Part 89

Quinn took the time off to go to the Daytona 500. Sergei and Zander, Joe and Quinn flew down. They went to stay at the house Zander had grown up in.

The house was amazing; it was right on the beach. Zander showed Quinn around it.

"I don't believe I've ever been in a place like this!" she exclaimed.

"This was my room – this is where you stay," he said, opening a door.

It was a large bedroom, and it faced the beach, and there was even a small balcony outside. The windows went down to the floor.

"This was your room?"

"Yes. Pete's is across the hall."

There was a study on the first floor. Sergei looked around until he found the mementos they were looking for.

"Here you go," Quinn said, picking up a box. "A real gold medal! Goodness, what does it say?" The lettering was in Russian.

"First place, swimming," he answered, looking over her shoulder. "One hundred meter crawl."

"First place where?"

"In that district. The league."

"How big is this district?"

"I don't know. I think it might be like a school district."

He had several, some for other sports. "They look the same," Quinn said. "As if the same body holds the contests."

"Yes, it's pretty well organized there. Sports are always a big thing to them."

"You do have a family album!" she said, opening a book of photos.

Zander didn't seem to want to look. Quinn looked through the pages. "These are so cute," she said to Zander. "How about looking one if I tell you what it is of first?"

"OK."

"This looks like Oksana leading two small boys by the hand. They are both adorable. The bigger one really is."

He looked, putting his arms around her. They both looked at it for awhile.

He looked off, and noticed something. He went to pick it up. "What's that?" Quinn asked.

He smiled at her. "It's that damn Russian passport."

"This is it? The notorious Russian passport?" He gave it to her. She opened it, looking at him. Then she looked down to read it. "That's your first name," she said, hazarding the guess by the placement and seeing the "A." "That's your last name, with the 'K.'" Is this your middle name, with the 'C?'"

"No," he said. "Russians don't have middle names. They only have patronymics. That letter that looks like C is S in Russian. Sergeevich."

"Oh, neat. Like mine would be Daniela, or something like that?"

He laughed. "Something like that. But what is your middle name?"

"It's the most obvious one I could have."

"Daniela?"

"No," she chuckled.

"Josephine?"

"Nope."

"Kathleen?"

"Yep."

She sat down and picked up the photo album again.

"Where is this?" she asked, "Is this your school uniform?"

He sat down next to her and looked. "That must be in Russia. It's that school uniform."

"Oh, so those are classmates of yours?"

"Yes."

He got up and looked again at the things on the table. "Here's the school yearbook," he said, going back to her to show it to her.

He found his own picture, and Peter's. Their Russian names were beneath their pictures. They had on the dark suit and tie of the uniform, like the other students. The girls had dark jumpers. Zander picked out a few as friends of his, and showed her the teachers' pictures.

"I saw your yearbooks when Pete gave me a tour of your room, but I didn't get to look in them for your picture," Zander said. "It's only fair if you show me those when we get back!"

"Oh no, it's not. You're cute in these pictures. I looked like a dork in those days!"

"I'll be the judge of that," he answered, turning her chin up to kiss her.

The race was fun. Quinn had never dreamed she'd ever see one this way. They weren't in the stands, but in the club house. The view from there was perfect.

Ward Burton won, and Jeff Gordon came in ninth. "I am preparing to boast of seeing this to Dad," Quinn said. "Let's make of note of everything he can't see on TV, Joe."

"Your Dad sure got us some good seats," Joe said, as they watched while Sergei showed Quinn one of the cars after the race. "I want to do something special to thank him."

"I know it must be that it looks like I exaggerated, back in the hospital," Zander said.

"Well, not so much as to that. He's a nice guy, but I don't know him much more than on the surface. Exactly what you said, he's a nice guy, very charming, on the surface. You know him, and had to deal with him, a different way. You can still tell way more than I can. So I'm not meaning that I think you exaggerated there, when you were talking about it then. What do you think of him now – has he changed any? You've been forgiving of him; maybe he'd feel a heck of a lot worse trying to pull something sneaky in light of that."

