Chapter 8:
Oakdale District Attorney's office 10:30 am
It's been a week since Tom found out that what Jill had told him about seeing what happened between Doc and Margo was all a lie, that Margo had told him the truth that night he confronted her then walked out on her. But what was really eating at Tom was the fact that he found out that his wife is pregnant and she couldn't bring herself to tell him. During the past week, Doc was found guilty by a jury of raping Cami Gaborik. Doc was also facing additional charges of assault, but decided to plead no contest to those charges of assaulting Margo. Margo had left town and was in Martha's Vineyard, spending time with John while he was on vacation.
Ever since Tom found out about Margo's pregnancy and the truth about what happened, he's wanted to find her and talk to her about this. He's been reeling and beating himself up over what he had done to Margo—not giving her the benefit of the doubt, walking out on her, and even going so far as serving her with separation papers. His wanting and needing to see her for himself has all but consumed him to the point where Tom made the decision to go against the advice that Bob and Hal had given him and try to track Margo down. It was also bothering him knowing that Margo was out there—somewhere, alone and pregnant—and it was his fault. Tom was also having a hard time dealing with not knowing how Margo and the baby were doing, considering the status of her pregnancy. This situation had bothered him to the point to where he left Chris's bachelor party early because he didn't feel in any kind of a celebratory mood.
Tom started trying to find any idea of where Margo had gone to by first calling Andy. Andy told Tom that he had been out of the country for the past two months on assignment and wasn't aware of what was going on. After talking with Andy, Tom tried calling Duke in New Jersey. Duke told Tom the last time he had talked with his sister was a couple of weeks ago and she didn't mention anything to him about leaving Oakdale for any extended period. Duke also told his brother-in-law that Margo was real vague about what was really going on with her. Tom called Lien after speaking with Duke. Lien told her dad that the last time she had spoken with Margo was not long after she received the separation papers and hadn't heard from her since. Next on Tom's list to call was Adam out in Los Angeles. Adam told Tom that he had spoken with his mom the morning she left Oakdale. He informed his Tom that she didn't tell him where she was going, but did tell him that she was going to get away from everything for a while. Tom replied by asking if Margo flew out to Los Angeles. Adam told him that he had been extremely busy working on a project and taking a class. Adam asked Tom why he was looking for her after he walked out on her. Tom informed Adam of what happened in court the week before and that Margo's pregnant—about four to five months along at that point. Adam informed him that she wasn't out in Los Angeles. Tom tried calling John, only to reach his voicemail stating that he was going to be out of town for a month on vacation and that he would be back the week before classes start at Harvard Medical School. Tom left a message for him asking if he had heard from Margo at all and that it was urgent.
After leaving John a message, Tom calls Lyla.
"Hello?" Lyla replies as she answers the phone.
"Hi, Lyla. It's Tom. I know I am the last person you expect to hear from." Tom states.
"Is everything alright there in Oakdale?" Lyla asks.
"No, it's not. I was wondering if you have talked with Margo at all lately." Tom asks.
"No. The last time I talked with Margo was three weeks ago, after her last doctor's appointment. What's going on, Tom?" Lyla asks.
'You probably know by now that I walked out on Margo. I thought Margo was lying to me about something that happened between her and another man. An employee at the country club told me that she had seen Margo "making out" with another man. I confronted her on it and ended up walking out on her. I found out last week in court that this employee had lied to me about what she had seen. She told me what really happened and even handed me a video tape from the surveillance camera that she had stolen. On top of that, she told me about Margo being pregnant and that she didn't know if she would ever be able to tell me. I need to talk to Margo and now she's not in town. I was wondering if you have any possible idea where she might be." Tom states.
"What about Casey? Margo wouldn't just leave town like that." Lyla replies.
"Casey moved out, too. He's been staying with me this entire time. Casey told me that he told Margo that he didn't want anything to do with her ever again because of what we thought was the truth." Tom states.
"Margo and I discussed the possibility of her coming out here to Logan for a while and staying with me. That was a couple of months ago. Her plans changed when the situation with Dr. Bartlett wanting her to terminate the pregnancy arose. She hadn't said anything to me since about leaving town for a while." Lyla states.
"I know about the situation with Dr. Bartlett. My dad told me. He went with her to an appointment with Dr. Samuels so that Margo could get a second opinion. Dr. Samuels was able to refer her to another doctor and that terminating the pregnancy was extreme. My dad said that Margo and the baby are going to have to be closely monitored. Right now, I just need to find Margo and talk to her." Tom implies.
"Have you tried talking to Adam, Katie, John, or Craig?" Lyla asks.
