This is a flashback in Jim's POV: He's going to reveal a time when the usually quiet Brian Belden showed a spark of violence – shocking, is it not?
"I cannot believe you just did that!"
Trixie Frayne gave her husband a quick swipe on the upper arm as she pulled him away from the great room of Manor House. She had caught him as he was trying to disturb Honey, his adopted sister, and Brian, her oldest brother, who had fallen asleep while snuggled up together watching a movie. "They aren't teenagers making out on the couch, Jim."
"No, but they aren't married yet, either," he said with a mischievous grin. "Am I not allowed to protect my sister's honor?"
"Hmm. Sounds more like you just want to start trouble."
"If I start it, will you finish it?" Jim could hear his own voice dip suddenly deeper with the beginnings of lust, and he noticed the pulsepoint at the base of Trixie's throat quiver in reaction to it.
"Why, Mr. Frayne, I'm sure I don't have the faintest idea what you mean." She batted her eyes innocently in conjunction with the sticky-sweet fake southern accent that dripped like honey from her pouting lips. It made him wish they were alone in the house.
"I'm sure I could enlighten you later on tonight." He said with raised brows. The tall redhead opened the door to the veranda, allowing his wife to pass through first, and then he impulsively patted her bottom gently when he stepped out behind her. Such bold intimacy was not usually his style. He knew it would surprise her.
"Add that to the list of things I can't believe about you today!" Trixie teased with a mock look of incredulity. "You, sir, are out of control."
With a stifled giggle, the petite blonde woman turned back to face him, stepped closer, and met his lips quickly with her own.
It was almost too difficult for them to have to break the kiss when they heard the sound of approaching footsteps from inside the mansion.
"Jim? Jim, dear? Are you and Trixie still here?"
Having all the appearances of one who had just stepped out of a high end fashion magazine, Mrs. Madeleine Wheeler strolled out onto the veranda and clasped her hands together delightedly at the sight of the couple.
"Ah! There you are! I was hoping you were still here. Jim, I am terribly late to meet Matthew for dinner, but I simply cannot find my ostrich skin journal. Do you, by chance, recall seeing it in your father's office? I dare not go to my book club meeting tomorrow without it."
"I think you left it in the dining room, Mrs. Wheeler," Trixie offered.
"Oh, Trixie, dear, how many times have I told you? It's perfectly alright for you to call me Mother, now." She patted her daughter-in-law on the shoulder and beamed proudly at her. "And, I am certainly lucky to have you around to help me, lately. Yes, I did have my journal in the dining room. How brilliant of you to remember!"
The kind and polished woman excused herself and quickly darted back into the house to seek out her possession.
"She really means that, you know." Jim said softly to his bride. "I don't know what she'll do without you here when the house is finished. Especially with Honey about to move out, too."
He thought of the unexpected bond between Trixie and his mother, which had recently formed in the months since they began living at Manor House to save money during the construction of their own home at Ten Acres. Jim knew the two women were really nothing alike, but their common love for him seemed to be enough for them to have built a strong relationship upon. It made his heart soar to know that the important women in his life cared as much about each other as they did about him.
"Well, it's not like we'll be moving far away, or anything." Trixie grinned. "She can visit us every day, if she likes."
Jim gave her a grimace and narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah…I don't think that would be such a good idea. I mean…we might be a little…busy."
With that, he grabbed her close and tried to resume the kiss his mother had interrupted. But, Trixie playfully put a finger to his lips to stop him.
"So, it's okay for you to bother Brian and Honey, but no one should bother us?"
"Precisely! Hey, they're just engaged. We're married. We can do it all over the house if we want to."
Jim could see the mixture of amusement and shock on Trixie's face and it made him almost giddy.
"What's gotten into you today? Not that I'm complaining, but…really, Jim. Mr. Honorable, himself!"
He leaned down, nuzzled his face into the soft joining of her neck and shoulder, and kissed his way up to whisper into her ear.
"I'm just excited about all my dreams coming true."
As if he'd felt a surge of lightning in his soul, Jim let his own words sink in. All of his dreams were, indeed, coming true.
