Flying Into the Heavens – By Jennifer M

Interruptions

It had been a long day for Dr. Marlena Evans Black. Her husband had a business crisis to take of early that morning at Alamain Industries of which he was CEO, so he had to miss their usual breakfast together. To make up for it, they agreed to meet at the Brady Pub for lunch, but just as she was about to leave the hospital, Marlena had gotten a phone call from a colleague in Los Angeles who needed to consult with her about an amnesia patient of his. John understood when she had to cancel lunch, knowing that was the price one paid when married to a doctor known around the world for her work on amnesia.

It was almost seven before Marlena finally escaped the hospital and made her way home. She had caught herself several times throughout the day dreaming of her husband and was extremely anxious to see him.

She found him in the family room sitting on the couch with his back to her looking at some business papers he had spread out on the coffee table. Even in the doorway, she could see the tension in his back.

John jumped slightly when he felt a small pair of hands on his shoulders, but relaxed almost immediately as he felt his wife’s lips near his ear.

“Long day honey?”

“Extremely. It didn’t help when I couldn’t stop thinking of the gorgeous blond I woke up in bed with this morning, either.”

A smile touched Marlena’s lips. “You’re so tense. Can I help,” she asked as she began to gently massage his shoulders and back.

“Ooh, yeah,” John moaned. “That feels so good Doc.”

“I think the shirt’s in the way, don’t you John?” she whispered seductively as her hands moved from his shoulders to the buttons of his navy blue shirt and began the undo them.

She had it unbuttoned and was easing him out of it before he realized she had said anything. She continued to massage his back, but soon her hands moved to his shoulders and then down the front of his chest.

The things she was doing to his body were incredible, but John wanted more, he wanted to see her beautiful body and kiss her delicate lips. Grasping one of her hands, he guided her around the couch. He drew in his breath quickly when he saw her. She was wearing a royal blue, tailored suit with a skirt that ended right above her knees revealing the most wonderful pair of legs he had ever seen. Her ash blonde hair was cut short and very chic. It was her face that his eyes were drawn to though. It looked exactly as it had the first day he had met her almost thirty years years ago. She had the complexion of a twenty year old, her luscious lips were curved in a smile that would brighten anyone’s day, and her eyes shone with all the love and passion he had ever seen.

He felt compelled to tell her how he felt. “You get more and more beautiful every day, Doc. I love you so much.”

His wonderful compliment touched her heart. “I love you too.”

No more words were spoken as their lips slowly began to gravitate towards each other like magnets. They met in a soft, tender kiss. The next kiss was not so soft, but just as tender as their lips and tongues caressed each other, quickly erasing any lingering thoughts of work. John’s hands moved down her chest to the top button of her jacket, as his mouth nibbled on her ear lobe. Marlena moaned softly as shivers of desire ran up and down her spine. He had the first few buttons undone when he heard the phone ring.

“Noooooo,” he groaned. ‘This better be good,’ he thought as he answered it.

“Hello. Yeah. O.K., thanks Ben. Just set give it to Renee and ask her to set it on my desk and I’ll have a look at it in the morning. Good Work. O.K. ‘night.”

John set the phone down on the coffee table and turned to his wife. “Now, where were we?”

“Right about here,” she replied as her lips took his, kissing him with more than enough passion to erase any memory of a phone call. Without breaking the kiss, John quickly finished with the buttons on her jacket and mindlessly threw it on the ground. After several minutes of lips and hands caressing, Marlena’s lips followed the path of her hands and began to kiss his neck and down his muscular chest . Her lips went lower and lower until… the cell phone in her purse began to ring.

“I better get that,” she sighed as she moved across the room to the table she had set her purse on. “Dr. Evans. Yes, Sandy? No, you’re right, I’m not going do any conferences that week. Yes, I know he can be persistent. Tell him I’ll give him a call tomorrow and I’ll make him take no for an answer. Don’t worry about it, Sandy. Have a nice night. Thank you, I will.”

Marlena hung up and turned around to face her husband. “I’m sor-” she broke off when she saw John standing clad only in his red jockeye shorts. Words flew out of her head as her desire skyrocketed. In no time, she was in arms.

“Looks like you need to catch up,” John said as he pulled on her silk shirt causing several buttons to fly off. Soon she was wearing only her slip. They fell back on the couch both realizing that the bedroom was much too far away. John’s hands moved up and under her slip caressing her inner thighs.

“John, honey, I want you so much,” Marlena gasped.

The phone rang.

“Forget about it, the machine will pick it up,” John pleaded and Marlena was only too happy to agree. She ran her fingernails down his back as he attacked her neck and chest, kissing and nibbling. While his right hand continued to massage her thigh, the left hand moved up her body to cup her breast. Neither noticed as their voices announced their absence on the answering machine.

“Hurry honey. Oh baby, I need you so much,” she pleaded.

John couldn’t speak through the haze of passion that had enveloped him the moment she had walked into the room.

“Oh John!”

“–’s Belle. I was hoping to talk to you about Winter Break coming up.”

Her youngest daughter’s voice cut like a knife through Marlena’s desire. “John, John get up.”

“Wha-” he tried to comprehend as his wife shoved him off the couch and made a dash to the phone.

“Just give me a call on my cell. I’ll be at a friend’s–”

“Belle sweety?” Marlena said trying to catch her breath.

“Hi Mom. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

Marlena glanced over to the couch and John smiling. “No that’s O.K. honey. Your Dad and I just couldn’t get to the phone right away.”

John began to chuckle as he saw Marlena’s face blush slightly the way she always did in the past when the children walked in on them. As he recalled, Belle was usually the one who interrupted the more passionate encounters.

“What were you saying about break, Belle? You’re still coming, aren’t you?” Marlena’s voice gaining a tone of desperation. She had tried to hide it, but she was deeply disappointed when Brady had told his parents that he and his fiancée, Natalie, wouldn’t be able to make it for the holidays.

“I’m still coming, Mom. In fact, I was calling to ask if I could bring a friend.”

“Of course you can sweetheart. You know all of your friends are welcome at our house,” she replied relieved. “Are you bringing Megan or Jennifer?” she asked referring to the two girls Belle shared an apartment with.

“Neither, actually,” Belle answered. “I was going to ask Nick to come.”

Marlena remembered Belle mentioning a guy she had been seeing a couple of months ago, but at the time hadn’t given it a second thought. Belle had dated several guys since she left for Colorado University almost four years ago, but none had turned into serious relationships. This was the first time she talked about bringing a boyfriend home.

“Sure,” Marlena said. “Your father and I would love to meet Nick.”

John had been admiring his wife as she stood by the phone , her slip barely concealing her luscious curves. When he heard her say Nick’s name he quickly looked up to her face with a quizzical expression.

Marlena silently laughed as she regarded her husband’s trademark eyebrow practically reaching his hairline. She returned her attention to Belle on the phone. “Will he be staying the entire break?”

“Yeah, I convinced him too. Besides, he can’t wait to get to know everyone.”

“O.K. That’ll be wonderful. When will you two be coming?” Marlena asked.

“Well,” Belle thought about it. “Nick’s last final is on the 14th, but my Western Civ. final is the 16th, so we will plan to come out the next day.

“That’s wonderful, honey. Wait a minute, your daddy want’s to talk to you. I love you.”

“How’s my Belle baby,” John asked after Marlena handed him the phone.

“Fine daddy. How are you? Business going all right?”

“Fine baby. When are you and your friend coming out?”

“I told Mom Thursday, the 17th.”

“Great, I’ll send a jet out for you and have Max meet you at the airfield.”

“That’s O.K. daddy. Just leave my car there and I’ll drive,” Belle said.

“It’s really no problem. Besides, I’d rather have Max drive you.”

“Daddy… You know I don’t like to have anyone drive me around, even Max. I’ll drive myself, I’m not a helpless little girl.”

“Alright Belle, let’s not have this discussion again,” John quickly relented. “I’ll have your car waiting for you, if that’s what you want.”

“Thank you. Look, I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later. Give Mom my love.”

“Of course, sweety. I love you.”

“Love you too, daddy. Bye.”

John walked over to the couch and sat down beside his wife. “How does she always manage to interrupt us the most inopportune moments?” he asked.

“She does have a gift, doesn’t she.” Marlena agreed. “I guess nothing ruins the mood than hearing from your 21 year old daughter, especially when she talks about bringing home a boyfriend.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Thinking about Belle always seems to put me in the mood,” John said as he pulled his wife into his arms.

“And why exactly is that?” Marlena questioned.

“Well, when I think about Belle, I recall the night she was conceived,” John replied. “You remember that night?” he asked.

“Vaguely,” Marlena replied with a smile. “Why don’t you give me a little reminder?”

“Gladly,” he said as he lowered his lips to her’s.

Belle of the Heart

Nick Edwards pulled into the driveway of his girlfriend’s apartment around nine in the morning. As he walked in the front door, he saw three suitcases, a garment bag and two big boxes full of wrapped Christmas presents.

“Oh, hi there Nick,” said a girl with short, auburn hair as she came down the stairs. She was carrying a bookpack and suitcase.

“Please tell me these are yours, Jenn,” Nick begged.

“Sorry, Nick. But you know what she’s like when she travels.”

“Unfortunately,” Nick said smiling. “Where is she anyway?”

“Flying around upstairs grabbing all of her last minute things.”

“Yes, heaven forbid she forgets to bring her bed. I doubt her parents have any,” he joked. “Well, I guess I should start taking all this to the car.”

He was just grabbing the last suitcase when she came down the stairs with big duffel bag and another hanging bag.

Belle Black was the perfect combination of her parents. Physically, she resembled her mother; elegant, tall, and slender with beautiful blond hair. Her eyes, however, were her father’s; the deepest blue imaginable. She carried herself with a combination of gracefulness and athleticism, due to years of studying dance and playing baseball with her brother and father.

Belle was dressed casually in bluejeans and a Salem P.D. sweatshirt given to her by her uncle Bo. She had her shoulder-length blond hair pulled back in a loose ponytail and wore her favorite pair of tennis shoes.

“Hi sweety,” Belle said giving Nick a quick kiss. “Is everything in the car?”

“All but this last suitcase and those bags. What are in these suitcases anyway, rocks? They must weigh at least two hundred poun-”

Belle interrupted his little rant with a long, sensuous kiss. “What were you saying, honey?”

“Huh?” Nick replied in a daze.

“Oh, wait a moment!” Belle gasped. “I forgot something,” she said as she dashed into the next room.

Nick heard her rustling through a bunch of papers on her desk. “Belle, we are supposed to be there in five minutes. We’re going to be late.”

Belle returned a few seconds later. “I had to get these for my meetings. Besides honey, it’s a private plane. I don’t think they’ll leave without us,” she replied jokingly.

Nick relaxed and chuckled at himself. “Is that why your dad sent the private plane? He knew he couldn’t trust you to be on time?”

“Haha, you’re so funny. Let’s go, Chuckles.”

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the Boulder Private Airfield outside of town.

“There she is,” Belle said pointing to the Black family plane.

Nick followed her gaze to see a sleek, white plane with the name “Belle of the Heart” inscribed on the side. “That one,” Nick asked shocked. “It’s huge.”

Belle grinned at his astonishment. She was about to say something about closing his mouth and boarding the plane, when she saw the pilot approach them. “Hi Fred,” Belle said as she gave the older man a hug. Fred had been her father’s pilot for more than 15 years and had flown her from Boulder to Salem and back many times in the past three years.

“How are you, Beauty? It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you.”

“Wonderful. How are you and your wife?”

“We’re both fine. Getting ready for a new grandchild,” he replied proudly.

“Fred, that’s great! Oh, I’m sorry. Fred, this is my boyfriend Nick Edwards. Nick, this Fred Carson, my father’s pilot.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Nick said as the older man looked him over suspiciously.

“Likewise,” Fred finally replied with a reassuring smile as Nick apparently passed the initial inspection. “You kids go ahead and board the plane and I’ll have the luggage loaded so we can get going. By the way Beauty, I see you’re still ten minutes late to everything.”

Nick laughed as Belle glared at Fred for a few seconds, who was grinning from ear to ear, before she rolled her eyes and began to laugh as well.

“So what’s this Beauty stuff,” Nick asked as they walked to the plane.

“Just a silly nickname.”

“Oh fine,” Belle sighed as Nick looked at her questioningly. “When Brady and I were younger, we watched the movie, Beauty and the Beast, and we asked Mom why it wasn’t called Belle and the Beast. Mom told us that belle meant “beauty” in french. So of course, Brady had to start calling me that and somehow it spread. Now most of the family and friends use it. Are you happy now?”

“It’s perfect,” Nick said as he leaned over to kiss her.

“Woah. It’s looks even bigger on the inside.” Nick said as he and Belle walked into the cabin. There were three gray, leather couches on one side of the plane. On the other side was two more matching couches and a mini-bar. A television screen covered most of the wall between the cabin and cockpit and a state of the art stereo system underneath the bar.

“When we finally convinced Daddy to buy a new plane, one of his requirements was that it be big enough to fly the entire family,” Belle explained. “He hated having to take two separate planes every time the family traveled somewhere, which was quite often.” She walked to the bar as Nick settled on one of the couches. “What would you like to drink? We have some Budweiser.”

“That’s fine,” Nick replied distractedly. “Why did you have to convince him to buy a new plane?”

Belle smiled and turned back to fixing herself a glass of ginger ale. “He said the other one had sentimental value. When he bought this one, he had all of the furniture from the old one transferred here and bought some matching pieces to fill the space left.”

Nick nodded not quite understanding. “So how long is this flight, Beauty,” he asked testing the new nickname on her.

Belle rolled her eyes. “About three hours. Why?”

“I was just trying to decide how to spend our time.”

“And just what did you decide,” said Belle smiling sensuously. Before Nick could answer her however, the phone on the coffee table beside her rang.

“Yes” Belle answered as Nick noticed the plaque on the wall behind the settee. Engraved was,

“Love is an experience that makes us feel completely alive; where every sense is heightened, every emotion magnified, our everyday reality is shattered and we are flying into the heavens.”

“Thanks Fred.”

Belle turned to Nick. “Fred says we’re ready for take off,” she said as she buckled her seat belt.

“What’s this,” Nick asked pointing to the plaque as he too buckled up.

Belle looked at the plaque for a few moments and then turned towards Nick and just smiled.

Nightmares & Reality

He came towards her with a menacing smile, “We’ll be so happy Belle, just you, me and your mom. I will give you everything you could possibly want. I am your father now, Belle.”

“No! You will never my daddy!” she screamed as she backed away as quickly as possible from the monstrous man. She turned to run away from him, unaware there was no where to run to in the small room. He grabbed her arms and pulled her close to him.”

She struggled to get away and he struggled to keep the small child in his grasp.

Somewhere in the midst of their mutual struggle, she felt her hands come upon something hard and metal tucked in the back of his pants. Before she knew what was happening shots rang out.

She would never forget his look mixed with shock and horror. The same look was mirrored on her little face as her father and Uncle Bo raced in the room to find her standing silently over the dead man.

*************

“Noooo! You’ll never be my daddy!”

“Belle, Belle, sweetheart, wake up,” Nick pleaded.

“What?!?” she awoke with a jerk. “Where are we?”

“We’re in your plane,” he reminded her. “We should be arriving in Salem any moment now.”

“Oh,” Belle replied quietly looking outside the windows to the white, wispy clouds against the pale blue sky.

“You were having a nightmare; screaming something about not being your dad or something like that. What were you dreaming about sweetheart?”

“Nothing,” She answered quickly with a big smile trying to reassure him. “Nothing for you to worry about,” her gaze returned to the clouds.

“I’ll always worry about you Belle,” Nick said seriously. “Please, tell me.”

She turned back to him hesitantly when the phone rang. She shoot it a grateful look as she grabbed it before Nick could say anything. “Yes? Wonderful, thanks Fred.”

“Well, Fred says we’ll be landing in just a few minutes, so we need to put our belts back on,” Belle told Nick with a cheerful tone that belayed her true feelings. “I hope daddy left my car like he said he would, if he sent Max to pick us up–“

“Belle!” Nick cut her off before she finish her threat. “Tell me about your nightmare.”

She closed her eyes and sighed, “You’re not going to give up are you? Ok, Ok.”

She was silent for a few more moments and Nick was about to say something when she suddenly turned to him. “Do you know how Stefano DiMera died?”

Nick certainly wasn’t expecting that. He had heard of Stefano DiMera, of course, and he knew that DiMera had terrorized Belle’s family for many years. But Nick also knew that Stefano had died more than 15 years ago and Belle never mentioned his name before. “Well, no, not really,” he replied. “I was only about seven years old when he died, but I seem to remember that not too many details were given; only that was definitely dead, which was a big deal in itself, I guess, considering how many times he faked it,” Nick said jokingly trying to lighten to mood.

His humor was lost on Belle as she sat on the couch quietly.

“What, Belle? What is it?”

“I was only five years old,” she began softly, “but I still knew what a monster he was.

There were times I wouldn’t see my parents months on end, because he had kidnapped my mom and daddy was busy searching for her. I thought my mom was dead three different times in those five years because him. With the help of his children, he kept my parents apart for years; my *family* apart for years.”

Nick sat quietly listening to Belle talk of her childhood. It was a topic she had always been evasive about. He had thought that was because she didn’t want to brag about her family’s wealth and power, but now he realized that wasn’t the case at all. As he watched her, he didn’t see the confident, self-assured 21 year old he knew; rather, he saw a little girl constantly fearful of what was in the shadows that would once again steal her family from her, afraid to trust anyone. This was a whole new side to Belle, one Nick had never seen. Suddenly all he ever wanted to do was keep her safe and protected.

“It was our first Christmas as a real family,” Belle continued. “Mom and Dad were finally engaged and we were all living together in the Penthouse. We were so happy,” Belle said before pausing. “Daddy was still trying to find out about his past, though.”

Nick noticed the slight tone of resentment in Belle’s voice when she spoke of her father’s search for his past.

“Uncle Bo had found some girl in New Orleans and brought her back to Salem. Mom was suspicious of her, but Daddy thought she was the ‘key to his past’. Unfortunately, Mom was right. Stefano had hired her and planted her in New Orleans for Uncle Bo to find. She gained my father’s trust and on New Years Eve, Daddy told her that he was taking my mom on little romantic trip to celebrate. Knowing they would be gone, she broke into the Penthouse using the security code she had seen Daddy use and kidnapped me while I was sleeping. And then, she took me to Stefano.”

“He told my parents that the only way to get me back was a trade.” Belle paused before continuing. Nick was amazed at how calm she was sounding as she described being kidnapped, when she turned to face him however, he saw pure fear in her eyes. “He wanted to trade my mother for me. He knew mom would agree instantly. She would do anything to protect me. He also knew that my dad would stop at nothing to get me back without risking mom, but Stefano was confident enough that he could outsmart him. He planned to somehow get my mom without giving me up either.”

“He was keeping me in a small room in the basement of a townhouse he had. He didn’t know that daddy had just found out a few days earlier that Stefano owned it, he thought no one else knew. At the time, I didn’t know how long he had had me. I found out later it was only a little less than a day. It seemed like forever. He kept saying how he would be my Dad and that he, Mom, and I would be a family.” Nick nodded remembering her earlier cries of “never being her daddy.’

“I heard the guard tell him something about my Dad and Uncle Bo. Stefano told the guard to go start the car and that we were leaving. He grabbed me, but I tried to get away from him. I must have gotten a hold of his gun and the next thing I knew he was laying down on the ground with two big red spots on his nice, white shirt.” Belle closed her eyes as she saw him laying there with that look of horror and shock on his face; a look that she would never forget and would haunt her dreams for years to come.

Nick gathered her into his arms. The actions were to reassure him as much as her. He couldn’t believe what this beautiful, precious girl had went through so early in life.

She withdrew from his embrace and quickly finished her story. “Dad and Uncle Bo had been searching the house for us. When they heard the shots, they raced to basement and found me. With the help of Dad’s best friend, Abe, who happened to be the Chief of Police, they were able to keep all the details of Stefano’s death out of the papers. My name was never mentioned, the press didn’t even know I had been kidnapped. The woman was sent to prison for life, and Dad gave up his search for his past. He said it wasn’t important, only the present and future were, and his future was with my Mom and me and Brady. They got married on Valentine’s Day and we all lived happily ever after,” Belle finished lamely.

“Belle, don’t try to make it sound like nothing important,” Nick said. “I can’t imagine what you must have went through. I promise you, I will spend the rest of my life keeping you safe and protected.”

“NO!” she yelled. Her eyes were full of rage and if her father had seen her at this moment, he would comment on how much she looked like her mother. “I don’t need you or anyone else protecting me! I can take of myself. I am not a little girl and I refuse to live my life in fear of anyone or anything.”

“Alright,” Nick relented recognizing that this wasn’t the time to argue this with her . “I know you can take of yourself. I didn’t mean to imply you couldn’t. How about I promise to spend the rest of my life keeping you happy?”

“Thank you,” Belle replied quietly, her fury lost. “It’s just that everyone acts like they need to care of me, like I’m only a little girl that needs to be watched and protected every minute of the day. One advantage of growing up in a life like mine is that you learn to look out for yourself and to be cautious. I don’t need you to take care of me.”

Just then, Fred walked into the cabin of the plane. He looked at a startled Belle and Nick. “Well, are you two going to get off the plane or just sit there for a few more hours?’

They looked at each other surprised; neither had noticed that the plane had landed.

“I got all of your luggage unloaded and went ahead and sent it to the house. I hope that was O.K.” He continued as Belle nodded her approval, “I was kinda afraid of coming in here. I didn’t want to walk in on anything.”

“Fred,” Belle said warningly.

“Hey, ya never know,” he replied. “I’ve walked in on your parents enough times to worry about things like that.”

Belle groaned. “Fred, that’s enough.” She smiled as the older man gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Thank you. I’ll see you later.”

“See you, Beauty. Good to meet you, Nick.”

“Likewise,” he said as he followed Belle out of the plane.

The Long & Winding Road

“Would you rather I drove,” Nick asked as they approached her red Jaguar with the license plate ‘Belle’. He was still worried about Belle and how her nightmare affected her.

“I thought you just promised not to worry about me Nick,” she teased. “Breaking promises already?”

“No, I said that I won’t always try to take care of you. I will always worry.”

“Well thanks anyway,” replied Belle, “but, I want to drive. It always relaxes me.”

Only a few minutes later, they were zipping down the highway towards the Black home.

“So where exactly is this mansion you grew up in,” Nick asked. He knew his phrasing of the question would annoy Belle and Nick decided to do anything he could to get Belle’s mind off of Stefano DiMera.

Belle rolled her eyes. “It’s across town, by the lake. About 20 miles or so.”

“Oh, so we’ll get there in about five minutes?”

“If you want to make a comment about my driving Nick Edwards, just come out and say it,” Belle warned.

“I was just thinking what a great driver you are at such high speeds,” he replied knowing he was treading on thin ice.

Belle missed his last remark as she looked in her rear-view mirror for the fifth time in half a minute. “Nick, do you see that black Monte Carlo, three cars behind us?”

Nick checked the passenger side mirror. “Yeah, what about it?”

“It’s tailing us.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Make sure you’re buckled in. I’m going to lose him,” Belle said.

Before Nick could say a word, she swerved her Jag into the next lane cutting off a pickup and quickly moved onto the exit ramp. The black car did the same. However they were not quite as quick as Belle and lost some distance as she drove straight into downtown Salem moving in and out of traffic, leaving Nick breathless with the last-minute changes in direction and the little space she was leaving between her car and others. Although he was terrified, he had to admire Belle’s driving. She was like a professional race car driver, always in control. Her face revealed no anxieties. It was almost like she was enjoying this situation and reveling in the competitiveness.

After endless twists and turns throughout Salem, Belle was sure they had lost the tail. To be cautious, she choose to approach the house by a country road instead of the road that followed the lake that she usually preferred.

As they entered the driveway of the Black mansion, they had to stop and wait for a tall, rod-iron gate to open. John had installed a surveillance system that only opened the gate for cars that were cleared through the family. Once past it, Nick couldn’t help but stare at the incredible house before him.

“Mom and Dad bought this only a few days after they got back from their honeymoon. It was the second house they looked at,” Belle smiled as she saw Nick’s reaction to mansion before them. “Next door, across that small field is the Kiriakis house. Brady’s grandfather, Victor, owned it. He was like a grandfather to me, too. He gave both Brady and me horses when we were little and let us keep them at his stable. It took us awhile, but we even managed to convince Mom and Dad to get horses for themselves. Mom just liked to brush and pet hers, but Dad enjoyed riding. We spent so many Saturdays horseback riding, Brady, Daddy, and me,” Belle said lost in memories of Saturdays past.

“He ‘owned’ it,” Nick questioned.

“Victor passed away almost ten years ago. He had a series of strokes in ’96. He recovered in a few years, but he was never quite the same. He spent his last few years with his son, Phillip. Phillip inherited the house when his father died and he still lives there.”

“So he would be your Uncle, right,” Nick asked. “Are you very close?”

“Actually he is about my age, so he’s not really like an uncle,” Belle replied sidestepping his question about her relationship with Phillip. Nick was going to have to deal with a lot of Belle and her family’s past during this trip, Belle thought, better not burden him with unimportant details.

They had entered the house when Belle finished her sentence. Nick was about to comment about it’s enormity when he saw the black Monte Carlo that Belle had just spent the last 45 minutes losing, pull into the driveway. Forgetting to question the apparent failure of the computer protection system, he turned to Belle and said fearfully, “Sweety, that black Monte Carlo just pulled into the driveway.”

Lack of Information

He was trying to not panic, but when he saw a big smile cross her face, instead of fear like he was expecting, Nick thought maybe Belle had lost her mind.

Before he knew what was happening, Belle raced out the door and towards the car. Nick was a few steps behind her determined to protect her from the man wearing a black leather jacket and dark sunglasses that had stepped out of the car.

“Uncle Bo,” Belle yelled as ran into the man’s arms.

“Heya Beauty. Long time, no see.”

“Too long,” she replied.

“Not too long to completely forget what I taught you, I’m happy to see,” Bo said. “In fact, you’ve gotten better. Have you been practicing?”

Bell withdrew from the embrace with an bright smile. “Thanks, a little. Did you see that move I made on River Street?”

