Against All Odds Chapter 105: The Hurtful Ache of the Truth

Ridge and Brooke walked down on the old worn path that had been up at Big Bear just about as long as the cabin had been there. They knew the path so well that they both could easily navigate it the dark with ease. Normally the beauty of the scenery of the sun beginning to set would inspire Brooke however today that just wasn’t the case. Her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of what was happening in the cabin to even notice the red robin perched on the tree singing or the multi colored butterflies filtering all around them. Ridge who had wanted to give his father some time alone with Bridget had convinced her to take a walk with him to clear her mind. Noticing how tense she had become again, he took her hand in his speeding up their pace.“ He’ll let us know if he needs us.”
“ Huh?” She had hardly heard him.
“ Dad. If he needs us. He’ll let us know. He just needs some time alone with Bridget.”
“ You know what he’s going through don’t you?”
“ Better than anyone. Including you.” Ridge ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled deeply. He stopped on the trail and leaned against a pine. “ I remember it like it was yesterday. Standing in the doctor office and hearing those test results that stated that I wasn’t Bridget’s father. It feet like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. I didn’t want to believe it. I wanted it to be a mistake because I knew deep down in my soul that she was mine. She was my little girl. I always felt the connection in here.” He pointed to his chest. He also remembered how precious Bridget was to him. “Do you remember what she was like back then?”
“ Of course I do.”
“ She looked just like you Logan with the most endearing face and blonde hair. She had this way of looking at you and you could never stay mad at her even if she accidentally let the neighbor’s dog out.”
The memory brought a smile to Brooke’s face.“ She thought Benjamin’s dog should be free like the dogs in All Dogs Go To Heaven.”
“She was so smart even way back then. Top of the classes in nursery school and in first grade. She wanted to go to so many places like Egypt. Can you believe that?” He asked himself more than Brooke. “ She just come up to me with a book slid into my lap and tell me all the places that she wanted to go.” He remembered sitting on the patio holding her in his lap while she told him about wanting to go to Egypt, Disneyland and then the ice cream parlor to get a scoop.
“ Those days you were the only one who could tuck her in. She didn’t want anyone but you.” Brooke remembered those happy times with a bitter sweetness. Never before had she felt like a family than she had then those days. She thought that her dreams had finally come true. More than ever Bridget was a living breathing symbol of the love she and Ridge shared. They had basked in the accomplishments of their little girl as proud parents of such a loving precious child. Everything had been perfect although they weren’t legally married anymore because Taylor had come back from the dead and the judge declared their union invalid. However, Ridge had proposed again and said until they were remarried they would live as Mr. and Mrs. Logan as he had put it and she had thought it cute idea. They had thrown lavish parties and were planning their new wedding. Brooke had never been happier finally sure that he wanted her regardless of Taylor being alive. Sure, they had argued about Shelia Carter and Brooke’s “friendship” with her however they had even gotten past it. But her happiness had all gone up in smoke that night that Ridge found that letter. “ The letter changed everything, didn’t it?”
“ Yes, it did.” He said grimly. That’s the thing that killed me back then. I never knew that I would love anyone as much as I loved her and when I lost her it killed me inside.”
Brooke reach out and touched his hand with her own. Softly, he gripped her soft hand. “ I know Ridge. That’s what hurt me so deeply. You had lost so much and Bridget, she had lost the one thing that she loved more than anything.”
Ridge nodded not wanting to put the pain of those days into words. “ We both lost a lot in those days Brooke. Including you.”
“ I lost a husband and a future that I had wanted so badly.” She answered sorrowfully remembering how devastated she had been when he had turned her back on her.
“ I’m sorry.” He slid his arms around her holding her tightly. Brooke lay her head against Ridge’ chest. “ I’m so sorry for what this is done to all of us.”

Taylor closed the front door of the cabin throwing on her jean jacket. Eric had said that Brooke and Ridge were outside taking a walk. See, she was right all along. Brooke’s visit had nothing to do with Bridget. Instead it was all about Ridge. Brooke couldn’t wait until she got her husband alone. Taylor just hoped to God that Brooke would keep her mouth shut about what happened all those years between her and James. Walking briskly down the path she came upon a large group of trees when she spotted them. Anger raced through as she watched Brooke in Ridge’s arms.

Brooke pulled away from Ridge wiping the silent tracks that her tears streaked down her face. “ Sorry for crying.”
Taking out a tissue he had in his pocket he wiped the tears for her. “ It’s alright Logan. If anybody had a right to cry over this mess it’s you.”
Brooke was hesitant for a moment. “ Ridge, I know that you are dealing with a lot right now but I’ve got to talk to you about your mother.”
His body tensed at the mention of her name.“ Logan, I don’t think that I can do this right now.”
“ I’m not expecting you to take sides in this. After all..” She paused trying to control her anger. “ She’s your mother but you’ve got to know where I stand.”
“ I know that you think that she did this but I’m not sure if you are right.”
“ You aren’t too sure that she’s innocent either.” She pointed out.
“ I didn’t say that.”
“ You didn’t have too. It’s obvious that you are unsure. In the past you would have been right there at the police station but you didn’t go.”
“ I was concerned about our daughter.”
“ I know. But I also know you very well. And believe it or not, I understand your position. She’s always your rock. Your support system. She’s been more than just a mother to you. Like it or not, she’s a very important part of your life. I know that more than anybody how much she means to you.” Brooke one again took Ridge’s hand. She stroked it lightly wanting to remain close to her longtime friend. “During the last few months we mended our relationship and I’ve realized how much it’s meant to me to have you in life. I don’t want to risk what we have. We’ve somehow come through the storm and found our friendship once again. But now we are at a crossroad once again and our loyalties my lie at very different sides. I believe that your mother is guilty of having the paternity test changed to show that Eric, not you were Bridget’s father. It was her only way she could keep you and I apart. But when she did that, she didn’t just destroy our future, our marriage and our family. She destroyed our daughter. I just can’t forgive or forget that and I do plan on seeing that your mother pays for her crimes. The truth is that you may not like me very much once this is all over.”
“ What are you saying Brooke? Are you saying that I have to take sides in this? Because I’m not ready for this! I have no clue whom to believe or to trust. She’s my mother. All my life she’s been on my side and all of a sudden I’m supposed to think the worse of her. I just don’t know if I can do it but…” Ridge turned away.
Brooke turned him toward her gently. “ But you can’t ignore the situation either. I can’t imagine what you are going through. Nor can I understand the conflicting feelings you are dealing with. I don’t expect you to take sides. In time you’ll know the truth about how you feel one way or another. What I want you to know is that I can’t let this go. Bridget’s whole life was altered because of this lie. We all suffered because of this lie. She no longer had the security of having a mother and father who loved her and the family she deserved. I think that she’s been looking for you her whole life and she didn’t have to. She didn’t have to suffer. You were her father and the truth was stolen from her.” Brooke looked up into Ridge’s eyes and allowed him to see the pain that was there in her heart. “So what I’m asking you is. Will we still be friends when this is over?”
Ridge took Brooke’s hand and held it over his heart.“ How can you ask that?”
“ Because I have to know the truth. It won’t be pretty. I just want to know that I’ll still have you. I don’t want to lose you Ridge.”
“ Oh Logan. How can you think that you’d lose me?” Ridge stroked Brooke’s hair gently.
“ Don’t you know what you mean to me? What you’ve always meant to me?”

Taylor had seen enough and pushed her way through the trees startling both Ridge and Brooke who looked up. Brooke pulled away from Ridge not wanting to make the situation worse than it was since the moment had been innocent. Ridge who knew that his wife saw the intimate moment and was going to make more out of it than it was, cursed to himself. This was the last thing he needed. Taylor gave Ridge and Brooke a look that could no doubt kill if it were possible. “ Excuse me but I have a feeling that your daughter needs you.” She glared at Brooke to dark eyes.
Brooke looked at Ridge for a moment. “ I better go to Bridget.”
“ Yes you should. That is why you are here, right Brooke?” Taylor said disbelieving that the woman wasn’t making moves on her husband. She had heard them talking and Brooke pressuring Ridge to still say “friends”. Brooke walked off as Ridge turned to his angry wife.
“ Doc.”
“ Don’t touch me right now Ridge. I’m doing my best to keep a hold of my anger.”
“ Nothing was going on between Brooke and me.”
“ Of course it wasn’t on YOUR part but Brooke’s part I don’t know.”
“ Logan’s not interested in my that way. She hasn’t been in years. You know that.” He was tired of having this conversation over and over.
“ I already told you what I will and will not except. I don’t want her in our lives.”
“She’s Bridget’s mother.”
“ Then she should be with her daughter instead of trying to get some sympathy out of you.”
“You aren’t being understanding. Brooke’s going through alot right now. She’s really angry with mother..”
“ That I can understand but she has to take part of the blame for this as well. None of this would have even been an issue if Brooke hadn’t had slept with two men so close together that she didn’t know who the father of her baby was. This is just another chapter in her drama and I’m not interested in being involved. I just wish that you felt the same way.”
Ridge pulled Taylor into his arms. He didn’t want to upset her. He knew since the Morgan debacle that she was on edge. But he didn’t want things to be strained between Brooke or Taylor. “ We’ve got to find a happy medium in all of this. Bridget doesn’t need any more strife between her mother and her stepmother. I’ve noticed how much this trip has helped your relationship with her. You’ve been wonderful with her.”
“ Bridget is a lovely young girl. She shouldn’t have to go through this.”
“ No, she shouldn’t. She’s also a little peeved with Brooke at the moment so she may turn to you for support. I’ll hope you’ll be there for her.”
Taylor raised a brow. “ Really, I hadn’t noticed.” She lied. “ I’ll be there for her. Surely you know that.” A long time ago Ridge wasn’t so sure. Taylor had kind of always been sort of insecure as far as Bridget was concerned. “ Ridge, you still haven’t told me what happened to make Bridget so angry with Brooke.”
“ It’s nothing that Brooke has done its more about Scott”
“ Scott? Lauren’s son?”
“ Yes. Bridget was seeing Scott Granger and Brooke found out about it and put an end to it.” This was news. Scott was certainly older than Bridget. He was also to be rumored to be a playboy.
“ So, Bridget blames her mother.”
“ Yes, unfairly I might add.” Giving Taylor a pointed look. “There is no way in hell I’d let Bridget see him either. He’s too old for her. He’s also had a history of changing women like he changes his shoes. Bridget’s too inexperienced for him. I could just wring his neck for even thinking that he could ”
“ I agree.” Taylor put her arm around her husband’s waist as they walked back to the cabin together; her anger at him had cooled. “ But sometimes telling a head strong girl like Bridget no instead of allowing her to find out on her own that he’s too old for her is a better way. She may be so caught up on what her mother says is not good for her that she’ll run full steam ahead toward it just because Brooke says no.”
Ridge hadn’t given that any thought. “ You may be right but I think that Brooke did the right thing. I plan on having a little talk with Scott when I get back.”
“ Go easy on him. He obviously sees what a gem your daughter is.”
Hearing Taylor talk of Bridget in such a light made his heavy heart lighter. He kissed her on her lips gently. “Thank you for understanding everything.”
“ I do understand you however that doesn’t change my opinion about Brooke. She’s a troublemaker and I won’t let or anyone else destroys us. BUT for Bridget’s sake, I’ll try harder. I happen to care a great deal about my stepdaughter and I only want what’s best for her.”

Vanessa moved to Mr.DeAngleo with a scotch on the rocks. He didn’t ask for the drink however she had noticed how restless he was ever since he had boarded the plane. “ Here you are maybe this will help calm your nerves.” Looking up from his expense reports that were displayed on his laptop Caspian took the drink from Vanessa. “ Can I get you anything else?” Like me naked on top of you she thought only to herself not daring to allow herself to utter her true feelings out loud. She knew that he was off the market but hey, a girl could still dream, couldn’t she?
“ No thank you the drink is quite enough.”
“ Dinner will be served in an hour but if you need anything. I mean ANYTHING. I’d be more than willing to get it for you.”
Caspian smiled. “ No. But I thank you for the offer.” He was honestly used to women coming on to him but this coming from Vanessa was a surprise. She normally kept her crush he knew she had on to herself. Taking a full satisfying sip of his drink he tried to get her mind to focus on his work. He couldn’t let that suffer. If he lacked focus it could end up costing him million however, he honestly could care less at the moment. Sighing he close his laptop and leaned against the leather chair. He hoped to god to have better luck in getting some answers in London though he wasn’t really sure. He had already learned that the office of records had very little about Lark except for her date of birth and her death. It was strange indeed and only confirmed is suspicion that someone wanted to cover their tracks but who? It didn’t make any sense. With both of her parents being deceased it made it all the much harder to find any information. He was probably the only person to have any information at all of Lark though that would do him no good at the moment. Still there was at least one person who may be able to sped some light on this situation and he wasn’t going to give her a chance to say no.

