Chapter Nineteen

Chloe disgustedly threw her sheet music onto the floor. She got up from her bed and paced her room. Her audition was now less than one week away and she was still no closer to being ready. Her beautiful voice still sounded flat, emotionless, dead.

"There is no way I'm going to make it into Julliard. They see thousands of very talented applicants. How am I going to impress them with this soulless, mechanical voice?" she sighed aloud.

She flopped onto her bed, scattering her collection of stuffed animals. She chewed on her bottom lip as anxiety twisted her stomach into knots. Unfortunately, her upcoming audition was only one source of her worries.

She nervously twisted her ring around her finger. {I wish Brady were here.} Two days had passed since she left Brady's apartment so that he could comfort an upset Belle. Contrary to his promise, Brady didn't call her that night, or any night since then. Chloe had called him a few times, only to find Brady distant and closed off.

Chloe sighed deeply, hugging one of her favorite teddy bears to her chest. She knew something was bothering Brady, something huge. {I wish he would confide in me. Or at least let me comfort him.} But he didn't. Whatever it was that was wrong in Brady's life, he seemed determined to suffer through it alone.

Chloe had reacted by giving him space, hoping that he would eventually come to her. She sat up on her bed, her back stiffening. Two days was long enough. {If he won't come to me, then I'll just have to go to him and make him talk to me.} Anxiety spasmed through her once more. What if they couldn't work through this, whatever it was? What if he doesn't want her anymore?

She remembered their previous conversation. She still didn't know how their future stood. And now suddenly, there was this distance between them.

{Stop this! Brady loves you!} she told herself firmly. {Whatever is going on in his life right now has nothing to do with you.}

Once again though, she heard his voice in her head. "Young love…may not last." He was referring to Belle and Shawn, two kids who were as in love as any two people that Chloe knew. And yet…

Chloe's mind flashed back to two nights ago. After coming home from her halted date with Brady, she had crawled almost immediately into bed, phone by her head, waiting for his call. She had soon fallen asleep, only to be awoken by a tapping at her window. She excitedly flew out of bed, expecting to see Brady. Her heart fell to see Shawn instead at her window, having just climbed up the trellis outside.

"Shawn!" she exclaimed softly. "What are you doing here?" she whispered as she helped him into her room. She was immediately concerned by his expression. He looked like he had just lost everything that was important to him.

"Shawn, what is it? It's not J.T, is it?" she was moved nearly to tears, overwhelmed by the need to comfort her friend. She moved Shawn over to her bed, where they sat down side by side.

He laughed humorlessly. "No, J.T.'s just fine." He stared down at her bedroom floor, unmoving. "Sorry. I didn't really know where to go. I need to talk to someone, and I can't talk to Belle right now, so…" he trailed off, not looking at her.

She laid a tentative hand on his shoulder. "It's, it's okay. I'm here whenever you need me." She inhaled deeply. "Did something happen with you and Belle?" she asked fearfully. She remembered Belle's tear-stained face. Surely these two, who had such a strong relationship, would be okay.

Shawn laughed again and looked Chloe in the eyes for the first time. She was shocked to see the naked hurt in his eyes. "Let's just say that our relationship…has changed. I don't think that it will ever be the same again."

Her bright blue eyes locked onto his dark brown ones. She moved closer to him and reached for his hand. "Tell me what happened." She whispered.

"I…can't. It's about…our families. Something our parents did…. I can't talk about it." He replied, pained anguish coloring his voice.

"Okay. What do you want to do?" she asked, searching for a way to help her friend.

"Can I stay here? Just for a little while." The two stayed and talked about inane subjects, like school, the latest movies, and music for a few hours and then Shawn went back home, leaving the same way he had come in.

"What is going on?" Chloe murmured to herself in her mirror. It's like Brady's words were coming to life. Belle and Shawn falling apart right in front of her very eyes. If those two, who have spent the last two years madly in love, and who were best friends since childhood before that; if those two were having trouble, then what hope was there for she and Brady?

{Why are you doing this to yourself? You KNOW Brady loves you.} She told herself. And she was right. She knew that Brady loved her. {I'm just tired. Maybe if I could get a decent night's sleep without all these strange dreams, then I wouldn't be so nervous.} The last several nights a strange moaning wind had howled outside her house causing her to have the most unsettling dreams. She vaguely remembered dreams of flying in the air, singing a sad, beautiful song, with a powerful emotive force. And seeing another face, like hers, but different. Pale, porcelain skin, red hair, green eyes. And always that song.

