"I gotta get to work." Parker groaned trying to pull himself away from Emily's warm arms. She smiled and wrapped the quilt tighter around herself.

"Well then hurry up and leave." she replied. "The sooner you leave the sooner you will be home." Parker nodded and ran his thumb across the diamond on her finger.

"You gotta start thinking about what you want for the wedding." he said. Emily shook her head.

"I don't want a big wedding, Parker." she replied. "I just want you and I and Wyatt. Maybe Ed and Tyler and Hank. And of course Greg and a preacher. That's it." Parker raised his brow.

"I can usually tell when you're lying but right now it seems like you're telling the truth. Why don't you want a big wedding?" Emily sighed.

"I had a big wedding with John and I hated it. You and I don't need all that. Our love is enough." she said. Parker laughed.

"You won't hear me argue with you. I'm a cheapskate." he said. Emily slapped him playfully.

"You're so romantic." she said. He smiled and kissed her forehead.

"You happened to find me very romantic Saturday when I slipped that ring on your finger." he reminded her. Emily blushed and looked down at the tiny diamond ring. She was surprised by how right that ring looked there. Parker looked down at his watch and groaned irritably.

"I really do gotta go. If I'm late today Hank will fire me for sure." Emily smiled and shook her head.

"He would never fire you. Giving you a hard time gives him too much joy." Parker laughed and gave her a kiss.

"See you this evening." he said. She nodded.

"I love you." she said. Parker nodded and then walked out the door. Emily laughed to herself. Parker seemed to find the words I love you hard to say sometimes and Emily found it entertaining. She knew how much he loved her and so it didn't bother her, she just found it funny.

888

Emily was just finishing up her and Wyatt's lunch dishes when she heard a car pull in the driveway. She looked out the window and saw Greg getting out of his jeep. She switched Wyatt to her other hip and opened the door.

"Hi Greg. Parker is at the garage." she said uncomfortably. She was getting more relaxed everyday but could not forget the punishment she'd received from John the time that one of his work friends came over and sat in their living room with Emily alone while waiting on John to get home. Nothing had happened, of course, but John had not believed that.

"I know. I was actually wanting to talk to you." Greg replied as he walked up on the porch. Emily smiled and moved aside so he could walk into the house.

"Can I get you anything?" Emily asked. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?" Greg shook his head and motioned to the couch.

"I actually came by to give you something." he said sitting down and laying his briefcase in his lap. Emily put Wyatt in his swing and gave him his favorite rattle before joining Greg on the couch.

"Does Parker know you're bringing me presents?" she asked with a smile. He laughed.

"I've got an oral surgeon on stand by just in case I lose some teeth." Greg replied pushing his glasses up on his nose. He opened his briefcase and pulled out a yellow packet and handed it to Emily who opened it and looked inside, then back at him questioningly.

"What are they?" she asked. "Or are you going to make me read them all?"

"All the final documents from the divorce and the adoption for you guys to keep. I have a record at the office and there is one at John's law office." Emily nodded and tossed the envelope on the coffee table. Greg noticed the ring on her finger as she laid her hand on couch beside him.

"Congratulations." he said pointing to it. Emily blushed and smiled.

"Thank you. He asked me Saturday." she replied. Greg nodded and smiled even though he was hurting a little. He had had a crush on Emily since fifth grade when he'd asked her to that Valentines dance. Of course he would never try to come in between her and Parker now. Not just because of Parker's overprotective violent nature but also because he had seen how miserable Parker had been without her.

"I'm happy for you both." Greg said. "So how are you doing with everything else?" Emily looked at him questioningly.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well I mean with all this new stuff going on with John." Greg replied reaching over and tickling the bottom of Wyatt's foot and making the baby squeal with delight.

"What new stuff with John?" Emily asked. As far as she knew things had been settled with John. They hadn't heard anything from him in the last few months.

Greg looked over at her and she noticed how pale his face had grown. "You don't' know…?" he asked his voice suddenly sounding very nervous. Emily shook her head.

"No, why don't you tell me?"

"Well.. I.. uh.. I just thought that Parker would have told you." he stammered. Emily shook her head again.

"No, Parker didn't tell me anything. What is going on with John?"

"I think I'll just let Parker tell you. I was just joking about that oral surgeon being on standby and I'd really rather he didn't punch me."

"Greg, I protected you in the fifth grade, I'll protect you this time." Greg rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, you protected me and I still ended up with a broken tooth."

"Well just imagine how bad it would have been if I hadn't been there. Please tell me, Greg. If this has to do with John then I think I have a right to know." Emily said. Greg was quiet for several long moments before replying.

