- Greta and Miles broke up.
- Gillian asked Charlie to consider Damien as family.
- Natalie was told to cut-off all ties to Ian.
- Damien approached Caitlyn about reconciling...
[.....]
[.....]
Scene One:
505 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. “Thurlow Cottage”
James, Caitlyn & Aidan’s Home.
It was still weird that Helen Schmidt had volunteered to take care of Megan today. Although it didn’t surprise Caitlyn Thurlow that Helen would rub it in her face either. She sighed, trying to figure out a way to be civil with the woman. But everything she thought of ended with tying Helen up and duck-taping the woman’s mouth shut.
She shuttered at the thought and ran her hand along her arms. The weather was definitely changing again, Caitlyn, like most of the residents of Stone Creek could feel it. She just didn’t know when Summer had decided to end so abruptly. Walking to the window Caitlyn froze at the sight of Damien Crenshaw.
Was he really there?
Closing her eyes, the man disappeared when she opened them again. Caitlyn knew she needed to get a grip on her nerves. Ever since he had come to the cottage Caitlyn didn’t feel safe. There was definitely something different about him.
Damien wasn’t being conniving or vindictive with her. “I didn’t think I would find you here so late in the day.”
The brunette turned around, her breath caught in her throat. “Oh, James,” She sighed, putting her hand to her chest. “Wait, what are you doing here so late in the day? I thought you left for work this morning and it’s barely noon?” She spoke, looking at the clock on the wall.
“I didn’t mean to startle you.”
She shook it away. “You didn’t, just surprised that you haven’t hugged me yet.”
James Thurlow smiled, the warmth of his presence was welcoming to Caitlyn’s cold touch. “I wanted to come home early and surprise you with an idea.”
“What sort of idea could this be?” She pondered.
He kissed her cheek, then rubbed his hand against the soft skin. “With Helen taking over watching Megan on certain days. I wanted to ask if you still wanted to have dinner with some of our closest friends? I know you wanted to do it a couple of days ago.”
Caitlyn smiled enthusiastically. “I would love it!”
“Good! How about tonight?”
She shook her head urgently. “Yes, I will have to go to the store and grab a couple of things. But of course James! Anytime that I get to spend with you is better than being in this house alone.”
“Aidan’s here now.” He reminded her.
“Aidan has other things to deal with besides entertaining me.”
He wrapped his arms around his wife. “Well how about I entertain you right now?”
Caitlyn wiggled around in his arms and faced James. “As nice as that sounds, I still have to go get the food for tonight’s feast. That and I have to attend a meeting with the council. They have some kind of important news they want to share with me.”
“You’re perfect.” James whispered into her ear. “Just perfect.”
[.....]
Scene Two:
1507 Mango Ln., Stone Creek. “Hollyoak Manor”
Patrick & Charlene’s Home.
“I was thinking about getting the family together for dinner at Sysphean’s.” Frank Nelson spoke as he entered the Living Room. But he then stopped as he watched his sister, Charlene, make her way around the mini bar. It was as if she was picking her poison.
He gulped, stepping closer to her and grabbing a glass. “We should probably start with the scotch and work our way down the line.”
Charlene Sutton smirked, then looked up at her brother to apologize. “I’ve just been doing a lot of thinking lately. I’m sorry that I haven’t been paying attention. What were you saying Frank?”
“It’s nothing.” He shrugged it off. Then he dangerously decided to tug at his sister’s thought process. It wasn’t something he did a lot of lately. Once Charlene went back to Patrick, Frank just figured that things were back to normal.
He had honestly been focusing on his marriage to Deborah.
“Kevin left town to go find Melanie.” Frank watched his sister’s expression soften, sighing heavily when she lifted the glass to her lips. “I should be happy at this point. That I have my marriage back on-track and that I am secure in my life. Kevin is gone.”
“But you loved him?” Frank asked, realizing that he had every part in splitting the two up. Although he wasn’t the one to do it, Frank did tell Charlene to choose Patrick. After all, Patrick had all the money a woman in the Nelson family needed.
