CHAPTER FIVE

Lulu and Dillon met outside.

"I thought you promised to stay out of it," Dillon was disappointed in his stepsister.

"Stay out of what?" she acted as if she had no idea what was going on.

"Don't pretend that you don't know. You made up at that entire Haunted Star story, so your dad would go after my mom. I can't believe he bought it."

Lulu bit her lip and refused to face Dillon.

"So? What do you have to say?" He was acting like a parent.

"Oh my God, Dillon! Jeez, you're not in charge of me."

"I told you not to do anything, and what do you do?"

"It's selfish," she whined. "I already know that."

"You said you were going to leave the situation alone."

Lulu rolled her eyes, "I lied, all right? I'm a Spencer. It's what we do." It was a horrible excuse, and she knew it. "I just…It doesn't matter anymore. It's all said and done now. No going back."

"Well, when my mom gets her heart ripped into shreds, I hope you feel personally responsible," he spit it out with so much venom that Lulu forgot that it was Dillon she was talking to.

Lulu didn't know what to say.

"You should be speechless," he glared. "She loves Luke. He doesn't love her. And one day, it's all going to explode. And it will be your fault because you didn't let them divorce when they wanted to."

She laughed, "You're going a bit too far, Dillon, and besides, how many times have they insisted on a divorce? And then nothing. And guess what? Nothing's exploded—"

"Yet."

She sighed, "I just played matchmaker. Whatever happens afterwards is out of my hands."

Dillon shook his head in disappointment.

Elsewhere, Luke trotted through the jungle in search of his wife. Damn my Spankybuns. She thinks she can just steal the Haunted Star from right out from under me. First, she cheats me out of 15million dollars and now this. Who does that woman think she is? No way will she walk away with MY boat. No way in hell.

He paused. He had been rambling. Luke Spencer wasn't sure if he believed the Haunted Star story or not, but it gave him a good reason to go after his wife. No one would have to know that he wanted to go after her for other reasons…other more sentimental reasons…

As it turns out, he had remembered their anniversary. Tracy hadn't mentioned one word about it, although he knew that she knew. It had been one year since he lured her to Vegas and made her his blushing bride. She was absolutely horrified. He, of course, got a kick out of it. Time and time again, both of them tried getting out the marriage, but it never worked. Some might have called it love. He called it, "not wanting to lose."

Not wanting to lose. Everything has to be a game.

Neither of them wanted to give in and give the other divorce. That would be giving up. That would be losing. Neither them would ever do that…or so Luke thought. But that day, Tracy proved him wrong. He could see how serious she was about divorcing him, and he knew he was never going to get that 15 million. Seemed as though Tracy might have won after all.

She's getting exactly what she's always wanted. What am I getting?

Luke Spencer wasn't getting anything. Not unless he could prove himself to his wife. Obviously, he'd have to find her first.

In the near distance, Tracy remained on the grass. She had enough of the outdoors for a lifetime. It's so hot. Ugh. Why did I wear these clothes? That's it. The jacket's coming off. She took off the jacket that she wore over the black shell. Damnit! You could've worn a light gray one, but nooo. It's 102 degrees out here, and you're wearing black. She shook her head. You are a fool, Tracy Quartermaine. You are a real fool sometimes.

And then she went back to talking aloud, "All right. I can't be that far away from the villa. The villa was that," she pointed to the left. "That way." She frowned. "Or was it that way?" This time she pointed to the right. "Oh, this is good. Really good. I should've have just stayed with my worthless husband and the rest of them. I should've known better. I mean, did I not get lost on my way here? Of course I'd get lost on the way back."

Well, sitting down isn't getting me anywhere. She stood up and decided to try again. Before she continued walking, she decided to reach in the one bag she had taken off the plane. She kept the rest of the luggage on the jet. No way was she going to be able to drag all those suitcases through a jungle… "Oh! Damn. I'm out of water. It is over 100 degrees outside. The humidity has to be near 100, and I have no water. Smart, Tracy. Really smart." She glanced at her watch. It had been an almost an hour since she left the vacated area. She couldn't be that far from the spa. She was strong. She could make it…

Back at the cottage, Dillon took a seat on the couch. Lulu reluctantly joined.