Stephanie opened the front door to her house and stepped down into the front foyer of her house. It had taken much longer for her to get home than expected. Mercedes had asked the her driver to drive the limo around a little longer than normal in an effort to avoid the mass hysteria that was at her gates alas the efforts were for naught. When the limo had finally taken her home there were a mass of reporters with camera all wanting a story. The day was more than tiring it was disappointing as well. Kristen followed her mother into the house noticing the frown on her face. “ Where’s your father?” She asked again.
“ Like I told you before mother, he isn’t here.”
“ Where is he?”
“ I’m not sure.” She said avoiding her mother’s ever-persistent gaze.
“ Don’t lie to me.” God, it was so disappointing to know that the only person who even bothered to come to court was Kristen.
“Dad’s going through a lot right now. He’s dealing with learning that Bridget isn’t his daughter.” Kristen loosened the top button on her emerald green suit and headed to pour herself a glass of cool water. Taking a large sip she turned toward her angry mother.“You want some?”
“ No” Stephanie snapped. “I don’t.. I should be your father right now. I know it’s devastating.”
“ Do you now?”
Stephanie didn’t like that tone. She put her hands on her hips.“ What is that supposed to mean?” She said shaking her head side to side like some bobble doll as she talked.
Kristen put the glass down.“ It means mother is that I don’t think that you fully comprehend how horrific this is for everyone involved. Dad lost his daughter. Ridge is helping Bridget cope with the situation that it could have been at the hands of her own grandmother that this happened.” She pronounced each word so sharply that Stephanie knew she was angry.
“ You don’t believe that I had anything to do with this, do you?”
Kristen turned away causing her bun to slightly bobble. “ I came to the court to support you because I didn’t think that you should be alone but don’t ask me a question that you aren’t ready for.”
Stephanie hadn’t counted on this. She had hoped that her family would have believed her. She couldn’t let them think for one moment that she had anything to do with changing Bridget’s paternity or she’d never get them back. “ I didn’t do this. How could you think that?”
“ Mother. How can I not? The police have evidence against you.”
“ They made a mistake. The hospital blundered so they created this sham of an investigation…”
‘ That lead to you. Right. It’s too convieant.”
“ No it’s not. I can’t believe that you think that I had anything to do with this.”
“Cut the crap mother. You hated Brooke. You’ve always hated her.” Kristen turned her blue eyes onto her mother. “ She was going to be a part of the family and nothing was going to stop that wedding from happening when suddenly that letter arrived.”
“ I had nothing to do with that letter.” Stephanie answered honestly. She didn’t know where the letter had came from but she used it for her advantage. “ I didn’t even know about it until after Brooke came here telling me about it. So yes, I made a fuss about it. Ridge was going to just take Brooke’s word for it that she didn’t bribe that doctor.”
“ She didn’t.”
“ We don’t know that.”
“ The first test was correct mother. Ridge is Bridget’s father.”
“ That doesn’t mean that she didn’t offer to bribe that doctor.”
“ I can’t believe you. You’ve been arrested and charged but you are still blaming Brooke.” Kristen gave her mother a heated look.“ You never change. And you NEVER take responsibility for who you’ve hurt. Well a lot of people got hurt this time. Not just Brooke. Dad got hurt in this! Not to mention Ridge.”
“ Don’t you think that I know that! He’s my son.” Stephanie yelled pointing to her chest. “That’s why I’d never do something like they are accusing me. Do you think that I’d hurt your father or your brother just to keep Brooke out of the family?”
Kristen crossed her arms in front of her chest. She was silent for a moment before she answered honestly.“ I don’t know mother. I’m not sure what you are capable. I’ve been a first hand victim to you meddling. I still remember how much you had a part in taking the life of a girl that I loved.”
“ That was years ago.”
“ Not to me mother. I still remember. I also know that you tried to murder Brooke up in Big Bear.”
“ I didn’t try to murder that bitch! If I had really wanted to I would have succeeded and done this whole family a favor.” The veins poked out of Stephanie’s neck. “ I was furious at finding that whore up my cabin trying to seduce another one of my sons. I lost control.”
“Things always seems to get out of control when it comes to Brooke so why not for the paternity test ?”
Stephanie sighed and collapsed onto the sofa. “ Because I’d never to that to Bridget. She was…she is my grandchild.” She said in a strained voice. “ More than that, she was Ridge’s child. I’d never do that to him. I certainly never do that to your father.”
Kristen looked as if she didn’t believe her. “I’m telling you that I didn’t bribe anyone to have the paternity test changed. I’m innocent.”
Kristen turned away from her mother in deep thought. She wasn’t sure what to think. Her mother seemed so convincing that she didn’t do this. “ I’m not sure who to believe.”
“ I’m your mother.”
“ Yes you are.” Kristen stood up. “ Mother, I love you. But most of the times, I don’t like you. You’ve spent most of your obsessing over Ridge literally ignoring the rest of us. I can’t tell you how much it hurt to know that Ridge was always the most important child of them all.”
“ That isn’t true.”
“ Yes it is mother and we all know it. Maybe it’s because of that I think that you could be telling the truth. I know how much you love Ridge. I can’t see you hurting him by taking his daughter away.”
“ Then you believe me?” Stephanie asked with hope.
“ I’m not sure who or what I believe at this moment. But you are my mother and despite all you’ve done to me, Felicia and Thorne I don’t think that you should be alone in this. If you say that you didn’t do this then I want to help you prove your innocence. Because after all that you’ve done to Brooke she is going to make you pay for this. Brooke isn’t about to let this go and she truly believe that you have the test changed.”
“ I don’t care what that woman thinks.”
“ I think that you ought to because Brooke is out for blood. For years you’ve tortured, harassed and done your best to humiliate her and her family. She isn’t about to take this lying down. You may not want to admit it but Brooke can certainly be a formidable adversary to especially to anyone who hurts her children. It’s funny because that is the one thing that you have in common..”
Rolling her eyes Stephanie made a face. “ I don’t have anything in common with that woman” Stephanie stood waving her hand as if she were waving off Brooke. “I’ve dealt with her in the past. I’m not too worried about what SHE thinks. She’ll rant and rave but it doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t have the test changed. Believe me I want the entire matter resolved and my name cleared.” She turned her focus back on her daughter. “ I know that this is hard for you to believe in me, but thank you honey.”
Stephanie moved to hug Kristen however her daughter stepped back. “Mother, this isn’t going to be solved with good wishes or hugs. I’m supporting because I hoping against hope that you are innocent and would do something like this to our family. I’ll help you investigate the matter however, if I find that you are lying and you did do this to Bridget than I’ll never forgive you.”
Stephanie didn’t blink. She knew that she had to make Kristen believe her. She had no plans of losing her daughter over this.“ I swear to you honey. I didn’t have those test changed.” Kristen nodded but deep down she was unsure as ever. A part of her told her that her mother was more than capable of this treachery however the other part that had talked to her mother said it was possible that it could have been a misunderstanding.

The meeting that Rick had had with the production team for the WOW fashion show had gone relatively well. He had a lot of work to do if they were going to find a venue for the show put the production team had been really excited all the changes that would be given to this particular show.
“ Hey Rick.” Patti, a long legged redheaded model winked at him as he went by. “ I heard about your new promotion. Congratulations.”
“ Thanks.” He grinned.
“ I also heard a rumor that is going on.”
Rick frowned. “ If this is about my sister..”
“ No.” Patti looked embarrassed. “ Well, that isn’t what I was talking about.”
“ But everyone is talking about it, aren’t they?” Rick had noticed a few looks that he had been given by the production team. Not to mention Jessica Walters, a very determined member who had her own vision for the WOW line and hadn’t liked “Brooke’s son” coming in and taking over. She had given him a very frosty welcome.
Patti tried her best to give him a sympathetic look. “ It’s news. You know how things are here. News travels.”
Rick opened his office door and was surprised to find that Eve was gone. Her book bag was on the floor next to his desk with the production reports he had asked her to help him with. Ignoring them and thinking she was in the bathroom, he gestured Patti into his office. He motioned to the sofa. “ What are they saying?”
Patti wasn’t sure what to say. Rick had always been a cool kid that hung around. But he wasn’t a kid anymore in fact; she gave him an appreciative glance. Rick was filling out nicely. His body had become toner, his face had a leaner more handsome look to it and kinda sexy in just his jeans and shirt. He was certainly a good combination of Brooke’s good looks and savvy mind and Eric’s charm. Rick was certainly turning out to be a Forrester through and through. “ I’m not sure.”
“ It’s alright. I’m not asking you as boss or anything. I just. Well..I want to know where everyone’s head it right now.”
Patti shrugged, how would it hurt if she told him the truth. “ Right now I think that it’s split down the middle. A lot of the older people who have worked from when your father started the company think that Stephanie’s innocent. They say no matter what, she’s been the backbone of this company and the Forrester family. They remember the fact that she had been good to time, remembering their children’s births and important dates. They think that she has too much class to do something like this to her own grandchild.”
“ And the others?”
“ The others think that she did it. They remember the fights that she and Brooke have had publicly and privately. They know a lot about those long drawn out battles. They think that Stephanie hated that Brooke was finally going to get her hands on Ridge. Brooke had already taken the company and made it a success. They said that Stephanie was so jealous of Brooke and how Brooke had not only run Forrester well but had begun to make it her own. They think that she did it.”
“ What do you think?”
Patti was quiet for a moment. “ I’m on the fence. And there are others like me who are waiting for more information to make a decision on if Mrs. Forrester did it.”
Rick nodded. It was just as he thought. “ So, everyone’s waiting for the fall out?”
“ Some are but most of us pretty much feel sorry for Mr. Forrester and for Bridget. It seems unfair that they should go through this. Especially publicly. It’s pretty awful.”
Awful wasn’t the word for it. “Bridget’s been through enough. She shouldn’t have to go through this in public eyesight.”
Seeing the concern for his sister in his eyes, Patti’s heart went out to him. It had to be pretty tough seeing his family torn apart like this. No doubt just like the staff of Forrester, most likely the family would be taking sides in this issue. Patti stood up and moved to Rick and rubbed his shoulder. “ Rick. I know that seeing all of this dragged through public eye has got to be hard on you.”
“ She’s a sweet girl. She doesn’t deserve this.”
“ She’s also a strong girl.” Patti laughed. “I’ve seen her go at it with you a couple of times. She’s certainly her mother’s daughter. I’m also sure with a brother like you she’ll be alright.”
“ You think?”
“ Yeah I do.” Patti kissed him on the cheek and traced the curve of his jaw with her finger. “ It’s a shame that you are taken AND the boss’s cause you certainly are getting cuter everyday. I gotta go.”
Rick blushed for a moment. It seemed that is was starting to develop the Forrester’s magnetism to women. “Thanks Patti.”
“ Anytime sugar.”
Rick watched her sander out of his office with an amused smile. Patti, like many of the models was certainly a flirt. Weighing the information that she had given him about the opinions of the staff let him know that things may be tense around the office if it became a battleground. The last thing that the company needed was the designers, production staff, models and tailors to get involved. Thorne was right; they had to turn the focus on the upcoming fashion show and not the latest in his family scandal. Rick turned his attention to the folders on his desk and studied the files as he sat down. After a moment of reading his earlier frustration turned to pride as he saw the fantastic job that Eve had done on the reports.

