CHAPTER 48
Blair met Carly at the Palace's restaurant for breakfast the next morning. She figured that, at the very least, she'd try to get some inside information on the players for the hotel's sale. Blair gladly spilled about Cord, adding a dash of her own history with the acting CEO.
"You and Cord, eh?" Carly asked, amused.
Blair merely shrugged. "He was good guy. I thought that was what I needed in my life, especially after I did everything I could to keep hold of Max Holden," she explained. "Cord has always, always worn the white hat in life. At the same time, I was making friends with this guy who I knew was bad news. He had a pull on me…"
Carly understood completely. "And he's never let up." Blair shook her head, looking sad. Then, a thought occurred to her. "Wait, Max Holden? I know I've heard that name before."
That made Blair smile. "AJ's sister is Skye Chandler-Quartermaine, right?"
Carly scrunched her nose at the notion. "Technically, she was adopted well into adulthood. AJ's father was led to believe that she was his and even after that was proven false, he still took her in," Carly relayed. "Emily was more of a sister to AJ and Jason. Her mother and Monica were in a support group for breast cancer sufferers. After Emily's mother died, Alan and Monica adopted her."
"Well, if you know Skye, you may have heard Max's name," Blair began. "I was married to him for a time between marriages to Todd and they began an affair when she couldn't get her ex-husband back from the woman he had married. Needless to say, I didn't take it well and, well, Max wound up with a bullet in the back and Skye ended up with the gun."
"She shot Max?" Carly wasn't that shocked, but it did take her by surprise.
"I said she had the gun in her possession, not that she shot him," Blair corrected. "It got there when Todd, trying to protect me, decided to frame her for the attempted murder."
Before she could go on, Carly caught sight of another familiar face. The newcomer saw her and scowled as she approached. "Hello, Blair," Tea Delgado said as she greeted the other woman, ignoring Carly.
"Tea, how are you doing? I didn't expect to see you here," Blair said with a smile.
"Cord called me. He said there was a possible deal for the Palace," Tea replied, throwing a look to Carly. "You wouldn't be the potential buyer, would you?"
"As a matter of fact," Carly said, "I am. I guess I'll be seeing you in a little bit."
Tea didn't respond, but something that Carly said must have attracted Renee Buchanan. "Hello Tea, I see you've met Mrs. Jacks."
"We've met before," was all she said.
Renee looked between the three women. "You're from Port Charles," she said, finally placing the name. "Yes, now it's coming back to me. Todd made a declaration of love to you or something?"
Carly turned beet red. "Look, I know for a fact he ever meant that in the first place. He was all over the place emotionally and far from the people who loved him." She fixed Blair with a look. "They were words said by a madman. He was really getting out of control, but I know he didn't mean a word of them." Then she turned to Tea. "I am so sorry for what happened to you in Port Charles. Because of Todd and Heather's actions, my best friend never knew that Danny was even his. A little boy lost his father before he could ever have him and you lost a son and that is something that can never be gotten back."
Carly thought, for a moment, that Tea's veneer dropped, but the lawyer spoke to Renee. "I'll see you shortly," before nodding to Blair. Renee just narrowed her eyes at the out-of-towner and followed her.
Blair let out a whistle, making Carly grimace. "She still hasn't…"
"It's worse for her because, after all the grief she went through, thinking Victor was dead and then losing her son, Victor came back alive and she had to tell him everything that had happened," Blair told her. "And the fact of the matter was, if someone hadn't faked Victor's death in the first place, none of it would have happened. Todd would never have been arrest for the 'murder', Starr and her family would have stayed in Los Angeles and none of us would have ended up in Port Charles."
"I still can't believe that his brother was alive," Carly said. "I remember, after the standoff with Sonny in the courtroom, he asked me if I thought he killed his brother."
Blair looked around, noting that no one seemed to be paying any attention to them. "Todd thinks that he may have been drugged into 'remembering' shooting Victor."
"From what you told me, that wouldn't surprise me at all. That confession to the cameras, he looked drugged out of his mind when he made it. It was like he was a totally different man from the one I met the year before. When he went up against Sonny that day, he was way too calm, too calculating. But by then…" She shook her head when she noticed the time. "Oh, I have to get going."
"Call me when it's over," Blair requested, giving her a smile and a gentle embrace. Carly nodded and headed to the offices of Buchanan Enterprises. Morgan was waiting for her, with his tablet and some paper files.
"Are you ready?" he asked as they walked in. Carly nodded as they entered the boardroom. Cord, Renee, Tea and a redhead sat at one end below a portrait of a rugged-faced man in a cowboy hat. Morgan's eyes bugged out. "I'm going to guess that's Asa Buchanan."
Cord laughed jovially. "Yep, that's him. And I know you've met Renee and know Tea, but I'd like to introduce you to another board member here at BE, my sister, Natalie Buchanan Banks."
