Ian rode into town and took in the sight of all the shops. He saw the Aussie Emporium and decided to steer clear of it until he talked to Luke. Spotting the Dreamer's Hotel he directed Rogue over and dismounted. He entered the hotel and stared at the desk attendant. The young woman at the desk had her head in a book and was taking notes while playing with a strand of her long auburn hair. Even from the distance of the doorway Ian could see she was very pretty and definitely the type of woman he liked. Maybe this town isn't half bad, he thought as he made his approach.

Ian walked up to the front desk and waited, but the woman was completely immersed in her book. He leaned in and rang the little bell on the desk. It startled her and caused her to jump.

Meg clutched at her heart and tried to slow down her ragged breathing before she looked up. The man standing before her was, in her opinion, very handsome and staring at her with a wide grin. "I'm sorry I didn't hear you come in."

"No, I'm sorry if I frightened you." Ian answered. As he suspected, the young woman was indeed very pretty. "Must be some book. Is it a romance, poetry perhaps?"

Meghan smiled. "It's actually basic human anatomy. Just the principles of musculature, bone structure and various other very boring things that one must know."

Ian's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Well that doesn't seem like the usual things people like to read."

"No, I suppose it's not. I'm studying to become a doctor." She paused as she suddenly realized he spoke with the accent she had come to know so well. "You're Australian."

Ian smiled. "That I am." He stretched his hand out to her. "Ian Grant."

Meg shook the outstretched hand and smiled. "Meghan Saunders. Welcome to Dreamville. It seems the town is slowly filling with Aussie's."

Ian's mouth dropped. "Saunders? Did you say your name is Meghan Saunders?" When Meg nodded Ian laughed. "You're Luke's wife."

"You know my husband?"

"We grew up together on his parents station. We were like brothers. His parents were extremely excited when he moved here and married you. His mum, Martyne, went on and on about what a beauty you were and how kind and generous you are, and of course how lucky Luke was to nab you before anyone else realized what a prize you were."

Meghan blushed then smiled broadly. "Well, then after that description I can't have you thinking less of me, so I can't have you staying here."

"Excuse me?"

"Here at the hotel I mean. I insist that you stay with Luke and me. Will you be here long?"

Ian couldn't believe his luck. He thought it would take him forever to get close to Luke again, and now his wife was opening their home to him. "I planned on staying here permanently."

"Oh how wonderful, Luke has some friends, but no one who's very close to him. Did Luke know you were coming?"

Ian frowned. "Well no. I was hoping to surprise him."

"This really is wonderful. Listen Mr. Grant-."

"Ian. Please we're practically family."

Meg blushed again. "Ian. You have to stay in our home."

"I couldn't possibly. I happen to know you and Luke are still newlyweds."

"Don't you know it's bad luck to refuse a pregnant woman. You will stay at Willow Manor with me and Luke, and that is final."

Ian looked over Meg's body and shook his head. "You're pregnant? You must be due sometime next spring let me guess . . . May?"

"March actually."

"I don't believe it. You can't even tell that you're that far along. Luke better make you eat more."

Meghan laughed. For the first time since letting out her first skirt, she thought maybe she didn't look like a baby elephant. "I assure you I eat more than enough. I still have to work for another hour, so why don't you go to the restaurant and get some lunch, and I'll meet you. Then we can go home together."

Ian knew that she had no idea how that last statement sounded and decided that he wouldn't press it. Instead he decided he wanted to spend more time with the new Mrs. Saunders. "Could I get you anything?"

Meghan bit her lip, she had just finished a sandwich that she'd brought from home, but the mention of the restaurant made her stomach rumble. Ian heard it and chuckled softly.

"I'll bring you a plate of chicken is that alright?"

"That would be fine. Oh Ian?"

"Yes?"

"Could you bring me biscuits too?" Ian nodded and chuckled as he left the hotel.

Ian stood beside Meg and helped prepare a stew for dinner. As the pair worked together, she filled him in on how she and Luke had met and ultimately married.

"So let me get this straight. Luke moved to the States to be with Serena who is now your stepmother, and then Luke realized he was in love with you, so two months after he told you he loved you, the two of you got married." Ian said after she had finished and they shared a cup of tea.

"That's basically it. But you forgot that a few weeks after our wedding I became pregnant."

"They do things mighty quick around here."

Meghan laughed heartily. "I suppose we do."

Ian smiled. "I've been thinking, I can't stay here for nothing I want to do something to earn my keep."

"You don't have to Ian."

"I want to. I don't suppose you've started on a nursery yet have you?"

"Nope."

"Well then. I will offer you my services as a carpenter. I'd like to build you some shelves maybe a crib. Fix it all up for you."

"Oh Ian that's wonderful. Thank you very much."

"It's the least I could do, I mean here you are giving me a home and food. I'm good with my hands, and I'd like to do something to repay you for your kindness."

Meg rose from her chair and hugged him then heard the door open. "It's Luke." She whispered. "Stay here, I'll go get him."

Ian was reeling from the embrace and nodded silently hoping that Luke wouldn't cause a scene in front of his wife.

Meg ran to the door and jumped into Luke's arms as he walked in. She placed a kiss to his lips and hugged him tightly. "Hey there handsome."

Luke smiled broadly. "Well I must say, I love the way you welcome me home, Wildcat. Why are you in such a good mood?"

Meghan giggled. "I have a surprise for you."

"Really?" He said as he wiggled his eyebrows. "Would this surprise be upstairs?"