"I spoke with Adam. He told me that he had spoken with Margo the morning she left. She didn't tell him where she was going. Adam told me that Margo's not in Los Angeles. I left a message for John. His voicemail greeting stated he was on vacation right now but didn't say where he was going. Katie's been in Paris for the last three months for the magazine, so I doubt she would know anything—let alone have talked to Margo. Craig—all I know with him is that around the time I walked out on Margo, they had a serious falling out. It had to do with some legal trouble that he had gotten into and he was hoping that Margo would 'pull some strings' to help him get out of it. She refused to do so. I seriously doubt he would know anything, let alone talk to her at all." Tom replies.
"What are you planning on doing next, Tom?" Lyla asks.
"My next plan is to call the airlines that fly in and out of Oakdale and see if Margo had been on any of their flight manifests within the past month and see where that leads." Tom states.
"I will call you if I do hear from Margo. Will you call me when you find out something? The thought of her going through another pregnancy alone scares me. When she was pregnant with Adam, she wasn't sick—this time around, it's a whole different story." Lyla says.
"It scares me, too. I will call you when I find something out and keep you updated." Tom states. "I suppose I should start calling the airlines to see what I can find out. I'll keep you posted."
"I will talk to you soon. Take it easy and don't get yourself all stressed out about this." Lyla says.
"I'll try not to. I'll talk to you soon. Bye." Tom says then hangs up the phone.
After hanging up with Lyla, Tom makes calls to Eastern, Northeast, and Sun Air—only to be told by all three airlines that they would have to get back to him in regard to Margo being listed on any flight manifests out of Oakdale. Just as Tom is finishing his call with Sun Air, Chris and Casey walk into his office.
"What brings you guys here?" Tom asks as he hangs up the phone.
"First of all, you forgot about my follow-up appointment this morning with Dr. Schuller—the hand surgeon—from last week. I ran into Chris at the hospital and he offered to go with me." Casey replies.
"Was that this morning? I'm so sorry I totally forgot about it. What did Dr. Schuller have to say?" Tom asks his son.
"I have to have surgery. The bone that is broken in my hand needs to be reset. Dr. Schuller would like to do surgery and he's looking at next Thursday. He would like to speak with you regarding that." Casey states.
"The surgery will be done on an out-patient basis. There are some things that Dr. Schuller would like to go over with you beforehand, Tom." Chris states.
"I will try to call him this afternoon about this. So, what else is going on—besides the big day being tomorrow?" Tom asks.
"Chris and I went over to the house so I could get Grandpa Chris's pocket watch for the grandfathers' table that he and Ali are going to have set up for the ceremony. Dad, when I went up to my bedroom, I found that all my stuff was packed—except for the clothes that I had left. I found that Daniel's stuff in his room had been packed, too. Everything in the house that had anything to do with us—pictures, our stuff—Mom packed it away. It's like Mom believes we're never coming back." Casey informs his dad.
"What?" Tom asks.
"Dad, when I walked through the living room after coming down from my room, I saw that all the family pictures, pictures of you and mom, Daniel, me, Adam, Lien, they were all packed away. All the pictures, notes, whatever was on the fridge—that was all cleared off. I didn't look in the master bedroom, but it looks like that anything that has to do with us is all packed away." Casey states.
Tom puts his head in his hands and rubs his fingers through his hair.
"Your mom is absolutely convinced our marriage is over." Tom states.
"What do you mean?" Casey asks.
"Your mom signed the separation papers and sent them to me. On top of that, she included her wedding ring and a note. She wrote that she now realizes that you and I don't have any intentions on coming back and that our marriage is over." Tom replies.
"Mom doesn't know what happened in court last week, does she?" Casey asks.
"No. Casey, she doesn't. I found out from Hal that she left town for a while. She told Hal where she was going, but made him promise not to tell me. Apparently, she left town the day before Doc's trial started. On top of that, she told Hal that she didn't want to be around for the wedding. To make matters worse, Hal told me that he encouraged Margo to leave town for a while. He doesn't know when she'll be back." Tom replies.
"Was there anything on the envelope that the papers or the note was in regarding to where Mom might be?" Casey asks.
"No. There was no return address. I called the delivery service to see if they had any information on where it was sent from and they are going to get back to me on that." Tom replies. "I am also waiting to hear back from the airlines to see if your Mom was on any flight manifests out of Oakdale recently."
"Have you talked to John, Adam, or anybody who might have any idea on where she might have gone to?" Chris asks.
