Episode 344
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I think another minute in there and everyone would have died,”
Grady let out a small laugh looking over at Deana as she sat in his passenger
seat of the car while he drove back to her place. Tapping his fingers against
the wheel he wasn’t quite sure what to say before taking in a deep breath.
“I think Sarah was a bit upset.”
“You think?” Deana half laughed still not quite sure what to say
to him as she offered up a wide smile. Looking out the window she remember
what it was like hearing Kyle say those words. “It’s always nice
to see a person get what they want. Revenge is a nice thing sometimes and
this time Kyle deserved it toward Sarah.”
“I hope I never get you mad at me. I‘ll have the girl that believes
in revenge against me,” Grady chuckled seeing her shrug her shoulders
before taking in a deep breath and trying to think of something else to say.
“Kyle is my best friend and it would have killed me to see him marry
that devil. She didn’t deserve him and he needed so much better. I wound
up in a bad relationship and I was stuck for so long and he never, ever deserved
something like that.”
“There is a good side to you right there in that confession. The way
you want to protect Kyle with all that you are,” she muttered seeing
him shrug his shoulders before she took in a deep breath and rested her head
back against the seat. “Kyle is probably the nicest guy I have ever met
and he deserves a good life with someone who is going to love him for who
he is. Someone that will be there for him throughout everything and love him,
only him. I know I would want to be with someone like Kyle and give him everything
he really wanted in a relationship.”
“You know, I always wished I could be Kyle throughout the years,”
Grady half laughed seeing her look over at him with a frown as he shrugged
his shoulders and took in a deep breath. “I mean he always had this charm
around girls. They always thought he was the sweet guy they all wanted to
date, I wish I could learn some skills from him. I’m not saying he isn’t
a sweet guy because he is, but what I mean is I wish I could be a lot like
him. Then I could have your heart too.”
“To tell you the truth, yeah--I like Kyle and he is cute,” she took
in a deep breath before shaking her head slowly and looking out at the cars
in front of her. “But there is no way that he is my type, some how--I
don’t think I could ever fit with someone like that. Someone so good
to the point where they make you feel like you aren‘t that great. He‘s
too good of a guy for me.”
“He’s so nice though and he has exactly what it takes to make a
great husband,” Grady added seeing her nod slowly and he took in a small
breath before shaking his head slowly. “He knows what to do with his
life and he doesn’t make mistakes. When he wants something he gets a
firm grip on it and never lets it go. No matter what.”
“Are you feeling something toward Kyle today Grady?” Deana half
laughed hearing the way that Grady was praising Kyle and she saw him frown
before looking back toward the road. “I mean honestly, you sound like
you are in love with Kyle and have been holding it in for so long that it
kills you inside.”
“That’s so far from the truth. I love him as my best friend and
like a brother, but no way,” Grady pulled into the parking lot before
shaking his head slowly and turning off the car. “What I mean is that
I wish I had the power to hold onto the thing that I loved the most in my
life instead of letting her walk away from me because of some stupid mistake
I made in the past.”
“Grady, not in the car,” she begged seeing him frown as she opened
the door to get out, bending down once she was out to see Grady’s green
eyes staring out at her. “If you want to talk, lets go to my apartment
because I really don’t like closed in places.”
“Okay,” Grady nodded quickly getting out of the car taking in a
deep breath as he thought about her actually letting him back in now that
they were kind of on the outfs with each other. “Thanks for letting me
get in.”
“No problem,” Deana moved letting him walk into her apartment as
she closed the door behind him and held onto her purse tightly seeing the
way he stared out at her. “You were saying.”
“Listen, first of all,” Grady took in a deep breath thinking of
all the things that he wished he could tell her, but nothing came out leaving
him speechless. “I’m a jerk. I’m a jerk who doesn’t realize
what kind of damage I could do to someone’s feelings. I take people for
granted--feel free to disagree at any time.”
“No, I was just thinking of letting you go on,” she replied with
a small nod seeing him take in a deep breath before resting his hands against
his hips and looking down toward the ground. “I know that the problem
in this relationship isn’t me, so I’m going to let you say what
I want.”
“That’s the thing, I’m not very good with my words at all,”
Grady tried to explain thinking about his feelings knowing that it was always
a hard thing to do for him lately. “I always have this problem that when
I love someone so much, I can never tell them how much they truly mean to
me. I always end up losing them somehow. I don’t want to lose you too
Deana. I know we have kind of a new relationship with each other but I don’t
want to let what we have go. I can’t be alone again.”
“You be alone? This isn’t about you Grady,” she walked into
the kitchen setting her purse down before walking back out and throwing her
hands up in the air. “Never mind because it is about you and everything
that you think and feel. I saw how you felt toward Avery and I can’t
be with a man that has it out for someone else.”
“Listen, I know that it looked bad, but I love you,” he promised
reaching out to grab her hand in his before squeezing hers tightly and offering
up a wide smile. “I don’t know what I have to do for you, but I’ll
get on my knees and beg Deana because I love you.”
Getting to his knees he grabbed both her hands in his and let out a small
laugh seeing the way her brown eyes looked down into his and he shrugged his
shoulders.
“Deana, I swear I never want to let you go and I never want to hurt you,”
Grady informed her with a deep sigh seeing the way her eyes watched him as
he slowly rose up from the ground cupping her face in his hands gently. “I
just want you and all of you. You’re the only one I want to be with.
I’m just begging you to forgive me. That’s all I want, just please
say you will forgive me--I’ll do anything.”
“Well, since you will do anything,” Deana took in a deep breath
before laughing and letting out a small breath moving forward to wrap her
arms around his neck tightly. “I guess I forgive you.”
“You do?” he questioned with a wide smile seeing the look behind
Deana’s dark eyes as she nodded quickly and he let out a small chuckle.
Seeing the way she was staring at him, Grady cleared his throat and hesitantly
laughed. “So about that anything, what are you planning for me?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I don’t understand why you are still keeping this up,” Kellen
muttered fixing his hair as he stared out at Sarah seeing the way she glared
out at him and he shrugged his shoulders. “Kyle isn’t here, Kyle
wants nothing to do with you--you are not what he wants at all. You know,
also you’re in a church and maybe you should go change because you are
in white there girl and you are no where good enough to wear that color. I
think everyone that anteceded the church knows that. Better yet, you should
just leave considering no one likes you.”
“Please Kellen,” she moved forward seeing his blue eyes staring
out at her as he fixed his unbuttoned dress shirt and moved in closer to her.
“The only reason Heather even hangs out with you is because you are gay
and have a nice taste in fashion.”
“Was that supposed to offend me or something?” Kellen questioned
arching his eyebrow up in almost a mocking manner before letting out a small
laugh. “Listen Sarah, I know you are jealous about almost every relationship
I have ever had with someone, but come on. Just because your sister is close
to me and Kyle likes me right now too, doesn’t mean that you have to
continue to stay by me. You don’t have to keep bugging me about your
feelings because I think I get the fact that you are upset that no one wants
to be with or around you. I’m not interested in you or your little devil
plans. I just want to be able to see my friend live a good life without you
in it.”
