Subconsciously tugging at her lower lip, Abby's suspicious blue gaze followed King as he was escorted away by Fanny toward Lola's office. His final backward glance came unexpectedly, causing her to hurriedly flash him a bright smile in an attempt to mask the wheels spinning in her head. Abby was no fool, and she'd do her damnedest to stay in Desmond King's good graces until she knew full well what was going on between him and Lola.<br/><br/>Amidst the tension and uncertainty of the room, the bright tinkling sound of laughter broke through like sunshine on a cloudy day. The heavy silence that had befallen the room of women and two strangers was lifted by the appearance of two dark haired children. Annabel, being chased by her twin brother Timmy, weaved around the skirted legs of the women standing around the room, finally finding her mother seated at the end of the table. Climbing up onto her mother's lap, Annabel giggled over her shoulder at Timmy. "I win!" The familiar sight of Pearl's two children playing in the morning returned a much needed sense of normalcy to the room. Annabel and Timmy were as much a part of<em>Lola's</em>as anyone else, perhaps more so, since the two small children had just about everyone wrapped around their little fingers. Abby had never had much interest in children until she met Pearl's twins; they were darling children, bright and sweet tempered, and they managed to make<em>Lola's</em>feel more of a home than Abby could have imagined. It was their presence as much as anything else that kept so many of the girls grounded and feeling like they were more than just the hired women the town's women painted them to be.<br/><br/>Watching the two children settle at the table for breakfast, Abby was suddenly struck with a new concern. What could King's interest in<em>Lola's</em>mean for Pearl and her two children? He hadn't given her any specifics about what his plans for the saloon and its girls would be, but she was suddenly left to wonder whether two innocent children could be a casualty of the war of wills between King and Lola.<br/><br/>Abby's concern for the two children was interrupted by the groaning sound of the new sheriff. His face had taken on a sickly gray pallor and he was clutching his middle in that age old display of extreme discomfort. Frowning in confusion at his sudden display of illness, she wondered what could have suddenly upset him. Then she remembered Eve insisting that the lawman and his companion eat.<em>She couldn't possibly be that stupid, could she?</em>The response to her silent question was the contents of the sheriff's stomach deposited on the table in front of him. The room erupted into cries of concern, disgust, and  amusement at the plight of the retching man. Abby stared in wide eyed horror at the response of laughter by the women. They were all completely insane! Frozen in place, she turned her horrified eyes to King as soon as he burst from Lola's office. Met with the undignified sight of his righthand man vomiting up the contents of his breakfast plate, he understandably let his fury out on Lola.<br/><br/>The heated exchange culminated with the three men storming out and King's parting invitation for everyone to turn speculative eyes on Abby. Without giving her a chance to try to deflect King's comment, Lola barked for Abby to confer with her in her office. With Eve. Snapping her eyes toward the blonde, she caught her wicked glare and found herself returning the angry stare with one of her own.<em>What nerve does that viper have after the stunt she just pulled?</em>Roiling with all manner of emotions, Abby latched onto her anger and clutched it tight as she stomped after Lola and Eve into Lola's office. Not bothering to hide her emotions, she slammed the door after her and turned her angry eyes on Lola. "Don't you dare act like I have done something wrong! I just did what<em>you</em>told me to!" Unwittingly she crossed her arms over her chest, remembering that initial feeling of having been sacrificed to the wolf. "You sent me up there with him knowing full well what he would do! And for what? What did it buy you, Lola? Jackson is run out of town and King is saying he owns the ground we walk on!" After that outburst, she turned her stormy blue eyes on Eve and snapped "And what in hell is wrong with you? What good could you possibly see coming out of poisoning one of King's men?"