"Though our communication wanes at times of absence, I'm aware of a strength that emanates in the background."-Claudette Renner

Trenton, Maine:

Phil

I pulled my old red Chevy out of the small lot of the Desert Island Biological Laboratory and headed west on the Old Bar Harbor Road. I knew my route home like the back of my hand but I still had to keep my thoughts in order. The Old Harbor Road was so similar to the Shore Road back in Bayport, I sometimes took the wrong street back to Harbor Lane. Thinking straight was always one of my strong points, but the past few weeks coming up to the fifteen year anniversary was getting my thoughts meshed with the past. Like every year around this time I always thought about them. But eventually as the years past my memories became just blurry reveries that drifted in and out every once in a while.

...

I walked in my apartment door, knowing exactly who was sitting in my living room. I walked right past him and into my kitchen.

"I saw your motorcycle downstairs Joe," I said to him. "Don't act so surprised Joe. I know it's you, and I know you weren't killed in that motorcycle accident, Hope told me all about it."

"What!? That little squealer! She told you!?" Joe exclaimed rushing into the kitchen only to be met by my smug grin. I had my arms folded across my chest and was leaning against the counter.

"Don't worry Joe. She didn't tell anyone else. Your secret's safe with me," I said still unfazed by any of this.

"Why'd she tell you?" Joe asked dumbfounded. I shrugged, "I dunno, probably because I'm the only one she knows who can keep a secret," I replied with a smile. He was still in shock and confusion at what was going on. Then he noticed me staring closely at his face, his eyes. I was concerned at their darkness but didn't say anything. He turned away quickly.

"What's up with you? Aren't you the least bit freaked out by the fact that all of a sudden this guy who supposed to be dead shows up at your home and breaks into your apartment?" Joe said shaking his head.

"I know you hacked into the security system computer. I monitor it, I'm a computer genius remember?" I said gloating sarcastically. Then laughed when he just kept staring at me.

"So you knew I was coming all along?" he guessed. I nodded. Then guided him back to the living room.

"So," I said as I sat back in my seat, "what do you need my help with?"...

...

I stopped the engine when I reached the dirt driveway of my small beach cottage. Walking up the front steps to the porch a gust of warm, salty, sweet Maine air hit me. I glanced out upon the small, sandy dunes and green grasses pushing up through them. The ocean was calm, as usual, and especially blue, a deep emerald tint to it. There isn't a place I'd rather be right now than here.

"Hi there handsome," came the lyrical, honeyed voice of my wife, Lisa from inside the screen door. I turned and walked inside the small inviting house and wrapped her in a warm hug.

"Mmm, hi there beautiful," I said caressing the top of her golden brown head with my chin.

"How was work Phil? Hmm?" she inquired, guiding me to our small white washed kitchen, where she took a seat on one of the mismatched chairs around our blue dining table.

"We got some wonderful skate and lobster specimens out in Salsbury Cove. It felt great to sink my hands into the water. It's a wonderful summer for research, the weather is perfect," I explained, "How was your day?"

"Fine, fine, I miss the kids though," Lisa said. When she said "the kids" I knew exactly who she meant. Lisa is a kindergarden teacher over at Trenton Elementary School.

"Oh I understand honey. But how are you going to make it the whole summer when it's only June and you're already missing work?" I quipped. This made her laugh, her genial, joyful laugh that always made me smile. This is why I married her, for these moments together.

"I'm going to go get changed, what's on the agenda for tonight Lise?" I said making my way to the stairs.

"Oh we're meeting friends at Moose Crossing for dinner," she called up the stairs after me. I stopped halfway up and turned to face her.

"Hmm, haven't been there in a while. Is it a special occasion? Who are we meeting there? Steve and Wendy? Becky and Tom?" I questioned, adjusting the rectangular frames resting on my nose.

"No, no. None of our friends from Trenton Phil. There's someone else here to see us. Oh and I am sure you will be surprised to see them too!" she said, sounding excited.

"Mmm, okay then hon." I said turning back around and heading upstairs to get changed for dinner.

...

"Lisa! Hurry up honey, we're going to be late!" I called up the stairs and saw Lisa emerge from our bedroom. She scurried down the stairs attempting to tie her floral blouse in the back as she did so. I couldn't help but grin at the sight.

"Stop your smirking and help me," she said in a mock angry voice. I tied the lace ribbon in the back and then she raced to the closet to pull her strappy gold sandals on. Then in a flash she was out the door and waiting in the passenger seat of her blue Toyota Corolla. I walked out the door, locking it behind me and climbed in the drivers seat next to Lisa.

"You really took that 'hurry up' stuff to heart huh?" I teased which got me a smile from her, "Oh and what? You don't want to take my truck?" I asked pointing over at my mud splattered, old, red, rusty Chevy next to us. That just got me an eye roll.

I headed north on Harbor Lane to Blackduck Road and turned right at Bar Harbor Road. We reached Moose Crossing in less than ten minutes.

"So Lisa," I asked as we walked through the old wooden doors of the restaurant and headed to the back to our usual table, "Who exactly are we meeting?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?" she said pointing to our table. My eyes followed her hand and landed on the last people I expected to see. It was Allen and Hope Hooper.

...

Biff

I saw Hope get up from beside me and embrace her friend. We hadn't seen Lisa or Phil for over two years. Actually, the last time we had been together was when Phil and Lisa were married, well more like eloped. Hope and I were the only ones there, the best man and matron of honor.

