The Matchmakers

Chapter Three:

Surprise!

Thanks SO much to those who have reviewed so far - hope you all continue to enjoy the story!

Afternoon
The Crane Building

"I'm sorry but Mr. Winthrop isn't in." Arthur replaced the phone on the receiver and looked at the young woman standing in front of him. "I don't know if he will be back later or not."

"Oh, that's OK." Jessica twisted a piece of dark hair around her finger and smiled at the security officer. "If you could maybe let me go up anyway-I just need to leave him a note." She smiled sweetly at the older man, throwing in a good batting of the eyelashes as well.

"Of course." Arthur pressed a button and Jessica pushed open the turnstile, heading towards the elevator. She looked back to see if Arthur was watching. He wasn't. Smiling to herself, she stepped inside, but she didn't press the button that would take her to her brother's office. Instead, she chose the sixth floor...the floor where Gwen Brady's office was located.

Gwen's Office

Gwen looked up in surprise as a plastic container was set down on her desk.

"Kieran! What brings you here?" She asked, smiling, as she sat down her pen.

Kieran smiled at his wife as he sat on the corner of his desk. "Do I need an excuse to have lunch with you?"

Gwen returned his smile. "I'm glad you came. We haven't had a lot of alone time lately between having the girls, and me working during the day and you spending your nights running The Briar Rose."

"That's what I was thinking. We need to do something about this, love. We're still newlyweds, after all. We need to make more time for us."

"Well this is a good start. It was very sweet of you to bring me lunch." Gwen smiled at her husband. "You're going to stay and eat with me, aren't you?"

"Of course." Kieran finished pouring her drink and handed it to her, then got a glass for himself from the basket he'd brought up. "How has your day been so far?"

Gwen shrugged. "Nothing particularly out of the ordinary. We don't have any real exciting cases at the moment-just your run of the mill legal dealings. I've been doing research all morning. How about you? How are things at the Briar Rose?"

"Well as can be expected. The transition period has been much easier than expected-our patronage is actually up quite a bit. We've decided to hire more staff."

"That's wonderful!" Gwen smiled at her husband.

As they continued to talk between bites, Jessica, who had her back pressed against the wall outside the door, rolled her eyes. This was such a waste of time. Ivy had told her to be more subtle in her plan of attack and had suggested she try to dig up some dirt on Gwen. Something that could turn Kieran against her. There had to be something-Gwen was just too nice lately. It wasn't natural-she had to be hiding something. That's why Jessica had come to the Crane Building. She had planned to search Gwen's office while the other woman was out to lunch, but like most of her plans this one seemed doomed to failure too. Not only was Gwen not leaving her office, Kieran was there with her, and Jessica was stuck listening to the newlyweds coo all over each other. She wanted to vomit.

Still, Gwen had mentioned that she and Kieran hadn't had enough time together lately. Maybe that was a good sign-maybe their busy schedules would put some tension into their relationship. Jessica cursed herself for the millionth time for coming on too strong and getting herself fired from The Briar Rose. If she had played her cards right, she'd been working with Kieran every night and she might have had him just where she wanted him now. Ivy was right about being more subtle-thankfully, she was there to guide her.

Jessica snapped back to herself. Kieran and Gwen were still talking and eating. It didn't look like they were leaving anytime soon. She'd might as well go. Jessica turned to walk away but then stopped. Maybe just a couple more minutes, since she'd come all the way out here.

She settled in and began to listen once more...

"Oh, I almost forgot." Gwen sat down her cup and smiled at her husband. "I spoke to Sarah's therapist this morning. He thinks Sarah has made extraordinary progress and is ready to stop seeing him." Her eyes sparkled. "Isn't that incredible?"

"That is great news, sweetheart." Kieran leaned over and kissed her. "She is an amazingly resilient little girl. Thank God her time in Moreau Manor didn't have more of a traumatic effect on her than it has."

"No, thank you, Kieran." Gwen's tone was serious. "The therapist has told us time and time again that if you had not been around when Sarah was just a baby and desperately needing to bond with a loving adult, it could have been so much worse. Without proper love and emotional care, the trauma could have been irrepairable. I am so grateful to you."

"Thank you, love." Kieran smiled. "But it wasn't all me, you know. I didn't know of Sarah's existence until she was almost six months old. It was Marie, her nursemaid, that took such good care of her up until then. She loved her, you know, unlike Sarah's later nannies, who were just there for the money."

