Chapter 10

Bo stared at the sleeping beauty in the bed before him. After their late-night discussion they'd made love until just before sunrise. Exhausted, Carly had fallen asleep in his arms. He'd been afraid she would awaken when he'd extricated himself from her in order to get ready for work, but she'd merely rolled over and sank back into sleep.

Showered and dressed, he had to leave now in order to get to the station in time for his shift. He looked to the window that he'd used last night to sneak into her room and contemplated the rose bush growing up the trellis just outside. Inspired, he used his pocket knife to cut away one of the red blooms, laying it on the pillow next to Carly. Then kissing her cheek and whispering his love for her, he shouldered his bag and climbed out the window.

Bo had left his car in a clearing about a mile from the house. Despite the hike back facing him, Bo felt better than he had in years. He felt rejuvenated, like he could take on the world with one hand tied behind his back. But Carly had always made him feel that way. Something in her called to the rebel in him, and it felt good to give into that side of his nature again. He'd repressed it for so long that he'd begun to wonder if it had disappeared altogether. Five minutes in Carly's presence, however, had brought it roaring to the surface.

Arriving at his car, Bo tossed his duffle bag into the trunk and drove to the station. He grabbed his first cup of coffee for the day and nearly bowled Hope over on his way back to his office. Hope, ostensibly searching for him, had been coming out his office door.

"Geez, Hope, I'm sorry," he began. He'd barely managed to prevent spilling his coffee all over her. Hope shook her head, dismissing the run-in.

"It's all right. I wanted to find you. At least I succeeded in that. We need to talk about our…situation." Her tone was serious and let him know immediately that it wasn't a suggestion. He'd known this day was coming and though it wasn't perhaps his ideal way to pass a morning, he actually found that he was looking forward to settling things between them once and for all.

"We do," he agreed and could tell she was surprised when he didn't try and dodge her. "But not here. Let's go down to the waterfront." They made the short walk to the waterfront in awkward silence, Bo having decided already to let Hope take the lead. There was a time, long ago, when he would have professed the ability to read her mind. Those days were gone. She didn't leave him to wonder for long, though, and got right to the point.

"This thing you have with Carly, it's real for you, isn't it?"

Bo nodded. "It's real for her, too."

Hope went on as though she hadn't heard him. "And there's nothing I can do to change your mind? Nothing at all I can do or say to bring you back to me?" Bo shook his head. The hurt was evident in Hope's eyes, but Bo knew the only way for her to heal was to make the break clean.

"Why not?" she asked, on the verge of tears.

"Because you aren't Carly," Bo answered as gently as possible.

"She left you. What makes you so sure that she won't leave again?"

"Because we aren't the same people we were then. I wasn't exactly myself after I was kidnapped, and then we learned about Nicky. Vivian almost killed Carly. It was a bad time, and we let our circumstances dictate our actions. We're in it for the long haul this time, both of us," he said with certainty. Hope was openly weeping now.

"All these years, you've loved her, haven't you?" Again, Bo only nodded. "What if she'd stayed? If you'd still been with Carly when I came back, would you have left her for me?"

Bo hesitated only a split second before answering. He didn't want to hurt Hope any further, but he had to tell the truth. "No. I would've been thrilled for Shawn D that you were alive, but I would never have left Carly."

Hope closed her eyes against the truth of Bo's words. She couldn't believe that 25 years and three children had been rendered null and void by two sentences. "Bo, you have to see how insane this sounds. You barely had three years with this woman, and you're going to throw away our 25-year marriage for her? It's preposterous!"

"Fancy Face," he started but stopped short at the anger that flashed in her brown eyes.

"You don't get to call me that! Not anymore."

"Fine, Hope," he emphasized, his own ire rising. "I'm in love with Carly. I want to make a life with her. You can try and blame Carly all you want, but the truth is you and I had problems long before she came back to Salem. I'm sorry for the way things played out between us, Hope, but I can't apologize for loving Carly. I won't. You and I have never had a perfect relationship and you know it. There's no point in blaming one another for our past problems. The fact is I'm with Carly now, and that's where I'm going to stay. All that's left for us to decide is how best to help Ciara through our divorce."

"The best thing for Ciara is to have her parents together, Bo, not to be shuttled back and forth like a piece of luggage! She doesn't even like Carly! How is she supposed to accept her as a step-mother?"

Bo ran his hands through his hair in aggravation. "Hope. Ciara has spent all of five minutes with Carly. She hasn't had a chance to like her. They'll get to know one another. Carly was wonderful with Shawn D. She really bonded with him…"

"Yeah, she bonded with him so much that she left him to run off and be Queen of Alamania!" Hope shouted.

Reining in his temper, Bo responded as calmly as possible. "She left Shawn and me in order to give her son, the one who was stolen from her as a baby, a life with his mother and his father. She thought she was making the right decision. Carly would do anything; sacrifice anything, even herself and her own happiness, for her children." Bo couldn't prevent the tears that gathered in his eyes when he recalled just what Carly had forfeited, trying to keep her daughter alive. "The two of you are a lot alike in that aspect."

