Previously…
Miranda sparred with Kelly over Stormy, predicting that she would hurt him in the long run. Kelly told Stormy that she was fed up with his family’s treatment of her, and wanted a commitment. Unaware that Kelly was expecting a marriage proposal, Stormy instead offered her a contract with Sunset Studios. Sierra stood Benji up for their date, claiming she had a suitor in New York waiting for her, and that she and Benji could only be friends. David followed Brooke to Phoenix to lend moral support at her father’s funeral. Brooke found the photos of her as a young girl in Big Bear posing with a man she didn’t recognize. David informed her the man was his father, the late Royce Jennings. James hired Eddie to investigate Roz and learned that she had been receiving regular checks from a bank in New York for the past thirty years. He flew to Phoenix and confronted Roz. After a failed attempt at covering her tracks, Roz finally admitted that she’d had an affair with Royce Jennings, resulting in her pregnancy with Brooke. Royce had sent her monthly checks until his death. Brooke and David recoiled in horror as they revealed they’d slept together the night before, unaware at the time that they were brother and sister.
“What have I done?” Roz fired back, tears staining her cheeks. Her eyes fluttered as she carefully rose from the bed. The sedative was taking effect, impairing her mobility and causing her speech to waver slightly. “I spent thirty years protecting my daughter from my mistake, that’s what I’ve done, James.”
“That’s a lie and you know it,” James barked as he made his way across the bedroom. “The only reason you didn’t tell Brooke that Royce Jennings was her father was because you wanted the money to keep coming. And when Royce died and Jackie paid you off, you had no other choice but to keep lying.”
“I wanted her with you!” Roz cried. “I tried pushing her back to you. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“The only reason you pushed her to me was because you didn’t want her with David. But you failed. She slept with him. Her own brother. And you have no one to blame but yourself.”
Roz shook her head with a slight chuckle. “And I suppose Jackie has no fault in this, does she?” she asked bitterly. “She knew the truth. She hasn’t told David either.”
“Jackie is David’s problem. Brooke is your daughter. How could you keep something like this from her knowing what might happen?”
“It wouldn’t have happened if you’d kept my daughter happy!” Roz lamented and flew across the room. “If you’d taken her word for what happened that night with your sleazy uncle Nathan, you’d still be married and Brooke would never have slept with David!”
“You can’t honestly blame me for this,” James insisted. “Whatever mistakes I made in my marriage have nothing to do with the lifetime of secrets you’ve kept from Brooke.”
Roz turned and stumbled to the dresser where she examined her tired expression in the mirror. She lowered her head and sobbed into her hand, realizing it was useless to cast blame onto others when she was the one who had set this disaster into motion.
James ran a hand over his face and looked at the clock on the bedside table. “The funeral will be starting soon,” he began. “We’ll need to call and have it held until we can find Brooke. Do you have any idea where she might go?”
Roz shook her head. “No,” she replied in despair as she turned back to James. “Do you think she’ll ever forgive me?”
James shook his head with uncertainty, pausing briefly before turning and darting from the room. He had to find Brooke. He knew that if her father—or the man she’d thought was her father—was buried without her being able to say goodbye, she’d never forgive herself.
Brooke had taken Roz’s car from the house and drove without any indication of where she was going. The road ahead was a blur and her thoughts were in such disarray that she paid no attention to where she was going. After miles of driving aimlessly, images of her night in bed with David playing over and over in her mind, she pulled over to the side of the road and covered her mouth with her hands. Panic set in again and she began to feel flushed and light headed. Bile rose up in her throat and she quickly pushed the car door open and leaned out over the curb, vomiting uncontrollably until there was nothing left in her queasy stomach.
“Are you okay?” croaked an obese woman walking two obese children along the sidewalk.
Brooke nodded vaguely. Closing the car door again, she leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. With each passing moment she uncovered another layer of the deceit her parents had set into motion. The most innocent of conversations now seemed to have double meanings. She picked apart every single aspect of her life and tried to make sense of it, assuming everything that had ever gone wrong was a direct result of Roz and Mick’s lies.
Instinctively, she pulled her cell phone from her purse and called the only person she could think of who wouldn’t judge her. When she got his voice mail, she sighed with defeat.
“Ethan, it’s me,” she said after the beep. She paused, unsure of what to say or how to say it. The only thing that came to mind was something she found herself saying all too often. But this time it was different. This time she really did mean it. “Ethan, I need you.”
She clicked off the phone and threw it onto the seat beside her. What now, she thought to herself. She glanced out the window and scanned the area. She had no idea where she was. Quickly, she rolled down the window and called out to a young couple walking down the sidewalk.