“I did, very impressive. It did take you a little while to notice my tail, though.” Bo couldn’t help putting in a little dig.

Nick stood by watching the entire conversation a little shell-shocked. He coughed when it became apparent that neither Belle, nor the man, had noticed him.

“Oh Nick, I’m sorry,” Belle said. “Uncle Bo, this is Nick Edwards. Nick, this is my uncle, Bo Brady.”

“It’s nice to meet you, sir,” Nick replied.

“Good to meet you too, Nick.”

Nick suddenly realized that the little inspection by the family pilot, Fred, was just the beginning. ‘Well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,’ he thought. ‘After listening to a little chapter of Belle’s childhood, of course her family would be really protective of her and suspicious of anyone in her life.’

“Belle, why didn’t you tell me it was your uncle following us and why did you try to lose him,” Nick asked very confused about what had happened.

“I told you I grew up having to be very cautious,” Belle answered. “Well, part of that was learning how to spot a tail and lose it. Uncle Bo, here, was my wonderful teacher on the subject and he was just testing me.”

“But, why didn’t you tell me it was just your uncle?”

Belle shrugged. “It must have slipped my mind.”

Bo laughed at the exasperated look on Nick’s face in response to Belle’s innocent tone. “Get used to it, Nick. All of the women in this family are like that. My wife forgets to tell me about leads she gets all the time. And then, she’ll go investigate them by herself while I’m stuck helping the DA’s office on some other case.”

“Nick, I told you that Uncle Bo and Aunt Hope are detectives for the Salem police, didn’t I,” Belle asked as Nick nodded.

“Well, speaking of my job, I better get back to the office. I was on my way there to meet Hope when I saw your car and I couldn’t help myself. She’s probably wondering where I am,” Bo said. “It was nice to meet you Nick. I’m sure I’ll see you two soon.”

“Bye, Uncle Bo. Say hello to Aunt Hope.” Belle gave him another quick hug and kiss on the cheek before he climbed into the car.

“I wonder where everyone is” Belle wondered aloud as she and Nick went back into the house. “I thought they might be home to meet us.”

“Who’s everyone?”

“Well, Mom and Dad, Tabitha…” Belle’s voice tapered off as she walked into the next room.

“Who’s Tabitha,” Nick asked following her into what looked like a family room.

“She’s the housekeeper.” Belle noticed a small note laying on the coffeetable with ‘Belle’ written on it, in her mother’s handwriting. She picked it up and read it aloud.

Belle,

We had hoped to be home to welcome you both. Unfortunately your father wasn’t able to get away from his meetings and I got called in for an emergency board meeting about the new hospital wing. We’d like to take you both out to eat tonight and get to know Nick a little better. Please meet us at ‘Porters’ at 7 o’clock. By the way, I gave Tabitha the night off since we wouldn’t be here. I love you.

Mom

“Well, we have awhile before we need to meet my parents,” Belle started. “Why don’t I give you a tour of the house and grounds?”

A little more than an hour later, Belle and Nick reentered the house from viewing the gardens. “We should probably be getting ready,” Belle said.

Nick groaned. “Do we have to,” he asked in a tone that reminded Belle of her eight year old nephew, Tommy.

“Yes, we have to,” Belle said laughingly. “Just be glad that tonight’s not the night you have to wear a tux.”

“What,” Nick yelped and grabbed Belle’s arm as she began to walk to the stairs. “You say that as though I will have to put on a monkey suit sometime this trip.”

Belle eyes widened, giving her a very innocent look. “Did I forget to mention that?”

Private Time

John’s secretary, Renee, looked up to see her boss’ wife come around the corner with a very annoyed look on her face. “Hello, Renee.”

“Hello, Dr. Evans. Excuse me for asking, but you look a little upset. Did Mr. Black do something wrong? Because he told me to warn him whenever that happened.”

Marlena laughed. “No, this time John didn’t do anything.”

“What’s wrong then, if you don’t mind my asking,” Renee asked just in time to see the doctor’s newest guard round the corner carrying a small duffel bag in one hand and tripping over the garment bag in his other hand. “Never mind, I think I get the picture.”

Marlena rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you let me get the dress?”

“That’s alright, Dr. Evans. I got it,” he said stumbling over the bag again.

“Right,” she said unbelievingly. “Bye, Renee,” as she strood into John’s office.

“I think that’s all, Ben,” John said to the younger British man seating across from him, as the door opened to reveal his beautiful wife. Unfortunately she looked none too pleased. He just hoped he wasn’t the cause, and if he was, he would have to another talk with Renee. “Hi, sweetheart. What’s wr-” he cut off as the new guard he hired to protect her, tripped into the room.

“Just set them over there and you can leave,” Marlena instructed him with an exasperated tone. After placing them on the couch, he looked to John who nodded his assent and left.

Marlena breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness. He was about to drive me insane, John!”

“Well, that would not be good,” said Ben, the V.P. of the Toscano Foundation. “Salem’s most promenient psychiatrist going nuts. Where would all of the crazy people go for help?” Ben walked over to where Marlena stood, and planted a kiss on her cheek. “Hey, Gorgeous.”

“Hi, Handsome.”

John clapped his hands to regain their attention, “Well, now that that’s taken care of…” Marlena and Ben chuckled. “Honey, I thought I was supposed to pick you up at the hospital in half an hour.”

“I know, but the board decided to surprise us all by ending early for a change. So, I thought it would be more fun to come over here and get ready.”

“And just why would that be,” John asked as Marlena started to walk towards him.

“There is one, very important thing here that’s not at my office…” Marlena said as reached him and placed her arms around his neck and drew his face closer to hers, “a shower.”

Ben and Marlena laughed at John’s expression. “Well, now that’s she’s put you in your place,” said Ben, “I think I’ll leave.”

“Goodbye, Ben” said John and Marlena in unison, without taking their eyes from each other.

**********

Ben was laughing as he left his boss’ office. “Get out the “Do Not Disturb” sign, Renee. I have a feeling they’re going to be needing it.”

“I thought so, so I got it ready,” Renee replied laughingly as the phone rang. “Mr. Black’s office.”

**********

“A shower, huh. That’s it?”

“Well, maybe there’s one more thing here that’s not at my office,” said Marlena.

“And what would that be?”

“Here’s a hint,” Marlena said as she leaned forward, brushing her lips against John’s. He quickly took advantage and deepened the kiss, twirling his tongue around hers. Marlena moaned softly, and then the phone rang.

“I really need to have a talk with Renee on her timing,” John complained as he walked over the the phone. “This had better be good, Renee.”

Marlena took advantage of the distraction to grab the duffel bag off the couch and slip in the adjoining bathroom. She undressed and stepped into the shower and began to wash her body. A few minutes later, she felt a rush of heat from somewhere other than the water. Marlena turned around to come face to face with John, who started to nibble on her ear while his hands traveled up and down her slippery body.

“John, honey, we don’t have time. We have to meet Belle and Nick in an hour. Ohhhhh.”

John stopped his journey down her neck to look into Marlena’s beautiful, hazel eyes.

“Marlena.”

“Yes,” Marlena uttered before he caught her mouth in a voracious kiss. The temperature in the shower skyrocketed as those were the last words spoken.

*********

“I don’t believe his nerve! He knows how I feel about having you drive me around.”

“I’ll try not to take that personally,” said John’s driver and assistant, Max, dryly.

“Oh Max, you know I mean,” Belle replied with an annoyed tone in her voice. “I don’t like anyone driving me around like I was some kind of invalid.”

Nick stood by as Belle ranted about her father’s latest ploy. When her anger wasn’t directed at him, he found it made her extremely sexy. Oh, who was he kidding? Even when it was directed towards him, he always had a hard time concentrating on her indignation. He would keep up with her for a while, trading barbs, but eventually he would lose himself in her deep, blue eyes, and in the process, any hopes of winning the argument. It was her independent streak that attracted him to her in the first place. However, it was probably time to step in and save Max from Belle’s wrath.

“You can just tell my father…No, wait, I’ll tell my father. Right after I drive myself-”

“Belle,” interupted Nick. “Why not just let him drive us to the restaurant? I have never been in a stretch limousine before. I would like to see what it’s like.”

“Nick,” Belle said warningly.

“Belle, please for me. Besides,” Nick whispered in her ear. “There must be a few advantages to such a big back seat. It does have a privacy glass, doesn’t it?”

Belle’s source of ire was swiftly forgotten when she heard Nick’s plea. She knew he felt that he always lost in their disagreeements. What he didn’t know, was that he was one of the only people that could persuade Belle to do something she didn’t want to do.

“Okay Nick, for you, I’ll let Max drive us. But, that won’t stop me from giving Daddy a piece of my mind.”

***********

John and Marlena were floating back down as they returned from their quick trip to paradise. The lukewarm water cooled their overheated bodies as they sighed exhaustively.

“Oh my,” sighed Marlena as John turned off the faucet and grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her. “That was….”

“Incredible,” John finished wrapping a towel around his waist.

“Um mm,” Marlena shook her head. “That was unbelievable. Oh, I do love you in a towel,” she said leaning in to kiss John passionately.

John began to respond to Marlena’s unexpected kiss when she quickly tore her lips from his. “John,” she gasped. “What time is it? We’re supposed to be meeting Belle and Nick in about 15 minutes!”

***********

“Nick, we’ve stopped.”

“I beg to disagree,” Nick murmured as he continued to nuzzle her neck. “We’ve just gotten started.”

Belle giggled. “No silly. I mean we’ve arrived at the restaurant.”

“So soon,” Nick questioned with an extremely annoyed look.

“Just hold that thought for a few hours,” Belle said, stepping out of the car.

Nick and Belle checked their coats and approached the man behind the podium to be seated.

The older gentlemen did a double take as he watched the younger couple come closer. “Belle? Belle!” He ran from behind the podium to embrace the young lady.

“Hello, Henri.”

“When did you get in town? Your father didn’t say anything about you coming tonight.”

“I just got in this this afternoon. Are my parents here, yet?”

“No, they havn’t arrived. Let me lead you to your table.”

“Thank you, Henri.”

As they were walking to the table, Nick noticed practically everyone in the room had stopped to observe him and Belle. For the most part, Belle seems oblivious to the attention. However, she did smile and give a little wave to small group of gentlemen across the room. “Old boyfriends,” Nick asked as he held the chair for Belle.

“Hardly,” she replied drooly. “Business associates of my father’s.”

“I’ll try to restrain my jealousy. As a matter of fact, have I told you how gorgeous you look,” he said. Nick could barely breathe when he first saw her coming down the staircase. She was wearing a simple, Audrey Hepburn-like black dress, with a square neckline and small straps on her flawless shoulders. It ended just below her knees and had slits up either side to accentuate her long, elegant legs. She put her hair in an upsweep with a few random tendrils escaping. Her only jewelry was a diamond solitare necklace and diamond earrings that she had received from her parents for her 18th birthday.

“Once or twice,” said Belle, eyes twinkling. “But, I do love hearing you say it.”

Meanwhile, one of the gentlemen had made his way to Nick and Belle’s table. “Well, if it isn’t Salem’s newest businesswoman. Ms. Black, how are you.”

“Good. And yourself, Mr. Rutherford.”

“Fine, fine. May I say you look exquisite?”

“You may,” Belle replied politely smiling.

“It always astounds me how much you look like your mother. Anyway, I just came over to say what a pleasure it is having you back in Salem. Now, I must be leaving,” he said. “I will see you at the stockholder’s meeting tomorrow, will I not?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

“I thought he’d never leave,” muttered Belle under her breath as the older man walked away.

“Close friend, huh?”

“Not exactly,” she replied. “But, I don’t want to talk about him. I’d rather focus on us.” She leaned forward to kiss him. Right before their lips meet, however, a voice called out.

“Don’t let me interrupt.”

“You already have,” Belle said with a smile as she raised from her chair to hug the newcomer. “Hello, Josh.”

“Hello, Beauty.”

“Josh, let me introduce you to my boyfriend, Nick Edwards. Nick, this is Josh Porter. He owns this wonderful restaurant and is the brother of my brother-in-law, David.”

“I’m the good looking one.”

“Let’s not forget to mention modest, Josh,” Belle said rolling her eyes.

“Belle, I’m heartbroken. You got a boyfriend while I have been wasting away here in Salem, pining for your return,” replied Josh with an exaggerated sigh.

“Don’t listen to a word he says, Nick,” Belle laughed. “Josh is Salem’s resident playboy.”

“I’m wounded, Belle. I can’t believe you have such little faith in my feelings for you.”

“Josh,” called a feminine voice from behind the table. They all turned around to see a very curvy burnette approach. “Josh, are you coming? I told them we would be there at seven o’clock.”

“Wasting away, huh, Josh?” Belle winked at Nick.

He regarded Belle with a smirk, “Well, we all deal with rejection in our own ways.” He started to walk off with his date, when he abruptly turned around. “Oh Belle, your father called about ten minutes ago, and wanted me to tell you two that he and your mom would be a few minutes late.” And with that he left Belle and Nick at the table.

Belle turned to Nick, “You did know that a lack of punctuality is an inherited trait, right?”

Nick laughed as Belle motioned to get their waiter’s attention. “If we’re going to have to wait, we might as well order something to drink. What would like?”

“Excuse me, madmosielle,” the waiter interrupted. “Mousiur Black has already ordered an excellent bottle of champagne for your dinner tonight. Shall I bring that out?”

“Yes, please.”

Nick suddenly got a pained look on his face. “Nick, what’s wrong,” Belle asked. “And don’t tell me it’s the champagne, I know it’s not your favorite, but you’ve never had a problem drinking it before.”

“No, it’s nothing like that, Belle. The nervousness just kicked in.”

“Why? There’s no reason to nervous about meeting my parents.”

“No reason,” Nick replied incredulously. “No, your mother is a well-known psychiatrist who could read me like book, and your father is only one of the most powerful men in America. If they don’t like me, they can do just a little more than order me to stay away from you.”

Belle laughed at Nick’s melodramatic speech. “Nick, this not the movies, okay? My mom does not go around and psychoanalyize people. She only does that to the people that pay her to. And my father does not ruin the lives of people just because he doesn’t like them. Anyway, it’s a moot point, because they are going to adore you. Just like I do.”

“I don’t know, Belle…” started Nick.

“Nick, stop,” Belle said seriously. “My parents are going to love you, trust me. And believe it or not, but I really think you’ll like them. I mean, once you get used to them, they’re not too bad,” she ended jokingly. “Now, come on and dance with me. I’ll take your mind off your nervousness.”

She led him out to the dance floor and let him pull her body against him. Unconsiously, their lips began to move closer like magnets. Just before they met however, Belle gasped excitedly, “They’re here!”

Nick turned around to see John and Marlena Black at the entrance of the restaurant gazing intently at him.

First Impressions

All eyes in the restaurant turned to regard the well-known and respected couple that stood at the entrance of the dining room.

As they began to approach, Nick was struck by the convincing image of royalty they presented. Belle’s father, John Black, was a big, but physically fit man with a commanding presence. He had big, blue eyes like his daughter, and dark hair with silver coloring his temples. Nick remembered his mother once commenting on the handsomeness of John Black as they saw his picture on the news. He had to admit that his mother was right on target. The older man had the chiseled features that drive women crazy.

Nick didn’t send very much time regarding Belle’s father, however. His attention was quickly drawn to the beauty on John Black’s arm. Like her daughter earlier, Marlena Evans-Black took Nick’s breath away with her beauty and elegance. She was tall and slender, dressed in a red dress with a form-fitting bodice and slightly flowing skirt. Her ash blonde hair was cut short, slightly below her ears, and perfectly framed her face. The only major difference physically between Belle and herself, Nick immediately noticed, was her eyes. Where her daughter’s were a deep ocean blue, Marlena’s were hazel with sparkles of gold. She reminded Nick of one his favorite movie stars, Grace Kelly.

Smiles graced John and Marlena Black’s faces as their eyes beheld their baby girl. Couples on the dance floor reverently cleared a path for John and Marlena as they made their way to Belle and the young man accompanying her.

Nick stood aside as Marlena raced to embrace her daughter. “Sweetheart! Oh, I missed you so,” Marlena gushed.

“Hi, Mommy,” replied Belle. “I’m missed you, too.

“You look so beautiful, honey.”

“I’ll second that,” said John who had been watching his wife and daughter with proud grin. “Hey there, Belle baby,” he moved in to hug his little girl.

“Hello, Daddy. You two look pretty spiffy too, if I say so myself.” Belle saw her father glance over her shoulder to Nick. “Mom and Dad, I’d like you to meet Nick Edwards. Nick, this is John Black and Dr. Marlena Evans-Black, my parents.

“It’s a pleasure you meet you, Mr. and Dr. Black,” Nick said as he meet John with a strong handshake. “I’ve been looking forward to it,” turning to Marlena and placed a delicate kiss on her knuckles.

“Believe me, we’ve been anxiously looking forward to it too,” said Marlena with a beautiful smile.

John saw the waiter walk up behind Nick and Belle with the bottle of champagne he had ordered earlier. “Well, let’s have a seat,” he said gesturing to the table.

Nick began to realize over dinner that Belle was right. Her mother, who insisted on him calling her Marlena, was the epitome of grace and class. She was very warm and funny and made him feel completely at ease. When he told her that he had just graduated with a degree in architecture, she said that she had taken an introduction course to architecture when she was in college and engaged him in a conversation of different architectural styles.

“Now that you’ve graduated, do you have a job lined up,” John questioned Nick.

Before Nick could answer John however, Marlena interrupted. “Excuse me, but I believe I’ll go to the ladies room to freshen up.”

Belle quickly agreed, “I think I’ll go too.” Nick and John rose from their seats like gentlemen as Marlena and Belle headed to the restroom.

Nick took a deep breath as he and John sat back down. “I’ve had offers from several different firms, but I haven’t made a decision yet. I’m hoping to decide over break.”

“Where are these firms?”

“All across the country; Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., Denver…”

John continued to gently probe Nick with questions. “And you have no idea where you are going to accept a job.”

Nick decided to come clean with John about his intentions. He just hoped that John was as nice and friendly as he seemed. “Well, actually sir, I’ve been putting off the decision, hoping to find somewhere closer to Salem, so I can be with Belle since she’s going to move here at the end of break.”

“I see,” John replied, his face devoid of emotion. “So, this relationship has progressed that far has it?”

“I love her,” Nick confessed quietly.

“And does she feel the same?”

“She hasn’t actually said it, but I think she does. I’m hoping this trip will give us a chance to move our relationship to the next level,” Nick proclaimed boldly, almost challenging John to object.

John maintained his poker face for a few moments causing Nick to wonder if he had gone to far and if Belle was wrong about her father and what he would do to Nick if he disliked him. John began to chuckle when he realized where Nick’s thoughts were headed. “Relax, I don’t object to you or your relationship with Belle. You seem to be a good guy. And, I wouldn’t presume to guess my daughter’s feelings, but this is the happiest I’ve seen her in a long time and I know that a lot of that has to do with you.” John paused before continuing, wondering exactly how far he could go without crossing the unwritten boundary.

“As far as her saying that she loves you, well, if I may give you a little advice. Don’t push her, let her go at her own pace. Belle has been through a lot in her life and as a result she is extremely cautious about letting anyone besides family get close to her.”

Nick nodded in agreement. He knew that there were many things in Belle’s life that he didn’t know about. She hardly ever talked about her life in Salem, except for brief mentions of her family, which Nick knew she was very close. Over the past few weeks, however, she had been a little more open when talking about her childhood and Nick took that as a sign that she was as serious about their relationship as he was. John’s statement took Nick by surprise, though, and he wondered just how much of Belle’s life he didn’t know about.

John continued to talk as Nick’s mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Belle and what she had been through.

“Have you ever heard of the firm?”

“What,” Nick said trying to bring his attention back to the current conversation. “I’m sorry, my mind must have wandered. What where you saying?”

John smiled warmly. “I was just talking about the Salem firm that was hired to design the new wing of University Hospital. The name is DL&B designs. Have you heard of them?”

“Of course,” Nick replied. “It’s one of the most well known architecture firms in the nation.”

“Have you considered talking to them about a job?”

Nick almost began to laugh, but stopped himself when he noticed John’s serious expression. “I would love to work at DL&B, but they have a waiting list for jobs almost three miles long. I don’t think I could get an interview.”

“I play recreational baseball with Brett Dahl, one of the senior partners at DL&B. I’ll have him call you to set up an interview.”

“That’s not necessary, Mr. Black,” Nick replied quickly.

“John please, I told you Mr. Black sounds so stuffy.”

“John,” Nick began. “I really appreciate your offer, but I’d rather get a job on my own.”

John started to laugh loudly, “Nick, I didn’t say I’d get you a job, only an interview. It’s up to you to get the job. Frankly, you could be lousy for all I know, and Brett will laugh you out of his office. However, I doubt that will happen. Brett’s a tough boss, if you get a job, it’ll be because you’re good enough, not because I pulled any strings.”

Nick blushed lightly when he realized John’s intentions, or rather lack thereof, of getting him a job. “Thank you, sir..John. I’d appreciate an interview very much. Would you mind not telling Belle, though. She doesn’t know that I’m looking for a job in Salem. I’m kind of hoping to surprise her.”

“Sure,” John replied smiling. “Okay, now that that is settled, do you like sports?”

*************

“Well, what do you think,” Belle asked breaking the silence as her and Marlena stood in front of the big mirror checking their make-up and hair.

“Belle, he’s positively gorgeous,” Marlena replied excitedly.

“Mom,” Belle signed exasperatedly.

“Oh, he seems to be a really nice man, Belle. Very nice and warm and friendly.”

“Oh he is, mom,” Belle said dreamily. “He’s smart, and funny, and sweet, and romantic, and about a billion other things.”

“It sounds like you’re in love with him,” Marlena said softly.

Belle swiftly turned to regard her mother’s smiling, but questioning face. “Well, I…,” she trailed off.

“Do you love him, Belle?”

Belle turned back to her reflection in the mirror, her mind racing. “He said that he loves me.”

“You didn’t answer my question, honey. Do you love him?”

“I don’t know.”

“I think you do. Honey,” Marlena said quietly as she placed her hand on Belle’s shoulder, gently turning her daughter to look into Belle’s beautiful eyes. “I know you’ve had a hard time letting anyone get close to you, since Kelly’s death. Don’t push him away, don’t let your fears cause you to be lonely the rest of your life.”

Belle’s eyes began to fill with unshed tears. “Mom, please don’t,” She begged.

Marlena’s heart felt like it was breaking for her baby girl. She had been through too much for someone so young. “Sweety, I know this is difficult, but there’s something you need to know. The Howards are going to be in Salem for the Titan gala. They would like to see you.”

Belle’s eyes widened, how could she possibly face them again. Why would they want to see the woman that caused their only daughter’s death?

Confrontation

Marlena remembered coming home from work that day. The house seemed so empty and eerily quiet. She immediately knew something was wrong. She searched for someone, anyone, to soothe her fears and tell her that she was just imagining things. But her fears continued to grow as she raced from room to room finding no one there. She was about to call John’s cell phone when she glanced outside the patio doors to see her husband and youngest daughter sitting with their backs to her facing the river.

She slowly approached John and Belle. “John?” They turned to face her. Her beautiful daughter’s face was tearstained and her eyes were red and puffy, but what alarmed Marlena was how empty her eyes looked, like a piece of her soul was missing. She looked into her husband’s eyes. “What,” she pleaded.

“It’s Kelly,” John said softly.

Marlena couldn’t have been more devastated if it had been her own child. In a way, Kelly was like a daughter to Marlena and she knew that John felt the same way. Ever since the Howards moved from Dublin, Ireland to Salem three years earlier, Belle and Kelly were virtually inseparable.

“How?”

John glanced at Belle, but her gaze had returned to the river and she made no motion to answer her mother’s distraught question. “Someone cut the brakes in Belle’s car. Kelly was driving it. She was on Hillbrook Drive was she realized the brakes were gone.”

Marlena gasped, recalling the twisting road that was lined with big oak trees. “Is she…..” she trailed off not able to finish.

“She’s gone, Doc,” he replied sorrowfully. “The car went headfirst into a tree. She was dead on impact.”

Marlena immediately ran to her daughter’s side, concerned about how this would affect Belle. It wasn’t until then, when she noticed the traces of dirt covering Belle’s face. “Oh honey, are you okay,” she cried and began to look for any signs of injury. “Are you hurt?”

Belle shook her head. “I wasn’t in the car,” she explained in a voice devoid of any emotion. “I was in bed at the Howards house, asleep.”

“Oh, thank God,” Marlena sighed with relief, although the pain in her heart was almost unbearable.

“How can you say that,” Belle screamed. Her once empty eyes now full of rage. “It’s my fault! That was meant for me, not for her! I’m the one that should be dead, not Kelly. She did nothing wrong! She shouldn’t have died. It’s all my fault.”

And just as quickly as her rage came, it left, leaving Belle sobbing in her mother’s arms. “It’s all my fault,” she quietly repeated. “It’s all my fault.”

Marlena tried to ignore the memories that filled her head, instead focusing on her young daughter. “Belle, it wasn’t your fault,” she said forcefully.

Belle gave her mother a half-hearted smile. ”I know that,” she said, “most of the time,” adding softly.

“Belle-”

“No Mom, it’s okay. I’m okay,” she said reassuringly. “You just caught me by surprise, that’s all. I mean, the Howards just disappeared after Kelly died, and we haven’t heard from since. I wonder why they want to see me now.”

“I don’t know, sweetheart.”

“Oh my goodness, look at the time,” Belle gushed. “We better get back to the table and save Nick from anymore of Daddy’s grilling.”

Marlena smiled noticing how Belle had changed the subject. As they headed back to the dining area, Marlena said, “Your Daddy just protective of his little girl.”

“He’s OVERprotective. Do you know what he did?”

**************

“-250 yards, right out of the ballpark,” Nick was saying when he saw Marlena and Belle coming towards the table. Belle wore a very serious expression and looked determined to get answers, reminding him of the events earlier that night.

“John, I should warn you that Belle wasn’t too pleased about the…” Nick trailed off as he thought the ladies were within earshot.

“What,” John questioned unaware of Belle and Marlena’s approach.

“We’re back,” Marlena said pleasantly. John and Nick rose from their seats and John kissed Marlena’s cheek as they all sat down again.

