Previously…
James told Roz that she couldn’t see Brooke anymore after what she’d done. Brooke left a desperate voicemail message for Ethan. James found Brooke at the airport and offered to take her back to Los Angeles. He didn’t tell her that Ethan had returned her phone call. Ethan became hurt when he learned that James and Brooke had gotten close again. Miranda was annoyed to learn that Brooke was staying at the mansion. She overheard James telling Ethan that David and Brooke are related. Kelly’s ex-fiancé, Keone Liu, showed up in town and informed Kelly he wanted her back. Benji became suspicious of Ke’s intentions. Stormy was devastated to learn that Kelly had accepted Ke’s marriage proposal.
Jordan drove to Marina Del Rey and took the stairs two at a time up to Brett and Heather’s condo. When the door opened and Brett appeared, he detected a worrisome look on his son-in-law’s face. His heart pounding in his chest, he extended a firm handshake and patted him on the shoulder.
“Thanks for coming over,” Brett said, digging his hands in the pockets of his jeans and turning to the living room.
“I appreciate you calling me,” he said, taking a deep breath before making his way into the room and trying to garner his daughter’s attention. “How long has she been like this?”
“About an hour,” Brett replied. He ran his fingers through his blond hair and shook his head in despair. “It’s like she doesn’t even know I’m here. I thought maybe you’d be able to snap her out of it.”
Jordan bent down to his knees next to the sofa. Heather held a book on her lap, reading to herself and glancing at Violet in the bassinette next to her.
“Princess, put the book down,” Jordan said, unnerved by his daughter’s unusual behavior.
“Listen to this,” Heather said, turning the page and reading from the text. “Infants who exhibit symptoms of delayed response are prone to have the chromosomal disorder hypocantresiditis, a common side affect from infants born with a toxoplasma infection. Furthermore, when the infant—”
“Heather, stop,” Jordan said, taking the book away and trying to get her to look him in the eyes. “You can’t keep doing this to yourself.”
“But look, Daddy,” she said, moving over to the bassinette. She reached down and lightly pinched the baby’s foot between the fingernails of her thumb and index finger. She looked at Jordan, then back at the baby while she waited. Moments later, Violet jerked her foot back and forth and made a few sounds.
Jordan rubbed his face in his hand and tried to find a way to reach his daughter.
“Delayed response,” Heather said. “Daddy, it’s proof. Proof that something is wrong with my baby.”
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Jordan said and took her hand in his. “Sweetheart, you’ve got to stop this. You can’t analyze every little thing that Violet does. You’re not a doctor. They examine her every week. It’s too early to tell if there’s anything to worry about.”
“But I have to know now,” Heather said, raking her fingers through her hair. “I have to know if something is wrong with my daughter. Don’t you see, Daddy? I can’t just go on like nothing is wrong. I have to know, and these books will help me.”
Brett leaned in over the sofa, shaking his head in agony. He was helpless to do anything to snap his wife out of her current state. Each day it got worse. Each time they took Violet to the specialists and were told that they would have to wait for an accurate diagnosis, it twisted the knife a little bit more.
“Babe, you have to drop this for now,” Brett said and took her hand in his. “You can’t go on this way. We can’t go on this way. Just enjoy her. Enjoy our daughter during this time in her life. We’ll never be able to get it back.”
Heather looked at him blankly and for a moment. She stood up and walked across the room, holding her head in her hands and crying silently. “What is wrong with me?” she asked. “I can’t think about anything else.”
“It’s okay,” Brett said and rushed toward her. He took her in his arms and held her tightly. “Nobody blames you for being worried. I’m worried too.”
“Are you?” she asked and pulled away.
“Yes, of course I am,” Brett insisted. “I’m terrified. But we have to be strong for our daughter.”
Jordan watched the tender moment, convinced that Brett was the best thing to ever happen to his daughter. He was so careful and patient with her. He knew they were both in pain and he wanted so much to do something.
Miranda made her way to the top of the staircase and turned down the hall toward her bedroom. As she walked by one of the guestrooms, she heard the cries of a toddler and stopped in her tracks, peeking inside and angrily pursing her lips when she saw Brooke sitting on the bed with Michael.
“I thought you were leaving this morning,” she said. “Or have you decided to move back in?”
Brooke rolled her eyes, not in the mood for Miranda’s spiteful jabs. “Your father convinced me to stay another night. He’s worried about me being alone. I think it’s very sweet.”
