Revisiting the Past
Parts 6-7
By Kellie
Rick rubbed his eyes as he walked over to the counter and poured a cup of coffee as he ran his free hand through his hair. "Michelle, I'm not sure what you want me to say."
"How about explaining why you didn't tell me about Claire," she demanded firmly.
"Michelle, my hands were tied - it didn't matter what I did, you would have ended up hurt. When Claire came back to town, you had already endured so much. Then Claire was there when you had your miscarriage and you seemed to need a connection with her. If I had told you, you would have been hurt. I didn't want to hurt you, sweetheart. Maybe I was wrong, but at the time I thought I did the right thing," Rick answered.
Danny watched as Michelle paced the room, digesting everything she learned. She turned towards her brother with a tear in her eye, "Rick, I understand that you didn't want to hurt me, but I still deserved the truth. I should have known everything about Claire's history with our family when I was trying to build a relationship with her. Maybe I wouldn't have misjudged her as much as I did if I had known."
Danny's eyes met Rick's met before they both looked back at Michelle. Danny came out with the question that was now eating at them both, "Michelle, what do you mean when you say you misjudged Claire?"
"I didn't realize what a control freak Claire is until it was too late," Michelle replied.
Rick came around the bar in the kitchen and sat across from Danny. "What made you come to that conclusion?" he asked.
"A lot of things," Michelle replied as she reclaimed her seat at the table. "I'm not really sure how to explain how I finally came to that conclusion, it just gradually became evident. Unfortunately, Claire had exerted her control and screwed up my life and dreams before I realized what was happening." Danny's penetrating gaze caught Michelle's eyes. Tears freely fell down her face as she nearly whispered, "Claire's need to control my life and my inability to see her manipulations," Michelle paused. "Claire convinced me to leave the man I loved - The man I still love."
Michelle's head dropped to rest on her arms as she began to sob uncontrollably. Danny stood and slammed his fist on the table, "That manipulative bitch!"
Rick put his hand on Michelle's shoulder and lightly rubbed it in a circular motion as he watched Danny pace the room muttering under his breath. Rick could barely make out the words as Danny ranted about how he could ring Claire's sorry, worthless neck. Hearing Michelle cry harder, Rick knew he needed to calm Danny down. He couldn't stand to see his little sister this upset. Rick got up and went to stand in front of where Danny was pacing. He nodded that towards the patio door. "Danny, let's go outside and give Michelle a minute to compose herself."
Danny looked over at Michelle and nodded in understanding. He followed Rick out the door. "Rick, I could strangle that bitch. She took Michelle away from me," Danny began.
Rick nodded as he spoke, "Danny, I know. Believe me, I'd love to tear Claire to pieces after seeing Michelle fall apart just now, but doing so would only hurt Michelle more than she's already been hurt. Claire's not worth the powder it would take to blow her away." Slamming his fist into his hand, Danny nodded in agreement. "I'm going to go in and see if I can get Michelle settled down. Why don't you take a minute and do the same?" Rick said as he opened the door and went inside.
As soon as she heard the door close, Michelle looked up. "Rick?"
"Danny just needs a minute, he'll be back after he calms down." He walked over to the counter and grabbed a box of tissues and brought them to the table. "The raccoon look really doesn't become you, Michelle," Rick said trying to lighten the somber mood.
"I forgot I wore mascara today," she said as she grabbed some tissues and started dabbing at her eyes.
Hearing the door open, "Michelle, I think you and Danny have a lot to discuss. I'll talk to you both in the morning," Rick said as he stood and placed a light kiss on the top of her head before heading back up the stairs.
Danny returned to his seat at the table and reached out for Michelle's hand. Taking the tissue from it, he began to dab at the remaining streaks of mascara. When he was finished, Danny took Michelle's hand. "Michelle, you still love me?" he asked quietly. She nodded, as her eyes became lost in his deep brown eyes. "Michelle, I've always loved you. I want to fix the mess Claire has made of our lives - of our marriage. Do you?"
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Michelle sat there in a momentary daze. "After everything I put you through when I took off and later refused you calls - refused to see or speak to you," she paused and looked at his hands wrapped around her own. "I just can't understand why you would want me back after all the hurt I've caused you."
"Michelle, I love you - I've been miserable since you've been gone," Danny began. "Do you remember that day at Laurel Falls, just before the trial began?" Michelle nodded as she listened, "We talked about the house, the family we wanted to have. I couldn't imagine having that with anyone else - I still can't see having that with anyone but you."
"Danny, I hurt you - I hurt myself when I left. Claire may have contributed to this mess - Let's face it, Claire just utilized our existing problems as the tool to pull us apart. We can't just magically snap our fingers and get back together like nothing happened. The problems she manipulated to separate us are still there - they didn't just vanish."
"I love you, Michelle. I'm not saying it will be easy. Hell, nothing with us has been easy." Danny tightened the grip on her hands, "I want to work this out and have that life we dreamed about. It doesn't matter why you left - what matters is that we love each other and we should be together."
Michelle pulled her hands away from Danny and stood. Walking over to the window, she continued speaking, "I took off and all I left you was a note that you never responded to and you want me to believe you suddenly want to work things out. It's not that easy."
Danny's head jerked up, "What note?"
Turning to face him, "Before I left that night, I left a note for you on the counter telling you where I would be and asking you to call me."
"Michelle, when I got home, all that Rick and I found was a message from Claire on the answering machine. She said that you needed some time to pull yourself together and that we shouldn't expect any phone calls. She said you wanted me to leave you alone."
"That explains why you didn't call or come after me or call during those first few days I was gone," Michelle whispered to herself.
Danny walked up behind her and laid his right hand on her shoulder, "Baby, what did that note say?"
Swallowing hard, "I told you that I needed to talk to you about the dreams. It said for you to call me at the cabin."
"I never got that note."
"I've known that for a while now," Michelle replied.
Looking at her with the shock evident in his eyes, "How long and why didn't you call me or come home?"
"For all of this to make sense, I need to start with what happened after I left the house with Claire that day," Michelle began. She walked over to the bench by the door and took a seat. Danny sat down beside her and waited while she tried to find the words to begin.
"After I packed an overnight bag, I sat down and wrote the note to you. I left it on the table for you to see. I remember starting out to the car; Claire was in front of me. She made some excuse about forgetting her purse and went back in the house while I put things in the trunk. I got into the car to wait. When she was coming out, I remember she was on her cell phone."
"Well, that explains the disappearance of your note," Danny muttered.
"We went up to the cabin for what was supposed to be a few days. When you didn't call, I wanted to call you. Before I got a chance, Carlos showed up."