't done nearly as well as he had.

And they certainly didn't have anyone like Saffron in their lives. He'd certainly gotten damned lucky the day that she'd walked into the Bullpen.

*

"Jimmy, are you sure that you've got the right house," Stephen asked as Jim pulled up in front of Saffron's house.

"Yeah," Jim replied, "she bought it when she got out of hospital."

"Boy, did Simon get a shock the first time he saw it," Blair grinned, "he was expecting the usual suburban house."

"Do you have any idea of how much a place like this costs?" Stephen asked.

"No, and Saffron doesn't like to boast about how much it cost," Jim said.

Money wasn't something that she liked to talk about a great deal but there was no denying that it had come in useful for her and Simon recently.

"And this time it's insured." Blair said.

"Dad made sure that was the first thing she did." he said. He also suspected that their dad had encouraged the sale of the house to go through a lot faster than it normally would have.

"Along with having Jim make sure that there wasn't a single trace of pink in the house." Blair said.

"What's wrong with pink?" Stephen asked.

"Saf's mom wore it all the time," Blair replied, "so she has a major phobias about it."

"Fortunately, Simon's never worn a lot of pink." Jim grinned.

"You're kidding." Stephen said.

"Stephen, it's not joke," he said, "the colour terrifies her." It was hardly surprising after what her mother had put her through. Of all three of them

Saffron was probably the most resilient of them which was why she'd come through everything that had happened to her recently reasonably intact emotionally.

"I didn't know," Stephen said, "there's a lot that I don't know about her."

"That's why I think that the three of us getting away for a few days would be a good idea," Jim said. Blair was right, the three of them spending time together would give them a chance to get to know each other like they should have had a chance to do while growing up.

"And you're sure that Simon's going to let her go off with us?" Stephen asked.

"He will once I've persuaded him that it would be good for her." Blair grinned, "besides he could probably use a break from her fussing over him."

"But she was the one who was nearly killed." Stephen said.

"Saf takes care of him because she wants to," Blair said, "and it's almost impossible to get her to change her mind once it's made up."

*

"William, I'm sure that Jimmy will be able to talk some sense into Stephen." Sally said.

"I hope so," he said, "Stephen's not been his self recently, I thought that things would get better not worse."

"They will given time," she assured him, "it's something that they have to work through on their own." If William interfered he could end up making things even worse, she thought. Her family had been through a lot recently but they were still together and she wanted them to remain that way.

"Stephen was always closer to his mother than Jimmy was," he said, "I should have told them both about her before, Saffron wouldn't have nearly..."

"What happened wasn't your fault," Sally said, "even if you had told them that woman would still have done what she did." Mrs. Ellison had never cared for the boys like she had. She was the one who had always been there for them, loved them. Then she'd been there for Saffron when she'd needed her.

"I loved that woman at one point," William said, "and she's ever done is cause this family pain and trouble."

"William, she's gone," she said, "we should be looking forward to the future. One day Saffron is going to marry Simon and then you're going to have grandchildren to worry about."

"I already have one grandson," he said, "and he is a wonderful young man, a credit to our family."

*

"They went shopping," Daryl said, "but they should be back soon. It's the first time that Saffron's been out of the house since she got out of hospital."

"She is okay, isn't she?" Stephen asked, his voice full of concern.

"Yeah, she just gets tired easily," he replied, "my dad keeps telling her to rest but she doesn't."

"Saf can be pretty stubborn when she wants to be." Blair said.

"She probably gets that off dad," Stephen said. If she was tired she obviously wasn't getting any better. So he really couldn't see Simon letting her go with him and Jim.

"Don't tell dad though." Jim grinned.

"Your dad was here earlier." Daryl said.

"He was!" Stephen said. He hadn't really expected their dad to go and see Saffron now that she was living with Simon again.

"Why wouldn't he?" Daryl asked, "all you guys are welcome here."

"I'm here now," he said. Still, he knew that he should have come before now. What sort of brother was he if he couldn't be there for his sister when she needed him.

"You should have been here when she got out of hospital," Daryl said, "because she kept wondering where you were."

"I had some business to take care of," Stephen replied, "Now I can spend time with her." That was if she wanted to spend time with him. He certainly wasn't going to force her if she didn't want to.

"Business isn't as important as people," Daryl said, "Saffron's really important to me and my dad so don't upset her."