Miranda folded her arms and groaned accordingly. “I think it smacks of three years ago when you hung around all the time juggling Daddy and Ethan behind each other’s backs. Grow up, Brooke. Isn’t this routine of yours getting old?”
“There is no routine,” Brooke replied angrily and set Michael in his playpen before marching toward her. “My father just passed away, Miranda. He was buried yesterday. I guess I was too naïve to think that you’d actually be civil enough to stop your juvenile attacks during a time like this.”
“A time like this?” Miranda repeated, then muffled a burst of laughter with her hand. She couldn’t get over the conversation she’d overheard between her father and Ethan that morning. Brooke’s father was not her father. Royce Jennings was her father, which made David her brother. It was too icky to think about, but she couldn’t resist torturing the woman to her benefit.
“Yes. It’s customary that someone acknowledges when a loved one passes away,” Brooke fired back. “So far you haven’t done anything but insult me. But why should I be surprised? You’re still the spoiled brat that you were the first time your father introduced me to you.”
“You’re right, Brooke,” Miranda said, choosing he words carefully. “You’ve been through so much. Luckily my father was there for you in Phoenix.”
“Thank you,” Brooke said with a glare and turned back to the crib where Michael bounced around in a frenzy.
“But what about David?” Miranda called after her.
Suddenly Brooke stopped and spun back toward her. “What about David?” she asked, alarms sounding in her head.
Miranda shrugged. “Well, I know the two of you have gotten close over the past few months. I assumed he would have wanted to be there for you as well.”
Brooke didn’t reply. She evaded the question by busying herself with picking up toys from the floor and stacking them neatly in the crib.
“So, did David go to Phoenix with you?”
“Yes, David was in Phoenix,” Brooke replied distantly. She put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. “Miranda, if you don’t mind. I’d like to be alone with my son now.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t strike a nerve. I know you were fighting this chemistry between yourself and David, but why bother to continue the charade? You and Ethan are no longer together, Daddy has let go—or so he says—and so really there’s nothing stopping you from fully committing yourself to David Jennings.”
“I am not interested in David Jennings.”
“Why not?” Miranda asked with a devious smile. She knew she was pushing her buttons. It served her right for sinking her claws into David and luring him into her web of self-pity the way she did James and Ethan. Particularly when David was taken at the time—by her. The fact that he ended up being her brother was poetic justice, and she planned to milk it for all it was worth. “He’s a catch. His father was a multi-millionaire, and now so is David. Plus, his mother is Jacqueline Lamont. You knew she was married to Uncle Nathan, didn’t you? His grandfather was Jonas Lamont. I mean, the lineage involved is amazing. You should reel him in, Brooke.”
“That’s enough!” Brooke shouted.
Smiling, Miranda knew she’d gotten to her. Mission accomplished.
“If you’ll excuse me,” said Brooke as she walked forward and closed the door between them.
Outside in the hall, Miranda traipsed along to her bedroom, grinning from ear to ear over her triumph over Brooke. When she ran into her father coming toward her she hugged him warmly and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Hello, darling,” James said. “You’re in an awfully good mood this evening.”
“I am,” she said. “It’s a beautiful day today.”
“Well, I’m glad you had a good day. Listen, I won’t be at dinner tonight. Brooke and I have reservations at the Yacht Club.”
“You and Brooke?” Miranda asked, her good mood slowly fading. “You’re going out to dinner with Brooke?”
“That’s right. I think she still has a lot on her mind after the funeral. It’ll be good for her to have someone to talk to.”
She felt the same feelings of bitterness returning. The same feelings as when Brooke first came into their lives, poisoning her father and Ethan with her needy selfish vibe. “Yeah, but why does it have to be you, Daddy? You’re not her protector. You’re not even the father of her child. If anyone should be putting themselves out there for her it should be Ethan. Or David. Isn’t he her new beau?”
“Miranda, that’s enough. I’m trying to be a friend to Brooke. Nothing more.”
“Yeah right,” she said with a roll of her eyes before storming down the hall to her bedroom. Before she went in, she turned and issued one final parting shot. “She’s just using you again, Daddy. Why can’t you see that?”
After she’d disappeared into her room, James shook his head in aggravation. Her rivalry with Brooke had always been extreme, but lately it was downright obsessive.
“We’re going out,” Stormy said on his way to Burbank. “I’ll be there in five minutes. I’ll pick you up outside.”
