Author's Note:
I hope everyone's weekend is going well. My first week at the new job was different from any job I've ever had before but I'm optimistic that I will enjoy it after I get used to being there. Anyway, thanks to everyone who read the last chapter and to those who left reviews! I appreciate hearing what you think so far! So, enjoy and have a great weekend! God bless!
Chapter Three
Frank looked at his hands as he waited for Hannah to explain more about the history of the Winslow. It blew his mind that Nancy's mother's family founded the theater yet she never told him about it. He was sitting at the island as Hannah was preparing tea for the two of them. When she was done, she placed a mug in front of him then stood on the opposite side of the island ready to tell more.
"I'm sorry that I bit your head off, Frank," Hannah replied. "You know how it's been the past few years. You two have been through so much and I thought maybe you had another fight."
"It's all right, Hannah," he replied after taking a sip of tea. "I know it's been rough but we haven't had a fight in a long time. This just took me completely by surprise. We agreed not to take any case no matter what but I have a feeling that if I don't, Nancy is going to do it herself and I don't want that."
"You're in a pickle, aren't you?" she laughed. "I wouldn't put it past her to go behind your back, Frank. It's important to her since it's the last remaining place she has besides this house with memories so strong. See, the theater was founded by the Winslow family back in the early part of the twentieth century. Nancy is the last remaining family member. Kate was an only child as was her mother whose name actually was Winslow. About 50 years ago, the theater fell into disrepair and the family had no choice but to sell it. They sold it to the town for a small price and it wasn't until the 80s that River Heights actually did anything with it. A board of regents was formed and one of the first members was Kate's mother who passed it along to her daughter when she died. Kate was a part of it for years before she met and married Carson. At one point, she was even the chairman – or woman in this case – of the board until her death. Kate spent a lot of time there as did Nancy as a child and when Kate suddenly died, Carson automatically took over duties though he was not the chairman. That fell to another person.
"Julia Stein has been on the board since the beginning as well and she is the current chairwoman," Hannah continued while Frank listened intently. "It's not surprising that Julia called Nancy since it still holds a special place in her heart due to the fact that both her parents were on the board at one point. Julia's mother personally knew the Winslows who built the theater so it's not surprising that she doesn't want the theater to be destroyed. It really is a beautiful building."
"If it was so important to Nancy," Frank asked, "why didn't she ever speak of it?"
"Think about it, Frank," she said wisely. "Carson died almost three years ago and then everything happened with Ned then Janice Blake. Beside you said you always hated the theater so why would she bother telling you about her history with the Winslow?"
"I never said I hated the theater," he grumbled. She gave him a look. "Okay, that's not entirely true but I wouldn't have minded it if she told me. Besides, I think Mrs. Stein is hellbent on getting me on the stage to perform after hearing that I can actually sing. I've never actually performed as a solo act before."
"Then don't," Hannah shrugged. "Taking the case doesn't necessarily mean you have to perform even though I'm sure people wouldn't mind hearing you. Especially your mother, I hear."
"I'm not that good."
"That's not what Nancy tells me," she said smirking. Frank looked at her shocked. "I say take the case and just be careful. It might be something easy and straightforward for all you know."
Frank sighed, thinking. Now that he knew of the importance the theater was to Nancy, he had to take it for her sake. He also felt he had to lay a few ground rules for her before taking the case. "You're right, Hannah," he finally said, rising from his chair.
"I know," she smiled. "Now go talk to Nancy and I'll have dinner for you by the time you're done."
Frank nodded then left the room to go upstairs. As he stood outside their bedroom door, he could hear sniffling coming from the other side.
"Nancy?" he said softly, knocking on the door. Frank tried the door, finding it unlocked and stepped into the room.
She was curled up on the bed, her back to the door. Although Nancy didn't acknowledge Frank he could tell she was paying attention as to where he was. Frank closed the door behind him and went over to the bed. As he knelt down onto the bed, he could feel her stiffening up from his presence.
"I'm sorry, Nan," he replied softly. Frank touched her arm gently and she looked over her shoulder at him, her face splotchy from crying. "I…I didn't know how much this theater meant to you."
"Hannah told you," Nancy mumbled. She wiped her face with her hand and rolled over the rest of the way to face him. Frank laid down beside her, pulling her close to his body.
"Yeah, she did," he smiled. "You could have said something. I would have understood."
"You didn't give me the chance, Frank."
He shifted to be able to look down at her and sighed. "I guess you're right on that," he replied with a shake of his head. "We need to work on our communication skills, don't we?"
"I think so." Nancy narrowed her eyes and he laughed.
"I'm just a little on edge lately, Nan," Frank said. "We have no idea where Janice Blake is and now that David is acting weird, I feel like something is coming that we just can't see. But then again, there's probably nothing to worry about and the only thing we should be thinking about is bringing our child into the world."