“Oh, please don’t let us interrupt,” said Belle. When Nick didn’t say anything, she continued,“You were just telling Daddy that I was upset at his sending the limo weren’t you?”

“Honey,” John started.

“I just have one question Dad,” she interrupted. “Why all of the extra security?”

Of all the things he was expected Belle to say, that was about the last on John’s list. What could he say? John glanced at his wife looking for help. She wore the same look of expectation that Belle had. They wanted answers and they wanted them now. Not quite sure what to say, John opted to buy some time by acting clueless about what his daughter had asked. “What do mean, honey?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about,” Belle warned. When it was obvious he wasn’t going to come clean immediately, Belle continued, “You always send the Black Hawk for me to fly to Salem,” referring to John’s smaller jet. “Yet, today you sent the Belle. The only reason you would do that is because the Belle has more security.”

“Belle, I just thought Nick would enjoy flying of the Belle since it’s bigger.”

Belle nodded, obviously not believing John’s explanation. “You had Uncle Bo follow us from the airport to the house.”

Nick interrupted, “But Belle, your uncle said that he was on his way to meet your aunt when he saw us and decided to test your skills.”

“Yeah, it was pretty convenient that he just happened to be driving by the airport when we arrived, wasn’t it Dad,” Belle asked without really expecting an answer. “He was on the phone when he pulled into the driveway. I thought he was talking to Aunt Hope, but he wasn’t. When he was leaving he implied that Hope didn’t know where he was. He was talking to you on the phone, telling you that I lost him, but that he made sure we got home alright. Did he tell you about the move I made on River Street?”

John still remained silent, but a small, proud smile was creeping onto his face.

“But it wasn’t until you sent Max with the limo that I knew for sure that something was up,” she said. “I could not figure out why you would do something to so blatantly anger me like that. But that was just the price you had to pay to keep up the security, wasn’t it? You didn’t want me to drive, because you were afraid that I would lose any security you would have follow me,” Belle paused. “So, that leads me back to my original question, why all of the extra security, Dad?”

“I pretty curious about that too,” Marlena added. “And don’t say that you just have a bad feeling. I didn’t buy it this morning and I don’t buy it now.”

John sighed, realizing he was going to have to tell them everything. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to tell you for awhile.” He turned to Belle, “I didn’t realize you would figure it out so quickly. You’re pretty good, you know that, sweetheart.”

“Stop stalling Dad.”

“Okay,” John relented. “The reason I’ve increased the security is because,” John hesitated to glance at his wife and then his precious daughter, “Belle sweety, Peter Blake was released from jail last week. He skipped bail the next day. He’s disappeared.”

Explosion

Nick heard Marlena gasp, but the sound didn’t register in his mind as he concentrated on Belle. Her face, once so full of life, had turned ashen as her father spoke. It didn’t stay that way for long, however. A few moments after John finished and the realization that Peter Blake was free had sunk in, Belle’s face was red with rage; rage at the judge for releasing that monster from jail, at her father for letting such a thing happen, and most of all at Peter, himself, for all he did to her and the people she loved.

It was at this ill-opportune moment that their waiter decided to check on the table. “Can I interest anyone in dessert. The cook has prepared a wonderful-”

“How could you,” hissed Belle towards her father.

“Belle, I…”

Marlena placed her hand on John’s arm to stop him. “No thank you,” she said quietly, but forcefully to the waiter, who was still standing there looking embarrassed and somewhat curious. “We’ll be leaving now.”

“Of course, ma’am. I’ll be right back with your ticket.”

John’s eyes broke from his daughter’s hurt glare. “Ahhhh, here you go,” he said handing the waiter a wad of bills. “Just keep the change.”

“Thank you, sir,” the waiter smiled as the two couples quickly rose from the table to leave. He always loved it when he got the opportunity to wait on the Black family.

John’s heart ached as his daughter regarded him with more anger in her eyes than he had ever recalled. He reached for his wife’s hand, looking for her support in dealing with Belle. Instead, Marlena wrapped her arms around the silk wrap that protected her bare arms from the winter air. When they reached John’s black jeep, Marlena shivered as a chill cut through to her very bones. It wasn’t the cold wind that chilled her though, it was the fact that her husband, whom she never thought would keep a secret from her, had not told her something that would have such a dramatic effect on her family.

The tension on the ride home could be cut with a knife. Nobody spoke a word and Nick thought the silence was almost deafening. The only thing worse than Belle on a angry tirade, he thought, was when she didn’t say a word. It was like standing next to a bomb, knowing that it will go off eventually. There comes a point were you just want scream for it to explode already. That was the feeling Nick experienced when they arrived at the house and walked in the front door.

Belle strode into the family room without a word. Marlena quickly followed her daughter without a second glance to her husband. Nick watched John as the older man took a deep breath and also walked into the room. It astonished Nick that the man who earlier had been so confident and certain of himself, could now look so uncertain and apprehensive. Unsure of what he was should do, Nick hesitantly followed John into the family room.

Marlena was sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed. She was still silent and her expression was unreadable. Belle, on the other hand, was pacing in front of the fireplace, seemingly unaware of the others presence. She was shaking her head and her lips were moving, but there were no words coming out. It was like she was holding a conversation in her mind, and Nick was pretty sure that he didn’t want to know what she was saying. John just stood a few feet in front of the doorway not speaking a word. After what seemed like eternity, Nick was unable to stand the silence any longer. “I think I’ll just go upstairs and let you have your privacy.”

Belle’s head whipped around, “No,” she yelled. Without lowering her voice, Belle continued, “You wanted to know about my private life, my family life? Well, welcome to the Black household, where there is always some insane monster looking to destroy our lives and daddy dearest here is always trying to hide it from us.”

“Belle, sweetheart-” John started.

“Don’t daddy, don’t start.” Belle paused, looking back to the fire trying to control her rage. “You promised,” she said in a voice full of contempt, accusing and convicting her father in those few words. “You promised that he would never get out of that hellhole. That he would rot in there for the rest of his life for what he did. How did it happen, Dad? Why did you allow him to be released?!?

“I don’t know how it happened, baby,” John answered quietly. “No one even knew he was up for release.”

“So how long have known about this,” Belle asked. She wasn’t yelling anymore, but her voice was just as cold as earlier. “How long have you kept this a secret from us?”

“I just found out this morning. I promise, sweetheart,” he continued when Belle looked at him disbelieving. “The first time I even heard about his early release was when my contact called me this morning, saying Peter had been released last week and skipped his parole yesterday. I wasn’t planning on keeping it a secret from you, I was just trying to find the right time to break it to you.”

“And when was that going to be, Daddy: tomorrow, next week, after the holidays, after he kills someone again?” When John didn’t answer she said sarcastically, “That’s sure some great contact. He couldn’t be bothered to tell you last week that Peter had been released. What, did he think that you wouldn’t pay him, or did he think that it just wasn’t really important and could wait awhile before he mentioned something?

“Belle, no one knew that this was happening, not even the governor of the island. About three months ago, Peter was diagnosed with a fatal illness and was said to have only a short time to live,” John explained. “Apparently, the judge in charge of his case, Judge Billings, was approached by a man claiming to be Peter’s uncle with all of the legal documents asking for Peter’s release. The man begged the judge to release Peter on good behavior so he could spend his last few months with his family. He had forged letters from both me and the governor giving our blessing for his request. Judge Billings, seeing nothing wrong with the documents, released Peter to his family, but put him on parole for the rest of his life. Yesterday, the judge was found dead in his chambers and Peter was missing.”

“And no one knew this was going on,” Nick asked unable to help himself. “How could that happen?”

John shook his head. “The man pleaded with the judge to keep this under wraps. He said that if the press found out, they would hound him and not allow Peter to live his last few months in peace. Since the Judge Billings thought both Governor Sears and I knew, he saw no reason not to keep Peter’s release quiet.

John looked over to his little girl. Her wrath had disappeared, replaced by fear of a man she thought would never be allowed to hurt her family again. “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m sorry that I ever allowed this to happen.”

“No, I’m sorry daddy,” she said, her voice wavering. “I’m sorry for yelling at you. This isn’t your fault.

John gathered her in his arms, and Belle melted in his embrace. For as long as she could remember, her father’s arms were always the safest haven she knew. Whenever, he held her, she felt like nothing bad could ever happen. She realized when she saw Nick over her father’s shoulder that she felt the same thing in his arms; safe and protected and most of all loved. “What if he comes after us again,” she whispered.

John pulled away slightly and bent down to look straight into Belle’s eyes. “He won’t,” he said forcefully.

“How do you know?”

“Belle, he doesn’t have long to live. More than likely he’ll hole up in one of his private islands and die quietly. My reports say that he was extremely weak when he was released. He doesn’t have the energy to come after us. Besides, I have people around the world searching for him. He won’t be able to show his face anywhere without someone catching him. We have nothing to fear from him.”

Belle still looked uncertain, but accepted her father’s confident declaration. “Okay, daddy. Um, I think I’m going to go upstairs and get ready for bed. I have a big day tomorrow.”

“I’ll come with you,” Nick said.

John hugged his precious daughter once more. “You have nothing to fear, sweetheart. I love you, Belle baby. Don’t forget that.”

“Never,” she promised, giving him a kiss. “Good night, daddy.”

“Good night, sweetheart.”

Belle walked over to the couch where her mother still sat, and kissing her mother on the cheek. “Good night, mama.”

“Good night,” Marlena replied quietly.

John watched as Belle and Nick left the room and waiting until they reached the top of the staircase before he turned to look at his wife. “Doc…….”

Aftershocks

“One down, one to go’ thought John as he turned to face his wife. She had her head turned away from him to gaze at the fire, like Belle had earlier. John felt time stand still as he watched the light from the fire flicker against her porcelain skin. ‘She is so beautiful,’ he thought. His eyes traveled down her long, elegant neck to her perfectly shaped shoulders, down to the low neckline of her dress, and continued until his gaze reached the hemline revealing her smooth ankles and small, delicate feet. She had characteristically removed her heels the moment she walked into the room and flung them at the foot of the sofa. Although he had known Marlena for almost than 30 years, and been married for 15 years, he still felt an uprising of desire and passion at just the sight of her.

“Bravo,” a voice called out to break his reverie. Marlena was now looking intently at him with a small smile on her lips that didn’t quite reach her hazel eyes. She had to squash the feeling of pride she got when she realized what he was thinking about. How did she get so lucky to have found a man who not only loved her with every fiber of his being, but after 30 years was still so affected by just the sight of her? She had to admit she was just as affected at the sight of him standing there. ‘God, he looks incredible in a suit. Oh, who are you kidding Marlena, he looks beautiful in absolutely anything, or nothing at all.’ she thought as her mind flashed back to earlier in the evening in the shower when she turned around to see his sublime, naked form in front of her.

‘Stop it,’ she scolded herself, ‘remember, he has some explaining to do.’ “Care to try for a repeat performance, John? This time explaining why you didn’t feel the need to tell your wife that a madman who has a vendetta against her family is on the loose.”

Inwardly, John breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t seem to be as angry with him as she was earlier. “Doc, I didn’t want to keep this a secret from you. I was going to tell you.”

“Nice try, Black, but you had several opportunities to tell me what was going on and you didn’t. So let’s start again, this time I’ll try to be a little more specific. When you sent that pathetic excuse of a security guard to my office, might I add, ignoring every argument we’ve ever had about security men violating my patient’s right to confidentiality, I called and asked you why. You had your chance right there, so why did you lie to me and say that you just had a bad feeling.”

“Baby, I didn’t want to worry you, especially now when you’ve got so much to think about with the new wing about to open…..,” John’s voice tapered off as he saw indignation begin to creep onto her beautiful face. ‘Oops,’ he thought, ‘wrong move.’ “But, most of all I didn’t want to tell you something like that over the phone, Doc. I wanted to tell you in person, so I could hold you and reassure you that there is nothing is going to happen to our family,” John said as he began to walk towards his wife.

Marlena’s wrath was slowly dissipating as John came closer, but she gathered as much as she could, determined to make him suffer for keeping this secret from her. “And what about when I showed up at your office? Why didn’t you tell then?”

John could tell that she was warming up to him and sat down next to her. “Doc, when I saw you in my office looking so beautiful, all thoughts of Peter flew right out of my head. You can’t know what you do to me, Doc.”

“Don’t. Don’t charm me, Black,” Marlena said warningly. “I’m serious, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Baby, I’m incredibly serious. When I see you, all I can think about is how much I love you and want to be with you. Besides, you were so excited to see Belle and meet her boyfriend. I didn’t want you to spend the entire night thinking about Peter Blake and what happened in the past. I just wanted you to enjoy your night with our little girl,” John continued, reaching up to lightly stroke her face. “I was planning on telling you everything after Belle went to bed, and then you could help me decide how to break the news to her. I didn’t count on her noticing all of the extra security.”

“You were going to tell me,” Marlena asked softly, needing to know that John would never keep anything from her.

“Of course, sweetheart,” he reassured her. “I would never keep you in the dark about anything. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Marlena whispered. Their lips met gently. Their kiss the purest form of love known. Marlena’s eyes glistened as John suggested it was time for bed. Arms around each other’s waist, John and Marlena walked up the stairs to the master bedroom.

A few minutes later, John was reclining on the bed in his black silk pajama bottoms. He was watching Marlena as she sat at her vanity brushing her golden hair and applying moisturizer to her slender hands. She was wearing the matching pajama shirt to his bottoms and his eyes were drawn to the place, a few inches above her knees, where the black silk of the top met the cream silk of her legs.

“Nick seems to be a nice guy,” John said. “He told me he was in love with Belle and wanted to find a job close to her.” John was careful not to mention the fact that Belle was planning on moving to Salem. He didn’t want to ruin his daughter’s surprise for her mother.

“I know,” Marlena said smiling with her eyes twinkling. “I’m pretty sure Belle feels the same way for him. She’s just having a harder time acknowledging her feelings. Ever since Kelly died, she’s had such a hard time letting people get close to her. But, I have a feeling that Nick will be the one who can break down those barriers she has built around herself.” Marlena stood up and approached the bed. John sat up to make room and took her in his arms as she sat down. “I told her about the Howards coming to the Titan Gala and that they wanted to see her.”

“I’d forgotten about that,” John said. “How did she take it?”

“Alright,” she replied a little uncertainly. “I think she’ll be okay. We need to be there for her, and hopefully she’ll let Nick help her deal with her feelings.”

“I wonder why they’ve decided to come back now,” John wondered. “I guess I’ll have to tell them about Peter, too. Their lives have been affected by that man just as much as ours have.”

Marlena reached over to the nightstand and turned off the lamp. “I don’t want to talk about Peter Blake anymore. I just want you to hold me in your arms, and I want to hear your heartbeat. Because your heart is my heart and as long as I hear it beat, I know everything will be okay. I love you so,” she whispered.

“I love you too, Doc,” John said softly as she laid her head on his bare chest. “I’ll always love you.”

And those were the last words spoken as John and Marlena fell into a deep, peaceful sleep where they met again in dreamland.

Breakfast at the Black House

Belle awoke to the sound of soft snoring. As she lifted her head from it’s resting place on Nick’s bare chest, she remembered the night before. She had been having nightmares again. She couldn’t escape the images that filled her mind’s eye. The scenes shifted from Stefano lying dead on the ground, to Scott and Madelyn Howard at their only daughter’s funeral, to her father telling her that Peter Blake had escaped, and finally Peter himself. She could still see his face as she heard him say, “You took away everyone that was important to me, now it’s my turn.”

Next door in a guest bedroom, Nick sensed that Belle was distraught and went to check on her. When he opened the door to her bedroom, he saw her curled in a tight ball, whimpering, “Please don’t hurt him. I’m so sorry. Please, I’m sorry.” Without saying a word, he gathered her in his arms gently rocked her back and forth until they were both sound asleep.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.”

Belle looked up to see Nick smiling down at her, his green eyes sparkling in the sunlight. “Good morning,” she said softly. They gazed at one another for a moment, for the first time noticing the other’s clothing. Nick wore only a pair of thin cotton pajama pants, leaving his chest deliciously bare. Under their own volition, Belle’s hands gently glided down his hard chest to his washboard flat stomach. Nick’s breath caught in his throat at the sensations her touch brought. His eyes widened at the sight of her curves covered in a small, grey tank top and plaid flannel boxers. When he looked back to her blue eyes, he found them glazed with desire. Silently, she lowered her face to his, her full lips only a few inches from his own. Suddenly, Nick realized their surroundings and raised his finger to stop the descent of Belle’s lips. “I better go before one of your parents come to wake you up and found me here.”

Belle’s lips curved in a small, but disappointed smile as Nick got up from her bed. She grasped his hand as he began to walk away. Nick turned around and blue eyes met green ones. ‘Thank you for not asking for answers I’m not ready to give; for knowing when I need you; for comforting me; for loving me.’ All of these thoughts were so clear in her mind, but she found she was only able to whisper, “Thank you.”

Nick nodded knowingly though, for he had heard all of her unspoken words.He bent down and gently kissed her forehead. “I’ll go get dressed and we can go down to breakfast.”

A few minutes later, they were walking hand in hand down the staircase to the kitchen. Nick had changed into a green polo shirt and a pair of jeans, but Belle had only thrown on a sweatshirt with her boxers.

“I hope Momma isn’t still mad at Dad,” Belle said.

“What do you mean,” Nick asked. “Was your Mom angry? She didn’t say anything.”

“Well, she wasn’t too happy with Dad, I’ll just say that,” Belle replied. “I’m not too worried, though. Mom and Dad have a rule that they never go to bed angry, so I’m sure they worked it out.

As they approached the kitchen, Belle and Nick heard giggling. “Well, I guess that answers my question,” Belle said with a smile. When they turned the corner, they saw John and Marlena sitting next to each other at the table. John was trying to feed Marlena a piece of pineapple, but she kept giggling like a little girl, whenever his fingers came close to her mouth.

“Good morning,” Belle said pleasantly to gain their attention. John and Marlena gained sheepish looks when they looked to see Nick and Belle at the doorway.

“Good morning, sweetheart, Nick,” Marlena replied. “What would you like to drink,” she asked as they sat down at the table. It was covered with all different kinds of fruits and breads.

“Apple juice, please,” Belle said.

“Same for me,” Nick replied. “Thanks.”

When Nick and Belle started to fill their plates, Marlena said, “Is there anything I can make for you? Eggs, bacon, toast?”

Nick thought a soft boiled eggs sounded pretty good, but Belle said, “no thanks,” before Nick got a chance to respond. He thought about saying something, when Belle gently kicked his leg under the table. She subtly nodded her head when he looked at her.

“Are you sure,” Marlena questioned Nick as she saw his indecision. “I’d be happy to make you something.”

Again, before Nick could say anything, John interrupted, “Doc, you know what Tabitha would do if she knew you were cooking without her supervision.”

“It’s my kitchen,” she said defensively.

Belle couldn’t help but laugh. “I think Tabby would argue that one with you.”

Marlena silently pouted as she turned to face Nick. “Do you see this? It’s a conspiracy against me.”

“Not against you Mom,” Belle corrected, “just your cooking. And Nick, believe me, this is for your protection as well as our own.”

Marlena tried valiantly to look mad, but that only made John and Belle laugh harder. After a few moments, she couldn’t help herself and started to laugh with them. “Well, it’s not as if you two could do any better,” she said defensively.”

“You’re right, Doc,” John agreed. “But that’s why we hired Tabitha, honey. Remember?”

“Yes, but I also remember that you said you’d humour my attempts at cooking.”

“I think John’s handling this with great humour,” said Nick, relaxing into the family’s easy banter.

“Nick!” Marlena exclaimed. She tried to look enraged, which caused the rest of them to burst into another round of laughter. “Well, I’m going to leave if this is how I’m going to be treated,” she said in mock anger.

“Doc, don’t go. We’re sorry, right kids?” John looked across the table at Nick and Belle.

They replied in unison, “We’re sorry.”

“I forgive the two of you,” Marlena said before turning and pointing to John. “But you have been teasing me all morning. You’ll have to make it up to me.”

“Oh, of course,” agreed John. “That’s only fair. And I think I have the perfect thing to make it up to you.”

The smile that had been threatening to overtake Marlena’s mock frown succeeded as she was pretty sure she knew what her husband was thinking of. “And what, pray tell, would that be?”

“Come over here, and you’ll find out.”

Marlena’s eyes sparkled as she glided across the floor and into John’s lap.

“I’m sorry,” he said seriously. John glanced over to Nick and Belle to find them engrossed by the sight of some birds outside a window. Quickly, he turned his attention back to his wife. Softly, he began to kiss her lips. John started with the each corner, then her upper lip, before moving to her bottom lip. Marlena had remained perfectly still while John was kissing her, but when he started to suck on her bottom lip, her passion exploded and she turned the tables on him., plunging her tongue into his mouth. Desire levels steadily increased as tongues collided and lips caressed. Marlena could feel John’s hand move up her leg, when she heard, “There are other people in the room.”

John and Marlena slowly turned to see their daughter still looking out the window, but now her lips were curved in a small smile. They turned back to one another. “I’m sorry,” John said again.

“You’re forgiven.”

He continued, “I’m sorry you are such a bad cook.”

Marlena playfully punched his shoulder. “You, dog. I’m leaving now.”

“Where are you headed to, Mom,” Belle asked.

“Over to the Horton Center,” she replied. “There are a few kids over there that I counsel and I need to talk to Sami. Then, I have a few errands to run and an afternoon appointment at my office.”

“Say hi to Sami for me, said Belle. “And I’ll see her tonight.

“Sure. Bye.”

Belle waited a few minutes after her mother left the room before saying, “Alright Dad, we need to talk about my surprise for Mom.”

Meanwhile, Marlena had made a quick stop before leaving the house. She went to a small guest bedroom on the west side of the house and opened the closet. “Here we go,” she said to herself as she grabbed one of the dresses. “John is going to be so surprised.”

Surprises: The Planning Stage

“I only have to take two more courses to get my degree,” Belle told John. “And I spoke to the professors before I left; we arranged for me to complete the classes over the internet.”

“And I spoke to Stacy the other day,” John said; referring to Stacy Kueger, the editor in chief of Bella magazine, “and she said she can’t wait to work with you again.”

“You told her not to tell anyone my plans, right,” Belle asked. “Great,” she said when John nodded affirmatively. “Well, I guess the only thing left for me to do is find a place to live.”

John said, “Don’t worry about that, sweetheart. Right after the holidays, I’ll contact my realtor and we’ll find you a apartment. Did you tell Megan and Jennifer you were moving out?”

“Yeah. They’ve already found another roommate,” Belle replied as she popped a strawberry into her mouth. “Well, it’s about eight o’clock, I better go and get dressed and ready. We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”

She looked at Nick and found him reading the sports page of the Salem Chronicle. “Nick,” she said to get his attention. “Daddy and I have a board meeting at nine and then I have an interview scheduled at eleven thirty. I got you an appointment at noon to get fitted for a tuxedo. It’s at a little tailer shop called ‘Zanes’ in Salem Place. I talked to the owner yesterday, and he said he would give you a tux as a personal favour.” Belle ignored Nick’s groan when she mentioned tuxedo. She continued, “Max will drive you there and I should be done with my interview by the time you’re finished, so I’ll pick you up and we’ll grab a bite to eat. Sound good? Great,” she said, giving him a peck on the cheek and quickly leaving the room before Nick had a chance to protest.

“Great,” Nick echoed Belle with noticeably less enthusiasm. “So,” he asked John, “do you have any idea when she’s planning to make me wear the bloody thing?”

John chuckled at Nick’s pained expression, understanding exactly how the young man felt. John never had gotten used to wearing a monkey suit, no matter how many times he had to don one. “My best guess would be tonight,” he said answering Nick’s question.

“What’s tonight?”

“A ritzy affair at the Salem Inn to celebrate the opening of the new wing of University Hospital,” John replied. “Doc has been very instrumental in it’s development and I’m on the hospital board of directors, so we have to be there. And our family has been very involved with the hospital, so most of them will be there.”

Nick still didn’t look very pleased at the thought of spending the night in a tuxedo.

“Before you fall too far down in your little pit of misery,” John said, laughing, “I need to talk to you before Belle comes back.”

Nick raised his head to regard John, as he noticed the serious tone of his voice. “Yes?”

“I called Brett Dahl this morning and he said that he would be happy to meet with you, but the only time he can is at ten o’clock this morning. Did you bring your resume and portfolio with you?”

Nick thanked his lucky stars that he remembered at last minute to throw those into his duffel bag to bring to Salem. “Yes, I did. Thank you for getting me this interview. I really appreciate the opportunity.”

John nodded his head modestly. “Max will drive you to the DL&B Designs building and after your interview, he will take you to Salem Place for your tux fitting.”

Nick groaned. “Did you have to remind me?”

“Well, I’d say it is not that bad,” John said, “but unfortunately, I happen to agree with you. If we’re lucky though, we may be able to sneak out and find the Packers – Vikings game on the television.”

“Now, that sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all day,” Nick replied with a big smile. “If you excuse me, I think I’ll go upstairs and find my portfolio and resume and make sure everything is in order.”

“Okay, I’ll give Brett a call and tell him that you will be there at ten,” John said. “Oh, and tell Belle we only have about fifteen minutes before we need to leave. She doesn’t want to be late to her first board meeting.”

************

Belle sitting at her vanity putting the final touches on her makeup when she heard a something ring. After a moment of searching, she found the source of the ringing; her little cell phone in her purse. “Hello”

“Picture yourself in a boat on the river.”

Belle recognized the code phrase that she and Brady used as little children to let each other know they had a secret to tell. “With tangerine trees and marmalade skies,” Belle completed the lyric to let him know that she was alone and could talk. They had picked that phrase from the opening lyrics of one of their favorite songs, ‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds’.

Belle remembered many evenings spent in the family living room; with Marlena stretched out on the sofa reading a medical journal, her feet resting on John’s lap as he read a sports magazine, and her and Brady sitting on the floor playing Candyland. She remembered John playing old rock and roll CD’s for the family to listen to. He said he wanted Belle and Brady to appreciate the finer things in life, which would always prompt a chuckle from Marlena. He was so happy when the children liked the Beatles the best, because he considered them the greatest rock and roll band ever. Belle and Brady liked ‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds’ because of all of the fun words, like marmalade and cellophane, in it. “Hey Brade, what’s going on?”

