Steven had closed and zipped his suitcase when he answered the doorbell. In front of him stood Peggy. She held two medium pizzas and a case of beer. She pushed her way past him, plopping on the davenport. Steven glanced at the empty porch and then at Peggy.

"I hear you're single, again." A smile lit her face. "I knew that marriage wouldn't last."

"News travels fast." He ran his fingers through his short hair. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in jail."

She tore the cardboard surrounding the case of beer. "I'm out on bail and thought you'd like company."

"Not really, you should leave." He pointed at the open door. How did she walk past me anyway?

She opened the box of pizza. "If I remember right, Canadian bacon is your favorite."

"You should leave," he repeated, as he again stared toward the porch.

She patted the cushion beside her. "Have a seat and some pizza." She lifted a slice of pizza toward him. "I'll open a beer." As he sat, she popped the tab and handed it to him. She reached for the remote control and turned on the TV. "Not football, but baseball's the second best sport."

When Steven finished one beer, Peggy placed another can in his hand. By the seventh inning, Peggy drank too much and Steven was drunk.

When the game ended, Steven attempted to turn off the TV, but he struggled using the remote control.

Peggy giggled. "I'll turn it off." She swaggered to the TV. When she returned, she sat on Steven's lap facing him, one leg on each side of his body.

As she kissed him, he clumsily pushed her away and his speech slurred. "Cut it out! What are you doing? You need to get out."

"I'm getting your mind off what's her name." As she unbuttoned his shirt, the telephone rang.

Steven reached over to answer it. "Peg, stop. Leave--me--alone." With the receiver to his ear, he said, "Hello."

"Steven, you all right?" asked Matt.

"Yeah."

"Are you alone?"

"No, Peg's here." He swiped Peggy's hand away. "What are you doing?" He stared at the receiver, then answered Matt, "She's taking her shirt off." He pushed her away. "Stop."

She responded by giggling, "I'm going to show you what a real woman's like."

Matt yelled, "Steven, I'm on my way."

*****
Matt and Joe walked into Steven's apartment without knocking and found Peggy still on Steven's lap.

Joe picked her T-shirt from the floor and lifted Peggy off Steven, "I'll help you home." He held out the T-shirt. "Put this on."

"Leave me alone. I want to stay, and Steven wants me to stay. Don't you?"

"No, I want you to get."

"Joe, take her home," interrupted Matt. "Stay with her until she's asleep. It shouldn't take long."

Steven tried to focus on Matt. "Is that you, Matt? When did you get here?"

"Not soon enough. How much have you had to drink?"

"One beer, but my can never emptied."

As Joe helped Peggy out the door, Matt glared at her. He felt Peggy got Steven drunk, trying to manipulate him into having sex.

"OK buddy. I need to talk to you about Leya, but now's not the time. We'll talk later."

As Matt helped him to bed, Steven said, "Leya's my wife. Why do women use men?"

"Peggy uses men. Leya's only mistake was not telling you the whole story. We'll talk in the morning."

*****
Matt slept on the couch. When he woke up, he realized Steven would never make his 0900 hours flight and called the airline to change the flight to 1700 hours.

When Steven opened his eyes, he groaned in pain. Matt heard him and stood in the bedroom doorway.

"Matt, what are you doing here and what happened?" Steven rubbed his head.

"How much do you remember?"

"Peggy pushed her way past me with pizza and beer." He shook his head. "I take it Peggy had something to do with my headache."

"I'm guessing she made sure you always had a full beer, then she tried to have sex with you."

Steven glared at Matt. "She didn't, did she?"

"No, Joe took her home."

"Are you saying if Joe wouldn't have taken her home, we would have?"

"No. You were stopping her. You look relieved, why?"

"I'm married," he paused, before adding, "at least for now." He stared at the floor.

"If you weren't married, would you've had sex with Peggy?"

"No. She's never been more than a friend."

Matt took a deep breath. "I spoke with Leya."

"I'm not interested in anything Leya has to say."

"I know you're angry and hurt. Right now, you're in no shape to discuss your marriage, but you'll need to speak either with Leya or with me. She deserves the opportunity to explain."

"I'm going to shower." He walked to the bathroom and closed the door.

Matt called after him. "She's your wife and you're going to have to deal with her at some point. This marriage can't be annulled."

