CHAPTER FOURTEEN: LIES, DISCOVERIES, AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS

It wasn't until Carly had walked into the quietness of her house and sunk onto the couch that all the jumbled emotions swirling around inside her mind began to unravel. She had been a bundle of nerves at the start of the day; the uncertainty of whether or not she and Lily would acquire the lease had weighed heavily on her sleeplessness the previous night and spilled over into that morning. However, sitting down to breakfast with Lily and slipping into another comfortable conversation with her had slowly helped bring down her anxiety level one small notch at a time. That is, until that phone call from Emma. That's when things began to fluctuate between a series of highs and lows; like an erratic lifeline screening within the span of a few minutes.

The onset had been the news of Jack's "romantic" night with Janet alone at the farm leading to their reunion. Something inside her had started to crack when Lily regretfully broke the information to her. It made no sense for her to feel the way she did, and yet, she seemed to have no control over the anger and jealousy that were bubbling up inside her as she struggled to comprehend the reason why.

However, the second call to Lily's phone had hardly given her any time to sort through her inexplicable feelings. The news following this phone call had been a stark contrast to the first one. Joy and excitement welled up inside Carly as she and Lily celebrated their first taste of success: acquiring that lease. The celebration was cut short, however, by the unexpected entrance of Molly into the Milltown living room with no forewarned knock. That's when the guilt and helplessness started to set in. She could read the unmistakable signs of hurt and betrayal etched on her cousin's face when she discovered her laughing and embracing Lily of all people. It's why she'd made such a hasty exit before Carly could stop her. Although what she would've said to appease her had she done so, she had no idea. She and Lily weren't quite ready to go public with their company, so letting Molly in on their business partnership was not yet an option. But if the business aspect of her interactions with Lily were restricted from disclosure, then would Molly understand the personal aspect of it? Would she be able to deal with the fact that she and Lily had once again renewed their friendship? Before she could mull over those thoughts some more, Carly was struck with a question. Why had Molly stopped by to see her that morning on her way to work? It wasn't customary for her to do so at all. She immediately realized that her cousin had stopped by with more of a purpose than to simply pop in to say 'hello.'

Carly had barely started to brainstorm over the possible reasons behind her cousin's out-of-the-blue visit as she walked back over to her seat at the dining table to rejoin Lily when Liz called back again with more details about finalizing the deal later that very morning. With that, Carly had effectively become distracted for a good while: getting the keys to the boutique becoming her primary goal and focus. Sitting in Liz's office and holding that set of keys in the palm of her hand for the first time had seemed more like a dream than a reality. Not long after that, as Lily unlocked the doors using her matching set of keys to their very own boutique, Carly breathed in the historical moment as she took her first steps indoors. Standing there in that spacious room and envisioning all the things that would fill those four walls had sent a rush of excitement coursing through her veins. Neal showing up and furthering things along with his sketch—though still in the rough stages—had only helped drive home the fact that this was no dream, but a wonderful reality that was slowly but surely progressing with each move they made. Hopefully this dinner with Lily, Neal, and his partner would be another great reminder that good things—at least where her career was concerned—were finally going her way.

