Everyone in town seems to have a negative opinion about Tad and Brooke's upcoming nuptuals, but Brooke and Tad continue to forge ahead with their plans despite all the naysayers. Dixie thinks she's spending the night with Tad on the eve of his wedding to Brooke but it's really Ted Orsini. That night Edmund goes to Brooke's cottage to give her a letter. He gives her a kiss on the cheek and tells her to be happy. Brooke asks him not to go. He comes inside, telling her he's trying to do the gallant thing by wishing her well. Jamie starts to cry and Brooke goes to check on him. Edmund recalls some of their moments together to Barbara Streistand's "Places that Belong to You." When Brooke returns Edmund is gone. She reads the letter hearing Edmund's voice speak the words.
Dear Brooke, I came back to Pine Valley because I'd heard that Angelique had come back from the dead. Miracle of miracles. Then I met you and you brought me back. Another miracle because I didn't know how dead to the world I was before there was you. I've spent the lion's share of the past few months railing against my fate and rotten timing. What if? What if? What if? What if I'd settled all the old scores before I'd met you? But what if is a game for fools. The true miracle is that our paths ever crossed at all. An immovable object - me encounters a remarkable force - you, and I'm changed forever. You showed me there's more to life than getting out of the wrong side of the bed in the morning. Great, good reasons to celebrate everyday. You opened your life to me when mine was still a closed book gathering dust on some long forgotten shelf. Every picture told a story. Every page held some new delight. I've tried to memorize every picture, every word. I'll never forget how good you made my life. I hope you find the same happiness in whatever lies ahead. I wish you every joy life has to offer. And above all I want to thank you (Tears are swelling in Brooke's eyes) for you, my sweet Brooke. By being who you are have shown me the way back home to myself.
Love, Edmund.
P.S. This was written with ample blood, sweat and tears. Any split infinitives I don't want to hear about them.
Brooke wipes away her tears and looks outside her door, hoping despite herself that Edmund is there, but he's gone. Edmund wakes up the next morning, saying that he made it through the night, now he just has to make it through the day. He runs into Dixie who thinks she brought Tad to the hospital. Worried about Brooke, Edmund goes to the wedding believing that Brooke is about to be ditched at the altar. Brooke steps out on the terrace alone with Edmund, and tells him she has made her choice. Unfortunately, the show does go on! On their honeymoon, Brooke and Tad find out about Ted's existence. Brooke puts together what Edmund was talking about when he crashed the wedding. She feels bad because she now understands that Edmund was trying to protect her.
Chapter Fifteen - Edmund Dates Maria
Aunt Phoebe is sick of watching Edmund mope around. Brooke is a fool for marrying Tad but nonetheless she married him, so she gives Edmund a little black book. In an effort to look toward the future Edmund ends up at Hal's. He runs into Maria, they dance the two-step. The next day she arrives at Tempo as a surprise, and her presence hits Brooke in the face like a ton of bricks. Maria immediately knows that there is a history between the two, but decides she wants to date Edmund anyway. Brooke and Edmund work late together putting the magazine to bed. The next morning Edmund is sleeping at his desk when Brooke gets a call from a famous agent who wants to talk to Edmund about a book deal. Brooke is crushed that Edmund is thinking about leaving Tempo. Edmund says he used to be driven to write to keep food on the table and since that's no longer the case, he thinks he should take a stab at the great American novel. Edmund says he'll give Brooke plenty of notice. Brooke puts on a brave front wishing him well, but in truth she's dying inside. Edmund then fantasizes about Brooke telling him she was wrong to marrying Tad when she wants to be with Edmund. He tosses her on the desk and they go at it.
Edmund brings Maria to Wildwind. They go out to the stables and have sex. The next morning Maria talks about how wonderful it was but Edmund's mind is elsewhere - with Brooke. Maria leaves and Edmund starts acting out scenes from his great American novel in which he is the stable boy and Brooke is the lonely wife married to the wrong man. Meanwhile, Brooke is in Edmund's office reading the novel, engrossed. Edmund arrives and snatches his work out of Brooke's hands. He's livid that Brooke would do such a thing. Edmund then grills Brooke about the characters knowing very well that the characters are they. Brooke is sad because she knows Edmund thinks she's going to leave Tad to be with him someday, but she says that's not going to happen. When Brooke tells Edmund she and Tad are trying to have a baby, it hits him like a bullet. Brooke does love Edmund, but she's staying with Tad and she wants him to be happy. Edmund decides the best way to do that is by leaving Tempo. It tears Brooke's heart out as she watches Edmund go, but she doesn't stop him.
Chapter Sixteen - Quicksand - Part One
Brooke and Edmund keep being thrown together. All of this is part of the Willow Lake quicksand story. Con artist Giles Westfall comes to PV trying to scam senior citizens into investing in his retirement community. Peggy, Mona and Myrtle are all considering taking the plunge and handing over their life savings to Giles. Brooke starts investigating because Myrtle is closing up shop, and separately Edmund gets involved because of Peggy. Edmund masquerades as Eduardo to investigate the bogus land scam deal, using Phoebe as his cover pretending to be her gigolo. Brooke, on a visit to Aunt Phoebe's house, catches Edmund in his disguise. Brooke decides to go up to Willow Lake and quickly finds out the proposed site has quicksand on it because she starts sinking - fast. She screams out Edmund's name and luckily he's followed her to the lake. Edmund rescues her. After pulling her out of the quicksand they embrace tightly. At the cabin, Brooke is angry with Edmund. She's old enough to look out for herself. The moment becomes fraught with passion when Edmund says how scared he was at almost losing Brooke. Brooke apologizes for yelling at him and they change into bathrobes. Edmund then asks Brooke why he thought he heard her calling out his name. Brooke covers by saying she was screaming out the names of everyone she ever knew. Brooke wants to work on the case together, but Edmund doesn;t think that's a good idea. He can't handle being this close to her and not being able to kiss her and make love to her. Edmund puts his hand on Brooke's face; they are about to kiss when Tad comes to collect his wife.