Eve punched the punching bag once again with aggression and fevor. She had come to the center to get her mind off the conversation that she had with CJ. Surprisingly, she found Nico in the makeshift gym teaching the youth how to spar. Over a week ago, she had told her how she spent her free time helping runaways. It seems that Nico had decided to take her up on her offer to help out. No doubt she remembered what it was like to live on the streets. Some women had all the luck. Where Eve looked out of place in her borrowed T-shirt and sweats Nico looked as if she belonged in the pages of Sports Illustrated in her perfectly fitting black form fitting sweat pants with a white stripe down the side and white short’s bra with her hands taped up as she hit the bag perfectly. Not to mention her perfectly toned body that no man could resist.
“ Alright. Shift your body to the right and land the punch here.” Nico moved threw a punch diagonally moving her body to get the best impact. “ You want to make sure that you put your entire body into it.”
Eve nodded. “ Okay.” She threw another punch and then another. She hit the bag hard working out the tension in her body.
Nico held the bag. “ I must say that I surprised when I heard from you. I thought that you’d be with your boyfriend. Rick right?”
Eve stopped punching. She picked up her bottle of cold water and took a big gulp. “ I was…” She looked away for a moment wiping her wet brow.
“ Does he have anything to do with your sudden interest in boxing? Are you imagining Rick’s face when you hit the bag.”
“I’m not mad at Rick.”
“ So, who are you mad with?”
Eve headed over to the workout bench and sat down. “ With myself. I’m mad with myself in believing that I was good enough for someone like Rick.”
“ Someone like Rick? Whoa. What’s going on?”
“ Nothing. It’s just that Rick is a Forrester. He’s smart, charming, handsome and has all this elegance.”
“ And he doesn’t treat you like your good enough for him?”
“ No, that isn’t the case. Rick never treats me like I’m not good enough. He does the opposite. He treats me like I’m a princess.”
“ Then what’s the problem Angel?”
Eve’s eyes widened at the mention of her real name. “ It’s Eve.”
“ Sorry.” Nico looked around. “ So, what’s the problem if Rick treats you well. Is it his family?”
Eve shook her head. “No. Brooke’s really nice to me. She’s nothing like I expected. She’s very beautiful and sexy just like magazines say however, she’s so down to earth that she doesn’t have a prima dona attitide. She has done everything to let me know that she really likes me. As for Eric, I’ve only met him a couple of times but so far he’s been nice.”
“ So what’s the problem if Rick and his family is nice to you?”
“ I’m the problem. My life. Or my past life.”
“ Your past is your past. That’s where it is and where it should stay.”
“ I wish that I could feel that way but sometimes I get scared.”
“ Scared of what?”
Tears weld up in Eve’s eyes. “ Scared that when or if Rick finds out about all of my past he’ll change my mind and think that I’m not good enough for him.”
Nico wasn’t sure about all of Eve’s past but she was sure that the woman standing in front of her was a hard worker, considerate of others and very giving. She was also very beautiful inside and out. “Do you think that you aren’t good enough for him?”
Eve was almost afraid to put her feelings into words. “Sometimes I feel that way.” She whispered.
“ Why?”
Eve looked away. How could she explain it? She had been a prostitute. She had sold her body for money. She had also had been a drug addict. Yes, she kicked her habit but it took a long time for her to do it. What would Rick think about getting involved with a woman who had lived the other side of life? She knew that Rick and his family wouldn’t think so highly of her then. “ It’s a long story. My past isn’t as clean as his.”
“ So what? What does it matter? Rick has held a sheltered life living in the lap of luxury while we had struggle life without our parents or without anybody to care for us. We had to take care of ourselves and make a way. You don’t own him any apologize for what happened in your life before you met him.”
“I don’t think you understand. A LOT has happened.”
Nico felt for Eve. She had had therapy to help her deal with her issues but she knew that she was still had deep scares and so did Eve. “ So what? Eve, don’t you see what he sees when he looks at you because I do. He sees someone who loves him for him and not his Forrester millions. He also sees how generous you are. Look at what you are doing here helping all of these teens.”
“ He doesn’t know.”
“ He doesn’t know? Why not.”
Eve wet her lips. “He’d ask too many questions.”
“ No, he wouldn’t. But maybe he’d ask the right questions. I don’t think that you should keep this from him. What you are doing here is not only therapeutic to you but he’d see how you are really helping others.”
“ Not right now.”
“ Alright then but I have to ask you this. Does he make you happy?”
“ Yes. He does.”
“ Then why are you worrying about the past. Don’t do that. You’ve given yourself a new life. College, working hard and playing stepmommy to his son. If you are happy and he’s happy why focus on the past.”
Eve wiped the tears in her eyes. “ I want to so badly. But today when CJ, Rick’s friend, came into his office and started talking about how the Forrester family never thinks anybody is good enough for them. I keep thinking about my past. If they ever found out... If Rick ever did. It would change everything. I couldn’t..” She paused closing her eyes in an effort to ward of the bad feelings. “ I couldn’t take it if he looked at me with disgust. I never thought that I’d met anyone like Rick. He’s a really amazing man. When I’m with him, I feel amazing.”
“ Then keep feeling that way. Focus on your relationship with him and how you feel when you’re together. Forget about what this CJ was spouting. Although from what I hear that family needs someone like you. With paternity mix-ups and marrying in the same family more than once, not to mention that two women have been married to at least two of the members. Besides, Rick was married to his nanny.”
“ She wasn’t his nanny. She was Bridget’s baby sitter.”
“ Yeah but he knocked her up when he was a teenager, right. From what I hear his mother couldn’t stand her.”
“ Brooke hated Amber.”
“ And she likes you.”
“ For now but that may not always be the case.”
“ Just listen to yourself. The woman likes you. This is who you are Eve. Don’t get so hung up in the past.” Nico gave her a knowing look. “ Besides like I said that family can’t afford to look down at anyone.”
“ Somehow I don’t think that others will agree with you.” Eve gave her friend a slight squeezed on her hands. “Thanks for the pep talk though. ”
“ Well it’s over.” She took the bandages off her hands unwrapping them. “ Talk is cheap. I think that it’s time that we do a little something about your little problem.”

Brooke opened the door to the cabin to find Bridget and Eric in deep conversation. She paused only a moment when Eric looked up to wave her in. “ Hey. How are things going?”
Bridget looked at her grandfather. WOW, this was totally amazing to her. She knew how much the truth had to hurt but somehow it was strange, she seemed more open with him now than she had when he had been her father. “ I think that things are going to be okay.”
Eric looked down at Bridget before cupping her face and kissing the top of her head.
“ She’s right. We are going to be alright.”
A look of confusion crossed Brooke’s face. Was Bridget alright with knowing what Stephanie did? Noticing the hesitant look on her face, Eric shook his head. “ I haven’t told her yet. I wanted you and Ridge to be there.”
“ You haven’t told me what?” Bridget looked from her mother to her grandfather. “ If there is something you aren’t telling me…”
“We are going to tell you.” Brooke interrupted her daughter. Making her way into the living room where she had given birth to her daughter so many years ago she sat down.
“ Lets just wait for Ridge to get here.”
“ No.” Bridget stood. “ If there is something I need to know. I want to know now. I’m not a kid anymore.”
“ We know that you aren’t honey. We just think that you should be surrounded by all of us.”
A huge pain formed in the pit of Bridget’s stomach.“ Is this about my illness?”
Immediately alarmed that she has needlessly worried her daughter Brooke shook her head. “ No. It’s nothing about that. Thomas and the girls will still be tested the day or so as soon as the hospital is ready. It should be no more than a couple of days at the most. We have every reason to believe one of them will be a match.”
“ So. What’s this about?” Bridget didn’t like the look that her mother gave her grandfather.

CJ hated being put on hold. Even worse, he hated looking around at Thorne’s newly furnished office, which looks like the Forresters sunk a pretty penny on. He had gone to find Rick and he was in a meeting and then he got the same information for Thorne. The other Forresters weren’t even around. He was pissed off. Royally. How the hell could Kimberly do this to his mother? Sally had been there when her father had disappeared. She had tried to be a mother to Kimberly when she had lost so much. Macy, he knew, would be turning in her grave to know that Kimberly was doing this. “ Damn you Forrester. How in the hell could you do this to my mother?” CJ’s thoughts were put on hold as Thorne came into his office reading a file. Seeing CJ he smiled.
“ Hey CJ. Sorry about the delay but I’ve been busy. I’m glad that you waited.”
“ I bet you have.”
“ Excuse me?”
“ Had a busy day.”
Thorne missed the note of sarcasm in CJ’s voice as he put the file on his desk. “ It’s been a mad house in here since…”
“ Since you mother’s been arrested. I’m not surprised.”
Thorne frowned at the mention of his mother’s name. “ If you don’t mind. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“ I bet you don’t.” CJ scoffed. “ She really put the screws to Brooke this time. Not to mention Bridget but I guess it doesn’t matter what she’s put Budge through right? As long as she gets what she wants.”
“ I know that you are pretty close to Rick and to Bridget. If you could be extra supportive to her. She’s going to needs a real friend of all of this.”
“ I don’t need you to tell me how to be a friend.” Snarled CJ. “I plan on being there for Bridget as long as she needs me.”
“ Hey? What’s going on?” Thorne finally picked up on CJ’s hostility toward him.
“ What wrong? Nothing more than using. I’d expect nothing more dealing with you lying stinking Forresters!” He spat.
“ Lying?” Thorne was confused. “ CJ I know ever since Macy died we haven’t been on the best of terms but I don’t get where all this anger is coming from.”
“ You don’t know. The hell you don’t. You couldn’t leave well enough alone could you? It isn’t enough that my mother lost her daughter but you had to see that she lost her company as well!”
“ Her company?” Thorne was shocked. “ I wasn’t aware that Sally was having any new finical problems. Well no more than the usual ones.”
Cj laughed bitterly.“ Like you didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“ I don’t. Listen, I don’t know what has given you these crazy ideas but I don’t have a thing to do with your mother’s company. How could I?”
“ So, you expect me to believe that this was Kimberly’s idea all on her own with any prodding from you.”
“ Kimberly…” What the hell was going on with his wife now? “ What does Kimberly have to do with Spectra?”
CJ studied an obviously dazed and confused Thorne. He took a step back. Was it possible that Thorne didn’t know anything about what his wife had done? “ You really don’t know?”
“ I don’t know what. CJ, what the hell is going on?”
CJ felt awful. With everything going with Bridget, he didn’t want to dump any more problems on the Forresters at the moment especially if they didn’t have anything to do with Kimberly’s actions. Still, it made no sense. He was certain that Kimberly would never have recalled the loan if she hadn’t been asked to by the Forresters.
“ CJ. I’m going ask you again. What does my wife have to do with Sally’s company?”
“ A while back Adam loan my mother over a million dollars to help Spectra when we were in trouble.”
“ Yeah. Macy told me about that.”
“ Kimberly is now asking for the money that her dad loaned up. We can’t come up with that capital at least not in the time frame that she’s asking. If my mom pays her the company will fold and a lot of good employees will be out of a job.”
“Kimberly’s for money?” Thorne said in disbelief. “ That doesn’t make sense. I’ve taken good care of her and she has several credit cards and bank accounts set up for anything that she needs.”
“ So then why is she doing this?”
“ I honestly don’t know.”
“ Well, I’m going to find out and get to the bottom of it.”
The muscle in Thorne’s jaw jumped.“ You aren’t alone. I want to know why in the hell Kimberly needs a million dollars.”

Kristen brought a tray of food to her mother’s bedroom. “ Mom, Maria made you some of her famous tortilla soup with hot bread.” She placed the tray on the table near the bed.
Stephanie stepped out of the bathroom in a robe. After spending the night in jail she wanted to shower off the stench of horrible place. She looked at her hair in fingered it.Lately is looked dull and drab. Maybe she’d call in this new stylist that she had heard about and cut her hair.“ Honey I think that I’ll wait and have dinner with your father.”
“ Mom. I’m not sure that going to happen so you better eat something.”
Stephanie walked into her walk-in closet to find nice change of clothes. She pulled out a gray suit but then changed her mind maybe she’s put on the rose colored suit. Eric seemed to always like that one. “ Of course it is. I’ll have Maria cook something special. Or better yet I’ll cook and make Cornish hens stuffed with rosemary, herbs and mushrooms, he loves that you know.”
“ Mom, dad isn’t in the city. Besides he’s very angry at you for the moment.”
Stephanie frowned.” Where is he?”
“ He’s at Big Bear with Ridge.”
Stephanie paused. “ Big Bear. Why?”
“ Because of Bridget. They want to take Bridget away from all this hysteria from the news and the reporters. The last thing she needs is the media getting a hold of this, which they have. They thought that it might be better if she were away for a couple of days. In her health condition, she doesn’t need the additional stress.”
“ Let’s call them. I want to talk to your father and Ridge. No wonder Mercedes couldn’t find them to come to court. ” Stephanie put her outfit down and picked up the phone. “I just knew there had to be a reason that only you showed up.
Kristen ignored her mother’s hurtful comment and took the phone out of her hand. “Don’t.”
“ I’m going to call your father up at the cabin.” Stephanie pulled the phone.
“ No, I can’t let you do this.” Kristen pulled it back. “ He doesn’t want to hear from you. You don’t understand how upset he is about this.”
“ We’ll work this all out. It’s understandable that he upset at finding out the truth.”
“ You don’t get it. Will you listen. He thinks that you changed the paternity test.”
Stephanie paused but only for a second.“ I’ll call him and straighten the entire thing out.”
“ I don’t think that it’s be going to be that easy. Telling him that you didn’t do it isn’t going to be enough.”
Stephanie snatched the phone away. “ It will be enough. I know your father. Once I explained it to him he’ll understand.”
“ You haven’t been here the last day and I have. I’ve seen how hurt he is and how furious he is especially at you. Don’t you understand that dad really thinks you did this? He isn’t going to listen to you especially on the telephone.”
“Fine. He’ll listen to you. He always listens to you. You tell him that I didn’t change those test and…”
“I can’t do that.”
“ Why not?” She said annoyed.
“Because I ‘m not convincing him of anything. I don’t know if you’re innocent and until I’m convinced I’m not going to tell him you are.”
“ Fine!” Stephanie slammed down the phone.”I’ll wait for him and Ridge to get back from Big Bear and then we’ll all sit down and talk about this. You’ll see your father will believe me. As for your brother I’m sure he’s helping your father keep his head clear of all of Brooke’s lies.”
Her mother refused to look at the situation the way it really was. Kristen didn’t want to be the one to tell her that her father didn’t want to even be in the same room with her. “ I’m not sure what Ridge is doing or feeling at the moment.”
“ He supports me of course.”
“ Honestly, I’m not sure what Ridge is thinking at the moment. None of us are.”
“ What are you saying?”
“ I’m saying very well may think that you did to his daughter. If he does, God help you mother because the Ridge who has always looked aside while you did whatever you wanted won’t be able to do this time.”