“Jeez, you don’t give a guy much time to get pretty, do you?” Eddie replied from the balcony at his condo that overlooked the city lights.
“Just meet me downstairs. I need to get drunk.”
Ten minutes later after weaving through heavy traffic in the valley, Stormy pulled his Cobra II up to the curb outside the building. Eddie, waiting on the sidewalk, ran over and jumped into the passenger’s seat.
“What’s the situation?” he asked.
“Kelly. Her ex-fiancée showed up in town yesterday and all the sudden they’re engaged again. She totally blew me off. Can you believe that? I mean, what the hell happened?”
“Crazy,” Eddie exclaimed and looked through the windshield in amazement. “I would have thought one of us would have a chance with her. What’s this guy got that we don’t?”
Stormy ignored his friend’s attempt at lightening the mood. Or maybe he was being serious. He could never tell with Eddie. “He’s a pro surfer! That’s not a job for chrissake. That’s a feeding frenzy for sharks. I’m a movie producer. I think that’s a lot better of a job than jumping on a surfboard every day and paddling around the ocean.”
“Totally,” Eddie agreed. “And it’s not nearly as cool as being a private investigator. I mean, that’s a job, right?”
Exhaling with irritation, Stormy steered his car to the closest place he could find, which happened to be Hotel Terranova. Pulling up to the porte-cochere, he jumped out and flung his keys five feet through the air where they landed in the hands of the valet.
“Out of our way,” Eddie said to no one in particular as they made their way to the lounge. “This is a drinking emergency.”
They both ordered drinks and positioned themselves at the end of the bar.
“I really thought I was falling in love with her, you know?” Stormy said, his eyes darting around the lounge. “I defended her to my mother and my sister, I offered her a contract with the studio, I did everything I could to make her feel wanted.” He sighed with defeat. “I guess I just can’t compete with her past. I mean, she was with Ke for a long time.”
“Well, she left him for a reason,” Eddie surmised. “What’s changed?”
Stormy shrugged and slammed the rest of his drink. “I don’t know! She said he offers her security. I thought that’s what I was doing.”
“Security by way of a movie deal is very different from security by marriage.” Eddie ordered them two more drinks and leaned against the bar. “Some women are marriage crazy. All they think about is getting married. They like have marriage parties with their girlfriends in school or something.”
“Marriage parties?”
“I’m not really sure what’s involved, but I think it has something to do with pretend wedding dresses made out of toilet paper,” Eddie continued and handed him the fresh drink.
Stormy regarded him carefully. “It’s obvious you don’t have any sisters.”
“Look, all I’m saying is that it’s possible Kelly could be looking for more than a career in show business,” Eddie said, glancing across the room and spotting his brother entering the lounge with Benji Rydell. “What the fu—? What is that tool doing here?”
“Huh?” Stormy asked, wondering what topic they had moved on to.
Benji and Blake approached and stood next to them at the bar. “What is this? Middle-aged guys night?” Blake asked with a grin.
“Shut up.” Eddie turned to him and glared heatedly. “What are you doing here? If you’re trying to get served alcohol on your fake ID again, I’ll personally turn you over to the police myself. You’re still on probation, remember. You too, Benji. Remember shooting my brother?”
“Come on, don’t be such a square,” Blake complained. “This is the only place that doesn’t turn me away at the door thanks to you handing my picture out to every club west of Van Nuys Boulevard.”
“You’re eighteen. I can’t in good conscience let you drink. I’m a law enforcement official, you know. I have standards to uphold.”
Blake frowned with irritation. “You’re not a law enforcement official, you douchebag. You’re a private investigator, and I have to wonder what cracker jack box you got your license from, so don’t tell me—”
“We’ll be back,” Eddie said, interrupting him by grabbing his arm and leading him off to the hotel lobby.
Stormy laughed and turned to Benji. “How’s your sister doing?” he asked.
“The same,” he replied. “Dad got them an appointment with some specialist in Sacramento. He’s supposed to be the best in the country. They’re flying there tomorrow to do an evaluation on Violet.”
“Well, tell her I’m thinking about her,” Stormy said solemnly. He hated that he’d been so out of touch with Heather lately. But Miranda was right. Brett was her husband now. She didn’t need him.
“So, I hear Kelly bailed on you,” Benji said. “Weird.”
“Why weird?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just didn’t get the feeling that Ke Liu really wanted her back. That whole scene at your house seemed very rehearsed to me.”