“Excuse me,” she called over to them. “Where is the cemetery?”
They garbled some vague directions and Brooke quickly pulled the car away from the curb, starting off to her father’s final resting place.
Stormy had had it with women. Even when he thought he knew what they wanted, they threw him a curve ball. It seemed they were speaking another language at times and he missed the day at school where they taught men how to decode it. A perfect example was the night before when he made Kelly an offer she couldn’t refuse over dinner at Cut. The problem was she did refuse. If a three-picture deal with Sunset Studios wasn’t what she wanted, then what did she want?
He contemplated the question over a vigorous workout in the gym at the mansion, slapping on more weight than he could usually handle in hopes that the agony would relieve his stress. It only made him angrier when he struggled too hard to complete the set.
The sound of the door opening distracted him from his set on the bench press and he returned the weight to the rest. He looked up and spotted Kelly enter the room in her workout clothes.
“I didn’t know you were in here,” she said coldly. “I’ll come back.”
Stormy sat up on the bench and struggled to catch his breath. “Don’t bother. I was done anyway.”
Kelly shrugged and walked over to the treadmill, watching him out of the corner of her eye. She had looked all over the house for him that morning, and when her mother informed her he was in the gym, she decided it was the perfect opportunity to stage a confrontation. Just as she predicted, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
“So are you going to tell me what that was all about last night?” Stormy finally asked, staring at her as he dried his sweaty face and chest with a towel.
“What do you mean?” she asked, setting the machine and starting her workout.
“Storming out of the restaurant the way you did. I still don’t understand what I did that was so horrible.”
She laughed to herself. “Of course you don’t,” she replied. “Which is exactly why I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I can’t fix it if I don’t know what’s wrong. Now talk to me.”
“I have to work out. Now that I’m exclusive Sunset Studios property, I’m sure you want me in top physical condition.” She turned on her iPod and set the volume as high as she could stand it.
Frustrated and more confused than ever, Stormy threw his hands up in resignation and dashed out into the hallway where Miranda was standing with her ear against the door. When she sensed him coming out, she quickly turned and went through the motions of walking away.
“Eavesdropping?” he asked with a shake of his head. “That’s beneath even you, little sister.”
“I wasn’t eavesdropping, and I’m hurt that you would suggest it.” She folded her arms and cocked her head. “But now that you mention it, is there trouble in paradise?” she asked with a sarcastic grin.
“Your horns are showing,” he said with a roll of his eyes.
She laughed wickedly and threw her long black hair over her shoulder. “Come on, Stormy, you can’t blame me for being curious. So spill it. What did little miss Hawaiian Tropics do to piss you off? I knew it was only a matter of time before she showed her true colors.”
“It’s none of your business, Miranda, and I’m through telling you to bud out of me and Kelly’s relationship.”
“Jeez, you don’t have to get so defensive. Can’t a sister take an interest in her brother’s happiness?”
He rolled his eyes again. “You’re a bad liar,” he said with a slight chuckle, then quickly changed the subject after acknowledging her outfit. “Are you going riding?”
She nodded. “It’s an attempt at getting Heather out of the house and away from the baby for a few hours. Benji is bringing her over and Brett’s staying home with Violet.”
“She still hasn’t snapped out of the funk she’s been in?” Stormy asked, growing suddenly concerned for his ex-wife.
“She’s gotten worse. She’s convinced there’s something wrong with the baby and she blames herself.”
“I should stick around and talk to her when she gets here.”
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Miranda suggested. “Heather’s very fragile right now. Seeing you always seems to put her on edge. She needs time right now, Stormy, not people making demands of her.”
“I don’t make demands of her,” he insisted defensively. “I care about her and I always have. You know that, Miranda.”
“Look, just give her some space, okay? Let her husband help her. She doesn’t need you, Stormy.”
The biting words stung deeply, but after a few tentative moments of denial, Stormy knew that his sister was right. Heather had enough people at the moment. The last thing she needed was the man who had broken her heart so many times confusing things further.
Roz paced the floor of the living room, her Jimmy Choo’s digging into the high pile carpet as she sipped a glass of chardonnay. Margot sat in the corner watching her with wide eyes. She’d never seen her sister-in-law so upset, and the worst part was she still had no idea what was going on. All she knew was that they had to postpone the funeral service until Brooke could be found.
When the door opened and James entered, Roz quickly raced over to him. “Did you find her?” she asked in a panic. “Did you find Brooke?”
James shook his head solemnly. “The funeral home director said she was there a few minutes ago, asked to be alone with Mick’s body, and then left again.”
