The following story's characters and inspiration belong to the gifted Martha Williamson. The final scenes of The Road Less Traveled, written by the talented Brandi Harkonen, were particularly beautiful. My imagination was peaked by the fact that Alex's addiction was gambling – not thought of as common among women. I discovered that it is actually far more common than I knew. This brief story follows Oliver and Shane after they leave Ramon's bistro at the end of the movie. Here is one idea on how the rest of the evening unfolded. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Oliver opened the passenger door and extended his hand to help Shane from the car. He was ever the gentleman. However these acts of proper etiquette had become so much more than good manners. They had become signs of affection. Hand in hand the two slowly made their way up the walk to her house.

"What are you thinking?" Oliver asked as they pause at the foot of the steps.

"I'm thinking you never know what a week may bring" Shane replied.

"I definitely did not imagine an excursion in the Star Cruiser," Oliver said with a chuckle as they continued up the steps.

Shane's feet came to a complete, frozen stop when they reached the porch.

"I do imagine that you are a little weary," said Oliver, facing Shane and taking both of her hands in his.

Shane merely shrugged. Her eyes looked into his as if trying to ask for something from him. Her hands tightened their grip on his hands. He waited patiently to allow Shane to reveal what was weighing on her heart.

Finally she uttered, "Can you stay for a while?"

Oliver looked down at her hands as they clung to his and then back to her blue eyes. Now, when he was about to leave, she was far from ready for him to go – and he was keenly aware of this fact. The phone call to her sister had dredged up both the pleasure and the pain of the past and required mettle and mercy for the future. Rita's request for her to serve as maid of honor had easily surfaced the blessings of love and loyalty she unearthed coming to Denver. In one evening life called upon her to face both her family by birth and her family by adoption, to affirm one sister and to be affirmed by another.

The woman Oliver met at a coffee cart who seemed so very confident and capable stood before him tonight rendered vulnerable by her courageous and caring choices. And this man whose own life was better because of her, who had come to care deeply for her, had fallen in love with her, this man was now sensitive to her need of him.

"I have no plans to leave," he said gently. Tilting his head a little he gave he a knowing look. "If that matters," he added.

"It matters," said Shane.

The fact that he remembered her words spoken to him on that very porch from what now seemed so long ago made it matter all the more. They were the words that came from her to Oliver when he was going through his own family crisis. Her standing by him was remembered and valued. Now he offered the same to her.

The two walked over to the swing and sat down. He slipped his left arm around her shoulders and brought her close to his side making it easy for her to rest her head against the lapel of his navy linen sport coat. They sat quietly in the swing, not saying a word for some time.

"Do you….want to talk?" he asked.

"Sometimes you can and should leave the past in the past. Sometimes you have to deal with it. I guess it is time for me to deal with it. Hearing Alex's voice brought back…" said Shane, shaking her head but not completing her thought

Shane pulled away from his side, sat forward in the swing and folded her hands in her lap. She cast her gaze away from Oliver, looking at the porch floor as if lost in a pool of memories.

"Alex was always… really smart. I mean really smart." With a huff she added, "She's practically a math genius."

Silence fell again before she swallowed hard and continued.

"In high school she was the class Valedictorian. She received all these academic awards while being the captain of the school's tennis team. She was very competitive. To me she was always 'the pretty one' in the family," said Shane, using air quotes to accentuate the final phrase.

Oliver gave her a doubtful look at that comment. He started to challenge and affirm her beauty but Shane kept going.

"She put up this tough but happy façade. I thought life couldn't hurt her – that she was somehow invincible. I really did think the sun rose and set on her. She was my – hero."

With that confession, Shane's shoulders fell, drug down by the weight of the past. Oliver took her hands back in his, stroking the back of her left hand with his thumb. She continued to talk.

