"Boyfriend?" Gwen asked, momentarily taken aback by the savagery on Ethan's face. Usually, she thought he favored his Bennett paternal line with his blandly handsome good looks. The glint in his blue eyes and the expression on his face was all Winthrop. He looked every inch Ivy Winthrop Crane's son.
"Yeah. Seems like they decided to have a cozy lunch themselves at the Seaside Inn," Ethan gritted out. "That guy was wasting no time; patting her hand and telling her how beautiful she was. She was gobbling that guy's line faster than she was eating her lobster."
"Oh," Gwen said with more lightness than she felt with an elaborately careless shrug. "She was probably pulling the same stunt she did in L.A. She was trying to make you jealous, Ethan."
And succeeding beyond her wildest dreams, Gwen thought ironically.
Ethan seemed mollified by this.
"Yeah," he agreed calmly, after thinking about it for a few seconds.
"So what was her reaction when she found out you had just hired Valerie?" Gwen asked curiously.
"She was upset with me, of course," Ethan said indifferently. "I just told her it was nothing personal, only business."
The phone rang and Gwen answered it. "Hello?"
"Hello, Gwen. It's Chris," she heard him say. "I am sorry to disturb you at dinner, but I thought you would like to know since you are Sheridan's best friend. "Sheridan gave birth a couple of hours ago."
"How-how are they?" Gwen asked fearfully. She knew this was early in the pregnancy for her best friend.
"Mother and child are doing fine. Katie's in the incubator even though her lungs, thank God, are fully developed. She's small, but healthy and strong."
"Oh, thank God!" Gwen cried. "Thank God!"
"Gwen, what is it?" Ethan asked curiously.
"Sheridan gave birth and Katie is fine," Gwen told Ethan as he sagged in relief.
"Thank God!" Ethan fervently echoed her words.
"Is she up to receiving visitors?" Gwen asked, wanting to celebrate Sheridan's new daughter with her best friend right away.
"That's why she told me to call you. She wanted to see you right away."
"We'll be there with bells on!" Gwen said smiling broadly, her face beaming with joy and relief and her eyes shining with exultation, then her smile faltered somewhat as a slight shadow passed over her face.
"Ethan, would you mind taking Jane over to Mrs. Henderson?" Gwen asked him. "Someone is going to have to tell Luis. I think I should be the one to call him."
Ethan looked a little sad, but was understanding.
"Yes, I think you should break it to him," he said reaching into the fridge to get a bottle for Jane. "You two got awfully close in Rome," he continued as she silently thanked God that he could not see how her cheeks had guiltily flamed. "It probably would be best if he heard it from you."
He gathered up Jane and took her next door while Gwen dialed Luis' desk at the police station.
"Harmony Police," she heard his deep, husky voice answer.
"It-it's me," Gwen said awkwardly.
"Gwen," Luis said warmly and in spite of herself, Gwen felt a momentary rush of pleasure that he remembered her voice and sounded happy to hear from her She exhaled in relief, realizing there was a part of her that half-expected him to treat her like he owed her money or she had a communicable disease after their one night together in Rome. "Is .. everything ... okay ... with you?"
"I'm fine," she told him. "I'm not calling about me, Luis, I'm calling about Sheridan. I didn't want you to be the last one to know. She gave birth to her daughter earlier this evening. Mother and child are doing well."
There was a long silence, then he spoke.
"Okay," he said softly. "Thank you for calling, Gwen. Bye." He hung up after her response.
"Are you ready to go?" Ethan asked her as he opened the door.
Gwen nodded. Ethan helped her on with her coat, she grabbed her purse and they headed to the hospital. They stopped briefly at the nursery window. The incubator section was open and they looked admiringly at the tiny pink and white bundle with golden hair laying in the hospital bassinette. To everyone's relief, there were no wired and tubes sticking out of the child.
She heard a slight commotion by the elevators and it was evident that the news of Sheridan's baby had spread, because Ivy and Sam, Fox and Fancy and Rebecca and Julian had arrived en masse to see the new baby.
Fancy quickly came up to Gwen, asking to speak with her privately. Curious but wary, Gwen agreed and Fancy wasted no time in making it clear why.
"Gwen, you're Aunt Sheridan's best friend," Fancy asked, her lovely face intent and her blue eyes shining eagerly. "I like Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald and I want to date him. You know her better than anyone else. Do you think she would have a problem with me going out with him if I asked her first?"