Chloe laughed and shook her head. {That's it; I'm going to bed early tonight. After I talk to Brady, that is.} She headed downstairs while humming a happy little tune. She stopped to find her parents deeply engrossed in a serious conversation.

"Um, Mom, Dad, am I interrupting something?"

Nancy appeared hesitant. "Well, Chloe honey…"

Craig interrupted his lovely wife. "Chloe, we have some bad news."

Chloe paled visibly. "What… What is it?" she croaked.

Craig rushed to reassure her. "Nothing devastating, sweetie. It's just, well, we just realized that Julliard moved your audition up to the same weekend that we are going to be on vacation. We want to cancel, but we've already paid for the vacation package, and it is non-refundable."

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't even think about canceling!" Chloe sent a warning glare to Nancy. "Don't argue with me, Mom. You two deserve this vacation; you haven't had one in years. It's not your fault Julliard moved up the audition date."

Nancy spoke up. "I know, sweetie, but we just don't want to miss your audition! We want to support you."

Chloe smiled at her mom. "And you will be there supporting me, in spirit if not in flesh. Trust me, there are going to be plenty of auditions for you to attend. You are going on that trip, and that's final."

"But honey, how will you get there?"

"Brady will take her, Nancy. Everything will be just fine. Stop trying to get out of this vacation. You act like you don't want to be all alone with me in an exotic, secluded resort." Craig finished as he began nuzzling his wife's neck, causing giggles to fly out of her mouth.

Chloe rolled her eyes and then nervously bit her lip. {I hope Brady will take me.} Then she smiled wickedly. {Of course, this certainly creates some possibilities. Me and Brady all alone in New York for the weekend?}

She turned to her parents who were now lip-locked. "Ahem…AHEM! I'm going to see Brady."

Craig frowned slightly. "That might not be a good idea, sweetheart."

"What, why not?"

"You should probably take a look at this." He handed her a folded up paper. It was the latest edition of the Spectator, Salem's own cheap, tabloid magazine.

Her eyes froze on the cover. There, splashed across the front page were pictures of John Black and Hope Brady. A lurid headline screamed, "Families ripped apart by shocking secret!" She opened the magazine, hurriedly searching for the cover article. She found it on page two.

"John Black fathered Hope Brady's child." Her eyes flew through the article, reading and rereading the black print. John was J.T.'s father. She looked up at Craig. "This, this can't be true. Can it?"

Craig looked down at her, wanting to console her. "I don't know, sweetheart. I do know that a few days ago, Bo ordered a paternity test on J.T. As for the rest, consider the source. The Spectator is infamous for dragging good, honest names through the mud, all on the account of rumor and gossip."

Chloe stood still, eyes unfocused. She saw Belle's distraught face, remembered Shawn's strange visit, his cryptic words. It was true. John was the father of Hope's baby. She closed her eyes as both sadness and relief washed over her. That was why Brady had seemed so closed off from her. He had this huge family problem to deal with. And it's also why he didn't tell her about it; he wanted to keep it in the family.

She took solace upstairs in her room. {Brady,} she cried, {what you must be going through right now. How can I help him?} She reached over to her nightstand and grabbed her favorite picture. It was of the two of them just after Christmas. They were both gazing into each other's eyes, expressions full of love. Chloe leaned back on her bed and cradled the picture to her heart as lone tears escaped her eyes.



Elsewhere…

He was looking at the same picture. He traced her face lightly with his finger. {I miss you so much, Chloe.} He had wanted so much to open up to her, take comfort in her warm embrace, in her soothing kiss. But he couldn't. This was too personal.

{Or at least it was.} He thought in disgust as he looked at the trashy newspaper rag in his hand. {Nothing like seeing your private, secret hell revealed on page one for the entire world to see.} With a deep sigh he realized that this meant that Chloe probably knew by now. The whole sordid story.

{So, there's no point in me keeping this from her.} Brady resolved to see Chloe after his upcoming meeting with his parents. {I've got to make this up to her. I know I've really hurt her with my attitude.} He had wanted to tell her, so many times. But he couldn't; he was still dealing with everything himself.

He dropped the tabloid in the trash as he heard his sister's steps behind him. She had spent the last two days here in his loft. She just hadn't been ready to face her parents. Today, they were going to go together, to try to begin the healing.

"You ready?" he asked, looking down at his little sister. She had changed a great deal in the last two days. Her eyes were older, wiser, sadder.

She nodded simply. "Yeah. Let's go."

As they left, Brady sent one last longing glance at Chloe's picture and vowed to heal their relationship.