Chapter 20

Carly and her children talked far into the night and when she finally felt sleepy, left the two siblings alone to talk some more.

The next morning, Nicholas walked up behind Carly as she was making coffee and kissed her. 'Good morning Mum.'

'Good morning. I hope the couch wasn't uncomfortable.'

'Not at all; I slept like a baby.' He patted her shoulders. 'Melanie and I must have talked until 3 a.m.'

'Well, you two had a lot to catch up on.'

Nicholas nodded, his intense green eyes fixed on her. 'She told me about Vivian; how she almost killed her on her wedding day.'

Carly sighed, raising her head to look at him. 'She followed me here to get revenge for what I did to your father. I'd sooner she killed me than lay a finger on your sister for anything. She was arrested that day but she managed to get away with it, like she's always done. All she does these days is sneak around trying to bother us because she knows if something happens to me, she'll be the first suspect. Vivian's always been diabolically clever. She can talk her way out of anything.'

Nicholas' handsome face wore a grim look. 'Well, we'll just see about that; she can't do anything to you two, not while I'm around.'

'I don't want you to have so much as a brief encounter with that woman; you just stay away from her.'

'Provided she stays away from you and Mel. If she could bury you alive right under Bo Brady's nose years ago, what makes you think she's not cooking up another scheme? You need to be on your guard, Mum.'

Carly patted his hand. 'I'm going to be alright. In factI've decided to leave Salem for good. I'm handing in my resignation today.'

'Well I still don't see why you're letting Bo run you out of town!' Melanie said bitterly from behind them.

'Bo? What happened between you two?' Nicholas demanded.

'He broke her heart.' Melanie said before Carly could stop her.

'Mel...'

'What did he do to you, Mum?' Nicholas asked harshly.

'Oh I can tell you a lot of things that he and his family did...'

'Melanie, that's enough.' Carly's voice was quiet but had an unmistakable note of authority in it. 'Nicholas, in a nutshell; Bo and I got together but it didn't work out...'

'He seduced you then dumped you?' her son's eyes glittered dangerously. 'then he and I are going to have a little chat!'

'You will do nothing of the sort... Mel!' she warned as her daughter was about to protest. ' Bo will never wilfully hurt anyone; this is a man who tried being a father to you, don't you remember?'

Nicholas' expression didn't soften. 'Be that is it may, he had no right toying with your emotions.'

'Yes, thank you!' Melanie agreed, glaring at Carly. 'And I'll never understand why you keep making excuses for Bo Brady; everything you've gone through was thanks to him, because of him. He exposed you to more pain whether he meant to or not!'

Carly sighed, exasperated. 'Look you two, I'm an adult; I was the one who made the choice of getting involved with a married man. It was wrong and stupid but I really thought he loved me like he did before. If it didn't work out it's because so much time's passed since we broke up; he'd spent many happy years with his wife and children... we wouldn't have been involved at all if he and Hope weren't separated the time I came back here. The mistake was mine, all mine. When I leave here... Bo and Hope will find their way back to each other. They've always done and they'll find it easier to reconcile once I'm out of Salem.'

'But where are you going to go?' Nicholas asked. 'surely not back to Alamania?'

'Of course not... I'm moving to Washington. Your Uncle Frankie's been badgering me to live with him and his wife and there are more than enough hospitals there to find a position in. And hopefully... I'll finally be able to bury the rest of my pain.'

'Oh Mum...' Melanie moved to cradle Carly's face between her palms, her eyes filled with tears. 'why does it have to be you making the sacrifice? What am I going to do without you? Don't leave... Nicholas is here now; we can finally be a family... don't do this, don't leave.'

'Mum, she's right. Reconsider.' Nicholas urged. 'I can settle here, if you like I'll buy a house big enough for the three of us and finally be a family. To hell with Vivian, I'll protect you both from her if I have to.'

But Carly's mind was made up. Salem was the only place she'd ever really called home but it was now associated with sad memories. And she honestly couldn't be around Bo; before she knew it she might succumb to him and what will become of her if he left her again? Hope will always come between them; their history and connection was far stronger than any love he professed he had for her.

That reminder made her slip her arms round Melanie. 'You've always been strong and tough, long before you ever met me; so many things you had to go through alone and you scaled through them all... and I'm very proud of you. You aren't ever going to lose me, honey. No matter where I am, you'll be with me and I'll be with you.' Turning to her son, she held out her hand towards him, which he immediately took, holding it between his.