And yet, despite it all, here she was, sitting in the stillness of her living room and stewing over Jack's newfound happiness with his wife. Why should she care if they'd found a way to patch things up? After all, wasn't she the one who had been pushing him to make things right with Janet? Then why the hell was it that the news of their reunion felt like someone had punched her square in the gut? Maybe it was the harrowing reminder of the last time a similar sequence of events had unfolded. A little over a year ago, when things had been rocky in his relationship with Janet and he'd made the same proclamation of love to her. It was right after she had rescued him from the trap that James Stenbeck had set for him. They'd stood there in his hospital room as he admitted he loved her and wanted to take another chance at their relationship. Having waited nearly a year and a half to hear him utter those words again, she had initially felt elated by his declaration. However, fear and doubt soon took the place of any happiness or hope she had felt in those brief moments and she had escaped from their conversation when a nurse had interrupted them. She had wondered if he had really meant those words, or if it was just his sense of gratitude talking. She had needed him to prove the depth of his love and commitment to her before she could truly allow herself to fully trust in them again. She'd wanted him to fight for them; to convince her that they could make it, that they could once again have what they once had. But he hadn't done that. Instead, he seemed to flounder between giving them a chance again and cutting things off with Janet completely. That's when they'd mutually agreed they weren't together. Only, her heart told her that they weren't over. When she'd rushed over to him to make her case, she'd found him on one knee at Old Town proposing to Janet. The following months leading up to his marriage had been hell for her. Now, it was happening all over again. This time, however, she wasn't going to set herself up for the same crushing blow. This time she wasn't going to sit around and feel sorry for herself or mourn the fact that she had come so close and just lost him all over again. After all, why grieve over a relationship that had died once more before it had even begun? Why should she allow herself to be taken in by his confessions of love when he had hardly followed through on them the last few times? Anyway, she had three wonderful children to think about and an exciting career to launch. That was enough for her. She didn't need a man—any man—to be her crutch. Not even if that man was the eternal love of her life. She had overcome her share of adversities by herself before and she was more than capable of doing it again on her own.

Carly forcefully stood up from the couch. Painful as it was, she was done mulling over things from her past and things from her present that would obviously never be. She had a few errands to run before getting ready for her business dinner that evening, so she decided to get a move on. First things first, she had a dining table that needed clearing. After a few trips back and forth from the table to the refrigerator, and a lot of rearranging later, Carly had successfully managed to accommodate all the serving platters and dishes inside. At least, she thought, she wouldn't have to worry about making breakfast all throughout the weekend and into the middle of the following week.

Jack continued to browse through the various polo shirts on the rack in front of him. While his body might've been inside the Van Heusen's store in Old Town, his mind was miles away. Had Molly talked to Carly like she'd so eagerly planned to do when she'd run out of the farm in such a hurry this morning? How had Carly taken the news? Did she understand that she was the reason he'd been so determined to end his marriage to Janet? Had Molly explained that it was the depth of his love for her that had prompted him to quickly put to death a marriage that had been doomed from the start? Carly might've encouraged him to fix things with Janet and go back home to her, but she'd done the same thing in the past. What if they were just words like last time? What if this time she'd realized that he would come back to her for good like he should've done the last time?

Jack looked down at his watch. It was nearly half past twelve. After several grueling hours of cleaning up Janet's path of destruction, he and Holden had ordered themselves a pizza for lunch. After that, Holden had headed upstairs to pack for his weekend trip with Molly since they were planning to get an early start that afternoon in order to beat the crazy Friday evening traffic that was usually a combination of commuters and travellers. In the meantime, Jack had made his way to Old Town to do some much-needed clothes shopping. It was a pain basically having to start from scratch to build up an entirely new wardrobe. However, he couldn't find it in himself to concentrate. All he could think about was how Carly had taken the news of his marriage ending when Molly had broken it to her. How would she react when he told her about Janet's affair with Dusty? He was hoping she wouldn't beat herself up too much for encouraging him to work on his marriage to Janet when all the while she had been cheating on him. After all, none of this was her fault. It was his. He should've realized that his marriage to Janet would never work. Not just because of the affair, but because he had married her for all the wrong reasons from the very beginning. It was doomed before either of them had even said their "I do's"; hell, it had been doomed since he'd gotten down on one knee and asked her that dreaded question.

After shopping, Jack was going to head over to the Lakeview and check out of his room and take his things—new and existing—and unpack them at what was now only his bedroom at the farm. He wondered what he was going to do with all that excess closet space now that Janet had cleared out all her knickknacks. Then it struck him. Hopefully this return to the farm was only temporary. Hopefully, in the not-so-distant future, he'd be back at his real home: back in Milltown where he belonged. The very thought of it made him smile. He knew that he and Carly still had a lot of things to work through before it could happen, but he couldn't help the happiness and hope he felt as he anticipated his future. He immediately realized that he didn't want to delay the inevitable. Shopping could wait. Checking out of the Lakeview could wait. He needed to talk to Carly—wanted to talk to her—as soon as possible.