"I think mom knew all along that she wasn't so tough. I would come home for the weekend when I was in college and want mom to go somewhere with me or for us to go do something together, she was always doing something for Alex or with Alex. Tension started to grow between the two of them but I didn't know why. Then one Christmas, when I was still working at USPS in D.C., I had come home for the holiday. Mom asked me to set the table. Family and friends were coming for dinner and mom said to use my grandmother's sterling silver flatware. I opened the chest and most of it was gone. When I went in the kitchen to ask mom about it, she just looked….heart broken. Then she said something like she had forgotten to polish it and hadn't put it back. She looked so sad that I said for her to just tell me where it was and that I would polish it quickly and we could use it. She said no that I should just use the everyday flatware. Mom seemed preoccupied the rest of the evening. I didn't know why and she denied anything was wrong."

Shane paused as if she were reliving every moment of that night. Finally she whispered, "Alex had sold it to get money for gambling. I didn't know it then. I learned it later. As soon as I said the silver was missing, mom knew."

Clearing her throat she kept the story going.

"It was just one of many times mom covered for Alex. Alex's life seemed to spin out of control. She started her masters and quit. One day she had a car and then next day it was gone. She had a brief and broken marriage. She eventually moved back home with mom. Mom later told me that she started disappearing, missing work, lying about it. There were mood swings and spending binges followed by missing money."

Somehow saying it aloud made it fresh, as if it had just happened. But at the same time, it was freeing. She had carried this tale alone and now she had someone to help carry the load.

"At some point something broke in Alex and she tried to escape through gambling. Maybe it was her divorce. Maybe it was when dad died. She grew more and more distant, especially from me. I thought we were just at different stages in life for a long time."

Shane sat up straight and looked Oliver directly in his eyes, mustering courage.

"Now for the worst of it. Mom missing money won't send you to jail - missing money at work will. Alex embezzled money from work. She had run up gambling debts and she told herself if she could just get her hands on enough cash that she could win it all back."

Shane paused. Oliver waited with no hint of impatience.

"And guess when it all came to light?"

"When?"

"Just before Christmas, the first year I was in Denver."

"That first Christmas with us, you said you weren't celebrating Christmas, you were just going someplace warm? You were dealing with all of this?" said Oliver.

Shane nodded and offered an aching smile.

"Alex called mom from her office about a week before Christmas. Her employer, his lawyer, the chief financial officer, the head of accounting and a security guard were in her office with her when mom arrived. They gave Alex the option of either quietly paying back the company and getting help or going to jail. She only got the option because they didn't want the negative publicity. So Alex did what she had been doing. She turned to mom to bail her out. Mom sold the house to pay back the company, keep her out of jail, and pay for rehab. "

By now the tears that had puddled in her eyes began to fall.

"I got the call from mom that maybe it wasn't the best time for me to come home. Mom finally told me the entire story. I was so angry. I didn't even want to go home. The house was sold and by the time we went to D.C. it was gone."

Tears dropped as she recounted this painful story – tears for a sister who had been a pillar of strength that crumbled before her eyes, tears for her mother who had known and withstood so much heartache, tears for her own loss of family security. Oliver removed his handkerchief, offered it to her and enveloped her once again in his arms.

Once again the gentle sounds of the night and a porch swing held them both. For a long time nothing else need be said.

After some time still wrapped in Oliver's arms Shane asked with some hesitancy, "Would you pray for her?"

"Of course," said Oliver.

"Let me guess, you already have," said Shane

"Precisely," said Oliver. "I am sorry you have been bearing this alone. I hope you can share whatever is on your heart or in that incredible mind of yours with me."

"Norman was right," said Shane.

"Pardon?"

"You are the best man," said Shane.

She kissed him on the cheek, drew back, looked at him, and flashed that glorious smile that had the greatest effect on him.

"And what are you thinking now?" asked Oliver. He could not help but smile.

"I'm thinking how handsome you look tonight," she said, with no subtle amount of flirtation.

"Well, Ms. McInerney, I have a very beautiful girlfriend," he said playfully.

"Oh my. She must be fortunate to have such a wonderful boyfriend in her life," said Shane.

"I think it is a mutual blessing," said Oliver.

The two rose from the swing and he walked her to the door.

Their final good night kiss – well - that was just between the two of them.