Written by: Dallas Walsh

When Tanner Young was in high school, he had two passions: football and photography. He was the quarterback on the team in his first year of high school, and he was the best player in the state. Whispers of him getting a scholarship soon became the talk of the school.

During summer break, Tanner returned to his first passion: the camera. Having grown up on the east coast, Tanner decided to go up to Toronto, Canada, for a vacation. He only took his camera with him, so he could explore the city through his lenses. On his first day there, he met a dashing young man, who also had a camera. Tanner and Jarek Williams hit it off right away and ended up having a torrid love affair for the weekend they were in Canada. What Tanner didn't know, however, was that another one of his teammates, Billy Austin and his family had a second home in Toronto, and Billy witnessed some close moments between Tanner and Jarek.

When September rolled around, Tanner's position on the football team had been revoked. He can still remember the coach saying, "We can't have a faggot quarterback, we would be the laughing stock of the state!" So, Tanner lost his place on the football team. Shortly after, Tanner was cornered by Billy and some of the other members of the team and he was brutally beaten for being gay. Tanner, and his parents, moved away from Boston and closer to Kelsey Lake.

Tanner, soon, realized that he didn't need, or want, football as long as he had his camera. He turned all of his attention into his art, but never forgot Jarek. Jarek was his first love, the first man he had sex with, the man he longed to see again. So, when Odette Williams, Jarek's mother, contacted him and told him that he could make some quick money, and help avenge Jarek's death, Tanner was more than willing to assist. Two days later, Tanner was hired by Lex Rockwell at Blackmore Ltd, and the rest is history.

Tanner stares forward while sitting at the bar of the country club before he snaps out of it. He takes a deep breath, knowing what he has to do. Odette gave him one very simple task: Cole Rockwell must know that Celeste Baldwin is pregnant. He is smart enough to know that this means that Cole is not the father of Celeste's baby, which is exactly why Odette wants Cole to know the truth. He also knows better to ask Odette what her overall plan is; he is just doing her bidding while everyone thinks she is dead and he will soon get his payday.

He takes a sip of his old fashioned and turns his head when he sees Vivian Blackmore walk into the country club. Vivian, now, is without her crutches, but she still has a slight limp in her walk as part of her the lingering injury she suffered in the bomb. He smiles to himself knowing that Vivian and Cole were once an item and that she would be interested in knowing about Celeste's baby.

"Mrs. Blackmore," he calls her over, getting Vivian's attention.

"Tanner Young, right?" she asks him as she shakes his head.

"That's right, I work for Kent at Blackmore Ltd."

"Yes, that's right. I've heard about you," she sits next to him and orders a champagne cocktail. "I must admit, I was surprised that you contacted me."

"Yes, well," he takes another sip of his drink. "I have some information that I think you will find very valuable. There's only one catch."

Vivian arches her eyebrow and looks over at him. "And that would be?"

"You can never reveal that I was our source of this information," he winks back to her.

Vivian chuckles back to him. "Fine, but if you're wasting my time, I will…"

"Celeste Baldwin is pregnant," Tanner cuts her off. "And, Cole Rockwell is not the father."

Vivian's mouth opens in surprise. She knew that Celeste was hiding something more from everyone, especially Cole; if what Tanner is telling her is the truth, then she still does have a chance with Cole after all.

"Are you sure about this?" Vivian asks him.

"Positive," he tells her. "Like I said, you didn't hear it from me."

Vivian shakes her head. "Don't worry about that," she replies to him before she takes a sip of her cocktail. "I'm about to get everything I've ever wanted."

***

Houston Blackmore takes a deep breath as he approaches the main office's door at the Rockwell Mining building. He heard that Stacey Rockwell was at the office right now, so he rushed over to see her. He knows that she is upset with him for his affair with her mother, Lydia Rockwell, but he has to make her realize that he never thought he, or Lydia, were going to escape Lucinda Rockwell's clutches. He spent so much time in that cage, he really believed that he was going to die in there.

"I have to make you understand that Stacey," Houston whispers to himself. "I can't lose you over something so silly like this."

He opens the door and sees Stacey behind her father's desk. He feels his heart skip a beat at the sight of her; she looks radiant in a pale pink blouse and a black skirt. "Stacey, hey," he comes into the office, causing her to look up.