Carly plucked the grocery list from the magnetic notepad that clung to the refrigerator door. She had decided that between stopping by to visit Molly at the WOAK station and heading over to Metro to see Dusty to discuss the taxes from the previous year, that she'd make a quick run to the store and pick up some essentials for the house. After that, she had to pick up Sage and Parker from school. Just then the house phone started to ring. Her heart skipped a beat when she checked the caller ID displayed on the screen: 'Jack Cell.' She swallowed hard as she contemplated her next move. The first of her instincts had been to pick it up and yell a few choice obscenities into the mouthpiece before he could get a word in and slam the phone down, the second had been to just let the machine get it, but her third told her that she needed to answer. What if he was calling about the kids? She knew she couldn't let her issues with him—no matter how serious—cloud her judgment when it came to their children.

"Hello?"

She couldn't help the sour tinge that accompanied her greeting.

"Hey Carly, it's me," Jack said at the other end of the line.

"Hi," she said; tinge still intact.

There was a short pause.

"Everything okay?" Jack asked.

Knowing her as well as he did, those two small words from her over the phone already told him that everything was in fact not okay. Although why that was, he obviously had no idea.

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine. What do you want, Jack?" she asked; annoyance apparent in her voice.

"I, uh…I thought we should talk," Jack said.

She could sense his confusion at her coldness.

"About what?" she asked sharply, even though she already had a nagging idea even before the subject had been fully broached.

"I think you know, Carly" Jack said confidently.

"Oh, right: you and Janet," she said bitterly.

"Uh, yeah," he said, slightly dazed.

For a brief second, Carly wondered how he knew that she knew about him and Janet. The only thing that would make sense is if Jack had somehow run into Lily since the forty minutes that she had last seen her. Anyway, it didn't really matter. What did matter at the moment, however, was getting off of this ridiculous phone call.

"You know what, Jack? I'm really busy right now. I'm happy for you, really I am," she fibbed, "but excuse me if I don't have the time to party it up with you right now."

There was another pause.

"Carly, what's going on with you?"

The question made her prickle.

"I'm perfectly fine! What makes you think there's something wrong with me?"

At this point she didn't care how blunt she was being. Damn him and damn this damned phone call. There was another pause at the other end of the line.

"I don't know…it just sounds like something's got you a bit on edge," Jack explained.

"Nope. It's just another bright sunny day and everything is as wonderful as peaches and cream with the world," she bit out, her words dripping with sarcasm.

Jack remained beyond confused. Ever since she'd come home from rehab and relentlessly followed him from town to town when he'd gone through his breakdown following Brad's death, they'd gotten along just fine. Well, as "fine" as could've been under the circumstances; which mostly consisted of him being despondent and short-tempered and her being his voice of reason. In fact, once they'd returned to Oakdale and he'd moved into Milltown, it seemed as though they'd finally broken their old patterns and found a way to become friends. So for her to now suddenly give him an unpleasant taste of the way things were between them before they'd called an unspoken truce, left him baffled and hurt.

"Carly, I…"

"Listen Jack, I'm glad that your romantic night with Janet went off so well. But given that I don't have the time, I think I'll pass on the details for now," she said, cutting him off; unable to bear this discussion any longer.

This time the length of the pause on Jack's end of the line was twofold.

"'Went off so well'? What are you talking about?" he asked, confusion now shifting to frustration.

"Well…a romantic night alone at the farm that leads to a lovely reunion between an estranged husband and wife would qualify as going off 'well', wouldn't you say?" she asked rhetorically; sarcasm still in full play.

"What..? Where'd you..? What exactly did Molly tell you?" Jack asked.

"Molly? What does Molly have to do with this?" Carly asked, suddenly feeling a confusion of her own.

"Didn't she come by to see you?"

"Yeah, she did. But I didn't get a chance to talk to her because I was wi—I was busy. I was going to talk to her in a little bit."

Jack breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh. Okay. That explains it," he said with a chuckle. "Well, maybe it was fate that you didn't get to hear about it from Molly. I guess it'sbetter if you hear everything from me."

