163:

"Nice of you to call." Michael said, and his voice sounded far away.

"Sorry about that. I guess I was feeling independent again. Had to get away."

"Really? I kind of thought you were feeling cornered by Austin McQueen who tells me he pushed you harder than was permissible and you took off in a fit of rage. A call would have been nice, Trace. I do worry about you, yes?"

"Yes, I know that. It was wrong of me to just take off. Man, I feel like I'm not ever going to have any freedom though, I can't go anywhere or do anything..." She was crying now, facing away from Blaze who was entertaining the children obviously trying to keep them occupied so she could speak what she needed to say.

"Trace, you can go anywhere and do anything you want to do, just tell someone where you're going and doing and take the proper precautions. There's absolutely no sign that says you have to do what I or anyone else expects of you, just let us know, okay?"

"You're just saying that. I'm never really on my own."

"I absolutely respect your need for privacy and freedom. You're a grown woman with three kids, and I respect that. You seem to have moved on with your life and I don't need to babysit you either, but a courtesy call... that's all I ask of you, a courtesy call."

"Okay, Michael, I swear I will never just take off again without telling you."

"And taking someone with you, someone safe, who can help you."

"And taking someone with me. Why Blaze? Why him? Why?"

"He was here and available, and looking for you as well, just wanted to hang out, had some free time, thought he'd see if you wanted to go surfing, I thought he might be the perfect friend. You seem to like jamming with him."

"It's just that I have a lot of other things on my mind and guy trouble isn't what I want to deal with right now." She whined.

"Oh, sorry. I guess I could have seen that one coming. Well..."

"Yeah, there's nothing you can do about it now."

"When are you coming home?"

"In a few days." She sighed and looked over at Blaze who was adorable in his white sexy clothes, his movie star glasses, his twitching goatee, as he played with the children easily. "He is kinda cute." She said.

She hung up and pocketed her new cell and then turned back to the children who were engrossed with finding the coin Blaze had hidden. Danny was all over that and starting to get a little rambunctious.

"So, can I stay?" he said to her, holding Danny back with one hand and keeping Megan from falling over with the other that had the coin in it as well.

"Absolutely no doggie piles. No kissing, no nothing of that sort." She said and wagged a finger at him. "We're friends, nothing else. If you don't like it, then leave."

"But you need me!" he protested.

She smiled apologetically. "You just happened to come by right when I actually did need someone but I have a feeling that porter would have totally saved the day if you hadn't of shown up."

He nodded and then lowered his glasses at her. "Who do you think alerted the porter?"

*****