"What a pair we make," she replied with a smile. Nancy leaned in for a kiss and the two remained that way for a little while before breaking apart. "What would I ever do without you?"
"You'd be bored," he laughed. Frank sighed and looked into his wife's eyes. "Do you really want to take the case?"
Nancy gazed deeply into his dark eyes. What she saw was love and compassion but she also saw a hint of trepidation which made her wonder. "I do," she finally said, placing her hand on his cheek. "But you need to tell me what's going on in your mind first."
Frank looked away, slowly rising into a sitting position. "I…I just don't want anything to happen to you or our baby," he stammered. "Losing either one of you would destroy me."
"This isn't like the last time, Frank," Nancy said softly, rising to meet him. She turned his head toward her. "There's no Janice Blake or Ned Nickerson or Jack Treyford waiting in the shadows. It's probably someone who wants or needs the money or maybe even someone who doesn't want the theater to be destroyed, which sounds odd but it has happened before. It might be easy or it might be hard. We won't know until we meet with Julia in the morning."
He narrowed his head, staring at her for a moment. "You were going to take the case without me, weren't you?"
Nancy blushed and looked away. "Maybe." He scoffed at her though she ignored it. "How about we take the case and if you feel that it's getting too dangerous for me then, I'll sit it out for the remainder of the time. Agreed?"
"No," Frank said flatly taking her by surprise. She blinked at him as his face turned serious. "I think you need to sit this one out from the start."
"What? No!" she cried shaking her head vigorously. Nancy scrambled off the bed to stand over him. "This…this is too important to me, Frank! You can't put me on the sidelines! It's not fair!"
"Yes, I can, Nan!" he cried back. "You heard what the doctor said! You said it yourself not long ago! No stress, no cases, no nothing that could endanger you or the baby! He could put you on bed rest at any given moment especially if anything spikes abnormally. I'm sorry but the only way for us to take this case is if you're not on it. That's my final word."
Nancy glared at him, her lips pursed. She hated to admit it but he was right. Her most recent doctor visit was evident enough and Frank was there to hear it. The doctor was worried about Nancy with her blood pressure elevated. She knew she had to take it easy but it was hard for her since the theater was one of the last places her parents were a part of.
"Fine," she finally sighed, rolling her eyes. Nancy held up a finger. "But you have to do something in return."
"Name it."
"Don't do this alone," she warned. "It may be an easy case but you always should have backup."
Frank sighed seeing the determination in his wife's face. Truth be told, he already had someone in mind. He grinned at her and she grinned back. It seemed she had the same idea.
Joe drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, impatiently waiting for his turn. He hated waiting. It just seemed like it was a useless part of his life that was now turning into an unending monotonous routine.
Finally the car in front of him moved and he inched his way closer to where he wanted to be only to stop feet away. He groaned leaning his head back against the headrest. Joe never really understood what took people so long in ordering their food. Closing his eyes, he relished the peace within himself and his car, blocking out all noise. Then reality hit him like a ton of bricks.
William screamed in pain from the backseat. Two-year-old CJ looked out the window, trying his best to look innocent. Vanessa turned around yelling at their oldest son from the front seat and Joe just sat massaging the bridge of his nose.
"Lord, save me from this misery!" he muttered. His wife must have heard him for she whipped around to face him, her steel grey eyes burning with fury.
"I go through this every day, Joseph Hardy!" Vanessa screeched. She punched him in the arm, a loud "ow" escaping his mouth. Joe inched the car forward, reaching the speaker to place their order while Vanessa continued to berate him. "You're not pregnant! I have to deal with these two, plus the house, our meals, cleaning, and have yet another baby growing inside me! You want to complain again, do it outside and away from me!"
"Can…can I take your order please?" replied a timid voice from the speaker.
"Yeah, do you know where I can get some sanity?" Joe joked resulting in another hit from Vanessa. "Ow! Jeez! Never mind, can I get two chicken nugget Happy Meals for two unhappy kids; a grilled chicken salad and a bottle of water for my pissed-off, pregnant wife, and large quarter pounder meal with a Coke for my wretched self. Oh, wait, you wouldn't happen to have beer, would you?"
"Sorry, sir," the worker replied with a small chuckle. "Although I wish we did sometimes."
The worker read off the total and within a few minutes the family was driving off toward home after a long day out. William finally calmed down but it wasn't until the Hardy family got home that Joe and Vanessa found out why he cried. As Joe opened the sliding door to the minivan, a small car fell out onto the pavement. He also saw a large welt growing on the side of William's head. Joe shook his head as he looked over at CJ who gave him a big smile as if nothing happened.