She half-heartedly smiled at him. “It’s nothing to worry about now. Now that Patrick is running for Mayor of Stone Creek and Jared Marlowe is out of the way, all I have to worry about is getting a seat on the city council.”
“I still can’t believe Jared Marlowe had an affair.”
Charlene rolled her eyes. “Come on Frank, we both carried out affairs. People are capable of having affairs, even the working class.”
“I’m part of that working class.” Frank reminded her.
“Exactly.” Her eyes lost connection with Frank. Glossing over, she went back to the bar and poured another drink. “The good news is that now Patrick has a clear path between himself and being the Mayor. So all I have to do is wait until that seat becomes available.”
Frank cocked his head. “Is that what you want?”
“It’s what every Nelson has always wanted, remember?” She scoffed. “To have some sort of power in this pathetic City. We have always been lower-than-low and it’s about time that we change that. Our families short-comings will finally end.”
There was something about Charlene’s new personality that scared Frank. But he didn’t have time to explore his sister’s actions. His nephew barged through the doors. “Where’s my father?”
Charlene turned to her son with the glass of Brandy in her hand. “Where do you think he is?”
[.....]
Scene Three:
Sutton Enterprises Building
Patrick’s Office.
After his talk with Damien Crenshaw, Patrick thought about calling Gillian. But as quickly as the thought entered his mind, it left two times as quick. It’s not that he was angry with his daughter for choosing the idiot at his fiance. Patrick was disappointed with her.
He had thought he raised her to be better than that. To be of high society and not to get mixed in with men who only were out to get their own. But apparently he was wrong.
Patrick cocked his head when he came across some papers that were just faxed to him. Something wasn’t adding up in the company. He pressed the button that connected him to his secretary. “Marjorie, can you please get Nigel on the line?”
“Certainly Mr. Sutton.” The elderly woman replied, hastily.
How could some of the share holders be disappearing from the roster. Especially without him being contacted. He knew that there was shuffling when Catalina was taken into custody. Patrick personally advised his share holders to stay with the company.
“Patrick, it’s Nigel.” Patrick turned his attention from the papers and to the phone.
“Nigel, why didn’t anyone notify me when some of our share holders sold their shares?” He asked, looking the paper over once more. Some of these people he knew personally and none of it made any sense. Unless they were paid a hefty amount of money.
Nigel cleared his throat. “From what I could see, some of our smaller share holders moved around their shares. It has happened before Patrick, you were just too busy grieving-”
“Don’t you ever think about working around me.” He hated that people thought he was incapable of keeping in charge of a company based on his connection to the recently deceased. “I don’t care if I get shot again! The next time something like this happens, you report back to me!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.” Patrick sealed the conversation. He still couldn’t get this nagging feeling that something wasn’t right. Even if they were smaller share holders, there were a lot of them missing from the roster. Wiping his forehead he tried to focus on other things, like his campaign.
---
Our love. Our fights. Our friendships.
On Concrete Shelves.
Forever, they shall be remembered.
---
Scene Four:
Now Town.
Abandoned Property.
“Are you sure you want to open your business here?” Gideon Wilkinson asked, the skepticism in his voice bordering a cautious agreement. He looked at his daughter, Greta Wilkinson, who was beaming at the prospect of the space. “It just doesn’t look too safe to me.”
“Your father might be right.” Daphne pipped in.
Greta frowned. “Don’t worry, I have a contractor looking into the place for me! He should be here soon actually with the results. I haven’t purchased this building yet, but it’s so spacious and that is exactly what I need to make the clients feel at home.”
Her father peered around the building. It was definitely spacious with the high ceilings and the gutted rooms. From the outside it looked like it was once an old victorian home. Which was rare to find in Now Town since most of the homes had been built recently.
The wooden floors creaked with an urgency that they might give in any day. Gideon kept challenging one particular board that was in the middle of what would be Greta’s waiting area. “Spacious is nice Greta, but you might be putting more money into this place than you think.”
She sighed. “We will just have to wait until the contractor gets here.”
