The Next Morning
Kellie found Charles in the kitchen.
"It's not much," Charles said, handing Kellie a plate with breakfast, "But I only had frozen waffles and eggs."
"You didn't have to make breakfast," Kellie said, sitting down at the kitchen island. Charles handed her a coffee mug and her cell phone.
"You left your phone out in the living room," Charles said, "Looks like a lot of missed messages."
"I'll catch up on those later," Kellie said.
"Any of them from Jason by chance?" Charles asked.
Kellie shrugged and proceeded to eat her breakfast.
"You can't keep avoiding Jason," Charles said, "You need to talk to him."
"I will eventually," Kellie said, "Just not yet. Aren't you having breakfast?"
"Actually, I'm meeting Monica for breakfast," Charles said.
"I'm glad to hear that," Kellie said, "I'll take the rest of my breakfast to go. I should get out of your way."
"Kellie, there's no rush," Charles said, "I'm going to get ready to meet Monica. Stay as long you like. Just don't leave without saying anything to me."
"I won't," Kellie said, quietly.
Charles left and Kellie finished her breakfast and then looked at her phone. She sighed, picked up the phone, and starting sorting through messages. She listened to Jason's voice mail.
"Kellie, I know that you're upset and hurt," Kellie heard Jason say, "I love you and whatever you think might be happening with Carly's SEC case, I'm not going to prison. That's not even an option. I can't leave you or the kids not like that. You mean too much to me. Just call me, please."
Kellie replayed the message a second time during which she found herself shedding a few tears. Tears that didn't go unnoticed when Charles came back in the kitchen.
"What's going on?" Charles asked.
"I think I really I messed up," Kellie said, "What if I can't fix this after…."
"I doubt it's that's bad," Charles said, "It looks like you finally checked your messages. What did Jason have to say?"
"He left a message that was uncharacteristically vulnerable for him," Kellie said.
"So what now?" Charles asked.
"I guess I have a phone call to make," Kellie said as they were interrupted by a knock at the door.
"I'll leave you to it then," Charles said, "While I see who's at the door.
Charles left the room and Kellie stood up and paced the kitchen before calling Jason. She only got his voicemail.
Meanwhile, Charles answered the door to find Jason there.
"She might actually be trying to call you now," Charles said, "Come on in."
"She's coming around then," Jason said, entering the house before Charles closed the door.
"I think so," Charles said, stopping Jason from going any further into the house.
"What is it?" Jason asked.
"You are serious about not going to prison for Carly, right?" Charles asked.
"It honestly wasn't even a consideration," Jason said, "I'd promised Kellie and you I would do everything possible to ensure she wouldn't have to run the business. I meant that. Not to mention, the promises I made to myself to be a better father to Danny and Jake after I came back from Russia. Now that includes Kelsey and trying to be a good husband to Kellie."
"My apologies if you feel I was out of line," Charles said, "I wanted to be sure. Kellie means a great deal to me and."
"You're doing what you've always done, looked after her best interests," Jason said, "I'm glad Kellie still has you in her corner."
"She's in the kitchen," Charles said, motioning for Jason to follow him.
In the kitchen, they found Kellie standing at the counter, her back to them. Charles stayed back as Jason approached Kellie.
Jason touched Kellie's shoulder to get her attention.
"I was hoping you might be ready talk," Jason said as Kellie turned to look at him.
"Jason," Kellie said, shocked and relieved.
Kellie instinctively threw her arms around Jason who embraced like he'd never let her go.
"I'm not going anywhere," Jason whispered into Kellie's ear, "My place is with you and our family."
When they broke apart, Kellie asked, "You're here, but how?"
Then Kellie looked over at Charles.
"You told him I was here," Kellie said.
"I'll leave you two to talk," Charles said, walking over to Kellie, "Besides I wouldn't want to keep Monica waiting."
Kellie was still stunned as Charles hugged her and said, "I won't be back until late. Just let me know how things work out."