"I'm not planning to." he assured him. For one thing he didn't want to have to face an angry Simon and for another their dad wouldn't be too happy with him if he did upset her.

*

Something had to be for both Jim and Stephen to have come to the house, Saffron though as Simon pulled up next to Jim's truck. It had to be their dad because she hadn't seen or heard from Stephen since she'd been in hospital.

Even then he hadn't exactly hung around once he'd discovered that she was going to make it. She couldn't lose her dad, not when she'd just started to get to know him. They still had a lot to catch up on just like she did with Jim and Stephen.

At least Jim was willing to give it a shot whereas Stephen seemed intent on avoiding her like the plague.

"I knew that going shopping would be too much for you," Simon said as he switched the engine off.

"I'm fine," she assured him. Maybe it had been too much for her but she wasn't going to admit it to him.

"We're going to start looking for a housekeeper tomorrow," he said.

"Not tomorrow," Saffron said, "because I'm taking Daryl out to the lake."

Although, if there was something wrong with her dad she wouldn't be able to do that because he had to come first. Even if it meant that Daryl was disappointed.

"you know you don't have to do that," Simon said, "I'm sure that Daryl will be able to find someone else to write a paper about."

"Maybe, but they won't be as interesting as me," she said. Recent events had given her enough material for several books if she ever got the chance to write them. At some point she knew that she was going to have to ensure her family's financial future.

*

"Hey Sis," Stephen said.

"Is everything okay?" Saffron asked looking at Jim.

"Everything is fine," he assured her, "we just came to see if you'd like to spend a couple of days away with us." He was giving her a choice so that she wouldn't feel pressured into going with them if she really didn't want to.

"When?" she asked.

"We'd go tomorrow morning and come back Friday night," Jim replied.

"I can't tomorrow," she said, "I'm taking Daryl to the rental business for a school project."

"That's not a problem," he said, "because we'd be staying at your cabin." Or they'd rent one if she wouldn't let them stay there, although he couldn't think of a reason why she wouldn't.

"I don't think that going out there is a good idea," Simon said, "she's still recovering."

"That's why now is the perfect time," Blair said, "with the two of them looking after her she'll recover a lot faster."

"Are you saying that I'm not looking after her properly." Simon growled.

"Nobody's saying that." Blair assured him.

"We just thought that you might like a break," Stephen said, "and I'd really like a chance to get to know my little sister better."

"You knew where she was while she was in the hospital, but you didn't visit her once." Simon said.

"Holmes, not everyone likes hospitals," Saffron said, "and I think it's a great idea as long as dad's not going."

"He's not," Jim said, "this trip is just for the three of us."

"What time do we go?" she asked.

"Maybe you should leave it a couple of days..." Simon began.

"I'm going, besides there's some stuff that I left out there." she said.

"What sort of stuff?" Stephen asked hesitantly.

"Just some things from my Ellise De Sade days." she replied.

*

She was going to leave him, Simon thought as he got ready for bed that night.

He should have known that she would get tired of having to support him and Daryl, he just hadn't expected it to happen so soon. She hadn't even come to his room as she usually did. He'd really been hoping that things wouldn't have turned out the way that they had with Joan. Still, Saffron was a lot younger than him and he wasn't exactly the best catch in the world. The two of them had obviously been through a lot recently and it had gotten to her.

"Mind if I come in?" Saffron asked, standing in the doorway.

"No." he replied.

"you're upset because I'm going away, aren't you," she said, walking over to the bed and sitting on the edge of it.

"If you want to go you can," Simon said. Saying no wasn't going to make her change her mind.

"I'm only going for a couple of days," Saffron said, "and I'm going to miss you every second that I'm gone."

"First it's a few days and then..." he began.

"And then?" she asked.

"You'll decide to go somewhere else." he said.

"I might, but only if you go with me," she replied, "so do you want to tell me what the real problem is?"

"Money," he admitted, "I can't support you..."

"Simon, I'm tired of this," she said, "if my having money is such a big problem for you I'll give it away because it doesn't mean as much to me as you do."

"I'm just worried that you're going to get tired of taking care of me and Daryl." he said. She should be out having fun not worrying about whether he would be coming home or going to the morgue.

"I could never do that," she said, "now why don't you get into bed because I have a surprise for you."

"What?" he asked.