"Houston, I'm afraid I don't have time for you right now, I have a million things to do today."

"I'm not leaving until you hear me out," Houston crosses his arms over his muscular chest. "I know I screwed up Stace, but you have to at least hear me out. We've been through too much for you to turn your back on me completely."

Stacey chuckles back to him. "When we were engaged, I was so young," she tells him. "While you were away, I grew up a lot. I changed, Houston. The fact that you slept with my mother, it's just made me realize that we are very different people now."

"While I was away?" he gasps back to her. "Your grandmother was holding me hostage in a fucking cage so we wouldn't get married! I wouldn't, exactly, call that being away."

"And my Grandmother is still paying for her crimes," Stacey waves her hand in the air. "And none of that changes the fact that you and my mother slept together, Houston. I get that you were trapped together, but that doesn't mean…"

"I never stopped loving you," Houston interrupts her. "I still love you. You have to understand that I never thought I'd say day light again."

"I'm leaving Kelsey Lake," she looks him in the eyes. "I'm going to Moscow with Marat," she reveals to him. "He's taking over Kremlin Diamonds since Yuri died in the explosion."

Houston shakes his head back to her, as he feels his heart rip out of his chest. How can she really be leaving him for good? "When do you leave?"

"Later today," she tells him. "This will be for the best, Houston. I need time away from you and my mother to get over this."

"But you're going with Marat?"

"He's my husband," Stacey reminds him. "I want my marriage to work."

"What about us?" he asks her. "You admitted that you still have feelings for me at the party."

"I did," she nods back to him. "But that all went away when I learned about you and my mother. We are over, Houston. We will never be together again. You have to accept that, because I have. Marat is my present and my future."

A gutted Houston looks back at her with defeat in his eyes. "There's nothing I can say or do to make it up to you, is there?' he asks her as she shakes her head no. "I hope you know, no matter where you are, Stacey, I will love you. It won't just go away. If that husband of yours ever hurts you…"

"He won't," Stacey replies to him. "Marat will never hurt me, not the way you have."

***

"I'm surprised that you're still here, I thought you had a plane to catch to Moscow?" Celeste walks into the living room at the Rockwell mansion, and sees Marat pouring himself a brandy, while they both can hear construction still happening on the West side of the estate.

Marat turns and smiles at the sight of the woman carrying his child. He recalls how the previous night he and Celeste shared a tender goodbye moment; he didn't think he would see her again before he left to Moscow. "Stacey needed some more time to wrap things up at Rockwell Mining and then with her family," he replies to her. "She should be back soon, and then we are heading to the airport."

"What time is your flight?"

Marat shrugs back to her. "We are taking the private jet, so whenever we are ready," he winks back to her. "How did you sleep?"

"Pretty well, considering all the noise and mess around here," Celeste says back to him. "And before you ask, yes, I've already had something to eat for breakfast. I know that I'm eating for two these days."

"I wasn't going to say anything," he chuckles back to her. "But I am glad that you're taking such good care of yourself."

"Both of us," she puts her hand on her stomach.

"I can't wait to meet him or her," Marat looks back at her lovingly.

"Yea, me either," Celeste looks back at him. "But, we should change the subject, I don't want someone walking in and hearing us talk…"

""You're right," Marat nods back to her. "This has to stay between us. At least for now."

At the doorway, Cole turns back around and takes a deep breath. He just heard Celeste and Marat admit that they have a secret together, but what could it be? His mind immediately goes back to Vivian telling him that Celeste was keeping something from him, and now he heard this.

"Damn it Celeste, what are you keeping from me this time?" he asks himself as he runs his hands over his face.

***

Cole quickly moves into the country club, desperately looking for a drink after witnessing the moment between Celeste and Marat. He can't believe that he has fallen for Celeste, again, and she is still lying to him. He moves up to the bar and orders a double scotch, while trying to figure out how stupid he could have been to believe things would be different this time around.

He takes a sip of his drink and turns his head to see Lex move into the country club. Cole watches his younger brother scan the restaurant like he is looking for someone and wonders who Lex is trying to find.