'Having both my children with me at last ... I can't think of anything more wonderful. Even if we won't live together we are a family now because we've weathered through the misunderstandings of the past; nothing and no one can ever divide us again. We'll write, call on a regular basis; hell we'll rent a place somewhere and spend quality time together. I'm going to be here for one more week- we'll make the absolute best of it. Okay?'

Without a word, the children pressed their faces against their mother's cheeks.

::::::::::::

'Daddy, why are you sad?'

Ciara's voice jolted Bo back to the present. Forcing himself to sound neutral, he turned to his daughter. 'why would you think that, sweetie?'

'Because you look sad. You're sad all the time now.' Ciara's eyes were anxious, her small hand on his arm. 'Why Daddy, why?'

Bo let out a heavy sigh, stroking Ciara's soft hair. The child was far too observant for her age; she would make a marvellous detective someday, if she chose to that is.

'Is it something I did?'

'No.. no of course not!' Bo slipped his arms round her, pulling her close. 'you didn't do anything, nothing at all. I just got a lot on my mind that's all.'

'About Miss Carly?'

Bo glanced at her but Ciara's expression wasn't hostile, nor the tone of her voice. When he didn't reply, Ciara went on, 'I know it's because of her you and Mummy don't live together anymore. Aunt Kayla told me.'

I'm going to wring her neck! Bo thought savagely, barely managing to hide his fury at his sister's callous mouth. Kayla was in town again on a visit and this time Steve, his reliable old buddy, accompanied her. Evidently Kayla had told him all that had happened and over drinks at The Cheating Heart Bo had relayed his own side of the story; which Steve calmly and patiently listened to, not interrupting or saying anything until Bo was done.

'So... what are you doing about it now?' he'd asked at last.

'Right now I'm waiting for as long as it takes, because I know she still loves me. We belong together and she needs to stop fighting her feelings. I tried making her realise it but ended up scaring her away.'

'I fought long and hard for Kayla all those years ago, Bo- I know how you feel.' Steve assured him.

'Yeah but I'm not fighting Lawrence Alamain or Tony Delfino for Carly; I'm fighting this wall she's put up between us!'

'Kind of like the wall you put up years ago, remember? Marcus and I wondered when you'll finally knock it down and claim her before it was too late.'

'Well I told you what happened, I messed up and she ended up marrying Victor. And I messed up again by allowing her to leave with Larry and then allowing my history with Hope to tear us apart. Every time I see her I want to hold her; make up for everything that happened... especially the baby.'

'I still can't believe you haven't told Caroline and the rest of the family; you just can't hide something like this from them! Maybe they'll...'

'I'm not about to use Carly's miscarriage to buy her a ticket back into the family! They're all gonna have to do the right thing; remember who she is and what she meant to all of us and apologise to her... especially that wife of yours!' had been his infuriated answer. Even hearing about Tony's death hadn't softened Kayla because she was absolutely certain Carly had been with Tony just to spite him and wouldn't have gone through with the wedding. As for Caroline, she flatly refused to discuss Carly at all. The whole scenario made Bo so angry, bitter and helpless; and worse, Carly was still so cold towards him, refusing to answer his calls or texts or acknowledge the flowers he left at her door. What would it take for her to truly forgive him, he had no idea but he was drowning without her. And yet he couldn't blame her; last year's events rendered her once bitten, twice shy and now she was clearly so afraid of him, afraid of getting hurt by him again. That, more than the coldness was what made him very unhappy.

Turning to Ciara now he said firmly, 'Carly has nothing to do with what happened between your Mum and I. What your aunt said isn't true. Carly's a very special person.'

'Do you love her more than Mummy?'

Bo wondered how to simply express the depth of his feelings for Carly to a little girl. So far, she didn't seem angry at the mention of her name, like before. Ciara had deeply resented Carly, despite Carly's attempts to be friends towards her. Now all of a sudden she seemed so curious about her.

'They are different sorts of love, honey. Just like there are different ways of loving. I love Carly... very much. but it doesn't mean I don't love your Mum because I do, just in a different way. We share you and your brother and will always help each other if either of us have a problem to fix. Do you understand now?'

For the past year Ciara Brady struggled to understand a lot of things, in particular why her parents had separated again ; they'd seemed so happy then all of a suddenly they were yelling at each other and exchanging cold looks. After getting over the shock and pain of the divorce she'd blamed Carly even before her aunt did but she'd changed her mind after Theo got very upset when she'd told him what she thought of Carly; a very bad lady.

'She's not!' he'd said fiercely, glaring at her. 'You don't say bad things about Aunt Carly, she's my friend!'