Natalie smiled as she shook their hands, but Carly held her tongue. She knew this was not just Todd's niece, but the mother of John McBain's son and she very much remembered the job Todd did on the cop for catching him kissing Sam. The introduction made, Carly allowed Morgan to make the presentation. She proudly sat back and listened to her son as he explained the financial package that had been put together for the Palace, a history of Carly's ownership of the MetroCourt and any plans that had, should the deal move forward. Cord and Natalie seemed amenable to the terms, while Renee was more wary and Tea seemed to seethe with anger.
Morgan finished up his talk with, "I learned recently that the late Mr. Buchanan knew an Edward Quartermaine and that they were poker buddies?"
Renee seemed to relax at that. "Yes, they had an infrequent game along with Palmer Cortlandt. He was a very charming man. I know his wife's death hit him hard."
"Lila was one of a kind," Carly agreed, chuckling at her memories. "The very definition of a steel fist in a velvet glove, something she needed with her family." Carly touched her stomach. "It saddens me that my little girl will never know her great-grandmother."
"When are you due?" Natalie asked politely.
"February," Carly answered as a silence fell over the room.
Tea broke it. "We would like to look over your proposal and then we will get back to you. How much longer will you be staying in Llanview?" the lawyer asked, all professional.
"I had planned on staying until tomorrow, but in all honesty, I'd like to get home as soon as possible. I'm missing my daughter very much as well as Michael and AJ," Carly admitted. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the smirk on Morgan's lips.
"Well, it may take a few days to go over everything. We can call you if we chose to proceed," Tea replied.
Carly nodded at that. "I don't have a problem with that at all."
Her response made Morgan shoot her a glance. She made one shake of her head, a gesture that told him not to question her. It seemed to not be noticed by the Buchanans and Tea.
"Well, then, we'll be in touch," Cord said, shaking her hand again.
"And I hope your father gets better," Carly said. "Also, please extend my goodbyes to your wife and her sister." Cord gave her a quizzed look until she said, "Todd spoke very highly of Viki, is it? I know that he missed her very much when he was living in Port Charles." Cord understood and with the other farewells made, mother and son left. They returned to the room and Morgan was about to shoot off some questions to her when Carly pulled out her phone, calling Blair. A few minutes later, Blair arrived.
"I wanted to say goodbye to you in person," Carly said.
If Morgan had no idea what was going on, it seemed that, at least, Blair did. "It was lovely to see you again. We should get together, have lunch some time."
Carly smiled at that. "When everything gets a little less hectic," she agreed.
Blair was about to leave when Morgan stopped her. "Listen, I guess, since we're leaving right away, I won't get the chance to say goodbye to Starr." He grabbed a piece of paper from the desk and scribbled his number on it. "I was talking over some things with her and I'd like to have her give me a call. Can you give her that message?"
Blair took the number hesitantly. Her gaze flashed to Carly, who look as cautious as the other woman. But after a moment, Blair smiled. "I will see that Starr gets this." Then she turned back to the other woman. "Thank you, again, for everything. Safe trip home."
After she left and while Carly was packing, Morgan came up to her. "What was going on here?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" his mother asked.
"Since we first met with Blair yesterday, you've looked like you were ready to wig out or something. Even at the meeting today, it looked like you changed your mind about the whole thing," he said to her.
Carly paused, trying to decide what to say. She figured a half truth was the best thing. "I had a run-in with Tea Delgado this morning before the meeting. I think she thinks I was a co-conspirator with Todd over something that happened when she came to town. And, to be honest, I didn't particularly like her when we first met last year."
Morgan was suspicious of his mother's explanation. "So, you locking horns with another woman, that was it?"
"Well, she is their lawyer. She could badmouth me under the air of giving legal advice for the deal."
Morgan still didn't believe it, but decided to let it go. "So we're heading home now?"
"Yes, so call the pilot and tell him we'll be heading over within the hour, please." Thankfully, Morgan did as requested. Once he was gone, she let out a sigh of relief. The truth was, she did want out of the deal. If there was one thing she had learned from her years with Sonny, it was the fact that there was no such thing as too far away from trouble. And even from as far away as she was from Todd and his family with regards to the deal, it was still too close for her. She had too many people she wanted to keep out of any line of fire that was being Blair had warned her was being directed at the entire Manning/Lord/Buchanan clan. She wasn't going to explain it all to her sons because, quite frankly, what Blair had told her in the VIP longue the day before was too convoluted for her to process. No, Morgan and Michael would just know that she had rethought the deal because of distance, or family or health issues.
But she had told Blair one other thing and the other woman had agreed. It was never a good thing to be dishonest with the men in your life, no matter how good or bad the intentions were. She would tell AJ the truth, when they got back to Port Charles.