“Why would she have gone there?” Roz demanded.
“My guess would be to say goodbye,” James said matter-of-factly.
“That’s what the funeral is for. We’re supposed to have a service and say goodbye to Mick as a family.”
James looked at her in bewilderment. “Do you honestly expect Brooke to get up in front of her friends and family and face the humiliation of knowing that the man she thought was her father wasn’t really her father? I know Brooke. She went there to make peace with what he did, and with his passing.”
“I have to talk to her,” Roz insisted, ignoring Margot’s look of astonishment from across the room. “I have to make her understand!”
“It’s too late,” James said quickly. “The damage is done. There’s nothing you can do now but stay away from her.”
“She’s my daughter. I won’t stay away from her and you can’t make me.”
“Don’t be so sure,” James replied, his eyes burning into hers. “I won’t have you hurting Brooke anymore.”
Roz took a gulp from her glass of wine and glared angrily at him. “Where was all this concern when I came to you all those times asking you to help my daughter?”
“Stay away from her or I’ll make you very sorry,” James said, taking her by the shoulders and shoving her to the sofa.
“What am I supposed to do now?” Roz screamed.
James paused in the doorway before leaving. “Bury your husband, go on with your sad life, and stay the hell out of ours.”
After he’d gone, Roz stood up and wiped her teary eyes. She took a deep breath and glanced at Margot. “Well, that was interesting,” she said. “Margot, call the funeral home and tell them the service will continue as planned. Come on or we’ll be late.”
Margot glared heatedly at her. “Yes, the service will continue as planned,” she said and walked across the room. “But it’ll continue without you there.”
Roz looked at her in astonishment. “I beg your pardon?”
“Mick was my brother. You may have been his wife but I’ll be damned if I’ll let you tarnish his name any further.”
“Margot!”
“I’ll see to it that you aren’t left with a penny,” Margot said firmly before storming out of the room.
Roz quickly poured herself another glass of wine and downed it in an instant. She collapsed onto the sofa and stared off in a daze, alone and devastated.
Miranda pulled open the front door at the mansion and immediately sighed with defeat when she saw Benji standing alone on the front porch.
“Where’s Heather?”
He shook his head grimly. “She’s not coming,” he said and walked into the foyer. “I’m sorry, Miranda. I tried everything I could think of to get her out of the condo. She had her nose stuck in a stack of books. I don’t think she even realized I was there.”
“She used to love riding so much,” Miranda exclaimed and dropped her hands to her side. “I was sure this would get her out of the house for a little while.”
“I still wouldn’t mind going for a ride if that’s okay,” Benji declared, digging his hands into his pockets. “This is the first time in days my dad has let me out of the house and I’d like to take advantage of it.”
Miranda shrugged, deciding that she’d have to deal with Heather later. She couldn’t make her withdraw from her shell. It would have to happen in its own time.
They started down the hall to the back door when the doorbell rang.
“Hold on, Benji,” Miranda said and walked to the massive front doors in the foyer. When she pulled them open, an attractive man turned to face her and peered into the house.
“Does Kelly Kahoano live here?” he asked.
Miranda frowned and shifted her weight while standing in the doorway. “Yes. Who the hell are you?”
Before he could answer, Kelly came down the stairs after changing from her workout. Her eyes locked onto his and she quickly ran to intercept him.
“Ke, what are you doing here?” she demanded, glancing with distraction at Miranda.
“Is that the welcome I get after all this time?” replied Keone Liu, a twenty-two year old man of Hawaiian descent with a handsome face, short spiky hair, and a lean, muscular body beneath a tight polo. “I came all this way and you ask what I’m doing here?”
Kelly managed a faint smile and turned to Miranda and Benji who looked on curiously. “This is Ke Liu, my ex-fiancé,” she explained.
“From Hawaii?” Miranda asked with a frown. “Kind of a long way from home, aren’t you?”
“I meant to come sooner but things at home were kind of hectic,” Ke explained and entered the foyer as Miranda closed the door behind him.
“I’m surprised you could get yourself off your surfboard long enough to notice I was gone,” Kelly said and folded her arms angrily.
“I placed first in the Billabong Pro Rio,” Ke announced proudly and reached gently for her arm.
“Gnarly,” she said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes and tugged her arm away.
“I knew you’d be stoked.” He looked at Miranda and Benji and then leaned in to Kelly with a whisper. “Is there somewhere private we can go and talk?”
She sighed with exasperation and started across the hall to the solarium. Before starting after her, Ke turned and noticed Benji staring him down. Their eyes locked momentarily and then Ke continued into the next room.