Meg playfully slapped her husband's arm. "No. It's in the kitchen."

"Well this should be interesting." He replied as he bent down to nibble her neck.

"Luke stop it." She sighed breathlessly as he found the sensitive spot behind her ear. "I want to show you something."

He groaned and stepped back. "You owe me Wildcat and I intend to collect later."

Meg smiled wickedly. "Anything you want, I promise. Now would you please come on." She tugged on his arm.

Luke pulled back and faced her to him. "One second."

"Luke-"

He bent down in front of her and kissed her abdomen. "I haven't said hello to our child yet." He told her then whispered softly to her stomach. Meg's eyes filled with tears at the tender scene and when Luke rose he wiped her cheeks then placed a kiss to her nose. "Okay I'm all ready. Show me the surprise."

"Close your eyes." Meg said. When Luke complied she led him to the kitchen where Ian stood waiting.

When Luke opened his eyes, the look on his face fell. Meg, who had been watching her husband�s face, did not get the reaction she was hoping for.

"Ian." Luke said in a tight voice.

"When he told me that you were like brothers, I insisted that he stay with us." Meg said hoping, for the first time that she had done the right thing.

"You told her that we were like brothers?" Luke asked, not believing what he was hearing.

"Well, we were before you left the station."

"Were being the operative word here Ian. You betrayed me! What you did a brother would have never done!" Luke said angrily.

"I know Luke. I came to set things right. I was a jealous kid who did something stupid to try to prove that I was just as good as you. And you want to know something? It wasn�t worth losing a brother over. If I could do it all over again, I would choose not to let it happen." Ian lied. "Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"

Luke wasn�t sure if his ex-friend was sincere or not. There was a time when he wouldn�t have doubted Ian. But now, after all that had happened, he wasn�t sure. He�d have to watch Ian�s actions to make sure. After a moment�s thought Luke said. "I�ll think about it."

"Ian�s offered to fix up the nursery and build some shelves and maybe even a crib for the baby!" Meg chimed in. She hoped that her husband could forgive his old friend. She couldn�t think of anything that she couldn�t forgive Corey for.

Luke looked at Meg and saw the hope in her eyes. He knew that Meg thought that this was going to be a happy reunion between two close friends -- like when Corey came back to Dreamville. He smiled at his wife. He knew that he would have to answer some tough questions later. Serena didn�t even know about this. He wasn�t sure if he could even talk about it, but maybe it was time for him to talk to someone.

"So what�s for dinner?" He asked, trying to change the subject for now. He would address the problem with Ian in private, and if Meg asked, he would tell her everything. After all he owed it to her.

After dinner, Luke couldn�t get Ian alone to talk to him, so he decided he would try the next day. Maybe he would go to the shop a little late. Corey had been doing a real good job and could open the shop by herself.

After Luke and Meg had retired to their room, Meg�s curiosity got the best of her and she commented. "I can�t think of anything that Corey could do that I wouldn�t forgive her for."

"Yeah well, Corey wouldn�t do what Ian did. Besides even if she tried I wouldn�t let it happen. So you have nothing to worry about, Sweetheart." Luke said as he kissed his wife.

"What did Ian do?"

There it was. The question that Luke had been dreading all night long. Luke sighed, "Meg, there�s a lot about my past that you don�t know yet. This part is painful and difficult to talk about. Even Serena doesn�t know. So I�d appreciate it if you wouldn�t interrupt, and remember that all of this happened before I met you, okay?"

Meg nodded, silently giving her word.

"When I was sixteen, I started courting this girl, Sheila. Her mother was the cook on the station. After about a year of courting her, we started to, uh. . . " Luke stuttered as he tried to find the right word, "Uh, have relations. Sheila was my first, and I thought that I was going to marry her. My parents voiced their disapproval after I started talking about marrying her. They thought that I was too young to get that serious. I didn�t care. Ian and I came up with a plan for Sheila and I to run away and get married. A few days before my eighteenth birthday, I was going to propose. I walked into the barn only to see Ian and Sheila having relations. I left the next day, and I haven�t seen or talked to either one since. I never thought that Ian could betray me like that."

Meg saw the pain in his eyes and heard it in his voice. "I�m sorry. Had I known, I would have never invited him to stay here."

"I know, Honey. Hopefully he meant what he said about being sorry."

"I�m sure he did." Meg tried to reassure her husband and at the same time hoping that she was right.

"I just wish I had waited for you to come along before I...." Meg cut him off with a kiss, which led to something more intimate.

When Luke walked out of his room, the last person he expected to see at this time of night was Ian. Ian was roaming the house, and Luke decided not to press the issue thinking that maybe Ian was on his way to the outhouse or kitchen. After all, Luke was on his way to the kitchen. Ian heard the master bedroom door open and turned around. Luke looked like he had just woken up, or he had been spending some great quality time with his wife.

"I got thirsty, so I decided to go get a glass of milk." Ian explained.

"Meg got hungry so I�m going to make her a sandwich." The two men walked downstairs and into the kitchen in silence.

"You know a couple of weeks after you caught me and Sheila, I caught her in bed with someone else. She really wasn�t worth losing my best friend, my only brother, over. Isn�t there anything that I can do to make it up to you and rebuild our friendship?" Ian asked.

"Ian, I�ve thought a lot about it tonight, and considering that if things hadn�t happened the way they did, I might not have met Meg. I�ll forgive, If it doesn�t happen again." Luke finished making the sandwich and poured Meg a glass of milk then took it up to her.