"Will you please sit down and let me tell you something?" Liz looked down at the table for a minute, deciding how to best approach the subject. "Okay, guys. Moment of truth time."

She had their complete attention. It made her uncomfortable and she blushed. She hid her face in her hands and pleaded, "Don't all look at me at the same time. I can't deal with it." She peeked between her fingers and they were all still looking at her, mystified. "Okay, I won't look at you."

Max chuckled affectionately at her solution and said, "We're waiting."

With her face still hidden Liz started, "About five years ago I came into quite a sum of money." She peeked out between her fingers again.

"Came into…." Alex repeated.

"Well, kinda sorta. I won a tidy sum in the lottery…"

"LIZ!" Maria squealed. YOU were the mystery person who won the 350 million dollars!! The person every tabloid reporter in the country would sell their daughter's virtue to find??

Max and Alex just sat there astounded, looking at Liz. She was still hiding behind her fingers.

"Yes, the very same person who had to move out of her home state and take extreme measures just to maintain the anonymity necessary for a reasonably normal life." Liz looked up hesitantly to see what the reaction to her bombshell was.

"What kind of extreme measures are you talking about, Liz?" Max tried to look serious. He should give up being surprised at anything about this small, totally amazing woman. "Are there any bodies hidden around here that we need to dispose of for you?"

Liz laughed, grateful for his humor. "No, but I am on my third law firm. The first one lost their job because they allowed some idiot with an investment scheme to find me. That was when we packed up and moved here. We also set up the gate scanners then. That fraud had bugged my car when one of the partners in the law firm let it slip who we were. He trailed us all over, always showing up, trying to get us to trust him.

"The second firm lost their job because they tried to trick me when we were setting up a scholarship fund. And my present firm seems to be doing okay so far. This time I took the time to personally meet every one of the partners. It's a small firm and no one gave out bad vibes."

Liz walked over and looked out the dining room window. "I know I don't deserve this money. I didn't earn it— I just got lucky. It's an obscene amount, more than one family could spend in several lifetimes. So I'm doing my best to see that it helps out as many deserving people as I can." She turned and grinned at them. "It's like being Santa Claus and a fairy godmother all rolled into one."

Three open-mouthed people watched her in amazement. She came back and sat down at her table. "Okay, close your mouths, I'm still the same odd duck you knew before." Liz raised her chin stubbornly and met their eyes. "I'm offering you funding to help in the search for lost Czechoslovakians. And also any help you need to round up all those dissidents and kick their sorry asses— pardon me— back to the future. You can use whatever of my resources you need for your jobs."

Liz smiled her best smile at her friends. "And I'd love to have you stay here for as long as you want. Not as guests, but like family. I know you have real homes in Roswell, but until you can go home and if you ever want to come for a visit you are welcome to consider my home yours."

Maria broke the silence first. "Liz, I'm flattered that you would trust us with personal information like this and invite us to stay with you after the way we treated you when we first arrived."

"Maria, don't worry." She smiled in genuine friendship at them. "What happened then was just a misunderstanding resulting from too many secrets."

Max chuckled. "You are certifiably insane if you let Alex anywhere near your checkbook. He'll spend all your money on computers."

"What better way to spend money? Who needs food or clothing or shelter…"

Laughing, Liz agreed. "Computer geeks are all alike. You should have heard some of Dave's justifications for that room full of computer gear. In the end he earned most of the money himself and I think he was happier for having done that."

"I must say, Liz, this is an unexpected side of you. I would never have thought you were a gambler," Max teased.

"Actually it was only the second lottery ticket I'd ever bought. Close your mouths again, guys. You look like fish." She explained, "Denny had this custom of buying a lottery ticket each year before he signed his teaching contract. Just for fun, I started doing it, too." Liz looked at Max. "Sometimes long shots pay off."

"About damn time some good luck came your way, Liz." said Alex.

"Thanks, Alex." Liz said shyly. "And I want to apologize to you and Maria for the scare you had with that tracer. I think someone is trying to find me again. I can't think of any other reason for what happened."

"Wait until you hear what we did with the tracer. It's quite a story all by itself," Max said, admiration and amusement coloring his voice.

Liz blushed all the way to the roots of her hair. She stood up. "I'll let Max tell you. I hear a quilt calling me. I'm going to leave all you good people to do whatever it is you need to do." And she escaped to the sanctuary of her room.

The three friends sat and stared at each other for a moment. This was quite a bit to digest. Maria spoke up. "Well, I think it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person. But guys, she still needs us to act like before. I don't think she has let many people as close as she has allowed us. If we start treating her differently it will be a tremendous betrayal."

"Actually, from what I understand, this money might have actually saved her life and/or sanity. Living isolated here and having control of just how much humanity she exposes herself to is vital to her well-being," Max added.

Finally Alex asked Max, "So, do you think the tracer was from someone trying to find Liz or did it have to do with Gregory's missing assistant?"

Max gave the question some thought. "I think it's just too much a coincidence that Gregory's assistant is suspiciously missing the same afternoon that a tracking device shows up on your car."

"I'm curious…" Alex began.

"So what else is new?" interrupted Maria in a teasing voice.

He tried again, "I'm curious, Max. Tell us what you did with the tracer?"

Max laughed and said, "You won't believe this…" And he related the story of how the tracer was now leading someone on a wild goose chase.

They had a good laugh and then while Maria fixed dinner Max and Alex pondered the question of just who had put the tracer on Alex's car. When dinner was ready, Max went upstairs to tell Liz. He found her sitting on the deck, wrapped in a quilt.

"Who taught you to make quilts, Liz?"

"Momma. She made this one for me right before she died. It hugs me for her now that she can't."

Max picked her up, quilt and all, and wrapped her in his arms. He sat back down in her chair. "I'll hug you whenever you need it, too." He buried his face in her hair, inhaling her scent. "Hmmmm. You smell like vanilla. Good enough to eat…" Max began to nibble on her ear lobe.

Giggling, Liz explained, "It's my body lotion." She turned her face and kissed his cheek. "I would have thought that you would have preferred something spicy… like Tobasco. I notice you put enough on your food."

Max raised his head and looked at Liz. He kept his face serious, but his eyes glinted with humor. "Do they make Tobasco scented lotion? Sounds enticing…" He nuzzled her neck some more then moved to her soft, inviting lips and kissed them.

"Sweetling, thank you for trusting us with so much personal information. I know you've kept yourself isolated for many reasons, but please know that we appreciate the level of faith you've placed in us. We won't disappoint you, you know. Alex and Maria are your friends and they won't let you down.

"And what about you, Max."

"Well, I'm having serious doubts." He kissed her cute little nose. "It seems I've fallen love with a woman who gambles on long shots…" Max settled down for some serious smooching. After a time he remembered what he had come upstairs for. **Time for dinner, sweetling. Time for a nice normal dinner followed by nice normal conversation.**