“What makes you think that he will have a better life with me not in
it?” she questioned seeing the way he shrugged his shoulders before folding
up his sleeves a little bit more careful as she looked up at him. “You
knew nothing about our past times, you know nothing about us now. There was
one point in Kyle’s life where he wanted nothing more than to be with
me and have a family with…me. What’s the difference?”
“This difference is I have seen Kyle with you and I have seen Kyle with
the person he loves and I can tell just by the way you two act with one another,
that you two aren’t happy. Well, okay Kyle isn’t happy, but you
are. You are happy because you get to ruin another person‘s life, you‘re
just mad because this time you got caught,” Kellen rested his hands against
his hips taking in a small breath before shaking his head slowly. “I
know that Kyle can be happy with someone that has complete feelings for him
and wants to be with him with everything that she is. Kyle would have been
all up to marrying you if you would have just stayed true Sarah. Why did you
end up doing something like that after all the time he has spent dedicating
his life to you?”
“You’re talking like you actually know anything about my life,”
she tried to explain once more before hearing him laugh and she moved forward
thinking about trying to choke him again. “You have no idea how I would
have treated him when we were together. He could have been my everything and
you probably just ruined that for me. I don’t know why you would even
try to ruin today.”
“Well, it’s simple,” Kellen smirked rubbing his cheek gently
before letting out a long laugh and pushing back his short dark hair carefully
making sure not to mess it up at all. “Because you are a bitch that deserves
nothing in her life because she tried to ruin everyone else and their dreams.”
“That’s it, you’re dead,” Sarah moved forward to go after
Kellen only to feel a muscle mass stop her from moving any further as she
looked before her to see Russ holding her back and seeing Kellen standing
in the same position he was at originally. “Let me go Russell, I just
want to have a word with Kellen.”
“Yeah, well I don’t think your words would have anything to do with
your mouth,” Russ tried to get her to move back as he took in a deep
breath and shook his head slowly trying to get Kellen to stop teasing her
at the same time while he held her back. “Somehow I don’t think
I want to witness another fight between the two of you tonight. I think I
have seen enough between all of you.”
“Hey, I don’t see the problem,” Kellen shrugged his shoulders
seeing the way she tried to get out of Russ’s grasp and he let out a
long yawn looking down to his fingers knowing that Sarah was glaring a hole
right through his head. “I would just make her land on her ass again.”
“Damn it Russell let me go, I’m not kidding,” Sarah once again
tried to get out of Russ’s grasps as he still held onto her tightly and
didn’t let her go seeing Kellen smile. “He needs a taste of his
own medicine and when I get let go Kellen, I swear that you are dead.”
“I doubt it,” Kellen shrugged his shoulders thinking about what
she said as he saw Russ looking down at her almost afraid to be letting go
of her as she struggled against him. “You are the one who will have a
dead private life after this and…,”
“Kellen,” Russ snapped trying to get him listen as he shook his
head slowly and looked between Kellen and Sarah before shaking his head slowly.
“I’m just trying to tell the difference and take in what is happening
here. That’s all, so if you could please--I would really like it if you
could just keep your words to yourself.”
“Fine,” Kellen threw his hands up in the air seeing the way Russ
let her go as Kellen stared out at her and she lunged forward only to have
Russ catch her again. “Here we go again.”
“I can’t believe you,” a voice from behind echoed through their
ears as Sarah calmed down to see Diego behind her and she let go enough to
turn to face him seeing him move away from her. “I can believe any of
it. How could you have done something like this?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I think I am still kind of lost at what is going on with your sister
and Kevin,” Chase pointed out looking over at Trisha as he sat on the
hood of his car after they had stopped on the hill they usually came to. Shaking
his head slowly, he pushed back his blonde hair before looking up into Trisha‘s
dark eyes. “They are such an amazing couple that I couldn’t see
them fighting at all.”
“I don’t know what caused all of it really,” Trisha took in
a deep breath taking a seat next to Chase on his car feeling his arm wrap
around her shoulders and she took in a deep breath. “I can tell you they
are an amazing couple when you look at them doing their stuff together, but
I guess in their minds Ria feels they don’t belong.”
“Do you honestly believe that?” Chase questioned seeing Trisha shake
her head slowly before he inhaled deeply and laid back against the hood looking
up at the sky that started to cloud over. “I know this sounds ridiculous,
but I see something with Kevin. No one might be able to see it like I do,
but I see something in Kevin that proves he love’s Ria. Maybe it’s
a man feeling, but he has this look in his eyes that just gets someone’s
attention every time we are around him.”
“I know what you mean,” she agreed looking over and looking into
Chase’s light blue eyes, feeling his hand move in against hers as she
laid back with him feeling his arm wrap around her gently. “I mean yeah,
I have always walked in on them doing other things, but you can just tell
that they have something that most people don’t. I wish I could it explain
it, but…”
“Right now they are having problems, so that is hard to do,” he
finished her sentence seeing her nod slowly before inhaling deeply and settling
her free hand in over his stomach and he let out a small breath. “At
this moment as we lie here, we are worrying about your sister and her feelings,
but you figure--they are going to be back together soon. They can’t stand
being apart, it’s something that they can’t do is be apart. Whatever
is going on I’m sure isn’t that horrible, I know they can get around
this. From what you have told me over the last few months, they’ve seemed
to get around everything.”
“They have chemistry they can’t refuse,” she agreed seeing
the way that Chase looked down at her before feeling him press a small kiss
in over her forehead. “I know my sister is going to be happy again with
Kevin, this is just an average thing for them to fight--I hope.”
“Trust me,” he hushed her wrapping his arm tightly around her shoulders
before looking up at the sky and shaking his head slowly thinking about the
situation before them. “I think everything will be okay.”
Leaving themselves in a moment of silence, Chase felt a swirl of cool air
press in over him and he shook his head slowly knowing that they shouldn’t
have been there when he knew it would be storming anytime soon.
“The only thing I am worried about right now is getting you sick considering
it is a bit chilly out here today,” Chase wrapped his arms tightly around
her shoulders and shook his head slowly. “I’ll blame myself if you
get sick.”
“Well then you should,” she half laughed hitting him in the stomach
before shaking her head slowly and inhaling deeply. “You should blame
yourself if I do get sick, but in all honesty--I’m sure I will be fine.
I have my coat and you holding me right now, that’s all I’ll ever
need.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“What’s going on here?” Brant questioned sensing that once
again Cameron was up to no good. The fact that he was lurking around Angela
put Brant immediately on edge and he marched forward shoving Cameron in the
center of the chest. “You stay the hell away from her Stone. I don’t
know what you’re up to, but you’re not going to hurt her.”
“Hurt her,” Cameron laughed wildly looking over at Angela, “Why
would I hurt Angel? She’s everything to me.”
“Everything to you?” Brant repeated with a strange expression. He
looked to Angela and noticed that the color had started to drain from her
face. Reaching for her, he tried to shield her from whatever danger Cameron
had in store for her, but she backed away from him instinctively.
“Don’t touch me!” she shrieked her gaze traveling over to Kevin
with a weariness behind her dark eyes. “Just stay away from me both of
you.”
“Stay away from you,” Brant watched her in confusion, “Angela
what’s going on? What’s wrong? What has this bastard done to upset
you?”