After only a year and a half of marriage, Jim and Trixie had already opened a children's home and a successful private school, were soon to have their own custom-built home, and they had just discovered that morning that they were expecting their first child together.
He clasped his wife tighter and breathed in the joy of her body against his. The pure warmth and comfort of her presence, mixed with the knowledge of their tiny, tiny baby within her, filled him to overflowing. He couldn't stop himself from smiling.
"I'm so glad you're happy." Trixie breathed into his neck.
Detecting the slight touch of sadness in her voice, Jim pulled away to look down at her.
"Sweetheart, aren't your dreams coming true, too?"
"Of course. Your dreams are my dreams." Trixie moved away and sat down on a lounge chair. Jim noticed the ease with which she sat, and he wondered how long it would be before the small bump of her abdomen grew large enough to make sitting uncomfortable. Her smile told him that she meant what she said, but the furrow in her freckled brow made him aware that something was troubling her spirit.
"Is it the detective agency? You and Honey really don't have to give it up, you know…I mean…I never asked you to, and I'm sure Brian isn't going to expect Honey to just…"
"It isn't that," Trixie interrupted. She let out a long sigh and turned glistening eyes toward the man she loved. "Honey and I are ready to put all that aside and start our futures with our husbands." She smiled and gave a sort of little laugh while briefly touching her nearly flat stomach. "I think we outgrew our old dreams and got ourselves some new ones."
Jim sat down beside her and covered her hands with his own.
"Then what is it? Why so sad?"
Trixie's lips trembled as she fought to make her words express her thoughts.
"He never got to see any of his dreams realized. I just feel… guilty. It doesn't seem right that we're all so happy when Dan…" She couldn't finish the sentence. Couldn't say the truth. Wouldn't say that their friend was dead. Instead, she leaned forward and rested her forehead on Jim's chest awkwardly.
"It just doesn't seem…fair." She whispered.
Jim had, of course, been feeling the same sense of guilt, but he knew Dan wouldn't have wanted that for them. The tough teen from New York City had been the closest thing to a brother Jim had ever known. And, truly, he had wrestled with the concept of "why him, and not me?" But, in the five years since Dan succumbed to cancer, Jim had learned that living in the legacy of happiness his friend had wanted to leave for those he loved was more important than dwelling on despair.
"If you think for one minute Dan Mangan believed life was fair then you didn't know him very well." Jim said gently.
The immediacy of Trixie's eyes flying up to meet his told Jim that she was stunned by his words.
"You…you sound like Hallie."
"Good. She would be the one who'd know what Dan would have wanted."
Jim tightened his hold on his wife's hands and pulled her up with him to stand at the white railing of the veranda's edge.
"Believe me, there's not a day that goes by that I don't miss him, too. But, our petty little dreams down here couldn't possibly compete with what he's got going on up there."
He pointed up over the railing and beyond the sloping hillside where a beautiful sunset was lighting the sky on fire.
"Heaven is the stuff that dreams are made of," he said with a catch in his voice.
In response to that, Trixie wrapped her arms around him and clung to him with a desperation that he understood all too well. Jim could feel her releasing all sadness and fears in the quiet tears she poured out against him. They mingled with his own.
From pure joy to sadness to joy again, Jim was struck by the amazing roller coaster of emotion his life had become that day. But he didn't regret a minute of it. As if Dan had stepped up beside him and brought him some divine wisdom from beyond the grave, a sudden sense of peace suddenly engulfed Jim. Stealing away the guilt, and replacing it with love.
The next day…
"I knew it! I told Honey I thought Trixie was pregnant!" Brian Belden clapped his brother-in-law on the shoulder and gave him a wide grin. "Are you going to want to know what it is?" The two men were drinking coffee in the great room at Manor House and discussing the exciting news.
"Slow down, man. You know we won't be able to find that out for a while, yet." Jim could tell Brian was very enthusiastic about this.
"Sorry, I'm just so happy for you two. I know it wasn't part of your plan right now, but seriously, if everyone waited until they were ready, then no one would ever have kids. Is Trixie happy about it or is she disappointed that it happened so soon?"
"Oh, you know your sister. She's always feeling a million things at once. I think she's ready for this, but she feels a little bit guilty, too."
Brian looked completely confused by that statement.