“Rehearsed? What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. He shows up at the door all Hey brah, let’s hit some gnarly waves and hang ten and stuff’,” Benji said, doing his best at mimicking Ke’s voice. “And then he turns around and lays into Kelly with all this we belong together and don’t forget it.”
Stormy laughed. “Well, she accepted his proposal, so I don’t know if your hunch is necessarily right on this one, Benji. Why would he propose if he wasn’t really sincere?”
“That’s the question of the day.”
Before he knew it, Stormy was assaulted by the sight of Kelly and Ke Liu entering the lounge and taking a seat at a secluded table across the room.
“Speak of the Hawaiin Tropics Duo,” Benji said and snuck a drink of Stormy’s gimlet. “Do you want to leave?”
He stood, frozen at the bar for a few solitary moments before shaking his head adamantly and downing the rest of his drink.
“No,” he said simply. “Hell no. I’m going over there and telling her that I’m not going to accept this. We had something and she isn’t going to toss it out the window without some sort of explanation.”
“Good luck,” Benji said with a smirk, still doubtful that all was as it seemed with Kelly and her fiancée.
Bounding toward their table, Stormy grabbed Ke by the shirt collar and lifted him to his feet. “I should break your nose you cocky son of a bitch.”
“Stormy!” Kelly screamed. “What are you doing?”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here and moving in on another man’s territory,” Stormy growled, holding Ke firmly by the collar. He ignored the gasps and hushed whispers from the bystanders. “I don’t know how they do things where you’re from, but here we beat the piss out of guys who try that crap.”
“Kelly, you never told me Hollywood had such a temper,” Ke said through an unaffected grin. “Hey buddy, it’s not my fault if you couldn’t satisfy her. I could give you some pointers, but I doubt you’ll need them now. She’s mine.”
Gritting his teeth in anger, Stormy threw him against the table, finally releasing his grip on him. “You can’t honestly tell me that you want to marry this guy, Kelly,” he said. “I don’t know what you see in him.”
“I’m packing underneath,” Ke interjected with a devious grin.
“He’s a tool,” Stormy continued, turning to Kelly and taking her hand. “How can you throw away what we were building together. You said yourself months ago that he didn’t make you happy. What’s changed?”
“He asked me to marry him and I said yes,” Kelly said. “End of story. I’m sorry that you can’t accept that, Stormy. But please try.”
Frustrated, Stormy kicked the table with the tip of his boot and gave her one final parting glance before tearing off across the bar. Eddie and Blake had returned just in time to see the commotion and watched in bewilderment alongside Benji.
“What the hell happened?” Eddie asked.
“Absolutely nothing,” Benji replied while watching Ke and Kelly settle back in to their table.
Ethan made his way down the stairs at the mansion and ran into Miranda who was heading for the front door.
“Not staying for dinner?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Nobody’s around. I thought I’d go out and grab something quick. You wanna come?”
He shook his head. “Michael’s upstairs. Do you know where Brooke went? She was kind of vague about it earlier.”
“You don’t know?” Miranda asked, raising an eyebrow while taking a few steps back toward him. “She and Daddy went out.”
“Out?”
“To dinner. He said they had things to talk about. I don’t know, it sounded pretty secretive to me.”
Ethan bit down on his lip, wondering if it was so they could talk about the news James informed him about yesterday. He knew what pain Brooke must be going through. To find out at this stage in life that your father was not your father at all, and that your brother was someone you’d been romantically involved with. His heart went out to her.
The reality was he didn’t understand why she wouldn’t let him help her through it. The pain of their relationship ending was nothing compared to the way she continued to shut him out, while letting James back in.
“Ethan?” Miranda asked, trying to get him to focus. “Are you okay?”
He nodded grimly and started to walk away. “Yeah, I suppose so.”
Miranda followed, pulling him back and leveling her eyes on his. “Does it bother you that Daddy has invited Brooke into the house without asking how it made you feel?”
“It’s your father’s house. He can invite anyone he wants to stay here.”
“Yeah, but knowing how badly things ended with you and Brooke, I’m just surprised that he would flaunt her around like that.”
“He isn’t flaunting Brooke around,” Ethan reasoned. “Her father just passed away. He’s being kind.”
“You’re right,” Miranda said without much conviction. “That’s got to be it.”