Unlike our wives, Phil and I just stared at each other, both smiling. It was so good to see him I couldn't even form words to express my excitement. Phil and I had become close after the incident fifteen years ago. Being as it were that I was closer to Joe, and Phil closer to Frank we just sort of meshed after they left. We were perfect opposites just like Frank and Joe, we just didn't know it until they were gone. We supported each other. Phil and I were even tighter-knit now, than I was to my younger brother Jamie.

Hope had even become closer to Phil than to any of my other friends. She and Lisa were best friends. But Hope had many best friends. That's her personality, she can't single one person out as the "best." Hope was the one who set Lisa and Phil up in the first place. The girls had shared a dorm room in college. They were inseparable.

Phil and I never got to see much of each other. After he took the bio-study job out here in Trenton we hadn't been in touch as much as when he had been living in Bayport. I had only visited him once out here, and that was when he married Lisa. However Hope and Lisa were a completely different story. You see Hope, along with being a mom, is an artist and designer, she sculpts, paints, sketches, you name it. She travels a lot to different art shows and conventions, while I have to stay at home. I own a gym back in Bayport and I don't get to travel along with Hope very often. That's how Lisa and her see each other, when Hope has a show in Maine they always manage meet up. Phil and I never get that chance, our work is too demanding.

Phil and Lisa didn't have any children, but I knew that Lisa wanted to start a family. That's sort of how Hope and I were at first. She really wanted to settle down, but I wasn't quite ready to have any kids. But just a month after the Hardys let Hope found out that she was pregnant. Reghan is now fifteen years old, just a few months younger than Seth and Jared. Audrey came next and then the twins, Camden and Aiden. The boys were a handful but cute as could be. They were both a perfect combination of Hope and I, while Audrey had my hair color, but Hope's eyes.

After Frank and Joe left with their families, Laura and Fenton were heartbroken. But over the years they had grown to love our kids like their own grandchildren. Hope's parents had recently moved to New York. Merrylee got a job offer from the Met and couldn't turn it down. My parents had moved down to Florida a long time ago to take a construction job. So except for the Hardys, the kids didn't have any real grandparents near by.

Sitting here as Hope and Lisa chit chatted about life and work. Phil and I still said nothing. I knew why too. He knows why I'm here. Out of all the guys, he's the one who knows why I've come. And then finally Phil broke the silence between us.

"It's good to see you Allen," he said, still smiling slightly.

"Biff," I corrected him.

"Mmm," he smiled widely, "Biff," he said nodding.

"It's good to see you too Phil. It's really good to see you."
...

Phil

I pulled my truck out of the driveway, thankful that is was Saturday and the D.I.B. Laboratory was closed for the weekend. I headed south on the Bar Harbor Road not knowing exactly what to expect when I got to the Bar Harbor Inn where Hope and Biff were staying. Lisa was taking Hope shopping in Lamoine, about fifteen minutes from Trenton. They had already left about half an hour ago so that Biff and I could talk in private.

I drove along the small rural Eden street past Acadia National Park and onto the Acadia Byway. I had driven down to Bar Harbor dozens of times but never like this. With a feeling of uncertainty in my gut. I knew why Biff was here but I never thought I would actually have to discuss it. I mean I missed Frank and Joe so much, but never did I think we would find them and ever see them again. I had already prepared myself for that, the never seeing them again part. I had tried hard to block out their faces, the memories we had together, but there was still a place for them in my heart that I couldn't get rid of. And now after all of these years I might actually see them again, I don't know if I can handle it.

I glanced at the water to my right. The sand dunes whipped by my window and the shimmering blue water blended with the beach it crept up on. It was a peaceful day, but the uneasiness inside me kept me from enjoying it. My mind was fogged with memories and I couldn't concentrate on anything other than driving. Everything was starting to come together like a puzzle but there were still pieces missing. I hoped to God Biff held those pieces.

Stopping my engine I drug myself out of the drivers seat and up to the hotel lobby doors. When I walked in, an air conditioned, potpourri, filled breeze hit me. I walked past the front desk and to the small back porch where I knew he would be. I don't know how I knew he would be out there but somehow I did, I could just feel it. I saw him sitting in one of the white adirondack chairs looking out onto Bar Harbor. I pulled up a chair and sat next to him.

"How'd you know I'd be out here?" Biff asked without taking his intense blue eyes off of the ocean.

"You know I was asking myself the same question," I quipped. He smiled and turned to me.

"You know why I'm here don't you?" Biff asked slowly.

"Yeah," I replied with a small sigh, "How did you do it Biff? How did you find them?"

"They must have let their guard down Phil, especially Joe. I don't know, Hope, Fenton, and I just started looking into it again and the next thing you know we found two families going by the name of Kevinaw," Biff explained.

"I thought they would have chosen a different name. Not the one Joe used while he was in Breezy Point," I commented.

"Yeah, but I suppose it was just easier to use Kevinaw. After all Joe already had credit cards, a fake birth certificate, everything under that alias," Biff speculated. I agreed with a nod and then just stared down at my feet.

"Well," I said without looking up, "Where do we go from here?"

"I already had Hope and Louisa e-mail them. They sent them out a few days ago," Biff began, "and now all we can do is wait and see what happens."

A/N: Sorry no Hardys again...but patience is a virtue! lol. Thanks for your reviews! --Polaris I totally understand about finals, urg. And hmmm, what could that word you're lookin for be? ;)-- I'll post more soon!