She could hear Alex's voice coming from the living room as he talked with Philip Evans. The sound of the gentlemanly "guy-talk" brought a smile to her face. Since Max had moved out, her father hadn't had anyone around to chat with. Now he and Alex were talking up a storm over sports, politics, investment opportunities, and computers of course.

Diane walked into the dining room and placed a basket of rolls on the table. She squeezed her daughter's shoulders as she passed her. "It looks lovely, honey. You did a nice job."

"Thanks, Mom."

The doorbell rang and Isabel moved to get it. When she opened the door, Kyle Valenti was on the other side. He still looked devastated when he saw Isabel, but tonight he looked a little more relaxed. He'd just gotten off duty and he held his Stetson in his hand.

"Hi, Kyle," Isabel smiled at him. "Come in."

Kyle stepped into the house and looked toward the living room. "Whitman?" he asked.

Isabel nodded. "Come on, I'll re-introduce you."

She led Kyle to the living room. Alex looked up, then his face brightened. Kyle looked more like his father than he ever had.

"Kyle!" Alex extended his hand and shook hands with him. "Look at you! Deputy, sir!"

Kyle laughed. "Yeah, imagine that. Could've sworn I was going to be a left fielder."

Alex laughed and held his hand out to his wife. "This is Lynn, my wife."

Kyle appraised the beautiful woman, wondering how Alex had snagged her and why he himself was still single. "Nice to meet you."

Isabel returned to the kitchen to help her mother with the final preparations.

"Was that Kyle?" Diane asked.

"Yeah." Isabel tried to hide her smile.

Diane wasn't fooled. "Nice he could make it."

"Uh huh."

"Such a nice boy."

Isabel snorted back a laugh. Her mother still called them 'boys,' just like Maria. "Yeah, he is."

"Never been married, huh?"

Isabel kissed her mother on the cheek. "You're meddling, mom."

"Of course."

They heard the front door open and close, then more greetings in the living room. When Isabel rounded the corner, she saw Kyle hugging Liz. Liz seemed to be…beaming.

Max turned to Isabel and kissed her on the cheek. "Where's my niece?" he asked, eyes bright.

Isabel rolled her eyes. She'd seen the damage Uncle Max could do. "With your other 'niece.'"

He looked disappointed.

"Don't worry, Max, you'll have plenty of years to ruin her."

Max looked over his shoulder and turned so the rest of the room couldn't read his lips. "What's with Valenti?" he whispered.

Isabel only smiled at him. Max's eyes widened and he smiled back. It was good to see Isabel showing interest in someone.

Liz had reappeared at Max's side, and he immediately took her hand. Isabel eyed them both.

"What's with you?" she countered.

Max and Liz exchanged a look, then Max scratched his head. "Um, Liz and I are going to try to get back together," he explained.

Isabel looked from Liz to Max and put her arms around both of them. "I knew it," she said. When she pulled back, there were tears on her cheeks. She brushed them away, laughing. "Sorry. I'm emotional sometimes…"

Max laughed lightly and rubbed her arm. "It's okay, Is. We both cried, too."

The conversation with dinner was light, the food was perfect and the night was fun. As Alex watched Isabel interact with Kyle, he started to feel a little bit better about her. He'd loved her once - a part of him would always love her - but things had worked out for the best. Alex glanced at his wife, who was talking intently with Mrs. Evans, and he reached under the table and squeezed her hand. She didn't turn to look at him, but squeezed his hand in response.

"Must've been a long trip," Phillip was saying to Alex.

"Kind of. But the wife wanted to come, and I have to do what the wife says."

Lynn glanced his way and rolled her eyes.

"Do you like Boston?"

"Oh, I love it. Can't seem to get rid of this cold, though. It's damp there."

Philip looked to Liz. "How's South Dakota?"

"Okay," Liz replied. She was trying to ignore the hand Max had on her thigh. "Kind of a neat place -within an hour's drive you can be in the Black Hills, the plains and the Bad Lands. Winters are kind of rough."

Max tightened his grip on her thigh. "Liz is thinking about coming back to Roswell, Dad," he said.

Philip raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Really?"

Liz nodded. "I'm kind of missing my family." She looked at Max, silently asking if she should continue. He smiled his response and she looked back to Mr. Evans. "And Max."

Philip exchanged a startled look with his wife. "Really?"

Liz looked across the table and saw that everyone had stopped talking and they were all looking at her. Max decided to get her off the hook.

"I asked Liz to marry me," he announced.

"You what?" Diane gasped, then broke into a wide smile. Her bachelor son looked like he might finally get married.

"Oh, there's a surprise," Kyle muttered, rolling his eyes playfully. "Couldn't guess that would happen some day."

"She hasn't said yes," Max clarified. "Yet. But we're working on it."

Alex got up from his chair and kissed Liz on the cheek. "Congratulations, sweetheart."