Suddenly Carly felt things fall into place. Was that why Molly had stopped by to see her on her way to work this morning? To fill her in on the Jack and Janet reunion?

"Jack, I told you, I don't…"

Carly's callous attitude finally made sense to Jack, and this time, he cut her off.

"Carly, Janet and I aren't back together."

Now there was a pause on the opposite end of the line.

"You aren't?"

"No. We talked and we ended things. The marriage is over."

Carly was totally and completely gobsmacked.

"Then, what was that..? The farm…the 'romantic night'..?" she fumbled.

Jack chuckled.

"Well, there was nothing 'romantic' about it, believe me. The pauses between them were getting ridiculously repetitive by now. "Wait…so if you didn't get to talk to Molly, how did you know about that?"

"Lily," she said. "Obviously Emma told her about it since she stayed over at her place last night to give you and Janet some privacy at the farm." She cringed at her own words. "And Lily told me."

"Oh," Jack said.

Ever since he'd seen Carly and Lily together at Al's the day before and after his conversation with Holden a few hours earlier, he'd been meaning to ask Carly about what was going on with her and Lily. Now, however, didn't seem like the right time. Not when there were more pressing matters to discuss. So while he shrugged it off for now, he made a mental note to bring it up with her later.

"Listen, that's why I wanted to talk to you," Jack said, his voice softening considerably. "I want you to hear everything from me. Can I come over so that we can talk about this?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. When did you want to stop by?"

Before the wheels of rational thought had even started churning inside her head, Carly's mouth had already uttered those words.

"Well, I have the late shift today, so right now I'm at Van Heusen's getting some shopping done. But it can wait."

"Shopping? You hate shopping!" Carly said with a small laugh.

Wait a minute…was she smiling? Was she actually smiling? Why the hell was she smiling?

Jack laughed.

"Yeah, well, let's just say that it's a dire situation. I'll explain when I see you. Anyway, the shopping can wait."

"Wait, Jack. If you're already there, doesn't it make more sense to just finish the shopping once and for all?"

"Hmm…that's a good point," he agreed.

Besides, just then Jack caught a glimpse of his appearance through a reflection in one of the mounted full-length mirrors against one of the store pillars. He looked like hell. His hair was still tousled. His eyes were bloodshot. His jaw sported a slight hue of facial stubble. It's not how he wanted to look when he saw her. He figured he'd also take a quick shower before heading over to Milltown. Sure she'd seen him look worse—especially when they'd been on the road during his little soul-searching mission; then later when he'd wandered around the house jobless and bored sick for the past month and a half; and of course when they were married for all those years—but for this particular conversation, he wanted to look presentable. He wanted it done right.

Carly made a quick mental checklist of the things she'd planned on getting done before Jack had called. First, she wanted to drop by WOAK and see Molly, then pick up some household supplies at the grocery store, then head over to Metro to talk to Dusty, and then pick up Sage and Parker from school. She decided that it was best to get all of these things out of the way before seeing Jack so that she wouldn't have to worry about taking care of them in a rush before she had to head over to the Lakeview for her dinner with Lily, Neal, and his partner. Besides, who knows how long this conversation with Jack would run? From the sound of it, it seemed as though he had a lot to say. It only made sense to get everything out of the way first, so that she and Jack could talk uninterrupted before she had to leave for dinner. Although what she was expecting to get out of this conversation with him and what she would say in return, she had absolutely no freaking idea.

"Jack, I've got some errands to take care of and then I have to go pick up the kids from school. Why don't you come by after that? I can give you a call when I'm just about done."

"Right, the kids. I'm going to need to tell them as well, don't I?"

"Well, how about this? How about we send them upstairs to do their homework while we talk and then we can sit down and explain everything to them."

Jack smiled at Carly's problem-solving skills.

"I'd like that, Carly," he said; his voice soft again. "Something tells me I'm in for a big, fat 'I told you so' from Sage when it's all said and done," he quipped.