Once they were out of sight, Miranda turned to Benji and folded her arms.
“Well, well, well, the mysterious fiancée finally surfaces,” she said. “I can’t wait to find out what it was that drove Kelly to the mainland and away from that guy. His family is supposedly filthy rich. She must have done something really bad.”
“Maybe they just weren’t compatible,” Benji suggested.
“I wonder if Stormy knows he’s here,” Miranda said.
“I doubt it. He just got here and—”
“You’re right, I’m going to tell him,” said Miranda without missing a beat. She dashed over to the wall and crept toward the door of the solarium so that she could listen in on their conversation.
“What are you doing?” Benji asked.
“Shhh. Recon.”
Inside the room, Kelly stood with her back to Ke as she stared outside at the flowing green lawns of the mansion.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” she said. “I told you before I left Hawaii that it was over between us. I can’t marry you. Your father is—”
“My father doesn’t control me,” Ke interrupted, coming up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I told you that I loved you and I meant it. When you left I was heartbroken. My father told me about the check he gave you…”
“I never took any money from your father,” Kelly insisted and spun around to face him. “He tried to buy me off but I told him to go to hell. “
“But you called off the wedding,” Ke insisted. “I thought we were happy. If it wasn’t for the money, then why did you leave?”
“I couldn’t live in the shadow of your family, Keone,” she said and pushed a strand of black hair from her eyes. “To them I was a servant’s daughter. I was the drunken mistake of a night my mother spent with an American soldier. How many times did they drill that into my head?”
“It doesn’t matter what my family thinks,” Ke insisted. “I love you. Don’t you know that?”
Kelly sighed and walked across the room to the door. Outside in the foyer, Miranda and Benji ducked out of view, disappearing from sight in the nick of time.
“There’s someone else, Ke,” Kelly said and wrapped her arms around herself. “He loves me more than anything. He’s helping me with my career.”
“What career?” Ke asked.
“I’m an actress,” she said proudly. “I’m starring in Angel Assassin 2: Halo and Goodbye. And I’ve got a three-picture deal in the works.”
“So, who is this guy?” Ke demanded angrily. “Some horny old dude trying to get you on the casting couch? I swear to god if that’s the case I’ll tear him apart, Kelly.”
“He’s a producer and he’s very sweet. He sees things in me that you never did.”
Ke walked over and turned her toward him. He leaned in, his lips brushing against her neck as she lingered closely. “Does he make love to you the way I do? Does he make you feel the way I do?”
“Stop, please,” she said and sidled away from him. “Just go back to Honolulu and leave me alone.”
“You don’t want that. I know you don’t. Marry me, Kelly. Marry me just like we’d planned. We can go back to Hawaii as man and wife.”
She shook her head in agony.
“You know you still want me, Kelly,” he said, coming up behind and kissing her neck. “We can have it all.”
Kelly closed her eyes and turned back toward him. “Go, please.”
He licked his lips, backing up toward the door while maintaining eye contact. “I’m staying at the Yacht Club. Cabin 415. If you change your mind, I’ll be there waiting.”
Just as he left the room, Miranda and Benji slid into the hidden doorway to the basement, ducking safely out of view. After they heard the front door close, Miranda looked at Benji and bit her fist to keep from squealing.
“That bitch,” she said. “She’s actually considering going back him. Stormy is going to freak.”
James was running out of places to look for Brooke. He didn’t know Phoenix very well, but managed to find a few local landmarks where she might have retreated to. The high school, the apartment she lived in with Philip Whitacre, the department store she’d once worked. It all seemed very far-fetched. But being that she wasn’t answering her cell phone, and obviously had no intention of returning home to Roz, or flying home with David in his jet, he decided to try the airport. As best as he could predict, she’d want to be on the way home to Michael.
His hunch turned out correctly. There, waiting in line to purchase a ticket to Los Angeles, he found her and approached quickly.
“James, what are you—”
“I’ve been looking all over the city for you,” he said, pulling her back. “Brooke, are you okay? I’ve been so worried.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, unable to look him in the eyes. “I needed to be alone.”
“The funeral home director said you went to see Mick,” James said and led her to a row of benches across the room. “Were you able to come to some kind of peace with him?”
“I don’t know that I’ll be able to come to peace with any of this,” she said, burying her face in her hands and sobbing uncontrollably. “I feel so dirty and disgusting. I slept with David, James. How could I have done that?”
“You didn’t know,” he said. “You were lied to for your entire life. You have nothing to feel dirty about. It was a one time thing and it’s over and you can just forget about it.”
