A Place In the Sun
25
Julia smiled as she watched her youngest sister beaming as she greeted guests.
"Rosa looks just radiant, doesn't she?" Julia asked.
Tyler nodded. "You don't look so bad yourself."
"Look who's talking," she said, rubbing her hand over the top of his hair and kissing him on the cheek.
"Hey, don't start anything. This is your sister's engagement party, remember? Not yours."
"What are you saying, Tyler Barrows?"
"Nothing," he said, with a wink.
"Thank you SO much for letting us use the club," Rosa said, hugging Mateo.
"What kind of big brother would I be if I didn't?"
"Congratulations, Rosa," Hayley said, being the next to hug her sister-in-law.
"Oh, it is so wonderful to see the two of you together and happy!" Isabella said.
Hayley squeezed Mateo's hand, "It is great, isn't it."
Ryan arrived and looked around, hoping that he might see Gillian among the people already there. He sighed when he didn't find her.
"Ryan," Rosa said, coming over to him. "Thank you for coming, how are you doing?"
"I've been better," he told her. "But I wanted to come here and congratulate the two of you."
"Well, thank you for coming, maybe we can help take your mind off things."
Maria got in the taxi that pulled up outside her apartment.
"Where to?" the cabbie asked.
"Wildwind. Do you know how to get there?"
He simply nodded and started the car.
Maria stared out the window as she was taken closer and closer to the place she once called home. Her stomach was in knots; she wanted to see her children but knew she ran a chance of Edmund seeing her before she was ready.
The driver was about to turn down the drive that led up to Wildwind when she told him to stop.
"This is as far as I need to go," she told him.
"Are you sure? It's not a short walk."
She nodded, paid the driver, and thanked him.
Maria looked ahead into the dark night and walked forward. She pulled her coat tighter around her; the night had turned cold and foggy.
When she reached the door, she listened and didn't hear anyone on the other side. Gently, she tried the door and to her surprise it opened. She looked inside and found the place seemingly deserted. Quietly she closed the door behind her and started up the stairs.
Maria walked down the hall, wondering which doors might lead to her children's rooms when she heard Edmund's voice. Not wanting to be seen, she quickly opened a door and ducked inside a dark room.
She listened for him to pass, but then she heard a rustling noise from across the room.
"Mama?" she heard a small voice whisper. Maria turned around to see Maddie sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"Maddie," she said, going over to her. "I'm sorry for waking you."
"It's ok."
"I just really needed to see you and Sam tonight. But we have to be quiet, I don't want your Daddy to hear us."
"We're keeping your secret."
"I know, you have done a very good job."
"How much longer?"
"Not long, baby."
Maddie did not look content.
"How are you doing? I haven't seen you since you got hurt at Kelsey's."
"I'm fine!" Maddie said, emphatically, but quietly.
"I see."
"Daddy's still all worried about me."
"He has a right to, you hit your head awful hard, and he is your father, so of course he'll worry."
"You worried, too."
"That's my job, too."
Maddie sat silent for several minutes.
"Do you remember yet?"
"What do you mean by that?
"You're staying away because you don't remember anything. Did you remember anything yet? Do you remember us?"
"Oh," Maria said, giving Maddie a hug. "Sweetie, it is coming back to me, just little pieces at a time. Memories of the two of you when you were very little. Memories of when I married your Daddy."
"Maddie, you need to stop playing and go to sleep," they heard Edmund from the hall.
Maria's face showed a look of panic as she jumped to her feet. She whispered, "Where can I hide?"
Edmund tried the door but the door was locked. "Maddie, what did we discuss about locking doors?"
"Sorry Daddy, just a second," Maddie said, opening the closet door for her mom. Once Maria was safely hidden, she opened the door for Edmund.
"Madeline, you know better than to lock your door."
"I know, Daddy, I won't do it again."
"Right now you are going to bed, we'll discuss this in the morning."
"Yes, sir," she said, climbing back into bed.
"Goodnight, baby," he said, kissing the top of her head.
"'night Daddy."
Edmund turned out the light and closed the door behind him.
"He's gone," Maddie said in a hushed voice.
Maria opened the closet door. "There's a door, right next to the your's, stairs that lead to the outside, right?"
"Yep, see, you do remember."
Maria gave Maddie a hug and a kiss. "I'm sorry for having you sneak around because of me."
"It's okay, Mommy. I love you."
"Oh, baby, I love you, too," she said, hugging her again. "I promise I will see you soon."
Maria pulled Maddie's covers back up to her chin before she left.
Julia was staring off into space as Tyler watched her. Suddenly she looked down and rubbed at her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked her.
"Nothing," she said, taking a drink of water.
"No, don't give me that. You were watching Rosa dancing with Tim and then you got this far off look on your face. What were you thinking about?"
She didn't answer right away. "The night we met."
"Well, that's halfway romantic."
"Not really, I wasn't thinking about that part, but what happened right before we met."
"That woman, you thought she was your sister."
"Yeah…and all these months later her image just keeps popping up in my mind. Everyone seemed to think I was a little bit crazy; Edmund, he didn't even want to think of the possibility that she could still be alive. And I know it is highly unlikely that she could've survived…Rosa, Anita, and I, we idolized our big sister. When we were young, she seemed invincible. She was smart and beautiful. Rosa reminds me so much of Maria, she probably looks the most like her, she has her grace and charm. I guess watching Rosa this evening is just making me think about Maria even more."
Tyler took Julia's hand and held it softly. "You are so lucky."
"No, everything in my life has gone wrong, my father died because of me, Noah and I had to leave town, then Maria died, and then I lost Noah. It's been one long heartache and I don't know how I am still standing."