"I have already done that. Dad and Hal both suggested that I wait until Margo comes home to try to talk to her. I can't do that. I've got to talk to her now. Who knows? She might decide not to come back to Oakdale until after she has the baby." Tom states. "Adam told me that she called him the morning she left. She didn't say anything to him on where she was going and that she wasn't out in Los Angeles with him. John—he's on vacation right now and I was only able to leave him a voicemail. When I talked to Lyla, she told me that Margo was thinking about going out to Logan, Utah and staying with her for a while—but then the whole thing with Dr. Bartlett came up."
"What about Lien, Andy, Duke, Aunt Katie, and Uncle Craig? Would any of them know anything?" Casey asks.
"Lien told me that when I called her that the last time she spoke to your mom was when she got the separation papers. Andy just got back in the country and didn't know what was going on. Duke told me that he wasn't aware of any plans she had to go out of town and that the last time he talked with her was a couple of weeks ago. Katie's been in Paris for the magazine for the past three months, so I doubt she knows anything. Craig—I doubt he knows anything because he's mad at your mom for not helping him get out of the legal trouble that he's gotten into." Tom replies.
"What about Aunt Cricket?" Casey asks.
"When I talked to Ernie, he said that the last time he can remember Margo calling them was a month ago. Cricket hadn't mentioned anything to him about it. Ernie was going to talk to her and have her give me a call." Tom replies.
"Tom, I think you need a distraction to take your mind off things for a while. We still need to pick up our tuxes for the wedding. Maybe we could go get something to eat, meet up with Dad and hang out for a while before the rehearsal." Chris suggests.
"Dad, come on. We all know how this thing with Mom has been bothering you. It's been bothering me, too. Why don't we go hang out and try to take our minds off things for a while. Tomorrow's going to be a crazy day." Casey states.
"I suppose I can have my calls forwarded to my cell phone. I am waiting to hear back from the airlines to see if your mom was on any of their outbound flights and I haven't even thought about lunch at all." Tom says.
"Then let's go." Chris implies. "Besides, Tom, I know that you've been working a lot lately. You definitely need a break."
"Alright, you talked me into it. Let me let Annette know what's going on and we'll be on our way." Tom states.
Tom walks out of his office momentarily to let his secretary know what's going on. She calls to set up so that Tom's calls are automatically forwarded to his cell phone for the rest of the afternoon.
"I'll see you on Monday. Have a good weekend." Tom says as he walks back into his office.
"You guys all set?" Tom asks his brother and his son.
"We've been waiting for you." Casey implies.
Tom walks out of his office with his son and his younger brother.
Shortly after they leave Tom's office, Tom's cell phone rings.
"Tom Hughes" Tom replies as he answers the phone.
"Mr. Hughes. This is Lainie Alexander from NorthEast Air. I am returning for phone call about Margo Hughes." The voice on the other end of the phone states.
"Hi Lainie. What were you able to find?" Tom asks.
"In going through the flight manifests for the past month. I was able to find a Margo on one of our flight manifests going to Boston. The person's name on the flight manifest was for a Margo Montgomery. The date of this flight was Monday, September 11." Lainie informs Tom.
"Montgomery is her maiden name. Thank you very much." Tom states.
"Is there anything else that I can help you with, Mr. Hughes?" Lainie asks.
"No, that was the information I was looking for. Thank you. Bye." Tom states then hangs up the phone.
"Well, Case. I have an idea where your mom might be." Tom tells his son.
"Where did she go?" Casey asks.
"Somewhere around Boston. They found a Margo Montgomery on a flight on the 11th going to Boston." Tom states.
"Are you going to go to Boston to see what you can find out?" Casey asks.
"I am going to need to call around to some hotels to see if Margo's there. I might try calling John again to see if I can talk to him at all." Tom states.
Oakdale Country Club, site of Chris and Ali's reception. After the wedding, shortly after 9:30 pm.
Tom is standing outside on the patio overlooking the golf course, leaning against the railing. Bob looks out the French doors and walks over towards his oldest son.
"How are you doing, son?" Bob asks.
"I don't know. I really don't feel like being in any kind of a celebratory mood right now, if that's what you're asking." Tom replies. "I'm happy for Chris and Alison, but I needed to be alone for a while."
"We know it's been rough for you lately—finding out the truth about what happened with Margo, finding out about the baby." Bob states.
"And not knowing exactly where she is…" Tom interjects.
"What do you mean by not knowing exactly where she is?" Bob asks.
"You know how you told me I should just wait for Margo to come back to talk to her about this." Tom states.
"Yes, I do. I think that's a good idea. I told you how it might be beneficial to Margo that she's out of town for a while." Bob replies.