“We won’t have to wait long.” Daphne replied from the old dusty window. She wiped the dust from her fingers onto her jeans and reminded herself to change before work. “He just pulled up outside. I don’t want to be a bother, but we’re going to need to leave soon.”
Gideon nodded, he went over to hug his daughter. “I’m happy that you want to do this Greta. But I just think that you might be going full speed ahead without thinking it through. I hope you all the success, but you just got out of a relationship with Miles.”
“What does that mean?” She bit back.
“Your father means, that you need time to just be.” Daphne barged in, she joined Gideon next to their daughter. “You still have to move your things out of his place and focus on your actual job. Maybe you should re-evaluate your priorities before tackling another job?”
Greta pulled away from her parents, angrily. “I’ll be just fine. The two of you can go if you want, I’ll talk to the contractor alone.”
“Greta, we didn’t mean it like-”
“It doesn’t matter!” The younger woman frowned, she shook her head. “I thought out of everyone, the two of you would understand how hard it is for me to be successful in this city. Yes, I just got out of a relationship with a man that I’m still in love with. But this is a dream that I cannot pass up. Respect that.”
“We do.” Daphne rubbed Gideon’s shoulder, the two looked at one another.
“Then just go and continue with your day.” Greta sighed. “I’ll be fine.”
Gideon hugged his daughter. “We love you.”
“I love the both of you as well.” Greta kissed Daphne’s cheek before watching them both leave the building just as the contractor entered. She found it hard to put on a smile after the conversation she had with her parents. But she greeted her old friend with the best she could. “What did you find out, Drew?”
The heavy man sighed. “You have termites Greta.”
“No!” Greta grumbled. “I cannot afford that. I would have to rebuilding everything!” Taking her parents words into consideration she knew they were only looking out for her. She thanked Drew for the information and escorted him out of the building.
Greta looked back, realizing that her dream might be over. But that meant she broke-up with Miles for nothing. She only hoped that she made the right decisions.
[.....]
Scene Five:
Sage Gardens.
Gladys’ Bistro.
Marina Thurlow couldn’t help but notice how much she had laughed during the lunch. It was definitely something that she needed after the last couple of days. With the way things had been going with Ian and how things at work had slowed down for her, she needed an escape.
“I just can’t believe they let you do that!” Marina spoke, talking about how Ryan Bauer got the job in New York for a senator. She smiled at the familiarity of the situation. Even thinking about how much Ryan had changed. “I just wouldn’t have guessed you’d do something so out of your character.”
He smiled. “There’s a lot about me you don’t know.”
Breaking a piece of her bread off. Marina challenged him. “I dated you for a very long time Ryan Bauer, there’s not much I don’t know about you.”
“Do you remember when we skinny dipped at Cuttlebone Lake?” Ryan teased, soliciting a smile out of Marina. She remembered all too well the day they skinny dipped in the lake. But it was such a long time ago. “Remember how I was scared we’d get caught.”
“Exactly why I can’t believe that you’ve changed so much.” Marina remarked, her attention on his cellphone. It lit up and vibrated the table they were sitting at. She was able to catch the name of the person that texted before Ryan scooped it up.
Excusing himself from their conversation he texted back and then slipped his phone into his pocket. Marina smirked when she caught his eyes with hers. She knew there was no way she could bring up Natalie Marlowe’s name in conversation so Marina tried to divert the conversation. Although she really wanted to know why Natalie was texting Ryan.
She knew the last time they talked, it was Natalie who told Ryan about Ian. Marina sighed. There was definitely a lot of things about Ryan Bauer that she hadn’t seen before.
Then it hit her, she might need to ask one simple question. It was a question that Cassie had asked Marina months ago. But Marina didn’t think it was possible that Ryan would lie to her. Marina lowered her head before she returned her attention back to Ryan. “You didn’t turn the article into my editor, did you?”
His face fell. “Marina, I wanted you to get the promotion beyond belief. But I wouldn’t go behind your back and turn in an article you didn’t want anybody to read.”
Marina sighed. “Good.”
“I really do hope that you take the promotion though, it’ll be a really good opportunity for you and maybe one day you could be sitting here with me and telling me stories about your adventures in New York City.” Ryan smirked. “I only want what is best for you.”