"You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. And you've got a lot going for you. You're great at your job, you still have a loving family, and, well, you've got me."
This made Julia smile. "Well, what about you, you never talk about yourself much, and I know we've had this conversation before but I still didn't get much out of you."
"I told you, my parents were never there, and my big brother had to practically raise me, but then he left, too. See, at least with Maria, she really was what she appeared to be. I didn't realize till a few years ago that my brother, R.J., he wasn't at all the guy I'd looked up to all those years. I don't even really know why I was looking for him, I should just cut my losses, I don't need someone like him in my life."
"I'm sorry."
"Nah, you'd think I'd be over it by now. But, you know, if I hadn't been looking for him this summer, I'd of never met you."
"That's true."
"And that's nothing to regret," he said, kissing her.
Maria quietly opened the door at the base of the stairs and stepped outside. She figured that she must be on the back side of Wildwind since she couldn't see the drive.
Upstairs, one of Edmund's security personnel walked into his office. "Mr. Grey, an intruder has been spotted on the premises."
Edmund gave a look of alarm and then said, "Watch the children's doors." He grabbed a coat and headed outside.
Maria saw the mausoleum and instant ly recognizing it, she opened the door. She glanced at the names and found her's. The impact of the fact that everyone thought she was gone hit her; it had never completely seemed real till this moment. The pit of her stomach started to ache as she imagined all of the sadness that her family had felt.
Edmund looked from side to side searching for whoever had been seen.
"Mr. Grey," a tall man in dark clothes called out to him.
"Have you seen anything else," Edmund asked the man.
"Nothing since the video was caught earlier. The figure appeared to be a woman, but we haven't seen her since."
"Keep looking."
Edmund left, continuing his walk around the grounds.
Maria wiped away a tear, remembering that she needed to leave if she did not want to be seen.
She opened up the heavy door to the mausoleum and began to walk away, pulling the collar of her coat higher around her neck as she felt a chill.
Edmund heard the door to the mausoleum creak and changed his path towards there. The fog suddenly seemed to grow so thick that he could not see but a few feet in front of him. He heard a twig snap somewhere near.
Maria gasped at the noise she had just made and twirled around to see if anyone had followed the sound, but she, too, could not see very far.
Edmund vaguely discerned the silhouette of a woman a few yards away.
"Who's there?" he called out.
Maria, still not wanting to be seen, began to run. Edmund took off after her. She heard him yelling for her to stop.
Edmund heard what sounded like someone falling onto the ground ahead of him. Maria looked down at the dirt beside her face, a little dazed. She stood up, brushing off, and trying to get her bearings.
"Don't move," Edmund ordered from behind her.
Maria knew that at this point, if she took off again, he would easily catch up to her.
Edmund knew the woman seemed familiar, but could not place her. He stepped closer to her while Maria kept her back to him.
"You need to come with me back to the house. If you won't comply I'll have to call a guard," he said, not truly believing it would come to that.
Nothing happened for several moments; Maria did not move. "There's no need for that, Edmund," she said softly, not believing what was happening. Slowly, she turned to face him and he stepped back. Instantly, this feeling surged inside of her of intense happiness and in a moment she could no longer fathom why she had stayed away.
Edmund stared at her, in shock, and moved towards her. "Maria?" he whispered.
She nodded, lowering her head.
He shook his head, "No, no…" he backed away from her again.
"Edmund," she said, reaching out for him. She knew at this point that she could still get away; by the look in his eyes he thought that she was a figment of his imagination. But she knew that it was more likely that he would not care if her memories were incomplete, he would only care that she was back.
"No, I've seen you before and you always go away, and I am not doing that again."
"Who's that Anita's dancing with?" Kelsey asked, sitting down beside Bobby.
Bobby shrugged, "I don't know, he came over and asked her to dance, she asked me if I minded, I told her to go ahead, so she did."
"Sounds fair enough."
"You know what's not fair? Anita and I are so far apart and I can't even tell her something that could truly change her life. How's she going to feel when she finds out about Maria?"
"Maybe she'll just be relieved."
"I overhead Julia and that guy she's with talking about Maria earlier and it took all my strength not to go over there and tell her that her sister is right here in Pine Valley."
"Bobby, you know it's up to her when she tells everyone. I found out on accident and I really was not supposed to tell you. It's her life."
"I know, she'll tell everyone when she's ready. I just have to keep convincing myself of that."
"Edmund," Maria called after him as he walked back towards Wildwind.
He would not turn around, she hesitated for a few seconds and then followed him, staying just a few feet behind until he reached the door.
She put her hand on his shoulder, trying to make him turn around and see her again.
"Edmund, I stayed away because I didn't want to be a burden to you, but seeing you, it was not until I actually saw you that I realized how wrong I was, I realized that even if I don't remember everything, I do remember how much I love you and that is all, that is all that is important."
"No, it's impossible…the plane…no, I just need to go inside and concentrate on my work and not think about you. Not miss you. Not feel like my heart is missing. I need to just get on with my life, move on," he said, brushing away her hand.
"If you were going to do that you would have started a long time ago," she smiled. He turned to face her.
"No, you can't be real," he said, shaking his head.
"But I am," she said, taking his hand and placing it on her cheek. She took his face in her own hands and told him, "Edmund, it is me. I'm just as real as you."
He looked into her eyes, searching, trying to find the woman he loved so deeply. She felt tears forming, but could not take her hands away from his face to wipe them away.
Edmund smiled and took his thumb to dry her cheek. Then, he pulled her closer to him, stroking her hair.
"Oh, Maria, there aren't even words…" he said, lifting her away from him only so he could kiss her. "You don't know how much I've longed to feel you in my arms again."
Maria lay her head on his chest, for the first time since she could remember, feeling complete.