"Are you coming to the peach festival next week?" Chrissy asked.

"I suppose." Talia said.

"I want to take Mariah. She has been sad since Tristan left."

"We have all felt sad since he left."

The day Tristan and Annie left was filled with smiles and tears. Tristan donned his Captain Defender costume. He had lost his excitement from the first day he'd arrived. Tristan's long adventure filled week had taken a lot out of him. Annie was visibly concerned. Talia's heart slowly broke remembering their conversation from the day they'd arrived.

"When I get back to California we are going to meet up for lunch at Grace's diner. How does that sound, buddy?" Zeke kneeled in front of him.

Tristan nodded then threw his arms around Zeke. "Thank you, Zeke." He whispered.

"You're welcome, Tristan." Zeke's voice cracked while he squeezed Tristan in a hug.

Tears streamed down Talia's face.

"Come on, Tristan. We need to get going." Tristan and Zeke reluctantly separated. With his head down, Tristan marched over to the awaiting limo.

With waves and a few wordless hugs, Terence and Max joined Tristan and Annie. Talia stood with Zeke, Chrissy and Mariah as the limo pulled away. Mariah chased the limo waving goodbye to the friend she may never see again. Zeke's shoulders began to shake. Talia pulled him into a hug. His tears wet Talia's shirt.

"It will be ok."

"I know." He let out watery laugh. "That is one special kid. He's touched me more than he'll ever know."

Talia nodded. Zeke walked away from Talia and Chrissy toward the barn.

"Let's do lunch tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan."

Chrissy retrieved the still waving Mariah. She'd already packed their things into her car. After Chrissy put Mariah in the car they drove away leaving a dust cloud behind them.

It was at Five and Diner that Chrissy and Talia were having brunch. Chrissy was quieter than normal. Talia watched as she pushed her food around her plate.

"What's up with you?" Talia asked.

Chrissy shrugged.

"Come on, spill it."

"Max kissed me last night."

"WHAT?!?" Talia squealed causing nearby patrons to look over.

"Shut up!" Chrissy hissed.

Talia took a drink of her orange juice and grimaced. "I wish they served mimosas for situations like this."

"You are such a lush."

"Apparently you're a bit of a slutbag." Talia shot back.

"One kiss does not make a slutbag." Chrissy blushed.

"Did more than a kiss happen?"

Chrissy stared at her plate.

"Ooo something did happen."

"A little over shirt, ass grabbing action happened before Mariah came bursting into the kitchen."

"You have a built in pussy protector."

"Pussy protector?" Chrissy whispered it looking around to see if anyone heard her.

"You know it's like a cock block except for your vag."

"Where the hell do you get this stuff?"

Talia laughed. "I'm just gifted. So, did you get Max's number?"

"Yes, but I won't be using it."

"Ugh!" Talia landed her head dramatically on the table.

When Talia's head landed on the edge of her plate instead of the table her fork with egg still on it flicked the food toward the diner next to them. The egg landed on the elderly gentleman's plate. He wasn't paying attention and didn't notice the piece of food that had flown through the air onto his plate. His next forkful included Talia's bit of egg.

"You couldn't have done that if you tried." Chrissy whispered.

Before Talia could reply the old man who'd just eaten her egg began to choke. The busboy ran over giving him the Heimlich. The old man coughed up the egg. Talia had almost killed a man by being dramatic. But, with a gross turn of events, he picked up the coughed-up egg and popped it back in his mouth.

"I didn't just see any of that right."

"No, you did. You almost killed that man."

"I did not. It's not my fault he didn't put his teeth in to eat his breakfast."

Chrissy began choking on her coffee.

"How do you know that?"

"They are in his water glass." Talia pointed toward his water glass.

"Oh dear lord."

"Yep. Though, that guy is better than my grandpa. If that were him he'd probably be sitting there naked."

Chrissy laughed then sighed. "Date night tonight?"

"Yep. Apparently, it is going to be epic."

"You don't sound so sure."

"I've found that staying realistic is best when dealing with men."

"Yeah but this isn't just a man. This is Zeke we are talking about."

"He isn't a man? Could have fooled me."

Chrissy kicked Talia in the shin.

"Ow" Talia rubbed her shin and glared at Chrissy.

"Stop messing around. Do you know what he has planned at all?"

"Nope. So, back to you, that kiss huh? Hot?"

"Who kissed who?" Rex's voice made both of them jump.

Chrissy blushed. Talia looked at her then at Rex. "Oh Zeke kissed me. It was super hot. You wanna sit down while I tell Chrissy all about the sweaty sex we've had?"

Rex turned a shade of green. "Gross. You're my sister."

"Yeah. A sister with a smoking hot boyfriend who can do magical things with his tongue." Talia wiggled her eyebrows

"I'm outta here." Rex turned to leave. "Wanna go to the festival together, Chrissy?"

Chrissy blinked at Rex. "Uhm....sure."

"Ok. I will text you about the date and time."

"Ok." Chrissy looked away from the retreating Rex.

"The plot thickens." Talia said taking a bite of her salad.

Chrissy kicked her in the shin again.