And since Theo was never wrong about people, Ciara was forced to give Carly the benefit of the doubt from then on; more so after seeing her in the park a few times at the park whenever she went there with her grandma or her sitter; always looked so sad and silent that she felt like running over to give her a hug but fear of her mother's reaction held her back.

So her nod was firm and sincere. 'Will you and Miss Carly get married then?'

Relieved she'd taken it well, Bo resumed stroking her hair. 'Eventually. But Carly's feeling very sad right now. You see, she lost two people very important to her last year and she has to get over it before I can ever ask her to marry me.'

'Will she say yes when she stops being sad?'

'I really hope so. I want to make her happy again, see her laugh and smile like she used to.'

'I hope so too.' Ciara said, surprising Bo even more. 'because you only laugh when she's around and you haven't laughed for a long time. I want to see you laugh again Daddy.'

Finally someone understood and cared about his own feelings; that Carly was the key to his happiness. Isabella had said it; two spiritually allied souls would eventually have to return together because one soul was lost without the other. Bo was so grateful and touched that his little daughter truly wanted him to be happy.

He smiled at her lovingly before hugging her close. 'Thanks a lot sweetie. If you happen to see a four leaved clover about, make a wish for your old Dad okay?'

Ciara smiled back, silently doing just that.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

'I still don't understand why you're doing this.'

' Daniel, I don't have the strength to argue with you; I've used up enough energy arguing with Lexie, Jennifer and half the board.'

'Leaving your job without so much as a warning! You didn't even talk to me about it... I got your the job in the first place!'

'And I'll always be grateful for that so let it go.' Carly piled more bits and pieces in the box in front of her.

'Can you at least tell me what brought on this crazy decision to leave Salem, to leave our daughter again?' One ice cold look made him cringe, he'd said a terrible and unfair thing.

'I take that back, I'm sorry.' He swiftly placated. Silently, Carly continued gathering her things.

'Well? Why?'

'What I told Lexie and Jennifer; Salem has nothing but bad memories and I need a fresh start, in new surroundings. And this is something I should have done after Tony died.'

'What about Bo?' Daniel demanded.

Carly looked at him squarely, no expression on her face as she shrugged. 'what about him?'

'You'll be leaving him behind too. The man got a divorce because of you; he wants to make it up to you and you're still shutting him out... you love him no matter how hard you try to hide it Carly Manning!'

Carly regarded him silently for a minute before placing two hands on the box, lightly resting on it. 'Yes, I love Bo. I'll love him till the day I die. But sometimes love just isn't enough and you should know. One act of betrayal from Chloe and your marriage was over.'

'She slept with our daughter's husband, had his baby!'Daniel snapped.

'So what are you saying, you'd have forgiven her if the guy in question wasn't Phillip?'

'No, I couldn't forgive her because of the reason why she cheated on me in the first place; she thought I'd betrayed her. She didn't trust me or my love for her, she went out and cheated on me with Phillip of all people. How the hell could I stay with her after that?'

'Well, you just answered your own question. When someone you love so much, someone you trusted with your whole heart... someone you never, ever thought would do anything to hurt you actually does in the worse possible way; the pain gets you in the gut and it stays there no matter how you try to get over it.'

Daniel's face softened. 'You can't forgive Bo, is that it?'

'I have nothing to forgive Bo for. Years ago, I fought a ghost. Today that ghost is alive and kicking and she'll always come between us, no matter what he says. I can't be with him without ever thinking when he's kissing or touching me, he's not thinking about her, that any minute I'll lose him all over again. What I went through last year was exactly what I would've endured years ago if Hope came back after we were married. So in a way... Lawrence and Vivian did me a favour.' Sighing, Carly bent down to close the drawers of her desk. 'Bo will find it easier to reconcile with Hope after I'm gone. They'll be a family again and I'll be forgotten, again.'

'Carly, come on...'

'Stop Daniel, just stop! I've already made up my mind, no going back. Now, if you'll excuse me, my children are patiently waiting for me to have lunch with them.'

Daniel sighed in frustration as she walked out with the laden box, wondering if Jennifer has told Bo the bad news yet.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jennifer caught Bo at the station just as he was returning from dropping Ciara at Maggie's.

'Jen,what are you doing here?'

'You, come here!' grabbing his arm, she dragged him to his office.

'WHAT the hell's going on?' Bo demanded as she slammed the door shut behind them.

'Carly handed in her resignation this morning and according to Lexie, effective immediately.' Before Bo could say anything she added, 'and it gets worse; she's leaving Salem. For good.'