***********

“Rose, this is John Black. Could you let Brett know that Nick Edwards will be there at ten? Thanks.” John hung up the phone, but quickly picked it back up and began to dial.

“Riverside Apartments; Paul Hoskins, manager speaking.”

“Yes Paul, this is John Black. I was wondering how everything was going?”

“Just fine, Mr. Black. The guys finished painting and recarpeting a few days ago and the new appliances arrived this morning. I was planning on installing them tomorrow. It will be all ready in time for your surprise, don’t you worry.”

“Good,” John replied. “Dave, my security director, will be over there within the next few days to install the new security system.”

“Sounds good, Mr. Black.”

**********

“No, I didn’t tell Mom and Dad,” said Belle, “I know this is something you want to tell them yourself. I think Mom senses something, though. She was subtly probing me all last night for some hint about what you and Natalie were up to.”

Belle heard a light knocking of the door. “Belle,” Nick called.

“One moment,” she said before turning back to her phone. “Brady,” she whispered, “I gotta go. Don’t worry, I won’t say a thing to Mom or Dad. I love you.” Belle hung up and quickly put the phone back into her purse and opened the door.

Nick was shocked at the transformation he saw. Just twenty minutes earlier, Belle was the picture of innocence and playfulness in her pajamas with her hair pulled back into a sloppy ponytail and no makeup. Now she was dressed in a lavender suit with her hair in a neat french braid. Gone was the little girl, replaced with grown woman ready for a business meeting.

Amused by Nick’s silence, an impish grin, reminiscent of that earlier little girl, played on Belle’s face. “Yes, sweety?”

“Oh,” Nick tried to remember what he had wanted to say. “Your dad wanted me to remind you that you have to leave for your meeting in about five minutes.”

“Okay, let me just grab my shoes,” said Belle as she raced into her closet.

“Belle,” John yelled up the stairway, “Baby, we’re going to be late.”

“Coming Daddy,” she said walking down the stairs with Nick. When they reached the front door, Belle turned to Nick, “The shop is called ‘Zanes’, Max knows where it is, and your appointment is at noon.”

“Belle,” Nick began to complain, but before he could carry on, she covered his mouth with her hand.

“I will meet you afterwards for lunch,” said Belle. Then she replaced her hand with her mouth and gently kissed him. John cleared his throat loudly as Nick and Belle continued to kiss, showing no signs of stopping.

“We’re going to be late,” he explained when he received a sour look from Belle. “Besides,” he said with a smile, as he shut the door, “that’s payback for this morning.

**********

“Did you get the package?”

“I picked it up this morning and took it over the Salem Inn for tonight’s party.”

“I can’t wait to see Mr. and Mrs. Black’s faces when they realized what we’ve done.”

Uncomfortable Situations

“Here you are, sir.”

“Thanks, Max. You said the tailor shop was just past that little cafe and dress shop,” Nick asked.

“Yes, sir. Just past the store called ‘Ballistix’ is the shop you want.”

Nick stepped out of the Merecedes Benz Sedan into ‘Salem Place’, Salem’s popular outdoor mall. Although he was headed to a tailor shop to be fitted for an outfit he considered about as comfortable as a suit of armour, Nick was whistling and in a particularly good mood. His meeting with Mr. Dahl went very well, as far as Nick was concerned. Whether he actually would get a job at DL&B Designs was up in the air, but at least now Nick knew that he tried.

He was walking through the small cafe when a couple at one of the tables caught his attention.

“What do you mean you’re not going!”

“I mean, I am not going,” said the young woman through clenched teeth. “I am not about to go to party where everyone will be treating her like she is some kind of princess. Why do you want to go so badly? She just ruined your carefully laid out plans to gain control, the plans that you said were foolproof!”

Her companions eyes blazed with so much rage, Nick was afraid that he would hit the young woman.

“Don’t question me,” he said menacingly. “Be ready at eight.” Without another word, he stood and shoved past Nick without a second glance and left.

As Nick walked closer the young lady still sitting at the table, he saw her looking at the retreating form with unshed tears glistening her eyes.

“Is everything alright, m’am,” he asked.

Her head whipped around to regard the stranger. “Just peachy,” she spat out and abruptly stood, grabbing her purse, and walked away.

Nick shrugged his shoulders and looked at his watch. ‘A few minutes till noon. I better get to that tailor shop. Belle probably told the owner to call her if I didn’t show up on time. She knows how much I despise tuxedos.’

*************

“Well, that was interesting.”

John laughed at his daughter’s choice of words as they were the only ones left in the conference room. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I never thought that in your first board meeting you would have the deciding vote on such an important decision.”

Belle shrugged. “Such is the life of a board member, right? That’s something you’ve taught me even before Brady and I inherited Titan stock from Victor. And you and mom made sure I considered that fact when I turned 21 and made the decision to vote my own shares and not give you my permanent proxy.” Belle looked straight into her father’s eyes. “I can handle it,” she said forcefully. “Mr. Gragg seemed a little annoyed with me, though,” she said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

John gazed at his youngest daughter with pride as he remembered Belle’s reaction to Hank Gragg’s accusation that she was too uninformed on the matter to have her vote counted. “Of course I am uninformed, Mr. Gragg,” Belle replied hotly. “How could I not be after reading your report. You state an impressive growth potential, yet cite no numbers to back it up. A plan to expand globally is mentioned only vaguely, with no specific details. While the profit margin stated is noteworthy, I am not convinced that it is a stable one. Therefore, I see no reason for Titan Industries to spend so much money on a company whose prospects for showing a gain is quite questionable, and poses no threat whatsoever to Titan. That is my opinion after studying your report and that is my vote.”

“Don’t worry about him,” John said with a grin. ” He’s Rutherford’s puppet, not a single thought of his own in that little head of his.”

“Who said anything about being worried?” Belle shook her head. Would her father ever realize that she wasn’t five years old anymore? “You are way too protective, Daddy,” she sighed, knowing that to ask him to stop worrying about her was like asking him to quit breathing. “But, I love you anyway.”

“I love you too, baby,” John said as he pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Oh goodness, look at the time,” Belle exclaimed. “I’ve gotta run. I’m supposed to met the interviewer from Bella in five minutes. See you tonight.”

************

“Can you stay for a cup of tea, Mom,” asked Sami as she and Marlena entered the kitchen of the Horton house. “I’d love to,” Marlena replied. When Sami turned to the stove to boil water for tea, Marlena took a moment to glance around the room. Alice Horton died in her sleep a few years earlier, but Marlena still felt her presence,

especially when sitting in her kitchen at the big oak table. She could almost smell the scent of freshly brewed coffee and Alice’s famous doughnuts hot from the oven. She recalled asking Alice for her recipe one time. ‘Now Marlena, if I gave away my doughnut recipe, what would you all need me for,’ she replied with heartwarming smile. ‘Oh Alice, never ever worry about being needed. Salem wouldn’t be the same with you.’ Marlena remembered sitting with Alice at that table for hours, chatting about the latest hospital gossip, their gardens, and their families.

“Here you are, Mom.”

Marlena looked up at her daughter and gave her a bittersweet smile. “Thanks sweetheart. So, what have you been up to? I haven’t seen you lately.”

“Well, let’s see,” Sami said, clicking things off on her fingers. “I’ve been here trying to make sure everyone has somewhere to spend their holidays; I’m helping Sarah and Mike coordinate the Christmas celebration for the children at the hospital; helping Will study for his Trig final, and you know how much I love math,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Driving Matt to basketball practice,” she continued, “trying to explain to Scott that while I love to listen to him practice playing his guitar, I prefer to do be awake when I do which means not at six o’clock in the morning. And now, they boys have decided that they want a dog,” she finished with smile.

Marlena threw her head back and laughed. It still amused her to see her daughter all grown up with a family of her own. “Sounds like you’ve got your hands full.”

“Yeah well, how about you,” Sami asked. “Oh, Belle was supposed to come in yesterday, wasn’t she? How is my little sis?”

“Wonderful. She did ask me to tell you hello and she’ll see you tonight.” Marlena leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, “She brought a boyfriend.”

Sami gasped, “That’s right! You did say she was going to bring a guy out to meet the family. So, what’s the scoop?”

“You know that old saying, ‘Girls marry men like their father’? The old wives definitely had Belle in mind when they came up with that one,” Marlena answered. “He has dark hair, gorgeous green eyes, great sense of humour, loves sports, very protective, and I’d be willing to bet he’s extremely romantic. Oh, and he looks incredible in a pair of jeans.”

Now it was Sami’s turn to laugh. “I can’t wait to meet him. Sounds like Belle has found herself quite a catch.”

“Speaking of the men in my daughter’s lives, how is Dave?”

Sami stood quickly and walked to the stove to pour herself another cup of tea, her back to Marlena. “Okay. Can I get you another cup of tea?”

Marlena noticed the change of subject and wondered what had happened between Sami and her husband. She wanted to ask her about it, but her gaze passed the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost one o’clock. “No thanks, sweetheart. I’ve got to run. I’m sorry. I need to run a few errands before my afternoon appointment. I’ll see you tonight,” she said, making a mental note to watch Sami and Dave at the party tonight.

*************

It was a quarter after one when Belle entered the tailor shop only to see Nick emerging from the dressing room in his street clothes. “Darn, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of you in your tux.”

“Well, that’s just too bad,” Nick replied as he wrapped his arms around her waist, “because there is no way I’m putting that thing back on until I absolutely have to.”

Belle sighed and acted disappointed. “Are you sure there’s nothing I could do to convince you,” she asked seductively.

The desire in her eyes was almost his undoing. Whether or not he would have given in to her request would remain a mystery though, because it was at that moment the tailor approached the couple. “Good afternoon, Ms. Black. I’ll start altering Mr. Edwards tuxedo immediately and have it delivered to your house by seven.”

“Thank you, Mr. Zane. I appreciate your generosity.”

“After all of the business your family has done at my shop, it is my pleasure to do you this favour.”

“So are you ready to eat,” asked Belle as they left ‘Zanes’.

“Famished,” Nick answered. “I was afraid my stomach was going to start to growl when he was measuring me.”

Belle laughed. “Good, because I know a great little place on the river. Serves the best clam chowder this side of the Mississippi.

“Lead the way.”

Skeletons in the Family Closet

A brisk wind whipped past their figures and Nick pulled Belle closer. “Are we almost there?”

“Hasn’t your mother ever taught you that patience is a virtue? It’s worth it, I promise.”

“Just how much farther-.” They had stopped in front of a wooden two-story building. Engraved on the glass door was ‘Brady Pub est. 1992’.

“We’re here,” Belle announced as she opened the door. Inside, Nick saw that it looked like an traditional Irish Pub, with dartboards on the far wall and an old fashioned jukebox in the corner. Belle waved at the brunette woman standing behind the bar and guided Nick to a booth. As they sat down the lady approached. “Hi, Belle,” she said warmly. “When did you get back into town?”

“Hi Lisa. I flew in yesterday,” Belle replied smiling. “Is grandma and grandpa around,” she asked looking around the pub.

“No, your grandmother in town running some errands. And Shawn has been gone since nine o’clock out with your Uncle Bo-“

“Ice fishing,” Belle completed, nodding her head. “Well I guess you can meet them later, Nick.” She turned back to Lisa, “At the moment, we are starving and I promised Nick some the best clam chowder this side of the Mississippi.”

“Well, you are in luck, not only do we have clam chowder. We have Shawn Brady Clam Chowder. Some of the best in the nation and from the way the rest of my customers have been raving, this is his best batch ever.”

“Grandpa made it?”

“Yup, he was in the kitchen when I came in at six o’clock this morning,” Lisa said. “Singing old Irish tunes, no less. I thought-” Lisa paused, with a strange look on her face. “Well, I’m not sure what I thought, but I certainly didn’t expect that noise to be a person singing.”

Nick and Belle laughed as Lisa said, “Two bowls of clam chowder coming right up.”

“Your grandparents’ run this pub,” Nick asked as the older woman walked back into the kitchen.

“Well, they own it,” Belle answered. “It used to the Brady Fish Market, but Grandpa always wanted an old fashioned Irish Pub, so right before I was born they changed it into one. They used to run it themselves, but several years ago, they semi-retired and handed over the day to day managing to Lisa. But, sometimes Grandma, and once in a blue moon Grandpa, will get up early in the morning to make the clam chowder. Or lots of times, Grandpa likes to come down and stand behind the bar and play bartender.”

“Here you go, two bowls of clam chowder.”

‘Thanks, Lisa.”

Just as Nick and Belle began to dig in, a loud yell came from the doorway. “Put me down, silly!”

They turned to see good-looking young man with dark brown hair carrying a young girl piggy back into the pub. She had big brown eyes and her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Both were dressed warmly with big ski jackets, scarves, and earmuffs. “I said put me down, you goof!”

“Okay,” the boy agreed and suddenly let go of her legs, letting her drop unceremoniously on her rear end. Neither of them noticed Belle as she stood up from the booth and approached them with Nick not far behind. As they got closer, Nick noticed the girl wasn’t as young as he had first thought. He had mistaken her petite frame for a small kid, but now he could tell she only a year or so younger than the man. His second observation was where the girl lacked in size, she made up for in attitude. She had gotten up off the floor, rubbing her backside with one hand while shaking her other hand in a fist at the boy. “William Roberts, one day I’m really going to let you have it.”

“You said you wanted down,” he said with an innocent tone.

“Good to see you two haven’t changed much while I’ve been away,” Belle said. “Although, I think you might have matured a little since I’ve seen you last. Then again, I may be wrong,” she finished with a big smile.

The two turned to face Nick and Belle. “Aunt Belle,” the young man exclaimed pulling her into a big hug. “Hey Belle,” the girl said before Belle hugged her too. “Take off your coats and sit down with us,” Belle invited. “Oh guys, this is my boyfriend, Nick Edwards. Nick, this is my nephew, Will Roberts and his best friend, Elena Carver.”

“Good to meet you two,” Nick said smiling. “Well, let’s eat before our clam chowder gets cold.” When they got back to the booth, Lisa had already placed two more bowls of clam chowder and two cups of hot chocolate on the table.

“How does she do that,” Will asked rhetorically as they all began to dig into their chowder. “So are grandma and grandpa around?”

“No,” Belle answered. “Grandma’s in town running errand and Grandpa is with Uncle Bo-“

“Ice Fishing,” Belle, Will, and Elena said simultaneously and started to laugh.

“What have you two been up to, dressed like there was a blizzard outside,” Belle asked.

“Ice skating. “Will was just showing off his enormous talent,” Elena said sarcastically. “Ask him to show you his axel sometime.”

“There was a chip in the ice!”

“He landed face down with his butt sticking up the air!” Elena was laughing so hard, she had trouble catching her breath.

“Well, I hope you saved enough energy to keep up with the kids tonight,” Belle said.

“Oh, I’m not babysitting tonight. Your grandparents are watching the kids, I think,” Elena replied. “Will and I are going to the hospital gala.”

“I didn’t know you guys were going.”

“Dad wants me to be there. He’s bringing his new girlfriend, and he wants me to meet her,” Will said grimacing. “So, I figured I better bring Elena to save me from eternal boredom.”

“So your dad and his third wife, what was her name again,” Belle asked.

“Krystle,” Will supplied.

“-and his third wife, Krystle, finally got divorced?”

“It was finalized about a month ago. Enough about my dad’s love life,” Will said as he finished his chowder. “Would the two of you like to join us in celebrating?”

“What are we celebrating?”

“Finals are over!” And on cue, Will and Elena pretended to wipe the sweat off their foreheads while heaving a big sigh.

“That’s okay,” Belle replied. “I want to take Nick down to the pier before we have to go home and get ready for tonight. You two enjoy yourselves and we’ll see you tonight.”

*********

The wind had died down by the time Nick and Belle reached the Pier 29. They sat down on a bench and watched while several boats, some small and a few big ones pass by. They sat there for a few minutes, without speaking. “Maybe I should be the one to worry about saving my energy,” Nick finally said, breaking the silence. “If I’m going to have to fight men away from you. You never mentioned that you were the ‘most eligible bachelorette in Salem’.”

Belle’s head whipped around to regard him. “Where did you hear that!?!”

“I read it this morning in the paper. In a woman named Dewhurst’s column.”

“I didn’t know you read the society pages,” Belle said with a small smile.

“I passed it while looking for the sports page and I saw your name in the headline for her column,” Nick replied defensively.

“What did she say?” The small smile disappeared off Belle’s face.

“She just talked about how ‘Salem’s most eligible bachelorette’ might not be so eligible anymore. And that you where spotted in ‘Porters’ last night having an ‘intimate dinner with your parents and a tall, dark, and handsome stranger’. That would be me,” Nick said trying to coax a smile. When she said nothing, just continued to gaze out to the river. “What’s wrong. Did I say something?”

Belle turned to look at Nick with an extremely serious expression. “That ‘title’,” she said acerbically, “is not cool or anything, and it’s especially not deserved.”

“Oh come on Belle, you, if anyone, is deserving of that. You’re beautiful, witty, clever, warm-hearted.”

“And which of those qualities do you think made me ‘Salem’s most eligible bachelorette?” When he didn’t say anything, she continued, “How old do you think I was first labeled that?” Nick shook his head. “Eleven,” she answered herself.

“Eleven,” Nick asked unbelievingly.

“Dad was going to some business party and Mom was out of town for a conference. I begged Daddy to take me, because I thought it would be all kinds of fun. I mean, I love dressing up and everything,” Belle said. “So Dad finally let me come with him, partly to show me that those things weren’t as fun as I had imagined, and partly to have an excuse to leave early, I think. Anyway, we went and he was right, it was the most boring thing I had ever been to at the time. But I refused to say anything. When I was little, I hated to ever admit that I could be wrong.” Nick was startled by that statement and began to choke with laughter. “So,” she continued glaring at him, “we stayed and I used every good manner that Mom and Dad ever taught me. And one of the people I met that night was Walter Peck. He was the editor of the society page before Dewhurst, and the next day he wrote about the party in his column and wrote that I had ‘inherited my mother’s beauty and intelligence and my father’s charm’. It was obvious that those weren’t the parts of my inheritance that earned me the title of ‘Salem’s most eligible bachelorette’.”

“What do mean?”

“Whenever he referred to me, he called me the ‘Black heiress’. It wasn’t my looks or intelligence that got me that. It was my family’s money, without it he or Dewhurst would never even mention me in their columns.”

Belle voice lost its indignation. “That’s why I moved away to Colorado for college. I couldn’t deal with them following my every move, commenting on my every action.”

“If that’s how you feel, then why are you moving back,” Nick questioned.

Belle sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. “Because this is my home; this is where my family is; this is where my dreams are. I was seventeen years old when I left and over the past few years I’ve grown up and realized that as much as I dislike certain aspects of it, this is who I am. This is my destiny and no matter how far I run, I’ll always be Isabella Black, daughter of John and Marlena Black. And I realized that I wouldn’t change that for anything.”

Silence again settled over them as he held her. “I’m sorry,” she whispered softly.

“Why?”

She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. “This is my destiny, not yours. I should have warned you. You had no idea what you were getting yourself into when you agreed to come here with me.”

“Belle-“

“No,” she continued. “As soon as they find out your name, they’ll want to know everything about you; your family; was your maternal grandmother’s dog a communist; everything. I had no right to drag you into this.” Tears began to form in her blue eyes as she gazed into his. “If you want to leave before they discover who you are I’ll understand.”

“Belle,” he said quietly, “I don’t want to leave. I won’t give you up just because of a few silly gossips.”

“But you don’t understand-“

“I don’t care,” he said firmly. “I love you and nothing will ever change that. I won’t leave you.”

Belle sighed with relief and laid her head back on his shoulder. She was unaware of the thoughts racing through Nick’s mind. ‘What if they find out? No, we’ve kept it a secret this long without anyone finding out. No one will ever know.’ He pulled Belle closer and sat there on the bench and watched the river.

Prelude to a Party

Belle was just walking out of her bathroom, wrapped in her robe when she heard a knock on her door. “Yes,” she said as she opened the door to reveal her father standing there in his tux with a rueful expression on his face.

“Beauty, could you tie this for me,” he asked as he held up his tie.

Belle laughed and took it from him. “I can’t believe that after all of the black tie events you’ve had to attend, you never learned how to tie one of things. Remember when I was seven years old and you were trying to tie it yourself, because Mom was out of town?”

John smiled at the memory. He had been trying to tie that blasted thing for ten minutes when he gave up. “I’d finally decided to stop by the pub on the way to have your Grandmother tie it for me, when you asked if you could give it a whack.”

“And I got it on my first try.”

“It was at that moment when I decided that only women could tie them right, and I gave up trying to learn,” John said.

“Speaking of Mom, she isn’t home yet?”

“No, she called about twenty minutes ago and said there was some kind of emergency at the hospital and she would be a little late. I told her we’d wait, but she said that we better we ready when she gets here, because we cannot be late to this party.”

“Well, here you go,” Belle said as she straightened his tie.

“Thanks Beauty,” he said leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. As he was pulling away, they heard another door open.

“Sweetheart,” Nick called, “could you tie my tie for me?”

John and Belle just laughed.

**********

He rang the doorbell to her apartment three times before she finally opened the door. Instead of being dressed up and ready to go, she was wearing a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt. “I thought I told you to be ready at eight,” he hissed as he brushed past her into the apartment.

“You know, I thought for a moment you did too,” she said calmly, but with eyes blazing with rage, “but then I remembered that I don’t take orders from anyone, so I figured I must have been mistaken about what you said.” With that she walked into the kitchen, “I’m going to have some cereal, would you like some?”

He rolled his eyes and took a deep breath to reign in his fury. He had to be at that party to watch Belle and her new beau and decide on his next step. And he refused show up there alone, he had to get her to come with him. He briefly entertained the thought of venting his anger in a more physical manner. One good slap to the face would quickly bring her to his side, but that would leave a mark and he couldn’t have that. ‘No,’ he thought, ‘you can always catch more flies with honey than vinegar.’ “Baby, I know you despise the thought of being in the same room with her, lord knows I feel the same way, but your family expects you to be there.”

She returned to the living room to regard him. “I don’t care who expects me to be there. I won’t go and watch everyone fawn over her!”

“Sweetheart, you are ten times more pretty, smart, and charming than she is,” he said, the lies easily rolling off his tongue. “I should know, remember?” He leaned down to meet her eyes. “If you don’t go, she’s going to have the whole spotlight to herself. And she’s going to revel in it like she always does. She will be so mad to have to share the limelight with someone she knows is better than her in every way.” He could tell her defenses were melting, and he knew it was time to play his trump card. “Especially if you show up wearing this,” he said, pulling a small black box from his pocket.

“What’s this,” she asked as she took the box from his hands and slowly opened it to find the biggest diamond ring she had ever seen. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him. “Does this mean what I think it does?”

He knelt on one knee. “Will you marry me?”

*********

“Yes! I knew it. That’s five bucks, John.”

“You knew what,” Belle asked as she entered the family room to find Nick and John sitting on the couch in their tuxedos watching the television.

Nick turned to answer her question, when he felt the wind rush from his lungs. She was dressed in a navy blue silk gown. It was sleeveless and the hemline reached the ground with a slit up the right side that ended about mid-thigh. Small burgundy and emerald embroidered flowers bordered the neckline. Belle wore her beautiful blonde hair down with the sides pulled back in tiny hairpins with emerald and ruby butterflies. Emerald stud earrings and her gold bracelet with a small tree charm that her mother had given her were her only jewelry.

Both men stood as she turned slowly around 360 degrees to show off her gown. “Beauty, you look gorgeous,” John said as he walked over to embrace her. “When was the exact moment that you realized that you are one of the most beautiful sights on god’s green earth?”

A smile lit Belle’s face as her father asked her the same question he’d asked her since long as she could remember. “Oh, it was Tuesday, I think,” she said jokingly as she turned to look at Nick. “So, you like?”

Silently, Nick walked over to her. He captured her hand and gently brought it to his lips, kissing the inside of her wrist. “You’re stunning,” he said softly, his voice full of emotion. “Your father is not quite right, though. You ARE the most beautiful thing on god’s green earth; Beautiful, inside and out.”

His sweet words melted her heart and she leaned into him and kissed him tenderly. “You never did answer my question; what did you know and why does dad owe you five dollars?”

Nick smiled and wrapped his arm around Belle’s waist as he turned to face John who had walked back to the couch to watch the television. “I knew that Tennessee would hold Miami to a field goal. John was sure that Miami would drive all the way for a touchdown and naively bet five dollars on, what did you say John, a sure thing?”

‘Okay, okay, here you are,” said John as he reached into his wallet and pulled out a five dollar bill. “Bet you five dollars that Tennessee won’t score on this next drive.”

“You’re on,” Nick agreed quickly.

“I wonder what’s taking Mom so long,” Belle wondered aloud before being drawn into the game. All thoughts of the party flying out of her head as the Tennessee quarterback threw a long pass down the left sideline to connect with his wide receiver.

*********

“Boys, are you ready?” Sami entered the family room to find her two youngest sons sitting on the couch engrossed in a football game. “Boys,” she sighed, “go put on your shoes and coats and get ready to go to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s.” As the boys jumped up and ran into the hallway to do as she asked, Sami walked over to the television and turned it off.

“Where is this shin-dig again?”

She turned around to see her husband, Dave, playing with his cufflinks.

“The Salem Inn,” she replied as his began to walk towards her and wrap his arms around her slim waist.

“You look ravishing, wife of mine.”

“Thank you,” Sami whispered softly, her gaze glued firmly to the buttons on his shirt.

Dave placed his finger under her chin and lifted her head. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“I’ve missed you,” she said quietly. “You’ve been so busy with this case that I feel like I never see you anymore. I waited up for you last night. I wanted to talk to you, but finally I had to go to sleep about two o’clock. And then, you were already gone when I woke up in the morning.”

“We’re so close to catching this guy, Sami. I can’t quit now.”

“I just wish-“

“You know how important this is to me,” he interrupted forcefully. “I can’t quit.”

Sami sighed dejectedly. “Look, I don’t want to argue with you now. The only thing I’ve wanted lately is to spend some time with you, and now I am and I don’t want to spend it arguing.