Bridget had been silent as her father and Taylor had come back into the cabin. She had noticed the quiet quick looks between her mother, father and grandfather and it concerned her. “ So, are you going to tell me what this is all about?” She said as she popped an Advil into her mouth.
Brooke who noticed was concerned. “ Honey are you alright?”
“ It’s just a headache. Nothing unusual.” Bridget pulled away from her mother’s quick eyes. “ Are you going to finally let me know why you are really here?”
Ridge nodded and pointed to the sofa. “ Bridget, sit down.” She hesitated but took her seat as her mother took the chair directly next to the sofa.
“ As you know there was a problem with the original paternity test that you took when you were a little girl.”
“ Yes. I know. There was some mistake all those years ago.”
Brooke looked at Eric for a moment before she turned her attention toward her daughter.
“ The hospital did some sort of investigation and they believe that it wasn’t some sort of mix up.”
Bridget stared at her mother trying to absorb what she was saying. “ It wasn’t a mistake.”
“ We really aren’t sure at the moment Bridget.” Ridge added putting his hand on her shoulders when he felt her body tense.
“ Well what happened?”
“ The hospital thinks that the lab technician was bribed in order to have your paternity test to show that Eric, not Ridge was your father.”
“ Why would someone do something like that?”
“ We aren’t sure that’s what really has happened.” Ridge added. “ The matter is still being investigated.”
Bridget stood up and walked over to the fireplace. She gnawed on her fingers nails just as she had done when she was younger and in a stressful dilemma. “ Who do they think did this?” Nobody answered. Bridget whirled around. “ Tell me! Who do they think did this?”
Ridge stood. It hurt him to see Bridget like this. She had been through so much already.
“ Mother.” He admitted with very little emotion. “ They think that mother did this.”
An incredulous look showed on Bridget face. “ No. They can’t.” She looked her mother.
“ It’s a mistake. Stephanie was just as surprised as the rest of us to find out that I was her granddaughter. She wouldn’t do this.”
Brooke stood slowly making her way toward her upset daughter. “Honey..” She reached out toward Bridget.
“ No!” Bridget pulled away. “ I know that you probably think that she did because you don’t get along but she wouldn’t do this. She just wouldn’t. She loves me.”
“ Of course she does. I wasn’t suggesting that she didn’t.” Brooke implored.
“ But you THINK she did it, don’t you?” Tears filled Bridget’s eyes.
Brooke met her daughter’s painful stare. “ Honestly, I do.” Ridge cringed. He wished that Brooke hadn’t told Bridget that she thought that his mother was guilty
“Of course you do. You can’t stand her.”
Brooke didn’t deny the allegation. “ Stephanie and I don’t get along. But the police have arrested her and they evidence against her.”
Stepping between Brooke and Bridget, Ridge turned to his daughter and placed his reassuring hands on her shoulders. “ Right now the whole thing is confusing. We just aren’t sure how or even if my mother was involved.”
“ She’s my grandmother. She wouldn’t have changed my paternity test and take away my father. I remember how things were back then. I remember how upset she was and how she took care of Rick and me when mom was missing. She loves me.”
Ridge comforted Bridget. “ Yes she does.”
“ She always has.” Eric said moving toward them. “ Never think that she doesn’t love you.” He didn’t want Bridget to think that she wasn’t loved.
“ So why would she do something like this?” Bridget asked despondently her hand clutching her stomach. Her heart was being torn into pieces. Stephanie had always been supportive to both her and Rick. Although Bridget had always be more than aware of the animosity between her mother and Stephanie, the two women had be able to act civil to each other on family and birthday occasions. Stephanie also had taken time to spend with her coming to some of her art shows as school and having teas with her. They had somehow always been a source of guilty pleasure since she knew what Stephanie felt for her mother. She had always thought that if she’s only got them together and got them to look past their differences that her mother and Stephanie might be able to work out their differences. Once when she had been eleven, she invited them both to the women’s luncheon at school naming Stephanie as her grandmother since Ridge and Brooke had remarried. Stephanie had balked having to sit next to her mother just as Brooke looked extremely uncomfortable being glared at with hateful eyes all during the luncheon. The table had been full of forced conversation and fake smiles creating an atmosphere of discontent. Bridget had never done anything like that again in the future. She also made sure that if she ever invited Stephanie to anything that her mother wasn’t around.
Eric’s soft gentle fingers lifted her chin up so he could look into her pain-glazed eyes. Finding it almost to difficult to breath he inhaled sharply to allow a rush of air to fill his lungs. “ Honestly. We aren’t sure. In those days Stephanie was very angry with your mothers. She was also very scared.”
“ Scared of what?” Hearing Eric mention that Stephanie was scared was news to Brooke. She closed in quietly wanting to hear Eric’s assessment on a woman who had been her nemeses for such a long time.
Eric had always had his suspicious about why Stephanie hated Brooke. It ran deeply to a lot of insecurities that Stephanie masked. “ I believe that she was afraid of your mother.”
“ Afraid of mom. Why?”
Eric sat down on the arm of the sofa.“ Truthfully, it has very little to do with her and more to do with a woman named Sybil Landcaster.” Brooke looked at Ridge who silently communicated to her with his eyes that he too didn’t know anything about this woman. Eric continued. ‘ Sybil Landcaster was a young woman who went to the same private prep school that Stephanie had went to. The school was a very exclusive school and the crème la crème were only allowed entrance. However Sybil was different. She had been an illegitimate granddaughter of Constance Lancaster whose only daughter, Libby, had given birth to when she had run off with the gardener’s son. Constance who had disowned her daughter and never spoke of her.” He said bitterly shaking his head. “Sometimes, we cast our children out for simple mistakes without realizing how foolish we are. Over the years Constance missed her daughter however couldn’t find any news of her. Many years later, she found that her daughter had married happily however she had died in an earthquake with her husband when they had been working as relief workers in Guatemala. Sybil had been living with friends of her parents when Constance sued of custody of her granddaughter and won. Sybil had come to live with her grandmother and was given entrance to the school. Stephanie who had been no doubt the most popular girl as school hated her instantly Sybil had been a rival for her in beauty with her blonde hair, athletic body and her green eyes. Not only that she as well as in talented, she won all the swimming awards, could sing like a bird and from what I heard managed to tie and beat Stephanie in debated and other educational awards. But unlike your Stephanie, Sybil didn’t have any friends. She wasn’t a pure blood and the parents made sure that she wasn’t accepted. However even that didn’t get Sybil down although I’m sure it did hurt. She was very lonely and missed living with her parents friends who were hard working and kind people. Sybil had a warm and gentle heart and would spend time in shelters and other places giving to those in need. In those days Stephanie was very close to her own grandmother who was sickly. Stephanie’s mother, Yvonne hadn’t been close to her mother and shut her away in some elegant but cold nursing home. Stephanie had begun to notice little changes in her grandmother, Francis’s behavior. Francis seemed happier, full of life and wanted to get out more. It wasn’t until on rainy afternoon when Stephanie visited her that she found it was Sybil who had become to Francis that changed her grandmother’s demeanor. Seeing how Sybil came to read, bring chocolates which were Francis’s favorites, played bridge and simply talked to her grandmother had an effect on Stephanie. The two girls slowly became secret friends over time. Stephanie’s own mother, who was an extremely cold woman, forbad Stephanie to be friends with such a girl but Stephanie didn’t listen. She publicly supported Sybil and lost her status at the school. That didn’t bother Stephanie because in her heart she knew she was doing the right thing by being friends with Sybil. Things were going well between the two girls until…” Eric paused.
“ A man.” Brooke whispered. She didn’t want to admit it but she’d been enraptured in the tale of a young Stephanie. It was so hard to imagine her being kind to a girl who didn’t belong. It wasn’t the Stephanie, SHE knew.
Eric looked over had Brooke who had moved to sit on the ledge of the rimmed fireplace next to Bridget.”
“ Yes. A man did get in the way. His name was Constantine Lamoure and Stephanie had always adored him. They hadn’t formally dated but they did go to the same parties and hung out in the same circles. Their families had pack that they would one day marry and it was a good match.” For a year however Constantine had been abroad and hadn’t met Sybil and vise versa although Stephanie had mentioned she had plans to be formally engaged by the end of the year. For the summer Constance took Sybil aboard for she couldn’t’ stand the heat of California and that is when Constantine ran into a very beautiful young woman in a little shop in Greece. It became love at first sight for them both although Sybil was apprehensive at first. She had certain ideals and couldn’t stand to be boxed in the tight constraints of society. She was outspoken, honest and such a lovely change to the women that Constantine had known. She was also surprisingly sensual and thus the two didn’t wait to consummate their love right after their quick engagement. He made an offer for her hand and her grandmother was overjoyed that she had made such a match. The two were quietly married in a private ceremony and honeymooned in Spain. Meanwhile Stephanie received a letter from him stating that he had married in another and sorry that the match their parents had made couldn’t be fulfilled. Heartbroken and more than embarrassed by the fact that everyone knew that she had been looked over Stephanie secluded herself for the rest of the summer waiting for her best friend to come home and support her.”
“ So, she didn’t know that her boyfriend actually married her best friend?” Ridge asked. He had never heard this tale or this woman named Sybil.
“ No, she didn’t.” Eric answered. “ When Sybil came home she rushed to see Stephanie to tell her about her wonderful news and introduce her to her husband. Stephanie covered her tears and was honestly happy for her friend. She would wait to tell Sybil of her heartbreak later when she came to Sybil’s new house and found her kissing Constantine. Needless to say that both she and Sybil were shocked. Constantine was also confused and very apologetic to Stephanie however it did no good. In her eyes, Sybil had been nothing more than a girl who had befriended her and betrayed her for the man she was to marry. And once Stephanie's mother had found out who had married into the Lamoure family it made her see green. Sybil had married into one of the riches families in the world and her status had changed although she wanted nothing to do with people who didn’t invite her to their homes before. Sybil did try her best to make amends with Stephanie; she honestly hadn’t known that this was the man whom Stephanie had loved. Stephanie demanded that she end her marriage but Sybil wouldn’t do that. She loved her new husband and would soon expect their first child. Stephanie called her a slut and a whore. She now had the proof that Sybil had trapped Constantine into marriage, which was further from the truth. Between Stephanie and Yvonne, they did everything they could to bad mouth the couple which caused them problems since the Lamoures had become the darling couple. Sybil was invited to the same parties as she was; her fashion sense, which I hear was phenomenal, became the rave for society. She had unintentionally usurped Stephanie’s position without meaning to though as Stephanie would put it she did it on purpose. Soon the Lamoures decided to move away to New York because Constantine and her were opening a new import export business. Sybil came to see your mother once again to make amends however Stephanie refused to forgive her. Years later when Frances died, she left a huge substantial amount of money to a charity Sybil started which upset your mother since she thought that money would go to Ridge, her own son. It seems that Sybil still stayed in touch with Frances even after she moved. She was really pissed about that. Your mother didn’t know until Frances death that Sybil still wrote to and talked to Frances. She often asked about Stephanie. In fact, unbeknownst to your mother for a while, Sybil was one of the first customers that ever supported Forrester. She recommended to her friends in New York society that she just adored my clothes. I actually owe her a great debt. When your mother later found out about it, she was furious and demanded that I not sell to her.”
Bridget looked at her father. “ I just don’t understand what does this woman Sybil have to do with Stephanie’s hatred for my mother?”
Taylor who had been listening by the door and who had come into the room to stand next to her husband finally spoke. “ It has a lot to do with her. In Stephanie’s eyes Sybil had stolen everything that she held with any value. She stole the love grandmother, her position in society and her would-be husband.” Taylor’s blue eyes appraised Brooke as if she had never seen her before. “ She was young, beautiful blonde whom Stephanie felt took everything away just like Brooke.” Brooke blinked hard at Taylor’s tone but said nothing under her heated gaze. “ Like Sybil Brooke was from the wrong family. She didn’t have the class or the social status or the moral character that Stephanie was looking for.”
Brooke bit her tongue keeping herself from opening her mouth about Taylor’s so-called moral fiber. Eric interrupted. “ Taylor’s some-what right in her assessment. Stephanie didn’t like Brooke for a lot of things and truthfully none of them had to do with who you were Brooke. It was that you were Beth’s daughter and you knew about my involvement with her. It was all right if Ridge fooled around with you but in her eyes our son never should have considered having a relationship with you. When you moved into our house she was against it.” Eric looked to Ridge. “ I honestly should have explained it to you but I wasn’t thinking clearly those days. I thought that if your mother spent time with Brooke she’d see what a wonderful woman she was.” Eric winked at Brooke. “ In those days Bridget, your mother was a lot like you. Beautiful, smart, funny and so delightful that she filled he house to such a warmth that it hadn’t for a while. She once told me that she couldn’t stand how young and youthful you always looked with a surfer’s body that didn’t age. She hated how you batted your eyes and men seemed to forget their brainpower. She even mentioned how you always cried perfect tears at the right time.”
“ It also reminded her of Sybil didn’t it?” Brooke knew now that it had been wrong to move into Ridge’s house while his mother hated her. But back then she though and hoped that she and Stephanie would become friends.
“ Yes, it did. Especially when you tried to get close to her. She thought it a ruse to get Ridge. She hated that you too volunteered at the hospital. She hated that you were young and vibrant but that were more. You easily conversed Ridge’s friend and charmed them. You honestly reminded her of the woman who stole everything.”
“ And in time, you did steal everything from her, didn’t you Brooke.” Taylor added.
Ridge looked harshly at his wife. This wasn’t the time for this.“ That’s enough we don’t need this right now.”
“ But it’s the truth and you all know it. Brooke did take Stephanie’s life. She took her son and when that didn’t work out she took her husband.” Taylor looked at Eric. “ Stephanie loved you and Brooke stole you away. She must have been devastated by it.”
“That isn’t how it happened Taylor.” Eric admonished gently. “ My marriage was already over before Brooke and I got involved. Stephanie knows that. It’s just easier for her to blame Brooke.”
“ Stephanie didn’t see it that way. All she knew was the woman who slept with her son slept with and married her husband. Not only that she had a child by him that carried YOUR name. Stephanie admitted to me once that she wanted to name Ridge Eric but you thought it too pretentious. However you allowed Brooke to do it. Could you imagine how painful that was to her? Her husband having a baby by a woman who reminded her of Sybil and Sybil's betrayal. A woman who was young enough to be her daughter. Then to have you marry her in front of all society in a big splashy wedding was too much for her. She knew that it wasn’t going to last because she knew that Brooke still loved Ridge. It was a prescription for disaster and Stephanie’s hatred grew ten-fold”
“ But that’s not Brooke’s fault.”
“ It isn’t?”
“No it wasn’t…”
“ No Eric.” Brooke said quietly causing all the eyes of the room on her. Bridget looked at her mom and saw real regret in her eyes. “ Taylor’s right about this one. I was wrong. We were wrong to do what we did. I’ll admit that our whole relationship was wrong. You always so supportive and Ridge and I. You were always so kind to me. Things should have progressed the way that it did between us but I guess that I was so lonely and so hurt when Ridge married Caroline.”
Ridge who always knew that he was the reason that Brooke ran straight into his father’s arms also felt regret on how badly he had ended things with Brooke. He hadn’t been fair to her. He hadn’t let go. Even the night before his wedding to Caroline he had gone to Brooke’s house and kissed her deeply in the rain before leaving. He had been selfish. He had wanted a life with Caroline, no doubt but he also hadn’t wanted to let go. It was emotional blackmail and no doubt prompted the affair between Brooke and his father.
“ We all made mistakes back then Logan. I should have let go and I didn’t.”
“ Then it’s best that you learn from your mistakes now, isn’t it. Taylor whispered to her husband.” Before she turned her attention to Bridget. “ I think that your grandmother’s feelings for discontent grew when your mother took Forrester. It was a bitter pill for her to swallow.”
“ It’s also one that she didn’t have to swallow either.” Brooke shouted glaring at Taylor.
“ If she had been honest and had used honorable tactics with me instead of using my feelings for Ridge or an unethical lawyer to try to trick me into signing over the patient of B.E.L.I.E.F none of this would have happened. I remember offering to sign away my rights if she’d be willing to apologize for her dishonorable tactics but then again, she refused to even do that. Instead, she said that she was sorry for ever letting the likes of me near her family. But then again, I guess you don’t know it’s like to deal with that side of Stephanie do you. ”
“ How could you expect her to be honorable with the woman who stole her husband and then cheated on him with his own son? The same woman who didn’t even know who the father of her baby was and kept running to MY husband ever minute going on and about the child that she just KNEW was his.”
“ But she was right.” Bridget stated quietly giving Brooke the first look of support since their argument about Scott. The room was silent. Though her comment saw a short one it had a lasting effect since it brought them from the past to the future and the problem at hand.
“ Yes, sweetheart. You mother was right all along. She always said that she had this feeling that you were Ridge’s and no matter what any of us she. She said that she knew in her heart that you belonged to Ridge.’ Eric admitted. “ And as you stated, she was right all along. You are Ridge’s daughter.”