"I think he's OK, so far. I don't know. He's always older and smarter than I am, is the trouble. He's been like his old self, and I always felt bad he went to jail. He doesn't seem as hostile about Mom. Maybe time has helped with that. I can always be missing something, though."

"I'll keep an eye on him. I've never dealt with somebody who is smart the way he is. Streetwise and worldly wise and smart all at once. But any other pair of eyes, especially as old as mine – well, they might not be much help, but they can't hurt."

"I do put a big value on what you think of him, Joe. I think it is good that he sees Pete. It doesn't matter what he's done. From what I read in the books Alexis and Quinn gave me, they make sense, and convince me that my mother shouldn't have cut us off from Dad, while at the same time Dad shouldn't have cut us off from Mom. Then on the other hand, I'm not sure what else he could do, with all that fighting. Maybe Dad was legally in the wrong, but they were always fighting, even if we saw both of them. I don't really know if that was worse or the same as not seeing one at all, and being with the other all the time. It's like there is no solution."

"They might have both done the best they could. They might have tried harder to put their conflicts aside, whatever they were. I don't know them well enough to see why they didn't stay married."

"I hate to realize it, but I don't either."

"A lot of the time, I think my stepson could have used a father figure. He was too cut off from his father, and because of that we were closer, and then he was cut off from me. So I don't think it was a good thing, and I wasn't even his father. Legally, I had no rights at all."

"How old was he when you got divorced?"

"Seventeen. He was ten when I met him."

"By now he is probably old enough to talk to you if he wants. Do you think he would want to?"

"I don't rightly know, but I'm where I always was. I think he knows I would be here for him, though I'm not sure. He must have heard some stuff from his mother. It wouldn't take me by complete surprise if I heard from him one day."

"I hope so. I put my two cents in about Pete seeing Dad. I don't think Dad manipulated me into it. Not that I can tell. It might not matter if he did – it is supposed to be a good thing for Pete to see Dad."

"You could put your two cents any time. Your mother can hear your two cents, that doesn't hurt her. She can be influenced by it or not. I hope it does, because you know about where you are coming from where Peter might not be able to express it."

"I could have made it worse, if she thought Pete was just getting that from me."

"Pete's been with her four years, just them, so she knows what Pete thinks. She might have been able to work out visitation like this without having found you. I doubt it somehow. So it has done you all good. You need them, and always needed them more when you didn't have extended family. If you'd had your grandparents or aunts and uncles, even just having them to talk to or visit might have made it bearable. Without all that, the pressure was too great."

"Yes. Those books referred to how the families can get involved in the fight, too, though. It can get to be all out tribal warfare, they called it."

"Probably not all of them, though. There was likely to be somebody that would have been a help to you. Their divorce was especially unfortunate, with your family so cut off from the rest as it was."

"And they didn't have a lot of close friends, either. All these business associates and new people coming through. But nobody who stuck by them. Nothing like you can Danny. They traveled too much. That's why Dad's kidnapping wasn't so bad from my perspective. If we had to be with only one, then being with Mom in Florida and her traveling around all the time wasn't as good a thing as being with Dad in Moscow and his being there. Rosa she had let go because we were too old, but we needed either Rosa, or the situation like we had with Dad."

"I wish you could have stayed those last two years with Dad. It would have been much better for you."

"Yeah, if I had only just not given in to her when she was in Moscow."

"I think your Mom could have recognized how it was and let you go back there had she stopped long enough to really think about it. Don't blame that on yourself."

"Thank you, why are you always on my side?"

"You need somebody like that. I'm glad you have this Rosa back, too. But she might lean toward Mom a little. Your friend Alexis, I think you can count on. You're not used to it. But me, Quinn, all of us, you count on. Try to, anyway. OK?"

"OK, if you will ask me to do anything I can do for you."

"We know that. That's how it works. It's you that needs to know it."

The next day, Zander showed Quinn how to wind surf. She kept falling down, getting her balance only after a long while.

He laughed at her, and later he took her out in the sailboat, explaining how the sails worked, and that it was similar with the wind-sail.

She sat back in the boat, enjoying the February sun.

"You look like a real Florida girl," Zander commented.

"I could get into that. I cannot believe it is February!"

