RETURNS AND BURNING

Morning sun filtered through the sheer curtains into Roxie's bedroom. Bird song twittered outside the windows. She'd heard the birds come awake chirp by chirp since she hadn't been able to sleep. Lying in bed next to her husband Danny, Roxie had watched the room brighten as she mulled over the events of the last week. It was exactly a week today that Danny had returned from the dead to her and Mia.

His return created a complicated situation. Believing him to have drowned in a car accident five years prior, Roxie had grieved and then moved on in her life after a couple of years. Her newfound relationship with Darryl had been growing more serious just when Danny showed up.

She'd been confused at first; who was she supposed to be with? It had been an agonizing decision, one that she was still having trouble with if she were honest with herself. Roxie was so happy that Danny was alive even though she still had a lot of questions about where he'd been since the awful night their car had gone off the bridge.

She still loved Danny. He was her husband and Mia's father. Roxie knew it was the right choice, the only one that made sense, but doubt nibbled at her. Did she just love Danny or was she in love with him? It was an important question and one that she knew she needed to find the answer to soon. The best way to do that was to give her marriage her full attention. She owed that to Danny and herself, not to mention Mia.

Roxie sat up on the side of the bed, figuring that she would get Mia off to school and then head to the shop early. There were still bills to pay and a business to run. It was time to reopen the shop after having been closed for a week. Plus, she had two paintings to finish so that Darryl could ship them to Greta for her gallery.

Every time she thought of Darryl, guilt, sadness and desire hit Roxie. Her decision had hurt him. She saw in on the day she'd told him she was going to stay with Danny.

"Then I wish you well. I'll still be here if you need me."

His generosity hurt her more than if he'd yelled or fought with her about it. That's what she'd been expecting but his reaction had surprised her and made her feel so awful. He'd stood up and went to stand by the window, effectively dismissing her, but not before Roxie had seen the pain in his expression. She'd cried all the way home that day.

His remarks about being stifled in the roles of wife and mother haunted her. She knew he was referring to her increasing powers as much as her growth as an artist. The honest part of her knew that he was right about that on some level but she was determined not to let herself be trapped into a humdrum existence. She was determined to ease Danny into realizing what she was and what she could do and accepting it.

Throwing her robe on, she tried to get Darryl out of her head but it proved to be difficult to manage. As she began assembling ingredients for omelet's, Roxie admitted that she missed Darryl. She missed him challenging her in every way, personally and professionally. She missed their arguing, bantering and serious conversations. And, yes, she missed his touch.

Making love with Danny was great. He was as skilled and generous in bed as ever but there was something missing that Roxie couldn't define.

She didn't hear Danny come up behind her because she was so lost in thought. When he slipped his arms around her waist, it startled Roxie. She gave a little yelp.

"Danny! You scared me." She swatted one of his hands playfully even while feeling guilty over thinking about Darryl.

Danny chuckled against her ear. "Sorry. Good morning."

"Morning. Do you want peppers in your omelet?"

"Yeah. That'd be great." He kissed her cheek and released her as Mia appeared.

"Morning, sunshine." He gave her a kiss and a squeeze.

"Morning, Daddy, Mom."

"Omelets for breakfast," Roxie informed their daughter.

"Great."

Mia sat at the table, taking in the scene they all created. She still couldn't believe that her dad was really here, sitting at the table. It was so good to have her family back together again. She used to dream about Danny coming back to them one day but never did she think it would actually happen. Now, every time she heard her father's voice, it was reassuring to her, to know that it wasn't a dream that he had come back.

While they ate, they chatted about all kinds of things, still bringing Danny up to speed on everything that was going on in Eastwick and that had occurred while he was away. There was a lot to talk about since it had been so long since he'd been home.

"You goin' to the shop today?" Danny asked Roxie.

"Uh huh. I have two paintings that I want to get finished for Darryl to send to Greta in New York."

Danny stopped chewing, fixing her with a hard stare.

"What?" she asked with faux innocence.

"You know what." He wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I don't want you around Darryl."

Roxie put her fork on her plate, her appetite waning as she felt an argument coming. "Well, you're going to just have to accept that Darryl and I will still have a business relationship. My work is selling really well and I don't want to quit what I'm doing."

"Your work," Danny scoffed. "You mean those ugly little statues you used to make?"