"Well Dad, I can't just sit around and wait for her to come back. She could wait to come back until after she's had the baby for all I know. She might not even come back. I started trying to find out where she went. I had to do something. It's been hell knowing that she's out there alone and pregnant and not knowing how she or the baby are doing. I had to do something. I have to talk to her." Tom implies. "I have to know for myself how Margo and the baby are doing with this pregnancy being high risk."
"Tom, Margo might be trying to figure things out right now." Bob states.
"I know that, Dad. Margo might have already figured things out." Tom states.
"What do you mean?" Bob asks.
"Dad, the day that I found out that Jill told me that she lied about what she saw what happen between Margo and Doc and that Margo's pregnant. I went back to my office and Annette handed me an envelope that she told me came while I was in court. I opened it after I got into my office and found out that Margo had signed the separation papers." Tom tells his dad.
"Margo signed the separation papers?" Bob asks, surprised.
"Yes, Dad, she did. Not only that, she included a note with her wedding ring taped to it. She wrote that she realizes that Casey and I have no intentions in coming back, that we don't want anything to do with her ever again. She also wrote that it's going to take some time to accept that our marriage is over and that I don't believe that there is any chance in trying to save our marriage and possibly move on from it. Dad, she honestly believes that our marriage is over. Margo said that she signed the separation papers because it's what I wanted." Tom replies. "I never thought she would actually sign them."
"I'm so sorry to hear that son. I don't know what to say." Bob says.
"I already feel so damn bad for what I did to her and now she's out there alone, believing our marriage is over. I am so worried that something is going to happen to either her or the baby. God knows what's going to happen if something should happen and she loses this baby. You said that the last miscarriage is still bothering her." Tom states.
"First of all, don't think like that. Margo might have left town just to get away from everything for a while. Do you have any idea where she might have gone to?" Bob asks.
"I found out yesterday that she was on a flight out of Oakdale to Boston on September 11. The representative from the airline said that she had found a Margo Montgomery on a flight manifest to Boston. The only reason why I think she would possibly go to Boston is because of John. I tried calling him, but I received his voicemail and he said that he's on vacation for the time being." Tom says.
"Is there a possibility that Margo could have joined John on his vacation?" Bob asks.
"That could be a possibility. The only thing is that I don't know where they would go. John knows about what happened the last time we came back from Cape Cod with the boys." Tom replies.
"If Margo's with John, you know she's in good hands. John's a doctor. He knows her medical history." Bob states.
"I don't know. I am planning on trying to call the travel agents here in town to see if Margo made any arrangements through them on Monday. Actually, there is something that I do need to do. I don't think that Chris and Alison are going to mind if I leave now." Tom states.
"What do you need to do?" Bob asks.
"Casey and Chris came to my office yesterday. I forgot about Casey's appointment with Dr. Schuller and Chris went with Casey to the appointment. Casey told me that he went over to the house to get Grandpa Chris's pocket watch and he found his stuff all packed. Not only was Casey's stuff all packed, so was Daniel's in his room and all the pictures and other family mementos in the living room—all those were packed up too. Casey told me that anything that had to do with me, the kids—anything to do with family, had been packed up. I need to go see that for myself." Tom states.
"I suppose Kim's going to be looking for me, soon. It's been a long day for everybody. Son, remember, don't do anything drastic. There has to be someway that you and Margo can work through this. You have before. Don't give up on that and don't give up on Margo so easily either." Bob states as he tries to reassure his son.
"Thanks, Dad." Tom says as he turns to walk away.
Tom and Margo's house—thirty minutes later.
Tom walks up to the front door from the driveway, seeing that the house is dark. After unlocking the front door, Tom walks over to the alarm panel to disarm it. When he turns on the light—lighting up the kitchen and part of the living room, he sees what Casey had told him. He sees that all the pictures, notes, anything school related for Casey and Daniel had been cleared off from the refrigerator. Tom walks from the kitchen over to the living room and sees that all the pictures of him and Margo from over the years, the boys, Lien, and the rest of the family weren't in their place. He sees that the scrap book that Adam made for him and Margo for their 15th anniversary wasn't on the coffee table, where it usually was. Tom walks over to the desk and sees that the CD's that had their favorite songs weren't there.
Tom goes upstairs. The first room he stops at is Casey's room. He sees that the poster that was on his door was taken down. Tom opens the door to Casey's room and sees the boxes, stacked up against the dresser. He sees that Casey's baseball trophies, pictures, books, CD's, and games had all been packed. He looks in the closet, only to see that it was pretty much empty—except for some clothes that Casey left behind.
Tom walks out of Casey's room, closes the door, and heads over to Daniel's room. When he opens the door, he notices the same thing that he saw in Casey's room—all of Daniel's games, books, CD's, had been packed away and the boxes stacked up next to his dresser. This time, he noticed that Daniel's clothes had even been packed. Tom takes a look around, then walks out of Daniel's room.