"John's law office filed a missing persons report on him. Nobody has seen or heard from him in over a week." Emily felt panic setting in. She stood quickly and locked the front door while looking out the tiny window at the top. She ran back down the hallway to check all the windows and doors in the house and Greg followed her.

"What are you doing, Emily?" he asked. She turned to look back at him and he saw that same scared to death look in her eyes that she had worn when she'd come into his office asking for his help with the divorce.

"He could be here, Greg! He could be watching me right now!" she practically screamed. Greg reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders to hold her still.

"Just because no one has heard from him doesn't mean he's around here, Emily. Maybe he killed himself." Emily wondered why that thought actually comforted her. She knew that it shouldn't. No decent person should be happy with the thought of another human being committing suicide. But it was so much better than the alternative when the alternative was that John was here and preparing to attack her.

"No, John would never kill himself. He's too fond of himself to do something like that." she replied as she pulled out of his grasp and continued locking the windows in each room. Greg followed her back out to the living room once she was finished and sat down next to her on the couch.

"How long has Parker known about this?" Emily asked as she chewed nervously on her fingernails.

"Since yesterday morning." Greg replied with a sigh. Parker was going to be kicking his ass for sure now.

Emily thought back to the day before and remembered the phone call that Parker had gotten that morning. He had walked back to the bedroom with the phone. Emily hadn't thought much about it at the time but now she realized why he had wanted privacy.

"Why would he keep this from me?" she demanded with anger flashing in her green eyes. Greg shrugged.

"I don't know." he replied.

"I'm scared, Greg." Emily said. Greg wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. He figured he might as well give Parker one more reason to kill him since he was already going to be a dead man anyway.

"Do you want me to stay with you until Parker gets back from work?" he asked. Emily looked at the clock. There was still a good four hours before Parker would be there but she really did not want to be left alone when John could be right outside waiting to come after her.

"Would you mind?" she asked while biting her lip. Greg shook his head and pulled off his suit jacket. He leaned back on the couch and crossed his legs and Emily curled her legs beneath her and prayed that time would pass quickly so she could feel the comfort that only Parker's presence would give her.

888

"Well I'm gonna call it a day and head to the house." Parker said slamming down the hood of the Buick he had been working on." Hank shook his head.

"Mrs. Miller wanted that done in the morning." he reminded him. Parker nodded.

"I'll come in early tomorrow and get it done before she comes in at ten." he said. Hank laughed.

"You come in early? If that happens I might just have a heart attack and die right here on this greasy floor." Parker chuckled as he wiped his hands on a dirty rag.

"Ya got some money set aside? Because it'll probably take two caskets." Parker replied throwing the dirty rag onto a tool box.

"Kiss my ass, Parker." Hank said with a laugh as he laid his hands on his big belly. Then his eyes turned more serious.

"Have you heard anything else about Emily's ex?" he asked. Parker let out a long breath and shook his head.

"No nothing. I don't think he's around here but I have Tyler and the deputies keeping a look out for him."

"I still think you should tell Emily." Hank said matter-of-factly. Parker shook his head.

"Why not nephew? She has a right to know."

"Because uncle." Parker replied. "She has changed a lot in the last few months. She finally doesn't jump at the sight of her own shadow anymore and I don't want to scare her to death with all this crap about John and have her as scared as a newborn pup again."

"You know if she finds out you've been keeping this from her it'll be you that'll start jumping at your own shadow."

"She's not going to find out because surely I can trust my dear old uncle to keep his big mouth shut." Parker replied threateningly. Hank chuckled and held his hands up.

"My lips are sealed.. It's none of my business." he said. Parker smiled.

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow morning. And I'll be here bright and early so you better be on time."

888

Parker pulled in the driveway and parked next to Greg's jeep. What the hell was Greg doing here? Parker walked up to the house but before he even had time to open the door it was flung open and Emily was standing there glaring at him.

"How dare you keep something this important from me!" she said her green eyes flashing with anger. Parker looked over her head and saw Greg sitting on the couch looking guilty and scared while bouncing Wyatt on his knee. Parker grabbed Emily gently by her arm and pushed her back into the house pulling the door closed behind him.

"Greg, what are you doing here other than trying to scare my woman to death and hide behind my son?" Parker asked as Greg stood Wyatt up on his lap. Greg smiled guiltily but before he could reply Emily put one hand on her hip and stuck a finger on her other hand into his chest.

