Written by: Dallas Walsh

"How are things going?" Odette Williams asks her son as they sit on the patio of the country club enjoying lunch together. Odette knows that she convinced her son to use Lex Rockwell to get into the Rockwell family so they can get some of the money they believe is owed to them, since Odette's husband died in a mine explosion at Kelsey Lake while Mac was the owner. Odette firmly believes that her husband would have climbed the corporate ladder and been far more successful than he was when he passed away. For that reason, she wants a piece of the Rockwell fortune.

"Real good," Jarek Williams replies to his mother as he takes a sip of his beer. "Lex went through a rough time recently and he leaned on me heavily. That's a good sign, right?"

Odette nods back to him. "It is, yes," she tells him. "But you have to up this game. You have to make him commit to you somehow."

"Are you talking about marriage?" Jarek asks her as Odette's eyes light up.

"Eventually, but it will seem far too suddenly if you ask him to marry you now," she tells her son, as he nods in agreement. "You have to make sure he doesn't think anything odd is happening."

Jarek nods back to her. "I know, I got this Mom. I was thinking of asking him to move in with me again, now that Rockwell Mining closed a major deal that they were working on. He told me that once the deal was finalized, he would feel more comfortable coming out to his father and possibly living with a guy."

"That would be perfect," Odette smiles back to him. "You know something, Jarek? Your father would be so proud of you right now."

Jarek blushes a little. "All I want is to make you and Dad proud," he whispers back to her. "And if this is how I'm going to do it, so be it."

***

"What are you thinking?" Stacey Rockwell asks Houston Blackmore as they lay in his bed, fresh from another love making session. She can tell by tell by the look on his face that he is concerned about something; she wants to help him with whatever it is he is struggling with inside.

"About you and I," he reveals to her. "You know how much I love you, right?"

"Of course I do," she smiles back to him as she leans in and kisses him. "I love you too."

"I want to be with you," he tells her. "And I don't care what it takes. We have to do whatever we can to stop our families from fighting. Do you have any ideas?"

She shakes her head back to him. "I wish I did, but every time my Dad hears your Dad's name, I can see his blood pressure rise."

"I guess this isn't the best time for your present then," he grins back to her, as he rolls out of the bed and slips his pj bottoms on.

"You have a present for me?" she asks excitedly. "You know how I love presents!"

He chuckles back to her. "I know you do," he winks back to her. "If you insist on having it now, I guess you can have it."

"I do, I do!" she giggles.

He opens a drawer next to the bed and pulls out a black ring box, and her eyes immediately look into his. "What is this?" she gasps.

"Open it," he tells her as he passes her the box.

Stacey opens the box and gasps again when she sees a large diamond ring inside. "Houston, is this…"

"I wasn't lying to you when I told you that I wanted to be with you," Houston tells her as he grabs her hand. "I've never felt this way about anyone before. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Marry me, Stacey Rockwell? Become my wife?"

A tear falls down Stacey's cheek as she listens to the words Houston just told her. "Of course I'll marry you," she says grabbing him into a hug. "I love you so much."

They exit their hug and share a tender kiss before he pulls back again and slides the ring on her finger. "It's so beautiful!"

"Not nearly as beautiful as you," he smiles back to his new fiancé. "And I mean it, whatever we have to do to make our families understand, we will."

She nods back to him. "I agree, because I've never been happier. You've made me so happy, Houston."

***

"You're here early this morning," Mac Rockwell announces to his son, Lex Rockwell, as he comes into his office and sees Lex pouring himself a cup of coffee.

Lex nods back to him. "I thought we had a lot of work to do," Lex replies to him. "I know we closed the Russia deal, but we still have to organize the next drilling and we might have to hire new crews."

Mac smiles back to his son in pride. "I can't get over it," Mac replies to him, with a grin on his face.

"What's that?" Lex asks him as he takes a drink of his coffee.

"How much you're like me," Mac tells him, thinking that he is a workaholic just like his son. "But, I want you to remember that you're young and you should having fun too. Don't just work all the time, okay?"