It was dark early. A while after dinner, he asked her if she wanted to walk on the beach.

It was beautiful. The moon was out, shining on the clear ocean. No one else was out there. The wind blew and the sound of the wind and the surf was lovely. It was a perfect place for walking hand in hand.

"Romantic," she said. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Yeah, it reminds me of being out here as a little kid," he said. "Rosa brought us out here at night sometimes. She told us stories. A lot of them were about pirates. That was our favorite kind."

"You do have good memories," she said. "I'm glad you're not trying to forget them all, anymore."

They walked a little while. He stopped to kiss her, and did so very gently. She smiled, and pulled him closer to her, when she did this he pulled her yet closer and kissed her far more passionately than he had ever done before. She kissed him back; held him tighter, feeling like she was a perfect fit to him.

In a few minutes, the tide came up, and they were standing in the water. They started to laugh. He picked her up and carried her out of it, and set her back down on the sand.

She pulled him back to her and put her arm around him, walking back to the house.

He walked her up to her room, or his room, and stopped at the door to kiss her goodnight a few times. She was going to pull him into the room, when he said, "Goodnight, Quinn," and pushed her into the room, closing the door on her, if gently.

She looked around, somewhat startled. She had a hard time going to sleep for awhile, but eventually, the crashing waves overwhelmed her wakefulness.

On the flight back, Quinn sat with Joe for awhile.

"That was a strange race. I never thought I'd see the like of Marlin getting out to work on his car under the red flag!" Quinn said to him.

"Wonder if he would have won if he had not had to go back to the end of the lead lap," Joe answered.

"And continued with a damaged right front fender. One of those things we'll never know."

"And having that view! I hope I didn't get spoiled getting to watch that race from there."

"Speaking of views, did you see the one from my room, from Zander's bedroom? I can hardly believe that bedroom belonged to a 10-year-old. Have you ever seen the like?"

Joe grinned, and shook his head. "Not in all my many years."

"Almost seems like a waste," she said.

"Yeah, I imagine certain teen-aged girls might have appreciated it more."

"They would have! I can imagine those girls, too, quite well!" she laughed. "I tried to imagine my parents separating. How they would handle it. But I can't imagine how they would handle it, because I can't imagine them separating. I hope it's not wishful thinking, but I don't believe it is possible."

"Probably not. If it had, it would have been minimal disruption to you and the boys, I would think."

"Does that ever happen? The closest I can think of is Joanna's kids. They live in the same house, go to the same school, the only difference is their father not living there and having to go to his place for visitation. Now she goes out on dates. They have to adjust to that, and someday maybe to new stepparents."

"Zander and Peter didn't get that, at least. But the rest of it was so very disruptive. Mainly the cut-off from a parent is the worst. This whole case makes me a believer in that."

"If nothing else," Quinn answered. "How do you trust anybody with that in your history?"

"There's got to be a way. Believe in it."

"Two things happened," Jax told the ELQ Board at its next meeting. "Barrington's corporation, of which they own a third themselves and a third through other companies they control, had the remaining third scattered among different shareholders, but now one single corporation has bought up that previously scattered third. They don't control, of course, the Barringtons still do, but they own a solid one third block."

"It doesn't sound as if it will make any significant difference," Ned observed.

"No. Something to keep an eye on, that's all," Jax replied.

Edward Quartermaine growled a bit. "What is the name of this company?"

"It is a new Delaware Corporation, called Pexander, and the owners appear to be three Florida corporations, one Dutch Limited Company and one Russian Joint Venture."

"It still sounds like trouble to me," answered the ever-conservative Edward. "Check it out some more."

"A few years ago, the Quartermaines had to buy 60 of their own shares or lose control," Alexis was explaining to Sergei, jogging in the park. "When Jasper Jax tried to buy more than 50, it caused a rally in which Corinthos tried to do the same thing. In the end, it shook out that the Quartermaines owned 60, Jax 20 and Corinthos 20. Jax continually tries to get Corinthos to sell to him and vice versa."

"So this Jerry Jax has little to do with his brother."

