"Not at all! You know you are one of the people I am closest to. It's just that you have always been so reserved and professional with me before." I g...ess I just decided you really won't ever be my patient again, and we can go back to being just good friends." That's fine with me." Surprising himself, he reached over and gave her a warm hug. They had barely rearranged themselves when Shannon returned. "How about a hot tub? Julia, did you happen to bring a suit?" No, I didn't."Shannon piped up,. Finally, I answered. "Two reasons. One, I thought it sounded a little funny to say 'Hey, I'm taking your wife to Vegas!' Not that every trip to Vegas has to be down and dirty, and not that I really think Mike would suspect anything --" He wouldn't," she interrupted. "Not in a million years."I nodded. "Still, somehow, it seemed -- I don't know -- safer to say that we were side-tracking to the Canyon, and more reasonable to need two extra days on the road."Jen nodded her head. "I can see that.. ‘Shhh,’ he cut her off gently with two fingers over her lips, ‘You have no reason to be sorry. Whatever it is that frightens you so, let me protect you.’ ‘But,’ she began to argue when he interrupted, speaking softly, yet deliberately, ‘If you want me to stand in torrential rain and shake my fists at the gods, demanding they cease and desist, I’ll do that for you… only for you.’ Sharon smiled genuinely in the darkness, relaxed into his embrace slightly, and whispered, ‘How did you get so. You open the door and step out into the cool ocean breeze, admiring the view before you. The town of Green Moore was a quaint little seaside town off the coast of the Pacific. It was rather small and unassuming compared to some beach cities, with a relatively small local population, somewhere around 15,000. Even to a young one like yourself, you know that a small population can be a bad thing for your kind: people are noticed missing too quickly. However, it's the nature of the town's economics.