He placed his hand on hers, Marina’s heart skipped a beat.
[.....]
Scene Six:
Now Town.
Stone Creek Veterinarian Center.
Placing her phone back in her purse, Natalie Marlowe, buttoned it up and entered the building. She didn’t really know what she would say. But she had to say something. There were many people in this town that Natalie didn’t mind hurting; Ian just wasn’t one of them.
“What are you doing here?” He asked as she approached him. Ian Kiefer looked around the place and then set some of his files on a counter. “I really wish that you would have called me first. I’m sort of busy right now Natalie, I have to file some paperwork.”
Natalie frowned. “If I were to have called, would you have answered?”
“No, because I would have still been busy here at work.” Ian replied, he grabbed the papers and walked over to a desk. It was around noon so he would have to rush through the files and get the necessary papers out of the way before his next client came in.
“I mean if you weren’t working.” Natalie spoke, she leaned against the counter. “Would you have answered the phone if you were home and doing nothing?” When he didn’t reply she lowered her head. “That’s what I thought. Ian I don’t want to fight with you.”
“I know, I know Natalie.”
She shrugged him off. “Do you? I did a lot of nasty things in my past but you seemed to always be there for me when I needed someone there. The one time you needed me, I let you down Ian. Everything was such a mess and my father wouldn’t let me talk to you.”
“You’re a grown woman Nat, he can’t dictate your friends.” Ian watched as a couple of colleagues passed by, their eyes on the two siblings. A quick smile later he returned to Natalie. “We can’t discuss this right now.”
“Just let me finish.” Natalie pleaded. “Our father left town. He left us so that he could focus on his political career and that means I had to take the job that Helen Schmidt offered me. I don’t expect you to forgive me Ian, I just want you to know that I am sorry for letting you down.”
Ian sighed. “Are you seeing Ryan Bauer?”
Natalie looked at him surprised, she didn’t expect Ian to know who she was talking to. But she wasn’t surprised that Ryan could have bragged about their relationship to Ian. “Yes.” She replied, feeling dirty.
He couldn’t believe that after everything that happened. That Natalie was still pinning after Ryan. “You should go.”
[.....]
Scene Seven:
Now Town.
Stone Creek City Hall.
After her talk with James earlier, Caitlyn decided that she had enough time to slip a mocha latter in before her meeting with the City council. She had her whole day scheduled to the point where she hadn’t thought about Damien Crenshaw since this morning.
Stepping off the elevator, she smiled at one of the security guards. Caitlyn frequented the premises so often that she knew the stalky man as Bill. But today he seemed to be a little less friendly as his normal beady eyes looked away from her.
She frowned but didn’t give it much thought, turning the corner and heading to the meeting hall where she normally attended the meetings. Caitlyn caught herself, accidentally spilling her latte on her gown. “Oh, snaps!” She growled, taking a towel and attempting to save the garment.
“I doubt she’ll show.” The voice of one of the snottiest women on the City Council rung out. Caitlyn shook her head, they had already started their gossip quartet of the day. She was happy that she’d miss that debate if she went to the bathroom for a couple minutes.
But then she caught something else.
“Do you really think Caitlyn Thurlow won’t show?” Came the voice timid voice of another woman.
“Please!” The snotty woman scoffed. “After everything that happened with Damien Crenshaw she is lucky she still has a seat on the board. This city prides itself on our strong family background, Caitlyn Thurlow, might have the last name now, but she never had that background.”
“That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”
The snotty woman laughed. “Harsh? It really doesn’t matter though, I heard that Charlene Sutton is going to take the seat when Caitlyn is dismissed. Now that her husband is running for City Mayor, things might look up for one Nelson in this town.”
Caitlyn gulped, re-thinking her plan to go to the restroom and decided that she needed to get out of the building all together. Maybe getting everything ready fro the dinner would help distract her from what she just overheard. Maybe having a nice dinner would distract her from Damien Crenshaw.
It was a name she couldn’t escape.
[.....]
Scene Eight:
Now Town.
Kelly’s Boutique.