"Lex," Cole calls out to his brother, who looks over at him and immediately rolls his eyes. Cole notices and wishes that he could make this animosity towards Lex disappear. "Can I buy you a drink? I'd like to start to make this up to you."

Lex walks up to his brother. "You think buying me a drink is going to make me forget what you did with Brock?" Lex asks him stunned. "Where the hell do you get off?"

"That's not what I meant at all," Cole replies to him quickly. "I just want you to see that I'm trying here. I really am. Besides, we could also discuss the wild life preserve."

Lex chuckles back to him. "Well, don't expect me to fall into anymore of your traps, brother dear. You've played me for the last time, you hear me?"

"Guys, what the hell is going on?" Mac asks them as he comes up to the bar. He had placed a take-out for some of Lydia's favorites and arrived to pick it up when he saw his sons having a heated discussion. "I could hear from the doorway."

"It's nothing," Cole looks back at Mac before over a Lex.

"Right," Lex rolls his eyes. "It's always nothing. You can tell Dad what you did, I'm sure he'd love to know all about it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting I have to get too."

Lex storms off and Mac looks back at Cole. "Are you going to tell me what that was about?" Mac asks his oldest son.

"It's a long story."

"Well I have time," Mac replies to him. "You know I hate seeing my sons at odds with one another."

"Yea, well, get used to it because it doesn't seem like Lex is going to be forgiving me any time soon. If ever," Cole says back to his father before he takes another heavy sip of his scotch. "And, the worst part is, Rockwell Mining may get caught in the middle of it."

***

Kent rushes down the stairs of the penthouse with only a white towel wrapped about his waist as he was just finishing getting ready for the day when he heard the doorbell ringing. He has no idea who would be at the door this early, but he thought it could be important, considering everything he and his family have been through the last couple of days. He opens the door and is rather surprised to see Sabine Andrews standing on the other side of the door.

Sabine licks her lips a little as she looks at the toned man in front of her. "Good morning Kent," she walks past him and into the living room. "Fresh coffee? Don't mind if I do."

"This is the second time in as many days that you show up unannounced and help yourself to my beverages," Kent closes the door behind her. "What do I owe this pleasure, Sabine?"

Sabine takes a sip of the coffee before she turns around and looks at him, still admiring the view of Kent being half-naked. "Well, sweetie, I was hoping to find out if you've given anymore thought to the idea of you forgiving Lydia for having sex with your son, Houston? You know that the longer it takes you to forgive her, the least likely she will come back to you."

Kent sighs back to her. "This again? You're starting to sound like a broken record."

"I'm just stating the facts, Kent," Sabine tells him. "Lydia made a mistake, I agree, but you have to forgive her. If you don't, you will lose her to Mac, is that really what you want? I know how you feel about Mac, how would you feel about Mac getting back together with the love of your life?"

"I've spent so many years with Lydia," Kent replies to her. "I know her better than anyone else in the world. I can tell you, without a shadow of a doubt that she does not have feelings for Mac. Not anymore."

"Ugh," Sabine groans back to him. "You men can be so stupid. A lot has happened since Lydia came back from the dead," she continues to tell him. "Mac and Lydia, they've grown closer. I've seen it first-hand. Now, you can choose not to believe me but how will you feel about yourself if Lydia goes back to Mac? That's the question you have to ask yourself, Kent. But you better do it quickly, because every day that Lydia is in that mansion, you risk losing her to Mac forever."

***

Lex moves up to the back table at the country club and sits across from Grant Shaw, who has a coffee in front of him. Lex had seen Grant come into the restaurant while he was talking with Cole a few moments earlier, and he knew that he had to come and speak to Grant as he recalls how the previous day, Grant revealed to him that Dixie Ryan is his sister. He still believes that finding Dixie might be the way to get back at Cole for everything he has done to him.

"Thanks for meeting with me again," Lex says over to Grant, who nods back to him.

"Of course," Grant replies to him. "I got the feeling last night that you knew something more when you found out that Dixie Ryan was my sister. Am I right? Do you know something?"

"I'm not sure," Lex admits to him. "But, I do want to help you find her. I have connections in the city, Grant. I can try to help you with this search, if you'd like me too."