Carly laughed, knowing full well that Sage wouldn't consider the news of her father's recently collapsed marriage as bad news. Then again, by the sound of it, Jack didn't seem to think so either.

"So, about how long will you be?" Jack asked.

Carly guesstimated the approximate time each of her tasks would take.

"Oh, I'd say about an hour and a half to two hours. I'll call you when I'm on my way home."

"Sounds good," Jack said with a smile.

"Okay, I'll talk to you in a little bit then," Carly said, her own mouth curving into a small smile.

Not missing a beat, Jack sensed it and it only succeeded in making his grow wider.

"Can't wait," he said.

"Bye," she finished before hanging up.

Carly stood there for a few seconds, the smile still planted in place. Then, realizing that she needed to get a move on, she headed for the door, grabbing her purse and keys before she locked up behind her.

Carly knew that if she wanted to get back into Molly's good graces, that she needed to do it face to face. Having inherited that same Tenney stubbornness, she knew her cousin well enough to realize that a phone conversation would just end with her getting snubbed or blown off for a while. At least if she approached her in person, she could make a better case without the risk of being rebuffed with some lame excuse of why she couldn't talk and had to hang up. As she walked through the studio and scanned the busy place, there was no sight of Molly.

"Excuse me," Carly said, getting the attention of a passing cameraman carrying a long tri-pod. "Is Molly Conlan around?"

"Oh, you just missed her," the man said. "She took half the day off today. Apparently she and her boyfriend are heading out of town for the weekend so she went home to pack."

She thanked the man before he continued on his way.

The news disappointed Carly. She was thrilled for Holden and Molly, of course, but now she had to wait until after the weekend was over to talk to her cousin. Given that the face to face approach had been a bust, her next instinct had been to go with plan B and call Molly to at least attempt to explain the situation with Lily. But then she knew that the last thing that Molly would want to hear about before her getaway with Holden was something related to his ex-wife. Besides, what would she tell Molly about her relationship with Lily? Carly decided that it was better to wait and talk to Molly in person once she was back from her trip. Who knows? Maybe the time away with Holden would help her unwind and put her in a better mood when they did talk.

Carly found herself zipping through the grocery store with an added vigor that afternoon. She'd always hated dragging those lame shopping carts that seemed to have minds of their own from aisle to aisle; but not on this day. The one she had chosen that afternoon had turned out to be rather friendly and cooperative. Or maybe it was just her improved mood that kept her from noticing any of its apparent flaws. Even the acne-faced teenager with a sour attitude at the checkout register didn't rub off on her. Next stop: Metro.

It wasn't until she stood outside the large wooden doors to the club's entrance that Carly felt a sense of dread spread through her gut. Her mouth went dry at the possibility of seeing one particular face on the other side of it: big, red hair styled in a hideously outdated Peg Bundy redux; cheap, colossal-sized earrings dangling just above the shoulders; a deeply cut v-necked dress or blouse about a fourth of an inch shy from being cited for indecent exposure as the "assets" underneath hung out for intentional show-casing; and unpredictable facial expressions that could alternate between a smug scowl to a phony, gum-exposing grin. Either one made her want to do the same thing: run her fist smack dab into that damn face.

Carly took in a deep breath and braced herself for whichever expression she would be greeted with today. She breathed a sigh of relief when the object of her feeling of unpleasantness was nowhere in sight. Did this day just get even better? Was good fortune finally turning her way? She looked around for the new owner of Metro, but he was nowhere to be seen either. Just then she saw a familiar face tending the bar. It was the other Ciccone sister: the one who had likely inherited the positive traits from within the family—although there was a good chance that maybe genetics didn't even play into it.

"Hi Teri," Carly said, walking over to her.

"Hey Carly," she said with a smile from the other side of the counter. "What can I get you?"

Carly could see a look of regret on Teri's face immediately following her question and it wasn't hard to figure out why that was.

"I'm not here on a social call, Teri," Carly explained assuringly, quickly dispelling the young woman's concerned expression, "I'm here on business. I need to go over last year's taxes with Dusty. Is he around?"