“I don’t think I can do that,” she said, tears in her eyes. “I had feelings for David. Romantic feelings. Sure, I tried to fight them for months because of my relationship with Ethan. It was a miracle that it only happened that once. But I still had feelings for him. How can I ever look him in the eyes again?”
“Time heals everything,” he said, taking her hand gently in his. “And one day it won’t hurt as much or make you feel this way. I promise you, Brooke.”
She knew he was right, but it didn’t make things better today. She felt sick to her stomach, so much so that she detested being in her own skin. She wished she could be someone else.
“I don’t suppose you’ve seen David since this morning,” she finally said. “I mean, do you know if he’s okay?”
James shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. “I imagine he went to see Jackie. He’s got to have some pretty raw feelings about this, too.”
“He was just as much a victim as I was,” Brooke realized. “We should have put two and two together months ago when he said I reminded him of that little girl from Big Bear. Damnit, why weren’t we smarter about this?”
“You had no way of knowing,” James said, putting his arm around her and pulling her close. “None of this is your fault, Brooke. You’ve got to remember that.”
She shook her head in despair. “How could my father have went along with the lies?” she asked. “We were so close.”
“He didn’t want to hurt you. He was your father. Maybe not biologically, but he loved you just as much as if he was.”
“I never even knew my biological father. He’s gone so I’ll never have the chance, either.” Sighing, she sat up and looked at him solemnly. “You could say I lost two fathers today.”
James exchanged sorrowful looks with her. “Why don’t you let me take you home in my jet,” he said. “I don’t think you should be alone right now.”
She nodded appreciatively. “I’d just like to go to the ladies room first.”
“Go on,” James said. “I’ll wait here.”
Brooke stood up and headed across the crowded terminal. After she’d gone, a phone began ringing and James reached into his pocket. When he realized it wasn’t his phone, he glanced down and saw Brooke’s cell phone on the seat. He picked it up and flipped it over, seeing Ethan’s name pop up on the caller ID.
“Hello?” he said after flipping it open.
“Hello?” Ethan said. “James? Is that you?”
“Oh, Ethan, yes,” James replied. “Brooke’s….she’s in the restroom. I just answered her phone when I saw that it was you. How are you? Is Michael okay?”
“He’s fine,” Ethan replied from his bedroom at the mansion. “I had an urgent message from Brooke. Is she okay?”
“An urgent message?” James asked with a frown, glancing across the terminal and trying to see if she was returning to their bench.
“Yes, she said she needed me,” Ethan explained. “She sounded terrible. I was out with Michael at the park most of the day and I guess I left my phone at home. So what’s going on? I guess she’s pretty broken up over her father’s death.”
“She had a rough time this morning, but I think she’s much better now,” James said, slightly alarmed that Brooke had called Ethan during her time of pain. Strangely enough, he found himself jealous that she hadn’t turned to him instead. But why? They were divorced, had decided to be friends, and were getting along just fine. Were his feelings for her not as dead of an issue as he’d assumed?
“So everything’s okay?” Ethan asked. “I have to admit, I was a little surprised that she’d call me.”
“Well, I think that she reached out during a moment of desperation. I’ve been with her all day and she seems to be fine. She actually told me she’s glad that I came.”
A few moments of silence followed before Ethan chimed in again. “That’s great,” he said. “Well, give Brooke my love for me and tell her that Michael misses her.”
“I will, Ethan. Take care.”
He clicked off the phone, glancing across the terminal again while he quickly went in and deleted the call to erase any indication that Ethan had called her back. He quickly set the phone back on the seat just as Brooke appeared.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” he said and stood up. “Oh, don’t forget your phone.”
“Thanks.” She flipped it open and checked her missed calls. Sadly, the only ones had been from when James had tried calling her. Ethan hadn’t so much as returned her call.
“Everything okay?” James asked.
She nodded. “I just hoped Ethan would have called. To tell me how Michael’s doing, I mean.”
“Ah, well I just talked to Miranda at home and she said Michael is just fine. He and Ethan spent the day at the park.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” Brooke said, pulling her bags tightly over her shoulder as she followed him through the terminal. Maybe she’d been wrong to reach out to Ethan that day. He obviously had had enough of her pushing him away. When she thought of the horrible things she’d said to him the other day when he came to pick Michael up. It was no wonder he wanted nothing to do with her.
Leilani served dinner in the dining room at seven o’clock. Stormy and Kelly sat side by side, Miranda took her usual spot beside James’s empty chair, and Ethan sat next to her. Silence permeated the room, only the sound of utensils scraping against plates interrupting the awkward atmosphere.
Finally, Miranda decided to break the ice. “Did Daddy say when he was coming home, Ethan?”