“You’re right,” Dave agreed. “I don’t want to argue with you, baby, especially when you are looking as good as you are tonight. He kissed her gently. “Why don’t we just skip this thing tonight. We’ll take the kids to your Grandparents and then we’ll back here and have a quiet evening by ourselves. I can dig up a bottle of wine and start a fire, and see where that takes us.”

A smile slowly spread across Sami’s face as she listened to his proposition. “That sounds wonderful, honey. But, we really need to go to this party. It’s important to my parents and I want see Belle and her new boyfriend. But,” she added, seeing the look of disappointment flash across his face, “we can always skip out early and come back here. I went shopping the other day and I got a little something I’d like to show you.” She leaned to whisper seductively in his ear, “very little.”

**********

“And that’s the game,” the commentator announced. “The final score is Tennessee 21, Miami 20.”

“Pay up boys,” Belle said smiling.

“I wonder where your mother is,” John said as he and Nick each handed Belle ten dollars. “What time is it?”

“Oh my gosh,” Belle exclaimed, it’s almost a quarter after eight. We’re definitely going to be late. Should we give Mom a call and see what’s holding her up?” Before Belle could finish her sentence, though, Marlena came running into the house and up the stairs.

“We have got to leave now!”

John started to follow her up the stairs. “I’ll help you.”

Marlena whipped around to face him. “Don’t you dare come near me, John Black, or we’ll never get there. Belle, come help me get ready. John, have the car pulled around and you and Nick get in. Belle and I will be there in two minutes.”

John walked back down the stairs looking rejected. “Well, come on, Nick. You heard the lady.”

When Belle entered her parents’ bedroom, she saw her mother’s clothes discarded on the floor. “Mom,” she called out. Marlena came out of her walk-in closet dressed in her slip, holding two dresses.

“Which one?”

Belle pointed to the black dress in her mother’s right hand. Marlena nodded her head in accordance. “You’re right. Run into the bathroom and grab my makeup bag and my cordless curling iron,” she said as she slipped into the off the shoulder gown and struggled to zip it up.

“Here you go,” Belle said, zipping up the dress and getting the bag and curling iron as her mother searched for a pair of shoes. ‘Is there anything else you need?”

“Just keep your father away from me while we’re in the car. I’ve got to be ready when we get there and he always seems to distract me.”

Salem High Society

“-see that diamond on her hand? I’ll bet he paid a pretty-“”-heard she threw him out of the house last night after finding-“”-always late, like to make an entrance-“”-the redhead on Lucas Robert’s arm? Wonder what Sami thinks about-“”-he’s a construction worker that she met in Colorado-“

The banquet room on the top floor of the Salem served as a meeting place for Salem’s elite as they gathered to dedicate the newest wing of University Hospital and view the final architect’s model, before construction began. Kathleen Dewherst, the society editor of the Salem Chronicle, had been working the room for a good twenty minutes now, gathering the gossip. And, she had to admit, she had discovered quite a few tidbits for tomorrow’s column. But Kathleen was not satisfied. She had her eyes set on the golden ring; Isabella Black and her mysterious beau. Ever since she heard that Belle was back in Salem and was accompanied by a tall, dark, and handsome stranger; Kathleen had heard all sorts of rumours about him and their relationship. One person said both Belle and the mystery man sported wedding bands, another said that only the man wore a band; one informant claimed to have discovered that the man was a construction worker in Colorado, married with three children. The only thing Kathleen knew was that no one had any idea who this man was, and she was determined to get the inside scoop on the man that had apparently captured the heart of The Black Beauty, as some of her colleagues had taken to calling Belle Black.

*********

Elena looked at her best friend as her parents left to talk to Dr. Horton and his wife. “Will, don’t you think we go say hello to your father and his date?”

“Not now, Lena.”

“Yes now, Will. They’ve been here for fifteen minutes and you haven’t done so much as look in their direction. Come on,” she said grasping his arm and pulling him towards the side of the room where his father was standing. “It won’t be that bad. All you have to do is say hello and make polite chit chat for a few minutes.

“My father doesn’t know the meaning of polite chit chat,” Will mumbled, but let Elena lead him towards his father.

“Hi, Mr. Roberts,” Elena said cheerfully. Will’s father, Lucas Roberts, turned around to see his only son standing there, looking uncomfortable and mildly annoyed.

“Hello, Elena,” he replied politely. “You look lovely.”

“Thank you.” Silence filled the air as Lucas and Will regarded each other for several minutes.

“Hello, Will,” Lucas finally said. “I’m glad you’re here.” When Will did not respond, Lucas continued. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” He indicated to a lady standing a few feet away. “Will, this is Sydney Waters. Sydney, this is my son, William Roberts and his friend, Elena Carver.”

Will remained silent, seeming to evaluate his father’s newest girlfriend. Like many of Lucas’ romantic interests, Sydney Waters, was about 10 years his junior. She had long, dark auburn hair, and dark brown eyes. She was beautiful in a very boring sort of way, Will determined. After a few long moments, Will’s good manners got the best of him. “Hello, Ms. Waters.”

Sydney let out the deep breath she had been holding. Apparently, she thought she had gotten Will’s approval. However, Elena knew different. She could see Will struggling to be polite. “Oh, please call Sydney. It’s so nice to finally meet you,” Sydney gushed. “Your father has told me so much about you. I hear you’ll be attending Brown University after graduating.”

“Actually Ms. Waters,” Will said, emphasizing her name, “I going to go to the Salem Art Institute to study.”

“Now Will,” Lucas said warningly, “I thought we decided you would attend Brown and study broadcasting, so you can work with me.”

Will said angrily, “No Dad, WE didn’t decide anything. I decided that I wanted to study art. You might think that’s not good enough for the son of Lucas Roberts, but frankly I could give a damn about what you think!” He abruptly turned around and raced out of the room.

Elena sighed as she watched Will leave. ‘I should have known this would happen. They haven’t had one civil conversation in their lives, why did I think this would be any different?’ She turned to face Lucas and Sydney, who had a stricken look on her face. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “Excuse me,” she said as she turned to follow Will.

She found him slouched in a chair in the corner of the Salem Inn lobby, with his head in his hands. “Will?”

Will lifted his head to look at Elena. His heart almost broke to see her standing there all dressed up in a new dress, gazing at him with such worry in her eyes. “Lena, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin your evening. He just pushes all of my buttons.”

“It’s alright,” she said with a small smile.

Will couldn’t help the smile that crept onto his face. “You mean, you won’t be mad when

I tell you that I don’t want to go back to the party.”

“And save me from a night in these dreadful heels? Are you kidding?”

Will laughed as he pulled Elena down to sit on the overstuffed chair with him and gave her a big hug. They had known each other practically all of their lives. He was only two years old when his mother began babysitting for friends of the family, Abe and Lexie Carver. He and their little girl, Elena, immediately became friends and stayed best friends ever since. They were different in so many ways: he was guiet, shy, and very thoughtful; she was boisterous, talkative, and full of adventure. Yet, they seemed to understand each other when no else could. “What would I do without you, Lena?”

“Live an incredibly boring and predictable life, probably,” she said laughing.

“Probably,” he agreed and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “How about I buy you some ice cream and we can rent a movie.”

Elena stood up and looked back at Will with an annoyed look. Suddenly, she grinned. “I’ll race to you the car,” she said as she was already heading out the door.

**********

The coast is clear,” Dave whispered in Sami’s ear. “Let’s sneak out while no one is watching.”

She began to chuckle as she settled into his embrace. “Dave, we haven’t been here twenty minutes. We can’t leave yet.”

“Awwwww, come on,” he begged. “I can’t wait to get you home and make sweet love to you.”

Images of making love with her husband, with a blazing fire in the back ground filled Sami’s mind and she was tempted to forget all about the party and let him take her home and then let him take her. She shook her head trying to clear out such thoughts. “Sorry sweetheart,” said Sami, turning in his arms to face him. “Let’s just wait until my parents get here, so we can congratulate them, and then we can go.”

Dave wasn’t so easily put off, though. “How do know they’ll even show up,” he asked. “You know how they get ‘distracted’. They might not show up until the party is almost over, if at all.” Sami was about to protest, when he continued. “Come on, baby, let’s go home and get ‘distracted’ ourselves.” He leaned forward and caught her lips with his, kissing her passionately. When they finally separated, both were breathing heavily. Sami gazed into his eyes, her own filled with desire and longing. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, his beeper beeped. Dave looked down at it and then looked up at his wife. He placed his finger on her lips and said softly, “Don’t say anything, just think about it.” He kissed her again softly and whispered, “I’ll be right back.”

He was only gone a minute or so, and when he returned Sami had decided to skip out with him. ‘He’s been so busy the past few weeks,’ she thought. ‘We can see my parents some other time. Right now, I just want to spend the night showing my husband how much I love him and missed him. Maybe he’ll think twice before he spends this much time away from his family again.’ When she saw him approach her with an apologetic look on his face, however, she knew that they wouldn’t be spending the night together.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he started.

“Don’t be,” she said coldly, cutting him off. “Go. Take care of your precious case. I’ll be here.”

Dave sighed dejectedly. ‘Why couldn’t she understand that he was just doing this to protect her and their family?’ “I love you.” When she didn’t reply, he bent to kiss her goodbye, but Sami turned her head, making him miss her lips and instead kiss her cheek. “I’ll see you later.” With that, he turned and left.

Tears filled her eyes as she purposefully looked away from his retreating figure. ‘Why couldn’t he understand that by trying to protect her and their family and spending all of his time on this case, all he was doing was jeopardizing their relationship?’

She brushed the tears off her cheeks and composed herself when she heard the noise level in the room increase significantly. She quickly turned to see what had everyone talking. Standing in the entrance was her mother in a beautiful off the shoulder, black dress and her father looking dashing as always in his tux. They were not what caught everyone’s attention, however. Standing next to them was her younger sister, Isabella Black, on the arm of one of the most handsome men she had ever seen.

*********

“The Black’s have finally arrived. Where is the package?”

“Behind the podium.”

“Good. I think it’s time for the surprise.”

Startling Announcements

‘Jackpot,’ Kathleen Dewhurst thought as she gazed upon the party’s newest arrivals. She started to towards them, when she saw Samantha Porter greet the two couples. ‘Damn,” she cursed inwardly. ‘Patience, Kathleen, patience.’

***********

“Belle,” Sami exclaimed as she embraced her sister, “It’s been too long.” After a few moments, she pulled away to examine Belle. “I guess I’m going to have to stop thinking of you as my baby sister, huh? You’re all grown up.”

Belle smiled, “Somehow Sami, I think you’ll always think of me as your baby sister, now matter how big I get.”

“I suspect you’re right,” Sami said chuckling with John and Marlena. She pulled Belle into another hug. “It’s so good to see you, sis.”

“I’ll second that.”

John, Marlena, Belle, Nick, and Sami turned to Carrie and her husband standing there with smiles on their faces. “Hi Carrie,” Belle said hugging her sister. “Mike,” kissing her brother in law on the cheek.

“Hiya Beauty,” he said warmly. “You look stunning as always, just like the rest of the women in your family.”

“And you are charming as always, Mike.” She noticed Nick had moved slightly away from their little family reunion. “Carrie, Mike, Sami, I’d like to introduce you to someone.” She gestured to Nick. “This is my boyfriend, Nick Edwards. Nick, this is my oldest sister, Carrie Horton and her husband, Mike Horton. Mike is the Chief of Staff at University Hospital.”

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Nick said. Dr. Mike Horton was several years older than his wife, Nick noted, as was evident by the slight greying of his blonde hair. Although still a handsome man, his face was beginning to show lines on his forehead and around his eyes. ‘Probably from all the stress that comes with being COS of a major hospital like University,’ thought Nick. Stress, however, was nowhere to be found on his face tonight, as he gazed lovingly at his wife.

Carrie Horton was a smaller woman. Strawberry blonde hair framed her heart shaped face with soft features and soft blue-grey eyes. Nick had to remind himself that Carrie wasn’t Marlena’s biological daughter, despite the warm and friendly smile she shared with the older lady.

“And this is my other sister, Sami Porter,” Belle finished.

That Sami and Belle were sisters was apparent immediately, both shared the same shockingly blue eyes, hair the color of sunshine, and their mother’s classic features. Sami was a few inches shorter than Belle, but just slightly taller than Carrie and had a svelte figure. “Glad to meet you,” Nick replied.

“Remember when I introduced you to Josh Porter, last night,” Belle asked Nick. “Well, Sami is my sister that’s married to his brother, Dave.”

“Speaking of, where is Dave,” Marlena questioned.

The smile ran from Sami’s face and her eyes seemed to darken as her husband’s name was mentioned. “He had to leave,” she said nonchalantly. “Something to do with business.” She tried to sound like it didn’t bother her, but the hurt in her voice was evident.

“Is something wrong, sweetheart,” asked Marlena.

“No,” she said, clearly fibbing. “Don’t worry about it.” Quickly she flashed her Mom a big smile. “What I want to know is where my twin brother is. He told me he was coming tonight.”

“Eric’s coming,” John said with surprise.

“My cousin, Sarah, convinced him to come with her,” Mike replied. “Which probably explains why they’re not here yet. She had ER duty this evening, and I’ll bet she’s running a little late.”

“They’re spending quite a lot of time together, aren’t they,” Sami noted. “Maybe, she’ll be able to bring him out of this funk he’s in.”

“He’s had a tough time lately, Sami,” said Marlena. “It’s not uncommon for someone in his situation to withdraw a little.”

“More like a self-imposed exile,” Sami retorted. “If it weren’t for Beth, I wonder if I’d ever see him.”

“Here they are,” said Carrie.

A man who could only be Marlena’s son, for they had the same ash blonde hair and warm hazel eyes, and a woman with light brown hair and reddish highlights, approached the group.

Hugs and kisses were exchanged as Nick confirmed this was, in fact; Sami’s twin brother, Eric.

“Eric, this is my boyfriend, Nick Edwards,” Belle introduced as the two shook hands. “Nick, this is my oldest brother, Eric and…” she turned to the woman. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Before Eric could make the introductions, the woman said, “We haven’t met, but I’ve heard so much about you that I feel I already know you. I’m Dr. Sarah Horton, Mickey and Maggie’s daughter. I moved back to Salem almost two years ago.”

Belle smiled warmly. “Now, everything makes sense. I knew Mickey and Maggie had a daughter, and I’ve heard Mike speak of his cousin, Sarah. I just never put two and two together. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Likewise.”

“Well, now that everyone’s here,” Mike said, “I guess I can start the festivities.” He walked across the room to the podium and turned the microphone on.

*********

“There he goes,” whispered the man as he watched Dr. Horton move towards the podium. The package was carefully placed on the small table beside the stand with a sheet draped over it. “Showtime.”

*********

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Mike said into the microphone. The room suddenly became quiet as everyone turned to regard the respected Chief of Staff of University Hospital. “I’d like to thank you all for coming tonight. As you know, we are here to dedicate the newest wing of University Hospital. This project has been in the works for many months and I’d like to thank the Board of Directors for all of the hard work they’ve done to make this possible. Now, I’d like to introduce two board members who have been especially involved; Mr. Sam Gallagher and Mrs. Joyce Franklin.”

The older woman took Mike’s place at microphone as the man stood behind the table that had the surprise package. “Thank you, Dr. Horton. We’ve been thrilled to work on such an important project as this one. Just under a year ago, the board voted to build another wing on University Hospital. This new wing will hold our nationally respected Psychiatry Department, a new chapel, a new day-care, and a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. DL&B Designs have been contracted to design the new wing. The plans were just finalized yesterday, and the final model was completed this morning.”

“Before we unveil the model, it’s my honor to announce the name of University’s newest wing. Like our other wings; the Thomas and Alice Horton Memorial Wing, the Murphy-Pratt Wing, and the Kiriakis Memorial Wing; we’ve voted to name this wing after people important to University Hospital. The Board of Directors at University Hospital has voted to name the newest wing after the woman for whom this wing began as a dream, but with stubborn persistence, it is now becoming a reality, our Head of Psychiatry, Dr. Marlena Evans. And for the man who has been involved with University for many years and for which without his generous heart, this project would never have been financially viable, Mr. John Black.”

“It is with great pleasure to introduce the Evans-Black Wing of University Hospital,” Mrs. Franklin said with great relish as Mr. Gallagher pulled the sheet off their surprise package to reveal a small-scale model of University Hospital with the additional wing added on the northeast side.

The room burst into applause and everyone turned to see John and Marlena’s reactions. Both wore gigantic smiles on their faces. Marlena was so touched that she began to cry. She turned to look at her husband, who gazed upon her with such admiration and devotion. “I love you,” he mouthed as the flashes from the many cameras surrounded them.

Escape

Their moment in private, or as private as you can get with cameras flashing from every direction, was quickly interrupted by friends and family rushing to congratulate the couple.

More photo opportunities came when the children hugged and kissed their parents. “I’m so proud of you both,” whispered Belle as she enveloped John and Marlena in a bear hug.

“Marlena,” a woman shrieked happily as she ran towards the family and threw her arms around Marlena. “Oh honey,” she said slightly calming down, “it’s because of you that we’re finally getting what we’ve always talked and dreamed about. I’m just so happy! John,” she said turning and hugging him, “thank you so much.”

“Well, I figured someone had to give that husband of yours a job,” John quipped.

When the woman pulled back from John she had tears in her eyes. “Good job, John,” the older gentleman who accompanied her said, “now you’ve got her crying.”

“Oh it isn’t him,” she said brushing the tears from her cheeks. “I think I’ve been friends with Marlena for too long; now she’s got me crying when I’m happy.”

Everyone laughed as Marlena remembered to introduce the two to Nick. “Laura, Brett, I’d like you to meet Nick Edwards; Belle’s boyfriend from Colorado. Nick, this is my best friend, Dr. Laura Dahl and her husband Brett Dahl.”

Nick felt a moment of anxiety as he was introduced to Mr. Dahl for the second time. “Hello, sir,” he said formally, hoping Mr. Dahl would follow his lead and not let on that they had already met. His fears proved unnecessary when the gentleman winked at him bemused at the circumstances. John had explained to Brett the boy’s situation and desire to keep his job search in Salem secret from Belle when they talked about getting him an interview.

“M’am,” Nick said kissing Dr. Dahl’s knuckles.

“Laura is Mike’s mother,” Marlena explained, “and she works as a physiatrist at University with me.”

Belle gasped as if she just remembered something. “Nick, Uncle Brett is one of the owners of DL&B Designs. They have offices all over the country and some in Europe. Uncle Brett, Nick just graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in architecture. He was the top of his class,” she said proudly.

“Really,” Brett said feigning surprise. “Well, we’ll have to talk sometime.”

Nick expression was one of embarrassment and uneasiness as the older man smiled at him. He was saved from having to reply when two more couples approached the group. Belle introduced them as Abe and Lexie Carver, Elena’s parents; and Mickey and Maggie Horton. Pleasantries and congratulations were passed around for several minutes before Belle spoke in a low voice to the group. “Well, Kathleen Dewhurst has been hovering around like a vulture since the moment we’ve entered the room. I think I’ll go deal with her for a minute and be right back.” She gave Nick a quick kiss on the cheek and started towards a lady who appeared to be in her late sixties, with salt and pepper hair piled on top of her head and bright red lipstick on her lips.

**********

“Ms. Dewhurst,” Belle said pleasantly. She bent to casually hug the woman and kiss each cheek. “You look wonderful,” she said warmly. “Is that a Saxton original?”

“Why, yes it is,” Kathleen replied as she ran her hands over the shirt to smooth some invisible wrinkles. Isabella Black was known to dislike public scrutiny, but the few times Kathleen had spoken to her, she found the young Ms. Black to be warm and extremely charming.

“I thought so. I just love his designs,” she said with a hint of confidentiality, like she was confiding in a long time friend. “And this color is prefect for you. It brings out your eyes.”

“You and your mother both look incredible. I heard gasps throughout the room, when you entered,” Kathleen said trying to change the subject to Belle.

“Isn’t her dress just divine,” Belle asked turning to regard Marlena. “Of course, she looks incredible in anything,” she laughed, “but that dress is something special. I think she said she found it in San Francisco the last time she was there, in some tiny little shop. It’s by a completely unknown designer, but by looking at that dress, I doubt he’ll stay unknown forever. I must ask her the name of the shop so I can go there the next time I’m in the area,” Belle finished almost as if she was speaking to herself.

“So, what’s the latest gossip about you? How’s your son? He’s engaged to be married, isn’t he,” Belle asked.

“The engagement’s off,” Kathleen said sadly. “It didn’t work out, I suppose.”

“Oh, I am sorry,” Belle said genuinely. “That’s too bad, he must be feeling awful.”

“He’s upset,” the older lady confirmed, “but he knows it was for the best.”

“Well, that’s good. Tell him hello for me, would you?”

“Of course. Speaking of engagements, I’ve heard several rumours about you and your mystery man over there,” Kathleen said nodding to the man Belle arrived with and was now deep in conversation with John and Eric.

“Really,” Belle asked chuckling. “I bet there are some real doozies out there. But, I guess you never know, do you? Some of them might actually turn out to be true.” She turned to face Kathleen again with a smile gracing her face. “If you’ll excuse me, I think my presence is being requested elsewhere” Before Kathleen could say anything, Belle began to walk away. “It was nice talking to you as always. Please remember to say hello to Roger for me.” And with that she was gone.

Kathleen Dewhurst stood quietly for several seconds before she began chuckling in admiration. ‘She’s good.’ Isabella Black had that certain quality and skill that few people Kathleen dealt with had. She was warm, friendly, genuine, and made a person feel as though she truly cared about them. Kathleen felt like she had just had a nice chat with an old friend. Yet when she reflected on their conversation, Kathleen marveled at the skill Belle wielded in avoiding giving any useful information about herself. One might say Kathleen had been ‘handled’, but she did not feel the least offended by Belle’s behavior.

‘How could I be upset when she was so sincere?’

**********

“Hello boys,” Belle said, wrapping her arm around Nick’s waist.

“Is everything alright,” Nick asked worriedly as he shot a glance at Kathleen Dewhurst. John and Nick began to laugh as Belle assured him that everything was fine.

“It might be more appropriate to ask Ms. Dewhurst that question, Nick,” Eric said. “Belle is better at talking without saying anything than anyone else I know.”

“I’m not sure what you are talking about, Eric Brady,” she said, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “I’ll leave you guys to whatever it was you were so animatedly discussing before. I want to talk to Carrie and Sami about a few things.”

“We’ll be here,” John said as she walked away.

John waited a few seconds after Belle left to check his watch. “Kick-off is in five minutes. Let’s sneak out while the women are too preoccupied to notice.” Nick turned to see Marlena standing on other side of the room talking to Lexie, Maggie, and Laura; while Belle, Sami, and Carrie were a few feet away deep in conversation. Nick followed John as he quietly opened the heavy oak door that separated the banquet room from the hallway. “Isn’t Eric coming,” Nick asked as he noticed that Belle’s brother didn’t come along.

“He had to go make some excuse. He’ll be here in a- Ah, there he is,” John said as Eric crept through the door. John pulled his cell phone out of his coat pocket and called the front desk.

**********

“There they go,” Laura noted as she watched her husband exit the room after saying he needed to make a phone call.

Marlena smiled. “Don’t worry they’ll be back.”

**********

“Salem Inn Front Desk. How may I help you?”

“This is John Black. Is the room I reserved ready?”

“Yes, Mr. Black. We have you in room 418 and it has been left unlocked for you.”

“Did you move another couch in the room like I requested?”

“All of the special instructions have been taken care of Mr. Black.”

“Thank you,” John said hanging up.

While John was talking to the front desk, Nick watched as one by one, Brett, Abe, and Mickey sneaked out of the banquet room.

“Where’s Mike,” John asked as he put his phone away.

“He was talking to some board members and said he’d try to sneak away for the second quarter,” Abe replied.

“Alright. Well, let’s not stand around here all night, let’s go watch a game,” John said enthusiastically.

Room 418 was only a few doors down the hallway from the banquet room, and as per John’s instructions, the staff had moved an extra couch into the living quarters so all of the men could sit down and enjoy the Vikings-Packers game. Everything in the room was perfect, except for one thing. The men looked at each other puzzled as they saw the empty space in the entertainment center where a 36” television was supposed to be. John immediately picked up the telephone in the room and dialed the front desk’s number as Abe picked up the paper that was sitting in the television’s place.

“John,” he called out. “Hang up the phone and read this.”

Confused, John hung up the phone and took the paper from Abe’s hands and read it aloud.

“J~

Good try, sweetheart. I applaud the effort. Don’t bother to call the front desk and ask them to bring the television set back to the room. I’ve already told them that I would pay double any amount you offered. You can read about the game in tomorrow’s paper, now come back to the party. And bring Abe, Mickey, Brett, Eric, and Nick with you.

Love,

M~”

John looked up at the rest of the men in the room. Without a word, they left the room and walked back to the banquet room.

*********

Marlena looked up to see her husband enter the room. All of the other gentlemen had returned a few minutes earlier. She smiled as he looked at her sheepishly.

John watched as a small smile danced on Marlena’s face as she saw him enter. He shrugged his shoulders to say, ‘at least I tried.’ When he saw her begin to laugh, he smiled too. ‘God, I love her.’

With Strings Attached

Moonlight shimmered off her blonde hair as she stood near the terrace entrance. Her eyes sparkled with mirth as she threw her head back in laughter. When she lifted her left hand and begun to play with her earring, the magnificent diamond on her wedding ring reflected light from the overhead chandelier. ‘How did I get so lucky to be married to the most gorgeous woman ever created,’ John thought to himself for the millionth time that night. The evening was almost over, and since the unveiling of the model of the Evans-Black Wing, John hadn’t a moment alone with his wife. Whenever John looked to Marlena, she was always deep in conversation with a board member, a hospital colleague, or good friend. And whenever John decided to head in her direction and steal his wife away, a board member, colleague, or good friend would stop him and start to chat. John felt as though he had spent the entire night across the room looking at Marlena; watching as her every innocent gesture would unknowingly seduce him.

She looked up and their eyes connected for a brief moment before she turned back to listen intently to what her companion was saying. In that brief moment, words of love, devotion, and desire were all exchanged; and John made his decision.

“Your husband must have known about the dedication of the wing,” Mr. Dexter said. “I mean, he is on the Board of Directors, isn’t he?”