He watched as she made her way back to the front door and left into the night. Running a hand through his hair, he contemplated the possibility that James could possibly be making a play for Brooke again. And Brooke was probably just vulnerable enough to allow it to happen.
“How are you holding up?” James asked from across the candlelit table at the Yacht Club. “Tell me the truth.”
“How do you think?” Brooke asked meekly. “I feel numb some of the time. Other times I feel disgusted. The rest of the time I’m just plain angry. Angry at my mother, angry at my father….or…I mean Mick.”
“He was still your father, Brooke. That doesn’t have to change.”
She managed a vague smile and picked at her dinner. After a few moments of silence between them, she set her fork down and looked up at him. “Tell me about my father. About Royce Jennings.”
James paused for a second. He supposed there was no harm in telling her about her biological father. It was her right to know. A right that Roz and so many others had taken away from her.
“He was a very good man,” he began. “Strong, powerful, ruthless, but also very compassionate and caring.”
“When did you first meet him?”
James hesitated while he tried to recall. “1982. It was at Jonas Lamont’s funeral. He and Jacqueline had moved away. They came back for the funeral and had David with them. He was about ten or eleven at that time.”
“Why would they have went along with it?” Brooke asked. “My father and Jacqueline. Their spouses cheated on them, had another baby, and yet they stayed.”
James shook his head. “They’re the only ones who can answer that. We’ll never know why Mick stayed with Roz. But he did, and he accepted you as his daughter. He loved you more than anything. Take comfort in that.”
Tears clouded her aquamarine eyes. “I’m trying.”
Overwhelmed with the desire to comfort her, James reached his hand across the table and clutched hers gently. “I wish I could take the pain away.”
Tears flowing heavily now, Brooke looked down and shook her head. “What about David?” she sobbed, afraid of making a scene in the dining room. “You know what happened, James. It’s so sinful and wrong. I don’t even feel like the same person anymore.”
“You can’t keep doing this to yourself. There’s no going back. You can’t change what happened. But you can pick up the pieces and move on with your life. Your son needs you to be strong.”
“I don’t know if I can,” Brooke cried with despair.
“All you need is a fresh start.”
“I don’t think I have another fresh start left in me,” she said, drying her eyes.
It was true that Brooke had had to start over more times than the average person. First after her marriage to Philip, then after they divorced, and again after her brief relationship with Ethan ended. But through it all she remained strong and he was constantly amazed by her resilience.
“Stay on at the mansion for a while longer,” he said. “It’ll be good for you to be around people.”
Brooke pushed a stray lock of hair from her eyes. “I don’t know that everyone at the mansion shares your opinion. Miranda has made it perfectly clear that she’s not happy with my being there, and Ethan…” A pause while she contemplated their complicated relationship. “Well, let’s just say that I’ve tried to avoid him as much as possible.”
“Right now you need to worry about yourself and that’s all,” James said. “Besides, this way you can take all the time you need and there will be someone around to look after Michael.”
She finally nodded and took a sip of water. “Ok, I’ll stay for a few more days.”
When they arrived back at the mansion, James walked her to the staircase in the foyer.
“I’ve been thinking,” Brooke started, paused on the first step. “I think I do need to talk to Ethan. I need to explain what’s going on in my life. I don’t want to hurt him anymore than I already have. The truth is I guess I still haven’t closed the door on our relationship.”
“Do you think you still have a chance to work it out?” James asked, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer. It had been a complete surprise to him, but since he flew down to Phoenix, he’d been overcome with feelings for her. Maybe he was the one who hadn’t closed the door.
“I don’t know. But we owe ourselves a chance to sit down and talk.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” he said without really meaning it.
“When you see him can you ask him to come up to the nursery? I thought I’d read Michael a bedtime story.”
“I will,” James said with a smile. “Goodnight, Brooke.”
“Goodnight.”
After she’d disappeared up the stairs, James made his way across the hall to the parlor room. He went inside and poured himself a bourbon and water, sipping it slowly while gazing out the window overlooking the front lawn.
Moments later, he heard the front door open and close. He looked out into the foyer and saw Ethan entering the house.
“How was your evening?” he called out.
Ethan followed him into the parlor room. “It was fine,” he said. “Yours?”
“It was all right,” James said and poured his nephew a drink. “Brooke needed to talk about some things. She’s just a wreck. I honestly don’t know how she’s going to get through this.”
“You’re certainly eager to help her through it,” Ethan said bitterly and took the drink from him.