Stephen went into the kitchen preparing for a little snack before dinner. Beth had run out to Carrabas and was bringing Italian however that chocolate Tolehouse cookies that she had made earlier to keep her mind of the confusion and the reporters would do. Taking two cookies, he was on his way upstairs when the front door rang. “ Forgot your keys did you Bethy.” He hid the cookies behind his back when he found his grandson’s girlfriend and another tall dark headed girl.
“ Hi Mr. Logan.”
“ Hello Eve. Come on in.”
“ This is my friend Nico.”
“ Nice to meet you Mr. Logan.”
“ Call me Stephen.”
“ I was wondering if Rick where here. He wasn’t in the guest house.”
“ No. He was at Forrester. I thought that you were going with him.”
“ I did…but I left.”
“ Why don’t you wait for him? I’m sure that he’ll be here soon. Stay for dinner, we have having Italian.” He bit into his cookie. “ I’m starving.”
“ I don’t want to impose.”
“Nonsense. After the day that we had around here, it will be nice to have a pretty girl like you grace our dinner. That besides my daughter Katie, she’s coming for dinner.”
Eve nodded. “ Alright. Dinner sounds wonderful.”
Nico looked around at her beautiful surroundings. “ I hate to bother you but could I possibly use your bathroom?”
“Sure, go up the stairs and down the hall to the left, you’ll see it.”
“ Thanks. This way right?” She pointed upstairs.”
“ That’s the way.”
She headed up the stairs while Eve turned to Stephen.
“ Sneaking cookies huh?”
“ What?”
She smiled at the guilty looking man. “ I won’t tell provided that I get one.”
“ I knew there was a reason that I liked you.” He pointed to the kitchen.

Kimberly sat at the bar nursing her wine. She had such a long day that she needed a drink. One little glass of Chardony couldn’t possibly hurt, could it? Damn, being pregnant had all these rules and regulation. No doubt if her husband could see her now, he’d be pissed. But then again, he wouldn’t even notice. He didn’t seem to notice much like how Brooke used that new office as a way for him to be grateful to her. He hadn’t even come home last night and didn’t seem to care if she cared. Being married to Thorne was and still was her dream but lately she couldn’t shake the feeling that he wanted out. Still, she wouldn’t let him. If only she could convince him of how perfect they were together. If only he’d try to love her a little. The voices in her head started to sound up again. No, she pressed her hands against her ears rocked back and forth slowly. “No. I’m not going to let any of this get in the way of my marriage.” She grabbed her drink and quickly finished it. “Hey bar keep. I want another glass. Please.” The bartender, poured her another glass as she drowned her sorrows.

Nico crept around the corner but instead of going to the bathroom, she looked around until she found the room she had been looking for. It had been a stroke of driving Eve who didn’t have her car to Brooke Logan’s estate. When she had driven up the drive it looked like that only people there were Brooke’s parents, Eve had mentioned that Brooke had gone to Big Bear to deal with telling Bridget the truth about Stephanie’s involvement. She honestly felt a moment of guilt for using her friendship with Eve to do her job but she didn’t have a choice. She opened a couple of doors to different bedrooms until she found the one she had been looking for. “Bingo” She whispered and went into Brooke’s bedroom. Looking around for a moment, she started her careful search.

Beth carried the bags in the kitchen to find Stephen in deep conversation with Eve and another beautiful young woman.. “ Hello.” She said to Nico putting the bags down.
Nico pushed her plate away and stood up. “ Hello”
“ This is my friend Nico”
Beth nodded. “It’s nice to meet you dear.” She turned her attention to Eve. “ Eve, sweetheart, it’s good to see you. You are staying for dinner tonight. I hope.”
“ I don’t have to work although I do have some studying to do.”
“ Stay for dinner. We’d love to have you.” Beth started to get out dishes. “We’ve got a lot.” The smell of fresh bread and fresh pasta made Eve’s stomach rumble. “ See, you are hungry.
“ Well, just a little.”
Beth shook her head looking at the lovely yet think girl. “ You are too small and don’t eat enough. We are going to have to fatten you up.” She pinched Eve’s cheek while the two set the table. “ How about you, aren’t you going to stay for dinner as well?”
“ I’d love to Ms. Logan but I’ve got to get back to work.”
“ This late?”
“ Microtech runs all night.”
Steven turned around from the fridge where he had been getting ice for the lemonade he had made. “ Microtech, hey isn’t that Caspian’s company?”
“ Mr. DeAngelo. Yes. You know him?”
“ That’s Rick’s mother’s boyfriend. Eve supplied. I thought that you knew.”
“ Not really.” Nico lied.
“ I’ve never really met the man.” Eve supplied.
“ I thought that you did at the hospital?”
“No.” Eve filled the plates with Italian salad and then mixed the herbs and olive oil to make a dipping sauce. “ We keep missing each other I guess. Rick likes him though. He says he’s good for his mom.”
“ Yes, he is” Stephen added.
“ We don’t know anything about that.” Beth said pressing her lips together in a line. “ We don’t know much about that man at all.”
“ Don’t pay her any mind. She doesn’t like him but I haven’t understood why.”
“ This isn’t the time or place to get into this Stephen but I’ve said it before. I don’t trust that man as far as I can throw him.” Beth crushed up the paper bags and threw them in the waste bucket. “ I don’t want to talk about him anymore and ruin our perfectly good dinner this family has enough to worry about without talking about HIM.”