However gorgeous the dresses were in front of Charlene Sutton, they still couldn’t help calm her mind from the conversation she had with her brother, Frank. He was right, Charlene was in love with Kevin Saunders. She closed her eyes to keep from crying.
It was months ago when she had finally figured it all out. Charlene took one of the dresses into her hands and felt the richness of the fabric. Kevin didn’t care about money or power. He was such a simple man who worked for everything he had. None of it was handed to him.
Was he too simple for her?
Being a Nelson had complicated her life. For years growing up, her mother had constantly told Charlene that she needed to marry rich and secure her children the life they deserved. Charlene watched as her family struggled with their greed for everything around them.
Her brother Frank had cheated on his wife Deborah many times. But she could never hate him for his treachery because he was her brother and they had both carried on affairs.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” A voice came from behind Charlene, causing her to jump. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Turning around, Charlene was taken back to see Kelly Marlowe standing next to her with her hands behind her back and her eyes glued to the dress. “I picked it out myself on a trip to France. For a nifty little donation it could be yours to take home today.”
Charlene looked back to the dress. It was a dark wine color, and it would go wonderful with her skin. But then she placed it back on the rack. “I don’t think it would go well with my skin. Although it is beautiful.” Charlene felt like she had been caught red-handed in her enemy’s home.
Kelly sighed. “I think it would.”
“I should go.” Charlene spoke, pushing past Kelly.
But the other woman caught her hand. Turning Charlene on her heel and smiling invitingly. “I know it’s a bit awkward between us because your husband is running for my husband’s seat as Mayor of Stone Creek. But Charlene, it doesn’t have to be that way.”
“What way could it be?” Charlene asked, letting her guard down.
Kelly extended a hand. “We can be friends.”
Charlene forced a smile on her face. She didn’t have much friends in Stone Creek and she knew that if she wanted the seat on city council that friends were only going to get scarce. So she took the offer, shaking Kelly’s hand and tried to keep herself from burning red.
“Now how about that dress?” Kelly asked, her eyes enticed with Charlene’s vulnerability.
[.....]
Scene Nine:
Sutton Enterprises Building.
Patrick’s Office.
“Take a seat, I wasn’t expecting to see you around here anytime.” Patrick Sutton spoke as he greeted his only son. Every time he saw Charlie he wondered where the boy who was determined to run Sutton Enterprises had went too. It felt like it wasn’t long ago that Charlie came back from Paris.
Patrick sighed, he knew it had everything to do with Kirsten Thurlow.
“I just needed to talk to you about a couple of things.” Charlie said, he could feel his father travel down roads he’d rather avoid. So he continued, “As you know I’ve been running The Lakeside in for awhile now. The place has become more than just a venue for me. I need your help.”
“Why should I help you?” Patrick asked, placing his hands together.
Charlie tensed up. “Because it would help you.”
“I’m listening.”
“I need a new way to attract people to the Inn, with the financial situation we have been experiencing I need to bring in money and we came up with a great opportunity for you, if you are interested in embarking in it.” Charlie stressed the need of his father. “We want to have a fundraiser.”
Patrick folded his arms. He wondered if they idea was his son’s or someone else’s. He knew Charlie to be a smart young man, but recently he had veered a different path. Especially now that he was back with his tail between his legs. There was no Sutton in him today, it was all Nelson.
“I know you need to kick-up your campaign and I want you to start your platform at The Lakeside Inn.” Charlie twiddled with his thumbs. “The property is big enough to build you a stage for the evening. We would auction off seats to the local residents. People would buy them, if nothing more, because of the public image.”
“I know how this town works.” Patrick snarked, he thought it over. “Is this your idea?”
He watched as his son shook his head. “No, it was actually brought to me by Kirsten’s cousin, Aidan Jurado.”
Patrick caught a lump in his throat as he knew who the boy was. He heard of James bringing back one of Shannon’s children. But he had never seen the young man’s face and he wondered if there was any sort of resemblance to Shannon in the young man.
“What do you say?”
“Alright, you have a deal.” He spoke, shaking Charlie’s hand. It felt cold a meek.
