It had been a good night, Jillian thought as she, Carrie, Paige, and Ariella cleaned up the kitchen after everyone else had left. They worked in companionable silence for a while.

Lacy was already gone; Travis had scooped her up the moment he thought she looked too tired and taken her back to his ranch.

Payton and Luc had left when Mel had; they were going to stay with the Barratts, Simon as well—to hang out with Syd in Houghton’s playrooms. Carrie’s family was taking one guest room, Paige and her husband the other.

It was nice to have a house full of people again.

The governor was still there.

So was Rafe.

She’d honestly expected him to slip away at the first available opportunity, but he hadn't. She half suspected it was because of his niece and nephew. It was clear that they adored him, and he returned the affection. At one point, even Maddie had toddled over to him and demanded he hold her.

He had. Her niece was very skilled at getting what she wanted. It had still disconcerted Jillian to see him cuddling her sister's baby so closely. He’d thought nothing of holding Sara Anne every opportunity he could get.

Of course it shouldn’t surprise her that he liked children, should it? The man had been a pediatric surgeon before taking the Chief of Medicine position. It was just having him in her space that seemed so odd.

Jillian found herself sneaking quick little peeks at the man.

She had just glanced over at him for the fifteenth time in two minutes when she looked back at the other women surrounding her. Paige and Ari were staring at her. Carrie was calmly loading the dishwasher. "What?"

"You're staring at him," Paige said. "Any particular reason why?"

"The governor’s a very pretty man. There have been lots of pretty men for me to look at tonight. What can a girl do?" She wasn’t about to let them razz her, though she’d certainly been razzed before. She was used to it—she had four sisters, after all. Plus Ari, Lacy, and Paige, who were just as close.

"I don't think it's the governor you're looking at," Carrie said. "But we’ll let you pretend. If you want to."

"Shut up. All of you. Ari, be careful with that." Jillian took the sharp knife away from Ari, both to distract her family—and because it was Ari and a knife. She loved her friend, of course she did, but there was no denying the fact that Ari—as graceful as she was—was still a bit of a klutz around household items. "I'll handle the knives, please."

"You know, I'm not helpless," Ari said. She ruined the indignation by fumbling the stack of dirty forks next. A dozen hit the floor. "Okay, I see your point. No more letting Ari play in the kitchen."

Paige helped her pick up the mess quickly. The eldest Daviess daughter smirked over at Jillian. "He reminds me of someone. And I don't mean Luc."

Jillian knew what she meant. Paige’s husband was very much like Rafe. She waved a hand dismissively. "It's just the size. He's built like Texas. Bigger than everything else. And the crankiness. Although I think Holden-Deane's worse than Mick ever was. I’m just his favorite target. At least, I was. Lacy and I had more than a dozen arguments with him—each—per week until she was hurt. He’s mellowed since then."

"I see," Paige said, wincing. "Then you have my sympathies."

Ari looked over at her half-brother. "He's leaving. One of us should say something to him. To be polite. And it’s not my house."

"I don't know him well enough," Paige said. “I think Jillian should do it."

"I get enough of him at work."

Still, technically as the eldest sister still in residence, it was her job to make every guest feel welcome. To be honest, Rafe had behaved himself. In some pretty awkward circumstances. She had to give him that. They had declared a truce, after all.

Someone nudged her elbow and she looked over, into Carrie’s light brown eyes. Her sister smiled, an expression that was a dead-on match to Mel's. It still disconcerted her at times, how much Carrie just seemed to fit with their family. Jillian wished they’d had her longer. "A plate of leftovers. Mel made them before she left. Why don't you give them to him? It would be the polite thing to do."

"Holden-Deane and I…polite is not the real word for what's happened between us. I did knock him into Houghton’s pool, you know," Jillian grumbled. She looked over her shoulder at Ari and Paige, just in time to see the two smirking at each other. They were trying to mess with her head, weren't they? And they'd even gotten Carrie involved in it. Suspicion filled her. They thought they were so clever.

Ari looked at her intently. "Well, are you going to go give it to him?"

Paige snickered. “Give him something, anyway. Trust me, it helps their disposition greatly.”

Jillian shot the older woman a glare. "Behave. It's not like that. I swear."

"And I said the same thing once. Anyway, your guest is leaving. You were the one to invite him. Give him the food, tell him its complements of his sisters. See how that makes him feel."

"You two are annoying, anyone ever tell you that?" Just like their damned brother. Dark-eyed demons, the lot of them.

"I've heard it before. Go.” Paige nudged her toward the men. Jillian held the two plates steady and walked over to where the men were gathered.

They stopped speaking for a moment and looked at her. Jillian decided to just get it over with. "Ari and Paige have leftovers for you, Rafe. But they are too cowardly to offer them to you. Since I'm the bravest and smallest of the lot and not related, they sacrificed me."

"I see." He raised an eyebrow at her, and glowered down at her. Jillian fought to keep from shifting nervously.

"Apparently I'm supposed to help you carry these across the road. You know, since you're so small and weak and helpless, of course." No one could miss the sarcasm. Jillian hadn't intended them to. Rafe smirked at her and took the top plate. She sat the smaller one directly on top of it.

"I think I can handle it, but someone to open the doors for me so I don't drop anything would probably be nice. Think you can handle it? Or would that be too much for you?"

"I think I'll be just fine."

She walked with the man across the yard, to the cavernous brick and glass monstrosity that was his home.