Bridget sat alone in her bedroom thinking about the turn of events that had happened. She had asked for some time alone to allow herself to adjust to the news that her grandmother might have changed the paternity test just to get back at her mother. There was a knock on her door. “ Come in.”
Brooke made her way into the small but neat bedroom that Bridget had been staying in. “I was just coming to see how you are doing.” Brooke felt guilty. The conversation earlier had gotten off track. It should have been on Bridget not Stephanie vendetta against her. Sitting down on the soft comforter Brooke kept herself from stroking her daughter’s hair. Bridget, she knew, needed time to adjust to the facts.
“ You think she did this, don’t you?” She asked her mother honestly.
“ Yes. I do.”
“ Does Ridge…I mean dad?”
“ Ridge isn’t sure if Stephanie’s guilty. I think that he needs time to look at all the facts after all she’s mother and it’s hard to think about having a mom who’d hurt you on purpose.”
“ You’d never do that.”
“ What?”
“ Hurt me on purpose.”
“ No. I wouldn’t. I know that you are upset with me.”
“ About this? Kinda. If you had known who my father was from the start this really wouldn’t be an issue now.”
Brooke hadn’t expected that comment. She had been talking about Scott. But it was the truth that she needed. “ You are right. IF I hadn’t been stupid enough to sleep with Eric when I was drunk and broken hearted over Ridge, your paternity never would have come in question.”
Wide eyes greeted Brooke. “ You weren’t sleeping with them at the same time?”
“ What? You thought…” Brooke was going into uncharted territory. “ I guess you would think that, wouldn’t you?” Feeling more than a little ashamed about her past behavior Brooke wasn’t sure if she wanted to open up her history to her teenaged daughter, however the truth needed to be told. “Ridge and I had an affair. I was married to his father and because of this letter we thought that Eric wanted a divorce. We wanted to be together and it our chance. It was also wrong and selfish of both of us. But I was young and I’d love Ridge. So we can up to the cabin and shut the world out. It was everything that I could have dreamt of. We planned our wedding and talked about the children we wanted to have. It was perfect.”
Bridget heard the wishtfullness in Brooke’s voice. “ It’s the pictures that you had in photo album. You had really long blonde hair and looked really happy. It was just you and dad. I’ve seen the photos.”
“ It was happy time for me. At least, for a while. We later found out that your grandmother had forged the letter and that you father didn’t want out and we were caught. It was complicated because your brother was so little. I stayed with Eric for a while to help Rick adjust and Ridge dated Taylor. Soon, he made a decision. He saw what our love was doing to Eric. It was killing him and he asked Taylor to marry him. I was devastated and lost. One night after getting drunk at some business meeting Eric and I slept together and although we were legally man and wife we hadn’t been relating as such. I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t remember sleeping with him until he told me when I was pregnant with you that HE could be your father.” Brooke wrung her hands thinking about the confusing time that was for them all.
“ You wanted it to be Ridge?”
“ Yes.” Brooke touched her daughter cheek. “ I thought that he’d come to his senses and would admit marrying Taylor was a mistake. When you were born he loved you so much. He delivered you here all those years ago.”
“ He isn’t sure that Stephanie was the one who had the test changed.” Bridget’s eyes emplorred her mother silently to let her know that there was hope that it had all been a mistake. “ It could have been a mistake that the hospital made. I know that Stephanie hates you but I just don’t see her…” She broke eye contact. She didn’t want to think about how easily it could have been for her own grandmother to deny her her own father.
Knowing the torment that her daughter was in Brooke slid beside her and wrapped her arms around her from the back and could feel how rapid Bridget’s heartbeat was.
“Sweetheart. Don’t focus on this. Take this time to spend time with Ridge and to get to know your brothers and sisters.”
“ Everybody knows don’t they?”
“ It’s been the papers and on the television.” Brooke tightened her hold on her when she felt her want to pull away.
“ Once again, we are back in the spotlight.”
“ Yes Brooke acknowledged.”
Bridget’s body began to shake with what Brooke knew to be tears. “ Taylor’s right. This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t slept with the both of them.”
“ Yes. She’s right. I am blame for this mess.” Kissing the stop of her daughter’s head Brooke felt helpless. She wanted to take her daughter’s pain away. She wanted to soothe and make it all better but she knew that she couldn’t. At least not right away. “ I’m sorry sweetheart. I’m for the pain that I caused you.” Tears filled Brooke eyes and slipped down her cheeks making silent tracks. “ I wish that I could take it all away from you. But I can’t. But I will make this promise to help to make it better. You have me and your father and grandfather. We will make it through this difficult time.”
Bridget closed her eyes as her rocked her back in forth in her arms. It was just like it was when she was little and hurt herself. She allowed herself the comfort of mother’s arms. They stayed like that for a long time. Brooke slid her body next to her daughters so they were now lying on the bed. Just when Brooke thought that Bridget had drifted off to sleep her daughter finally spoke. “Ridge could be right. It could all be a mix up and maybe Stephanie didn’t have anything to do with what happened with my paternity test.”
Brooke was silent. Bridget sighed. “ It’s alright to hope that she’s innocent, isn’t it?”
“ Yes. It’s alright to have hope.”
“ Then I’m going to have hope.”
“Alright honey. You do that.”
“ You’ll prepare for the worst, won’t you mom?”
And other time she would have been pleased with her daughter’s natural assurance that she’d take care of things however she couldn’t when her daughter was in such emotional pain. However she answered her. “ Yes, I will.”

Thorne listened to the messages on his answering machine. Some were from friends of Kimberly making plans for some lunch date. Others were from reporters wanting to get their point of view of Stephanie’s courtroom drams. A few were for him but none of them was his wife. Looking at the time, he knew it was late. Where the hell was she? Weary and bone dead tired, he went into the kitchen and looked through the fridge. There was some baked chicken along with roasted vegetables that he surmised that Kimberly cooked. Pushing past it, he found the roast that she had cooked on the roaster earlier that week and made a sandwich. He wished that he could figure out what was going on. First his mother and now this thing with Kimberly. He knew that he could only deal with one matter at a time. His mother had survived court and no doubt the night. He knew that he should call to check on her but he couldn’t make himself do it. What she had done was reprehensive and unforgivable. Bridget was a sweet young girl who had been robbed of a life without he father because of his mother’s obsession to get rid of Brooke. She just didn’t get it. She spent so much time worrying about Brooke that she had essentially lost everything in the process. His father wasn’t about to forgive and forget. Thorne had never seen his father like he did the other day. But deep down Thorne wondered if that even mattered to his mother. What would hurt her more? Losing Eric or losing Ridge? His older brother had been the center of his mother’s entire life, the rest of them merely forgotten in the shuffle. So, he how his mother would react if she lost Ridge’s support as well as Eric. No matter what, Thorne knew that there were no real winners in this situation just losers. Losers, like him. It was pretty amazing that he could pull himself together and make things at Forrester work but when he got home it was all different. Maybe it was because his father was right. He wasn’t happy. In fact, he was miserable. Marrying Kimberly was a mistake. Sleeping with her again…every touching her was a mistake. He had tried to make it work in his own way and even then he didn’t know that much about his wife except the names of her friends who came over from time to time. He had no idea what she was thinking or doing let alone could even explain what kind of money problems that would cause her even consider calling in her loan but he planned to get to the bottom of it.

Rick took another bite of his Chicken Marcela. “ Good thinking grandma. This is just what I needed.” Rick had come home to find his grandparents and Eve sitting at the dinner table having dinner. He washed his hands and pulled up a chair to join them.
“ I know that after today you’d be hungry and I just didn’t have the energy to cook tonight. How did things go at Forrester?”
“ They are really hectic. But Thorne’s been doing an awesome job at keeping things running smoothly. I’ve got to say that I’m really impressed at what he’s doing especially since mom, dad and Ridge are gone. Today we were able to make progress on the WOW fashion show. We’ve come up with some good ideas for the fashions show.”
“ You mean you’ve got some good ideas.” Eve interrupted between her bites of Eggplant Parmesan. “ I’ve read Rick's ideas. They are fantastic and innovative. I think that show is going to put Forrester farther on the map than they already are.”
“ Thanks. He winked. I couldn’t have done it without your help. Hey. I saw those reports that you created they were amazing. It’s certainly going to help me. Though I have to say that I was upset that you just up and left Forrester.”
“ I knew that you were busy and the reports were nothing. It was simple.”
“ No.” Rick put his hand over top Eve. “ It wasn’t nothing Eve. I really appreciate the hard work that you put into helping me.”
Eve blushed at Rick’s compliment while Beth smiled. She liked this girl. She liked her a lot. The ringing of the doorbell cut off the statement that Rick was going to make. He got up from the table and opened the door. “ Amber.”
He was surprised to see her. She was dressed in some tight black dress and had been all made up.“ Listen Rick I’ve got a problem. I know that you probably don’t care but my agent called and he has got this jig for me but he needs me to get on a flight ASAP. I tried to reach CJ but he’s got his cell phone cut off or something.” Amber frowned before smooching down her rising skirt. “ He’s probably with that bitch Trudie.”
Rick cut her off.“ Amber, what do you want?”
“ I really need you to take Eric for me. He’s in the car.”
“ You left him alone!”
“ Rick it’s just outside it’s not like anything could happen.” Rick shoved past Amber to the storm out to the car to see Eric crying in his car seat. Instantly seeing his dad, he cried out. “ Da.da” Rick took his son out of the car seat while Amber handed him a bag of the tots toys.
“ I have everything he needs.”
“ Keep it. He has his own room here. He’ll be fine.” Rick moved into the house and put his son down. Looking into the 2 year old eyes, he wiped his tears. Eve got up from the table. Seeing her Little Eric ran to her. “ Eve…” he cried.
“ Hey buddy.” She picked him up and kissed his cheek. “ Are you hungry?”
Amber frowned. She didn’t know Eve but that didn’t mean she liked her. She was jealous about the way the girl had been instantly accepted into Rick’s family. Noticing the dinner table she headed over. “ You guys having something special?”
Rick folded Little Eric’s jacket. “ No. Just dinner.”
“ Mmm. Smells good.” Amber looked at the piping hot food. Her stomach rumbled. “ Sorry I didn’t get to eat.” Stephen came out of the kitchen with Eric’s high chair and put the tottler into this chair. Eve used wet naps to clean his hands and placed his bib around his neck. “ Well, I guess that I better get going though my plan doesn’t leave for an hour.” Beth ignored the girl. She had caused enough trouble loading down her grandson with a child that wasn’t biologically his. However Stephen looked at the girl. She looked so sad.
“ If you like to join us, there plenty of food.”
“ Stephen” Beth snapped and moving an inch when Amber tried to squeeze herself next her.
“ Bethy, please. Amber is Eric’s mother.”
Beth looked at the slit at the side of Amber’s so called dress. The girl looked like a first rate slut. “ Some mother.” She muttered to him and in a way that Amber could hear him.
Rick sat down and handed Eve a dish for her to put some spaghetti noodles and a little sauce on for Eric. “ So where are you going this time?”
“ New York. Boy, I can’t wait.” Amber fixed herself a plate. “ The bright lights and big city.”
“How long are you going to be gone?”
“ For two weeks. I’m going to miss my little man.” She acknowledged looking at her son who was grinning happily at Eve as she gave him his sippy cup.
“ Don’t worry he’ll be in good hands.” Eve murmured kissing the little boy. “We all love him.”
“ Yeah, I know. He ahh…likes you. He mentions you at home.”
Eve looked surprised. “ He does?”
“ Yeah. He does.” Amber turned to Stephen. “ So where is Brooke and Budge. I know that Brooke isn’t here because she’d rather eat dinner with Stephanie than the likes of me.”
Everyone became silent as Rick gave her an incredulous look. “ I can’t believe you’d say that right now.”
“ What?”
“About Stephanie. With everything going on how can you mention her.”
“ Everything going on. Rick what are you talking about?”
Instantly he realized that she didn’t know a thing.” Shaking his head, he looked at the woman he had married and wonder what in the hell had he been thinking. Amber wasn’t the brightest light bulb in the bunch and she had no intention to try to better herself with an education. Although they had had their marriage annulled, he still gave her a nice settlement so she and Eric could have a nice home. Hell, he even offered to pay for her to go to school but she didn’t want to. Amber didn’t read anything but gossip magazines and watched nothing but MTV all day. Looking at her he wondered how her could have found her remotely attractive especially sitting next to Eve. Eve was naturally beautiful. Unlike the heavily made up Amber, she wore very little makeup yet had such a beautiful face, long brown hair and a sweet disposition Eve also was highly intelligent, she read, she watched the news and was interested in business. Not to mention, Rick had had the best sex in his life Eve. Eve was cultured, motivated to do more with her life and the perfect woman to have in his life. Admittedly, his mother had been right about Amber. She wasn’t the person for him, she never was. It had nothing to do with her position admittedly Amber had a better home life than Eve, however it had a lot to do with who Amber was. Over the last year, he had honestly forgiven Amber for her deception. It made no sense to hold on to anger especially after Becky’s death but he wished she’d get her life together. Maybe this singing thing was the key but it also meant that Eric didn’t have a stable home life. But, she was a good mother, most of the time. Still, he looked at the way that Eve cared for his son why Amber had sought for her own comfort first. Some things just didn’t change. “ Amber, you obviously haven’t watched the new today or read the newspaper.”
“ I was busy.”
“ Well, if you read the paper then you’d know that Stephanie was arrested.”
“ Arrested. For what?”
“ For having Bridget’s paternity test changed to state that dad, not Ridge was Bridget’s father.”
Amber dropped her fork causing it to clang loudly on the plate. “ You’ve got to be kidding me. Stephanie.”
“ Yes. Stephanie.” Beth angrily uttered. “ She’s certainly capable of something like this.”
“ But why? Admittedly she can’t stand your mother but even I know that she loves Budge.”
“ Back then mom and Ridge were on their way to getting married. Nothing could stop them until this letter was found that stated that mom changed the first set of paternity test. Bridget was retested and it was found that dad, not Ridge was Bridget’s father however that test had been doctored by a lab technician who had been bribed by Stephanie.”
“ Wow. I can’t believe this.” Amber stood and started to pace. “ I know that Stephanie can certainly keep a secret because she did when I gave her that letter that…” Amber shut her mouth. She hadn’t meant to mention that.
Rick’s eyes narrowed. “ What letter.”
“ It’s nothing.”
He grabbed her by her arm. “ Tell me Amber. If you know something that could help build a case against Stephanie I need to know. After all, you were close.”
Stephanie had always been good to her even when this mess about Little Eric had come out. Amber didn’t want to do anything that might get her into trouble. “Amber I’m warning you.”
“ It isn’t about Bridget. If I had known anything about her I’d tell you.”
“ I don’t know. You are good at lying.”
A jumped as if he’d slapped her. Looking up at him with her blue eyes she shook her head. “ I guess that I deserve that after all that I put you through but Rick. I’m really sorry but I did love you.” This was extremely embarrassing especially since his new girlfriend was in the room. “ If I knew something about Bridget, I’d tell you. Even Stephanie knew that.”
Rick let go of her. “ What is this letter then.”
“ It’s not about Bridget or your mother. It’s about Taylor.”
“ What about her?” Amber was silent. “ Amber, damn it. What about Taylor.” Amber looked around the room and noticed that every eyes was on her. Sighing, she sat down.
“ You’ve got to promise me that you won’t tell that this came from me.”
“ I promise.” He answered honestly.
“ It seems that Taylor had an affair with James Warick years ago in Big Bear. There was some letter that she wrote to Ridge confessing about the entire thing. I found it in the house and gave it to Stephanie. She told me that Taylor had made a mistake all those years ago and had the integrity to tell Ridge the truth but she supposedly died in that plane crash. When she came back Ridge was married to your mother and Stephanie didn’t want him to find out the truth about Taylor’s affair because…”
“ Because he’s be more apt to chose my mom.” Rick answered for her. “ My god. Is there nothing that woman wouldn’t do to get rid of my mother?”
Amber didn’t know what to say. She just shrugged her shoulders. “ Sorry. Stephanie was my friend and Ridge was happily married to Taylor by then, it made no sense to bring up the past. Sometimes you have to let the past go.” Amber looked at watch. I better get moving. She picked up her bag and went to little Eric was gnawing on a piece of bread.
“ Bye little fella. Be good for mommy.”
“ Ma ma…” he grinned.
She kissed him on his little cheek and hugged him smelling his sweet baby scent. Tears filled her eyes. She loved him more than life and it was hard to say goodbye but this was her chance to make a name for herself in the music industry. “ Mommy won’t be gone long honey. Daddy and Daddy CJ will take care of you.” She looked at Eve. “ You will too, won’t you?”
“ Of course.” Eve picked him up and carried him to the front door following behind Amber. Amber stopped and waved at them for a moment. “ Say bye to mommy.” Eve told him.
“ Bye..mommy.” Little Eric said waving at his mother. Amber waved once again, got into her car and drove away. Rick watched until she was gone and ushered Eve and Eric back into the house.
“ What do you know. Taylor cheated on Ridge. I think that we had better tell mom.”
“ Why does it matter now?” Eve asked. “ That was years ago right. It’s something in the past. We can’t condemn people for something they’ve done in the past can we?”
“ I’m not interested in what Taylor did. God knows that Ridge has done much worse. But I think that mom should know because Stephanie kept Taylor’s secret and it had nothing to do with trying to help Taylor but more to do with keeping my mom out of Ridge’s life. It’s a pattern.”
“ Your mother already knows.”
“ What?”
“ Amber didn’t tell all the story. I’m not sure even she remembers. She mentioned the letter to Brooke who retrieved it. Somehow it got mixed up with Amber’s things when you all moved here. Your mother has held on to that letter.”
“ She never told Ridge.”
“ She loved him. She saw no need to hurt him with something that was in the past. However she found that she had to use that letter.”
“ How?”
Beth looked at Eve. “ Why don’t I take this little one upstairs. It’s late.” Eve left the room while Beth was grateful for the poise and grace the girl continued to show when she realized what they wanted to discuss was private.
“ All right we were we?”
Stephen moved to the sofa. He had idea what his wife was going to say.”
“ Your mother had to use that letter to blackmail Taylor.”
“ Blackmail Taylor? Why would she do that?”
“ Because Taylor wouldn’t change her mind about allowing the children to get tested. Why do you think she all of a sudden allowed the Thomas and the twins to get tested? It wasn’t out of the goodness of her heart.”

