"Mother!" Kendall exclaimed as Bianca said "Mom!" at the same moment. The two younger women stared at their mother as Miranda squealed and raced towards her, "Nana!"
"There's my beautiful girl," Erica exclaimed as she lifted her granddaughter for a hug and a kiss on each cheek. Still holding Miranda close, she pushed the door shut and walked into the living room of Kendall's condo and seated herself with the little girl on her lap before speaking again. "I'm so glad that you've finally returned home, Kendall. We've missed you."
"I wish I could say the same, Mother," Kendall answered coldly. "But that would be a lie. In fact, you were one of the reasons that I almost didn't return to Pine Valley."
"Kendall… please…" Bianca said softly. Always the peacemaker, she had been trying to find some middle ground between the two women for months. Erica had been very angry… so angry that she did not even attempt to contact either woman until after they had left for the clinic in Minnesota… but she had finally reached out to Bianca and Miranda. Neither Kendall nor Erica had spoken since court, although Bianca had spoken with her regularly. Kendall had refused to see Erica either time she had arrived to visit her at the clinic, and Erica had stopped trying. However, she had been able to keep abreast of Kendall's recovery through her younger daughter.
"Kendall… please… listen to your sister," Erica responded. "I love you… and I'm sorry for what happened. You have to admit, you didn't make it very easy to believe that you could recover, much less wanted to. I only wanted to help you." She allowed Miranda to wriggle off of her lap before rising and walking over to Kendall. She lifted her hand and placed it on Kendall's cheek, "Oh, darling… I never thought I would see you stand again… much less talk to me. This is such a miracle." Her voice broke as she stood and gazed lovingly at her daughter with a broad smile on her face.
"Cut it out, Mother. It's going to take a whole lot more than this to make up for what you did to me," Kendall said sarcastically. "I'm not going to forget that you drove away the man that I love."
Erica stepped back and looked at Kendall as if she'd been slapped, "Love? You can't possibly be in love with Zach Slater! Oh… I grant you that his actions at the hospital may seem romantic… but I know that man… and he is nothing if not devious. Besides, his plan to use you didn't work and he very conveniently disappeared. We have all been better off without his interference in our lives. Tell me, Kendall… how often did he visit you at the clinic? Was he beside you when you took your first step? Did he pick you up when you fell down?"
Kendall's face fell and she looked down from the challenge in her mother's eyes. She paused a moment before looking back up with the same challenge in her own, "You made sure that he didn't, Mother. Somehow you were able to convince him to leave. You never bothered to find out what I wanted… as usual… Erica Kane knows best. Well, guess what, Mother? Erica Kane was wrong!"
"Kendall… Mom… please… don't…" Bianca pleaded.
"Bianca, I can handle this," Kendall replied angrily. "Mother. I don't know why, but I love you. I know that you weren't trying to ruin my life… even though you almost did… but you have to accept my choices for my life. And the first and most important choice is that I want Zach. I love Zach, and Zach loves me… and if you can't accept that, then you can't be a part of my life."
"Kendall… that man doesn't love anyone except himself. You need to accept that and be grateful… yes, I said grateful… for the fact that he has walked out of your life. Anyway, you will not find him. Aside from the fact that he obviously doesn't want you… this is a man who faked his own death and allowed his father to die not knowing he was still alive. If he doesn't want you to find him, you won't. Please, darling, don't spend the rest of your life pining after a man who doesn't deserve you," Erica replied quietly.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you, Mother? You'd like nothing better than to see me give up without a fight… let the divorce go through and move on with my pathetic life," Kendall answered. "Well, I've got news for you. I didn't spend all these months fighting to get my life back so that I would end up alone and lonely, without the man I love. I will find him… and if he'll have me… I'll be his wife in every way."
"What do you mean? I thought you were already divorced?" Erica said, laying the back of her hand to her brow.
"No, Mother, I'm still married to Zach. He didn't re-file his divorce petition… he sent it to me. Just like always, he gave me control over my own life," Kendall answered quietly. "And I chose not to file it. Now… if you don't have anything nice to say about my husband, I'd prefer it if you didn't mention him at all."
Erica raised her hands as if to stop Kendall from speaking, "Alright. I won't mention him again, if that will make you happy. Just don't expect me to welcome that man into our lives with open arms… if you ever find him."
"She'll find him, Mom," Bianca answered her mother. "That's just about the only thing I know for sure… she has to find him… they love each other too much to be apart."
Erica turned to her younger daughter, "I should have known that you would encourage her in this insanity. I suppose Myrtle is in on this, too?" Bianca didn't reply, but looked away from her mother. "Just as I thought… and now you've brought Kendall to an empty home to fend for herself while you go back to your life in Paris. She has nothing… you allowed her to sell her shares of Fusion, and now she has no job and no future… nothing except a fruitless search for a man who doesn't want to be found. No matter how romantic you and Myrtle think this all is, you have to be practical."
