12
Julia looked around SOS as she walked through the door. Not seeing who she was looking for, she sat down at a table.
In the back room, Tracy tried to compose herself. She adjusted her SOS t-shirt as she looked in the mirror, calming a few pieces of hair. She was still upset from her fight with Ryan.
"I just don't understand!" she said to herself. "What does he see in his ex-wife? They did get divorced for a reason, I'm sure. So why would he want to see her? She seems like such a twit, I'm sure I'd hate her. But of course, he hasn't taken me to meet her yet. Couldn't do that, now could we? Let the new girl meet the ex. I've been with him longer than she was!"
The door opened to the room. "How long are you going to take?" Adrian asked, sticking his head in.
"I'm finished," she said, plastering on a smile. She went out into the bar area and grabbed an ordering pad. She saw Julia sitting by herself at a table and went over to her.
"Can I get you anything?" she asked her.
"Just a water, thanks," Julia said, still looking around.
Tracy brought her the water and looked around for another customer to serve.
A man motioned to her to come to his table. She went over to him and was prepared to take his order.
"No, no, sit down here for a minute, I want to talk to you," he said.
She looked warily at him, but from the look in his eyes, she sat down. "What do you want?" she asked him.
"I have a little, say, proposition for you," he said.
"What kind of proposition? And who are you?" she asked.
"My name's Raymond, but most people calls me R.J."
"I'm Tracy."
"I know."
This comment disturbed her even more. "What do you want."
"I wants your help."
"How can I help you?"
"That's what you asked when you first came over here."
A chill ran up her spine. "What do you want?" she asked again.
"I've got mission, I'm here in Pine Valley on a mission, and you are just the woman to help me."
...
Hayley sat down on her bed and waited for her children to climb up beside her.
"What did you want to talk to us about?" Liliana asked her.
"Are we in trouble?" Christopher asked.
"No, no, sweetie, you're not in trouble," Hayley reassured them.
"Then what is it, Mommy?" Lili asked.
"I'm sure you've heard Daddy talking about this, and I just wanted to talk to you two a bit about it," Hayley started. "You know you have a big brother, Max, who's been away for a while, right?"
They nodded.
"Well, Max is coming here today for a visit."
The twins didn't say anything; they didn't know what to think of Max coming there.
After a few moments, Liliana said, "Mommy, you don't like Max, do you?"
"Lili, you're right, I'm not really all that excited about Max being here. I know we've taught you two to always forgive people when they're mean to you, but Max was very, very bad."
"Did he hurt you?" Christopher asked her.
"Yes, sweetie, Max did hurt me, in many ways. But hopefully, he's learned from what he did and he's a better person now."
"So, what are we supposed to do?" Lili asked.
"I just want you to use your best judgement with Max. Don't let him make you do something you don't want to do, and you tell me or Daddy if he says or does anything that you think might be wrong. Deal?"
"Deal," they repeated.
...
"What kind of mission?" Tracy asked.
"Specifics aren't important."
"Then how do you expect me to help you?"
"For one, you have to fix your relationship."
"What relationship?"
"With your boyfriend."
"What does Ryan have to do with anything?"
"Everything."
"I'm sorry, I don't understand."
"Just keep him away from his ex-wife."
"Ryan doesn't want anything to do with me."
"Then I guess you'll just have to fix that, now won't you?"
"What do I get out of this?"
"Try Ryan? Isn't that what you want?"
Tracy thought for a moment and then said, "Ok, deal, you've got it, I'll keep Ryan away from Gillian."
"Good decision. Now, get back to work," he told her.
"Well, where can I contact you, just in case?"
"Don't worry about it, I'll meet up with you again soon enough. Now, go."
Tracy did as he told her.
...
"I thought you'd never get here," Julia smiled as Tyler sat down.
"I was just finishing up some business, I signed the papers to rent an apartment here today."
"Oh, so you're sticking around?" she asked.
"Looks like. Even if I don't find my brother here, I kinda like Pine Valley, looks like as good a place as any to settle down."
"I need to find somewhere to stay, too. I don't think my mama's ready for me to move to another town after being gone for six years, she wants to keep me close. She lost so many of us at once, it was hard on her."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"See, first my papa died in a car wreck, then Noah and I had to leave, then my sister Maria died in a plane crash, and my sister Anita went off with her then-fiancée to Chicago."
"Wow, that must've been awful on her."
"I don't know how she survived. Ok, enough about me, tell me something about yourself."
"Well, there's not much to tell. Myself, I'm just a simple country boy who loves to sing. My brother and I, we were on our own from about the time I was fifteen. Our parents weren't no good to us, so once he turned eighteen he took care of me. He put me through school and then I went off on my own and I haven't seen him in years now."
"I can understand why you'd want to be looking for him."
"I'm worried about him. Last I heard about him, he'd gotten into some trouble with the law, served a few months in jail. That's so unlike the big brother that had practically raised me I have to find out for myself."
"Well, I wish you luck in finding him."
...
"Kids! Hayley! Raquel and Max are here!" Mateo called for them.
"Ok, kids, remember what I said," Hayley said, standing up.
Christopher and Liliana nodded, following their mother into the front room.
"It's so great to see you," Mateo said, giving Raquel a hug.
"Oh, my gosh! Are those the twins?" she said, pointing at Lili and Chris. "They've grown so much!"
"Max, hey, I want you to meet your little brother and sister," Mateo said, leading him over to his other children. "Max, this is Christopher, and this is Liliana."
"It's nice to meet you," he said to them.
"Max, where are your manners? Aren't you going to say 'hi' to Hayley?" Raquel asked.
Max turned to face his stepmother. "Hello, Hayley."