LONDON
Pharren relaxed as firm hands kneaded her tight muscles in her lower back. Groaning slightly she was thankful her skill masseuse as he pounded away the stress and strain of the day. The background music of a waterfall accomplished with the slight scent of green tea made her office almost peaceful, that was until the buzzing sound of the intercom pulled her back to reality. Her secretary, Ms. Sherman, knew better than to disturb her when she was getting a massage. She buried the head even further on the massage table trying to ignore the ringing sound. Finally, the ringing stopped. A few seconds later, Mrs. Sherman opened the office door. “Mrs. Marquette, I really hate to bother you but there is a gentleman outside waiting to talk with you.”
Lifting her head off the table she looked at Mrs. Sherman with a discerning eye. “I don’t care if it’s the Prince of Wales himself. I told you that I do not want to be disturbed.” A tall figure stepped into the shadows of doorway.
“ I may not be the Prince of Wales but I assure you that my visit here is a matter of importance.” He stepped further into the candle lit office. “ I remember a time when you came to me with a matter. I didn’t turn you away, so I’d hope that you’d be willing to hear me out now.” Seeing Caspian DeAngelo after off of those years surprised Pharren. Still devastating handsome she wondered what would bring him to London after so long. “ It’s alright Mrs. Sherman. I’ll see him.” Turning her head to a masseuse. “Warren, help me.” Caspian turned his head as Warren used a towel to cover Pharren as she put a robe over top of her naked body. After her robe was secured, she dismissed Warren and Mrs. Sherman before attending to Caspian. “This is certainly a surprise.”
“If you’d like I’ll wait for you to dress. After all I did interrupt your massage.”
“ Yes, you certainly did.” She stated as she took her hair clip out of her hair and a mass of blond hair feel to her shoulders. “ I figure that you’ve come all this way, we had better get started.” She padded over toward the bar and opened the small fridge to pour herself a glass of bottled water before she toweled off some of slick moister off of her neck. With a coy look, she turned toward him. You aren’t going to let a little modesty get in the way of your questions, are you?”
“ No.” He settled himself in one of her chairs. “ I’m not. However, I would be concerned that your husband may not like our conferencing in your state of dress.
“ My husband doesn’t worry about my state of dress. So, if you don’t mind.” She slid into a set across from his and crossing her legs. “ Then I don’t.”
Nodding his head, he said nothing more about her state of dress. Studying her for a minute, he realized that the years served her well. Pharren was very much a beautiful woman, one he realized, who knew how beautiful she was. She was cultured, crafty and had done wonders with Huntington Publications. Pharren took a sip of her cool water regarding him through narrowed lids. Caspian wasn’t man to neither have idle conversations nor idle visits for any reasons. She wanted to know why he was here. “ So, are you going to tell me what this little visit is about?”
“ I see that you go straight to the point.”
“ Is there any other way?”
“ No. There isn’t. I’m here for information.”
“ Information about?”
“Lark”
She sipped her water allowing it to cool her parched throat. “ Lark was your wife.”
“ And your cousin. There is some information that I need to find out about her.”
“ What kind of information? Lark’s been dead for…”
“I know how long she’s been dead.” He interrupted. His memories had haunted him for years until Brooke.
Noticing the strife on his face, she realized that he still carried around pain. “ I am sorry. I miss her too. We may not have been able to spend a lot of time together but Lark was a special woman. There isn’t anyone else like her.”
“ No, there isn’t.” There was a stained silence between them for a moment before he spoke again. “ It’s strange being here. In this building again after so many years. No doubt your uncle would have been proud of what you’ve done with the company.”
“ I hope so. Uncle Samuel was like a second father to me. He taught me everything that I know about business. And that’s a lot.”
“ So, you were close.”
“ Yes.”
“ Did he ever discuss his personal matters with you.”
“ Personal matters? Listen Caspian, what is this all about?”
“ It’s about Lark. I have to know if she was an only child.”
Pharren was startled by his question. “Caspian, you know as well as I do that she was.” Was it possible that he knew about Brooke? If so, what did that mean for her company? She wasn’t a bad person however she had given her life’s blood to the company and she didn’t plan to hand it over. Laughing to slightly cover her feelings she went back to the bar to refill her glass. Caspian took out a photo and handed it to her. Pharren took the photo and studied it. “ It’s a picture of Lark.”
“ No. It isn’t. It’s a picture of a woman named Brooke Logan.”
“ Brooke Logan. Never heard of her.”
“ You’ve heard of Forrester Creations, haven’t you?” Caspian knew that Pharren wore only the best clothing therefore she would have a least one Forrester gown in her enormous wardrobe.
“ Yes. They make fabulous dresses.”
“ So, you might have heard of Brooke Forrester, CEO of Forrester creations. That’s her.”
“ It’s amazing, she looks just like..”
“ Lark.” He interrupted.
“ And you think because of that she may be related to Lark?” She laughed. Caspian, that preposterous.”
“Not as preposterous as two women looking exactly like one another.”
“ It happens sometimes. Stranger things have happened. SO, she looks like Lark. Why are you so interested? Don’t tell me that you plan to look up this Brooke Logan and go to her with this because..”
“ I need to know the truth. If she’s somehow related to Lark.”
“ You don’t have any proof that she is. I can’t answer any of your questions. As far as I know Lark is the only child that uncle Samuel had. I can’t help you with this.”
Caspian had expected this. “ Alright. Then, could I at least take a look at any mementos or files that your uncle may have left behind?”
Pharren busied herself with the files on her desk. “What’s left of my uncles things was given to Lark. Therefore you have them, not me.”
“ What about the things in his office. You didn’t throw them all out.”
“ Well, there are some finical papers and things. I can get them to you if you’d like but I’ll tell you. I haven’t seen a thing to indicate that he had another child.”
He pierced her with those cold dark eyes. “ I’d like to take a look myself. Surely you don’t mind.”
“ No. I don’t. After all, we are friends or least friendly. You did come through for me when I needed you Caspian. And I’d like to help you if I can.” She smoothed a piece of hair that neatly against the collar of her robe. “ I don’t know much about you. I never did. Though I have my suspicious.” She smirked. “ We did however I know that you love my cousin very much. And her death hit you hard. I appreciate you giving me Lark’s shares to run this company but I have to wonder if you know what you are doing. Trying to find if Brooke and Lark are somehow related. Why should it matter to you?”
“ Because IF they are related, somehow sisters, I have to know.”
“ Lark’s dead you can’t bring her back.”
“ I already know that. If I could, I would have brought her back a long time ago. Thank you for your time and cooperation.”
“ I’ll help the best that I can. But take some advice. This Brooke isn’t Lark even if by some far fetched notion that they are related to each other it won’t change the fact that Lark’s dead.” Caspian nodded before he left. Once the door closed behind him Pharren let out a rush of air that she had been hiding inside. Planting both of her hands on the table her head came down as she inhaled deeply. Panic set it. If he persisted it would be only a matter of time before his digging paid off. How in the hell had this happened? She’d have to look over her uncle’s thing before Caspian got to them. She had to make sure that there was nothing left to link Brooke to him. Still, she was more concerned about the files and the papers that Caspian himself had. She wasn’t sure what was left of her uncles’ things. What is Samuel had left some clue? Hell, he had left clues all over the will. He had mentioned heirs and not Lark specially. “No. I won’t let you do this Caspian. I won’t let you take away everything that I put into this company especially for a woman who really has no right to it.” If he told Brooke about her biological father, she’d no doubt would investigate the will and then it would be all over. She had worked too hard just to hand over her life’s work to someone else. Staling over to her desk she picked up her phone. “ Get my lawyer on the phone. I need to see him immediately.” All the work of Warren’s hands went out of the window as the muscles in her neck tightened painfully.

The ringing of the phone jarred Thorne out of his sleep. Jumping up, he realized that he dozed off in his sleep on the couch. Reaching for his jacket pocket he picked up his cell phone. “ Hello.” He rubbed his tired eyes. “ Yes, this is Thorne Forrester. How did you get.. What? She did what!” Thorne listened pacing back and forth. “ No. I’ll be right down.” Thorne hung up his phone and angrily looked for his car keys. Looking rumpled and tired he went out into the night to get his warward wife.

Sam came through the back kitchen door to Stephanie’s house. “ It’s still a mad house out there.” The reporters didn’t seem to care that it was now 9:30 at night. They wanted with baited breath to get some sort of shot of Stephanie.
“ I know. They won’t rest until they get some sort of interview with mother.” She hugged Sam. “ I’m just glad that you came.”
Sam who had brought what looked to be barbeque, one of Kristen’s favorite and other dishes on the kitchen table. “ There is no way that I’d let you do this all alone. Honey.” Sam smoothed out a piece of ruffled hair and kissed her gently. Kristen allowed herself to bask in the warmth of her lover’s mouth before pulling away. “ I wish we were home.”
“Me too.” Sam traced Kristen full bottom lip. “ I’ve missed you. I was supposed to make dinner for Thorne but I told him we’d do it another day. I figured you needed me.” She pulled Kristen into her arms for second to allow herself the pleasure of holding her.
“ Are you coming home tonight?”
“ I’m not sure. My mother says to leave but with dad gone I’m not sure it’s the best thing.”
“ Is he coming back?”
“ I don’t know.”
“ I got a call from Ridge an hour or two ago. They told Bridget.”
“ How did she take it?”
“ Not good. For a while she was locked away in her bedroom but Brooke talked to her and Ridge thinks she’ll be al right.”
Sam found the dishes and started to unpack the food. “ I hope.”
“ She’s young and she should be spending time dating boys, wondering about her outfits and battling school. She shouldn’t be dealing with the stress of wondering if her own grandmother sabotaged her paternity test to keep her parents apart. Nor should she be facing a uphill battle with an illness like cancer. It seems so unfair.”