Anger and hurt turned Roxie's eyes a cooler shade of blue. "I'll have you know that my art show was a huge success. All of my paintings were bought that night." He didn't need to know that Darryl had bought them all. "I was able to pay off the mortgage on the house, catch up the lease on the shop and put money in Mia's college fund." She got up and gathered their dirty dishes with angry movements. "Not to mention paying the monthly bills and putting heating oil in the tank. So before you put my work down, at least know what you're talking about."

Danny's astonishment showed clearly. "Wow. I had no idea, Roxie. I'm sorry. Really."

"Whatever," Roxie retorted, not mollified in the least. "My art is not some hobby. It's my living and it's a big part of who I am. Since you 'died' it's been keeping me and Mia fed and a roof over our heads."

"It's true, Daddy. You know, I used to make fun of Mom's stuff but she's worked really hard and now her stuff is awesome. You'll see."

Mia's comments filled Roxie's heart with love and pride. "Thank you, sweetie. I really appreciate that."

"I guess I'd better come see what you've been doing." Danny's eyes held genuine contrition and Roxie's anger cooled slightly.

"Yes, you should. C'mon, Mia. Time to get to school. I'll see you tonight," she told Danny, giving him a quick kiss as she and Mia left.

CHAPTER TWO

All around her Joanna heard the clicking of computer keyboards, papers being shuffled and foot traffic in the hectic bullpen of the Gazette. Louder, however, were the churning thoughts in her mind as she replayed the events of the last week.

She was trying to figure out why Penny was acting so strange. No matter how many times Joanna went over it she couldn't come up with an answer. She wished again that her hypnotic abilities worked with women and not just men.

Glancing over at Penny she was startled to see Penny glaring at her with a mixture of anger and hurt. Penny lowered her eyes when she saw Joanna's look. Joanna was fed up with the type of treatment her best friend was giving her. She got up so fast that she almost tipped her chair over and stalked over to Penny's desk.

"You know what? This crap is really getting old. What is your problem with me?" She pointed at the redhead when she would have answered. "And don't tell me 'nothing' because I know better. I saw that dirty look you just gave me. Plus, you've been avoiding me all week, making up excuses not to hang out with me. So what the hell gives?"

Penny tossed her head as she searched for a plausible reason. She couldn't tell Joanna that she knew Joanna had destroyed evidence that would have led to finding her former boyfriend Jamie's killer. Well, he wasn't dead, so it would be attempted murderer, she supposed. Jamie wasn't ready to reveal his presence yet. As she and Joanna looked at each other, Penny reconsidered, figuring that she could tell Joanna about the evidence without mentioning the fact that Jamie had shown up on her doorstep a week ago.

"I don't want to talk about it here. Come to my place tonight about seven. We'll talk then."

Joanna nodded. "Fine. I'll be there." Her anxiety level went up as she walked back to her desk. She had a bad feeling about what Penny would have to say and she couldn't shake it as the afternoon wore on.

Kat Gardner kissed all five of her children goodbye, leaving them in Mrs. Neff's capable hands. She swore the woman was a saint and the kids loved her like another grandmother.

She made her way down the front walk to her minivan. A hand closed on her arm as she started to unlock the door. Gasping she twisted around to see Gene, her neighbor Colin's son smiling sweetly at her.

"Hi, Mrs. Gardner."

"Gene. Hi. You surprised me." Something in the boy's touch made her want to recoil.

Gene's large blue eyes held no malice and his smile was bright and innocent. Still, there was something disturbing about the child, Kat felt. Slowly Kat drew her arm out of Gene's grasp and unlocked the car door.

"How's Emily? Is she feeling ok?" Gene asked, referring to Emily's fall from a window a few days ago. He seemed to be genuinely concerned.

Kat smiled at Gene, reminding herself that Gene and Colin had been through a very tough time with the death of Gene's mother a year ago. It could certainly account for Gene's odd behavior.

"She's fine, thanks. Nothing to worry about." Especially after I healed her.

"Oh, that's good. I was worried about her. I'm glad she's okay."

"Me, too. Well, I have to get to work now. I don't want to be late and get yelled at. I'll talk to you later, Gene. Have a good day."

Gene nodded. "Okay. You, too. See ya."

Kat got in, started the minivan and put it in gear, barely resisting the urge to stomp on the gas pedal. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and Colin's son as possible.