He shook his head. “I would imagine any time now.”
“Seems like the good old days,” Miranda continued, fully aware that she was instigating an argument. “What with Daddy flying off to save Brooke from herself. I’m surprised she didn’t call you, Ethan. Or David for that matter.”
“Miranda, enough,” Stormy cautioned her with a scowl.
“I’m just curious why Daddy went to Phoenix, that’s all. Was Brooke’s father at their wedding? Maybe the first one, but I know he wasn’t at the second one. Oh, who remembers anymore. I guess Daddy was just being Daddy. So concerned for everyone else.”
Silence returned to the table. Ethan ignored Miranda’s attempts at causing trouble. The truth was he was a little irritated that James took it upon himself to fly to Phoenix to be with Brooke. What reason could he have had for doing so? He didn’t bother to ask when he talked to him earlier that day. It didn’t matter anyway. Brooke was obviously with David now. James was no longer a presence in their relationship, or lack thereof.
Miranda glanced up at Kelly, unusually quiet as she picked at her dinner. She decided now was as good a time as any to bring up the day’s activities.
“So Ke seemed very nice,” she announced.
Kelly looked up, her eyes flashing major danger signals in Miranda’s direction.
“What?” Stormy asked and dropped his fork to the table. “Ke Liu was here?”
Kelly wiped her mouth with a napkin and nodded warily. “I was going to tell you,” she said, then added with a jab in Miranda’s direction. “Later. When we were alone.”
“What was he doing here?” Stormy demanded.
Leilani had just entered the room and caught the tail end of the conversation. She immediately set her tray down and rushed over to her daughter. “Keone is here?” she asked. “Kelly, that’s wonderful. What did he want?”
“He didn’t want anything, mama,” Kelly insisted, uncomfortable with all eyes resting on her. “He was in town and came by to say hello.”
“Some hello,” Miranda murmured under her breath, pretending to concentrate on cutting her filet.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I would have wanted to see him,” Leilani trilled with excitement.
“Because it doesn’t matter,” Kelly said firmly. “Can we just drop this, please?”
A few moments of uninterrupted silence was broken by another announcement from Miranda. “He said he’s going to be in town for a couple of days, Leilani, so I’m sure you’ll get a chance to see him.”
Stormy looked at Kelly in disbelief, irritated that she hadn’t told him sooner.
Later that night, Kelly stepped out of the shower in her bedroom when she heard knocking at the door. She wrapped herself in a towel and sat down at her vanity
“It’s open,” she said and began running a comb through her wet hair.
Stormy entered the room and immediately took on the offensive. “Are we going to talk about Ke Liu?”
“What’s there to talk about?” she asked, avoiding eye contact with him. “He’s an old friend who came by to say hello. End of story.”
“He’s not just an old friend,” Stormy indicated. “You were engaged to him. You were together since grade school. What did he want?”
“I already told you. He was in town and stopped by to say a friendly hello. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
Stormy wrung his hands together in frustration. “Can you blame me for a being a little jealous?” he asked.
“Jealous?” She turned on the stool and faced him.
“Okay, a lot jealous. Look, I know you’ve been angry with me. We’ve barely spoken in two days. How am I supposed to feel when this guy shows up that you have all this history with?”
She expertly avoided his question with a question. “I don’t know. How should you feel?”
“I can’t believe you’re treating this so casually.”
Finally, Kelly stood up with a sigh and approached him carefully. “Fine, I’ll level with you,” she began. “You’re right, Ke and I do have a lot of history together. We were engaged to be married for a long time. We were in love. I broke our engagement because his family wouldn’t accept me.”
“I know. I think you did the right thing.”
“You’re such a hypocrite,” Kelly replied with a shake of her head. “Your family doesn’t accept me either. And how do you propose to change that? By offering me a movie deal with the studio. Ke offered me a life together.”
“Are you saying that you’re thinking of going back to him?” Stormy asked in amazement.
She looked into his eyes and shrugged. “He still wants to marry me. I want my own career, Stormy, but more than anything I want a companion. He is offering that to me. How can I turn him down?”
Stormy was speechless. He had no idea that she felt this way. By offering her a movie deal, he was giving her financial security. But by Ke proposing marriage, she was obviously getting so much more.
“Is that your final decision?” he asked, his dark eyes turning cloudy.
“I haven’t made a decision, Stormy. I’m just telling you how I feel.”
With that, Stormy turned and left the room. He paused in the hallway and contemplated the latest mess his life had become. He didn’t want to lose Kelly, but he also didn’t know if he was ready for marriage number 2.