As Joe walked William inside their house, he wondered how they were going to handle yet another boy with the two they currently had. If he was getting this frustrated with just being with them for a day, Joe couldn't imagine how his wife's days were. Vanessa silently walked hand-in-hand with CJ and once the two little boys were in their highchair and booster seat, Joe went back outside to get the shopping bags, diaper bag, and lunches while Vanessa stayed inside with the kids.
After several trips back and forth, Joe was finally able to get close to his meal though the family was already eating without him. He watched his sons eat in their respective places, each one a good distance apart from the other so mischief could be managed without much of a headache. CJ ate his food willingly like the perfect angel he wasn't just moments before while William seemed to be taking great pleasure in dumping his food on purpose onto the floor though some of it did manage to get into the child's mouth. Vanessa sat quietly eating her salad, seemingly ignoring the squawks coming from William's mouth, her eyes distant just like a tired mother would be after a long day.
Joe plopped down into the chair, his bag of food sitting in front of him. He looked over at Vanessa who seemed to be ignoring him just as much as she was ignoring their sons.
"Are you going to stop William from throwing food on the floor?" Joe asked though he immediately regretted the question.
Vanessa's eyes moved up to glare at him, her head never moving. Without a word she rose from her seat, taking her salad with her and left the room. Joe watched her go knowing she was still mad at him for the remark in the drive thru. He sadly went back to his food though his burger was lukewarm at best and the fries had lost their crisp, sagging between his fingers like wilted flowers. Still he ate the food, famished from the day all the while watching William. The toddler grinned at him just before dumping the rest of his food onto the floor. The tired father closed his eyes and dropped his head onto the kitchen table with a loud thud.
For what seemed like minutes, Joe tuned out the sounds of his sons trying to think of another place he could be. It wasn't until he felt a gentle poke that he realized he had fallen asleep. Someone poked him again and he shifted.
"Wha?" Joe grumbled lifting his head. Vanessa snickered at him though he didn't know why. It was in this moment that he realized there was peace in the kitchen. He looked around the room to see the highchair and booster both empty and cleaned up as if the boys were never there making a mess. Joe looked up at his wife confused.
"They're in bed, Joe," Vanessa replied softly, answering his silent question. "It's 7:30 at night. Have you been sleeping this whole time?"
"I guess I have," he mumbled, rubbing his face. A french fry fell onto the table that had been stuck to his face. The burger sat half-eaten in front of him, the amazing aroma of cooked beef long gone. Vanessa stood over him, smiling softly. "I'm sorry, babe," Joe replied pulling her close.
"I know you are," she said, looking into his blue eyes. "I'm sorry too. It just gets so frustrating to be alone all the time with the boys. I just really need you to step in once in a while."
"Maybe we should rethink the whole daycare situation for them," Joe replied. "They need to be around other kids not just each other. Besides, you'd be able to go back to work too…if you want to, that is."
"I do," Vanessa nodded. She rubbed her belly gently, thinking. "I think you're right about the daycare. It will give me a break too after this one's born."
Joe stood up and kissed his wife. The peace of the room made it easier for them to just go with the flow. That is until Joe's phone went off and he grumbled.
"Sorry," Vanessa grimaced. "I forgot to tell you that your phone's been going off for the past hour or so. I think it's Frank. It must be important if he's trying to get a hold of you. Hopefully it's not an emergency."
"Nah," he shook his head. "He would have called Dad first and then Dad would have called me." Joe sighed again. "We'll talk more later, Van. Okay?"
"Okay," she nodded and kissed his forehead. Then she plucked a fry from his hair and held it up to show him with a raised eyebrow before walking away. Joe laughed as he finally answered the phone before it was sent to voicemail.
"Yeah, Frank," he said.
"Jeez, Joe, where've you been?" his brother cried. "I've been calling for hours!"
"I fell asleep, okay?" Joe replied rolling his eyes. "If it was such an emergency, you should have called Dad."
"I did call Dad," Frank stated. "I had to make sure it way okay before talking to you."
"Make sure what was okay?"
"I have a case…"
"But I thought you were taking a break with Nancy," Joe interrupted.
"Will you let me finish?"
"Oh, sorry. Brainfart."
"A case popped up and Nancy is sitting it out," Frank explained.
"How'd you do that?" Joe asked surprised.
"It was easy," his brother replied with a chuckle. Joe could hear Nancy in the background and laughed when he heard her smack Frank, grateful that it wasn't him for once. "Okay, it wasn't like she was a pushover. I made an agreement with her that I wouldn't do it alone. So…are you up for a case? Dad said you were free for now since Stacy is on vacation."
Suddenly Joe heard a screaming baby and Vanessa calling out to him. He groaned and rolled his eyes, already knowing his answer. "I'll be on the next flight."