“Bastard,” Cameron rolled with laughter, “Oh that’s priceless
coming from a murderer like you. Did you really think that you would be able
to get away with everything? Did you think that you would just be able to
seduce my sister and destroy her like you did our father?”
“Your father,” Brant blinked back at Cameron finally facing him
for the first time, “What in the hell are you talking about?”
“The truth!” Cameron shouted his words coming out harsh and abrasive,
“I’m talking about how you and your father stole the only family
we had away from us. You went into his office on Christmas, placed that gun
to his head and pulled the trigger all out of spite. You bled him to death
and took away all that we had. Your greed caused us to lose everything and
that’s why you must pay.”
“You’re delusional,” Brant shook his head at Cameron before
turning to face Angela, “I don’t know what he’s trying to feed
you here, but I swear I never did anything to his family or his sister like
he’s trying to say to you.”
“Brant,” Angela spoke up her voice trembling as she kept moving
backwards, “I am his sister.”
“What?” Brant’s dark eyes widened as he felt a nervous laugh
build up in the back of his throat, “No, that’s not right. That
can’t be possible.”
“Of course it’s possible. You knew full well that she was my sister
and that’s why you sought her out and seduced her. You manipulated her
at a time she was vulnerable and you tried to destroy her, but I’m onto
you. I’m onto the both of you,” Cameron placed himself between Brant
and Angela. His dark eyes glared up at Kevin ready to punish him for defying
Cameron’s warnings, “You enlisted the help of this murderer in your
plan to take away the one thing in this world that means the most to me.”
“What? You’re insane,” Brant shook his head again before eyeing
Angela, “Look I don’t know what he’s said to you but…”
“He told me that you killed my father--that you were the one who shot
him and left him there to die,” Angela hissed curling her fingers into
fists at her sides. Slowly her eyes moved to Kevin in an accusatory tone,
“Kevin, is what Cameron said true? Did you kill Cary?”
“Who is Cary,” Brant couldn’t help but ask before turning to
Cameron, “What have you done to her?”
“I opened her eyes to the truth about the men she brings into her life.
I have shown her what you truly are and my sister won’t be blinded again.
Angela Stone will not have the wool pulled over her eyes.”
“Angela Stone,” Brant repeated still trying to make sense of what
Cameron had said to him. He focused on Angela again, “You can’t
be his sister. You have to be joking, right? I mean do you have any idea who
this man is?”
“He’s the only one who has never lied to me,” she wrapped her
arms around her torso, her words coming out in a shivering exhale. “You
set me up. Both of you!
“Angie, you don’t understand,” Kevin took a small step towards
her, “Cary was going to hurt you. I told you before you married him that
he was trouble and that night things got out of hand. I never, ever intended
for him to…”
“You stay away from me,” Angela blurted out tears burning down her
face, “both of you just stay away from me.”
“They won’t hurt you anymore Angel,” Cameron reached out to
her curling his arm around his sister, “Neither one of these monsters
will have the opportunity to destroy you now that I’m here. You’re
safe now.”
“Angela he’s lying. I don’t know what he’s talking about.
Yes, I know my father was a monster, but I swear to you that I never, ever…”
Brant tried to appeal to her.
“Just like Kevin didn’t murder her husband,” Cameron lashed
out at the both of them, “Face it Angela is on to you and she’s
never going to buy any of your lies ever again!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Diego,” Sarah half whispered seeing the way his dark eyes stared
out at her and she tried to read them, not being able to tell if he was hurting
or angry. “Listen, everything that has happened here today with Kyle…”
“Is absolutely true,” Diego cut her off angrily before throwing
his hands up in the air before taking in a sharp breath and thinking about
all the words he heard Kyle speak of over the television. “I can’t
believe I even fell for someone like you.”
“Diego, don’t say that,” Sarah frowned reaching out to touch
him only to see him pull away from her like she would burn him with her touch.
“Please don’t do this to me, I’ve lost everything today and
I can’t lose you too.”
“You don’t care what you lose Sarah,” Diego snapped throwing
his hand up in the air to silence her seeing her dark eyes almost begging
him to just calm down, but that wasn’t going to happen. “You are
too stuck in that little place in your head where you think everyone is less
important than you. I can’t believe you would do all of this to Kyle,
every little part of it. How could you do this to Kyle and me?”
“I never wanted to hurt you two,” she tried to explain seeing Diego
glare out at her as she shook her head, caught on her words as she tried to
find a way to talk to him without sounding like a jerk. “You and Kyle
were the only things that were important to me.”
“So important that you had to go and ruin both of us?” Diego questioned
with a snap seeing her fold her arms out in front of her chest and look away
from him as Diego stepped forward. “You look at me and face what you
have done. You can’t run away from the horrible things you have tried
to pull Sarah.”
“All I wanted to be was happy,” she replied feeling him grab a hold
of her cheeks roughly to make her look at him as Diego bit down on his bottom
lip and she pressed her fingers in over his wrist. “I just wanted to
have what I wanted in my life. Was that so wrong?”
“It was wrong breaking down the people you loved in the process,”
he snapped once more pushing back his dark hair trying to keep his emotions
under control. “Congratulations Sarah, those people you cared about the
most in your life are just about to walk out of it. What Kyle did to you here
today, is nothing compared to what you deserve.”
“Diego,” she sighed trying to think of something that could explain
her actions as she saw him go to turn away and she grabbed his hand before
he could. “Don’t walk away from me.”
“I’ll walk away whenever I want,” he pulled his hand away from
her roughly seeing her take a step back as he let out a small laugh and covered
his eyes for a moment before looking back up at her. “I can’t believe
I couldn’t see right through you. All this time you have known Heather,
I got so mad at her when I found out there was you. I thought this was all
her, but now I know why she wouldn’t want to admit to having you as a
family member. I mean look at you, you’re nothing compared to her.”
“Don’t you dare compare me to her,” Sarah ordered seeing the
way he glared out at her as she held her finger up in the air taking a step
forward hating the fact that again, she was compared to Heather. “Heather
is nothing compared to me.”
“Heather is nothing like you Sarah, she’s a good person that needs
a good life, unlike you. She didn’t go and ruin other people’s lives
just to get what she wanted. She didn’t toy with people’s hearts
like you have,” Diego informed her with a small hiss before shaking his
head slowly and letting out a groan. “All this time I have been playing
with my heart, falling in love with something that wasn’t even real.
You don’t deserve me, you don’t deserve Kyle--and hell, you’re
aren’t even good enough for Cameron. All I know is that I hurt someone
while I was off thinking you were the one and I think I owe them an apology.
I also want you to know that if that baby even is mine considering you slept
with about a million people, if that‘s mine--I‘ll make sure I get
custody of it and you'll never see the baby again.”
“Diego, just let me explain and I’m sure you will understand,”
Sarah tried to get him to listen to her once more as he turned to face her,
ready to accept whatever it was she was about to say, but she found herself
at a loss of words. Trying to think of something good to say she looked up
and tilted her head to the side seeing Cori walking into the room with a paper
bag. Seeing Cori pull something out of the bag Sarah let out a small gasp
seeing Diego eye her over like she was crazy. “Diego get out of the way…,”
“What?” Diego questioned staring up at her before a loud sound erupted
through the air and Diego’s body fell to the ground as Sarah moved to
his side looking up to see Cori holding a gun in the middle of the isle.
