My house is starting to resemble a ward at the hospital. Lily and Chris are still sick and full of demands. Feeling sorry for them lasts about half the day, then I'm trying to think of a way to escape, even if its only for an hour or two. It wouldn't be so bad if today wasn't almost an identical repeat of the day before, and the day before that. Even Connor and Bella are starting to get cranky.Looks like we all need a bit of a break from one another.

Opportunity knocks when Hank stops by to see if any of the kids want to come back to the ranch and see the latest batch of puppies. Connor's putting his shoes on and grabbing his jacket even before Hank's finished asking.Hank just laughs when he hears why the boy is so eager to get out of the house, and offers to take Bella with him as well. "That'll give you that break," he tells me.With a kiss and a promise to pick the kids up in a couple hours, I make one last check on my two patients, then grab my purse and head into town. It's been a few days since I saw Clay and since the lunch rush should be over, he should be free.

Clay's in his office when I arrive at Grisoles and he's up and out of his chair to greet me with a hug and a kiss. "Hey stranger, I was just thinking about you."

"Funny thing, I was just thinking about you.""Good thoughts I hope?"

"Of course. Chris and Lily both have ear infections, I've come over to escape for a little while."

Clay makes a face. "Everybody else okay?"

"So far." I shrug. "Fingers crossed."

"Need to take your mind of your troubles, huh?"

"A break sounded good, Hank is babysitting Conn and Bella."

"Ah, the former brother in law still comes in handy.""You betcha."He looks at me for a minute and just when I think he's going to comment on Hank, he simply grins again and claps his hands together. "Want to get into a little mischief?"

"What do you have in mind?"

He tosses an apron at me. "Follow me."Looks like another cooking lesson is at hand. Every now and then Clay takes pity on my family and decides to try and convince me I want to try new dishes. He's still convinced I'm not really as fussy as I 'pretend' to be.

"Please don't tell me this is another 'Cheese is your friend' lesson," I complain as he ties the apron around me when I'm obviously a little too slow. Clay just can't get over the fact I don't like cheese.

"Not today, although I'm still working on that. No today's lesson doesn't contain a speck of cheese or sausage or anything else you don't like. And believe me that recipe was hard to find."

"So what are we making?" I ask.

"Bread. And we're doing it the old fashioned way."

"In a bread machine?" I offer hopefully.

"Yeah, its called an oven. Get over here lazybones." He dumps a pile of flour onto the marble counter and points at it.

"You didn't even measure that, how am I supposed to follow instructions?" I complain.

"Cause I'm going to tell you what to do." He can be such a slave driver sometimes.

I scrub my hands clean then go over to the pile of flour. "Now what, boss?"

"Actually the first thing we, I mean you, need to do is dissolve some sugar and yeast in warm water."

"But what about the flour?" I ask, confused.

"I just like to make a mess sometimes and it got your attention. Actaully we'll use some of that in a minute."

I bite my lip and think about using some of that flour to toss at him. He might look cute with white streaked hair but then I'd probably really be in trouble. There's a big walk-in freezer he could toss me in, or worse, he could put me to work peeling potatos for the dinner rush.

Nope I think I'll just be a good girl and do whatever he says. This afternoon anyway.