After closing the door to Daniel's room, Tom notices that the pictures of the boys that were taken in school were no longer hanging in their place on the wall in the hallway.
Tom walks across the hall and into the master bedroom—the bedroom that he and Margo shared. He turns on the light and the first thing he notices is that the bedding is different—including the comforter. He notices that the quilt that they received as a wedding gift from Nancy was no longer on the foot of their bed. Tom looks around and sees that the pictures of him and Margo aren't on the one dresser by the door. He even notices that his nightstand had been completely cleared off. Tom sits on the bed and looks around. He starts to think about the morning after they found Casey.
Tom remembers sitting on the edge of the bed, with Margo sitting in his lap. They were both watching Casey peacefully sleep after finding him and bringing him home. Tom remembers Margo telling him about how vulnerable he looked sleeping there in their bed and how it reminded her of when Casey was a baby, how them telling Adam that they considered him a hero for acting sick like he did to get Renee to open the door, and watching Casey waking up and mumbling "I'm home."
Tom looks up and sees an open box on the vanity. He gets up off the bed and walks over there, noticing that the box isn't labeled. Tom picks up the box and walks back over to the bed. He starts looking through the contents and sees some of the gifts that he's given to Margo over the years—the locket he gave her on their 9th anniversary with a picture of them and a younger Adam and Casey, a smaller box with the "Dick Tracy" watch he gave her one year that she loved so much, along with the diamond watch he gave her that he had engraved with "Till the end of time" on the back. Tom notices a gift box at the bottom, along with an envelope that was taped to the box. He takes the gift box out of the bigger box and after setting it on the bed, he opens it. He notices that it's the mobile he made for her to hang in her hospital room shortly after they received the news that Margo had contracted Hepatitis C from when she was raped. The mobile had pictures of them together, Adam, Casey, Bob, Kim, Katie, Nancy—anybody who was family. Tom puts the mobile back in the box then takes the envelope off the top. When he opens it, he sees that it's the card in which he wrote, "No matter which way you turn, you're always surrounded by someone who loves you." A tear starts to roll down Tom's cheek when he reads that then his thoughts turn to Margo—being out there somewhere alone and pregnant. "If you only knew how much I still love you, Margo" Tom says to himself.
As he puts the gift box and envelope back into the larger box, Tom notices a black velvet jewelry box. He picks the box up and upon opening it, Tom notices it's the two hearts linked necklace that he gave to Margo for Christmas after she had her liver transplant and Tom thought he was going to lose her. Tom starts to remember the Christmas not quite two years ago.
"Oh my god, it's beautiful." Margo says as she looks at the necklace Tom had just given her.
"You like it? Hey, it's engraved" Tom tells her as Margo looks on the back of the two hearts.
"Ahhh…. forever." She reads what the engraving says out loud.
"Well, that's us—two hearts linked together, forever." Tom replies.
"You know, if you don't kiss me real soon, I'm gonna cry." Margo says as tears are starting to form in her eyes.
"Ahhh, I don't want to ruin your reputation as a tough guy." Tom says as he puts his arms around her and they kiss.
"Merry Christmas" Tom tells her as they part from there kiss.
"Merry Christmas, baby" Margo replies softly. "Your present's at home."
"No, it's not. It's right here. You're the only gift I want. When I thought I was going to lose you, that I would never get to celebrate another Christmas, birthday with you, watch another Monday Night Football game, I felt like a man condemned to life. But miracles do happen. You are here with me and we are together, forever, and that's the only gift I want." Tom tells her.
"Does that mean I have to take your tie back?" Margo asks
"Ahhh…another necktie? I haven't gotten one since, last Christmas." Tom says with a smirk on his face.
"I know it's so old." Margo tells him with tears building up in her eyes "You better kiss me quick."
"Ahhh…. watch out. I thought you didn't want to cry" Tom says.
"I love you so much" Margo says as she puts his arms around him then they kiss.
Tom looks at the back of the necklace, where he had "forever" engraved.
"Hopefully, that can still be us." Tom says to himself.
Tom puts the necklace back into the velvet box then places that box in the box with the other gifts. He gets up off the bed and after wiping a tear away from his eye, he takes the box back over to the vanity where he found it. Tom looks around the room one more time then walks over to the door, turns off the light, and closes the door.
Tom walks down the hallway towards the staircase, turning off the light in the hallway. Just as Tom is coming down the stairs, he hears a key turning in the lock and then the door opening. Tom gets to the bottom of the stairs just as Margo walks through the front door.
"Margo?" Tom says, his voice cracking with emotion….