“Diego,” Sarah gently pushed at his shoulder hearing him let out
a small groan as she pushed her hand in over the center of his back and looked
him over carefully. “Diego, talk to me.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Where did you go?” Don surveyed the area realizing that Brant
and Kevin had both managed to disappear without him being able to locate them.
He looked around the area again before heading back inside the church wondering
if they had somehow gone back to deal with whatever chaos was from within.
Standing at the door Don felt a moment of panic sweep over him, but he refused
to let it get control over him. He wasn’t at the wrong in this wedding
this time. Someone else had upset the bride--he was completely out of it.
“Don,” Avery’s voice shouted in warning as he nearly knocked
into her and Erin. He leapt back looking at her holding her daughter in her
arms.
“Hey Avery, um…” Don felt a nervousness creep over him remembering
what had happened the last time he’d upset Avery. It was no secret that
they weren’t friends with one another, yet as he stood in front of Brant’s
soon-to-be ex-wife, he cwouldn’t help but notice how much she did in
fact look like Angela. If he hadn’t known better, he would’ve sworn
that she was Angela with her hair pinned up neatly on top of her head.
“What?” Avery glared up at him still standing in front of him after
he’d blocked her exit from the ladies room. “Are you going to stand
there all day or are you just going to let me go?”
“I um,” Don cleared his throat uneasily before taking a step back,
“Sure go ahead. I was just looking for Brant and…”
“Brant’s here,” Avery questioned with a surprised expression,
“What is he doing here?”
“It’s a wedding or well, it was a wedding,” Don stated the
obvious shrugging his shoulders, “He was invited.”
“Somehow I seriously doubt it,” Avery rolled her eyes knowing full
well that Kyle and Brant were not friends. However, given that she’d
finally just gotten Erin to calm down, she didn’t want to get into it
with Don.
“Yeah well you’re wrong,” Don piped back at her without thinking,
“Brant is here because he was invited and he also brought a date.”
“A date?” Avery repeated with a curious expression. Her lips curled
in a frown thinking about how callous Brant had been in their last encounter,
“Now that doesn’t surprise me. I’m sure he picked up some gutter
slut who was more than willing to be the prize on his arm for the moment.”
“Ah, in other words you were thinking that your position was already
filled,” Don spat back at her icily, remembering only too well just how
different than Angela she truly was. “Actually he’s got a real class
act with him now. She’s someone who is more than worthy of being with
him and not some demented idiot who doesn’t know a good thing when it’s
in front of her.”
“Oh I know a good thing when it’s in front of me,” Avery held
onto Erin protectively before she gave Don a once over, “and I can honestly
say that right now I’m not seeing one.”
Don chuckled amused by her thick sarcasm, “Oh sweetheart what I’ve
heard about you only proves that you’re so far from being good that it’s
pathetic. A believe the word that was used was something along the lines of
‘frigid’ and I do believe ‘bitch’ was also swirled in
there somewhere.”
“You only wish you would’ve found out just how frigid I wasn’t,”
Avery rolled her eyes at him before standing up taller and facing him down,
“And trust me Don this town likes to talk and I’ve heard all the
rumors about you. Pathetic and needy seems to be the most common phrase that
comes to mind.”
“Yeah well I’m only needy because I know when to hold onto something
that’s worthwhile,” Don snapped at her before shaking his head,
“But you on the other hand you’re just the kind of woman that wants
it all and is never, ever satisfied when the world is laid out before her.”
“Gee, if that’s the case, then I guess Shannon won’t be alone
in the world in being an unsatisfied woman,” she rolled her eyes at his
remark seeing that his face grew red.
“Oh whatever I’ll have you know that Shannon is far more satisfied
with me then Brant ever was with you,” Don snapped back at her ready
to say something more when Erin let out a loud shriek. His blue eyes fell
upon the little girl in Avery’s arms and he felt a moment of regret pass
over him.
“Now look what you’ve done,” Avery hugged Erin closer to her
trying to soothe her daughter’s tears.
“Avery, I’m sorry I…” Don began taking a step back. He
noticed Erin’s cries were louder than when they’d started and worry
swept over him. Even though he was sure that Avery would want to murder him,
he took a bold move towards her, “How long has she been like this?”
Avery opened her mouth to toss out an insult at him, but thought twice of
it, “She gets bad colic. I don’t know why, but it’s just something
that…”
“That has to run it’s course,” Don nodded taking a more sympathetic
tone. Instinctively he reached out to touch the side of Erin’s face without
a second thought, “Hey little girl it’s okay. I know it hurts, but
I promise it will pass.”
Avery started to say something to him, before rethinking her words. Instead
she stood in silence watching a man she hated managing to catch her daughter’s
attention. Erin’s tears seemed to die down ever so slightly as Don ran
his finger over her chubby cheek lightly.
“I know how painful that can be princess, but I promise you that your
mommy is going to take good care of you and be here with you even when it
passes,” Don reached out to her before thinking twice of it. His blue
eyes shot over towards Avery, “Can I see her?”
“You have to be kidding me,” Avery groaned in response hearing Erin
let out another loud wail when Don pulled away.
“Look personal feelings aside I am a doctor here,” Don reminded
her pointedly before stretching his arms out again.
“Don, I really don’t think that,” Avery started to argue before
seeing Erin inch over towards Don. “I don’t believe this.”
“I promise I’ll be gentle,” Don assured her pulling Erin into
his arms and cradling her to his chest. Her tears seemed to fade away as Don
hummed a small tune to her. His blue eyes met Avery’s once again catching
the look of disbelief that carried over her. “There’s a certain
technique in holding her. If you keep her close to you like this, she’ll
feel comfort--like you two are together as one like you were when before she
was born.”
“I know how to hold my daughter,” Avery snapped back at him stubbornly.
“I didn’t say that you didn’t, but…” Don paused rethinking
the way he worded things, “When Matt was born he had the same thing happen
to him all the time. I used to be up for hour after endless hour trying to
help him. I know it sounds silly because you think as a doctor I would know
everything…”
“Anyone who believes that is an idiot,” Avery scoffed in response
shaking her head at him.
“Yeah well your personal and professional opinion doesn’t count
in this case,” Don spat out at her rolling his eyes before focusing on
Erin, “Your daughter likes me, which is usually what most women feel
when they are around me.”
“She’s young and she doesn’t know you,” Avery piped in
refusing to give Don the satisfaction of believing that he was someone special,
“She likes men.”
“Hey that’s one thing you won’t have to worry about then down
the road when she starts dating,” Don couldn’t help but tease lightly,
a smile cracking over his face, “and obviously she likes all the right
ones if she’s this comfortable with me.”
“As I said before she’s young and doesn’t realize what a snake
you really are…” Avery argued with him having to admit to herself
that Don holding Erin had somehow put her at ease.
“You just hate me because you know I’m right about things,”
Don stuck his tongue out at her before turning his attention to Erin once
again. “Your mother just doesn’t like me because I tell her how
it is.”
“I don’t like you because you have no clue how it really is, yet
you feel compelled to defend Brant at every twist and turn,” Avery corrected
shaking her head at him, “I was a good wife to Brant when we were married.”