“Uh, yes,” Marlena answered distractedly as she watched her husband walk over to Mike and whisper something in his ear. “John is on the Board, but since he’s donating most of the money to complete this project and because I’m so involved, he’s opted not to participate in any board votes on it.”

“Oh, I see,” Mr. Dexter replied.

Marlena began to tune Mr. Dexter out as he continued to talk about the design of the wing and how he felt the offices should be closer to patient rooms, as opposed to two floors above. Instead, she watched as her husband and Mike, looking extremely serious, walked towards the podium and turned the microphone on.

“Excuse me everyone,” Mike said. “May I have your attention. I have a very important announcement to make. As all of you know, almost all of the financial support for this new wing is being provided by an extremely donation from Mr. John Black.” Mike paused as the room burst into applause. As the clapping died down, Mike continued. “A minute ago, Mr. Black has informed me that he has decided to donate his money, on one condition.”

John avoided looking in Marlena’s direction when everyone in the room began to murmur in astonishment. Marlena’s feet were frozen in their place, as her mind began to race. ‘What does he think he’s doing?!?’

*********

Sami wrapped the cloak she had the foresight to bring, around her small frame, as she stood out on the terrace looking across the skyline of Salem. The December air was cold, but she was numb to it as she looked at the buildings in downtown Salem. She could pick out the building that housed her husband’s security firm. Because of the distance, Sami couldn’t see the light that she knew was on in Dave’s office. He would be there for most of the night, talking with ISA agents and mulling over all of the files that pertained to his all-important case. He wouldn’t tell Sami anything about it, except that by solving it he would be protecting their family.

Her mind wandered back more than ten years to when she first met Dave Porter. He was a young, up and coming ISA agent that was assigned to finish up all of her father’s ISA business when Roman was killed. He first saw Sami at Roman Brady’s funeral. The sight of the beautiful young mother with her son, mourning her father’s death moved him like nothing had before, and afterwards he sought her out to offer his condolences in a more personal manner.

He asked her to lunch the next day with the excuse that he wanted to know more about her father. Instead of talking about Roman though, they ended up talking about Sami. He was amazed at everything that had happened to her and her family, and was impressed with her ability to overcome everything and turn her life around. She had just completed nursing school and had gotten a job at University Hospital. She was volunteering her time at the Horton Center, using her own experiences to help other wayward teens. And with all of that, she was single-handedly raising her young son, Will.

It took six months in Salem to resolve all of Roman Brady’s ISA affairs, and when he wasn’t working, Dave spent most of his time with Sami and her son, whom he’d become very close. Sami recalled one night when he came to her house for a late dinner. Will was spending the night with Abe and Lexie Carver and their little girl, Elena, so Dave and Sami had the house to themselves. They enjoyed a quiet meal of grilled salmon and steamed vegetables and shared a bottle of wine. Afterwards, they sat on the couch in the living room by the fireplace sipping brandy. Sami noticed that Dave had been unusually quiet and asked what he was thinking. Dave turned to her and said quietly that his business in Salem was finished and he had to report to ISA Headquarter in D.C. in the morning. Both were silent for several minutes when Dave finally whispered.

“What,” Sami asked gently.

“I said I don’t want to leave you.”

“What do you mean?”

It had been almost three years since Austin left Salem to work in Los Angeles, and two years since Lucas moved to London. Sami had avoided getting involved in any romantic relationships, instead concentrating on Will and finishing school. With her past romantic troubles, Sami was terribly afraid to expose herself to any more pain. Although she had been spending most of her free time in the last six months with Dave, they had kept it to a close friendship, occasionally kissing one another one the cheek, but nothing more. But as the weeks went by, Sami found herself wanting more, yet afraid to hope that Dave felt the same way and even more fearful that he did.

“What do you mean,” she repeated desperately.

His gaze traveled all over her face as if he needed to memorize it, before his eyes locked onto hers. “I think I’m in love with you,” he said softly.

Sami sat motionless, unable to speak as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her. Joy, confusion, relief, terror, desire, and about a million other emotions that she could not identify ran rampant threw her entire soul. She was completely unaware of her surroundings, until she felt his soft lips upon her for the first time. In that instant, all thoughts that didn’t directly pertain to the feel of his mouth, the texture of his lips, and the taste of brandy on his breath flew out of her mind. Slowly, she opened her mouth and felt as his tongue gently slid in and out. His hands came up to cup her face while her arms slid around his neck in an effort to get even closer. When their lips finally parted after what seemed hours, Sami whispered without conscious thought, “I love you, too.”

Dave’s mouth turned up in an almost imperceptible smile. Silently, his eyes asked Sami a question. Without stopping to think, afraid of letting her fears surface, she answered. They made love for hours on the soft rug beside the fireplace.

That night, almost 12 years ago, was untouched in Sami’s memory. She could still feel every caress on her skin, still hear every oath of devotion and love. ‘When was the last time we made love, Dave?’

She was jerked back to reality when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around and came face to face with him.

**********

“I think I’ll hand the microphone over to John to better explain,” Mike said.

‘And he better have a good explanation,’ Marlena thought furiously.

With the most serious expression, John waited a moment for the room to quiet down before he spoke. “I know this is almost unheard of,” he began, “but frankly, I’ve been somewhat disappointed in this celebration for the dedication of the new hospital wing, and I’ve made an extremely important decision. I will only donate the money for the completion of the Evans-Black Wing on one condition,” John paused for dramatic effect. “That I may have a dance with the most beautiful woman in the room; the Head of Psychiatry at University Hospital, the mother of my children, and the woman who takes my breath away, Dr. Marlena Evans-Black.”

Love, Hate and other Emotions

The entire room turned to see Marlena’s reaction to her husband’s announcement. Tears sparkled like diamonds in her beautiful, hazel eyes, and her hand covered her mouth in a characteristic display of emotion. A second later, her hand dropped and her beaming smile lit the room. John and Marlena’s eyes were locked on each other’s. Their gaze was so filled with love and intimacy, many felt the need to look away, as if not to interrupt such a private moment between a husband and wife.

“So Marlena,” Mike said into the microphone, trying to break the sexual tension that had filled the room. “For the sake of the University Hospital, would you please dance with this gentleman?”

Marlena looked back at her watch, then at John, then at her watch again and sighed deeply. “Well,” she started looking John over, “I suppose for the sake of the hospital, I could dance one dance with Mr. Black.”

Everyone laughed as John and Marlena began to move towards the middle of the room and each other. The partygoers cleared a small space for the couple to dance and the string quartet prepared to play. Marlena placed her hand in John’s outstretched one as the sounds of “Unchained Melody” began to fill the room. Again, Marlena smiled brightly at the recognition of the symbolism of that particular song. John pulled her tightly against him and they gently swayed to the music.

After a minute or two of dancing comfortably in silence, Marlena raised her head from John’s shoulder and said, “You know, you paid way too much for that dance.”

“Really,” John asked. “Well, Dr. Evans. How much money do you think it’s worth?”

“Oh, I don’t know. A gentleman paid $100,000 to dance with me once, and I thought that was pretty generous.”

“Nonsense, that was a bargain.”

“So Mr. Black, would you say this is a reasonable amount to pay for one dance with me?”

“Of course not,” he replied softly. “A few moments with you is worth more than all of the money on the earth.”

John and Marlena were practically standing still now, their bodies so close that it was almost impossible to tell where one ended and the other started.

“John,” she whispered, “people can see how you feel.”

“And how you feel,” he asked, their lips getting closer.

“I love you so,” Marlena breathed against his mouth.

“I love you,” he murmured before his mouth captured hers.

**********

Sami turned quickly. “Oh,” she sighed, “it’s you, Lucas.”

“Gee, it’s nice to see you too.”

Sami gave him a small smile as she turned back to the railing. Lucas joined her and they stood, silently gazing at the lights from downtown.

“Will told me that your divorce from Krystle was finalized a few weeks ago,” Sami finally said.

“Yeah,” Lucas replied softly.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah, well,” he said, “so it goes, right?”

“I see you haven’t lost that Roberts charm, though,” Sami said gently laughing. “Who’s the redhead?”

“Her name is Sydney Waters. She’s one of the anchors for the new television magazine I’m creating for SBC.”

“She’s a news anchor,” asked Sami astonished. “She can only be 25 years old!”

“She’s 27,” Lucas corrected good-naturedly.

“Oh yes, that’s much better,” Sami laughing. “No seriously, she’s very pretty and I’m sure she’s a very nice. Just remember to invite me to the wedding.”

“I am not getting married again.”

“That’s what you say now,” Sami said grinning.

“And that’s what I’ll be saying fifty years from now. Three trips to the altar and subsequently my lawyer have proven to me that I’m not the marrying type. God does not have to beat me over the head for a fourth time for me to get the message.”

“I think you’re being a little too hard on yourself, Lucas,” Sami said.

“No, I don’t think so,” he replied softly. “Marriage is great for people that find that one great love like you and Dave, but hell for people like me.”

Lucas continued, not noticing how Sami quickly turned her glance away when he mentioned her husband. “Sami, remember when we were younger, probably seventeen or so? We were in your back yard, lying on our backs, looking up at the stars and talking about our dreams and all of our plans for the future.”

Sami nodded gently as she recalled the night he was talking about.

“You told me that the stars reminded you of your dreams; so beautiful, and sometimes it looked as though you could just reach up and pluck them from the night sky. But when you did reach for them, you realized just how unattainable they were.” Lucas sighed. “Sami, you’ve found the one person who can make those stars reachable. Dave’s love for you gives him the ability to gather all the stars from the heavens and place them in your palm. That’s the only kind of love that makes a marriage work. My marriages were all based on other loves; love of power, love of beauty, even a love of one’s company; but none of those were good enough to make a marriage last. I envy you,” he finished quietly. They stayed like that, looking over the railing at the lights, for several minutes without speaking.

“So, I’ve decided to stick to having short-lived affairs with beautiful, younger women,” joked Lucas. He turned to look at Sami when he realized she hadn’t said anything for a while. “So, where is Dave?”

Sami paused to gaze at the stars before replying sadly. “He’s tossing the all of stars back into the heavens.”

**********

The kiss seemed to last an eternity. When John and Marlena reluctantly parted to catch their breath, Marlena sighed softly, “Everyone’s watching us.”

“Are you embarrassed?”

“No,” she admitted with a smile, “but I will be if you keep looking at me like that.”

John leaned forward and whispered in her ear while gently kissing her lobes. “What do you say we leave and have our own private party to celebrate?”

“You read my mind, Mr. Black,” she said before kissing him again.

**********

Belle and Nick were standing next to Carrie and Mike as they all watched John and Marlena kiss on the dance floor.

“Here they come,” Belle said as her parents started walking towards the group. “They’re running a little late tonight.”

“Late for what,” Nick asked.

“You’ll see.”

“Are you kids enjoying yourselves,” John asked. “Nick and Belle, go ahead and head on home whenever you want. Marlena and I will be home in the morning.”

“Okay,” Belle said easily. “Goodnight Momma, goodnight Dad.”

**********

“John, where are we going,” Marlena asked as he led her out of the banquet room.

“It’s a surprise.”

John laughed as Marlena groaned loudly, “You and your surprises!”

**********

“Are you ready to go home?”

“Yeah,” Belle replied. “I’m pretty tired. It’s been a long day.”

They began to head for the door when they suddenly heard a man’s voice call Belle’s name. When they turned around, Nick recognized the man and woman that he saw that morning in the café at ‘Salem Place’. “So Belle, your parents sure made a scene tonight,” he said.

Belle’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes as she regarded the couple. “Didn’t they? It’s rare to see a couple so much in love after so many years together,” she said deliberately misunderstanding him.

“How was your first board meeting today,” he asked.

“Oh I’m sure you’ve already heard all about, Phillip. I wouldn’t want to bore you telling you what you already know.” Before he could respond to Belle’s remark, the lady said, “Belle, aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend?”

Her sugary sweet smile and voice astonished Nick. How could this be the same woman he saw in the café? “Of course,” Belle said clenching her teeth. “Phillip, Abby, this is my Nick Edwards. Nick, this is Phillip Kiriakis and Abby Devereaux.

“I prefer Abigail,” the young woman said as she shook Nick’s hand, making sure the diamond ring on her hand was perfectly visible. “Abby sounds so childish, don’t you think,” she asked him.

“Oh you’re absolutely right,” Belle answered for Nick. “The name Abby has such a child-like innocence about it, it really doesn’t fit you at all,” she said smiling sweetly.

“Yes, well,” Abby stuttered, unsure of how to respond. She ran her fingers threw her hair to once more make sure Belle saw her ring.

“Oh Abigail,” Belle said emphasizing her name, “Although you tried your best to hide it, I couldn’t help but notice your ring. I guess congratulations are in order.”

“Oh,” she laughed feigning surprise. “Thank you. Phillip and I are very happy about it, aren’t we darling?”

Of course you are,” Belle said smoothly. “In fact, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen Phillip so happy.” The scowl on his face quickly turned to a tight smile as everyone looked at him. “Well, I’m sure you two would like to be alone and celebrate, so Nick and I will be leaving. Goodnight,” she called over her shoulder as the pulled Nick towards the door.

Night of Passion

“Someday I’m going to blindfold you and see how you like it.”

“Would you hold still for a moment,” John asked with a tone of exasperation.

“Is it almost done?”

John watched as the manager of the Salem Inn quietly shut the door to the room and winked to say everything was ready, before he turned to his wife. Over her beautiful eyes was a blue handkerchief acting as a make-shift blindfold. “Done,” he announced.

“Finally,” Marlena exclaimed, reaching for the handkerchief

. “Uh uh, no you don’t,” John said as he clutched her hands. He brought them up to his lips and placed soft kisses on the inside of her wrists. Slowly he released her hands and moved his fingers to her face. Marlena felt the comforting mix of strength and tenderness in his touch. John’s fingers traveled the surface of her face, exploring it’s every contour. Her breath caught in her throat when his soft lips replaced his hands. They began a pilgrimage of their own, beginning at Marlena’s right temple. His lips traveled across her forehead, trailing kisses the entire way. He then moved down to the apex of her high cheekbones, close to her ears. She felt his lips lightly drag across her cheeks to reach her elegant nose. John spent a little more time here, covering her nose with small kisses, finding every crevice. Then he placed a longer, juicy kiss on the end, letting his tongue dart out and tap the tip of her nose. “Your nose is so sexy,” John whispered huskily.

Marlena’s body was on fire. Her brain was being bombarded with messages from every nerve screaming, ‘I want him!’ She was so overwhelmed with desire, she couldn’t speak. She feel his breath on her moist cheek. Intuitively, she knew that his mouth was now hovering over hers. Desperate for that intimate contact, she leaned forward trying to catch his lips. John quickly moved away before she could kiss him and placed his index finger on her lips. Gently resting his finger on her mouth, he slowly moved his lips closer to hers. Marlena could only manage a soft whimper when she felt his lips on the corner of her mouth. She hoped against hope that he would finally stop this teasing and kiss her fully on the lips. That dream was quickly forgotten when he abandoned her mouth to travel down her long neck. As he worked his magic on her neck, Marlena captured his finger that still lingered on her lips. She ran her tongue up and down it’s side, causing him to groan with desire.

John slowly pulled his finger from the sweetness of Marlena’s mouth, and moved to replace it with his lips. As he prepared to experience the heaven that was her kiss, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a couple round the corner to see him and Marlena in such an intimate embrace and quickly turn around. Instantly, John straightened and moved away from his wife. In his silent seduction, he had completely forgotten that they were standing in the middle of a hallway in the Salem Inn.

“John?”

“Yeah baby, I’m right here,” John said reaching for blindfold. “Now, close your eyes. Are they closed?”

“Yes,” Marlena said exasperated.

Carefully, John removed the handkerchief from her eyes. He quickly kissed each eyelid and told her to open her eyes. He watched as her hazel orbs peeked from beneath her long eyelashes.

“John, this is….”

“the room I reserved for the football game tonight.” John finished pointedly.

“Oh,” Marlena started to giggle. “I’m sorry baby, but you know I couldn’t let you boys run away from the party.”

John shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing to be sorry for, honey. You outsmarted me, plain and simple.”

Marlena eyed him suspiciously. “Does this mean you won’t try to run away again,” she asked almost disappointed.

“Now, I don’t recall saying that,” John answered with a mischievous glint in his eye. “I was just saying that you won this battle, the outcome of the war is still up for grabs.”

“So when do I get my battle spoils,” Marlena asked with a sly grin as she leaned against the door.

John leaned forward so his lips were only centimeters from hers. “You asked for it,” he whispered. He quickly turned the door knob before she knew what was happening and opened the door, sending Marlena off balance and falling backwards into the suite.

“John!”

************

“That jerk is Phillip Kiriakis,” Nick asked as he followed Belle into the backseat of the limo. “I guess you two were never that close, huh?”

“Actually,” Belle started, “we were high school sweethearts.”

“What!”

“Well,” Belle said searching for an explanation for what she now saw as a very stupid decision. “You know, he wasn’t like that then…or at least, I never saw him like that,” she added. She sighed. “Nick, we grew up together. When Victor died, Daddy promised that he would take care of Phillip. So, he was around a lot. It seemed like the most natural thing to do. He was Salem’s most eligible bachelor: I was Salem’s most eligible bachelorette. Everyone said we were the most perfect couple.” Belle paused before saying softly, “I thought I was in love.”

Nick didn’t know what to think. He knew Belle took the word ‘love’ very seriously and would never throw it around with careful thought. Was her relationship with Phillip that serious? Did she still have unresolved feelings towards him? “What happened?”

Belle looked out the window into the dark shadows of night. “The summer between my junior and senior year in high school my best friend, Kelly Howard, was killed.”

She turned to look at Nick and saw the question in his eyes. “I had spent the night at her house. That morning, she woke me up, saying she had run some kind of errand for her parents, but her car was in the shop. I didn’t want to wake up yet and drive her

anywhere, so I gave her the keys to my car and let her take it.” Nick saw the tears begin to well up in Belle’s eyes. “The brakes in my car had been cut during the night to go out when they were applied above a certain speed. She was on a curvy road when they failed and she drove into a tree, killing her instantly.”

“Belle-”

“I thought it was my fault,” she interrupted. “I thought anyone I was close to would be in danger, so I cut off all relationships other than family. I figured that was the only way to protect the people I cared about. Phillip wasn’t very happy when I broke up with him. Looking back, I guess I can’t really blame him for at. It wasn’t until then, when I saw this side of him.”

Belle and Nick sat in an awkward silence for several minutes as Max pulled the limo into the driveway of the house. “I guess we should in,” Nick finally said quietly moving to open the door.

“Nick,” Belle said grabbing his arm and forcing him to face her. She could see the uncertainty in his eyes. “I’m not sorry Phillip and I broke up. I thought it was love. That was just a childish illusion, I know that now. My past feelings for him, could never even compare to the feelings I have for you. I know my reasons for breaking up with him weren’t the best, but those fears are hard to exorcise, and I still have done that completely.” She paused letting Nick see her vulnerability. “Just give me some time, please,” she pleaded.

Nick waited a beat, and then smiled reassuringly. “Let’s go inside, you’re tired.”

“Okay,” she said softly.

Arm in arm, they entered the house and started up the stairs. They walked towards the bedrooms without speaking. When they reached Belle’s room, Nick turned her to face him. Looking deep into her blue eyes he said, “I love you Isabella Black, and I’ll give you all the time you need.” He leaned forward and kissed her with more tenderness and love than she had ever known. Belle watched him walk to his room and enter before she turned around again and opened up the door to her room.

Nick had just shut the door to his room when he heard her bloodcurdling scream.

**********

“I’m going to get you now,” Marlena threatened as she get off the floor and started for her husband. Before she could reach him though, something caught her eye. She turned to look at the room and saw that dozens of vases overfilling with lilacs decorated the room. A fire was already roaring in the fireplace. She walked around the room taking it all in. When Marlena reached the door that lead to the bedroom, she opened it to find ivory silk sheets and yellow rose petals covering the bed. The walls danced with shadows from another fireplace and a multitude of candles lit all around the room.

“I hope this meets your standards.”

Marlena stood there silently unable to tear her gaze from the scene before her. “Let me go get your battle spoils.”

“No,” Marlena said forcefully. She turned around to see the confused look on John’s face. Her hands quickly moved to the lapel of his jacket and roughly stripped him off it. “You’re my battle spoil,” she said before capturing his mouth. John was caught off guard by his wife’s aggressiveness, but quickly met her passion and picked her off the ground without breaking the kiss. He tossed her on the soft bed and immediately climbed on top, completely forgetting about his surprise for her.

Night of Terror

The crackling of the roaring fire, the sound of silk gliding over moist skin, and soft moans of ecstasy dominated the room. A black evening gown, slip, and black silk stalkings lay with a black jacket and pants, white shirt, and black jockeye shorts, several feet from the bed, tangled together like their owners were.

“Mmmmm,” Marlena murmured as she slowly slid off John.

John took several deep breaths before finally sighing, “Wow.”

Marlena laughed as she propped herself on her elbow to look at her lover. John laid, still breathing deeply, with his ocean-blue eyes closed and a slight smile dancing on his lips. She took this chance to study his beautiful body. Time had changed it in some aspects, but to Marlena’s eyes those changes only served to make him more sexy. She loved the distinguished streaks of silver running through his still-thick hair. She could see the faint lines around his eyes and lips caused by his incredible smile. Her gaze moved further down. Like his head, silver mixed with black to adorn his still very muscular chest. She continued her journey downward to his stomach, not quite the six pack he once sported, but still relatively flat. The silk sheets rested haphazardly on his hips, barely masking his manhood.

John cleared his throat, snapping Marlena out of her reverie. Her gaze quickly traveled back to his face to see his eyes wide open, regarding her with his mouth curved into a big smile. Ignoring his amusement at having caught her, Marlena said, “Wow? Is that all you have to say?”

John lifted up to nibble on her ear lobe. “Yep, I think ‘wow’ is about all I can say right now. What about you,” he asked as Marlena laughed. “What do you have to say?”

“Ahhhh,” she said thinking. “I would have to say that you’ve definitely ‘spoiled’ me,” referring to their earlier flirting. She turned to kiss him, but John suddenly stopped everything and stood up and walked out of the room, grabbing his robe along the way. “John,” Marlena called out in confusion. She got up and was wrapping her robe around her body when John walked back into the room. “What’s wrong?”

Without speaking, John brought his hands from behind his back. He held a silver bowl in each hand. One held a mountain of plump, juicy strawberries; the other was filled with what was probably once whipped cream, but now looked like a milky soup.

Marlena’s hand flew to her mouth, not quite successful in stifling her laughter. She looked up at John, her eyes full of mirth. She tried to collect herself to ask John what that was, but he saved her the trouble. “These,” he emphasized, “were your battle spoils. I hid them in the other room and was planning to give them to you along with myself to celebrate your victory. Someone distracted me though, and I forgot about them, leaving the whipped cream to melt.”

Marlena couldn’t help but to laugh at his dejected expression. “Oh honey, I’m sorry. Although,” she said thoughtfully, “you could be on to something.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” she said while slowly untying her robe, “I’m sure if we put our heads together, we could come up with something to do with these.” John watched as the white, fluffy robe fell to her feet, revealing a most beautiful sight. Without another word, Marlena gently took the bowls from John’s hands and set them on the table. Then, her nimble fingers moved to the belt on his robe, quickly untying it.

John stood silently, watching as his wife reached for a particularly large strawberry on the top of the heap. She studied the luscious berry for several seconds before plunging it into the milky pool of liquid, thoroughly coating it and her fingertips in the sugary foam. Streams of melted cream flowed down her fingers as she brought the berry to John’s eager mouth. He slowly chewed the juicy fruit, still watching Marlena as she sensually licked the milky liquid from her hand. She then dipped two fingers into the cream and swirled patterns along his chest, leaving a trail of sweet froth. John shut his eyes in ecstasy as he felt her tongue travel along sticky path. Wanting in on the act, he mimicked her actions. The saltiness of her taste mixed with the sugary foam overwhelmed John. Her soft moans sent his desire skyrocketing. He met her lips in an extremely passionate and erotic kiss. Their tongues tangled and caressed; battled and fondled.

“John,” Marlena breathed between kisses, “we’re….all…..sticky.” Shocks of desire went coursing through her body as John sucked and nibbled on her neck and chest, causing her to forget what she had just said. Her eyes flew open in surprise when she no longer felt her husband’s glorious body pressed against hers. “Wha-”

John was walking towards the bathroom. “I’m all sticky. I’m going to take a shower,” he said calmly. Marlena stood paralyzed with shock as John shut the door. After several seconds, the door opened and John stuck his head out. “Well, are you coming, or not?”

Screams of laughter and delight echoed throughout the suite as Marlena ran to join John in the shower.

**********

Screams of terror echoed throughout the hallway as Nick sprinted to Belle’s room.

He threw the door open, preparing to save Belle from some unknown attacker. Instead, he found nothing out of the ordinary. His gaze swept across the room to find some clue of what had happened. Except for a few files, her desktop was clear; no drawers were overturned on the floor. He ran to her closet doors and checked inside, finding only a few clothes strewn on the floor. He then noticed a light coming from her bathroom. When he got there, he saw various beauty products scattered on the counters, but nothing out of the ordinary. Panicked, Nick ran back into the bedroom. It was then when he saw a shape huddled in the corner, hugging her knees. “Belle,” he exclaimed racing towards her. Her eyes were open and fixated on the opposite wall, but it didn’t seem like she saw Nick or heard him. He gently touched her shoulder, causing Belle to jump from his hand and bury her head in her arms and begin to rock back and forth. Nick’s heart broke in two, to see his love in such a state. Desperate to know what was wrong and help her, he pleaded, “Beauty, it’s me, Nick. Come on, baby, talk to me please.”

He almost missed it, but Nick noticed her rocking slow down and her arms loosen from her head. “That’s it, baby. Come on, you can do it.”

“Nick?”

He heard the soft whimper escape her lips. “Yes, Beauty,” he answered excitedly. “It’s me, sweetheart.”

Slowly, she raised her head and her eyes focused on his face. Throwing herself into his arms, she began to sob. They sat there, embracing for several minutes as Belle cried into Nick’s chest. After a while, Nick noticed her sobs getting softer. “Beauty,” he questioned softly. He heard her saying something, so Nick lowered his head to try and catch it.

