"And then after lunch, Papa took us hiking in the woods, and Mom it was so cold! But we had so much fun!" Bud couldn't stop talking about his afternoon with Martin, and judging from the way Jane was jumping up and down she was anxious to tell the story as well. Lily was sound asleep in her mother's arms.
"But afterwards, we went back to his room and had hot cocoa and donuts from the bakery. We stopped there on the way home from lunch. And Papa said that if it's OK with you Mama we can spend another day with him sometime. Can we Mom? Can we? Can we?" Jane was now bouncing up and down with her hands clasped pleadingly in front of her. Bud didn't say anything, but his eyes spoke of his suppressed excitement.
From his place in the easy chair Ethan could see that Theresa wasn't too pleased with this line of questioning or the conversation in general, but was trying not to show it. In fact she was looking to him for help out of the situation. He looked back at her steadily without saying a word. This was her battle to fight. He wasn't going to help her out this time.
Theresa squirmed inwardly. What was she supposed to do now? They obviously had had a good time, and Ethan obviously was just going to sit there and let her be the bad guy if she said "no". That made her even more angry with him. He had no right to sit there and judge her about this. He had no idea what is was like growing up poor without a father, so couldn't have any idea what it was like to just have him show up twenty years later and demand a place in your life!
"Umm—well—I guess we'll have to see when the time comes." That was all she was willing to commit to and she hoped the kids would leave it at that.
"Yes!" Bud jumped up and pumped his fist in the air. "That means we can!"
"No. I didn't say that!" Theresa tried to interrupt his and Jane's versions of the Happy Dance, but they didn't seem to mind.
"No, but you said 'we'll see' and that's just as good as 'yes'!" Bud answered her confidently. Suddenly he stopped, sniffing the air. "Is Mrs. Patterson making cookies?"
"Yes!" Jane squealed and ran for the kitchen with her brother not far behind.
"Wait! It's too close to dinner time for cookies and you already had donuts…oh who am I kidding?" Theresa shook her head. Standing, she turned and tucked Lily into the window seat to continue her nap, sending her husband a cold look.
Ethan looked back unmoved. "So…there it is. The Glare of Death."
"You knew how I felt about the kids spending time with him. And you took them anyway." She stood facing him now with her arms crossed defensively across her chest.
"I believe your last words on the subject the other day were 'Fine. You take your children to see my father.'" Ethan's look was just as steady. "I knew you hated the idea, but since I didn't see anything wrong with the plan, I took you at your words at face value."
Theresa scoffed. "So basically you used the words I said in sarcasm during the heat of the moment to do exactly what you wanted to? Regardless of how I felt? I never knew you could be so uncaring."
That gave Ethan pause. As soon as the words had come out of her mouth that night, he knew she didn't really mean them. But since he felt she was being unreasonable, he'd disregarded how she felt and done what he felt was right. Now that he was looking back on the action, it did seem thoughtless and uncaring. Theresa was really hurting here, and he had in effect said, "I don't care what you're going through." And of course that wasn't how he felt at all. But she needed to see his side too. He chose his next words carefully.
"You're right, and I'm sorry. I do care very much how you feel and I'm sorry that I made you think otherwise. But…" Ethan's heart sank. Theresa had been ready to forgive him until she heard him say the word "but". He could tell by the sinking of her shoulders and narrowing of her eyes. "But, I do disagree with you. I think your father should be given a second chance to prove himself, and the kids should be allowed to know their grandfather. I think you should talk to your father, and tell him everything you told me. Let him know how much his leaving hurt you, and about how you felt he treated you as a child. Give him the chance to make it better for you. That's what I think you should do. But I'm going to leave it in your hands. You handle it with Martin and the kids from here on out. Whatever you decide on this is how it will be. Is that OK?"
"So you're just going to let me take the fall for breaking the kids' hearts?" Theresa didn't look anymore satisfied with that option than before.
Ethan nodded. "I'm sorry if you see it that way, but this has to be your decision, and I think you should be the one to explain it to everyone. You said you feel like your father still sees you as that seven-year-old with pigtails. This is your chance to show him you aren't. Either way you decide."
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Julian threw the newspaper over his shoulder and reached for his glass of sherry. Maybe he and his mother had been wrong. Maybe Mary Ann really wasn't the one spilling all the Crane secrets. Since the set up at dinner nothing had appeared in the news about Martin and Katherine's past together. Not even a blurb on the back page. Maybe his warning had scared the individual into stopping their snooping. Julian wasn't sure whether to be happy about that or not. It wasn't enough to know that the secrets weren't getting out anymore. He wanted to know how they'd starting getting out in the first place.
Get a grip Julian old boy. Let it go for now. You've got other things that are more important at hand. Get the company back from Theresa and finish helping Fox put Miguel behind bars. Then you can devote your attention to finding out who's responsible for airing the family laundry.
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"Hmmm. Fancy's finally asleep. That's good. Whew. It's awfully hot in here. I wonder if the thermostat is broken? Maybe I'd better go check."
Luis stood up, but suddenly the room tilted and he quickly sat back down.
"Heh. I must've drank more wine than I thought."
His eyelids suddenly became very heavy. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought too."
He lay down on the couch…..
Luis sat bolt upright in his bed, cold sweating beading on his forehead and his breath coming in gasps. Looking around at the familiar surroundings of his bedroom, he laid back and tried to calm down.
It was just a dream. It was just a dream.