A shocked Gwen was blunt and to the point herself.
"Fancy, it's not a good idea talking about this to Sheridan at all-"
"Do you mean I should see Luis behind Aunt Sheridan's back?" Fancy asked incredulously.
Uh-oh. By Fancy's question, Gwen knew Fancy talking to Sheridan first about dating Luis before she did so was just a formality on her part. She was after her aunt's blessing, not her permission and she was seeking Gwen out for the best way to get it from her.
"No!" Gwen answered sharply, then calmed down. "Look, Fancy, I mean that you shouldn't see Luis at all!"
By looking at the displeasure on Fancy's face, Gwen knew this was not the answer Sheridan's niece was expecting or wanting to hear.
"Why not?" Fancy demanded with stubborn obtuseness. "With Katie's birth, there isn't a chance in hell that Aunt Sheridan is going to leave Chris Boothe and go back to Luis. He's single and available now. I'm single and available now. There is absolutely no reason why we shouldn't see each other-"
"Oh, yes there is," Gwen said. "Sheridan still loves Luis."
"What?! Did she say so?"
"She didn't have to, Fancy."
"Well, she's plainly moved on with her life with Chris."
"No, she's trying to move on with her life with Chris," Gwen corrected Fancy. "That will be impossible if she keeps seeing him."
"She won't be seeing him, because he'll be with me."
"Fancy, stop being so damned obtuse!" Gwen snapped. "You know exactly what I mean. She'll be seeing him with you at family functions. She'll be seeing him with you at social functions. She'll be sharing her own social circle with him and you. There will be no way she will be able to avoid him. There will be no closure for Sheridan if he's with you."
"Well," Fancy huffed indignantly, "There is no reason whatsoever for Luis to live out the rest of his life, celibate as a monk, just because he used to sleep with Aunt Sheridan!"
"I am by no means suggesting that. By trying to date Luis, you are crossing a boundary with Sheridan that not even her friend should go," Gwen informed Fancy guiltily, feeling like the rankest hypocrite.
"Luis should be able to move on with his life, too!"
"With you, Luis would not be moving on from Sheridan, he'd be moving over to you," Gwen retorted. "Look at you! You are another pretty young blonde Crane heiress who has the same family history with him that Sheridan does. I mean, come on!"
"Oh, do you mean Grampy?" Fancy asked brightly. "You don't have to worry about Grampy interfering with Luis and me 'cause he's dead."
"I don't know about that," Gwen said dubiously, "Your 'Grampy' always has a bag of tricks up his sleeve."
"Has?" Fancy echoed curiously. "Do you think he's still alive? If he is, that means Beth is and Marty is, too! If you have proof, then I can tell Luis and we can go look for him-"
"No, Fancy, I don't have proof that 'Grampy' is alive," Gwen said quickly. "Don't go to Luis with that crazy idea … please!"
"Why not?"
"Because then you'll give him hope," Gwen said somberly. "Hope is such a beautiful thing, but when it keeps someone living for a future that might never happen rather than in the here and now, it can be hideous as sin." She knew she was speaking from painful experience. How many years had she wasted with Ethan, hoping that he would eventually lose his fascination with Theresa? Far too many! "Just leave Luis alone, Fancy, let him move on!"
"Well, I want him to move on," Fancy said stubbornly.
"He cannot move on with you, Fancy! My God, did you forget that in Rome, when he got knocked out and was delirious, Luis thought you were Sheridan? All you can ever be to that man is Sheridan version 2.0!"
"I am younger, prettier and I can make him happy!" Fancy said stung.
"Oh, hell, Fancy," Gwen said disgustedly. Do what you want to; you will anyway."
She walked away in total frustration, thinking that lack of a sensitivity chip must be a Winthrop trait. She knew that the Cranes were cruel, but were all too aware of the pain they inflicted. She often thought Julian was a drunken playboy to narcotize the sting of a guilty conscience. It looked like Fancy got the worst of both the Winthrops and the Cranes which is probably why she was her "Grampy's" favorite.
She strode into a private antechamber, so lost in her thoughts, she wasn't really paying attention to where she was going. She accidentally collided into another woman who had just entered from another door.
"Oh!" A startled Gwen exclaimed in polite apology. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. Please excuse me-" Then broke off when she saw who she had bumped into
"There's no excuse for you, Gwen, because you never do," Theresa said measuredly, her great big brown eyes flashing scornfully. "I've been looking for you."