“Yet you rushed off to be with Russ the first second you could,”
Don pointed out shaking his head at her, “You didn’t think twice
about what was going on with Brant and what was best for him.”
“You both were faking him being sick. How do you suppose I should feel
about that? He lied to me and you helped facilitate that lie using your medical
position to do it,” Avery reminded him matter of fact, “I don’t
know how you can sleep at night after that. To think that you were actually
going to deny Erin the opportunity to know her father…”
“I made a mistake--one that I’m not proud of, but Brant needed me,”
Don confessed with a heavy sigh, “If I could go back and try to talk
him out of that idea I would, but at the time he was desperate.”
“That still doesn’t make it right,” Avery sighed feeling the
weight of her tension mounting in her shoulders.
“No it wasn’t and I’m sorry about that,” Don began clearing
his throat uneasily, “I’m sorry about a lot of things that I’ve
done, but…”
Before he could finish there was a sound from inside the church followed by
another. He listened for a second and realized it sounded like a gun shot.
“What in the…” Avery spun around to seek out the source of
the sound as Don pulled her by the arm leading her away from the noise. There
were shouts and screams as it appeared that the shooting sound had ended.
“Stay here,” Don urged motioning to the ladies room door behind
her, “Take Erin back in there and stay in there until I come back or
someone else tells you it’s safe. While you’re in there call the
police because it sounds like someone is hurt. Maybe even shot.”
“That was a gun?” Avery gasped remembering only too well what it
had been like to be caught in the crossfire of something like that.
“Lock the door behind you and call the police,” Don urged Avery
once again hearing the screams continue. The shooting seemed to die down,
but there was no telling what was inside the church after the angry bride
seemed to have unleashed her rage. “Tell them to hurry because someone
could be hurt in there.”
“Okay,” Avery nodded in agreement not needing to be told twice as
she entered the ladies room ready to do as Don instructed.
Once Don was sure that she was safe, he took in a breath hoping to find that
he’d been wrong about what he thought he heard. However, if someone was
hurt inside the church he knew full well that he had to get back inside and
help them before something horrible happened--unless it already had.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“You said that Zane has a babysitter tonight?” Grady questioned
looking back at Deana as she nodded slowly and they walked out the front door
to her apartment. “I think a walk for us would be really good considering
I think we have a lot to talk about.”
“You’re right,” Deana nodded taking in a deep breath as Grady
followed her down and she motioned him to follow her over toward the park
that was right next to the apartment complex. “I think we should talk
about a few things because we have some catching up to do.”
“Where are we going?” he questioned with a small breath as they
walked along the sidewalk and he noticed her walking off onto the grass. “You
aren’t taking me out into nowhere to kill me are you?”
“No, I was planning on saving that for a sunny day,” she half teased
grabbing a hold of his hand and leading him through the trees and he took
in a deep breath, following her carefully trying not to catch a branch as
he went through. “Trust me, I don’t think I would really ever hurt
someone, especially you.”
“I trust you with everything that I am,” Grady muttered as she stopped
and nodded over toward a small bridge that laid out over some water. Seeing
her walk over to it he followed her, sitting down next to her when she moved
closer to the edge, hanging her legs over the side. “You come here a
lot?”
“To think? Yeah,” she answered his question with a small nod before
taking in a deep breath and looking down toward the water as she leaned her
hands back against the bridge. Seeing him do the same and look over at her
she took in a deep breath and watched his green eyes search hers. “We
need to talk about our pasts.”
“I know and I know that we need to get things straight,” Grady interrupted
her seeing the way she nodded and he took in a deep breath moving back more
against his hands. “I know that my past hasn’t always been so clear
and I know I make a lot of mistakes, but breaking your heart isn’t one
I want to do.”
“Right,” she whispered feeling him reach out with his left hand
to caress her cheek gently and she moved in closer to his touch seeing the
way he looked down at her. “We both haven’t had a very good history
with people.”
“And you’re right,” Grady agreed with her thinking about all
the women he had been involved with in the past and he shook his head slowly.
“There was Susan, Jade and I swore I loved Jade and she was my everything.
It’s just, she’s gone and I love you. It may sound like you are
a replacement or something, but you aren’t. In a way you are so much
better than her with me and you open a new light toward my future. I can look
to you when I want to see something new and I know what you saw the other
day may have you thinking, but it’s nothing like that. Avery was something
I couldn’t have, that’s why I have been like I have been. I know
it seems like she is still something in my sight, but Deana--you’re the
only thing in my sight.”
“Grady,” she pressed her hand in over his chest before he could
kiss her and she shook her head slowly and took in a deep breath. “There
are some things I have been hiding from you too. Some things that you need
to know.”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure that it will be okay,” Grady moved
in to kiss her again only to feel her hold him back, seeing the look behind
her eyes he nodded slowly and moved back. “By the look on your face,
I am going to guess this is important.”
“You see, I think there are some things you need to know. Like about
my family,” Deana tried to explain all of her feelings that she had been
holding in and Grady nodded slowly moving in closer to her. “You know
nothing about my family.”
“We have so much time to learn about each other,” Grady hushed her
wrapping his right arm around her tightly before taking in a sharp breath.
“There is nothing that we have to be hiding from each other with our
family. I don’t care about your family, I’ll get to know them eventually.”
“Yeah, but there is something else,” she frowned still trying to
hold him back as he nodded and moved away from her turning to face her completely.
“You see, in my life I have been with two men and that’s you and
Zane’s father. Zane’s father was a total mistake in my life and…,”
“We all make mistakes,” Grady hushed her again reaching out to push
back some of her blonde hair before shaking his head slowly and moving forward
to press a small kiss against her cheek. “I’ve made mistakes too.”
“I thought I was in love with someone when I met you,” she explained
seeing him move back a bit to stare out at her with his green eyes as she
threw her hands up in the air. “There was this guy that I was always
very close to. I always thought that I would tell him how I felt, but I never
got the strength to. He gave me everything I ever needed in life. I liked
him so much and wanted to much to have a relationship with him…,”
“What happened?” Grady interrupted her seeing the way she looked
over at him with her dark eyes as he gulped down not knowing how to react.
“Why aren’t the two of you together?”
“Because I met you and you were everything I ever wanted,” she reminded
him seeing the way he smiled at her answer and she moved in to press a kiss
up against his lips gently. “Some things just aren’t supposed to
happen.”
“Right, but…,” Grady went to say something else before feeling
her index finger press in over his lips. Wrapping his arm around her tighter
he took in a small breath leaning down to kiss her gently. “Okay, I’ll
leave it be. But, do I know this guy?”
“You might,” she nodded moving in to kiss him again as Grady pulled
away from her for a moment staring down at her with a bit of confusion behind
his eyes. “What?”
“Please tell me it’s not Kyle,” Grady begged hearing her laugh
out as she hit him in the center of the chest and he held his hands up in
the air and shook his head slowly. “I’m being serious, he seems
to be a magnet lately.”
