Maybe it was BETTER that she didn't see Max. At least then she souldn't have to explain herself. As she entered The Crashdown, she saw Maria behind the counter, talking with Michael as he gave her an order of food.

"Hey, guys," Liz greeted when she had reached them.

"Liz!" Maria turned to her and smiled. "Michael has some good news!"

"Oh yeah?" Liz grinned, turning her attention to Michael. "What's up?"

"Well, Sheriff Valenti ended up fixing everything with Laurie's family. Laurie gets to go back to her grandfather's house and live there. She inherited EVERYTHING."

Liz was confused. "But I thought we only made that up so we could set up her family and link them to Grant."

Michael smiled. "Well, apparently we weren't TOO far from the truth. Sure, Grant wasn't involved in the whole thing like we told the FBI, but Laurie's grandfather DID have a will stating that Laurie was to receive everything upon his death and her family wasn't too happy about it--that's why she was in Pinecrest in the first place."

"Wow, that's awful that her family would do that to her," Liz said, almost to herself. "I'm glad we finally know some of the REAL story. All of those lies we told started to sound like the truth to me."

"I know what you mean," Maria agreed. "Anyway, now that we got THAT out of the way--" she grabbed Liz's elbow and steered her away from Michael. "What's happening with you and Max?"

Liz sighed heavily. "Nothing. A big fat nothing and I should be glad, but--"

"But. . . you're not, huh?" Maria asked sympathetically.

"I keep looking at how you and Michael can work through your problems, but I CAN'T with Max."

Maria looked back at Michael with a smile on her face. "Yeah, Michael and I have gotten closer since we went to Arizona together."

Liz creased her forehead. "Maria, we're talking about me here. Focus."

Maria nodded quickly. "You're absolutely right. I'm sorry. Focusing."

"Anyway, I think Max and I are a lost cause. I should just stay as far away from him as possible," Liz said glumly.

Maria placed her hand on Liz's shoulder and leaned closer to her. "I think that's going to be hard to do."

"Why?"

"Because he just walked through the door," Maria answered, smiling.

Liz spun around and saw that Maria wasn't kidding. Max was making his way over to his favorite booth, looking gorgeous in a light blue shirt, dark pants, and his leather jacket. Liz's heart pounded faster as he glanced over at her after he had seated himself.

"Maria--" Liz turned back to her friend to plead with her to take the booth.

Maria read her mind and quickly interrupted. "That's YOUR section, Liz. Better get over there!"

Liz glared at her but only got an amused grin in return. She sucked in her breath, willing her feet to move her over to Max's booth. When she finally got there, Max was looking down at the table, concentration in his face.

"Hey, Max," Liz greeted nonchalantly, pulling her order pad out of her apron. "What can I get for you?"

"How about the truth?" Max answered directly, finally turning his eyes up to meet hers. Liz's pulse quickened and her hands began to shake. She fumbled for something to say.

"Sit down, Liz," Max said, softening his voice. "We need to talk."

"I-I can't, Max. I'm at work."

Max looked around. "It doesn't seem like you're all that busy. I'm sure you can spare a few minutes."

Liz realized she couldn't argue with him. Besides Max, there was only two other people in the restaurant and Maria had already waited on them.

Just as she was about to give up and sit down, Sean Deluca walked through the front door. "Hey, Parker!"

Max and Liz both glanced over at him with surprise.

"Sean, we were in the middle of something," Max said, slightly annoyed.

Sean walked over and grabbed Liz's arm, steering her toward the kitchen. She stumbled along, relieved that she and Max were interrupted.

"Sean, what are you doing to my friend?" Maria called from behind the counter.

"None of your business!" Sean pulled Liz through the swinging doors.

"What do you want?" Liz said with exasperation.

Sean smiled mischievously. "You want to go out sometime?"

Liz stared at him for a moment. Disbelief filled her face and she let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, right."

"I'm totally serious, Liz," Sean said, still smiling. "That whole group that you hang out with is totally weird. You need some normal fun."

"And I'm going to get 'normal fun' with you, huh?" Liz asked, amusement in her voice.

Sean shrugged. "Why not at least try?"

Liz shook her head and sighed. "I don't know."

"There's a carnival coming into town tomorrow. I'm picking you up at six o' clock. Be ready." With that, Sean walked out the door.

Liz stared at the door, confused. Did that really just happen? Did Sean Deluca actually make a date with her?

*********************************************************************

"Do you think we should be doing this, Kyle? I mean, a lot has been happening lately and I don't think this is the time for a vacation," Tess said nervously as she and Kyle cruised down the highway in his red sports car.

Kyle looked over at her, his hair blowing wildly in the wind. "Can you think of a better time to get away from everything and everyone?"

Tess furrowed her eyebrows. "In 'everyone,' you're referring to Max, aren't you?"

Kyle clenched his jaw at the mention of Max. "Well. . . yeah. Do YOU really want to be around while he badgers Liz about those visions? When she doesn't tell him, he'll be coming after us next."

"I don't see anything wrong with that. I think it's absolutely horrible that Liz and you lied to him. It wasn't right," Tess stated.

Kyle sighed with irritation. "Tess, I don't even know why Liz did what she did, so what's the point of sticking around to be Max's punching bag?"

Tess rolled her eyes and focused her attention on the passing scenery. "Whatever. I suppose we SHOULD get away, but not for your reasons. Things have been stressful lately--for all of us. Maybe some time away from everyone is best."

Some time alone. . . just the two of them. The visions flashed back to Kyle as he drove. Things were definitely tense between him, Liz, Max, and Tess since their shared encounter with the granolith. While Max and Liz worked on their situation, Tess and Kyle had to do the same thing in their own way. Feelings had been brought into the open prematurely and now they had to face up to it.

"So, where are we going anyway?" Tess finally spoke up, turning to look at Kyle again.

"There's a little town about an hour away that I thought we'd stop at. We can visit some museums or go fishing. . . how does that sound?" Kyle asked uncertainly.

Tess smiled at him. "It sounds fine, Kyle. Very relaxing."