"You'll have to wait and see." she replied as she stood up.

*

It was pretty obvious what his dad and Saffron were doing, Daryl thought, when he heard the noise coming from the direction of his dad's room. He was fine with them touching and kissing in front of him but this was weird. Still, it had to mean that they'd made up. He really didn't understand why his dad was so against her going away with her brothers for a couple of days. It wasn't as if she was going off with a couple of total strangers like his mom had used to do all the time.

Besides, his dad needed to quit worrying about her so much because she was doing a lot better than she had been when she'd first gotten out of hospital. She still tended to overdo it though, like making all those cookies for his school fund-raiser, which had sold out in the first ten minutes because they'd been so good. No doubt she'd be making something really great for the picnic. Some of his friends were pretty surprised that Saffron could cook because it wasn't something that they'd expected her to do. For some reason they still thought that she was Ellise De Sade, but she was a normal
person, the only difference was that she wrote books.

Unless they quit making all that noise he was never going to get to sleep.

Maybe it should be his dad who he asked for advice about girls from because he had to know something to get Saffron to go out with him in the first place. His dad hadn't told him where he'd met Saffron but Blair had probably introduced
them. It was a good thing that he had because he had been worried about his dad being on his own when he went off to college. Now his dad had Saffron and she wasn't just going to take off one day like his mom had and leave his dad with a
broken heart. Maybe if his mom had been more like Saffron then her and his dad might not have got divorced.

*

"I told you that I had a surprise for you," Saffron said the following morning as she trailed a hand down over Simon's chest. She'd certainly gotten one as well. Now she knew what she'd been missing for the past seven years. By making
love with him she had hopefully laid a lot of the doubts that she knew he had to rest.

We didn't..." Simon began.

"It's all right," she assured him. They'd talked about having children but last night she had taken the first step to making that a reality. Besides, he could have said no at any point, although she really hadn't give him much choice once she'd made her mind up.

"I hurt you," he said, "I have never..."

"I'm fine," she smiled, "so fine that I'd do it again if we didn't have to get up." Last night she's discovered one of the advantages of being a sentinel.

"Daryl. He had to have heard us." Simon said.

"I know" Saffron said. She wasn't embarrassed by that but she knew that Simon was. Daryl had to know that they were sharing a bed and that they weren't just going to sleep in it. "And I was the one doing the screaming," she added, "because you are so hot." One of her hands wrapped itself around his penis and began stroking it.

"Watson, I'm sorry but it's not going to rise to the occasion again." he said.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked.

"I'm not as young as I used to be." Simon said.

"That didn't stop you last night," she reminded him. She wanted to leave him with a good memory to think about while she was away.

*

It was a good idea, Stephen told himself as he packed a bag, but he couldn't help but wonder what they were going to talk about. He really didn't have anything in common with either Jim or Saffron. Still, it was a free vacation and a chance to get to know his brother and sister a lot better. Dad wasn't going to be too happy about it though, still if he'd tried harder Saffron would have been raised with him and Jim. Although both him and Jim had never really made her feel like part of the family when they'd been kids. She didn't seem to hold it against them though. He really wished that there was some way that he could make it up to her. Maybe there was, he had some contacts in the insurance business how might be able to push Simon's claim through faster because he knew how long it took to sort those sort of things out.

Besides, he did owe the man something for taking such good care of his little sister. He still didn't know Simon all that well but he loved Saffron and if that was good enough for their dad then it was good enough for him. He had to admit that he could find someone special like both his siblings had. The problem was that all the women her met were the same. They were only interested in how much money he made and what he could do for them career wise. Maybe he was looking in the wrong places for Miss Right or maybe she didn't exist for him. Saffron had been right when she'd called him an asshole, he'd always put his career first, along with the way he looked to the outside world. But that was something that he'd been taught from a very early age. However, it wasn't making him happy, if he had ever been happy to begin with. He had all the trappings that a man of his social position had but they didn't mean that much to him as they once had. What was the point in having an expensive car, designer suits and an apartment that a lot of people would kill for if you had no-one to share them with.

PART 4

"In that case, just ask the questions you would feel comfortable answering," Blair said.

*

"I'm not and I just want you to be happy," he said. He didn't care what comments people made about her because she was nothing like Ellise De Sade.

