"Oh darling, you shouldn't have." Olivia stood blushing in front of the mirror as Gregory carefully clipped the glistening diamond chandelier earrings he'd surprised her with to her ears. "They're just stunning." From a single large stone at her earlobes they trailed down in two long strands of brilliant diamonds to her shoulders.
He returned to the blue velvet jewelry box and removed the curling diamond bracelet that matched. Gregory took her wrist and closed the clasp around it. "I'm just glad Bette let it slip that your dress covered up your neck, otherwise I might have showed up with a necklace you couldn't wear."
Olivia laughed tenderly as she looked over the new bracelet with an admiring eye. "I'll have to thank Bette for saving you from that nasty little dilemma."
He ran his hands over the shoulders her black silk dress left bare as it crept around her neck in a halter and smiled at the tiny sparks of light from her earrings. "I was afraid I wasn't going to like this dress when you describe it to me, but it certainly has it's advantages." Running nimble fingers over the bare skin of her back, he has to remind himself that the skin is newly healed.
Olivia snuck her hands around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. "You just like that the zipper's fairly short."
Bursting into good-natured laughter Gregory moved the tail of her earring to nuzzle her neck. "I did notice that."
Leaning back against the wall with a sigh, Olivia broke the mood of the moment. "Oh, Gregory, would you do me a favor? I left my purse on the bed upstairs-"
Lowering his head in mock disappointment, Gregory nodded and slipped out of her arms. "I'll be right down."
"Thank you darling!" She called up after him as he trudged up the stairs to the master bedroom.
Her purse was not on the bed as he flicked on the light. Instead he found it on the desk. On top to black beads was a little silver bag with a note. "You're not the only one who can set up a surprise-" Gregory read aloud as he grabbed the little silver bag and opened the drawstring.
A pair of cufflinks fell out into his palm, brilliant silver welsh knots, incredibly intricate but full of strength. The smooth keeper end on one had his initials, an entwined GR. He expected the same on the other, but he had to hold it up to read the tiny script. "All my love, Liv." His heart melted away in his chest, filling it with warmth. He removed his ordinary blue ones and set them aside.
Gregory was still securing them in his cuffs when she caught his attention in the doorway.
"Oh I'm sorry, was it not on the bed?" Her polite expression was ruined by her wicked smile.
Holding up his wrists to her as he tossed her purse to her, Gregory replied with a passionate kiss that pressed her back against the door. The knob clanked against the wall as he expressed his gratitude.
More than a little breathless, Olivia let him sweep her towards the bed. "I guess you found your surprise."
Deciding in a moment that he'd rather have her than be on time for the police ball Gregory pulled her down as he sat on the corner of the bed. "And that zipper." His fingers chased down the flesh the zipper left bare as she started on the buttons of his blue satin tuxedo vest.
He reached up to undo the black silk around her neck but stopped suddenly when she coughed. Olivia's gaze was towards the door as well she turned around quickly and forced him to redo her zipper. Gregory sighed in frustration and waved his daughter into the room. "Oh sweetheart, you look great."
For the black and blue ball, a SBPD annual tradition, Caitlin had chosen a gown of incredibly pale blue. She had become so withdrawn since Julian had disappeared on her. Only Mark's innocent request that she accompany him to the party had drug her out of her shell at all in the past few weeks.
She entered shyly, stopping out of reach only a few paces in. "Are you two ready to go?"
Olivia tried not to blush and looked to Gregory for help. "Yes darling, of course, we were just-"
He finished her zipper and wound his hand around to her stomach. "Waiting for your brother to move, but it doesn't look like he's going to grace us tonight." Gregory kissed her neck, whispering as he got over his disappointment. "I love you too."
Olivia took his hand and stood up from the bed as the silk train of her dress swished around her ankles. "Thanks for coming to get us Cate. I'm afraid your father and I just loose track of time."
Buttoning his vest up again, Gregory took her arm as they started down the stairs. "Where are we meeting that young man- the DJ?"
"At the party." Caitlin clarified softly as she stood at the door and waited. "His name's mark, mom gave him a job at the radio station, remember?"
Olivia nodded quickly at her husband, coaxing him to agree as she straightened his bow tie.
Gregory took her fingers away from his tie, taking her wrist and enjoying the feel of her bracelet warmed by her skin. "That nice young man who works for Ben?"
"Yes." Caitlin paused and tried to think of something to add to the description of her date. "He's a friend of Casey's too. Lives down in the beach house with the funny name." Climbing into the car in the front next to Tim, Caitlin let the conversation fall away.
Julian's disappearance had hurt her. Her parents concluded with a shared look. "She's young, beautiful, and ultimately resilient." Gregory hoped as he toyed with the folds of silk on the seat of the car next to him.
"Caitlin will move on." Olivia replied as she smiled at his boyish fidgeting. "He was just a Deschanel after all. God knows they can't spend more than a few months with the same woman. It's not in their blood."