"Marie." Gwen frowned as she tried to place the name. "Yes, you told me about her when we were in Jesenik. She was taking care of Sarah, and you two were involved, so she decided to tell you about her."

"That's right." Kieran nodded, his eyes cloudy as he lost himself in the memories for a moment. Then he caught sight of Gwen's concerned expression and his eyes cleared. "Sorry, love-lot of memories, most of them awful. But not all of them. The first time I met Sarah I felt something I've never felt before. I knew-I just knew that I was meant to take care of her. And to bring her back to her parents."

"I know you don't like talking about it." Gwen hesitated. "But there are things I need to know, and Sarah will need to know when she's older. For example, what happened to Marie? If there's a way, I'd like to thank her for what she did for my daughter. Do you know how we could find her?"

Sadness was in Kieran's expression. "I'm sorry, love, it's not possible. Marie is...well..."

"Oh no." Gwen looked horrified at the blunder she had just made. "She's dead, isn't she?"

"I'm not certain, but it seems impossible that she could have survived." Kieran sighed. "Do you remember when I told you about Claude's wives? About the last one, who stabbed him and then escaped?"

"Yes." Gwen looked puzzled for a minute, then shock filled her expression. "It was Marie?"

Kieran nodded. "Yes. Claude hired her to take care of Sarah, but she was a stunningly beautiful person. She caught his eye, more's the pity. She hated him, but when he showed his interest...well, Marie convinced herself that if she married him, she could get him to forget about his demented plans for Sarah and raise her as a normal child, as their daughter. She thought being a good wife to him would change him. She was so optimistic, and as stubborn as she was good hearted. Do you know who reminds me of her?" He suddenly sat up straight as a thought occured to him. "Theresa!" He grinned. "It has been bothering me for months, trying to figure out why she seemed so familiar to me."

"Oh, great." Gwen rolled her eyes. "I really wanted to know that Theresa reminds you of your sainted ex-lover. I can't tell you what a shine you just put on my day."

Kieran laughed. "No, no. One, Marie wasn't a saint. And two, I was never in love with her, and she didn't love me either. At least not in that way. We just-well, we were lonely, and bored, and we entertained each other. I did care for her, however, and she didn't deserve what happened to her."

"What did happen to her?" Gwen asked quietly, her tone serious now. "Why did she attack him?"

Kieran shook his head, looking at the floor. "Same thing that happened to all his other wives. He began hurting her, began beating her. She tried to put up with it for Sarah's sake. She wanted so badly to be able to protect her from him, but finally she just snapped. He had taken her into his office one day and I don't know what he did, but suddenly his personal guard heard him screaming. We came in to find she'd stabbed him with a letter opener. Unfortunately, it wasn't a bad wound. But by the time we reached him, she was gone. We were ordered to search for her, and we did. The woods, and the village-for days, we searched. I hoped that I would find her first, that perhaps I could help her escape Jesenik for good. He would have killed her if we'd brought her back to him. But there was never any trace of her. And there was the problem that we were in the midst of a raging blizzard. I think she-well, I think she ran into the woods, but she wasn't prepared to survive in those types of conditions. I believe she died out there, all alone, and I did nothing."

"Honey..." Gwen reached a comforting hand out to him. "You did all you could."

Kieran shook his head. "No, Gwen, I didn't. So many times I heard her scream, saw what he was doing to her, and I did nothing. Not just for her, but for all the villagers he tortured. Even Rina, and she was so young." He sighed. "I had to keep silent, had to play my part as his vicious pawn, for Sarah's sake. If she lost me, she would have had no one. I made my choice, but I still have to live with it."

For a moment, Gwen felt helpless. There was nothing she could do to make Kieran feel better, nothing to absolve him of his crimes. She knew he'd resigned himself long ago to the choices he had made, but it still haunted him. Instead, she just wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head on his shoulder, the only way she could let him know that no matter what, she was there for him.

And as they stood there in silence, sharing the moment, Jessica moved away from the door with a smile on her face. 'I've been going about this all wrong.' She thought to herself as she entered the elevator. 'It's Kieran I should have been digging up the dirt on. But their little heart to heart just gave me an excellent lead. Marie, huh? I think I need to find out a little bit more about her. And thanks to their very helpful name dropping, I know just who to ask.'

A few minutes later, she was climbing into the back of a taxi. "Where to, Miss?" The driver inquired politely.

"The Book Cafe, please." Jessica sat back in the seat. It was time to get to know Rina a little better.