"Not that I can see. Jerry owns his land and building. As to Kelly's, the Spencers own their land and building. I am getting Jerry interested, I think. The Spencers I'll work on next. If they will sell their underlying land to Alter Corporation in return for a guaranteed low rent and a franchising opportunity, then you can move in and squeeze out the mob. Jerry doesn't admit to paying them anything, but he's right there in their territory. Not having to pay them is a boon he will get later, which will really get him on your side."

"Good work."

"It's a great plan! Did I tell you I love this plan?"

Sergei laughed. "It is more fun than beating the Russians out of Daytona."

"How was your date with Glen?" Quinn asked Joanna, during a lull on the swing shift.

"Pretty good. He pressures me though. I would like to cool it for awhile."

"Pressures you for what?"

"To spend the night, you know. The kids. I don't feel comfortable."

"Tell him to take a hike. If he cares about you he can understand that for awhile, I would think!"

"Well, I can see his point. I have to get past all that I guess, if I'm going to get anywhere. And if you can believe it, Charlie already makes noises like he thinks I shouldn't go out! Like where does he get off?"

"How did he say that?"

"Just his little insinuations. You might not think he was doing it but I know him and I know he's doing it. His little comments about how I am not there, so he should have the kids that weekend. Well, most people like to do dating on the weekend! Does he really stay home every other weekend?"

"What if he dated when he had the kids? Had some woman stay over? Or had a babysitter while he stayed with her?"

"He has more time for that, with no kids."

"True enough."

"I haven't been tested, because I haven't become aware of any girlfriend. I guess he is not into dating much, or he hasn't found anyone who will put up with him longer than one date. But these men out there today! They are so much more pushy! How can you stand it? Can't they wait a little longer?"

"Depends on the man, I guess. I have the reverse problem. Though I would rather have it than the pressure too soon. You know how I'd take that!"

"How is that? The reverse problem?"

"The day after the race, we were on the beach all day - you would not believe some of the stuff there - but I'll tell you later so I can get to my point. When it was dark, we were out walking on the beach. Moonlight, and everything you could ask for as to being totally romantic. The water came up around our ankles we were paying so little attention."

"Well, and so, what happened?"

"Nothing. I mean, nothing more. I was a little let down – not really – no I mean, more, I only wanted to keep on, and, well, it was the beach, and the house there, so big, and his room looked out onto the ocean, where I was staying, and it was so romantic out there in the dark, the wind, the moon, and you could hear the waves. You could hear them from in that room. I was - I wanted him to – I just thought that was when –"

"Well, I don't know," Joanna answered, rescuing Quinn from this description, "If it is only based on this one incident, you may not have this so called problem."

"How do you figure that?"

"Say you were in your backyard. At your folks' house. The two of you. He sweeps you off your feet and carries you up to your room – you know, the one with the pom-poms from high school, and your high school yearbooks, and you frilly bedspread, and your keep sake dolls and photos of the high school cheerleading squad?"

"No. That would not be good."

"Not real romantic."

"It would make me nervous. Where did you get this idea? No way! That place is like a resort! Right on the ocean. In the sun set – the sun sets the wrong way, but it's still beautiful. There's a pool, even though the house is right on the beach! Tennis courts. An open upper deck, you can stand on and look out over the ocean."

"It's a weird place to feel that way about all right, yet he could have."

"I guess you're right. Why didn't I think of that? He gave me his very room. It's been redecorated, I guess Sergei was there awhile. Still, that's his childhood room. What a room for a kid!"

"Still it's the same to him as your room with the pom-poms!"

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Joanna. I was feeling half rejected. That house is so fancy, and so modern, and so - not a house you grow up in, that I overlooked that completely."

"Wasn't his dad there? Wasn't Joe there?"

"You can't imagine the size of this place. They were far away. Like in another room at the same hotel."

"I still sympathize with Zander, here. Joe in the same house, even if it were a hotel resort. He could take it in his head to come say good night to you. And a guy is a guy. He'd rather show Joe he is looking out for you, by like, not being there. And believe me, half-rejected, is the most you'll ever do."

"Oh, Joanna! Thank you. But Joe does not treat me like I am a kid. But what childhood home! What a crazy life Zander has had!"