Stephanie stepped back into darkness of her empty living room. Kristen had thought was was upstairs taking a nap but she couldn’t sleep not with so many issues unresolved. But hearing the intimate conversation and witnessing the closeness of Kristen and her lover had somehow gotten to her. Kristen was right. Bridget should be happily basking in her teenaged years. Stephanie remembered hers. It had been full of parties, trips and endless shopping, that she frowned, of course was before she had allowed herself to feel sorry for a smart little upstart that would take everything from her. She couldn’t think of her teenaged years without of thinking of the one friend she had loved above all and who had betrayed her, Sybil. Moving aimlessly around her spacious house she picked up an old photo of Bridget at age 6. “ I never meant for you to be hurt .” Truth of the matter was that Bridget, next to Thomas, was her favorite grandchild. Even as a baby she was intelligent always looking around to see something. She didn’t cry like the twins did, she was basically happy and unaware of all the strife and turmoil that her presence had caused her family. As she grew, so did Stephanie’s love for her. She remembered going over to Brooke and Ridge’s estate and spending playtime with the girl. She had such an apt drawing ability even at a young age, just like her son. Bridget was quick, hardly ever asking for the same story but wanted a new one to expand her mind. It was times that that she thought the girl more like her than any other. She had plans for Bridget. Her had decided to put her love an affection into the girl regardless of that bitch of her mother but when that letter had arised and she had thought that Brooke had changed that paternity test. Stephanie had felt cheated and betrayed. Honestly, when Christopher Hastings had shown the results proving that Ridge had been Bridget’s father, she had been realeved for a moment before her plan had sprung into action. She honesty loved Bridget but she loved her whole family more. She had to get Brooke out of their lives. Bridget would still be a Forrester and she’d still have a father in Eric. Ridge would be an older brother and be able to have a relationship with the young girl. Stephanie knew that she’d help them get through the difficult time but Brooke would be out. So, she had made her pact with the devil and altered the future. “ I did it for the family ” She whispered to herself. She had made the tough and hard decisions. She always had because nobody else could do it. She never wanted Bridget to suffer and no doubt the girl would be hurt now. However she’d find a way to make it up to her. She’d also see that Bridget get a donor. Bridget’s life would be full of the happiness from now on. What was done was done. There was no turning back. She’d never tell what she did. She would of course; lie but she’d make it up to all of them. Eric,Ridge and most of all Bridget.

Caspian sat in his car thinking about his conversation with Pharren. She had been very cooperative, too cooperative for him. It wasn’t her style. She knew something. His instincts told him. Her reaction to Brooke wasn’t too surprising so he surmised that somewhere she had seen a picture of Brooke before. But she never inquired to find out the connection and why should she if Brooke were somehow related to Lark, it would call into question Samuel Huntington’s will. Pharren was naturally going to worry about her company and her position. The last thing she would have wanted was for Samuel’s estates, stocks and not to mention the company to go to someone other than herself. If Brooke were somehow related to Samuel, then Brooke would have a claim to not only his estates but to some of the company as well. His phone rang. “ Hello.”
“ Sir. It’s Hunter. I have the address of the woman you are looking for.”
“ Is she home?”
“ Yes.”
“ Very good. Give it to me.” He wrote the address down and told his driver to go the given address.”

Brooke turned the key cutting the car off. She turned to Eric who had fallen asleep in the passenger’s seat and touched him lightly on his arm. “Eric”. He shifted in his seat turning his head mumbling. Brooke really didn’t want to bother him. He was tired and after everything that he had been through the last couple of days she knew that he hadn’t slept well. Truth of it all, he may have suffered the most in this entire debacle. “Eric.” She called again. He shifted again before he blinked his eyes open. He jumped a moment startled to find Brooke next to him. Shaking the sleep from his eyes he turned toward Brooke. “ Are we home?”
“ Yes, we are.”
He sat up looking around at his surroundings. “ We aren’t home. At least not at my home.”
“ I know. I’ve been thinking that you shouldn’t have to go home and face Stephanie tonight. You need a place to stay and I’ve got a house with a lot of bedrooms. Why don’t you stay with us tonight?”
“ You can’t be serious.”
“ Why not. We’re family. Aren’t we? Don’t tell me that you have an aversion to staying here. Eric Forrester my home is certainly good enough for you, isn’t it?”
Eric found himself smiling for the first time since he had found out the truth about Bridget not being his daughter. He placed his hand over top of her hand that rested on the steering wheel. “ You are right. We are family. And yes, your home is perfect. Who do you think went with Ridge when he was looking for the perfect wedding gift for you?”
Brooke smiled. Ridge had indeed told her the story.
“Then there is nothing wrong with staying the night if not longer. I’ve got lots of space, digital cable, a fully stocked fridge and a mother who is still one of your closest friends. What more could you ask for? Besides, if she focuses on you, she won’t be focusing on me. What do you have to lose?”
“ At this point. Nothing.”
“ What are you waiting for?” Brooke asked as she got out of the car. Eric followed her as she opened the door to her house. Inside it was warm and cozy. It had always been an inviting home. Brooke no doubt filled it with for their children. Eric had to stop himself. It wasn’t “their” children anymore. It was Rick and his grandchild, Bridget. He followed Brooke upstairs as she showed him one of her guest rooms. “ There are towels and washcloths in the bathroom. You know where the kitchen is if you want something to eat. I keep the fridge pretty stocked with all kinds of goodies. Rick loves the fruit smoothies and fried chicken, a lethal combination if you ask me. With Bridget, it’s those éclairs from Café Rouse; apple slices and grilled chicken salads. Then there is little Eric, he loves little tatter tots, Popsicles and those little Philly Cheesecake miniatures.”
Eric smiled at Brooke. “How about you? Do you still love pasta at midnight?”
“ Pasta at midnight? You still remember that?”
“ When Rick was a baby you’d get up and feed him.”
“ And then you’d feed me pasta or ice-cream.”
“ My favorites.”
“ I know. You always liked ice cream and homemade cookies. In fact, I think that we have some Rocky Road and some Butter Pecan ice cream down stairs if you’d like. There probably is cookies too. Mom has been doing exta cooking.”
“ Trying to bribe me with sweets?”
“ Is it working?” She said sweetly with a twinkle in her eye.
“ Maybe some other time.”
“ Well, get some rest. I hear that the Marta is making chocolate chip pancakes with real whipped cream for breakfast. Mom called when you were asleep. Little Eric is staying the night and it’s his favorite. It will be served with crisp bacon, however, with your new diet, I’ll make that turkey bacon for you.”
“ You don’t have to..”
“ Yes, we do. We want to make sure that you stay healthy. I’ve already called you personal nurse and she’ll be over in the morning with your schedule and your menu. After the pancakes, if you’d like. I think that you deserve to cheat a little, don’t you?” Brooke leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “ I’m going to go to bed. It’s been a long day for the both of us.”
He looked around at his new surroundings.“ Yes it has. Goodnight Brooke.”
“Night Eric.” Brooke closed the door behind her and headed down the hallway to her bedroom. Opening the door to her room. Feeling the weight of the day’s activities on her she sat down on the ottoman at the foot of her bed. She stretched her lower back slowly allowing the slight ache that developed driving those long hours to Big Bear and back. Kicking off her high-heeled boots she wondered what had been going through her mind by putting them on in the first place. Massaging her right foot, she wished that Caspian where here, he gave one hell of a foot rub. Hell, she thought, he did a lot of things right. “Caspian. I wish you were here.” It wasn’t just the lovemaking that she missed. She just wanted to be held tightly in his arms. To know that she was safe. Smiling to herself, she wondered if she was becoming fanciful. Brooke pulled over her turtleneck and jeans dropping them to the floor. Next came her bra and panties. Walking to her bathroom, she turned the shower on and stood under the two-headed showerhead allowing the hot spray of the water for at least a half-hour before she came out. Drying off, she pulled on a pair of soft silk pair of pajamas but found that she wouldn’t sleep. She headed downstairs when you noticed that the kitchen light was on. She stepped in to find Eric in her dad’s pajamas heating up some Veal Parmesan in the over.
“ Hungry?” He asked. She nodded as he put down a plate for her. “ You are worried too, aren’t you?”
“ About Bridget? Yes. I hated leaving her like that. I just wanted to take her into my arms and make everything better.”
“ I know what you mean.” Eric poured himself a glass of milk. “ She’s tough though and strong. I think she’ll make it through.”
“ With lots of therapy. Right?” Brooke said half kidding.
“ It’s not a bad thing. Maybe we all should have family counseling together.” He scooped some veal on her plate and handed her a fork.
“ Maybe we should. It couldn’t hurt. I just wished that she would have come home with us.”
Eric touched Brooke’s hand gently. “ She needs time. Especially some alone time with Ridge. They have been hurt deeply by this. It’s good that she has him.”
“ She also has you. Don’t forget that.”
“ you don’t forget that either.” He tapped Brooke on the nose. He studied Brooke for a moment.
‘ What is it?”
He smiled. “ Nothing really it’s just you look like a teenager. You look like her especially with that ponytail.”
Brooke laughed and touched it. “ What’s wrong with MY ponytail?”
“ Nothing. You just young. You always were.” He sat on the island stool. “ you were always full of life and way too young for me.” He admittedly. “ I should never have taken advantage of you the way I did.”
“What?” She stopped eating her late dinner. “ Eric you never..”
“ I did. You were hurting and in pain. I should have given you comfort and that’s all. But it was like I couldn’t control myself. When I kissed you that first time it was like I was alive again and I wanted more. My God, you were the sweetest thing that I ever had and so….” Eric got caught up in his ramblings and turned red embarrassed that he’d speak of Brooke about herself like that.. Clearing his throat with a cough he moved on. “I was older and should have known better. If we are going to have a good friendship we need honesty. The truth is that I’ve always cared for you. I thought you were wonderful and I couldn’t think of a woman who’d be better for Ridge.”
‘I thought that you liked Caroline.”
“ I do and I love Taylor. The are two women who are wonderful but I thought that we were the best thing for Ridge. You kept him on his toes and you will like liquid fire when you were with him. I honestly think that he did his best work and still does when he’s around you. You inspire him.”
“Those days are over.”
“ I know. He has a good life with Taylor and you seem to be happy with Caspian.”
“ I am. Even in these troubling times, Caspian bring me great happiness.”
“ I know and I’m glad.”
“ You were wrong about taking advantage of me. I’m the one who cheated on you.”
“ Thanks to a letter that Stephanie had forged to say that I wanted a divorce.”
“ It wasn’t just the letter. Ridge and I had been together one time before that. It was when B.E.L.I.E.F was created. We were so happy and we got caught up in our emotions that one thing lead to another. We didn’t mean to hurt you and we promised we’d stay away from each other. I meant what I said earlier about being wrong and being sorry. What I did to you was wrong.”
Eric covered Brooke’s hand with his. “ It’s okay. I forgive you. After all, you’ve forgiven me for much worse. We all make mistakes but I know that you don’t have a malicious bone in your body and you never meant to hurt me. I promise you that from now on we are going to work together as a family to see that our Rick, Bridget and the rest of the children are safe and happy.” Brooke smiled and for the first time in a long time, Eric did too.

Stephanie sat all alone in living room with the lights cut off. It was well past midnight and still no sign of her husband. Kristen and Sam had left over an hour ago after she insisted they go home. The last thing she wanted was for them to sit around and watch her be miserable. And she was just that miserable. Stephanie tried calling Big Bear but nobody answered the phone up at the cabin. She had tried calling Eric on his cell phone but he didn’t pick up either. She had left of voice on his voicemail but honestly she was starting to worry. He hadn’t come home like she had expected. He hadn’t called to even see if she was all right. How could she go upstairs to the room they shared and sleep in that big bed all alone without knowing what had happened to her husband? All she ever wanted was a life with him and their children. She had wanted to build a legacy with him. But now when she needed him the most, he was missing and she was utterly alone. This house, the life she created and the business they forged together meant nothing if it meant that she’d be alone.

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