"I won't Dad," Lex says back to him. "And, we are a lot of like. That's why, I'm so glad that my theory about Kent Blackmore being my father turned out to be false. I can't imagine having my entire life become an entire lie."

"I'm glad you investigated that possibility," Mac tells him. "That being said, in the future, if you have anything that serious going on, I wish you would come to me. I don't need you going through something like that alone, especially since I knew the truth. I could have saved you some heartbreak."

Lex uneasily nods back to him, thinking about the other day at the pool party and how he can't remember the tale end of the party, which isn't like him, even if he had been drinking. "What is it Lex? You have that look on your face again. What is that you're not telling me?"

"I am sure it is nothing," Lex tells his father. "But the other day at the pool party…"

"Yes, the one Celeste threw us?" Mac asks him as Lex nods back to him.

"I only had three beers, but I blacked out afterwards. I don't even remember the party ending or how I got back upstairs to my room."

Mac arches his eyebrow, concerned by what Lex just shared with him. "Are you okay? That seems rather serious, doesn't it?"

Lex nods back to him with an uneasy look on his face. "I felt fine in the morning, just groggy. Cole suggested that I had too much sun."

"I suppose that could be the case," Mac replies to him. "It's odd though because you only had three beers and we had that huge lunch."

"That is what I was thinking," Lex informs him. "If it happens again, I suppose it will be cause for concern."

Mac nods back to him as he pats his son on the back. "It better not happen again. I don't need you be ill, I need you around here."

Lex smiles back his Dad. "Thanks Dad, it is nice to be needed around here."

***

"I suppose I'll have to get used to seeing you around here more often," Celeste Rockwell tells Cole Rockwell, as she walks into the living room and sees her stepson laying on the sofa, reading a magazine.

Cole looks up from his magazine and can't take his eyes off of Celeste. She seemingly gets more and more beautiful every time he sees her. He has been trying his hardest to forget that they were lovers for a night, but when he sees her, the memories of that night come flooding back to him.

"Since I quit working at Rockwell Mining, you mean?" he asks her. "Cause, yea, I guess you will be seeing me more often."

"I wish I could do that," she purses her lips together.

"What's that?" he asks her, as she looks out the window into the garden.

"Just quit and take a year off from everything," she replies to him. "You don't have any plans to go back to work anytime soon, do you?" she turns to face him when she asks him the next question.

Cole shakes his head no. "The only place I'd want to work is at Rockwell Mining, and right now, I just can't be there. I don't agree with everything that Mac and Lex are doing. And frankly, so much has happened since I've been back in Kelsey Lake that I feel like I need time to recover."

She nods back to him, knowing that their affair is one of the events that has left him feeling like his head is spinning. If she's honest with herself, her head is also spinning from everything that has happened since Cole has been back in town.

"That's understandable," she tells him as she moves to the sofa. Suddenly, however, she feels faint and almost falls over.

"Celeste!" Cole jumps up and catches her from falling. He sits on her the sofa and looks at her, as she tries to pretend everything is okay. "Are you okay? What happened? Can I get you anything?"

"I'm fine," she waves her hand, which has her large diamond wedding ring on it, around. "I just…I lost my balance."

"Are you sure that's all it is?"

"What else could it be?" she asks him as their eyes lock with one another. She shakes her head, not wanting to get lost in his eyes again. "I have to go get dressed. I'm meeting Mac for lunch today."

"Okay, but if you need anything, don't hesitate to let me know," he tells her. "After all, we will be seeing a lot more of each other."

***

"Darling, your message made it seem urgent," Lydia Rockwell tells Stacey as they sit across from each other at a table at the country club. Lydia recalls how Stacey sent her a text message and asked her mother to meet her at the club because they had to speak.

Stacey looks down at her hand before she takes a sip of her rose and wishes her large engagement ring was on her finger. She wishes she could share this moment with her mother, but she knows that the time has to be right before she breaks the news that she is engaged to Houston Blackmore. It's not even that her mother would be the concern, because Lydia is with Kent, it is that Lydia would tell Mac and then all hell would break loose. She needs the timing to be perfect to break the news.