"Oh, you know, I'm not sure. I just came in for my shift and I haven't seen him yet. But if he's here, he should be in his office. Would you like me to check for you?"

Carly looked down the row and noticed that every barstool was occupied by a customer.

"No, it's okay. It looks like you've got your hands full here. I'll go see if he's in there," Carly said as she made her way around back to what was not so long ago her office.

The wooden door with the nameplate 'Dusty Donovan: Owner/Executive Manager' was slightly ajar; a crack of about six inches or so separating the edge of the door from the frame. As Carly stood on the outside, she heard voices coming from within which told her that Dusty wasn't alone. Just as she was about to make her presence known with a knock, Carly's fist froze in mid-air before it made contact with the door. Her jaw dropped at what she saw taking place through the sliver that partially revealed the interior of the office.

Dusty was leaning against a bookcase at the far end of the right wall; his face a mixed contortion of discomfort and pain. There was a Ciccone all over him! Obviously not the nice one she'd encountered out front, but the one she'd been relieved not to see after she'd walked into the club. The sight before her made Carly's skin crawl.

"Janet, Janet, you're crushing me!" Dusty wheezed in distress as her breasts were firmly pressed into his chest.

Despite the near desperate plea, it was apparent that the woman had chosen to ignore it.

"Oh, come on! Not that long ago you couldn't get enough of these puppies! Just let me show you…"

Carly threw up a little in her mouth.

"Yeah, well, that was before…" Dusty rasped through evident physical pain.

Janet's finger landed against his lips to silence him from completing the sentence.

"Don't say it! Don't say that we're over!"

"Could you please let me breathe?" Dusty begged.

Of all people, it was especially uncharacteristic for Dusty Donovan to request, let alone beg, for something. However, given his torturous state, Carly couldn't blame the guy for succumbing to the unfamiliar in order to cling on to dear life.

This time Janet let up ever so slightly and created a small air cushion of about an inch between her "puppies" and Dusty's oxygen-deprived torso.

"Look, I know I made a mistake, and I'm sorry. If I could take it back, I would!" she insisted loudly.

Carly was thunderstruck. Dusty Donovan begging? Janet Ciccone actually apologizing and admitting to making a mistake? What the hell was this, the twilight zone?

"You slept with another man!" Dusty accused angrily; finally slipping out from under her and standing up straight.

Carly felt her stomach twist into a dozen knots. Every emotion associated with hurt and anger flooded through her mind and body. She felt an intense urge to slap Jack hard across the face, punch him in the stomach, and knee him between the legs where the sun don't shine.

"You already know that I was drunk! I didn't know what I was doing!" Janet offered in explanation. "Besides, he seduced me! He took advantage of me! I mean, the guy couldn't stop looking at my boobs from the time we got to the hotel, so obviously he took his chance when he knew that I was the most vulnerable!"

'The hotel.' Carly figured that the shameless bimbo was referring to Lakeview; after all, that's where Jack was staying. The knots in Carly's stomach twisted even tighter and nausea threatened to strike at the unpleasant images her mind were involuntarily conjuring up.

"Or you just fall into bed with any guy when you're smashed!" Dusty spat out.

"What the HELL are you trying to say?" Janet demanded in a rage. "Do you think I'm some kind of a whore or something?"

Dusty sighed wearily as he tweaked the bridge of his nose, akin to someone on the verge of experiencing a migraine.

"All I'm saying is that it's over. I can't be with a woman I can't trust."

"HA! Says the man who has been having an affair with a married woman!" Janet spat back. "Besides, you promised me that this was going to be a 'romantic' trip where we'd get to know each other better, but you hardly spent any time with me! All you cared about were your stupid meetings!"

"So you decided to jump the bellboy to pass away the time?" Dusty sniped back. "At least when we rang in the new year together, you knew my name!"

She didn't even know his name? The throbbing pain in Carly's chest and head started to dissipate when she realized that the man in argument wasn't whom she had initially feared it was. She then thought back to New Year's Eve. That was the night that Jack had come looking for her after Craig had tricked her into getting in his car only to skid off the road and get them stranded in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Jack had left Janet waiting for him at the Lakeview and come looking for her. Carly knew that his reasons for coming after her ran deeper than just trying to do a 'good deed.' She had almost succeeded in getting him to admit it that night when they were interrupted by a filthy, freezing, and soaking wet Craig who had come bustling in after falling into a pond.