“No…no…no,” she whimpered over and over.

“Baby, talk to me,” Nick whispered. “What happened?”

“No…no,” she kept repeating. Suddenly she pulled her head away from his chest and looked straight into his eyes. “He’s dead.”

“Who’s dead, baby? Belle, who’s dead?”

“He dead,” she said more emphatically. “He’s dead. He’s dead. He’s got to be dead. He’s dead. He’s dead,” she said over and over as if trying to convince herself.

“Beauty, you’ve got to talk to me. Who’s dead?”

Her gaze slowly left his and moved back to the wall she was staring at earlier. Nick turned to see what she was looking at. Her bed was still made, covered in a beautiful quilt. Several family pictures hung above the intricately carved oak headboard. Big windows were in the wall on either side of the bed. The lace curtains swayed in the slight winter breeze. Unable to find anything wrong, Nick looked back at Belle. “Who’s dead?”

“Stefano,” she finally whispered.

“I know, sweetheart, “ Nick said confused. “We talked about this the other day, remember? Stefano died years ago.”

“But he didn’t!”

“Of course he did, Belle. You saw him yourself,” he reasoned.

“No, he isn’t dead,” she said shaking her head. “He was here.”

**********

He lowered the binoculars, “Everything is going according to plan.”

Inside the Wall

The morning star was slowly disappearing beneath the twisting swirls of pinks and oranges that stained the horizon. A light frost covered the ground. Small clouds of frozen air appeared every time Nick exhaled as he ran along the trail, trying to keep up with Belle.

He woke that morning much earlier than usual, with a small cramp in his neck from sleeping on the couch. Belle couldn’t stay in her room; the images kept haunting her mind, so they changed out of their formal wear and eventually settled in the family room for the night. Nick held her in his arms as they laid on the couch, fully intending to wait until she drifted off the sleep before he shut his eyes too.

Nick awoke to see Belle sitting out on the terrace. She had several files and books setting on the table beside her, carefully arranged to look as though she was in the process of studying the information they presented. Instead, Belle sat cross-legged in the deck chair, wrapped in a wool blanket, watching as the early pale sun peeked above the river’s waters. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” she replied softly with a small smile she didn’t quite feel. Her gaze returned to the horizon as he sat on the other side of the table.

“You never went to sleep last night, did you?”

Belle didn’t say a word as she reached for her mug of hot tea and raised it to her lips. Nick was beginning to become angry at the way she would shut him out like this, but reminded himself that he couldn’t push her. She needed to talk to him when she was ready. So they sat there in silence, each taking turns sipping the steamy liquid from the mug and watching the sun rise. Almost thirty minutes later, Belle abruptly stood and stretched. “I’m going to go for a jog. Would you like to join me?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll just go change,” she said, gathering the files and books from the table and walked into the house, letting the blanket trail behind her. Five minutes later, she skipped down the stairs wearing thick cotton, black spandex pants, a black long sleeved shirt, and a University of Colorado t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a black bandanna to keep it out of her eyes, and to cover her ears. Black knit gloves covered her delicate hands to keep them from the cold winter air.

They spent several minutes stretching before stepping out the back door. Without a word, Belle immediately took off across the yard towards the river, leaving Nick to catch up. Still a few paces ahead of him, Belle led Nick onto a well-beaten dirt path that wound in and out of the small forest following the river’s edge. That was almost five miles ago. Belle’s fast pace never let up. It was like she was being chased by something or someone unseen. About a quarter of a mile later Nick finally caught up with her. “Belle,” he exclaimed grasping her arm as he stopped.

“What are you doing,” she asked, looking annoyed at the interruption.

“Let’s just stop for a moment and rest.”

“You can rest, I’m going ahead,” she replied already jogging away.

Nick couldn’t take it anymore, his temper finally exploded as Belle continued to avoid dealing with what had happened the night before. “What are you running away from,” he yelled causing Belle to stop in her tracks.

Her head whipped around, eyes blazing with fury. “What?”

Nick slowly walked towards her. “I said,” he repeated in a calm tone, belaying his anger, “what, exactly, are you running away from?”

“What are you talking about,” she said indignant of his accusation. “I’m not running away from anything.”

“To hell you’re not!”

“Don’t you dare yell at me!”

“Then don’t lie to me!” Nick roared and took a few steps towards Belle. He pointed his finger at her, his knuckles white. “You haven’t talked to me once since last night.”

“That’s absurd,” Belle said, rolling her eyes. “What have I been doing all morning?”

“Saying words, Belle, nothing more! ‘Good morning’ ‘Would you like some tea?’ What a pretty sunrise.’ Those words are empty, they’re not saying anything,” Nick said in a voice choking with emotion. “I need you to talk to me, let me know what you’re thinking, tell me what you’re feeling. I know what happened last night frightened you-”

“No,” she shouted, her face red with rage. “Don’t act like you know what I feel! You have no idea how I’m going through!”

“Then tell me!” Nick paused and said quietly, “Belle, it’s like you’ve built this fortress around your soul. Whenever I start to get close to really understanding you, really getting you, all of the sudden I run head first into this brick wall.” He punched his palm to emphasize the words. “I try to break through it, go around it, climb over it, nothing works,” the speed and volume of Nick’s voice rising in proportion to his anger. He looked towards the river for a moment, before turning back to Belle. His voice drops and gains a tone of desperation, “and I’m just about to give up and abandon it, when all of a sudden you crack open this small window and let me peek in; like yesterday on the pier or last night in the car. You allow me a tiny glimpse of what’s behind that wall. There is so much back there, Belle. So much of you that I’m not allowed to see. But, before I can make anything out, make any sense of it, you slam the window shut, and I’m left feeling further away than I started.”

Belle stood silently with tears staining her cheeks as Nick gazed into her eyes. “Let me in, Belle,” he pleaded.

“I can’t,” she screamed as a fresh round of tears began to fall from her deep blue eyes. “I can’t let see that! I have to protect you!”

“Protect me from what,” Nick asked, his voice matching hers. “What do I need protected from, Belle? You?”

“Yes, me!”

“No,” Nick said. “I don’t buy it, Belle. You’re not shutting me out to protect me, you’re doing it to protect yourself. You have this idea that if you never let anyone get close to you, you’re going to save yourself from all of this pain. Maybe you’re right; maybe in the end you will save yourself from some suffering. All I know is that without pain, you’ll never know any happiness.”

“You might be able to live that way,” Nick continued, “but, baby, I can’t. I need someone that I can share my highs and lows with; my sorrow and grief, my joy, and my fear. And I need someone who will share theirs with me. Can you do that, Belle? Can you let me inside?”

Nick stood there for several seconds as Belle was silent. She was chewing on her lip, and slowly opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words came out.

“I guess I got my answer,” Nick said and quickly turned around and began to jog away before Belle could see the tears in his eyes.

He only got about 50 yards away before he had to turn and look at the woman who had just broken his heart. She was now sitting on the ground with her head in her hands. Her shoulders were quaking with sobs. ‘Why can’t I stay away from her?’ Slowly, he walked back to where Belle sat and crouched down beside her.

“You were right,” she said softly, lifting her head to meet Nick’s questioning eyes. “I was terrified. Last night, when I walked into my room, it was completely dark and I was about to turn on the lights when I saw his eyes. They were red and glowing and they kept looking at me like they were burning a hole into my very soul. It was the same pair of eyes that haunted me in sleep for years after I shot him, they’d come back to haunt me again.” Belle paused to take a deep breath and roughly swipe the tears off her cheeks. “I don’t know how long I stood there, frozen in his stare. I’m not really sure what happened next. I don’t remember turning the light switch, but suddenly they came on and I could see him. He was a phoenix. This huge, black demon sitting on my bed. I screamed and those red eyes looked at me for what felt like hours. Then it took off, out the window, into the dark night.”

Nick pulled her into his arms and began to soothe her.

“It was a nightmare, Nick.”

“I know baby, I know,” he whispered.

“No,” Belle said shaking her head. “No, you don’t understand. It really was a nightmare. A recurring nightmare that I had when I was a little girl. I’d always dream that Stefano would come back as a phoenix and carry me off into the night. Sometimes, he come to take me and my mother. Sometimes, though, he’d come only for me; to hurt me for killing him.”

Nick didn’t know what to say. “We need to tell your parents.”

“No, we can’t.”

“Why not, Belle,” he asked exasperated. “Don’t you think they have a right to know what happened?”

“Nothing happened!”

“Of course something happened, you just said Stef-”

“Stefano’s dead, Nick. I killed him, remember? He wasn’t in my room last night.”

“But the bird…”

“Nick, if there was a bird sitting on my bed, and I’m not saying there was, it certainly wasn’t a phoenix. I imagined it.”

“I don’t understand,” Nick said, confused.

“I made it up,” she said. “Not intentionally, of course,” Belle quickly added. “It’s just ever since Daddy told us about Peter escaping, my mind has kept wandering to him and his father. I’m sure my subconscious remembered my childhood dreams and last night when I was tired, my mind played tricks on me and reenacted those nightmares.”

“I still think we need to tell your parents.”

“Nick, they worry about me so much anyway, do we really need to give them more reason? Especially when it’s really nothing?” She sighed when Nick didn’t answer. “Sweetheart, they have so much to deal with, without me dumping all of this on them too. Please, for me, don’t say anything to my parents about this.”

Nick exhaled a deep breath. “If you don’t want to tell them, I’ll respect that.”

“Oh, thank you so much,” Belle gushed throwing her arms around him.

Nick pulled her away from his body and stared into her eyes. They stayed that way for several seconds, communicating in silence. Finally Belle spoke, her voice wavering, “Nick, I’ve been building this wall for more than 15 years. I can’t tear it down in one day.”

“I don’t expect you to tear it down in one day, nor do I expect you to do it by yourself. I want to help you and be there for you, Belle. But, you have to let me and you have to work with me.” Nick paused, “Can you do that?”

Teary-eyed, Belle shook her head in assent. “Do you have any idea how much I care for you,” she asked softly.

“Yes,” he answered, “and I’ll be here with you when you can finally tell me just how much.” Nick reached out and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks with his fingertips.

“Mom and Dad should be getting home soon.”

“Maybe we should head back, then,” Nick replied.

He knew she was thinking mischievous thoughts before she spoke, by the mysterious smile dancing on her lips. “Race you back,” she hollered as she began to sprint away, her laughter trailing behind.

Mysteries Abound

Belle felt her hand reach the brass door handle a split second before Nick’s came down upon hers. “I won,” she exclaimed breathlessly as Nick opened the door and they walked into the sun room.

“You cheated!”

“I did not!” Belle replied indignantly and shrugged her shoulders. “I just took a different route.”

“Yeah, a route that was significantly shorter,” Nick said pointedly.

“Well, if you weren’t so busy celebrating the fact that you passed me, you might have seen me turn off the trail, onto the shorter path.”

“You cheated.”

Belle smiled and wrapped her arms around Nick’s neck. “I won. And now, I get my prize,” she said and kissed him passionately.

“I never can stay mad with you,” Nick sighed when their lips finally parted.

“Well, it’s a different technique than the one she uses with her father and me, but it sounds as though the outcome is the same.”

Nick and Belle turned to see Marlena standing in the doorway with an amused grin on her lips. Her smile grew bigger as her daughter began to blush, reminiscent of the way she always would, and quickly moved away from Nick.

“Good morning, Mom,” Belle said as the gave her mother a hug. “How was your night?”

Neither Nick nor Belle could miss the sparkle in Marlena’s hazel eyes as she replied, “It was wonderful. How about yours?”

“Great,” Belle answered quickly. “I’m so glad the board decided to name the new wing in honor of you and daddy. No one is more deserving,” she said hugging Marlena again.

Marlena noticed Nick looking somewhat uncomfortable. “What about you, Nick. I hope last night wasn’t your worst nightmare come true,” she joked.

“What,” he asked sharply, with a worried look in his eyes.

Taken back by his response, Marlena looked to Belle, then back to Nick and said, “I was just referring to having to spend the night in a tuxedo with a lot of people you don’t know. John told me you weren’t thrilled at the idea of a tux. I hope the night wasn’t too bad,” she finished concerned.

Nick sighed, relieved. “Of course not,” he answered. “I had a great time meeting everyone.” Feeling a little uneasy under Marlena’s gaze, Nick said, “Well, I think I’ll go take a shower.”

Belle watched as he raced out of the room. She closed her eyes and subtly shook her head. ‘Smooth one, Nick.’ When she turned back, she found her mom studying her intently. Suddenly anxious to leave, Belle said, “I better get cleaned up, too.”

She was almost to the doorway when Marlena called out, “Belle, wait.” Belle stopped in her tracks and turned to face her mother.

“What’s up?”

Looking past her daughter’s forced grin, Marlena saw the fear and pain in her crystal blue eyes. “Come here,” she instructed, and put her arm around Belle’s shoulders leading her to the couch where they both sat down. Neither one said a word for several seconds. Marlena watched as Belle’s eyes were downcast, focused on her index finger as she traced the complex pattern embroidered on the sofa’s soft fabric. After a minute or so, Marlena finally spoke. “So are you going to tell me what’s wrong, or do I have to guess?” When it was clear Belle wasn’t going to answer her, she continued. “Well, considering what I walked in on, I think I can rule out any problems with Nick.”

Belle looked up to see her mother smiling brightly. “Mom,” she said warningly, her voice tinged with laughter.

Marlena’s expression grew more serious. “And judging from the circles under your eyes, it looks as though you’re having problems sleeping.”

Rolling her eyes and dropping her head onto the back of the couch, Belle sighed, “Have I ever told you that your perceptiveness can be extremely annoying sometimes?” She paused, trying to decide on the best way to address her mother’s concerns without causing undue worry. “I’ve just been caught off guard lately with hearing from the Howard’s and then to find out that Peter Blake has escaped. It’s overwhelming. I’ve just had a lot to think about that’s all, and I guess the last few nights I haven’t gotten as much sleep as I’m used to.” Belle rested her hand on Marlena’s arm. Azure eyes locked on hazel ones. “Mom, don’t worry about it. I’m fine,” she said forcefully.

Marlena knew she was being presented with only a small part of the whole story, but also realized that for some reason, her youngest daughter wasn’t ready to tell her everything yet. She cradled Belle’s face in her hands and slowly leaned forward to kiss her on her silken cheek. Pulling back, she allowed all of her love for her baby to shine through in her gaze. “Go get cleaned up,” she replied quietly.

Belle raised her hands to cover her mother’s. “I love you. And don’t worry about me, I’ll be okay,” she said and smiled. Slowly, she rose from the sofa and left the room.

“I hope so,” Marlena whispered to herself.

**********

“I’ll talk to you later, Partner.”

“How’s Abe,” Marlena asked absently, as she studied the file of her newest patient. When John didn’t answer her; she shut the file, laid it upon the table, and took off her glasses. Her husband stood with his back to her, staring out the bay window. “John?”

“Huh,” John uttered distractedly. He turned to see her beautiful hazel eyes gazing questioningly. “I’m sorry, Doc. What did you say?”

“I just asked you how Abe was. What were you thin

king about,” Marlena inquired, concerned.

Exhaling deeply, John sank into his favorite armchair. “Abe was just telling me about this case that has the whole department running around. The other day, Bo and Hope finally came up with the first solid lead, but before they could follow it, Abe got a phone call from Sennett Hudson.”

“Chief of the ISA?”

“The very same. With the vague threats, hints, and roundabout talk the ISA is famous for, he ordered Abe to ignore that lead and stick to the other ones that are bound to go nowhere.”

“Why is the ISA getting involved,” Marlena asked.

Shaking his head, John replied, “That’s just it. They aren’t involved.”

“I don’t understand,” said Marlena confused.

“Bo called Shane Donovan to see if he could get an explanation.”

“But, Shane’s not in the ISA anymore.”

“No,” John conceded, “but as special council to the President, he’s usually kept in the loop about these things. Anyway, he said that ‘officially’ the ISA are not involved in any way with this case.”

“So for some reason, the ISA doesn’t want anyone, including the people they answer to, to know they are involved,” Marlena concluded. “Why?”

“I don’t know. That’s what bothers me.”

Before Marlena could ask any more questions, the rich tones of the doorbell echoed throughout the house. “I’ll get it,” she said, rising to answer the front door. ‘Whoever you are, you need to learn some patience,’ Marlena thought as the bell rang several times before she reached it. “Yes,” she said annoyed as the heavy oak door swung open to reveal a young man in his early twenties. He looked up, and Marlena felt her heart stop as she gazed into his crystal blue eyes.

“Hi, Mom.”

Family Reunion

“Brady?” Marlena breathed. Her amber eyes widened as she took in the young man on her doorstep. Auburn streaks ran through his chestnut hair, long enough to cover his ears. A worn brown leather jacket hung on his broad shoulders, with an old baseball jersey peeking from underneath. His cobalt blue eyes sparkled with mischievous, and his slightly crooked smile caused her breath to catch.

“Surprise,” Brady laughed. No matter how much his mother said she despised surprises, the look on her face was always worth it. Her pale rose lips were slightly apart, trembling. Her golden specked eyes widened, then narrowed as she attempted to stall the crystalline tears threatening to fall down her flushed cheeks.

“Brady!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck. “Oh baby, let me look at you,” Marlena said pulling back and grasping his face in her hands. “You look so much like your Daddy, so handsome.” She ran her right hand through his thick hair. “You need a haircut, though.”

“Maybe he’ll listen to you,” came a voice behind him. “I’ve been trying to tell him that for weeks.”

Marlena saw Brady’s fiancée, Natalie, standing a few steps back on wooden porch. Natalie Richard, was the daughter of a prominent French diplomat in Washington and Japanese translator at the U.N. in New York. Her mother’s Asian influence was apparent in her silky jet black hair, high cheekbones, and delicate features. Natalie’s most striking feature, however, she inherited from her father. Her almond shaped eyes were grey as slate, sometimes gaining a slightly violet hue. Marlena always said they reminded her of liquid silver.

She was a law student at Georgetown University, and her roommate in college was Jeannie Donovan. Jeannie introduced Natalie to her ‘cousin’, Brady Black, who was attending nearby Johns Hopkins. The two got involved and last March, after 3 years of dating, Brady proposed.

“Natalie!”

“Hello, Marlena,” the young girl said affectionately as she set her bags down to hug her mother-in-law to be.

“Come in, come in,” Marlena said, still trying to get over the shock of seeing her youngest son on the front step.

“Baby, who’s at the door?” called John’s deep voice as he rounded the corner and saw his youngest son. “Brady?”

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hey Slugger,” John said, pulling the young man into a bear hug. As they pulled apart, John gripped his son’s upper arms and held him still, looking him over. “You look good, kid,” he finally said with a big smile.

“He needs a haircut,” Marlena and Natalie both chimed. The older man laughed as Brady rolled his eyes.

“Natalie, it’s great to see you,” John said warmly, hugging her.

“It’s wonderful to see you too, John. I’m so happy we were able to come out to see everyone.”

“Speaking of,” Marlena piped up, “I thought you said that you and Natalie weren’t going to be able to make it to Salem for Christmas this year, Brady.”

“Well, we weren’t,” Brady stammered. “But then we were,” he said vaguely. “It’s a long story.”

“I like long stories,” Marlena replied.

“Yeah,” he muttered softly under his breath. “Where’s Belle?” John grinned at his son’s response to Marlena’s questions. Knowing he was only postponing the inevitable, John answered Brady’s desperate plea. “She’s in the T.V. room with her boyfriend watching a movie.”

“Ahhh, yes, the mysterious boyfriend. I can’t wait to meet him,” Brady said already headed down the hallway to the T.V. room.

Slowly twisting the handle, Brady quietly opened the door. Light from the hallway fled into the dark room, illuminating the couple on the couch. John Wayne was dragging Maureen O’Hara across the plush green fields of Ireland as “The Quiet Man” played on the television screen. Nick and Belle, however, were oblivious to the movie and the light as they sat on the sofa, lost in each other’s kisses. Brady turned to see his mother and father and Natalie come up behind him and glimpse the couple. They shared bemused grins as Brady raised his finger to his lips, telling them to be silent. He turned back the dark room and it’s inhabitants. Pausing for a moment to collect himself, Brady turned on the lights and hollered, “Get your hands off my sister!”

John, Marlena, Brady, and Natalie couldn’t hold their amusement in any longer. They burst into laughter as Nick and Belle jumped several inches in the air, startled by Brady’s outcry. Her embarrassment was quickly forgotten, however, when Belle saw her brother standing in the doorway. “Brady!,” she shrieked, quickly climbing over the back to the sofa and running to him. Her golden hair fanned around her head, as Brady lifted her off the ground and twirled her around.

“Hi, Beauty. I missed you.”

“Oh, I missed you too, Brade,” Belle replied. “It’s so good to see you.” Suddenly, Belle straightened. Her ecstatic grin is replaced with an annoyed frown and her eyes narrowed. “I thought you weren’t coming until Thursday,” she accused and punched his shoulder, somewhat playfully. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d be here earlier?”

“You mean you knew Brady and Natalie were coming?” Marlena asked.

Brady swallowed, as both turned to face him; their arms crossed across their chests, their jaws set with a determined look, their eyes searching for answers. He quickly glanced to his father, looking for help.

John stifled a laugh at his son’s panicked expression and shook his head. “You’re on your own, kid.”

Taking a deep breath, Brady turned back to his mother and sister. “Mom, I told you we weren’t coming home for Christmas, because I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to get away and I didn’t want to get your hopes up if we couldn’t make it. Besides, I wanted to surprise you if we could come. And I told Belle, because,” Brady paused a moment to think. “Well, because I always tell Belle. You know I can’t keep a secret from her.”

Belle let out a small “hmpf” at Brady’s last sentence. She glared at him disbelieving.

“Beauty,” Brady started, addressing his baby sister. “Natalie and I weren’t planning on coming out until Thursday, like I told you. But, I was able to finish my project earlier than I thought, and the case Natalie was working on ended unexpectedly.”

“The client’s ex-wife confessed last night,” Natalie explained, shrugging her shoulders.

“So,” Brady continued, “After Natalie finished all of the paperwork, we hopped on the first plane to Salem.” He finished and looked at Belle, then his Mom, trying to determine what they were thinking.

“You know I loathe surprises,” Marlena began in a serious tone, before smiling widely, “but, I’m just so happy you’re both here. I can’t muster up enough energy to mad.”

Brady sighed relieved, then looked to Belle.

“You could have picked up a phone, you know,” she said, pointing her index finger. “They have them all over.”

“Beauty,” he said coming closer.

“Don’t you dare,” she warned.

“What,” Brady asked innocently still advancing towards her.

“Don’t you dare tick-” was all Belle was able to get out before Brady grabbed her and began to tickle her stomach.

“Stop!” she screamed. “I give up! Okay, okay, I forgive you.”

Brady instantly stopped. “I knew you couldn’t stay mad at me,” he said smiling.

“Oh you,” she replied trying to catch her breath. She looked back up at him, her eyes sparkling like diamonds. “It’s good to see you, Brade.” She paused, looking at him critically. “You could use a haircut, though.”

Brady threw his arms up in defeat as John, Marlena, and Natalie began to laugh. Belle walked over to Natalie and hugged her hello.

“Brady, Natalie, I’d like to introduce you to my boyfriend, Nick Edwards. Nick, this is my brother, Brady and his fiancée, Natalie Richard.”

“I’ve looked forward to meeting you,” Nick said as he shook their hands. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“I wish I could say the same,” Brady replied with an amused grin as the doorbell rang. “Ah, that must be the Chinese take-out I ordered.” He headed for the door, as Marlena quickly grabbed his arm.

“Did you consider that I might have already made dinner for tonight, Brady,” she asked.

“I thought about that,” he insisted. “So, I ordered Chinese for everyone,” he said and left the room to answer the door.

“When did everyone become a stand-up comic?” Marlena muttered as the rest of the family laughed.

Fortune of an Heiress

Evans-Black Hospital Wing Dedicated at Lavish Gala

By Kathleen Dewhurst

‘Everyone who is anyone in Salem society gathered at the Salem Inn Banquet Room last night to dedicate the newest wing of University Hospital. The night, however, belonged to Salem’s royal family, the Blacks…’

**********

Kathleen laid her wire-rimmed glasses carefully on the newspaper, and rubbed her tired eyes. She had spent the entire day in her office working on her column for tomorrow’s edition. Material wasn’t Kathleen’s problem, between the Watson divorce and the Kirakis – Devereaux engagement; she had enough to fill three columns. She had also gotten a phone call earlier in the evening that Brady Black and his fiancée were in town for the holidays. No, she had plenty of material. What she was lacking was the information she was looking for, background on young Ms Black’s mystery man.

Stifling a yawn, Kathleen ran a hand through her salt-and-pepper hair, put her glasses back on and began to read what she had gathered on the young man for what must have been the tenth time.

Name: Nicholas James Edwards

Age: 23 years

Parents: Harrison and Rebecca Edwards

Father’s occupation: real estate

Mother’s occupation: homemaker

Place of Birth: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Kathleen paused. ‘Baton Rouge,’ she mused. ‘Well, best to start at the beginning,’ she thought as she picked up the phone and began to dial.

*************

“The other day, Mike and I took Lauren and Tommy sledding in the park,” John’s animated voice filled the room.

Empty Chinese cartons and wine glasses decorated the coffee table. Firelight from the roaring fire set the entire room aglow. Brady and Natalie were lounging lazily on one of the sofas. Resting in an oversized chair was Nick with Belle sitting Indian style on the floor beneath him. Marlena was relaxing on the other sofa, her bare feet resting in her husband’s lap. All attention was on John as he began to tell yet another story.

“I was laughing at Mike who had gone chasing after Tommy, when I hear this little voice whisper urgently, ‘Grandpa!’ I turned around and saw Lauren hiding behind a tree, gesturing for me to come closer,” John laughed as he imitated his granddaughter’s actions. His eyes were sparkling and he had to take a moment to catch his breath. “So, I look back to Mike, who was chasing Tommy around the swing set, and tip-toed over to Lauren, bent down and asked her, ‘What’s up, sunshine?’ And she said, ‘Grandpa, have you ever seen Santa Claus?’ When I said, no, she told me that this year, her and Tommy had come up with a fool-proof plan to see Santa.”