"I guess it is urgent that I saw you," Stacey replies to her, finishing her mouthful of the wine. "I wanted to let you know that we have to do everything we can to end this feud between Daddy and Kent. What do you think we can do to end it, once and for all?"

Lydia arches her eyebrow. "That's an interesting proposition," she admits to her daughter. "Why do you care now if your father and Kent are fighting? You know they have been going at it for years. What makes you think that they will change now?"

"Because," Stacey tries to think of an excuse. "I hate seeing Daddy get so worked up. He just married Celeste, he should be having the time of his life. Instead, he's so focused on everything going on between Rockwell Mining and Blackmore Ltd."

"Well, you know, if you signed me your proxy at Rockwell Mining like I asked you, your father would have some time off as well. I could help take some of the load off so Mac could spend more time at home with Celeste. Do you think he'd like that?"

"I don't think he would at all," Stacey reveals to her. "But I also think that he needs to step away from work. His life revolves around that company, having some time away from it would be good for him."

Lydia nods back to her daughter. "Exactly," she tells Stacey. "I have the proxy papers here, Stacey. Why don't you sign them?"

"I think ," Stacey nods back to her Mom. "I will. Thanks Mom, I appreciate your help."

"Oh dear," Lydia grins back to her. "It was nothing at all. I'm so glad I could help."

***

Jarek has one final loud grunt before he erupts, and then he feels Lex's body collapse under his, so he falls on top of Lex's back. He finishes pulling out before he kisses his lover on his back, with a huge grin on his face.

"God, that was hot," he tells Lex, as he tries to catch his breath.

"Yea," Lex says back to him, rolling over and revealing his sweaty chest. "We have a good sex life, Jarek."

"Do we ever," Jarek grins before he kisses Lex again.

"I'm going to have to shower," Lex tells him in-between kisses. "But I'm not in a rush."

"No?" Jarek asks him with a sly smirk on his face. "That's good, because I'm not in a rush for you to leave my bed just yet."

"Ah," Lex runs his hands down Jarek's toned torso. "You are already aiming for round two?"

"Not just yet," Jarek winks. "I was thinking, though. We could…talk?"

Lex chuckles back to him. "I love talking to you. What is on your mind?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Jarek asks him back. "I mean, we got back together and we've continued to have this incredible sex, but I'm still feeling like I need more. I know that things have calmed down at Rockwell Mining, do you think you'd be ready to talk to your Dad about us? And then, maybe, you'll move in with me?"

Lex sits up in the bed and looks at his lover as he bites his lip. "God, you're not ready yet are you? This entire time I've been thinking I'll finally get what I want and instead, you're not ready to come out?"

"No," Lex grabs his hand to prevent Jarek from getting out of the bed. "I was thinking that you're right, I am ready. I'm ready for my Dad to know what is going on with us. I want him to know that I love you."

"You love me?" Jarek asks with a smile on his face, thrilled by Lex's response as he knows this will make his plan easier to carry out.

"Yea, is that okay?"

"Of course it's okay babe," Jarek replies to him. "I love you too. You've made me so happy by telling me that you're ready to take this next step with me."

"It's for you, Jarek," Lex tells him. "I'm doing this for you and for us. Promise me something though?"

"Of course, anything."

"Promise me you'll never hurt me," Lex tells him as they look into one another's eyes. "I want to be with you like this forever."

Jarek nods back to him. "I will never purposely hurt you, Lex. You have my word."

***

Later that day, Lex is at the office sitting at Mac's desk looking over more details of the mine in Russia when Lydia knocks on the door and slowly opens the door.

"Mom, hi," Lex says from the desk as Lydia comes into the office.

"Hi darling," Lydia smiles to him, as she looks around the office. In her mind, she's wondering already how she could redecorate the place since she has enough of the shares now to take over the company. The question now has become, when will she announce it all to Mac? "I'm glad you're here, I wanted to talk to you."

Lex arches his eyebrow as he stands up and moves over to the bar. "I'm having a brandy, would you care for one?"

"Sure, please."

Lex passes her a brandy and they each take a sip. "What is that you wanted to see me about?" he asks his mother.

"Well, I know you were having some kind of investigation, I'm just hoping that it all turned out okay?"