"I don't need you, Mother, I don't need anyone… except Zach. I sold my shares of Fusion, not Bianca. I sold them because I have no desire to work with Greenlee or Ryan ever again," Kendall retorted. "Even if I don't find Zach – which isn't going to happen – I have enough money to do anything that I want. Maybe I'll move to Paris. As you've pointed out… there's certainly nothing in Pine Valley to keep me here."
Erica looked at the determination in Kendall's face, "No. Kendall, darling… you just got home. You've been through a terrible ordeal and barely survived. This isn't the time to make such a rash decision."
"Why not, Mother?" Kendall said. "Because I suffered so much brain damage that I can't possibly make a rational decision about my life? Are you going to take me to court and have me declared incompetent again?" Erica stood quietly for a moment before Kendall continued, "Don't worry, Mother. It's your lucky day. I know Zach's not in Paris, and I'm not moving there unless he wants to move there with me… to be close to his son."
"His son? I don't understand. I thought that he and Ethan…" Erica said in confusion.
"I have no idea if Ethan or Zach reached out to each other – probably not… but Ethan is in Paris now. Binks is moving back to Pine Valley with Miranda – and she's going to help me find my husband," Kendall answered with a warm smile to her sister.
Erica opened her mouth and closed it twice before she turned back to Bianca, "You're coming home? To stay?"
Bianca nodded her head, "Yes, Mom. It's time… but don't think that you are going to take over my life any more than Kendall's."
"Oh, Bianca… well… it's about time we had some good news," she said with a smile as she pulled Bianca into her arms for an embrace before turning back to her older daughter. "Kendall… I don't want to see you hurt… and Zach Slater will hurt you if you find him. In just a couple of months your divorce will be final… let it go… let him go. I promise to help you find fulfillment and meaning in your life… I'll help you find your new beginning."
Kendall laughed, "No thanks, Mother. Zach is the only new beginning I need… and if I can't have him, then I'll do without. Besides, I withdrew the divorce petition so we're going to stay married. I will not divorce the man I love... and he won't divorce me. So… it really doesn't matter whether we're together or apart… does it, Mother?"
Erica looked at Bianca who nodded her head. She reached out to Kendall saying, "When he breaks your heart – which I know he will – I'll be here to pick up the pieces, my darling. I love you."
Kendall allowed her mother to embrace her, "I love you, too, Mother. Much as I might like to change that, I can't… but you have to accept that Zach is my husband. Promise me that you will. I want you as a part of my life, but that is the condition… and it's not negotiable."
Erica nodded without letting go of her daughter, "I promise to try… if you find him… if he wants you. But I won't promise not to hope that never happens."
Kendall stepped back, "I guess if that's the best you can offer then I'll accept it… but I will find him and you will have to keep your promise to me."
Erica smiled, ignoring Kendall's last comment, "It's so good to see you like this… like before the accident… I truly didn't think that you'd ever recover, my darling. You're home. We'll just concentrate on that for now."
"Of course, Mother," Kendall said with a smirk and a knowing glance at her sister. "Now if you don't mind… we have a lot of unpacking to do. I'll call you later in the week for lunch."
"I'm going to hold you to that," Erica replied with a smile. She hugged both her daughters and lifted her granddaughter for a hug and a kiss before letting herself out of the condo.
Bianca breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the sofa while Kendall went into the kitchen and put on a kettle for some tea. As she rummaged in the cabinet for teabags, she said, "Binks… we need to act fast. Do you have the paperwork from the blind trust for the first month I was at the clinic?"
"Yeah. It's in one of the suitcases. Why?" Bianca asked in confusion.
"We know Zach didn't fake his death again… and he's still conducting business as Zach Slater… but he's disappeared off the face of the earth. My guess is that he's got another identity that he's living under somewhere. It makes the most sense when you consider how many identities he had to have used over the years," Kendall answered.
"I… see," Bianca answered. She paused and then said, "No, I don't. How are the papers from the trust fund going to help you find him if he's taken on a new identity?"
Kendall smiled broadly as she dropped onto the sofa next to Bianca, "Atlantic City."
"What? Atlantic City?" Bianca frowned. "Oh… you mean the casino that Zach sold. How will that help you?"
"Zach and I spent a lot of time trying to find just the right property for our first joint casino purchase. It was the first thing we did as Slater Hart Gaming… we had such plans for that place," Kendall answered. "There were more holes in Mr. Michaels' story than a piece of Swiss cheese."
"Do you think he was lying about Zach?" Bianca asked with interest.
"No. I think he was telling the truth… as far as he knows it. But I think that the clue to Zach's whereabouts is tied to the sale of that casino," Kendall answered in excitement. "Binks… I feel so close to him right now. I know that's the clue we've been searching for."
Bianca pulled her sister into a tight hug, "Oh, Kendall, I hope you're right."