Lennox Residence

Tabitha frowned as she peered into her magical bowl. 'Boring...' She murmured to herself. 'Boring, boring, boring... My, things are dull in Harmony tonight. Maybe I'll pop over to the Salem channel.'

A sudden knock on the door put an end to that thought, at least for the moment. Tabitha quickly whisked a cover over the bowl and hurried to the door, pulling it open.

"Fox! What are you doing here?" Her eyes widened in surprise. "If you've come to see Kay, I'm afraid she's out."

Fox couldn't help but wince at the sound of her name. "No, I'm absolutely not here to see Kay. I just wanted to return something of yours. This." He held out a book with a distinctive red cover and Tabitha's mouth dropped open.

"What's this?" She pretended ignorance. "Ten Ways to Win the Woman of Your Dreams? Why on earth would you think that was mine?"

Fox looked at her curiously. "Because I found it in the closet when I was living here."

"Oh, I see." Tabitha bit her lip. "Come in, Fox. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"No, thanks." Fox followed her into the living room and closed the door. "I really have to go, but I would like to see Endora for a minute, if you don't mind."

"Of course not." Tabitha gestured to the table, where Endora was coloring. The child beamed when she saw who the visitor was. "Fox!" She chirped, holding out her small arms to him. With a laugh Fox swung her upwards into his arms, and smiled fondly at her.

"I've missed you, Endora." He murmured, stroking the child's blonde hair.

"About the book..." Tabitha had taken the last few minutes to think of a cover story. "You were right, it was mine. I'd nearly forgotten, but I bought it for a friend who was having romance troubles, but then he met someone so..." She shrugged. "I just tucked it into the closet and forgot all about it."

"Hmm." Fox really didn't seem to care one way or the other. "Well, it's probably better for your friend that he didn't get it. That book wrecked my life."

"What?" Tabitha's tea cup slipped from her hand. Thankfully, it was empty and didn't hit the table hard enough to break. "Wrecked your life? How so?"

Fox sighed. "I know it's stupid, but I started reading it. Kay and I were engaged but I guess I just knew, deep down, that something was wrong, even if I tried to deny it. So I started following some of the tips in it. It was a complete disaster. The simplest things just didn't turn out right. In fact, if it hadn't been for that book, I wouldn't have caught Kay and Miguel together that day. I left work early and bought her flowers, like one of the chapters suggested. Well, you know what I walked in on-the two of them." He sighed. "That was it. The worst day of my life. The day that I lost the woman I loved."

"You didn't exactly lose her." Tabitha mumbled under her breath. "You kicked her to the curb, as you Americans so quaintly put it."

Thankfully, Fox didn't hear her. He gave Endora a final kiss, then set her back down. "I'll visit more often, I promise. Or maybe you could bring Endora by the house sometimes. I'd really like that."

'Over my dead body.' Tabitha thought to herself, knowing she would never bring Endora within a hundred feet of Julian willingly, but she managed to smile sweetly as Fox made his exit. Then she turned to Endora, her eyes wide. "Did you hear that? Our book led him to find out that Miguel and Kay were still having an affair! I never realized..." Her hand played with her necklace nervously. "Oh dear. If Kay ever finds out, she'll never forgive me."

Endora had dropped her crayon, her lip trembling. Seeing the warning signs, Tabitha hurried over to her. "Oh darling, don't take it like that."

Endora burst into tears. 'Our book hurt Fox!' She telepathed to her mother, sobbing.

"No, no, sweetpea. Don't think of it like that! Remember the spell, Endora. I enchanted the book to cause destruction to all those in love, but you put that spell on it to make it so it would only destroy love that wasn't true. If the love was true, then it would bring the lovers together! That means that the love Fox and Kay shared wasn't true, or else the book wouldn't have been able to tear them apart."

Endora looked at her mother, her chin quivering. 'Fox loved Kay!'

"Yes, of course he did, but she didn't love him. At least, not the way she loves Miguel. You see, if our book hadn't broken them up, it would have happened eventually anyway. And if Fox had gone ahead and married her, then lost her, it would have been even worse. We did them a favor in the long run, sweetpea. You'll see." She patted her daughter's small hand reassuringly.

Endora didn't look convinced but another knock at the door distracted them both. Tabitha sighed as she pulled herself to her feet. "What is this, social hour?" She grumbled to herself as she headed back to the door. Impatiently, she pulled the door back open, then stopped, shock freezing her in place. "No, no...it can't be!

'Who is it, Mommy?' Endora telepathed to her.