*

"You could have started when she got out of the hospital," Daryl said, "being a brother means you're there for everything." Not that he knew from personal experience because she was on only child, but some of his friends had told him what it was like to be a big brother. He wasn't sure that he would want to be one but if his dad and Saffron decided to have a baby once they were married he wouldn't have a great deal of say in the matter.

*

"Of course, I am," Blair replied, "but this is something that you guys need to do." He could live without Jim for a couple of days but Saffron might have a bigger problem.

*

"She won't be." Stephen promised him. At least, she wouldn't be by him. If anyone else tried then he would stop them before they had a chance to because she was his little sister. Once the two of them had had a chance to get to know each other better then Simon would realise that there was no need for him to worry abut the way Saffron would be treated by him.

*

Of course, he was going to have to warn the guys in the Bullpen that Saffron was away because Simon was likely to be short-tempered while she was. All it was going to take to set him off was Rafe saying the wrong thing and Simon would be jumping down his throat. He had to admit that Rafe had calmed down his interest in Saffron but not enough doe his liking. That could be the reason why Simon hadn't invited any of the guys to the house, or maybe he hadn't in order to spare Saffron from too many obvious stares. She looked a lot better than she had when she'd first gotten out of hospital but some of the bruises were still there and would be for some time to come. Anyone looking at her and not knowing what had happened would jump to the conclusion that she had been badly beaten up.

*

"If you had the chances are that we wouldn't have met." Simon said, "and that would have been a great shame."

*

"Because he didn't have any choice," Jim said, "her grandfather was a very powerful man and child abuse wasn't something that was talked about then." Not that it would have done much good even if it had been because her grandfather would have made sure that it was never made public.

*

*

"he fell into the lake and laughed about it," Saffron replied, "that's when I thought that I might like to get to know him better."

*

"I guess it is," Stephen said. It would be interesting to see what Saffron had to say on the matter.

*

Simon's divorce he'd been worried about his friend, Saffron had been a good influence on his friend. In fact, Simon was probably the happiest that he'd ever seen him. The fact that Daryl liked her helped matters as well. It was just a pity that they'd had a rough time of it recently, hopefully things would be a lot easier for them from now on.

*

"Somehow I don't that Blair would be too pleased if he did." Stephen laughed.

*

"I'm not sure," Simon admitted, "it's been a long time since I last talked to them and even longer since I saw them." His last meeting with his family hadn't gone smoothly, a lot of things had been said and his attempts to apologise had been met with even harsher words. They'd never seen Daryl and the letters he'd sent had been returned unopened so they knew where he was but didn't want any sort of contact with him. "I just know that at some point I'm going to have to explain it to Saffron," he added, "and she's not going to be happy about it."

*

"She doesn't interfere in the way I do things," Peter said, "just like her grandfather didn't. So I don't really work for her and everyone has to work for someone. Saffron included."

*

"You are," Saffron said, "but we're the only ones allowed to say it. If anyone else does, we kick the crap out of them.

*

"Fine." Saffron said.

*

She wanted to make a proper commitment to him but he'd let his pride get in the way of that. He really wished that his insurance company would pay out so that he could buy her a ring. Of course, she'd offered to pay for it and other men would have let her do that, but that wasn't the right way to do things. He might be broke but he still had his principals and a fat lot of good they were going to do him if she decided that they got in the way. He supposed that he could always borrow the money and pay it back later. However, he really didn't like going into debt and at the moment the bank wasn't very likely to lend him anything. There was the credit card that Saffron had given him, she had said that he could use it because everything that she had was his as well. She'd worked hard for the money she had so it didn't feel right to spend it. Her books were selling well but that didn't mean that they would continue to do so in the future. If she wanted to write more books then he certainly wasn't going to stop her, writing was what she did for a living and he knew that she wouldn't be happy if she couldn't do that.

*

The whole learning how a business ran was turning out to be a lot better than he'd thought it would be, Daryl thought. Peter was really cool and he had lots of great stories about Saffron when she'd been a little girl,. All of which he was going to tell his dad when he got home. He'd always learned a lot about what it must have been like for his dad growing up. It was hard to believe that if his dad had met Saffron at his age he could have been beaten up or worse. That was something that he didn't have to worry about though. Talking to Peter had raised some questions about his dad. Like why didn't he have any relatives from his dad's family that he could go and see. His mom had always been making him go and see her parents during the holidays. Not that he'd enjoyed staying with them because all they ever did was bad mouth his dad. Saffron's dad was a pretty okay guy and he was trying his best to be a grandfather, but he still had to learn how to be a dad first. He couldn't imagine not only not seeing his dad for most of his life but not remembering him as well, but that was what had happened to Saffron. Still, she had found her family again, so he had two uncles when his dad married Saffron. After the amount of noise that they'd been making last night and this morning that wasn't going to be too far off. Then he'd probably end up with either a little brother or sister, or even both.