“It’s not Kyle,” she chuckled hitting him in the shoulder again
before moving in to kiss Grady again feeling his hand settling in over the
small of her back. “I love you Grady and that’s all that matters
right now.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“It’s getting chilly,” Chase pointed out looking up at the
sky getting darker as he motioned Trisha to sit up and he got off the hood
of his car and stood up. Stretching out his arms he looked out at her and
took in a small breath. “Do you know how beautiful you are?”
“Well, I’m not so sure,” she sat up resting her hands back
against the car feeling him move in closer to her, resting his hands beside
hers against the hood and he smiled leaning in closer to her. “I would
love to hear you tell me though.”
“You are more than beautiful Trisha,” Chase explained in a small
whisper meeting her lips in a small kiss as he felt the rain start to fall
from the sky and hit them from above and he let out a small laugh. “You
have this way with me where I just feel like I am melting and feel like I
have chills going up and down my back.”
“I think that’s just the luck of driving to another city,”
Trisha pointed out with a small laugh running her fingers through his wet
hair and his nose wrinkled when he smiled down at her. “A city that rains
way too much in it.”
“No, that’s just a feeling you really do give me,” he whispered
with a small wink seeing the way she stared out at him and he leaned in closer
to her pressing his forehead against hers. “I think the rain is just
adding a little bit more to the feeling.”
“What was that?” Trisha questioned hearing a loud booming echo erupting
through their ears as Chase moved over toward the side of the hill seeing
that lighting had struck a tree and knocked it down. “Did I mention how
dangerous it is coming out here too?”
“It’s not that bad,” Chase moved forward looking down at the
water that seemed to be pooling down the side of the muddy mountain that left
him wondering where it led off to. “I mean honestly how bad could it…,”
“Chase,” Trisha gasped seeing the way that he slipped on the mud
and disappeared down the side of the hill as she moved forward to see if he
was okay before her foot lost its gripping too making her slip.
Feeling her back hit the mud she felt the water sliding down the hill and
her body slid down the long trail as she reached out trying to grip onto anything
she could to stop going, but it was no use because every twig she grabbed
onto came with her. Feeling it drop a bit she let out a small gasp before
hitting something hard hearing Chase let out a small groan before letting
out a long laugh.
“I was never expecting that,” Chase felt Trisha move in over him,
trying to look up as she wiped at the mud on her face and he did the same
trying to see where they had slid down to and he let out a small laugh. “I’m
sorry Trisha.”
“You should be you jerk,” she hit him in the center of the chest
seeing the way that he looked up at her with his blue eyes before she grabbed
some of the mud and throwing it into his face. “You were planning that.”
“Wait a second,” Chase watched her go to get up before the mud caught
her foot and she fell face first into the mud making her let out a small groan
before she lifted her head up, only to feel Chase throw more of it at her.
“You look so beautiful right now honey.”
“You are so dead,” she replied slowly getting to her knees seeing
him do the same thing as she grabbed a hand full of the mud throwing it in
his direction as he ducked letting out a small laugh. Hearing a noise they
turned to see what it was only to feel water slam in against him as she let
out another small hiss. “That is the craziest, scariest, most disgusting
water slide I have ever been on.”
“It’s nature at it’s best Trish,” Chase chuckled standing
up only to try and pull himself out of the mud, but he was stuck and it was
obvious that she was too. Reaching for her hand Chase motioned her to move
with him and they both quickly moved forward only to fall to the ground and
her over him again. “This isn’t working to well.”
“I thought this was your type of thing nature boy,” she chuckled
as she ran her fingers in over his cheek pushing some of the mud away before
feeling him move over and get up slowly reaching out to grab her hand. “I
don’t know what makes you like this kind of stuff.”
“I really don’t,” Chase grabbed a hold of her hands, leading
her into the wooded area and stopping a little bit into it, pressing her in
against a tree. “I just love to see you looking like that. Like I said,
one of the best things to meet nature is you.”
“I think you look pretty good in mud yourself too,” she reached
up pulling him down to meet her lips in a kiss as her fingers moved in over
the bottom of his shirt gently tugging it up his torso slowly. “But I
can’t wait to get all of it off of you.”
“Well since you put it that way,” Chase raised his arms high enough
to let her pull the shirt off him and throw it to the side. “Why should
I wait when it’s something you want?”
“Oh, I like the way you think,” she smiled pulling him in closer
to her again before playing with the buckle of his belt, his lips moving in
over hers again and again before she pulled back. “You don’t think
lightening is going to hit this tree and make it fall on top of us, do you?”
“Probably not,” Chase half smiled feeling her pull apart his belt
and he shrugged his shoulders only to pull her in closer to him and he smiled
widely. “But what a way to go, right?”
“You are such a dork,” she hit him in the center of his chest gently
hearing him let out a small laugh before pressing his lips in over the side
of her neck. “But I love you so much, I never want to let you go.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Don heard the sounds of sirens in the distance as he popped his head into
the church only to discover Kellen and Kipp holding a very angry Cori back
in their arms. There was a gun on the ground and it seemed that someone had
in fact been shot. He spotted Sarah kneeling on the ground hovering over a
man that Don couldn’t quite make out his face.
“Diego talk to me,” Sarah pleaded touching Diego’s shoulder
in the hopes of getting a response from him as he lay on the ground in front
of her. “Diego please!”
“Sarah move,” Don instructed rushing in to her side to see what
had happened. He noticed blood on the ground and immediately he went into
doctor mode. “What happened?”
“That bitch shot him!” Sarah shouted pointing her finger over in
Cori’s general direction, seeing Cori writhe and twist in Kipp and Kellen’s
arms.
“My only regret is that I didn’t shoot you as well,” Cori spat
back at her icily, her words full of venom.
“Believe me sweetheart that’s the general sentiment around here,”
Kellen mouthed catching the small glare that came from Kipp’s direction.
Kellen shrugged his shoulders ever so slightly in an apologetic gesture, “Well
it’s the truth.”
“Cori, you need to calm down,” Kipp tried to reason with the blonde
as she seemed to slowly be coming down from her rampage.
“He had no right to do this to me. He should’ve kept his promises,”
Cori shouted her voice vibrating through the church as hot tears burned down
her face.
“Let me take a look at him,” Don instructed carefully nudging Sarah
out of the way. He hovered over Diego searching for a pulse, “Diego,
man can you hear me? Diego…”
“What…” Diego’s eyes opened and he looked up to see his
co-worker hovering over him. “Wh-what happened?”
“I think you’ve been shot man,” Don explained in a professional
tone, “Can you tell me where it hurts?”
“Truthfully,” Diego glanced over Don’s shoulder to meet Sarah’s
worried gaze, “I think the pain is centered in the middle of my chest.”
“Let me take a look,” Don pushed through Diego’s clothing searching
for any sign of impact from a bullet. “Diego, I don’t see any blood.
Are you sure that she shot you in the chest?”
“No she didn’t shoot me in the chest,” Diego corrected feeling
a wince as he pulled his own hand away from his leg. “It’s a different
kind of pain I was just referring to…”
“Thank God you’re going to be okay,” Sarah rushed forward seeing
the blood over Diego’s leg. “Oh my God Diego.”
“The paramedics are here,” Julian Kurts explained circling his finger
and motioning for the two uniformed officers to help Kellen and Kipp out with
Cori, “Someone is going to want to call Chief Warner.”
