There was no mistaking Kim and Kayla for sisters. Sitting across from each other in their booth at Alice's Café, one couldn't help but notice their similarities. They were blonde, very beautiful, and successful. That wasn't how it always was. Growing up, Kayla had felt overshadowed by what she considered her prettier, more vivacious sister; the one her father dubbed 'the best and the brightest'. As adults, that had changed and Kim and Kayla had come to depend on each other and developed a close bond. They were sisters and best friends, foolish enough to think nothing, or no one, could ever come between them.

Mrs. Horton, the proprietress of Alice's Café and a family friend came up to take their order but first remarked, "It's so nice to see you girls together again."

After ordering salads, Kayla sighed, "Do you think there's anyone in Salem who's forgotten our past?"

"Well, to complicate matters," Kim ventured reluctantly, "Shane's in town."

Kayla looked at her sister astonished as Kim continued, "I barged in on a meeting he was having with Bo and John. Must be some ISA thing. He wants to have dinner."

With measured words, Kayla said, "You know, he didn't really love me."

"Is that so? You could have fooled me." Kim immediately regretted her curt tone.

"We fooled a lot of people Kim, but mainly ourselves."

The salads arrived then and Kim and Kayla welcomed the interruption, neither eager to continue with their conversation.

Kim remembered the unbearable pain that had made her flee to L.A. the first time. She thought back to how she and Shane had drifted apart when she found out she was pregnant with Jeannie and was tricked into believing it was Cal Winter's child. Even though Shane had been presumed dead on that awful ISA mission, Kim could never forgive herself for sleeping with Cal. It was another mistake in a long series of mistakes that Kim seemed to repeatedly make. The shame of her betrayal was too much to bear so she fled to L.A. and divorced Shane.

Kim shuddered as she remembered how that unbearable pain could not compare to the immense hurt she felt when she returned with the children to Salem, hoping to reconcile with Shane. Instead, she found Shane had fallen in love with Kayla. Her sister and best friend had become a stranger to her and a rival for Shane's affection. Kim closed her eyes remembering the terrible arguments with both Shane and Kayla. Even finding out Jeannie was truly Shane's daughter was not enough to reunite them. In the end, Kim lost the love of her life and fled again to L.A. to rebuild her broken life.

For the rest of the lunch, Kim and Kayla kept the conversation light-hearted, talking mostly about work and family. Their earlier discussion had veered into emotional territory and neither felt comfortable going back there again. But, as they were going out the door, Kayla grabbed Kim's wrist and said before parting, "Don't let your pride prevent you from having something wonderful again."

Walking back to the pub in the warm sunshine, Kim thought about her relationship with her sister. It had taken a lot of time and effort to mend fences. After breaking up with Shane, Kayla had joined Kim in L.A. with her daughter Stephanie and it was being single mothers depending on each other that helped them get over the anger and hurt. While Kim had pursued her PhD. degree, Kayla had gone to medical school and the combination of parenting and schooling further helped to rebuild their bond.

Kim knew it really wasn't her sister who ended her relationship with Shane. If it hadn't been Kayla, it would have been something else. There were always obstacles when it came to Shane. Even though other people got in the way, Kim realized the real obstacles to their relationship were themselves. Kim always feared Shane could never love her no matter what and Shane, no matter how hard he tried, never knew how to really win Kim's trust. In the end, Kim accepted that she and Shane were not fated to be together. "I'll have dinner with him," Kim said to herself, "and that will be that." She was determined to put him back in the corner of her heart and once again move on with her life.