*

"That is ancient history," he said, "and it should stay that way because talking about it won't do anyone any good." He was perfectly happy with Jim so there was no need for Simon to worry about him ever trying to get back together with Saffron, "she loves you," he said, "she has to put up with your sunny disposition. So why don't you think about what you're going to do when she gets back."

*

She was bound to be here, William thought as he entered the Bullpen. After all, this was where Simon was. If she wasn't here then he would demand to know where she was. As her father he had a right to know that, especially as she was still recovering from her injuries. No matter what anyone, including Sally said he still didn't think that Saffron should have discharged herself from hospital as soon as she had. What if there were complications? And he knew that she hadn't been resting, so the sooner that she hired a housekeeper the better.

"Blair, is Jimmy here?" he asked stopping by his son's desk.

"No," Blair replied, "he's taking a few days off."

"I see." he said. It was a little strange that his son was taking time off while Blair was still working. Perhaps it had something to do with Stephen. "In that case I'll talk to Saffron." he added.

"She's not here either." Blair said.

"Where is she?" he asked. Obviously the problem with Stephen was a lot more serious than he'd thought it was if both of them weren't here.

"I don't know," Blair replied, "the three of them decided to go away for a few days."

"I take it that Simon knows where they are." William said. Saffron would go anywhere without telling Simon first.

"He doesn't," Blair said, "And I really wouldn't disturb him at the moment if I were you because he is in a foul mood."

"Do you have any idea when they'll be back?" he asked, Blair knew where they were but he wasn't going to tell him.

"Before Saturday morning," Blair replied, "they just needed to get away for a couple of days."

"From me." he said. He'd tried his best to be a better father but obviously it hadn't been good enough for them.

"No, not from you," Blair assured him, "actually it was my idea that they went away. I thought that they could use some time to get to know each other better."

"Well, I'm sure that I'll hear from them when they decide to call me." William said.

*

He was being left out again, Stephen thought, when he heard Saffron and Jim talking in the kitchen. They probably didn't even realise that they were doing it which made it worse than if they were doing it deliberately. No matter how hard her tried he just wasn't ever going to be like them and he really wanted to be. Their lives were so much better than his because they had someone to share things with. All he'd ever had in his life were a string of very glamorous but dull women. People in his social circle didn't get lonely and if they did then they certainly never mentioned it to anyone. Maybe he should tell them what the problem was. Not that he was really expecting them to be able to help him. After all, how could he not be happy when he had it all. Only he wasn't and he hadn't been for a long time.

Dad had a lot to answer for. If it wasn't for him he probably would have chosen another career but that hadn't been allowed. God forbid that an Ellison wouldn't follow family tradition.

Perhaps he should have escaped when he'd had a chance to like Jim had. It would have been hard to make it on his own, but he could have done it instead of letting his surname open doors for him. Jim hadn't relied on his surname to get where he was and Saffron had relied on her talent. He'd always wanted to do something creative but he didn't know what or even how to start. Still, it wasn't too late for him to work that out. He could afford to quit his job while he decided that he was going to do. No doubt his dad would have some objections to that but he only had one life and from now on he needed to live it his way.

*

It had been a really great day, even if he hadn't spent it with Saffron, Daryl thought. His dad wasn't going to be too happy about that even though he'd been well looked after by Peter.

Maybe he should just leave that part out so that his dad wouldn't get upset with Saffron. The last thing that he wanted was for them to argue and Saffron to leave his dad. For a long time after his parents had gotten divorced his dad hadn't dated anyone, or if he had he hadn't told him about them. He had to admit that he had been more than a little surprised that first morning he'd met Saffron. She'd looked young enough to be his girlfriend but then he'd seen the way that she treated his dad. It was a lot better than his mom ever had.