“She needs all the help she can get,” James indicated. “I guess since I was in Phoenix when everything went down she feels especially close to me right now.”
“Are you sure you aren’t just using the situation to get close to her?”
“Ethan, how could you think I would take advantage of Brooke at a time like this?” James asked. “Brooke and I are divorced. We’ve grown to be close as friends and that’s it.”
He didn’t bother to respond. It didn’t matter what James said, it was clear that his uncle was after more than friendship with Brooke. “I think I’ll go up and check in on her and Michael.”
“Actually, Brooke said she was exhausted and wanted to turn in early,” James said. “I just checked in on her and she was fast asleep.”
Ethan sighed with frustration. “Okay,” he said. “Well, goodnight then.”
“Goodnight,” James replied, watching him disappear from view.
Marjorie Stahl was working late at the Times. Her office was dark except for the faint glow of the desk lamp. She had a deadline and the society section was missing its headlining story. One would think there was enough gossip in L.A. to fill every inch of space on the page, but she’d had her fill of Britney and Tomcat and Brangelina. There had to be something new to report.
A ding alerted her to a text message coming in on her iPhone. She took a sip of her latte and lifted the phone into her hand. Her eyes narrowed on the message which appeared to be sent from an anonymous source. Suddenly her troubles seemed to disappear. A story had fallen into her lap.
Guess who’s been dating her own brother?
Marjorie typed in a brief reply. Who?
Brooke Taylor.
Stormy made a deal with Eddie the next morning. He’d drive him to the Beverly Hills Hotel to take pictures of a cheating husband with his mistress, who had already gotten suspicious when he spotted Eddie’s BMW tailing him the day before. In order to throw him off, they took Stormy’s souped-up Cobra II and got the pictures he needed to provide his client.
In exchange, Eddie accompanied Stormy on a shopping trip.
“Are you sure about this?” Eddie asked as they pulled up to a valet on Rodeo Drive. “I mean, this is huge. You can’t take this back after it’s done.”
“I know that,” Stormy replied, jumping out of the car and starting past a row of boutiques. “When was the last time I did something without thinking about it first?”
Eddie grinned and did a double take as a pair of blondes passed them on the sidewalk. “Well, let’s see. Cheating on Heather with Lauren. Sleeping with the Senator’s wife. Oh, and how about breaking into Will Thomerson’s house and then being accused of his murder?”
Stormy flashed him an irritated expression. “I meant recently.”
“Oh, well I guess nothing recently.” Eddie stopped in front of the giant doors of a store front. “What happened to you not being ready for this? I’d hate to think you were doing this just because—”
“I’m doing this because I want to,” Stormy insisted. “Now get on board or go home.” He turned and walked inside Harry Winston Jewelers.
“But you drove!” Eddie complained, following him inside the store.
Benji stole the keys to his father’s yacht and picked Blake up on the way to the marina. He knew they had a few hours before Jordan got home from Sacramento, so he decided to take advantage of the situation.
“Are you sure your dad isn’t going to find out?” Blake asked
“You worry too much, Distefano,” Benji said as he climbed onto the deck and prepared the yacht for launching. “It’s a gorgeous day, barely any smog, and I can’t think of any reason not to. Besides, my dad’s so wrapped up with my sister’s drama that I doubt he’d notice if I disappeared for a week, let alone a few hours.”
Blake rolled his eyes and climbed the ladder onto the lower deck of the yacht.
“Taking Daddy’s boat out for a ride?” called a voice from the dock.
Benji looked up and saw Ke Liu jogging in their direction, shirtless and sweaty in shorts and running shoes. “Hey, it’s the surfer dude,” he said. “Trying to find some tasty waves?”
Ke came to a stop on the dock and stretched his legs. “California doesn’t have tasty waves,” he joked in return. “Guys here think a ten-foot swell is a big deal. I say they need to come down to Hawaii and see how we do it. We’re talking fifty foot—”
“Not into surfing,” Benji cut him off. “So how long do you plan on sticking around here if the surfing is so bad?”
Ke shrugged and put his hands oh his hips, panting while trying to catch his breath from his vigorous run along the marina. “Until Kelly’s ready to come back to Honolulu with me,” he said.
“Oh, that’s right, you’re getting married.”
“Yep,” Ke replied proudly. “So how do you know that Stormy dude anyway?”
“He’s my stepbrother,” Benji said.