It was also in that cabin that Jack had told her about Janet's confession to him regarding the kiss she'd shared with Dusty. Obviously things had escalated over the course of that week and led to them falling into bed together on New Year's Eve and had now developed into an affair. It suddenly dawned on Carly that both Dusty and Janet had gone MIA from Oakdale at around the same time. It's then that she pieced it together: it seemed as though the two of them had gone away someplace together and that this 'hotel' in question was likely the one they were staying at while they were away.

The look on Janet's face at Dusty's accusations was murderous. Carly had half a mind to burst in there and rescue Dusty from the claws of the red-headed demon. Instead, she convinced herself that Dusty was a big boy who could take care of himself. Besides, now that Jack had been ruled out as the unlucky recipient of this drunken, one-night stand in Ciccone hell at this random hotel room, the drama unfolding in that little office was actually getting to be rather juicy and entertaining.

"You've got some nerve!" Janet growled; her eyes blazing a hell's wrath as she looked about ready to throttle Dusty. "You didn't have any complaints when you slept with me knowing damn well that I was still buzzed on our first night together! But now you won't cut me a break when I make one mistake?"

Dusty laughed sarcastically.

"A 'mistake' I'm sure you wouldn't even have told me about if my meeting hadn't ended early and I hadn't walked in on the two of you!"

"Of course I would have told you! I've always prided myself in being an honest person!" Janet protested a little too much and with hardly any evidence to back it up.

Dusty recreated the same sarcastic laugh once again.

"So, that's all you've been keeping from me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What the hell are you getting at?" Janet demanded hotly.

"Well, after our fight, you said you didn't need me anymore and threatened to go home and seduce your husband last night."

"I—I only said that because I was angry!" Janet replied defensively.

"Hmm…" Dusty pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes on her. "So then why did Rico see you buy a bottle of wine and some candles and flowers before you headed to the farm?"

Janet's eyes widened; a combination of anger, surprise, and horror on her face.

"You sent one of your thugs to spy on me?" she fumed.

Dusty shrugged calmly.

"Call it the need to satisfy my curiosity."

"How long was he at the farm?" Janet asked as Carly sensed a distinct look of nervousness spread across her face.

"Long enough to see Emma Snyder leave and Jack come home. He called me when he saw Jack's car pull up. That's when I told him to haul out. I could pretty much imagine how things went from there; I didn't need an eyewitness report from outside the window."

Janet studied Dusty's face closely, seemingly trying to assess whether or not he was telling the truth. She just stared at him for a few seconds, as if contemplating the best response.

"For your information: yes, I did go home with wine and candles and flowers. But that was just to let old lady Snyder think that I was there to make nice with her nephew so that she'd clear outta there. It's bad enough that I had to break it off with the guy on his family's farm, it would've been a lot harder to do it with the rest of his family walking around in and out of there."

Dusty smiled wryly.

"So, you're saying that you broke it off?"

Janet scowled at his doubtful tone.

"Of course I broke it off!" she scoffed. "Divorce goes against my faith and everything I believe in, but I still did it for you!"

Carly rolled her eyes at the supposedly pious woman standing on the other side of the door. Apparently the same beliefs against divorce didn't apply to serial adultery.

Dusty nodded his head reflectively.

"And this has nothing to do with Carly Tenney?" he asked skeptically.

Carly's ears perked up at the mention of her name.

"What about her?" Janet asked; an unmistakable air of disdain in her voice.

"Well, it's pretty obvious that Jack has been sniffing around Carly for a while now. You were even saying that you think he still has feelings for her. I wouldn't be surprised if you broke it off because you were feeling jealous that he still has a thing for her."

Janet looked utterly insulted by Dusty's comment.