AJ rested his drink on the railing and peered down over the ocean. The skin of water on the glass of bourbon left a ring of wetness on the graying wood. The back deck was the perfect place for a party. Paper lanterns and strings of lights graced the deck and lit the stage for the upcoming police department gala.
Gregory Richards, the new District Attorney, was of course the guest of honor. It seemed that everywhere he looked, Gregory was the man of the hour in Sunset Beach. His company was on top, the hospital project was running full speed ahead now that the nasty little problem with his son's dead body was cleared up and his darling wife was pregnant. Miraculously, and not without reservation at her age, but none the less, it seemed everything was coming up in Gregory's favor.
Even the Police Department was falling over itself to be good to him. Making him the guest of honor and black and blue ball was like the antelope deciding they wanted the lion at their picnic. His glass was empty and he waved at the bartenders who were setting up until one of them came over to refill his glass.
Taking a long swig of fortifying bourbon, AJ set his glass down on the railing again and knelt down to peer beneath at the supports of the deck. Everything seemed secure, as sturdy as the day it was built. His mind's eye pointed out the hidden flaws in the structure. The deck was held together by splinters and a prayer. AJ had never had any faith in prayer.
He stood up and toasted the black ocean below. "This is for you son and trust me. This is just the beginning of my revenge."
"Congratulations." Olivia offered as she smiled at Heather's outstretched hand and new diamond ring. "I can't think of better news. Did you set a date?"
"January- sometime." Heather replied with a delirious smile. "It's the slowest time at the Marine Center and I think we'll be able to get away for a whole month."
Ricardo gave Casey a wink from the other side of the circle of conversation. "A whole month? Where are you going to go?"
Heather and Casey looked at each other quietly with that fresh innocence in their eyes. "We haven't decided yet." Heather admitted with a happy sigh. "It really doesn't matter does it?"
"Paula's always wanted to go to Europe." Ricardo offered as he took a sip of his drink. "Where did Gregory take you Olivia? I'm sure our new DA had somewhere incredibly romantic to take you."
Olivia raised an eyebrow and took a fresh glass of water from Casey as he thoughtfully handed it across to her. "Italy- Gregory took me to Raspuglia, near Florence and we rented this lovely little villa. It was terribly romantic and something I'll remember, always."
Ricardo ducked out of the conversation, letting it turn to tales of
romantic gestures and breakfasts in bed. Gregory was over by the stage, discussing the finer points of some epic legal battle with Laura Fitzgerald.
"Once you started quoting Matheson v Illinois, I knew I had you." Laura chuckled as she ducked away to refresh her coffee and procure some of the cake on the refreshment table.
"You did-" Gregory agreed as he snagged one of the little blue plates of cake for his wife. "I just wasn't going down without a fight."
"That's why you'll make such a good DA, you'll finally put that bulldog fight in you to good use." Laura brushed the shoulder of his tuxedo and grinned impishly. "Besides, it's about time we had a handsome one. I'm happy Olivia's letting you reproduce, we could use a little more of your deadly looks and charm."
Gregory returned her wicked smile and glanced over at his wife. She was explaining something about Casey that was turning his face to deep red as the group of youngsters around them laughed and urged her to continue her story.
"I certainly envy you, returning that merriment when I'm stuck with-" She nodded towards the Police Commissioner and waved at the bartender. "Irish this up for an old woman won't you? I need a little fortification before I get my ear bent by our dear Commissioner Franklin. I swear that man never gives up. He'll be after me in the home and I'll have to beat him off with a cane."
Grumbling to her coffee as she went, Gregory watched her retreating back with amusement before turning around to face Ricardo. The detective was smiling at him, but in the way Gregory smiled at uncooperative witnesses. He tucked the fork into his suit pocket along with a napkin. "What can I do for you detective?"
"Oh please, call me Ricardo, we're on the same side now." Ricardo's easy wave of his hand was the warning shot.
"All right," Gregory gestured towards Olivia with his plate of cake and started towards her across the deck. "I promised my wife this half an hour ago and I'm concerned that the party guests might be in danger if she doesn't get her cake soon."
Ricardo searched Gregory's cold eyes for that hint of humanity that only appeared when he talked about his wife. It was in the forefront tonight, along with a softening of his jaw that belied concern and caring. Years as a police officer had allowed him to study the best and worst of humanity but Gregory Richards remained an enigma.
"Your wife was telling us about your honeymoon in Italy." Ricardo was baiting his trap but Gregory had no reason to be suspicious. "Sounds like she had a hell of a time."
Gregory paused, giving Ricardo a curious look before he started walking again. "We both did."
"Do you have family there?" He took a sip of his beer and shrugged. "I've heard Raspuglia is near impossible to find a rental in unless you have connections."
Licking his lips as he realized he'd be led into a corner, Gregory deciding to give the good detective just what he'd been looking for. "I have family in the area. They helped me with the reservations."