"I'd like that very much," Grant nods back to him. "Because, like I said, I'm not leaving here until I know what happened to my sister. No one just disappears off the face of the earth this way."

"Okay," Lex says back to him. "Let me get some details, starting with, when was the last time you seen or heard from your sister?"

***

"I appreciate you stopping by this morning to check on me, but I promise you, I'm fine," Vivian tells Houston as she pours him a cup of coffee in the living room of her mansion. She will always be there for her son, but she wants to make this a quick chat because she wants to get to Cole and reveal her news about Celeste's pregnancy. "Here's a coffee, but I can get you something stronger if you'd like."

Houston accepts the coffee from his mother and takes a sip. He wonders if he should have something stronger since he is still reeling from the fact that Stacey told him that she was leaving town with Marat; he can't believe that his affair with Lydia has pushed Stacey to the point of wanting to make her marriage work and leave Kelsey lake. He realizes that he really screwed up this time.

"Ok, darling," Vivian sits next to her son and puts her hand on his leg. "I can tell something is troubling you. Why don't you tell me what it is. Maybe, I can help?"

Houston sighs and puts the coffee cup down on the coffee table in front of him. "It's Stacey," he replies to her. "She can't forgive me for my affair with Lydia. She told me that we are over."

"Oh baby," Vivian coddles him. "I think she just needs time. It was a shock learning about you and Lydia, but once she realizes that this is really all Lucinda's fault, she will come back around. She is just confused right now."

"I'm afraid I don't have time," Houston looks back at her. "She's decided to make her marriage to Marat work. They are leaving for Moscow today. Marat has to get back to Russia because he is taking over the Kremlin Diamond since Yuri died in the bombings."

Vivian stands up and moves over to the bar to pour herself a glass of brandy. She quickly takes a sip before she turns back around to her son. "Do you truly love Stacey, Houston?" she asks him.

"Of course I do, how could you even question that?"

"Then, I need you to brace yourself," Vivian moves closer to him. "Because, I have information that could help you keep Stacey."

"What is it? What is this news?" Houston eagerly asks her, wanting to know how he could keep the woman he loves.

"Celeste Baldwin is pregnant," Vivian reveals to him. "And Marat is the father."

***

"These are all of your bags?" Mac asks Stacey as they stand at the top of the staircase in the Rockwell mansion, where there are 6 large Chanel suitcases piled next to one another.

"No, I have two more in the bedroom," Stacey replies to him. "Oh Daddy, I'm going to miss you so much."

"And I'm going to miss you my beauty," Mac pulls her into a hug. "But, we can Facetime and chat on the phone whenever. Plus, once Marat gets things settled with the board, you can come back. I don't believe that this is forever."

"No, you're right, it's not," Stacey says back to him. "But I will be gone for a while."

Mac grabs her hand and looks into her eyes. "I need you to do something for me before you leave."

"Anything, Daddy."

"Go and see your mother," Mac looks at her. "She needs to say goodbye to you too, Stacey. I know you're upset with her, but she's your mother. She wants to make things right between the two of you again."

Stacey uneasily gulps back to him but finds herself nodding to him. "Fine, I'll see her."

"Thank you," Mac looks into her eyes, as they start to walk towards Lydia's room. Mac knocks on the door and then moves inside. Lydia immediately looks over at Mac and her daughter. "Stacey has come to say goodbye."

"Oh Stacey," Lydia covers her mouth as she feels her eyes swell with water. "I heard about the move."

"It will be good for me to get away for a bit," Stacey tells her. "I need the time away to clear my head and think about things."

"I know I hurt you baby," Lydia replies to her. "But I am your mother, and I will love you no matter what."

Stacey puts her head down as a tear escapes her eye. "Like I said, the time away will be good for all of us. I hope you get better, but I really do have to get going."

"Okay, let us know when you land," Mac tells her as he stands up and hugs her again. "We love you, Stacey."

"I love you too."

***

"Thank you," Lydia says to Mac as he comes back into her bedroom after helping Stacey with her luggage. "I know you talked to Stacey and convinced her to come see me. I can't tell you how much that means to me."

"I know that you wanted to see her before she left," Mac nods back to her. "I know she didn't forgive you, exactly, but I think it was a great first step, don't you?"