Ke nodded with meager interest. “I see. He must be pretty pissed that his daddy’s money isn’t enough of a lure for Kelly to stay. One look at me at the door and she was putty in my hands.”
“And that’s probably got nothing to do with your daddy’s money,” Benji replied sarcastically. “Come on, dude, what’s really going on? You show up in town and say you want Kelly back after all this time? If you were so meant to be together, why’d it take so long for you to come?”
“Like I said, I had family stuff going on.”
“Right,” Benji said suspiciously. “Family stuff.”
Ke raised an eyebrow, offering a sly grin before continuing his run along the marina.
Heather had fallen asleep that afternoon on the sofa with an open book spread over her chest, another resting between her knees, and a stack of three more on the coffee table. Brett considered waking her for Violet’s feeding, but she looked so peaceful he couldn’t bring himself to, so he fed her a bottle and put her down for a nap.
Returning to the living room, he took the book from her chest and closed it. Immediately, Heather awoke and looked around groggily.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi.” He sat down beside her and placed a hand over hers while staring dreamily into her eyes.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
“About you,” he said with a vague smile. “And Violet. How important you both are to me.”
She looked down at the blanket again. “Even if something turns out to be wrong with her?”
“Look at me,” Brett said and turned her toward him. “I will love her no matter what. There’s nothing any doctor could tell me that would change that.”
She smiled and closed her eyes as he leaned in to kiss her.
The set was closed for a pivotal scene being shot for Angel Assassin 2. While the crew set the cameras and lighting for the shot, Kelly sat in her dressing room staring at her reflection in the mirror. She admired a bouquet of African Roses that sat on the vanity, complete with a romantic card from Ke. Smiling from ear to ear, she arranged the stems and thought about the future.
A knock at the door turned her attention away from her thoughts and she glanced behind just as Stormy entered the dressing room.
“Are you decent?” he asked, holding his arms behind his back.
She scowled angrily at him and turned back to the mirror. “I have nothing to say to you, Stormy. I’m still furious about last night.”
“I don’t blame you,” he said. “That’s why I came to apologize.” Slowly he withdrew a bouquet of roses from behind his back and ceremoniously presented them to her.
She looked at the offering and shrugged indifferently while pointing across the room. “Thanks. You can put them over there.”
Stormy, noticing the roses already on the vanity, realized he’d been beaten to the punch, presumably by Ke Liu. “I’m sorry for the way I acted last night. But there’s something that I need to tell you.”
“I’m not interested, Stormy,” Kelly remarked, brushing powder onto her face. “I just want to get through this scene today.”
Running his fingers through his hair, he turned and tried to formulate what he was going to say, as if rehearsing the whole way there hadn’t been enough.
“Look, I know you’re back with Ke,” he began. “I know you and him have a lot of history together and I know you think marrying him is what you want.”
“Think?” she repeated. “Don’t act like I can’t make decisions for myself. I’ve thought long and hard about this. Nothing you can say is going to make me change my mind.”
“What about this?” he asked, reaching into his pocket and removing a small black velvet jewelry box. He opened it slowly and watched as she stood up and examined the radiant diamond ring from Harry Winston.
“Oh my god,” she murmured, staring in wonderment at the flawless stone. “I don’t know what to say….”
“Say yes,” he replied. “Kelly, I love you and I want to marry you. I’m sorry that it took Ke Liu coming here to make me realize it. I just know that I can’t lose you. “
Breathlessly, she stepped closer and felt her eyes welling up with tears. “Do you mean it?” she asked.
“More than anything.” He got down on one knee and held the ring out to her. “Will you marry me?”
She nodded quickly, pulling him up and throwing her arms around him. “Yes!” she exclaimed happily. “Yes!”
Their lips met in a passionate kiss. Stormy closed his eyes, relieved that he hadn’t been too late. He knew he would have eventually proposed to Kelly anyway. All it took was the possibility of losing her to speed things up a little.
Brooke slept late and finally got dressed and decided to go for a walk around the grounds. It was a beautiful morning and she needed some fresh air to clear her mind.
She’d waited up until one a.m. for Ethan to come upstairs, but he never did. She supposed he had reached his wits end with her. After pushing him away for so many months and excluding him over the past few days from all that was going on in her life, he’d probably had enough. And she didn’t blame him. Her relationship with David had been a source of resentment between them. Now if he only knew the truth, that it had all been a horrible and disgusting mistake. She felt like a fool.