"I, um—," she began.

"I'm not interested," he folded his arms and acted like a child.

"I didn't think you'd be that upset about it."

Dillon looked the other way, "I'm not upset."

"Yeah, right."

"Okay. Maybe I am, but I have every right to be. You went behind my back."

"For a good cause."

"Define 'good' because my mom? Sitting on the sidelines? While Luke takes off again? Not good, Lulu. Not good at all," he repeated for emphasis.

"Well, hopefully, that won't happen."

Dillon cleared his throat, "Yeah, hopefully." He paused for a moment. "You know what today is?"

"Well, I'm not sure what if we lost a day since we traveled across an entire hemisphere, but uh, according to my watch, it's the 19th."

"Of May."

Lulu gave him a "duh" look. "Obviously. What's the deal?"

"It's our parents wedding anniversary."

"Aww," she smiled. "I had no idea. They're going to reunite on their anniversary."

"They're going to go through with the divorce," Dillon wished he could be sure of himself.

"Well, that totally defeats the purpose of this special event."

"When did you become such a romantic?"

"When did you stop being one? Georgie told me all about you, Dillon. You should be loving the hell out of this."

He wondered what else Georgie had told her.

"Dillon?"

He stopped his wondering. "Yeah, well, if my mom's feelings weren't on the line, I might be."

"Not this again," she mumbled. "Maybe. Just maybe things will work out, and everyone will be happy."

He could only laugh in her face. They weren't living fairy-tale. Things would never end up "happily ever after."

Lulu explained, "Your mom will be happy because she has Luke. I get to be happy because I'll be close to my dad. You get to be happy because you have a happy mom who won't be sending you to military school, and you also have a happy stepsister who won't be complaining about her dad abandoning her. See? Everyone is happy."

"You forgot Luke," he spoke dryly.

"My dad is happy because he realizes Tracy is the one he wants to be with."

"Nice try." He sighed.

"Let's just wait and see. Okay?"

The stepsiblings where interrupted at that moment. "Ohhhhh! Yeahhhhh!" The voice was that of a woman's, and it was coming from the bedroom.

"Uh, where's Super Spy?" Lulu worriedly asked Dillon.

"Arrrrrrgh," they heard Super Spy's voice…from the same bedroom.

"OH MY GOD!" Lulu screamed. She and Dillon ran outside as fast as they can.

"EWWWWWW!" Dillon yelled covering his ears.

"What did we do to deserve this?" They were outside now. A good 100 feet away from the villa.

"I don't know," said Dillon. "I just don't know…"

Meanwhile, Luke Spencer trotted through some more tall grass. "All right. If I were Spanky, where would I go? I would head to the spa. Now…," he paused. "Where is the spa?" He continued on his merry way only to end up tripping over something. "What the hell?" He looked down and reached for the small object. It wasn't anything special. Just a rock, a shiny, cream colored, smooth rock. Luke inspected it, "Wonder if Spanky would consider this a good anniversary present?" He laughed at himself and put in his pants pocket. "Guess we'll find out."

And so he continued…A half hour had turned into an hour. Luke never stopped moving. One foot in front the other, sipping the bottled water whenever he needed to, but careful not to drink it all at once. He was going to find his wife even if it took him another hour…another 2 hours. He refused to give up.

The sun's heat seemed stronger than ever. Luke's wasn't walking as fast as before. Maybe his daughter had been right. He sure wasn't as young as he used to be. Adventures in the past had never been so difficult. No, my little Gum Drop wasn't right. I can still handle myself just fine…Just—

He noticed a figure about 50 feet in front of him slowly walking. "Tracy?" he whispered. He didn't know who else it could be. "Tracy," he said again, louder this time, as he picked up his speed to race over to her. Before he reached the figure, it had collapsed to the ground. Luke ran faster. "Tracy!" he yelled.

PREVIEW: Luke comes to Tracy's aide.