“Right on it,” one officer nodded before the paramedics rushed over
to Diego.
“Do you think you can move?” Don asked seeing Diego was wincing
at the very mention of it.
“I think she got me in the back of the leg,” Diego explained painfully
feeling the paramedics move in over him.
“We can take it from here,” one of them said to Don carefully easing
in to help out Diego.
“I want to go with him,” Sarah blurted out surprising everyone in
the church, “I need to know if he’s okay.”
“After today I don’t think he’ll ever be okay,” Gabriella
stepped forward through the crowd rushing to her brother’s aid. She knelt
beside him, “Diego, it’s going to be okay.”
“I know,” Diego nodded reaching out to squeeze her hand as the paramedics
pulled him up onto the gurney.
“I think he was shot in the…” one of the paramedics started
as Sarah moved forward.
“Diego, I want to be with you. I want to go along and make sure that
you’re okay. I’m worried about you. When I saw her shoot you I thought
for sure that…” Sarah began reaching out for him only to feel him
push away from her.
“Don’t you ever come near me again Sarah,” Diego’s dark
eyes narrowed up at her as the paramedics escorted him out of the church ready
to take him to the hospital.
“I realize you’re a stupid girl, but this time it would be smart
for you to just listen,” Gabriella warned before going off after her
brother in the hopes of making sure that he was alright.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Avery slowly pushed open the door to the ladies room after having heard the
sounds of sirens outside of where she’d been waiting with Erin. She took
a quick look at the lobby to find it a few uniformed officers standing out
in front of her. Feeling a bit of relief pass over her she stepped out into
the lobby and wondered what in the world had just happened.
“Avery thank God,” the sound of Russell’s voice carried over
her causing her to look in the direction of the sound only to feel his arms
wrap around her. “I was so afraid I’d lost you in all of the chaos.”
“Russ, I’m so glad you’re here,” she replied leaning into
his chest and savoring the warmth of his arms around her. “I had no idea
when Erin and I walked out of the church that all hell would break loose.”
“You’re telling me,” Russ noted thinking about all that had
happened in the brief time he’d been at the church, “I had no idea
what Kyle had planned for the day, but if he had any idea of how all this
played out…”
“What happened back in there? I heard gunshots,” she explained thinking
about Don’s urgings for her to return to the ladies room until the craziness
died down, “I called the police and…”
“Apparently Cori came in and shot Diego. She was dressed up in some evening
gown and she just went nuts,” Russ explained thinking about the bits
and pieces of the story he had heard. “I have no idea what that’s
all about, but right now all I want to do is get you and Erin out of here.
It’s obviously not safe here.”
“I won’t argue that,” Avery felt his arm wrap around her shoulders
protectively, “if I had any idea of what this was going to turn into,
then I would’ve just rather we stayed home.”
“You and me both,” Russ admitted thinking about how things blew
up after Kyle’s not bothering to show up at his own wedding, “I
see Kyle’s logic, but I don’t think this was one of his brightest
moves--then again the fact that Grady failed to mention any of this to either
one of us…”
“You mean Grady was in on this?” Avery’s eyes widened in surprise
as she felt Russ urging her towards the exit of the church.
“I think there was a reason why he rushed out of here so fast,”
Russ nodded thinking about his brother’s quick exit. “He was sure
that something was up and now I see why he didn’t tell me. He knew I
never would have went along with something like this.”
“Neither would I,” Avery agreed grateful to finally be able to leave
the whole event behind her. “Right now all I want to do is go home and
make sure that Erin’s okay.”
“We can do that,” Russ promised kissing the top of Avery’s
head, “and then maybe when we get her tucked into bed, you and I can
work on pushing the day behind us with maybe a massage to help you with all
the stress you’ve been under and then…”
“Yes?” Avery questioned lifting her head to meet his intense green
eyes.
“Let’s just say that I’m thinking that tonight seems like the
perfect night for a romantic evening in front of the fireplace since we’ve
yet to experience that,” Russ whispered in a low, suggestive tone causing
goose bumps to rush over Avery’s skin.
“I think I like that idea,” Avery nodded in agreement eager to put
the wedding from hell behind her in order to have some peace and quiet alone
with Russ and Erin. It sounded like a perfect evening and an exceptional ending
to a day that was so far from relaxing it wasn’t funny. “Let’s
go home.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“This is ridiculous!” Kevin blurted out breaking his long silence,
‘”Angie you know that I would never, ever hurt you. I have dedicated
my life to protecting you and keeping you safe. You know if you look inside
your heart that I would never, ever do something that would destroy you.”
“Just like you to say something like that,” Cameron’s hold
on Angela constricted before he whispered to his frazzled sister, “He
never wanted you to be happy. He always wanted you for himself and when you
married someone else it drove him mad. Even now he won’t be happy until
he has you completely and Brant…”
“I’m going to strangle you Cameron,” Brant blurted out already
had more than enough of this bizarre confrontation that was taking place right
before his eyes, “Angela I have never murdered anyone in my life, but
I’m going to start with him if he keeps lying to you.”
“I told you what happened to my father…” Angela sniffled thinking
about her first meeting with Brant, “I told you everything about what
happened and all this time you knew--all this time you were playing me…”
“No,” Brant shook his head adamantly, “I didn’t know anything.
I still don’t. I’ve always been honest with you.”
“Like you were about your wife?” Cameron challenged arching a curious
brow, “About the woman you were with before you sought out and betrayed
my sister?”
“I told you about Avery,” Brant stepped in closer to her, “You
know me. You know the man that I am. I love you and I would never, ever hurt
you.”
“Neither would I. Angie if you would just listen to me--let me explain
things to you and you’ll see that Cameron is twisting this situation.
I don’t know why he’s doing it, but I swear to you that there are
things that you need to know--things that you need to see that will prove
to you that I’m not the man your brother is trying to make me out to
be. I seriously doubt that Brant hurt your father either,” Kevin tried
to appeal to Angela seeing that she was beyond any reasonable moment of rationalization,
“Neither one of us is lying to you, but Cameron is. He’s out to
alienate you from everyone and…”
“I’m protecting her. Like I always have and I always will,”
Cameron shouted at the both of them ready to say something more when he spotted
Russ and Avery out of the corner of his eyes, “Well isn’t this surprising?”
“What the hell is going on?” Russ couldn’t help but ask seeing
the scene unfolding in front of them. He held onto Avery protectively not
sure what was taking place, but the moment he saw Cameron he knew it wasn’t
good.
“Why Angel, would you look at this? It would seem that Nick has joined
the party,” Cameron mouthed with an icy grin causing the color to drain
from Brant’s face.
“What?” Brant looked around half expecting to find his father in
the parking lot around them.
“Nick?” Angela repeated pulling her eyes up from her brother’s
chest to find Russ standing before her with his arm around a woman who looked
almost identical to her. No scratch that…she was identical to her.
“What in the…” Avery’s jaw dropped as she saw the woman
standing before her. Instinctively she took a step forward unable to believe
her eyes, “What’s going on here? Who the hell are you?”
“What do you mean who the hell am I?” Angela pushed away from her
brother taking a step towards Avery, “Who in the hell are…Avery.”