Lydia nods back to him. "Yes, I'd like to think so."

"And maybe she is right, time will heal all wounds. Not being around you or Houston for a while might be exactly what Stacey needs."

"What else is going on with you today?"

Mac sighs as he sits on the edge of the bed. "I saw Cole and Lex at the club earlier," he admits to her. "They were about to rip each other's heads off."

"What?" Lydia gasps back to him. "I thought they were getting along."

"So did I," Mac replies to her. "I'm not sure what has happened, but they are not in a good place right now."

Lydia shakes her head back to him. "We all almost died in that bomb, I wish those two would realize how precious life is and it's too short to waste fighting with one another. We are family!"

"I couldn't agree more," Mac tells her. "I guess we will have to work together to bring those two together now."

Lydia chuckles back to him. "You're right, we will have. Good thing we make such a good team."

Mac winks back to her. "Yea, it's a very good thing."

***

"Fancy meeting you here," Lex announces to Cole as he opens the door to Mac's office at Rockwell Mining and spies his brother behind his father's desk, having just gotten more information from Grant Shaw regarding Dixie Ryan. "I was hoping to be alone."

"Why?" Cole asks him. "So you can make decisions about the protected land that Dad wants to mine?"

"There's no way that I can let that happen," Lex shakes his head back to him. "The backlash from the media would horrible for the company. We have been over this already."

"Why do I still get the feeling that you are only opposed to this because of this rift between us?" Cole asks him. "Because of what happened between Brock Jennings and I?"

"Ugh," Lex groans back to him. "Please don't mention that to me. You crossed a line, Cole. You got a blow job from my boyfriend."

"And, I've apologized."

"Look, drop it," Lex replies to him. "My opinion on the protected lands has nothing to do with that. The fact of the matter is, Rockwell Mining can't handle any bad press and this would be damaging to the company."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Cole asks him. "Because, we have to come to an understanding."

"Then get it through your head," Lex sneers. "We won't mine that land. End of discussion."

***

"Toby, are you here?" Lex calls out as he walks into the stables on the Rockwell estate, needing an escape after his run in with Cole at Rockwell Mining. He is looking for Toby Sinclair, his new friend, who is encouraging him to find out what happened to Dixie Ryan in hopes of getting back at Cole for his indiscretion with Brock.

Toby emerges from behind one of the horse stalls and smiles over at Lex. Lex looks at his friend and can't help but get caught up in his blue eyes and dashing smile. He scolds himself, knowing that he is with Tanner right now, but he does find Toby very attractive.

"I'm here, how are you Mr.?"

"I'm good, I'm glad you're here," Lex licks his lips back to him.

"You wanted to see me," Toby winks back to him. "This is a good sign. We are getting somewhere, finally," he chuckles back to him.

"You're a fearless flirt," Lex chuckles back to him.

"I can't help myself when I think a guy is hot, and you are very hot."

Lex blushes a little. "Well, thanks. I actually came to tell you that I met Dixie's brother, Grant Shaw. He's here in town and he told me that Dixie is missing. He hasn't seen or heard from her in weeks."

Toby arches his eyebrow. "Isn't that interesting," he tells Lex. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to look into it. I'm going to try to find Dixie."

"Good call," Toby tells him. "Because, if you find Dixie, you could get back at Cole for everything he did to you. And, that would be sweet justice."

***

Tanner slowly opens the back door to the Williams house and moves inside. He closes the door behind himself and takes a deep breath. He has found that he gets nervous coming to the house because if anyone found out that he was there, and working with Odette, their entire plan would be ruined.

He moves into the kitchen and then the living room, where he sees Odette and Garrett Owen sitting on the sofa together. "Hey, I'm glad you two are here," he tells them, as Odette stands up to greet him.

"I was wondering when you'd get here," Odette purses her lips together. "Tell me, does Cole know about Celeste's baby?"

Tanner shrugs back to her. "I'm not sure, but he will soon. I made sure of that."

"What did you do, exactly?" Garrett asks him.

"I told Vivian Blackmore that Celeste was pregnant and that Cole isn't the father," Tanner reveals to them. "I had to think of a way to keep my name out of it."

"That was brilliant," Odette smiles to him. "Vivian has been obsessed with Cole for years now."