He paused and looked around the room expectantly. Belle glanced over to Brady, and saw the amused smile she was attempting to hide dance upon her brother’s lips. Sighing exasperatedly, she rolled her eyes at her father’s theatrics and asked the question so he would continue with his story. “So, what’s their fool-proof plan to see Santa?”

With a playful wink, John said, “Their plan, Lauren told me, is that they are going to wait until everyone goes to sleep, then sneak into the living room with their pillows and blankets, lay on the couch, and wait for Santa to come. So I ask her, what if they fall asleep before the big guy comes. She said that her and Tommy are going to line up toys around the fireplace, so Santa will trip on them when he comes and that will wake them up.

Tiny streams of tears ran down Marlena’s cheeks as she laughed at her grandchildren’s antics. “And what happens when Santa just steps over the toys?”

“No, no,” John said, almost in hysterics. “That’s the best part. I asked her that, and she looked at me with the most serious expression and said,” he stopped, because he was laughing so hard. “She said, ‘He’ll trip. Grandma Marnie says that people ALWAYS trip when toys are on the floor.'”

“Oh no!” Marlena shrieked, as Brady and Belle rolled with laughter, recalling their mom saying those very words to them when they were younger.

“I hope you warned Mike and Carrie about their youngest children’s plot to catch Santa,” Marlena said, still chuckling.

“I did,” he replied. “I told Carrie what Lauren said when Mike took the kids upstairs to get cleaned up.”

“And?”

“And, she mentioned something about taking your Christmas present back to the store,” John laughed.

“Don’t worry, Mom,” Belle said reassuringly. “Carrie was telling me about it last night, and she said that Mike had taken care of the situation. I guess he told Lauren and Tommy that Santa was magic and didn’t trip on toys like normal people did.”

Marlena sighed, “Thank goodness.”

“Of course,” Belle continued with a smile, “my smart little niece and nephew countered that argument by concluding that that meant they just had to be especially careful not to fall asleep.” She paused, as her parent’s eyes grew wide. “Fortunately,” said Belle, “Carrie convinced them that Santa’s magical powers also let him know whether or not kids were asleep in bed like they should be, and if he found out they weren’t in bed, he just might skip the house all together.”

Nick snorted, “I’m sure that took care of any arguments from the kids.”

“You bet,” she replied. “Carrie said they are so determined to be in bed and asleep when St. Nick comes, they decided to move their bedtime up an hour.”

“We should have told Brady and Belle that when they were younger,” John said. He turned to Nick and said in a confidential tone of voice, “Trying to get those two to go to sleep on Christmas Eve was enough to make even the most patient person throw their hands up in the air in defeat.”

Belle and Brady laughed as Marlena continued, “It was a two step process. First, was getting them into bed.”

“Before even considering going to bed, they had to make a plate full of crackers, cheese, and summer sausage and a glass full of milk to leave for Santa,” described John. “Then, they had to write Santa a letter. Next, was getting their teeth brushed, hair combed, and pajamas on. That alone would take about twenty minutes. The next twenty minutes would be spent trying to convince them to sleep in their own rooms. We knew that if they were in the same room, they’d be up all night talking to one another.” John smiled as he recalled how passionately his little cherubs argued to stay together. “In the end, they’d always get their way and we’d let Belle sleep with Brady in his room.”

Brady looked over to his sister. The feeling of warmth and happiness he felt was mirrored on her face, as they both remembered those nights filled with magic and wonder. They would stay awake all night talking, trying to guess what Santa would bring them and coming up with reasons to leave his room and try to catch of glimpse of a big, jolly man dressed in red.

“The second step was keeping them in bed,” Marlena said, as if she read Brady’s mind.

John groaned, “Bathroom breaks, requests for a glass of water, bedtime stories,” he said. “You would not believe some of the excuses these two innocent looking kids would come up with.”

“Remember when Brady tried to tell us that he forgot to put one of the sugar cookies that he and Tabitha had made on the plate for Santa,” Marlena asked. “He just knew that he would be disappointed if we didn’t leave one out for him. When I told Brady that I would put on one the plate, he said that he better do it, because I might forget.”

Nick laughed. “Nice try, Brady.”

“Oh John,” Marlena said, “remember the time when Belle had ‘a horrible nightmare, Daddy.'”

“Will I ever live this down?” Belle moaned with her head in her hands.

“So, Marlena and I are downstairs getting everything ready for the morning,” John said, “when we hear Belle screaming, ‘Mommy, Daddy!’ We race up the stairs and find Beauty sitting at the top. I carry her into her room, and she starts telling her mom and I about this ‘nightmare’ she had. What a little storyteller! She told us she dreamt that an evil elf kidnapped the reindeer and took them to a tropical island where Santa couldn’t find them. She was telling us all about the mean people and the horrible monsters that lived on the island, when Marlena hears a sound in the hallway.”

“I found Brady trying to sneak downstairs, while his little sister provided the distraction,” Marlena laughed.

“Wow, you two really were determined to see Santa Claus, weren’t you,” Nick asked rhetorically.

“Oh come on, Nick,” Brady teased. “Don’t tell me you didn’t try to catch a peek of Santa when you were younger.

“Not really,” he wistfully replied. “We moved so often, I was too worried that Santa wouldn’t know where to find us, to think about actually seeing him.”

“That’s too bad,” Belle said. “What about you Natalie? Did you ever try to get a glimpse of old St. Nick?”

“Natalie?” Brady said, nudging her shoulder when no answer came.

“Looks like we bored her to sleep with all of our stories,” Marlena said as she viewed Natalie’s head resting on Brady’s chest, her eyes closed and a peaceful expression on her slender face.

“No,” Brady laughed. “She was just tired. She was up late last night finishing up the paperwork on her case, and getting packed and everything. Then she was up early this morning to do some last minute Christmas shopping, so she hasn’t gotten much sleep lately.” He looked down lovingly, and gently drew her silky hair away from her skin. A small smile touched his lips as he looked back to his parents and Nick and Belle. “I think I’ll take her upstairs and put her to bed.”

Marlena yawned and stood up. “That sounds like a good idea. I think I’m going to say goodnight, also.”

John rose to his feet. “Me, too.” He bent down and began to clean up the clutter on the coffee table.

“Don’t worry about that, Daddy,” Belle said. “I’ll get it.”

“Okay. Thanks sweetheart.”

Brady had stood up and with Natalie sleeping in his arms. She stirred for a moment and her eyes began to flutter. He gently kissed her forehead, and whispered, “Go to sleep, sweetheart.”

“Brady,” she murmured the corners of her lips curling ever so slightly, before falling asleep again. “Goodnight, everyone,” he said quietly and began up the staircase.

“Goodnight, sweet girl,” Marlena kissed Belle on the cheek. “Goodnight, Nick.”

John followed, also giving Belle a kiss on the cheek. “Goodnight, baby. Goodnight, Nick.” He turned to Marlena. “Well, shall we?” John asked as he gathered her into his arms and picked her up. Marlena threw her head back and laughed as they headed up the stairs.

Watching her Dad ascend the stairs with her Mom in his arms laughing, Belle smiled and climbed off the floor and sat on Nick’s lap. She sighed as she felt his strong arms wrapped around her slim form, and laid her head back on his shoulder. “I did warn you that my family was a little crazy, didn’t I?”

“Your family is wonderful,” Nick said softly in Belle’s ear, “just like you are.” They sat in silence for several minutes, each with their eyes closed, enjoying the feel of the other’s body close to their own. Nick slowly opened his eyes and looked at his watch. “Wow, I hadn’t realized how late it was,” he said, yawning. “Are you ready to head to bed, Belle?”

Belle stood and helped Nick out of the chair. “I don’t think so,” she replied. “Go ahead, though. I’m just going to pick up here a bit.”

“Well, I’ll help you.”

“No, you’re tired,” Belle said. “Go to bed. I’ll take care of this.”

“Belle,” said Nick admonishingly, “you haven’t had a decent night’s sleep since we’ve arrived in Salem. Let me help you with this and then we can go upstairs and go to sleep.”

“I’m fine,” she snapped, and immediately felt bad. “I’m sorry,” she whispered with her head in her hands, then quickly threw her arms around him. “I’m sorry,” she apologized again. “It’s just stress,” Belle explained as she withdrew from Nick’s embrace. “You know, a lot has happened in the last few days and I got a little stressed out. But, I’m fine,” she emphasized. “I’m going to clean up a little, pour myself a glass of brandy and relax by the fireplace.”

“And I will help you,” said Nick.

“No,” Belle said forcefully. “You’re tired. Go to sleep. Besides, I kinda want to be by myself.”

“Are you sure,” asked Nick, not looking convinced.

“Yes,” Belle laughed and hugged him once more, “but thank you for being so concerned. Goodnight,” she said and kissed him softly. “Sweet dreams.”

“Sweet dreams, Beauty.”

Belle watched as Nick walked slowly up the stairs, before gathering all of the empty cartons and glasses and headed to the kitchen. She was washing the last wine glass when she realized they had gotten so caught up in telling stories, that they forgot to open their fortune cookies. She rustled through the sack, but could only find one cookie. “I guess this one is mine,” she said. With a pop, the brittle cookie snapped in her delicate hands and Belle pulled the thin strip of paper from its center. She turned it over, then right side up to read the small, red print.

“Boo!”

She jumped in fright, dropping the paper. “Brady!” she barked, whipping around to see her older brother laughing. “You scared me half to death!” she scolded.

“Well, what are brothers for,” he joked.

“I continually ask myself that,” Belle quipped. “I thought you went to bed,” she said, turning her attention back to the counter and began to put away the glasses, forgetting all about the fortune.

“Nope.”

“Okay,” she said. “Well, I’m going to have a glass of brandy. Would like one?”

“Please,” Brady replied, “and allow me.”

With their brandy, Brady and Belle went back into the family room and sat on a small sofa facing the roaring fire in the fireplace. They sat in silence; Belle watching the flames leap and skip across the logs, Brady watching a mix of emotions sweep across her regal features.

She finally broke the silence. “What,” she said in an annoyed tone, not taking her eyes from the fire.

“What,” Brady asked with a look of feigned innocence.

“You keep looking at me, like you are waiting for me to do something,” she said and turned to face him. “What are you waiting for me to do?”

“I’m waiting for you to tell me what’s going on.”

“What do you mean, ‘what’s going on'” asked Belle, confused.

“You’re upset,” Brady stated matter-of-factly. “I’m waiting for you to tell me what is wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong!” Belle exploded. “Everything is fine! I am fine! How many times do I have to tell everyone that? Can I spend just a few minutes in peace; drinking my brandy and watching the fire, without you and everyone else hounding me to explain and justify every thought I have and every emotion I feel?

Brady didn’t flinch at his younger sister’s angry tirade. “Fine,” he said, and turned to the fireplace, sipping his brandy.

Again, silence pervaded the room, as the two sat, watching the orange and red flames dance around each other, never repeating a step. This time, Brady was the first to speak. “Do you remember that Christmas Mom and Dad were talking about, when you were telling them of a nightmare, and I was trying to sneak down to see Santa?”

Unsure of where he was going with this, Belle answered, “Of course. Mom and Dad tell that story every year during the holidays; several times, more often than not.”

“And do you remember what Christmas that was?”

“It was the Christmas after I was-” Belle stopped abruptly and glanced at Brady. His eyes were still focused on the fire. “It was the Christmas after Mom and Dad got married,” she said.

Brady nodded his head. “Our first Christmas as a ‘real’ family. I don’t think there any two kids more excited about the holidays as we were that year.”

“We were pretty wound up,” Belle agreed.

“That nightmare as distraction was an ingenious idea,” laughed Brady. “It almost worked.”

“Of course it was ingenious,” Belle said. “I thought of it.”

Brady snorted. “It was not. It was my idea.”

“No, I distinctly remember-” Belle started.

“Whoever came up with it,” interrupted Brady, “it was a good idea.”

Nodding her head in agreement, Belle lifted her glass to her lips. “It was my idea,” she whispered and sipped the brandy as Brady rolled his eyes and turned back to the fire. She felt the warm liquid’s soothing effect throughout her body.

“You never did tell me what your nightmare was about,” Brady said, causing Belle to choke on the brandy.

She coughed and cleared her throat. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. You heard Mom and Dad, I made up a some nightmare about reindeer and an evil elf.”

“I’m not talking about the story you made up to tell Mom and Dad, Belle,” he said in a low voice. “I’m talking about the real nightmare you had that night. The nightmare that made you cry and thrash around in the bed, waking me up. What was that nightmare about?”

Belle fidgeted nervously and didn’t meet his gaze. “I don’t remember.”

“I think you do,” Brady replied. When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “It was about Stefano wasn’t it? Earlier, you were about to say it was the Christmas after Stefano kidnapped you. Was that what you were dreaming about?”

“Yes,” she whispered and looked up, her eyes resembling crystal blue lakes threatening to flood. Two small tears escaped and slid down each side of her slender nose. “I dreamt he came back and kidnapped me again,” she said quietly. “Only this time, Daddy didn’t save me. This time, Stefano took me to an island, like he said he was going to do.” Several more tears followed the first two, leaving salty trails on her pale skin. “And all the people on the island were so mean and nobody would help me get back to my family. And none of you had any idea where I was.” By now, Belle was openly crying. “He would tell me that he would hurt you or Mom or Dad if I didn’t call him daddy and act like his daughter. Brady, I was so scared.”

Taking the glass from her trembling hands, Brady set it on the floor and gathered her in his arms. “It’s okay, Beauty,” he said reassuringly. ‘He’s gone. He’s gone and he can’t hurt you anymore.”

Belle raised her head and looked deep in his eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Sure, I’m sure,” he said confidently. “If this is about Peter Blake escaping from jail, Dad told me about it earlier tonight. He can’t hurt us, Belle. He’s sick and he can’t move a muscle without Dad finding him. You have no

thing to worry about from him.”

“That’s not all,” she whispered.

“What is it, Beauty,” asked Brady. “What is bothering you?”

Belle turned and watched the fire, silently contemplating. After a few seconds, she stood up. “One moment,” she said and walked into the next room. When she came back, she was digging around in her purse, pulled out a small envelope and handed it to Brady. It was addressed to Belle Black in Boulder, Colorado. The postmark was from Salem.

“What’s this,” Brady questioned.

“I got that in the mail a few weeks ago,” explained Belle. “Look inside.”

Puzzled, Brady opened the envelope and pulled out a newspaper clipping. It was an article from the Salem Chronicle. He glanced at the date, January 3, 1999. ‘Stefano DiMera Dead!’ the headline screamed.

“Who sent this,” he asked. “Why?”

Belle shook her head. “As for who, I don’t know. As for why, well, look at what was underlined.”

Brady looked back to the paper. ‘Heart failure was the cause of death, according to the coroner. Salem Police, under Captain Abe Carver’s supervision, is investigating the death.”

“Do you think someone knows?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Belle answered honestly, her eyes filling with tears again. “I’m afraid of what it might mean.”

“Have you told anyone about this; Mom and Dad, Nick?”

“No,” Belle said. “I didn’t want to show anyone. I guess it just makes it more real, somehow.”

He folded the clipping and placed it back into the envelope. “It’s just a prank,” Brady finally said. “Everyone is Salem knows our connection to Stefano. Someone just got a sick laugh from sending this to you.”

Upstairs, Nick couldn’t sleep. Every time he shut his eyes, he felt the anguish in her voice penetrate his soul. Tossing the down comforter aside, he quickly put socks on his cold feet. Hesitantly, he walked across the hall to her bedroom door. Opening the door a crack, he peeked inside. The bed was still empty. With more determination now, Nick marched down the staircase, resolved to find out exactly what was troubling Belle. He reached the bottom of the stairs when he heard soft voices in the family room. He peeked in to see Belle and Brady sitting on a sofa, their backs to him.

“I hope you’re right,” he heard her say. “I just wish I could never hear the name, Stefano DiMera, again.”

Nick squeezed his eyes in agony as he listened to her sweet voice confirm what he knew all along. ‘I can never tell you, Belle,’ painfully echoed in his mind as he quickly glanced back at the unknowing pair, and silently slipped back upstairs.

Unaware, Belle and Brady sat quietly, drawing strength from one another. Suddenly, Belle yawned. “Goodness, I’m tired,” she said.

Brady laughed. “Come on, Sleeping Beauty. Let’s go to bed.” With their arms around each other, they headed upstairs.

And lying forgotten on the wooden floor in the kitchen was a thin strip of paper with small, red print.

‘Seldom does the past remain in the past. You must not let it dominate the future.’

Only Love, Only Hate

June 14, 1990

Dear Diary ~

I saw him again last night. I swore to myself I wouldn’t. I swore I would forget about him, his touch, his love. How could I do this? How could I betray Daddy like this? How could I betray Samuel?

He loves me. That’s what Samuel told me as we said goodbye. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t tell him that I loved him, too. So I hung up the phone. I couldn’t move. I just sat there in the parlor in darkness, the only light coming from the open bay window. Streaks of white lightning flashed across the black satin sky, briefly illuminating the world below. Gusts of warm, moist winds whipped past the weeping willows, knocking stray branches to the earth. It has not begun to rain yet.

Daddy and Becca were asleep. I don’t know how long I sat, motionless, watching the storm rage outside. With every flash of lightning, thoughts of him came bursting forth from the dark recesses I keep them hidden.

I don’t remember leaving the parlor, or leaving the house. The next thing I remember clearly is standing on his doorstep. It felt like an eternity passed as I stood, waiting to see him. In that moment, I felt as though I had spent my entire life on that brick doorstep, waiting for him to open the door and allow me inside. I don’t know when it began to rain, but as I stood there, I felt the warm droplets of water glide down my skin. Finally, the red door opened and I saw him; the man whose face I see when I close my eyes; whose voice I hear in the middle of the night. He was wearing his robe, but I could tell he hadn’t been sleeping. He was awake for the same reason I was. He looked at me as if he was expecting me. Maybe he was. Without a word, he grasped my hand and guided me inside. We continued to walk in silence. We walked to the back of the house, and then he guided me into his bedroom. Then with the gentlest touch, he undid the small buttons on my wet blouse.

We made the sweetest love I’ve known. Afterwards, he told me he loves me, like he has done so many times before. Only this time I whispered back, “I love you, too.”

I sneaked back into the house this morning without Daddy noticing. It would break his heart if he knew where I had been. He loves Samuel like a son. How could I tell him that I’m in love with a man he considers a sworn enemy? Becca knew, though. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to, her eyes said it all. I felt so ashamed and guilty. I wish I could reassure her I will never see him again, but at the same time I can hear my own voice whisper to him, “I love you” and in my heart I know I will.

Love,

Annie

Carefully, he closed the old leather book and placed it back in his briefcase.

*********

Crack!

Natalie tucked a stray strand of her silky hair behind her ear and blindly reached for her mug of hot coffee.

Crack!

Keeping her eyes focused on the paper laying on the marble countertop before her, she lifted the mug to her lips. Pausing to breath in the scent of fresh macadamia nuts, she carefully sipped the steaming liquid.

Crack!

She set her mug down and looked up to see her fiancé tossing empty eggshells in the trash. “Brady?”

Grabbing the bowl, Brady turned to face Natalie. “Yes,” he replied, and began to beat the eggs into the mixture.

“Baseball Hunter.”

“How many letters?” he asked.

“Seven”

“C-A-T-F-I-S-H”

“Catfish?” Natalie replied questioningly.

“Jim ‘Catfish’ Hunter. Right-handed pitcher for the New York Yankees from 1975 – 1979,” came a voice from the doorway.

Natalie and Brady looked up to see John. Hair still damp from a shower, he was dressed casually in a pair of blue jeans and navy blue sweater.

“His Major League debut was-”

“May 13, 1965,” Brady said quickly, “with the Kansas City Athletics.”

A smile lit John’s face as his son continued to rattle off Hunter’s statistics.

“He had a 224 – 166 career record, with a 3.26 ERA. He was the American League Cy Young winner in 1974, won five World Series rings, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987.”

“And he pitched a perfect game in 1968 against?” John asked.

Brady stopped mixing for a moment. “The Twins,” he answered after a few seconds and went back to beating the batter.

Natalie just shook her head before turning back to her crossword puzzle. “It amazes me how you can remember all that, yet when I ask you to get two things from the store, you inevitably forget one of them.”

“It’s a skill,” John chuckled as he fixed himself a glass of orange juice. “Can I help you with anything, Slugger?”

“I don’t think so,” he answered spooning the batter onto the sizzling griddle. “Pancakes are almost done, and I found some of Tabitha’s fresh blueberry syrup in the pantry. Coffee is made and the orange juice has been squeezed. Now I just need people to eat all this. Nick is already awake. He’s in the den checking his email.”

“I woke your mother up before I came downstairs,” John said. “She should be skipping down the stairs any moment.”

Brady looked at his father with skepticism.

“Okay,” he relented. “Maybe skipping isn’t the right word.”

Brady and Natalie laughed. “Are you sure she ever got out of bed,” Brady asked.

“She was in the bathroom brushing her teeth when I left,” John said pointedly.

“So I guess Belle’s the only one still asleep,” Brady deduced. “Surprise, surprise.”

John grinned. “I’ll go wake Sleeping Beauty up.”

“Good luck,” Natalie called to John as he left the room.

“He’s going to need it,” Brady replied chuckling.

*********

John heard voices as he approached the door to Belle’s bedroom. He looked in to see Marlena sitting on the bed next to a large lump that he assumed was their daughter hiding under the covers.

“Belle, you need to wake up,” he heard Marlena say, followed by a quiet mumble he couldn’t quite understand.

“Because your father wouldn’t let me sleep in this morning, so neither can you, daughter dearest.”

Another unintelligible moan came from under the blankets.

“I say so,” Marlena replied. “It’s called a mother’s prerogative.”

“That’s right, Belle,” said John, stepping into the room. “It’s time to wake up.”

“I told you,” Marlena said with a hint of triumph in her voice.

Tossing the covers off her head, Belle glared at her mother. Marlena smiled sweetly at her youngest daughter, causing Belle throw her head back onto her pillow in disgust. “Why can’t you people leave me in peace,” she groaned.

John glanced in amusement at Marlena, who was stifling a yawn. “What is that saying? Apples don’t fall far from the tree,” he asked with a smirk. He laughed as she stuck her tongue out at him, then turned his attention back to Belle. “If you don’t get up, you won’t get breakfast. Brady is downstairs right now fixing pancakes.”

Belle’s right eye opened and looked at her father. “With blueberry syrup?”

“Of course.”

Her eyes shut once more as she silently debated her options. “Oh, all right!” she exclaimed reluctantly, throwing the covers off her body and climbing out of bed towards her bathroom.

John looked back to Marlena, who was pulling the blankets up around her. “And what are you doing, Missy?”

“But John, it’s so warm and comfortable,” she said sleepily, as she laid her head on the pillow.

“Don’t you want breakfast?”

Marlena thought for a moment. “Can’t you bring me breakfast in bed here.”

“No.”

“Oh, all right,” Marlena said, echoing her daughter.

“That’s my girl,” said John, helping her up as Belle came out of the bathroom yawning. She had thrown her hair up in a sloppy ponytail and slipped on a pair of black sweatpants with her Salem High t-shirt.

“Ladies, pancakes await.” John said gesturingg to the door.

********

Marlena, John, and Belle were already sitting at the table when Nick entered the room. “Good morning, sweetheart,” he said as he kissed Belle and took his side next to her.

She yawned, then replied, “I prefer to reserve my judgment until I’m awake.”

Everyone laughed as Brady set a plate stacked with pancakes in the middle of the glass table-top.

“Natalie, come on,” Brady called to his fiancé still sitting at the bar with her crossword puzzle. “Breakfast is ready.”

“One more,” she said. “Montagues and Capulets. 8 letters. Begins with V and ends with A.”

“Veronans?” Marlena suggested. “Nope, I guess that doesn’t end with A.”

“Vendetta,” Belle said.

“V-E-N-D-E-T-T-A. That works,” Natalie proclaimed.

“My only love sprung from my only hate. Too early seen unknown and known too late. Prodigious birth of love it is to me, that I must love a loathed enemy,” Belle quoted. “My best friend, Kelly, was Juliet in our high school,” she explained to Nick and Natalie. “By the time the play started, I knew her lines as well as she did.”

“So shall you share all that he doth possess. By having him, making yourself no less,” Natalie quoted. “I was Lady Capulet in my high school production.”

Nick was oblivious to the surrounding chatter as everyone began to fill their plates. Belle’s voice echoed in his mind. ‘My only love sprung from my only hate.’

********

“Slugger, that was great.”

“You’re father’s right, Brady,” Marlena confirmed. “It was delicious. I’m not exactly sure where you got your cooking talents, but I’m grateful nonetheless.”

“Tabby was determined someone in this family should be able to cook,” said Belle. “And Brady was the only one who would sit still long enough to learn.”

“You were always willing to be the taster, though,” Brady said. “Whether we asked you to or not.”

“Just trying to help out,” she said with a smile.

Marlena looked at her watch. “Oh John, we need to be going if we want to get all our last-minute shopping done before the tree-lighting ceremony.”

“I thought we finished all of our ‘last-minute’ shopping last weekend.”

“Oh honey, that was just wishful thinking on your part,” Marlena said, smiling. “We’ve still got a few more things to pick up.”

John sighed heavily. “Okay,” he said tossing his napkin on the table.

“I just need to grab my purse from upstairs.”

*********

Sunlight streamed in the windows, casting shadows to criss-cross the room. She walked over to her desk, where her purse sat. As she grabbed it, Marlena saw something fall off desktop. She reached down to pick it up, the shadows cloaking it from her sight. She grasped the smooth object and raised it up to see.

“Doc, have you seen my keys,” asked John as he entered the room and began to rummage around on the night stand. “Oh, here they are. Ready to go, Doc? Doc?” he repeated when she didn’t saw anything. He looked up to see her back to him. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” She jumped when he reached out to touch her shoulder, and quickly turned around to face him: her creamy complexion was now chalk white; her hazel eyes wide and her bottom lip quivering. Terror radiated from her every pore. John’s gaze followed hers as she slowly lowered her eyes to the object she clutched in her hand.

An ivory chess piece. The Queen.