"Look, I'm not unsympathetic to what has happened to Carly regarding her children. But from what I understand she has her son back now. What's to prevent her running off again in order to be closer to him, especially if Melanie doesn't come around? I can't allow my daughter to get close to someone who might up and leave her at the drop of a hat."

"Ciara is my daughter, too, Hope. I love that little girl. She's my baby, and I would do everything in my power to protect her. Carly will be acquitted of these charges, and she and I will be married, Hope." Hope blanched. "She will be Ciara's step-mother. You just have to accept it. If I thought for one instant that Carly would hurt Ciara, I'd not let her anywhere near our child, regardless of my feelings for Carly. But she won't hurt Ciara."

Hope took a deep breath. "I know she'd never intentionally hurt Ciara. But Ciara will be hurt nonetheless by our splitting up. How do you think she'll react when you present her with a ready-made step-mother?"

"I know it won't be easy, Fan – Hope. But Ciara is a smart little girl. You and I just have to let her know that her mommy and daddy love her very much and that we'll always be there for her, even if we aren't together. She'll spend some time with me and Carly, and they'll get to know each other."

"It's good to know that you've got the rest of our lives planned out so thoroughly," Hope remarked snidely.

"Jesus, Hope! What do you want me to say? You left me and took our daughter. I'm in love with another woman, for fuck's sake! Did you really think that you and I were just going to kiss and make up and go back to the way we used to be?" Judging by the stunned look on her face, that was exactly what Hope had been thinking.

"Come on, you're smarter than that, Hope. Do you really want to be with a man who isn't in love with you?" Finally, he saw realization dawn in her eyes.

"This is really it, isn't it, Brady? We're done, aren't we?" He nodded slowly.

"You were my first love, Hope. A part of me will always belong to you. We're linked forever through our children. But you and I have grown apart, and that's been happening since Zack. You know it has," he rushed on when she looked as though she would argue. "We haven't been the same since he died. We couldn't fix it. Ciara couldn't make it right. There are some things that love can't overcome."

"You're right," she said quietly. "I know you're right, but you're the only man I've ever loved, Brady, and damn it, this hurts like hell!" She began to weep once more, and though it made him sad, Bo was surprised to realize that for the first time in their life together, he didn't feel the need to try and fix her. After a few minutes, her tears subsided and she looked him in the eye.

"I asked Julie, you know, about you and Carly. I knew she'd tell me the truth."

"What did she tell you?"

"Julie said she'd never seen two people so in love. She told me how great Carly was to Shawn, how your parents loved her, how the whole freaking town seemed to think she walked on water. And she said when Carly left it nearly broke you."

"It did."

"I hope for your sake that she doesn't break your heart again," she said, then abruptly switched gears. "I won't interfere with you seeing Ciara."

"I know you wouldn't do that, Hope. You don't have that kind of cruelty in you."

"But if you have plans with Carly and Ciara doesn't want to be there, I won't force her to come, either."

"Of course not," Bo agreed. "I would never want Ciara to feel like she has to spend with time with me. It will always be her choice. She's the most important person in all of this. I know I speak for Carly when I say that we'll do everything we can to make her feel comfortable with all the changes."

"Even if it means she doesn't want to see you?" Hope asked, eyebrow lifted in a question.

"Even so. What ever Ciara needs, how ever much time or space she needs, she'll have it."

"So that's it, then. I'll have one of Uncle Mickey's partners draw up the papers and get a copy to you as soon as possible. Should I have them sent to your attorney?"

Bo shook his head. "Just put in whatever you think is fair. I'd like for us to share custody of Ciara, and I'd like to see her as much as you'll allow and she wants. I also want you to have the house, if you want it. It's Ciara's home, and I think she should have familiar surroundings. I think it would be best for her to be back in her own home. If you're in agreement, I'd like to move out so that you can move back in with her as soon as possible."

"Will you be moving in with Carly?" Hope asked the question as though she was a little afraid of the answer, but Bo shook his head.

"Not right away, no. Part of the terms of Carly's bail was that she stays away from me until the trial and Abe's little investigation into my involvement are complete. But once all this is cleared up, yes, she and I will find a place together."

"You're pretty confident that Carly will be acquitted, aren't you?"

"She won't have to be. I have a feeling that Melanie is going to see things from her mother's point of view very soon, and then she'll drop the charges. Once that happens, Abe can call off his dogs."

"What makes you think Melanie will change her mind?" Hope asked, slipping seamlessly into Detective mode.

"Let's just say that she'll soon know why Carly was forced to give her away. I think once she has all the facts, she'll understand things more clearly and be more receptive to her mother."

Hope nodded and didn't push, knowing instinctively from Bo's tone that she wouldn't get any more information from him on the subject. "I hope things work out for you the way that you want them to," she said, unable to meet his gaze.

"Thanks. One last thing; do you think we could talk to Ciara together? Maybe we could pick her up from kindergarten today and talk to her then?"

"All right, but she gets out today at noon. Can you break free?"

"Just come find me when you're ready to pick her up."

"I will. We'd better get back to the station," Hope said, glancing at her watch. Bo nodded and together they walked back to the station, just as silent as they'd been on the way to the waterfront.