Everything that Saffron had done so far had been for him and his dad. Even if it had meant her going to a lot of trouble like buying the house that they were living in. He didn't know how much it had cost but it had to have been a lot. His dad had a few problems with Saffron paying for everything but that was just his pride getting in the way. After all, this was the nineties and women sometimes earned a lot more than men did. And it wasn't as if his dad wasn't paying his share because he was. He was hardly going to go out with someone just because they had a lot of money like Saffron did. Somehow he doubted that Saffron had told his dad just how much money had she when she'd first met him. Even he knew that it wasn't safe to do something like that. There were a lot of people out there who would try and take advantage of someone just because they had money.

*

They were supposed to be talking to each other but nobody was saying anything, Jim thought. Maybe it was time to break out not only the questionnaires that Blair had given him but the beer he'd brought with him. Getting drunk probably wasn't what Blair had planned when he'd suggested this weekend but it could be the one thing that got them to open up to each other, because otherwise they would end up swapping pleasantries the whole time they were there. And it wasn't as if anyone of them would be driving anywhere tonight.

"Either of you want a beer?" he asked.

"Sure." Saffron replied.

"Why not," Stephen said, "have you got anything to go with it?"

"There are some peanuts in the kitchen," Saffron replied, "I haven't gotten around to baking any cookies yet."

"You don't have to cook while you're here," Jim said, "we can take it in turns." He got the feeling that if he let her she wouldn't leave the kitchen.

"I don't cook,." Stephen said.

"He doesn't iron his own shirts either." she said.

"We'll teach you," Jim said, "Saffron has mom's recipe for chocolate chip cookies." Calling Sally mom had been a great idea, one that Blair would have approved of. None of them would admit it but they needed a mom, one who would never hurt them. Even after he'd joined the army he'd still stayed in touch with Sally. His dad didn't know about that and he doubted that Sally had told him.

"Why did you get the recipe?" Stephen asked.

"Because she gave me it," she replied, " and a recipe isn't any good if you don't know how to cook."

"And I suppose that Simon can cook?" Stephen said.

"As a matter of fact he can," Saffron said, "and Daryl knows how to cook a few things as well. Even dad can cook."

"You do everything for yourself, don't you," Stephen said, "I bet you even cleaned that house, didn't you."

"I had to because there was no one else to do it," she snapped, "I didn't have mom to take care of me. I had a grandfather who told me that dad never wanted me and an uncle who tried to kill me god only knows how many times."

"He said that?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, and I always thought that it was my fault that bitch left," Saffron replied, "until I broke into his safe and read his diary I had no idea that dad had always wanted me."

"I didn't know." Stephen said.

"Which is why we needed to come for this weekend," Jim said, "now are the two of you going to be behave long enough for me to get that beer?"

"I'm not the one who started it." Saffron said.

"I'll behave if she does." Stephen said.

"If you both don't behave I'm going to call mom." he warned them. He was obviously going to have to be the disciplinarian when they started arguing. Still, he supposed that it was a lot better than them not talking at all.

*

The only reason why he'd come home early was because he hadn't been able to think about Saffron, Simon thought as he entered the house. He'd had trouble sleeping while she'd been in hospital so he knew that he was going to get very little sleep tonight. How was he supposed to sleep in their bed while remembering that they'd done both last night and this morning. His body knew what it felt like to not only embrace hers but to be surrounded by it as well. It had still surprised him that he had been the first man to touch her like that in a long time. knowing that had only served to inflame his desire for her further. She had chosen him to be her partner, the man that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with and bear children for. The latter was definitely a serious possibility now. Even if she wasn't pregnant now she could be in the near future if they didn't take precautions when they made love. He knew that they should have last night but in the heat of the moment he had forgotten about it, or rather Sa She was right though, he did want to be a father again,. It was something that he'd often thought about but hadn't expected to happen. Then Saffron had barged into his life and things had taken a turn for the interesting. Not that he was complaining because he liked the way his life was now. He was the happiest that he had been in years. The only thing was that he wanted to be married before he brought another child into the world and he didn't want anyone claiming that they'd had to get married. As it was some of the mud that had been thrown at Saffron had stuck to him. He hadn't told her that though because she'd had enough to worry about recovering from her injuries. Besides, there wasn't anything that she could do to change the way that some people thought about him. He could live with it as long as they didn't start attacking Saffron because that wasn't something that he was just going to stand by and let happen.