“That’s right,” Avery nodded standing taller as she looked
to the men that surrounded her. Suddenly she felt like she’d stepped
out of the church and into an episode of the Twilight Zone. Seeing the way
Kevin was watching her with a worried expression, she couldn’t help but
feel a chill creep in over her, but it wasn’t until she noticed the expression
on Russell’s face that she really started to worry. Moving backwards
she inched in closer to Russ, “What’s going on here?”
“Isn’t that the million dollar question of the hour,” Cameron
announced with a smug look on his face, “but rest assured Avery I’ll
expose the terrible lie very soon so that there won’t be anymore misconceptions
about what’s been going around for months right beneath your nose. By
the end of tonight you’ll know the truth--the whole truth.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Blake stood near the front of the church looking at the blood on the floor.
A tiny shudder raced over her as she thought of everything that happened to
cause this wedding to go from just a normal, uneventful ceremony to something
that would be remembered as one of the most insane moments of her life. Feeling
a chill creep in over her Blake closed her eyes and tried to forget the chaos
that she’d been stuck right in the middle of.
“You okay,” Seth questioned wrapping his arms around her despite
the aches and pains that carried over him, “Blake?”
“I just…” she found herself at a loss fighting to keep it together
after the events seemed to play in her mind over and over again, “First
the wedding and then when Cori came in here with a gun I was certain that…”
“It’s okay,” Seth hugged her in his arms keeping her close
to him, “Everything’s going to be okay.”
“Will it?” Blake turned around to place her hand in the center of
his chest, “Sarah flipped out. She went nuts and then when Kellen told
everyone of all the things she’s done…”
“I know,” Seth nodded squeezing her closer to him, “That made
no sense.”
“None of it did,” she agreed tipping her head up to look at him,
“I mean how could you go from being so in love with someone to just blatantly
going out of your way to hurt them like that? I mean I knew about Sarah and
Diego, but all of those other men…”
“I don’t know why people do what they do Blake,” Seth confessed
curling his finger underneath her chin. He saw the upset behind her soft blue
eyes and he leaned forward to kiss her tenderly, “but I do know that
I love you and that we’ve been exposed to too much already today.”
“I just don’t understand,” she mouthed in a low quivering voice,
“How can two people who supposedly loved one another go from happiness
to disaster like this? How can someone you once loved decide that it’s
time to make you suffer and shoot you?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Seth answered honestly, “but
I have to tell you that this was not a typical day.”
“Maybe not typical for most people, but lately Coral Valley seems to
be full of the clinically insane,” Blake couldn’t help but blurt
out with a tiny shudder, “I’m starting to think that there aren’t
any normal people in the world anymore.”
“Of course there are,” Seth urged her to meet his eyes again, “Are
you sure this is all about the wedding and the shooting or is something else
going on?”
“I can’t stop thinking about Sarah,” Blake finally admitted
with a frown, “I mean she was my friend--one of my closest friends, but
when it gets down to it, I honestly don’t know her at all. If anyone
would’ve told me that she’d do all those horrible things that she’s
done, I would have told them that they were wrong. I would have said that
they were mistaken, but now…”
“Just because you didn’t know that side of Sarah doesn’t make
you a bad judge of character. She was a good friend to you and that’s
what you saw,” Seth pointed out hating to see Blake so upset. “The
other parts, well that wasn’t involved in the relationship you had with
one another…”
“Yes, but she was a liar and a horrible person. The things she’s
done…” she shuddered again, “I just don’t want to think
about it.”
“Then why don’t we just push this day behind us and try to think
about something else? Something that won’t get us into trouble right
now?” Seth suggested wrapping his arm around Blake tighter than before,
“Let’s go home.”
“Okay,” Blake nodded wondering if anyone who was at the wedding
would truly be able to truly put the day behind them like he wanted to. Somehow
she had the feeling that this day was about to change a great many lives in
ways no one ever anticipated.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I can’t believe this,” Sarah muttered to herself falling
down onto one of the steps and seeing the empty room before her as she took
in a deep breath thinking about all the moments she had spent with Kyle. “How
come I couldn’t see this coming?”
Never once did she see Kyle being the kind of person to actually come out
and tell everyone what he felt, what was going on his mind, but boy was she
wrong. She could remember a talk she had with Kyle once before and she never
really thought about what he said, but she should have taken it into consideration.
“What’s going on in your mind?” she could still see Kyle’s
hazel eyes staring up at the sky as she moved in over closer to him. Moving
her hand in over his stomach she saw him move up and rest his weight against
his elbow. “Are you thinking about what happened with Bruce again?”
“No,” Kyle muttered taking in a deep breath as he looked down toward
the ground and reaching out to pull at some of the grass shrugging his shoulders
as he spoke up. “I shot him, it’s no big deal. The man got what
he deserved.”
“Then what’s on your mind?” she tried to get the answer out
of him seeing the way Kyle stared out at her and she offered up a small smile.
“You can tell me anything.”
“I was just thinking about a certain person in my life that has been
hurt a lot,” Kyle informed her with a deep sigh thinking about all the
things that had taken place in the last few months. “You see, I think
everyone doesn’t judge me right. They never see what I’m capable
of.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” she watched him shrug his shoulders
before lying back against his back and looking up at the sky again. She moved
in closer to him touching his arm as his hazel eyes met hers again. “Kyle?”
“I mean people play me for an idiot,” Kyle whispered seeing the
way she looked at him and he let out a small laugh looking away from her and
closing his eyes. “Everyone has taken advantage of what they think they
can do around me, but the ones that learn--the ones that truly learn are the
ones that cross my path the wrong way. There was a point in time when Ken…well,
let’s just say I didn’t do something to Ken after he did something
to hurt someone I loved. Now imagine if someone hurt the person I loved the
most in my life, what do you think I am capable of Sarah?”
“Just about anything,” she offered up seeing him nod before opening
his eyes to look up at her and she moved in closer to him, resting her arm
in against his chest as she bent down to press a small kiss against his lips.
“I would expect you to always protect me.”
“Then again, maybe you misjudge my words,” Kyle saw the way she
looked down at him almost confused by his use of words and he shook his head
slowly. “Just forget about it.”
“I should have known he knew this whole time,” Sarah shook her
head slowly taking in a deep breath before resting her head in her face. Seeing
the way Kyle smiled in her head, it played over and over again reminding her
of what Kyle was capable of. “That stupid son of a…,”
Sarah got up from the ground moving over toward the stand that had the television
on top of it and she pushed it over, hearing the sounds of shattering as smoke
rose up from the television showing her that she broke it. Seeing an item
that slid out from underneath Sarah moved forward grabbing a hold of a tape
knowing this was the one with Kyle.
“You’re going to pay,” Sarah repeated to herself over and over
again before grabbing a firm hold of the tape and slamming it into the wall
over and over again before it shattered into little pieces. “I swear
Kyle, you’re going to pay for what you’ve done.”
Looking down toward her dress she saw the blood from when Diego had been shot
earlier and she shook her head slowly slouching down once more only to let
out another angered hiss.
“I’m not done yet,” Sarah stated in a firm tone as she thought
about all the men in her life and she clenched her fists at her sides thinking
of everything she could do. “No one leaves me alone like this. No one.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
...to be continued...