"I don't believe we've been introduced, actually." A sharp, high pitched voice answered her, and someone pushed past Tabitha and into the room. "Hello, Endora. My name is Charity."

Endora's eyes widened as she stared at the young, blonde woman who was standing in their living room.

'You can hear me?' She looked Charity over carefully. 'How?'

Tabitha started to say something but Charity held up an impatient hand to stop her. "I can hear you, Endora, because I have powers, just like you do. I am a Standish, after all." She shot Tabitha a cold look.

"But how..." Tabitha gestured helplessly. "I mean, what are you doing here, sweetheart?" She plastered a fake smile on her face. She didn't know what Charity was doing here, or why she seemed to suddenly know so much more than she should, and it was alarming. If she could just get that brat to drop her guard for a moment, maybe she could hit her over the head with something and throw her to her friends in the basement before anyone even knew the meddling munchkin had returned.

"Save the sweet old lady act. I'm not buying it anymore." Charity turned and eyed Tabitha. "You see, a lot has changed since I've been gone. I've been exploring my powers, honing my abilities, seeking teachers to help me find my destiny. And I've discovered what I was meant to do with my life." She straightened up, puffing out her chest in self importance. "I am a child of the light, Tabitha, and it is my duty to eradicate evil wherever I find it. Starting with you."

Whitney's Home

"Mama!" Miles chortled, banging on the table. "Cookies!" The toddler reached impatiently towards the out of reach plate on the counter.

"Just one, sweetie. It will be dinnertime soon." Whitney handed him a cookie, then carried him into the living room. "Look, baby, Barney's on. Watch that and behave yourself while I make dinner, ok?" She stroked his head and then walked back into the kitchen.

A few minutes later she put the chicken breasts she'd prepared into the frying pan. As she was about to turn it on, the phone rang. Whitney quickly set the burner on low and then grabbed the phone from the wall.

"Hello? Oh, hi, Theresa!" She listened for a few minutes as she set the table, balancing the phone between her chin and shoulder. "OK, what happened? Fancy and Luis broke up? Are you serious?" She continued to prepare for the dinner meal, moving between the stove and refrigerator and occasionally taking items from the cupboard. Theresa was on one of her talk a mile a minute rants, and it was only necessary for Whitney to interject the random 'uh huh' and 'right' as the conversation continued.

Finally Theresa paused for breath and Whitney frowned. "OK, I don't get why you're talking about Gwen. What does she have to do with Fancy and Luis? What? You made a bet with her? Are you crazy?" She sighed. "Yes, of course I'll help you, but why do you always have to-"

The doorbell rang at that moment and Whitney rolled her eyes. "Great. It's been dead quiet all day and now everything happens at once. Theresa, I'll call you back after dinner, alright?" She hung up the phone, turned off the stove and headed to the door, wondering if her mother had decided to drop by to check on them. Or maybe it was Simone - they hadn't had much sister time lately.

She pulled open the door with a smile, then her mouth dropped as she saw who it was.

"Hey baby." Chad smiled at her, a suitcase by his side. "I'm back...for good."

Crane Mansion - Outside

"What a crappy night." Fancy grumbled as she pulled into the driveway of the Crane estate. "I've got Luis on the brain, no matter how hard I try not think about him, and it's wrecking everything. I couldn't concentrate in class tonight, I totally choked on the pop quiz, and to top it all off that tabloid photographer was waiting for me when class was over. As if ruining my police career with his non stop stalking wasn't enough, he's got to try to sink my legal career too? I want to be a prosecutor so badly but if I can't make it through law school..." She sighed. "I'm just going to have to pull it together. My life does not revolve around a man, no matter how fine-or wonderful-or loving..." She sighed, thinking that just a couple of nights ago she would have been going home to lie in his arms, and now she was going back to her childhood bedroom, to her empty bed, to a loneliness that was almost unbearable.

She opened the car door and got out, reaching back in to grab the stack of books on the passenger's seat. As she straightened up, she felt her head bump into someone. Gasping, she whirled around, books flying out of her hands and landing all over the pavement.

"What the-Luis! What are you doing here?" Fancy gasped.

"What do you think I'm doing here, Fancy?" Luis gave her a serious look. "You think you can just move out and end things without even speaking to me about it, and I'm going to just shrug my shoulders and let you go? I don't think so! We need to talk."

To Be Continued...

Coming Soon:

Fox decides to find the person who is trying to cheer him up.

Luis tries to win over Fancy.

Charity is more of a challenge than Tabitha had anticipated.