Chapter 2
Sheridan stepped off the plane and into LAX. "So this is LA," she said, quietly. Maybe now she would be able to move on. She spotted a map of Southern California, closed her eyes, and pointed her finger. She landed on a city. Sheridan opened her eyes and read. "Sunset Beach. Hmm. Sounds good."
::Two days later::
Sheridan was walking along the pier, depressed. She was thinking about� who else? Luis. No matter how hard she tried, it never worked. She was so lost in thought that she literally stepped off the pier and into the ocean.
"Case, there's a report of someone falling off the pier," Michael Bourne, Casey's friend and comrade, told him.
"Okay, I'll go and check it out."
He dove into the water and swam out. Casey found a woman struggling to keep afloat, so he helped her to shore. "Thank you. I can be so dumb at times."
"What happened?" Casey asked.
"I was�thinking� and I fell off the pier." The woman blushed a little.
"Oh, that's okay," Casey said with a laugh. "We all make mistakes."
"Thanks." She smiled.
"I don't think I've seen you around before," he said. "What's your name?"
"Sheridan. Sheridan Crane."
"Sheridan�" Casey got lost for a minute. "Was your mother's name Dominique, by any chance?"
"As a matter of fact, it was. Why? Did you know my mother?"
"Um� well, it's a long story� I won't get into it now, but you may be my second cousin."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. Are you new here?"
"Yeah. By the way, you never told me your name."
"Oh. Sorry. I'm Casey Mitchum."
"Hi, Casey. Nice to meet you."
"You, too. Listen. I really want to tell you this story, because I have a feeling you're the Sheridan I'm looking for. Do you mind if we ate over at the Shock Wave? My parents-in-law-to-be own it."
Sheridan smiled. "Sure. I have nothing better to do anyway."
"Alright, then, let's go."
~somewhere over Colorado~
"Luis, I'm so excited. I can't wait to see Aunt Carmen, and Maria."
"I know. I haven't seen Ricardo or Antonio in ages!" Luis smiled as he remembered old family reunions with everyone. "And I can get over Sheridan."
::Flashback:: "Luis, I� I can't see you anymore."
"Why? What did Julian and Alistair do?"
"It's not them�"
"Then what? Sher, you know I can't live without you, and you promised you'd never take your love away from me."
"I know, Luis. I won't take away my love. No one can. I just� I need space. Time to think."
"About what?"
"It's not important right now. Just hold me, please�"
Luis held on to Sheridan as tightly as he could. "Are you going to go?"
"I have to. I don't have a choice." Tears were now streaming down Sheridan's cheeks. "Just remember that I love you, and I always will." With that, she kissed Luis, then walked off. He just stood there and watched the only woman he had ever loved walk out of his life.
::Reality::
"Luis, it's going to be okay. You're going to be happy. And Sheridan will come back to you, in time. Remember, it's fate."
"Thanks, Theresa. I need something to hold on to."
"Anytime."
Casey told Sheridan his story. Sheridan's eyes sparkled, but at the same time, filled with tears when she remembered her mother. "She wanted to save me� and she risked her life for me� oh, Casey, thank you so much!" She hugged her cousin. "I'm glad I have family here. I need good family."
"I need good family too. My mom's somewhere in Europe, on a photo shoot. But I'm hoping she'll come by and visit us soon."
"Oh, I know. Aunt Alex knows a lot about my mother, and I barely remember her." Casey and Sheridan were really hitting it off when Sara walked into her parents' restaurant. "What the�" A streak of the green-eyed monster ran through her, but then she remembered that Casey would never hurt her like that� would he? They were both giggling when Sara walked up. "Hey, Casey."
"Oh, hey, beautiful." They kissed and then Casey said, "Sara, I found her."
"Huh?"
"Sheridan."
Sara's eyes lit up. "You found her? Oh, my gosh. Are you Sheridan?" she asked, turning to the blonde sitting next to her fianc�.
"Yes, I am. You must be Sara. Casey has told me a lot about you."
"Hello, Sheridan. Nice to meet you. Um� just out of curiosity, do you have a place to stay? You're always welcome to stay with us if you need to."
"Why, thank you," Sheridan said. The three of them stayed there for a long time. Then a whole bunch of people walked in.
"Hey, look, it's Casey and Sara," Maria said. She led Theresa over to them. "Hey, Casey, Sara," Maria said, "I want you to meet my cousin, Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald. She's staying with me while she goes to UCLA."
"Hi, Theresa," Sara said warmly. "I'm Sara, and this is my fianc�, Casey. Oh and this is�"
"Sheridan�" Theresa said, softly.
Sara and Casey looked confused. "You two know each other?"
"Theresa� hi! Is�" Sheridan was almost afraid to ask. "Is Luis here?"