"Guilty?"
"Yeah…it's um…kind of …a Dan thing. And, with you and Honey about to get married, and Mart and Di so happy together, I think she's also worried about Hallie feeling…well…left out."
Jim could tell that Brian understood.
"I see. But I think Hallie's too busy right now to even think about being lonely. She's been helping Di with her interior decorating jobs and taking on some freelance mural painting on the side."
"Is she still dealing art for Nick Roberts at his gallery downtown?"
"I'm sure she is. She's been keeping herself pretty busy. I guess it helps with…moving on. But, I don't think she's even really gone out with anybody else since she dated Tad Webster for that short time a few years ago."
Jim felt a jolt to his system as he put his mug down and stared at his brother-in-law.
Brian doesn't know? I thought everyone knew Hallie was seeing Regan.
"Brian, when was the last time you saw Hallie?" Jim asked cautiously.
"Hmmm. I don't know. I guess it's been a few months. You know I don't get to leave the hospital much these days, why?"
Should I be the one to tell him this? Jim questioned himself.
He wasn't sure how to broach the topic with Brian, since he knew that Trixie had only just come to terms with the odd romantic pairing. To him, the match made sense. But, others in their social circle seemed to still be shocked at the idea. He wondered to himself; was it the eight years difference in their ages that bothered them? Or did it seem like a betrayal of Dan's memory?
Jim felt like he knew Brian very well, yet he honestly had no idea how the man would react to Hallie's relationship with Regan. He drew in a long breath and decided to test the waters.
"What would you say if I told you that Hallie has been seeing someone new?"
"Hey, if he makes her happy, I'd say that's great! Did Trixie tell you she's found someone?"
"Actually, um…you could say that." Jim hadn't intended for it to come out so cryptic.
Seeming to understand that Jim was hesitant to reveal the identity of Hallie's new beau, Brian shifted in his seat to get a better view of his brother-in-law and raised his eyebrows at him.
"Why do you say it like that? Is he not someone she should date?"
Oh boy, how do I answer that?
"Personally, I think he's perfect for her." Jim said honestly.
"So, Trixie doesn't like him, then." Brian guessed.
"Mmm. I wouldn't say that. She likes him, but she was a little shocked that Hallie would pick him."
A look of intrigue flashed across Brian's face.
"Do I know him?" He asked slowly with narrowed eyes.
"Yeah, you know him…" Jim felt as if he had backed himself into a corner, and he now had only one way to go. He hesitated again.
"Well, who is it?"
Jim opened his mouth to say the name when a strange look of understanding seemed to overtake Brian's face. The dark haired man's eyes suddenly opened wider and his jaw set tightly.
"Oh my Gosh! It's Regan!" Brian looked stunned at his own revelation. "I think she must have been trying to tell me the last time I saw her." He covered his mouth with his hand in disbelief and then let his fingers slide off slowly while his eyes took on a glassy look of contemplation.
"Jim, I just don't feel right about that." Brian confessed.
"Look, I know it seems weird, but…"
"No, I really don't think this is right!" Brian jumped up off the couch and started for the front door.
"Where are you going?"Jim asked quickly.
"I have to talk to Regan about this."
Jim felt a wave of panic rise in him at the thought of Brian inciting a shouting match with the hot-tempered Bill Regan.
"Wait!" Jim shouted after his friend. But, it was too late. Brian was already out the door and halfway to the stables by the time Jim could get near enough to him to say anything more.
When he entered the barn behind his brother-in-law, Jim stopped short at what he saw. Brian had interrupted what seemed to be a completely innocent kiss between the tall groom and the raven haired Hallie Belden.
Before anyone could speak or do anything to stop it, the most unlikely thing happened. Brian lunged forward, pushing Hallie aside, and then slammed his fist directly into Regan's jaw. The sound shook Jim from his momentary loss of movement.
"Brian! What are you doing?" Jim cried out, pulling back on the young man.
"Bill!" Hallie shrieked with concern.
As if the big man had known this moment would come, Bill surprised Jim by simply holding up his hands in a surrendering fashion and letting out a winded chuckle.
"Well, I guess that answers my question about how you were going to feel when you found out about us."