Making her way down the staircase to the foyer, the saw Leilani answering the phone. By the time she reached the bottom stairs, the phone was being thrust in her direction.
“Phone call for you, Miss Taylor,” Leilani said.
Brooke smiled meekly and took the receiver from her. “Hello?”
“Brooke Taylor?” asked the caller.
“Yes, who is this?”
“Hi Brooke, it’s Marjorie Stahl from the Times. I called to get your reaction to a tip I received about you and David Jennings. I’m running the story in tonight’s edition and thought you might like to give a quote.”
Brooke frowned in confusion. “What tip?” she asked. “What are you talking about?”
“That Royce Jennings was your father,” Marjorie said, eagerly tapping her pencil on her desk. “And that you knowingly had a sexual relationship with your own brother, David Jennings.”
All color drained from Brooke’s face and she quickly felt light-headed. The phone dropped from her weak hand and she covered her mouth in horror. She could hear the tinny sounds of Marjorie’s voice coming through the receiver which dangled carelessly to the floor.
“No,” she whispered to herself in a panic. When she looked up from the floor, she saw James and Ethan rushing out of the solarium. They looked at her with great concern, sensing that something awful had happened. Then she glanced up the staircase and saw Miranda standing on the top landing.
Feeling all eyes on her, she quickly turned and ran down the hall, desperate to escape the living nightmare that didn’t seem to ever end.
Kelly knocked on the door of Cabin 415 at the Yacht Club. She waited a few moments before knocking again, holding her clutch purse neatly in front of her. Finally, the door opened and Ke answered, wearing only a towel around his waist.
“Hi,” she said in a soft voice. “Can I come in?”
He stood clear of the door and followed her into the room. “Everything okay? I was afraid of what might happen after we left the hotel last night. Your Hollywood boy seemed pretty pissed.”
“Wasn’t that the idea?” Kelly asked with a smile and stood in the center of the room.
He nodded and tightened the knot on his towel. “That GPS on his cell phone came in handy. I’d hate to think our little night out together would have gone unnoticed. Do you think he suspected?”
“He reacted exactly the way I’d hoped he would,” Kelly replied. “And it worked perfectly.” She raised her hand and flashed the enormous diamond ring on her finger.
“Wow,” Ke gushed and took her hand so he could get a closer look. “So, he actually proposed?”
“I knew he would,” she said and examined the Harry Winston. “He just needed a little push. And how better to do that than for the ex-fiancée to show up and shake things up?”
Ke grinned mischievously. “I’m glad I could help out. I owed you. That’s why when you called me and asked me to come, I couldn’t say no.”
“You don’t owe me anything, Ke,” she insisted. “I kept your secret because it was the right thing to do. It’s your life. How you choose to live it is none of your father’s business.”
“But you risked so much when you called off our engagement with no explanation. When I think of the way my father treated you. You could have easily told him the truth about me. At least you would have put the blame on me where it belonged.”
“I don’t care what he thinks of me,” Kelly declared. “If he wants to think I’m a gold digger then let him think it. He’ll never find out your secret. At least not from me.”
“I appreciate that.” He stepped forward and embraced her warmly. “And if this guy isn’t good to you, I’ll come back here and kick his ass. That’s a promise.”
“Thank you,” Kelly said with a smile. “But I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Stormy and I are going to be very happy.”
“I hope so,” Ke said and walked her to the door again. “Take care of yourself.”
“You too,” she said and looked him up and down. His chiseled body got her attention and she shook her head in disappointment. “Damn you’re fine. What a waste.”
He grinned, kissed her on the cheek and watched her leave the cabin. After she’d gone, he turned and went back into the bedroom.
“Who was that?” Benji asked from the bed. He pushed the sheet off of him, naked as he crawled to the edge of the bed.
“Nobody,” he said dismissively and looked down at him. “You up for another round?”
“You know it,” Benji replied and laid down on his back. He knew there was something amiss the minute he laid eyes on Ke Liu. The whole story about coming to L.A. to win Kelly back was never very believable. The way he looked at him that day at the mansion was unmistakable.
Ke quickly untied the towel from his waist and let it drop to the floor. He leaned down and covered Benji’s body with his, his tongue starting at his chest and finding its way to his mouth.
Next time….
Brooke lashes out, determined to find out who leaked the story to the press. James and Ethan have it out. Miranda isn’t an innocent bystander. David finally resurfaces. Brett and Heather argue.
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