Before leaving, Charlie spoke up again. “There’s another thing, I spoke to Gillian recently and we got to talking about her marriage to Damien Crenshaw.”
Patrick had no idea how both of his children could be so naive to outside influences. He closed his eyes and shooed off the discussion. “I have no breath to talk about that bastard.”
“But father-”
“Charlie, you have my word that I will attend this fundraiser! Now please leave me alone before I change my mind!” Patrick threatened, pulling his thoughts together. He couldn’t help but think about Aidan Jurado and how such a young child could manipulate himself into a fundraiser.
He was definitely one to look out for.
[.....]
Scene Ten:
2634 W. Parker St., Stone Creek. Callahan Condo’s #12
Miles & Greta’s Apartment.
Placing her purse on the counter, it had been a couple days since she last visited their place. After the day that she had, Greta Wilkinson just needed to go somewhere she felt safe. It was ironic that the relationship she was running from was her only support for safety.
“Hey.” Miles greeted, walking out of the bedroom confused. “I didn’t think you’d be stopping by. I haven’t really cleaned up around here since I’ve been at work. But I can, if you’d like me too.” He spoke, looking around the place and wondering where he should start first.
Then he caught Greta’s face and noticed the tears in her eyes. “Are you alright Greta, what’s going on?”
She missed this. It was the simplest response from one human being to another, but it was what she missed. Everyone in her family expected Greta to be the tough one, the smart one, the one who could conquer everything. It often made her sick to her stomach.
But Miles didn't expect that out of her. “It’s nothing.”
He combined her hair out of her face and then realized he was probably stepping over boundaries and stepped back. He smiled meekly. “Do you want me to cook you something?”
“A beer?” She pouted.
Miles chuckled. “My kind of woman.”
Greta sighed, her tears fell from her face. “I can’t do this. Miles I can’t come to you when something goes wrong. It’s not right to you and it’s not fair to any of us. I just didn’t know where to go or what to do quite frankly. I-I-I don’t know what to do.”
He turned to face her. “I want this.”
Everything in her body told her she wanted it too. But then she thought back to how their relationship was going and Greta just couldn’t allow herself to become the bored housewife. “What happens when we get married and we have kids? Who stays home?”
“We can worry about that when the time comes.” Miles insisted.
But Greta shook her head. “I can’t be stuck like this Miles. That’s too ominous for me to think about right now. I can’t just worry about something when the time comes. You can’t tell me everything will be fine if I can’t see the plans for the future.”
“We’re not guaranteed tomorrow Greta.”
She shrugged. “Maybe not. But right now I have to think about myself and what I want my life to become. I don’t know if I can be the mother that I want to be. I can’t even build my own company from the ground up. Did you know the building I placed my hope in has termites?! Now I have to find some place else.”
Miles gulped. “Well let’s just hope our children don’t have termites.”
Greta chuckled. “You can’t do that, making me laugh like that. It’s not enough for me anymore.” Grabbing her purse she headed for the door. Turning around to see Miles’ facial expressions begging her not to go. But instead she walked out the door.
[.....]
Scene Eleven:
2634 W. Parker St., Stone Creek. Callahan Condos #15
Marina, Cassie & Lucian’s Apartment.
Walking up to her apartment, Marina Thurlow was caught off-guard when she spotted Ian. Cautiously she approached her ex. boyfriend. The last time they saw each other they left things open with nothing but a kiss. “You could have went inside, Cassie would have let you in.”
“I didn’t know if that was appropriate.” Ian Kiefer spoke.
Marina smirked. “Do you want to come in?”
“I don’t plan on staying long.” He admitted, lowering his head. “I had an encounter with Ryan and he told me something about Natalie and I know that you don’t really care for her. But she’s my sister and I am really worried about her involvement with him.”
She sighed, Marina knew where this conversation was going and it felt like a beaten rug at this point. “Natalie is a big girl, she can take care of herself.”
Marina took this opportunity to move towards the door of her apartment. She figured if she unlocked the door it would get Ian to move inside and maybe they could start talking about them. It was a plan that she had used with him before and it seemed to work.