At breakfast the next morning, James, back from Phoenix, sat in his usual seat at the head of the table.
“You got in so late we didn’t even hear you, Daddy,” Miranda said as she stuffed a forkful of Wheaties into her hungry mouth. “How was the funeral?”
“Things didn’t go exactly as planned,” James replied, reluctant to offer any further information. It was up to Brooke who she told and how much she told. Luckily only those closely involved were privy to the information that Brooke was the illegitimate daughter of Royce Jennings and was David Jennings’s sister. It shouldn’t be too difficult to keep the information out of the media, he decided. And that was what was best for everyone involved.
“What do you mean, James?” Ethan asked curiously. He wondered what all had went on in Phoenix. He got the feeling there were things that he wasn’t aware of. Maybe Brooke would share some of it with him when she came to pick Michael up that day.
“Let’s just say Roz was in rare form,” James uttered enigmatically. “But I think it’s all for the best. She stayed in Phoenix and won’t be retuning.”
“How is Brooke holding up, Dad?” Stormy inquired.
James looked up at that instant. “She’s a fighter,” he said with a wink just as Brooke entered the room and sheepishly took a chair in the empty seat at the end of the table.
“Good morning, everybody,” she said, her eyes flickering past Ethan’s for a brief instant.
“Brooke, it’s good to see you,” Stormy said with a genuine smile.
“Did I miss something?” Miranda asked with a snarl. “What is she doing here, Daddy?”
“I didn’t think Brooke should be alone,” James said. “We got in late last night and she spent the night in a guestroom.”
“I was sorry to hear about your father, Brooke,” Stormy said.
“Thank you,” she replied meekly. Her eyes were puffy from a night full of crying into her pillow, her wispy blond hair straight and un-styled, and nary a trace of makeup on her pale face.
“So you got in late last night?” Ethan asked, confused. “I would have thought you’d check in on Michael.”
“I peeked in the nursery,” Brooke said. “He was so peaceful I didn’t want to wake him.”
Ethan was hurt and he didn’t know why. First James flies off to Phoenix to attend Brooke’s father’s funeral, then they share a ride home together and she spends the night in the house, just feet away from him. He knew that she’d been pushing him away, but now it was getting to the point where he wondered if she had any feelings whatsoever for what they once shared. Still, he didn’t push it. She’d been through enough.
“Well, this is all very interesting,” Miranda said, pushing her breakfast away and standing up in a huff. “I said it last night and I’ll say it again. This is like old home week at the mansion. Daddy playing white knight for Brooke and now turning the house into a Motel 6.”
“Miranda, what is bothering you?” James demanded.
She rolled her eyes. “Forget it. I’ve got to get to the hotel.”
Kelly stood up as well and excused herself. “I’ve got to get going too.”
Stormy frowned, following her out into the foyer and pulling her toward him. “Where are you going?” he asked. “You aren’t due on set until tomorrow.”
“I just have things to do today,” she said, pulling her purse over her shoulder and heading for the door without any further explanation.
Stormy stood behind, perplexed. When Miranda came out from the parlor room with her purse and keys, she passed by him and paused for dramatic effect.
“Where-oh-where could Kelly be going?” she asked, exaggerating her words sarcastically.
“Shut up,” Stormy said, staring at the door in a daze.
“Yes, you’re probably right. She must have rushed out of here in a mad dash for that big sale at Fred Siegel.” She started toward the door, laughing to herself and shaking her head in amusement.
“Miranda, wait,” Stormy called after her.
“Yacht Club. Cabin 415,” she said, turning briefly before starting out to her red Camaro waiting under the porte-cochere.
Michael’s nanny led him downstairs and the toddler raced over to Brooke in the dining room, his arms outstretched and a smile permeating his face.
“Mommy!”
“There’s my little boy,” Brooke said and lifted him into her arms. “I missed you. Were you a good boy for daddy?”
“Sure he was,” James said as he beamed happily from watching them together.
“He’s never any trouble, Brooke,” Ethan said, his hands dug deep in his pockets. His eyes darted between them, trying to decide what James’s M.O. was. Why the sudden concern for Brooke?
“I think I’ll take him upstairs and get his things ready,” Brooke said, shaking her hair from her face. “James, thank you again for everything.”
He nodded modestly, watching as Brooke carried Michael out of the room. Once she was gone, he turned to Ethan and gestured kindly to the table. “Take a seat, Ethan.”
“She seems to be holding up well,” Ethan said and finished his coffee.
“She’s trying.”
“You said something before,” Ethan began. “About things not going as expected in Phoenix yesterday. What happened?”