Lex nods back to her. "It was a little bit dicey for a while," Lex reveals to her. "But it all turned out in the end. And, some things are best left in the past because we may never know exactly what happened."

"I'm glad you realize that," Lydia tells him, realizing that she obviously dodged a bullet. "Because, you're right. Some things in the past are better left there. Especially when the future is so bright."

"I can drink to that," he toasts her. "Although, this should be my one drink today."

"Why do you say that?" she asks him, finishing her mouthful of brandy.

"The day of the pool party," he begins to tell her, as she immediately remembers putting a drug in his beer so he would sign over his proxy of his shares of Rockwell Mining to him. "I blacked out. I don't remember the end of the party or going up to bed."

"Really baby?" she asks him, faking concern. "You know, it must have been the sun. It was very hot that day."

Lex uneasily nods back to her. "Yea, that's what everyone keeps saying. It's still alarming because I never drink to the point where I don't remember. I don't like not being in control of myself."

"Sometimes we do things we don't like even when we are in control," Lydia cryptically tells him. "Look darling, take it easy for a couple of days. We'll talk soon, yes?"

"Of course," He says as Lydia leaves the office, feeling relived that Lex didn't learn anything damaging in the investigation and doesn't remember the day of the pool party.

***

Mac opens the door to the master bedroom and sees Celeste getting ready for bed, as the day is coming to a close. Celeste looks at her husband and gets a slight grin on her face, happy to see him home.

"You're home before bed, that's nice," she tells him as she stands up and moves up to hug and kiss him. "I was worried that I might not see you until morning."

"I know, I'm so sorry darling," he tells her as he kisses her back. "I was caught in a meeting that went longer than I expected."

"It's fine, I'm just glad that you're home," she replies to him.

"How was your day? Anything exciting happen?" he asks her, as he starts to undress from his work clothing.

She shakes her head. "No, I was looking forward to our lunch date, but I understand that you had to cancel," she tells him, purposely not telling him that she almost fainted earlier in the day. She doesn't want to worry him over nothing because it was just that, nothing.

"I know, I was too," he replies to her quickly. "But, like I said, I was in a meeting that went much longer than I had anticipated."

"Everything is okay, I hope?"

"Yes, yes," he nods back to her. "The meeting was with the accounting team. We had to rework our numbers since we are giving Kafelnikov 5% of our profits; that is how we managed to get the deal in Russia."

"I recall you telling me that," she tells him as she sits on the bed. "I hope the numbers worked out?"

"Eventually, they did, yes," Mac advises her. "But I do have bad news, I'm afraid."

"Is this about my design division?" she asks him, hoping that he isn't scraping the idea.

"I'm afraid so," he tells her as he sits next to her. "We just don't have the budget right now to start a brand new division. That being said, I've made the team put monies aside so in the new year we can start the division. Can you be patient with me?"

Celeste sighs and stands up from the bed, trying to hide her disappointment. "I can't lie to you and tell you that I'm okay with this. I'm actually rather upset by it because I really believed you would do this for me."

"It's not that I won't do this for you Celeste," Mac tells her as he comes up behind her and puts his hands on her shoulders. "It's just going to take longer than I first thought. You will get your division, I promise you that."

She uneasily nods back to him. "Fine, I guess I don't have any other choice, do I?"

"Don't be upset, okay?" he tells her as he kisses her forehead. "This will happen, I promise you that. I never break my promises to the woman I love."

***

Celeste walks through the garden, thinking about her conversation she just finished having with Mac. Instead of going to sleep, she decided she needed some air, so she is taking a walk to clear her head. She wishes desperately that he was going to be giving her the green light for her design division at Rockwell Mining. She's trying to understand the reasons why, but she is having a difficult time. Mac Rockwell is one of the wealthiest men in the country, and he isn't able to find the capital to help jump start her division? She wishes he would give her idea more of a chance.

"I guess I just have to be patient," she whispers to herself. "I have to have faith in my husband that he will do what he promises me."