"Exactly," Tanner nods back to her. 'She will use any opportunity she can to get him back."

"You know what this means, don't you?" Odette chuckles back to the two men. "It means that my plan to slowly ruin all of the Rockwell children is working perfectly."

"It definitely is," Tanner nods back to her. "Just remember about my payday at the end of this, Odette. I need that money."

"Don't worry," Odette waves her hand back to him. "You'll get everything you deserve and so much more."

***

"Dad, I'm glad that you're here, we have to talk and it can't wait," Houston announces as he moves into Kent's office, causing his father to look up from the paper work that is on his desk at Blackmore Ltd.

Kent looks at his son and knows that they haven't been seeing eye to eye lately, because of his role in Stacey's shooting and the fact that Houston and Lydia were lovers. He has no idea what Houston could so urgently have to tell him.

"What's going on? It sounds serious."

"I read in the paper that the Kelsey Lake mine might have some very rare diamonds," Houston tells him. "If Rockwell Mining is able to extract them from the wild life perserve, these diamonds could potentially be very profitable."

"Damn it!" Kent pounds his fist on to the desk in front of him. "I still can't believe that Lexington betrayed me and helped Mac get that damn mine back!"

"Let's try to stay calm," Houston moves closer to his Dad. "There must be something that we can do to stop this."

Kent looks up at him and suddenly feels the room starting to spin. "Dad? Dad, are you okay?"

Kent almost falls over but grabs the table to stop himself from collapsing. "My God, Dad," Houston rushes him to him. "Come on, let's get you to the hospital."

"I'm fine," Kent waves his hand back to him as he gets himself under control, thinking that it is nothing.

"You almost fainted, you're not fine," Houston puts his arm around him. "Now, let's go. I'm not taking no for an answer."

***

About a half hour later, Kent is laying in a hospital bed in the ER with Houston pacing back and forth next to him, wondering when they will find out what happened to him.

"Would you please sit down?" Kent asks him. "You're making me nervous."

"I just want to know what is taking Dr. Chen so long," Houston looks back at him. "I guess something good has happened from this scare, though."

"And that would be?"

"I need you in my life, Dad," Houston sighs back to him. "Seeing you like this, I hate it. I still have so much to learn from you. I still have so much life to live with you in it. I'm going to try, moving forward, to forgive you for your role in Stacey's shooting. I want to put everything behind us. Let's have a fresh start?"

Kent can't help but get a smile on his face. "I'm not going anywhere," he tells his son. "But, if you're able to move beyond my actions, I guess I can try the same with you and your fling with Lydia."

"Thanks, Dad."

Before Kent can reply, Dr. Chen emerges in the hospital room. "Dr. Chen, what happened to my Dad? Why did he almost collapse?"

Dr. Chen looks back at the father and son before he closes his file. "Mr. Blackmore, you are lucky you got here when you did. You suffered a very mild stroke."

"What? My God," Houston gasps.

"If you hadn't been there to keep your Dad calm, it could have been far worse," Dr. Chen tells him. "Now, Mr. Blackmore, to prevent this from happening again, you have to reduce your stress and make sure you are eating and exercising properly."

"I will do my best," Kent winks back to him. "Now, can I get out of here?"

"Yes, but make sure you take it easy the next of days," Dr. Chen nods back to him.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he does just that," Houston replies to the doctor.

***

"I can't believe you're leaving me Stace," Cole tells his sister as they stand in the foyer of the mansion, while they wait for Stacey's car to pick her up and take her to the airport. "Do you know how much I am going to miss you?"

Stacey pulls Cole into a hug. "I will miss you too," she tells him. "I wish Lex was here so I could say goodbye to him too."

"Ugh, yea," Cole uneasily chuckles back to her. "He would probably not be happy to see me."

"I got the feeling that you two were at odds again," Stacey looks at him with intent. "Do me a favor, brother, and make up with Lex while I'm away."

"Hey, you can't put that on me when you're barely speaking to Mom!"

Stacey laughs back with him. "Fine, you have me there. Promise me that we'll talk all the time?"

"Of course," Cole pulls her into another hug. "I will miss you Stacey."