James took a deep breath. “You know as well as I do that Brooke and Roz have a very strained relationship. Things just came to a head at the funeral.”
Ethan knew there was something more. He could tell by the sound in Brooke’s voice when she left him the voicemail yesterday morning. James could spin it any way he wanted, but he knew there was something else.
“What aren’t you telling me?” he finally asked.
James knew Ethan was too smart for his own good. He saw right through their attempt at skirting the issue. “Brooke should really be the one to tell you. I know you and her have had your problems lately, and I don’t want to get in the middle of it. All I can say is that there were some things that came to light about Brooke’s family this weekend.”
“What things?” Ethan asked.
Stormy parked his Cobra II in the lot and made his way along the pathway that connected several cabins at the Yacht Club. He stopped at cabin 415 and knocked firmly, then took a step back and waited.
Moments later, the door opened and Ke Liu appeared in the doorway. Stormy could see Kelly behind sitting on the edge of the bed. She flew to her feet and raced over to him.
“Stormy, what are you doing here?” she asked.
“I could ask you the same thing,” he said, his eyes flashing angrily at her. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to see him? Why all the secrecy?”
“This must be the producer,” Ke said with a cocky grin and folded his arms. “You’re not exactly what I expected.”
“Yeah, well you’re not what I expected either,” Stormy replied, taking the offense and chesting up to him. “Just what the hell is going on here anyway?”
“Easy there, Hollywood,” Ke mused, white chicklet teeth glowing behind a perfect smile. “Kelly and I have a lot of stuff to discuss. We go back a long way.”
“I’m aware of your relationship,” he replied with a frown. “Kelly, can I talk to you please?”
“I think you need to take a hike, buddy,” said Ke, physically forcing Stormy outside the cabin. “Three’s a crowd. And besides, I just don’t get it. You’re not exactly her type.”
“Ke, I can speak for myself,” Kelly said and pushed him out of the way. She looked into Stormy’s eyes and motioned for him to follow her outside the cabin.
Once they were out on the path, she led him to a grove of trees and turned to him, her eyes red and watery.
“What’s going on?” Stormy asked. “I thought you said he just came by the house yesterday to say hello. Now I find you in his cabin alone with him?”
“It’s complicated,” she said, turning away and staring out at the marina.
“Then break it down for me.” He followed her and stood behind, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You said that Ke still wanted to marry you. Is that why you came here? To tell him that it was over?”
She turned and allowed her eyes to meet with his. “He loves me, Stormy. He wants to make a life with me.”
“Well go back in and tell him that you’re not interested. Tell him that you’ve got me now.”
She shook her head in despair. “It’s too late,” she said. “I already accepted. I’m going to marry Ke Liu.”
Stunned, Stormy stood behind as she went back inside the cabin. He couldn’t believe what she was saying to him. She was actually going to throw away everything they had and go back to her ex-fiancé. Where did he go wrong?
Miranda had reached the end of the drive and realized she’d forgotten the blueprints for the new expansion project at Hotel Terranova. She turned the car around and went back to the house, bounding inside through the foyer and toward the parlor room where she’d left her leather portfolio case.
On her way, she overheard James and Ethan still talking in the dining room. The tone seemed rather intense, so she paused and listened at the door.
“So let me get this straight,” Ethan was saying. “It’s okay for you to know this big secret about Brooke and her family, but it’s not okay for me? I’m the father of her child, James. I was supposed to be in a relationship with her until David Jennings came along and screwed things up for us.”
“It’s not like that,” James claimed.
“Why did you fly down there anyway? I thought you and Brooke were over. You told me that Brooke and I had your blessing, remember? Or doesn’t that fit in with your agenda at the moment? Is this just another one of your attempts at getting her back for yourself?”
“No, of course not,” James insisted. “I found some things out by mistake. That was the reason for my going to Phoenix in the first place.”
“Found what things?”
James took a deep breath and realized that he was backed into a corner. He had no choice. “Mick Taylor was not Brooke’s father,” he began. “Roz had an affair years ago with Royce Jennings. He was Brooke’s biological father.”
Ethan listened in disbelief. “But that means that…”
“David is her sister,” James finished for him.
Outside the room, Miranda brought her hands to her mouth and uttered a muffled gasp. She couldn’t believe her ears. Brooke and David were siblings?
This week was shaping up to be the most scandelous in as long as she could remember.
Next time….
Stormy isn’t about to let Kelly go without a fight. Benji follows his instincts to confirm his suspicions. Brooke has another blow delt when a reporter pays her a visit. Miranda is in the hot seat. Brett and Heather get the news they’ve been waiting for.
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