"For your information, he wanted to work on our marriage," she shot back. "He made argument after argument for us to work it out. I had to fight to keep his hands off me. I'm the one that turned him down, and I did it because of you!"

"Even though he has a clear shot at Carly?" Dusty asked skeptically. "I don't really keep up with the gossip around Oakdale, but I've seen those two together for years. They used to have one of the most solid marriages in town. And I know a thing or two about love, and when you have a marriage like they had, those feelings don't just go away."

"That was years ago before I came into the picture! Now, Carly is just his rebound!" Janet countered. "He only goes to her when he has nowhere else to turn. He needed a place to stay while he worked things out between us, and he crashed at her place because he knew she'd let him. He's not living there anymore, is he? What does that tell you?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's confused," Dusty offered, although it was pretty clear that he didn't seem to care. "It doesn't mean he still doesn't want her back."

Janet looked even more insulted than before.

"Jack had a clear shot at Carly when I was still in the picture and he chose to marry me. She's just his insurance policy. He made that pretty clear last night when he told me that he wanted me back so that we could fix our marriage. He even admitted that staying at her house was a mistake. He only uses her when he needs someone and she's desperate enough to let him. It's kinda sad that she doesn't learn that he's moved past her."

Carly backed away from the door. She'd heard about all she could handle or stomach. She stumbled down the hall, through the busy club, and out the doors. Once she was outside, she immediately dug into her purse and reached for her cell phone. She needed to do this quickly before the unshed tears in her eyes threatened to attack her cheeks.

Jack walked through the lobby of the Lakeview; duffel bag slung over his shoulder, and made his way out the door. After finishing up with his shopping, he'd driven back to the hotel and taken a shower before packing up all his things and had just finished checking out. When his cell phone started to ring, he reached into his front jeans pocket in record speed. He smiled when he noticed that it was the call he'd been expecting.

"Hi there," he said softly.

"Uh, hi. Listen, I don't think it's such a good idea that you come over," Carly said.

Jack was dumbfounded, not only by the request, but also by the manner in which it was delivered. Carly sounded exactly like she had when she'd first answered the phone the last time he'd called.

"Okay, at the risk of sounding repetitive: is everything okay?" he asked.

Carly sighed tiredly and wiped away a tear that had just found its way out.

"It doesn't matter. I just have a lot going on, Jack, and I really can't deal with much else right now."

Jack couldn't help the gust of disappointment that hit him.

"Carly, I thought you wanted to talk about this. It's kind of important."

"I changed my mind. Like I said, I've got a lot going on and this is not a complication I need right now…"

"What's all this other stuff that's suddenly got you so busy?" he asked, skeptical as to whether she really meant it or if she was just making excuses.

Carly paused.

"It doesn't matter. All I'm saying is that I can't see you or talk to you right now."

Something about the way she was talking to him really hurt him.

"What about the kids?" he asked. "I thought we were going to tell them together."

"You can tell them. I don't see why I need to be there. Maybe you can pick them up from school instead and take them to Al's or to the farm and tell them."

"Why can't I explain it to them at the house?" he asked.

"You just…you can't. It'll be easier someplace else."

"Carly..."

"Jack, I've gotta go. Just make sure you drop them off at home on your way to work, okay? Bye."

Before Jack could get another word in, Carly had already hung up. He looked down at the phone and wondered why her behavior had suddenly changed so much. It was obvious that she was trying her damndest to distance herself from him and avoid seeing him, and he was determined to find out why.

Carly knew that Jack's evening shifts started at five, which meant that she was clear to enter Milltown around four-thirty or so when he was well on his way to the station. This way, the kids were home already, and she'd be able to avoid an awkward run-in with him. She was well aware of the fact that she'd have to face him sooner or later, but for the time being, she had no intention of coming face to face with him when he dropped the kids off. In any case, she had something to do in the meantime. She took out a pamphlet from her purse and glanced at the timetable printed on it. There was a session starting in about twenty minutes, and she knew that if there was one place she could take refuge in right now, it was at this upcoming AA meeting. Amidst the tears that finally started to flow uncontrollably down her face, Carly headed for her car in the parking lot.