'What?' Bo exclaimed. 'How did this happen?'

'Not how, who... Nicholas! He'sback in town and he must've convinced her to make this decision because she sure as hell didn't say anything to me or Adrienne and Lexie.'

'Interfering little bastard!' Bo said savagely, utterly furious. Larry had brainwashed Carly and taken her away from him now his son was shooting the damn sequel.

'Bo, tell me you're going to stop her from doing this.' Jennifer said urgently.

'You bet I'm going to stop her.' he turned, face hard and resolute. 'The hell with waiting... this time I'm fighting for her; whether she likes it or not. And that goes for everyone else!'

'Bo...'

'Jennifer, I don't want to hear it; Carly's my soul mate and we're going to be together... it's going to happen!'

'I'm on your side.'

Bo stared at her, disbelievingly. This was the same woman who kept reminding him of the long history he shared with her cousin . 'Excuse me?'

Jennifer bit her lip. 'After Tony died, I did a lot of thinking. I made so many mistakes ;thinking you should be with Hope just because you've been together for so long, come on... if history was that important, I wouldn't be wearing Daniel's ring now. Carly was so heartbroken when you broke up but I wasn't there for her and I was so jealous when she turned to Adrienne for comfort when I had no right to. She's not happy and you certainly aren't either.'

'You've finally noticed that, huh?' Bo said sarcastically, not sure whether to believe her or not after siding with Hope.

'Yes. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry; very sorry for not supporting you and Carly when you were together. If there's anything I can do to get you two back I'll do it... Just name it.'

'No Jennifer.' Bo patted her shoulder. 'I'm the one who has to do with the fixing. I fought for Carly once; I'll do it a hundred times over if I have to.'

Jennifer knew he would, if that determined glint in his eye was anything to go by. She and Carly became close again months after the funeral and Carly had told her about her miscarriage- which had made her weep for a long time. She couldn't lose Carly all over again by letting her leave Salem. Another fight for love was now on and Bo was definitely going to win it. Yet again.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Carly opened the trunk of her car and deposited the box into it, jumping out of her skin when she felt a hand tug at her skirt. Hand to her beating heart, she turned to see Ciara looking up at her. 'Hi.'

'Ciara, what are you doing here?' Carly glanced around before staring down at her. 'Are you here all alone?'

'Yeah... I took the bus. I came to talk about my Daddy.'

Carly shook her head, taking the child's hand. 'Sweetheart, you can't go wandering off by yourself like this; your parents are probably very worried by now.'

'But I need to talk to you.' Ciara pleaded. 'Please.'

'Okay... we'll talk if you really want us to but I have to call your parents first and let them know you're here.' Carly pulled out her cell phone from her pocket. Before she could dial, a tall heavy set man suddenly appeared from nowhere. 'Get in the car.' He hissed.

'What?'

'I said get in the car... both of you!' Ciara shrank against Carly as he displayed a gun from under his coat. With his free hand, he grabbed Carly's cell. 'Move it now!'

'Alright, alright!' Taking Ciara's hand, Carly whispered to her. 'Don't worry, everything's going to be okay. You hear?'

Ciara kept a firm grip on Carly, her eyes wide-eyed with terror. The last person to point a gun at her was Dean, the disgruntled police officer who had kidnapped her and almost killed her Uncle Justin and she'd been terrified of guns ever since, even her Daddy's. What was this man going to do with them?

'No tricks; get in.' The man kept the gun over them as they got in, before climbing into the backseat. 'Drive. Do anything stupid and your little girl's gone.'

Carly started the car, glancing at Ciara who stared back at her in mute appeal. 'Don't worry.' She mouthed, trying to reassure her. Taking a deep breath, she drove away.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

'Are you sure he's reliable?' Vivian asked.

Gus sighed. This was the fifth time she would ask this question. 'He's highly recommended Madam; I promise. He'll get the job done.'

'He ought to, considering what I'm going to pay him.' Vivian said viciously; the pain at seeing Carly reunited with Nicholas stinging her worse than a scorpion would. She's taken Lawrence away from her forever and then lured Nicholas, the only one she had left, back to her side with lies and sob stories; he'd even accepted his mother's insolent bastard as well! Gus had gone to Tony Delfino's memorial service to keep an eye on Carly as usual and had witnessed the reunion between Nicholas and Carly. After screaming and throwing things for over an hour, she'd reached the decision she should have carried out a long time ago; punish Carly the best way she knew how. Take her to a remote place and murder her once for all.