"Oh, I'm glad you haven't left yet," Celeste announces as she comes into the foyer, causing the siblings to exit their embrace. "I can say goodbye."

Cole looks at her and immediately thinks back to hearing Marat and Celeste's conversation earlier. "I'm not interrupting am I?" Celeste asks, as she looks at Cole and can feel the tension between them.

"Not at all," Cole manages to say back to her. "You got here in time to say goodbye."

***

Lydia looks over at her end table and sees her glass of water. She tries to reach over to it, but realizes that she is too far away to grab it. She presses her hands into the mattress and scoots herself over to the end table, and then has a drink of the water. While she does, she feels a strange twinge in her legs. She sets the glass down quickly and looks at her toes.

"I can feel that," she whispers to herself. "Oh my God, maybe I will walk again!"

Before she can say or do anything else, she hears a knock on her door. She quickly covers her feet up again before she says, "Come in."

To her surprise, she sees Kent standing there. "Oh, Kent. This is a surprise."

"I'm sure it is," he comes into the room and closes the door behind himself. "Considering our last conversation."

"You mean the one where you dumped me, yea it wasn't exactly the best memory that I have of you and I."

"I know," Kent moves closer to the bed. After he got released from the hospital, he raced to see Lydia, but he won't trouble her with the details of his minor stroke. "I came here to apologize. I've given it a lot of thought, and I was wrong to jump to the conclusion that I should leave you. What we had, Lydia, it was wonderful."

"Yes, it was," She uneasily nods back to him. "But, you know Kent, I think you were right. Our relationship, it was toxic at the end. I mean, my God, you tried to have my daughter killed!"

"We both made mistakes," Kent acknowledges. "But, at the end of the day, we loved one another. That has to count for something."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I love you," Kent looks into her eyes. "And, I want us to get back together. I want us to have the future that we've always dreamt of. All you have to do is say yes."

***

Kent moves into the country club having left the mansion. He needs to have a drink now because Lydia didn't agree to take him back; at least not yet. She told him that she needed time. Whatever that means, Kent thinks to himself. Besides, his nerves are still shot since he had a near heart attack earlier in the day.

He moves to the bar and orders a brandy. "I just made a Goddamn fool of myself," he whispers as he takes a sip of his drink. "To think, we could actually be happy together again. What a joke."

"So, tell me how it went," Sabine purses her lips together as she orders a dry martini. "Are you and my sister back together? When is she moving out of the mansion?"

Kent takes another long sip of his drink. "She didn't take me back," he reveals to her as she gasps a little. "She said she had to think about it. But, I could tell by the look on her face that she didn't want to get back together, Sabine. Lydia and I, we are over."

"That's unacceptable," Sabine tries to keep her voice down. "If Lydia won't come back to you, then we have to play our cards right."

"What the hell are you talking about now?"

Sabine looks over at him with intent. "What does Mac love more than anything else in the world?"

"His family and Rockwell Mining," Kent replies to her.

"Exactly," Sabine nods back to her. "And, I know exactly what we can do to get what we want. If Mac and Lydia want to be together, then we'll just have to go after Rockwell Mining."

"And, how do you propose we do that?"

Sabine giggles back to him. "I thought you'd never ask."

***

"Okay, the car is here," Marat says as he opens the front door to the mansion and looks at Stacey, while Cole and Celeste wait in the foyer with her. "Are you ready to go to Moscow?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Stacey smiles back over to him. "Let's go have an adventure."

She turns one final time to wave to Celeste and Cole before she picks up one of her bags and moves towards the front door. Cole and Celeste move to the front steps to watch Stacey and Marat place their bags in the back of the car. Suddenly, a black Mercedes speeds up the driveway and comes to a screeching halt and Houston bolts out of the car.

"Stacey! Stacey, stop! You can't go to Moscow!" Houston yells as he rushes up to her.

"Houston, what are you doing?" Stacey asks him in shock as Marat comes up next to her. "I told you, I'm making my marriage work. We have to leave."

"I can't let you go," Houston looks at her before looking at Marat. "Not after I know what this son of a bitch did to you!"

"What are you talking about?" Marat asks him.

"Celeste is pregnant," Houston reveals as everyone gasps. "And, Marat is the father!"