*

She was definitely drunk, Saffron thought as she finished her fourth beer, but she didn't care. It wasn't as if she was going to have to start cooking or anything and she certainly wouldn't be going anywhere until the morning.

"So are we going to do these questionnaires or not?" she asked putting her empty bottle to one side.

"I suppose that we should after all the trouble Blair went to making them." Jim replied as he dug into his back pocket and took out several sheets of folded paper.

"I haven't got a pen." Stephen said.

"I do," Saffron said, "unless they got stolen or blown up." When she'd first entered the cabin she hadn't seen any signs of Jake having been there at all. So if she was lucky her pens would still be where she'd left them the last time she'd been to the cabin. Stationary was something that she always kept plenty of laying around because she never knew when an idea would come to her. Simon had been more than a little surprised by how much she'd bought to stock her study with, but that hadn't stopped him from borrowing some and not replacing it. "But I want it back when you've finished with it." she added.

"I hardly think that Stephen's going to steal it," Jim said, as he separated the sheets of paper before handing them to Saffron and Stephen.

"I'm losing at least two pens a day at home," she said, "I think it's the pen fairy because neither Simon or Daryl as doing it according to them."

"That's a lot of pens." Jim said.

"And very expensive," she said, "I don't buy cheap pens." Which was why they were probably going missing.

"Jim, have you seen some of these questions?" Stephen asked.

"I had a quick look," Jim admitted, "you only have to answer the questions you feel comfortable with."

"That's most of them." Stephen said.

"Well, there's only one that I'm not going to answer because it could cause problems." Saffron said.

"And how many would Simon want you not to answer?" Jim asked.

"A lot of them," she replied, "but I'm not going to tell him if you don't." She wasn't embarrassed to answer really personal questions even if her brothers were.

*

"William, I'm sure that they are all fine," Sally said.

"They went away without telling anyone where they were going," he said, "and I think that Stephen is in some sort of trouble."

"If he is then Jimmy and Saffron will sort it out," she assured him, "and they do have a right to go away if they want to." She could understand why he was upset but the three of them were more than capable of taking care of themselves if they had to. In fact, it would do them good to spend some time away. This would be the perfect opportunity for them to get to know each other.

"I'm his father," William said, "I should be the one sorting it out."

"He knows that, but maybe he feels more comfortable talking about it to Jimmy and Saffron," Sally suggested, "the three of them need to be siblings for a while. And we both know that Stephen had a difficult time of it while Saffron was in hospital."

"It wasn't easy for me either," he said, "there were a lot of bad memories brought up."

"William, the man who did that to Saffron looked like Stephen," she said, "and Stephen was always a lot closer to his mother than Jimmy was." Not that Grace Ellison had been close to either of her sons. To that woman her children had been something that she could use against William and she had done that as often as possible. She could still remember the day that Grace Ellison had left, she'd just packed and gone without saying goodbye to either Jimmy or Stephen. Of course, she'd remembered to take all her jewellery including several pieces that had belonged to William's mother.

"God knows why, because she never gave a damned about either of them," William said, "Jessica was just the same. But I wouldn't be without the boys and Saffron for anything."

"I know," she smiled. She just wished that he'd been able to show it more as Jimmy and Stephen had been growing up because then there might not have been so many problems between them.

*

Jim hadn't called so that had to be good news, Blair thought, although he had been expecting him to just so that he would know that they had all arrived safely. When anyone did call it was likely to be Saffron complaining about Jim's attitude towards her relationship with Simon. Looking at it from Jim's point of view he could understand that he wouldn't want to think about his little sister sleeping with anyone let alone someone who was not only his boss but his friend as well. Then there was the fact that he'd had a relationship with Saffron, but that had been along time ago and Jim didn't seem to have a problem with it. Simon on the other hand, well, he'd been expecting him to ask for details. That was something that he would never talk about even if Saffron gave him permission to because it could cause a lot of problems between them.

Neither of then had said anything to him but he got the feeling that despite outward appearances things were still awkward for them. Simon had some serious issues about the fact that Saffron earned a great deal more than him and her age. Saffron was certainly going to have her work cut out for her convincing him that she wasn't going to leave him the moment that a better offer came along. Even if one did Saffron wouldn't take it because she loved Simon. Maybe he should have told him about the conversation he'd had with Saffron when she'd decided to go to her house for a couple of days. Then again it might not do any good at all. Simon's ex wife had a lot to answer for and it was Saffron who was paying the price. He just hoped that Saffron remembered to call Simon or he was likely to go charging out there to find out what was happening to her.