*****
When Steven walked into the living room, he saw Matt sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee.

Steven poured a cup. "I see you made yourself at home."

"You can't seem to take care of yourself, so I thought I'd better make sure you get safely to the airport." He took a sip of coffee.

"Sorry about last night. I knew Peggy was trouble and got careless. I was numb and not thinking clearly."

"Understandable. I've been known to make stupid mistakes where women are concerned."

Steven sat at the table, took a drink of coffee, and stared at Matt. He started to say something, but changed his mind.

"Are you in love with Leya?" asked Matt.

"Yes, that's why it hurts so much. I think I'll always love her."

"I don't know if it'll help or not, but Leya's just as miserable. She loves you."

Steven hit the table with his fist and coffee sloshed from his cup. "How can she love me? She took advantage of me at the first opportunity."

"While you were on your honeymoon, did you talk?" Steven nodded, so Matt asked, "What about?"

"We talked about growing up; how our heritages were different. Things like that."

"Did you tell Leya you loved her?"

He thought, then said, "I don't remember using those words, but she knows."

"How should she know? Read your mind?"

After a gulp, Steven hung his head. "What did she say?"

Matt poured coffee in each cup. "Do you remember Hector Vegas slapping Leya at the hacienda in Colombia?"

Steven nodded. "He hit her hard enough it almost knocked her down. Her cheek was bruised for over a week."

"Leya was slapped for lying to her dad about being a virgin. He mentioned something about getting the marriage annulled and continuing with the plans for her to marry Martinez."

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"Because she didn't want you thinking she was still trying to seduce you. Bottom line is, she fell in love with you and wanted you to trust her. She felt if you knew about that conversation, you'd still think she was using you."

Steven rubbed the back of his neck. "It doesn't make sense. Why'd she send the documentation to her dad?"

"I'm not sure, but she also sent a letter telling him she was in love and happily married. I think she did it hoping he'd give up and leave everybody alone, especially you. I'm no expert on why women do what they do. Anyway, the only thing she's guilty of is not telling you about that conversation."

Matt was silent as he stood. "When the two of you made love, did it feel like she was using you or in love with you?"

"Either she's the world's greatest actress or she's in love with me. When we were talking about our future, it seemed genuine."

"I told Leya I'd talk with you, then get back with her. What do you want me to tell her?"

He took a deep breath. "Tell her I'm taking a vacation and we'll talk when I get back. Everything has moved so fast and I need time to think things through."

"Fair enough. I'll drive you to the airport."

*****
After Matt left the airport, he went to speak with Leya. "Steven admitted he loves you, I think he understands the explanation. He'll talk with you when he returns in a week. Can you wait that long?"

"Yes, I can explain everything then. Did he really say he loves me?"

"He did. I think he'd like hearing you love him, too."

Leya's cheeks turned a healthy pink. "I can say that."

"I need to get to work. If you need anything, Ralph will contact me." He kissed her cheek and went to Steven's office. The men had already heard about Peggy's visit and joked about it as they asked Matt for details.

*****
Leya paced her room for a few minutes, then decided to ask if she could call her mother. She was about to enter Steven's office but stopped when she overheard the men's jokes and questions about Peggy. She also heard them ask if Peggy was on her way to the Task Force cabin.

Matt teased, "You'll have to get the details about Peggy's visit from Steven. I hope he didn't accidentally tell her he'd be staying at the Task Force cabin outside of Jackson Hole." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sure Steven learned his lesson and won't be so careless the next time Peggy knocks."

Leya ran to her room. When Matt said Steven promised to discuss things when he returned, I could wait. The situation has changed, Peggy's in the picture, and there's no way I'll allow Peggy to get her clutches into Steven.

*****
Before Matt left, he thought he'd better check on Leya. When she answered her door, she blurted out, "How much of a threat is Peggy to my marriage?"

"How'd you find out about last night?"

She let out a sigh. "I came down to ask if I could call Mother and overheard the men."

He took her hand in his. "Peggy isn't a threat to you. Steven was upset and got careless. He's sorry it happened." As he turned to leave, he smiled and said, "I'll tell Ralph to help you call your mother."

"Thank you."

As she got ready for bed, fears about Peggy reconstructed themselves in her mind. If Peggy had made advances toward my father, he would've obliged her. I need to do something and fast.