(This story takes place about five months from now. P.S.: This is a crossover story… between Sunset Beach and Passions)
Chapter 1
Casey Mitchum was pacing. "Case, what's up?" his fiancée, Sara Cummings, asked.
"Oh, nothing, it's just something I remembered."
Sara took his arm. "What is it? Come on, sit down. I'll make us some tea and you can tell me, okay?"
Casey smiled. "You know I love you, right?"
"About as much as I love you." Sara kissed him softly and then left.
~Later~
"So, what is this memory all about? It must be pretty big, since you've dwelled on it so much," Sara prompted.
"Well, it was when I was little. My mom was on the phone with her cousin. I don't remember where my aunt lived, but my mom sounded really serious. I was standing outside the door, and my mom and Dominique--that's my aunt--were talking about how her husband had tried to kill her or something. My aunt was fearful for her life, and she was planning to take her daughter and run away from the mansion… I guess they were pretty rich. So my mom suggested that they come here. But they never did. I remember a short time later my mother crying, and I asked her what was wrong, and she said that she had lost her best friend. Then she told me about my aunt, and how my second cousin Sheridan was going to be living the rest of her life bound by a nightmare that never happened. They killed my aunt, Sara. And Sheridan has taken the blame for it." Casey buried his head in Sara's shoulder.
"Oh, Casey, I'm sorry." Sara stroked his hair gently and let Casey relieve himself. "Do you know who this Sheridan is? We may be able to help her."
"That's the problem. It was so long ago… I was only a kid."
"We'll find her, Case. We have to."
~somewhere over Iowa~
Sheridan Crane was sitting, crying silently. You had to do it, Sher. You couldn't let him know that you might have killed his father.
She couldn't stop thinking about Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald. He was the love of her life. The way he looked at her… the way a chill went down her spine when he touched her… the way he always made her heart skip a beat every time he smiled at her… she gave that all up, so that he wouldn't have to be hurt. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him. So she ran. Far away. She decided to move to Los Angeles, or somewhere near there. Just as long as she was far, far away from Harmony… and Luis.
~Harmony::Lopez-Fitzgerald house~
"Hello?" Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald said into the phone.
"Theresa? Is that you?"
"Yes, it's me. Who's this?"
"It's me. Maria."
"Maria? Oh, my gosh, I haven't heard from you in ages! How are you?"
"I'm fine, Resa." Theresa smiled. She only allowed one person to call her that, and that was her older cousin, Maria Torres. She and Maria had so much in common. Even though she was a few years younger than her… okay, there was a huge age difference… Theresa considered Maria to be more like an older sister. They had so much in common… they were both the middle girl in their families. They both had an older brother and a younger one.
"Good. I'm great too. What's up?"
"Well, Mama wants to see Aunt Pilar, and we want to see you. All of you. What if you came out to visit us?"
"Um… hmm. That's a good idea. I'm starting college really soon and I'm going to move out there in a while. In fact, I'm almost done packing."
"Cool! Oh, and you have to meet Benjy."
"Benjy? Who's that?"
"He's my… ex-nephew, if you want to put it that way. But he thinks I'm his mom."
"Huh?"
"It's a long, complicated story…are you going to be staying with me if you come?"
"I hope I can."
"Good, because I'm lonely up in this house by myself. And Benjy, of course."
Theresa smiled. "Well, Maria, I'm going to ask Luis, Miguel and Mama if they want to come with me. I'll call you back ASAP, okay?"
"Alright, Theresa. Talk to you soon." They hung up and Theresa went into the kitchen. Surprisingly, everyone was in there. Luis had been depressed ever since Sheridan left, about a month ago. Theresa was really hoping that they would have a life together, because she loved Sheridan as her own sister and she and Luis looked so cute together. They had true love. Theresa could see it. "Hey, everyone."
Pilar and Miguel looked up from comforting Luis. "Hey, Theresa," Miguel greeted his sister.
"Who called, mija?"
"It was Maria." Luis looked up at that. "Maria? How is she?" A smile crept on his face.
"She's good. Listen… she wants us to and visit her. Aunt Carmen wants to see you, Mama. And I really want to see Maria. She said I could stay with her, so we don't have to find somewhere for me to stay when I go out there."
"Oh, that's great, Theresita. I want to go, but… I have work over at the mansion, and I'd risk losing a lot of money if we go. Besides, we don't have the money."
"Well… okay… I guess I'll just go by myself."
"No." Luis stood up. "I'm going with you."
"You sure?" Theresa asked, concerned for her brother.
"Yeah. I need to get away from Harmony. Away from…" Luis trailed off and his eyes started to shimmer.
"Away from anything that reminds you of Sheridan," Miguel finished.
"Why does it have to be so damn hard? And why did she leave me? She said she loved me. Why did she leave? Where did she go?" Luis was in hysterics now. Theresa tried to calm her brother, but it was no use. "Luis, come on, I have to go to LA soon. Are you coming with me?"
"I guess…"
"Yes or no?"
"Yes. I'm going to go and take care of you while you're there, however long it's going to be. I'm going to start a brand new life in Sunset Beach."
"You mean you're going to leave us?" Miguel asked.
"I'm sorry, bro, but it's just too hard for me to go on here in Harmony, where everything reminds me of Sher. I need to move on, and Sunset Beach is just the place to do it. I can get a job as a cop and work with Ricardo, and then I can take care of Theresa. We'll have each other, and Aunt Carmen, Ricardo, Antonio and Maria. Isn't that right, Theresa?"
"Yeah. Are you sure, Luis?"
"Positive."
"Okay, then. Let me go call Maria." With that, Theresa picked up the phone. "Hello? Maria? We're coming."
Chapter 2