Leaving the detective to muse over that thought, Gregory surprised Olivia with the cake and a kiss on her cheek. "Sorry it took me so long."
"I'll forgive you because you have cake." She teased as she fished the fork out of his tuxedo pocket. "Now tell Heather how you bought me a house-" Olivia licked frosting off her fork and nudged him with her elbow. "As only you can darling."
Across the deck, Caitlin leaned out and watched the waves of the Pacific below her rise and fall. Mark surprised her as he returned with a cake and a frilly cocktail, completely with an umbrella. "Sex on the beach, just like you asked." He followed her gaze and grinned. "Isn't it beautiful at night?"
"Lovely." Caitlin agreed as she moved the umbrella to eat the cherry out of her drink.
"Swim much?" Mark asked as he demolished his piece of cake.
"Oh all the time when I was little." Her smiles were all far away tonight and Mark's heart went out to her. The high profile disappearance of her last boyfriend had really damaged her confidence. "Dad loves to swim, Sean too. Mom's a little wary of the water. She didn't even know how to swim until dad taught her."
Glancing over at Mr. and Mrs. Richards laughing with Casey and his fiancee, Mark tried to imagine Mr. Richards teaching anyone how to swim, but he couldn't get the suit out of the his head. He wasn't sure if he'd ever seen Gregory out of a suit.
"Mom did take us swimming, but she got in trouble once. After that she didn't go in the water without my father around." She ate the orange slice and dropped the rind down to the ocean below.
Mark tilted his head and leaned back against the railing. "What happened?"
Caitlin watched the dark water and sighed. "I was seven- Sean and I were swimming, he was really little and he always wanted to do what I was doing. You can't tell him this, he'll get embarrassed."
Putting a finger over his lips, Mark shook his head. "Stays between you and me."
Using her straw to stir the ice and splash around the pink cocktail, Caitlin fell into her story. "It was really wavy and there was a rip tide. Sean and I were both pulled way out and mom came in and got us. I remember crawling up on the beach with Sean. He was coughing and crying and he wanted mom, like he always did. But she didn't come in out of the water."
The memory of her little brother's tears tugged at her heart even years later. "I didn't know what to do so I ran in to get my father. I don't know how he got the story out of me, I was crying to hard to talk and I felt so bad for getting water all over the carpet in his study."
Mark laughed softly and touched her shoulder. "You felt bad?"
"You don't know how sacred his study was. It was like church." Caitlin joined his laughter. "I guess it's silly that I remember feeling bad."
"Oh no, being little's like that." Reassuring her with a winning smile, Mark waited for the rest of the story. "You remember strange things. What happened to your mom?"
"Dad ran into the water and Sean and I stayed on the beach. He didn't even think, he just ran into the water." That she remembered most vividly. Her parents usually ignored each other. Her father stayed in his study and her mother wandered the house drinking until the pain went away.
She still remembered the look on his face as he pulled her mother up on the beach. The way he'd pushed her away and told her to take Sean into the house. She looked over her shoulder while her mother vomited up sea water. Watched from the hallway as he carried her inside and put her on the bed and wondered why her father wasn't angry. He was always angry when he had to carry Olivia upstairs, but that day was different.
That day she'd snuck into her bedroom to talk to her daddy and found him lying in the bed with her mother. They hadn't heard her come in, but she could tell her father was crying. Her father never cried and she'd run away frightened.
Life went back to normal once her mother was better. Her parents avoided each other. Daddy let her play in his study again.
"Really freaked her out." She slurped the end of her drink and set it down on the railing. "We didn't go in the ocean again without dad along."
"Looks like they've finally worked things out." Mark pointed as Mr. Richards licked a trace of frosting off the corner of Mrs. Richards' mouth. "Ben says your dad's giving him the CEO job at Liberty, your dad wants more time to spend with your mom and the baby. Seems real sweet of him to me."
Caitlin felt her stomach twist. Gregory wouldn't pass off his responsibilities like that. Would he? Was this new brat that important? She shuddered and caught Mark's arm to drag him towards the bar. "Come on, let's get another drink. I'm sure you have something else you can expose me too."
Neither of them noticed the creak of the railing as they left it or the sway of the deck beneath their feet. Mark and Caitlin didn't get a chance to reach the bar as Ricardo hit his glass with his fork to get everyone's attention.
"All right everyone, it's time to toast our guest of honor." Ricardo announced with a grin. "If you'd let him up to the stage, I think we'll be able to coax a speech out of him." The crowd parted, moving back towards the railing to let Gregory up towards the stage. Gregory turned around to face the crowd, zeroing in on his wife's face.
The wood of the deck moaned, like a great tree falling in the woods. A murmur of surprise went through the crowd, but it barely had time to register before chaos erupted. The entire side of the deck collapsed with a crash like a clap of thunder but even that noise was drowned out by the screams of shock and terror.
Leaving them in darkness, the elegant hanging lights died away and the ocean swallowed it all in a plume of spray.