Theresa looked over at her brother and Sheridan followed her gaze. She smiled. "Casey, you told me I wasn't responsible for my mother's death?"
"No� your father convinced you that you did it or something, but they actually killed your mother. Why?"
"Oh� just asking. Theresa� let's go over and surprise Luis."
Theresa grinned. "Okay." They slowly made their way over to Luis, whose back was turned to them, and she signaled to her cousin Antonio not to say anything. Then Sheridan said, "Hey, you."
I know that voice� but could it possibly be her? Luis turned around slowly and came face to face with the love of his life. "Sheridan?"
"It's me." Sheridan stood there, smiling at him. Luis swept her up in a big hug. "Sher, I missed you." They kissed, gently at first, then more passionately.
Ricardo, Antonio, Maria, Casey and Sara stood there with looks of shock and confusion. Theresa explained, "Sheridan and my brother were together, before, but then she ran away for some reason, leaving Luis devastated. I guess now it's cleared up, though."
"I guess so�" Sara said.
Luis and Sheridan pulled away and looked at each other. "Why?" he asked.
"It's a long story� I'll explain to you later. But who are these people and how do you know them?"
"These are my cousins, Ricardo, Maria, and Antonio Torres. You guys, this is Sheridan Crane."
"Hey, Sheridan," they greeted her. Then she said, "Oh, Luis, this is my cousin, Casey Mitchum, and his fianc�e, Sara Cummings. They just helped me put a big part of my life behind me. I owe you guys one," she said, turning to Casey and Sara.
"Don't worry about it, Sheridan. I'm glad we found you." Sara smiled.
"All right, now, explain to me why you left."
"I have a better idea," Sheridan said. "Why don't we take a walk on the beach and I'll explain everything."
"Good idea." Luis kissed Sheridan softly on the forehead. "I missed you, you know."
"And I missed you too. Guys, we'll be back." Casey nodded. "Go. Take your time."
"We will." Luis smiled. "See you soon." They walked out of the Shock Wave, hand in hand.
~On the beach~
"So," Luis said, "tell me everything. You know you can tell me anything if you need to."
Sheridan smiled, but it soon faded. "Luis, do you remember when we were in Santa Fe and I had those nightmares?"
"Yeah. You never told me what they were about, though."
"Well� I will. They're really fuzzy. Um� I walk down the stairs and pick up a letter opener. Then someone walks by and the letter opener sticks them in the leg, and they die. I can never see who that person is. Anyway, there's a sheet over the body, and there's blood on my hands, and a voice telling me how bad I was and how I wanted to kill that person, and I keep telling the voice that I didn't mean to do it. I swear I didn't." Sheridan was hyperventilating, tears streaming down her cheeks. Luis held her and stroked her hair. "Shh� it's only a dream. And what does this have to do with you and me breaking up?"
"Well�. the night that this event supposedly happened was the night your father disappeared. I thought that I might have killed your father."
Luis looked down at Sheridan. "I know that you would never intentionally kill someone. Besides, you were only a little girl, and it was an accident."
Sheridan smiled. "No. It was only a dream."
"How do you know that?"
"Casey."
"What about him?"
"Well, since I thought I killed your father, I ran away. I ended up here, in Sunset Beach, and I met Casey. Turns out that he's my second cousin."
"Really?"
"Yeah. His mom and my mom were first cousins, and they were really close. He remembers them talking on the phone, saying how my mom wanted to run away from the mansion because my father was trying to kill her. She wanted to take me and run someplace far away, like here in Sunset Beach. My aunt was willing to take us in. But we never made it out. My father killed my mother� and he told me that I was the one who did it." Sheridan started crying again.
"What's wrong? I mean, aren't you happy that you didn't kill anyone?" Luis asked.
"Yes, but my father killed my mother! And� and�" Sheridan broke down. "Shh� it's okay�" Luis kissed her on the forehead. "What is it?"
"Why doesn't my father love me? What did I ever do to him?"
Luis's heart broke at seeing Sheridan this way. "I don't know, Sher. And I feel really bad that you don't have a father that loves you. But let me tell you this. He's missing out on one of the best things in his life: his daughter. I know that when we have a baby girl, I would never do that to her."
Sheridan smiled through her tears. "And what makes you so sure that we're going to have a baby girl?"
"Oh� I just know these things." Luis grinned. "But seriously. I'm not going to say it doesn't matter that your father doesn't love you, because it does. But you still have a lot of people that love you. Especially me." Luis kissed her, and they got really wrapped up in that kiss. They only stopped once, to get air. After a while, they quit. "Thank you," Sheridan whispered.
"For what?"
"Everything. I love you, Luis."
"And I love you too, Sheridan." They kissed once more, and then got up and left for Surf Central.
Chapter 3