"Don't you dare try to turn this around on Greg. He just came to give me some papers and ask me how I was doing with everything going on with John. Imagine his surprise when he found out I didn't know anything about what was going on!" she said. Parker sighed and shook his head.

"Honey…." he started but Emily cut him off.

"How dare you not tell me that that monster could be here watching me? He could be out there right now waiting to catch me and Wyatt alone!" As Emily yelled she peeked around the curtain to look out the big living room window.

"I didn't want you to worry." Parker said gently as he sent an angry glare in Greg's direction.

"How can I not worry?" she demanded looking back at him. He hated the scared look that he saw in her eyes. She looked the way she had over two months ago when she had thought she'd seen John's car drive past the diner.

"Emily…"

"Please do not tell me to be calm, Parker! You have no idea what that man is capable of! God I know he wants me dead after what we did to him!" Emily covered her face with her hands and fell to her knees sobbing. "He's going to kill me…" she managed to gasp through her tears. Parker looked over at Greg and mouthed the words, 'are you happy now?'

Greg shook his head and stood up.

"I think the little guy needs a fresh diaper…." he said and quickly left the room with Wyatt jabbering in his arms.

Parker dropped to his knees in front of Emily and gently ran his hands over her arms. He could feel the way she was trembling with fear.

"Em… Honey, you have to calm down.  Do you realize that Greg who still lives in his mother's basement with his collection of star trek memorabilia is changing our sons diaper?"

"Stop trying to change the subject and make me laugh, Parker. I am really pissed off and scared right now." Emily said with her face still buried in her hands.

"I know you are." Parker replied grabbing her hands and moving them away from her face. Her cheeks were wet with tears and he wiped them dry with his thumbs.

"Em honey, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about this. I just didn't want you to be scared. You have been really happy lately and I didn't want to see you like this again." he said gently. Emily laid her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her.

"I know you were doing what you thought was best, Parker." she said quietly.

"I told Tyler and the other deputies about John and they are looking out for him and so is Hank, Ed and Paula… If he comes to town they'll know."

"Promise me something…" Emily whispered quietly in a scared voice. Parker kissed her hair.

"Em, you know I'll do anything for you." he replied.

"Promise me that you will keep me and Wyatt safe. Promise me that you won't let him kill us." Emily knew it wasn't fair to ask that of him but she was so scared and desperate that she needed to hear the words even though he might not be able to keep the promise.

"Emily, I love you." Parker said. He knew he didn't say those words often enough but he knew that he meant them with all his heart. "You and Wyatt are the only things I have in my life worth living for. I will not let him take you from me. I promise you that." Emily just sat there in his arms for a several long silent moments taking comfort in his warmth and strength.

When she finally pulled away and looked at him he was happy to see that her tears had stopped and she was smiling.

"Does Greg really still live in his moms basement with a collection of Star Trek crap?" Emily asked. Parker smiled and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear but before he could reply Greg walked back in.

"Yes, actually I do." he said. "And it is not crap it is a very valuable collection." Parker stood up and helped Emily to her feet as well. Greg handed Wyatt to Emily and grabbed his suit jacket and briefcase off the couch.

"I'll be leaving now." he said. He had every intention of getting the hell out of here before Parker had a chance to repeat fifth grade. Parker kissed Emily's forehead.

"Why don't you start some dinner, Em?" he asked gently. "I'll walk Greg out to his car." he added in a more threatening tone as he glared at his friend. Greg swallowed hard and nodded in defeat.

"I'll see ya later, Emily." he said and walked out the door. Emily grabbed Parker's arm as he followed Greg out the door.

"Please be nice. He didn't know that I didn't know." Parker grinned.

"I'm always nice." he replied and walked out the door. Greg heard Parkers boots walking up behind him and sighed. He sat his jacket and briefcase into the jeep and turned to face him.

"Why the hell did you tell her about John?" Parker demanded crossing his arms over his chest. Greg shrugged.

"I didn't realize that she didn't know. I was just asking how she was" he replied. Parker ran his hand over the back of his neck and sighed.

' "I should have just shot the asshole when I had the chance. This is ridiculous." Greg nodded and climbed in his jeep.

"We'll find him, Parker." he said. Parker slammed Greg's door shut and then leaned in the open window.

"Why do you act so nervous?" he asked as Greg picked at some lint on his pants leg.

"Because dammit! You scare me." he replied. Parker laughed loudly and moved away from the Jeep window.

"Don't worry about me, Greg. I'm harmless." he said cracking his knuckles. Greg gave a nervous little laugh and pushed his glasses up on his nose.

"Yea sure." he said. "I'll see ya around." Parker was still laughing as he walked back in the house.