*

"Hi dad," Daryl said, "what's for dinner?" His dad didn't look at all happy which meant that Saffron hadn't called.

"Lasagne," Simon replied, "so did you enjoy your day with Saffron?"

"Yeah," he replied, "she introduced me to the guy who really runs the business and he showed me around."

"Why didn't Saffron do it?" Simon asked.

"Because she doesn't know how things work," Daryl said, "he was a really great guy and I learned a lot from him." A lot more than he'd expected to. "he knew Saffron when she was a kid," he added when he saw the look on Simon's face. He'd gone and said the wrong thing when he hadn't meant to. Now his dad was going to be mad with Saffron.

"She dumped you on some stranger." Simon said.

"I had a choice," he said, "besides, there were all these girls there and..."

"Saffron was responsible for you, I knew that her going out there was a bad idea," Simon said, "she couldn't even be bothered to call and let me know that you'd arrived safely."

"Dad, it was my idea to go with that guy," Daryl said, "I figured that the more time that Saffron spent with her brothers the better." So that wasn't the whole truth but his dad didn't want to know that because it would only make matter worse.

"Daryl, she was supposed to be looking after you," Simon said, "she knew that I was trusting her to do that and she didn't."

"I'm not a little kid," he said, "I can take care of myself." He was way too old to need a baby sitter anymore and if he'd asked her to Saffron would have spent the who day with him.

"This is about trust," Simon growled, "if I can't trust her to do this then..."

"Nothing happened to me," Daryl protested, "and she's not mom. If she was going to leave she would have by now." After everything that had happened including his mom's involvement with those people Saffron was still with his dad.

"I know she's not." Simon said.

"And instead of waiting for her to call you why don't you call her." he suggested. His dad was being really dumb about not trusting Saffron because it wasn't as if she was going out partying every night. In fact, she never went out without his dad and his dad knew everyone who came to the house.

"Maybe I should drive out there and surprise her," Simon suggested, "she forgot to take her painkillers with her."

"If you want to go I'll be fine here." Daryl said, "and I can get myself to school in the morning." Like his dad was going to drive all the way out there and not spend the night with Saffron. At least he wouldn't have to listen to them making up.

*

They'd all probably drunk too much beer, Jim thought, laughing at something Stephen had just said, but there was no harm in that because they needed to relax. Once Stephen had dropped the arrogance he was a funny guy. That was something that he'd never realised about his brother before. It looked as if the three of them did have more in common than just having the same parents. "What is the one thing you've always wanted to do if money was no object." he added.

"It's not," Saffron laughed, "but Simon thinks that my having too much money is a problem."

"You can never have too much money," Stephen said, "that's what dad's always said."

"Having money is nice but it's not that important." Jim said. There were more important things in life like having someone in your life who loved you unconditionally like Blair did him.

"I agree," she said, "and what I've always wanted to do is take a limo through a drive in burger place."

"Why?" Stephen asked.

"Because it'd be fun," Saffron replied, "can you imagine the looks on people's faces when you pull in and order a milkshake."

"So why don't you do it?" Jim asked. She could afford it and even he had to admit that it sounded like fun.

"Maybe I should," she said, "but I don't think that Simon would be too happy if I did."

"He couldn't object that much," Stephen said, "and it's your money so you can spend it how you want."

"It would be frivolous," she said, "and I love him too much to upset him over something silly."

"Is everything okay between the two of you?" Jim asked. If Simon was giving her a hard time then he wanted to know about it so that he could try and do something about it. She was his little sister and he didn't like the thought of her either being hurt or taken advantage of.

"We're fine," Saffron replied, "I just wish that he would relax about money because I've got more than enough for the both of us and it's not going to run out anytime soon."

"Simon has his pride," he said, "and Joan used money as a weapon against him." He didn't know how much Simon had told her about his first marriage but this was something that she needed to know. and it certainly couldn't hurt to talk to Simon and make him understand that Saffron was only trying to follow her instincts in taking care of her guide. It was a lot easier for him to take care of Blair because Blair understood that.