“Natalie is dating Ryan.”
Marina froze. A small part of her heart had sunk. She didn’t know if it was because she still harbored feelings for her ex. boyfriend or because after all the fighting she did to keep Ryan away from Natalie, it all came to this moment. Marina had lost the battle.
“Now do you see why I’m worried about Natalie.
In that moment she remembered why she fell for Ian. Because he was the tall, dark and handsome stranger with a heart. Even though Ryan, Marina and Natalie have all kicked him while he was down he never stopped caring. She turned to face him, her eyes sullen.
“That’s why I fell for you Ian.”
He smiled. “I miss you.”
[.....]
Scene Twelve:
505 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. “Thurlow Cottage”
James, Caitlyn & Aidan’s Home.
The warmth of the room carried into the whole house and Caitlyn Thurlow could feel all her worries falling to the floor and through the cracks in the wooden dining room. She placed the main course in the center of the table and watched as all of her friends interacted.
It had been so long since she had them all together. Caitlyn is even more excited that her husband is directly opposite of her. Catching his eye when either looks up makes her stomach fill with butterflies, just like when they first met. She smiled shyly every time.
“Don’t worry about a thing Caitlyn,” Penelope Wilkinson spoke from her right. Caitlyn was happy to have Penelope at the dinner with them. Especially since everything the older woman was going through. She looked weak and frail but at the same time, Penelope was still a dominating person.
Gideon and Daphne nodded along. They all knew that it would be hard for the board members to get rid of Caitlyn from the city council without Penelope’s blessing. “We will make sure your seat stays on the board.” Gideon spoke, a smile on his face.
“They would be crazy to overthrow my vote.”
Diem Joplin placed her fork down on the table and rubbed Penelope’s arm. She then looked across the table at Gideon and Daphne. “This woman is one of the strongest people I have ever met. I know one thing,” Diem looked at Caitlyn. “When she puts her mind to something, it happens.”
The group chuckled. They all knew it was true and it let Caitlyn’s nerves settle.
“I can’t believe they would want to kick you off just because your involvement with Damien Crenshaw.” Daphne spoke up. “That man is wicked, but I don’t understand the depths people would go to just to keep you from participating in this town.”
“That’s just it.” Diem replied. “Stone Creek has always been about stature. Most of the people on the City Council are there either because they are descendants from the first families who settled here or they bought their seat. Caitlyn is the first to be sitting there because she was invited to.”
“Hearing them talk today, it was just awful.” Caitlyn responded, flashing back to the conversation she overheard. “I just don’t understand how they could be so demeaning to someone who has put in such an effort.”
The group continued on the topic for a minute or two before Penelope Wilkinson spoke up. “The thing to do now is to make sure you haven’t had any contact with Damien.”
Caitlyn gulped, her face strained with fear. “Have you?” James asked from his side of the table.
“The other day before you came back from Paris.” She said, her face falling. “He came by the house to try and make amends with me. But I told him to leave me alone. Nothing happened between us James, I just didn’t mention it because he seemed like he wasn’t going to bother me anymore.”
The group looked at James cautiously.
“That man is despicable.”
“We can file a restraining order if we need to.” Diem spoke up, she looked at Gideon. “I’m sure you can do something about this? Maybe go by Damien Crenshaw’s house and speak with him yourself?”
“I wish I could Diem, but unless Caitlyn comes forward.”
Caitlyn shook her head. “I think he got the point this time. I don’t think we have anything to worry about, I’d much rather just forget about the whole night and sit here and enjoy this dinner that I made for us. If that’s alright with everybody else.”
She could feel her husband’s eyes burning into her, but she chose to ignore it. Everyone continued eating their meals, telling stories of long ago and trying to avoid any relevance to Damien Crenshaw as they could. Caitlyn kept from looking up at James, those butterflies long gone.
[.....]
Next Time, On Concrete Shelves
- Helen goes out of her way to make Dizzy uncomfortable.
- Damien’s name makes Caitlyn feel pressured.
- Adrian and Kirsten re-visit their past.
- Cassie needs to define her relationships...
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