Suddenly, she feels faint again. She manages to put her hand up against the mansion to keep herself from falling down. She takes a couple of deep breaths until she feels fine again, which doesn't take long.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" she asks herself as she carries on with her walk. She turns the corner and goes up to the French doors leading into the living room. When she opens them, she spots Cole pouring himself a drink.

"Celeste, hi," he says as he finishes pouring a brandy. "Care for a brandy?"

"Sure," she tells him.

"How was your meeting with Mac? Everything go okay?"

She sighs as she accepts the drink and she quickly takes a sip of things. "I take it by the look on your face that it didn't go the way you thought it would go."

"No, it didn't," she tells him. "But that's okay, right? I can't get my way all the time."

He chuckles back to her. "It is still unfortunate, if was something you really wanted."

"It was, it is," she replies to him as their eyes lock.

"I guess I can relate," he whispers back to her. "Wanting something so badly but told that I can't have it."

"Cole," she whispers back to him, knowing he is talking about them.

"No," he tells her as he hand touches her face. "Don't tell me to stop. Not this time. I just want to feel you once more."

"We can't…" she starts to say, but his lips meet hers and they share a tender kiss. She pushes him away after a moment but they keep looking into one another's eyes.

"I will try to make that the last time," he tells her as he turns away from her.

"We have to stop this," she replies to him.

"Don't tell me you didn't feel that just now, that spark between us."

"It doesn't matter what I feel!" she yells back to him. "I'm married to your father!"

He turns back to her. "And you're in love with me! Just admit that, Celeste. You love me and want me just as much as I want you!"

***

Jarek steps out of the shower as he thinks about his afternoon with Lex and realizes that he has to tell Odette about the progress that he has made. He wraps a towel around his waist and moves into the living room as he thinks about how great it is that Lex has fallen in love with him.

"Mom, it's me," he says into the phone."I wanted to call you quickly."

"Thank you," Odette replies to him through the phone. "What is going on? It's nothing serious is it?"

"It's very serious," he tells her. "Things with Lex are going well, Mom. Very well, in fact."

"I couldn't be more pleased, Jarek."

"Just know that everything is going exactly accordingly to plan. We will get what's ours, I promise you that," Jarek says with a sly grin on his face.

***

Kent walks around the penthouse that he shares with Lydia, his mind racing about Lydia telling him that the investigation was called off at Rockwell Mining, as they were looking into the reasons why the company lost the Kelsey Lake mine all those years ago. He can't deny that he is happy to learn the investigation is over.

He moves over to the bar and pours himself a bourbon, as he recalls the reason how he was able to outbid Rockwell all those years ago. The morning after Mac discovered Kent and Lydia in bed together, Lydia went to Mac's office and read the file that was on his desk. She knew exactly how much he was going to bid on the mine and she reported every detail back to Kent. That afternoon, he was able to bid a higher amount on the mine and he has been in charge of Kelsey Lake ever since.

"And," he whispers to himself as he takes a sip of his drink. "We did that to make sure no one else would uncover the other secret that we are keeping. The secret I want to come out."

He recalls how when he asked Lydia recently if it was time the truth came out, she slapped him hard across the face because she doesn't want that to happen. He can understand her reasons, but he also knows that he is the one suffering with the truth not coming out.

"Maybe it is time," he says to himself. "To hell with what Lydia says."

Before he can have any more thoughts, there is a knock on the door. Kent sets his drink down and moves to the door and spots Houston standing on the other side of the door.

"Houston," Kent says to his son. "What a surprise, come in."

"Thanks Dad," Houston replies to him, wondering if he should tell his father about his engagement to Stacey. "How are you?"

"I'm…contemplating," Kent reveals to his son. "Would you care for a drink?"

Houston shakes his head no. "I drove here, so I need to be responsible. What are you thinking about?"

Kent looks back at his son with intent, knowing that his secret would impact Houston more than anyone else in his life. "I'm just thinking that it might be time a truth is revealed."

Houston gulps wondering if it is possible that Kent knows about his relationship with Stacey. "What truth is that?" he tries to keep cool, knowing he will have to get Kent on his side if he does know about his relationship with Stacey.

Kent waves his hand back to him. "It happened a long time ago," he continues to tell Houston, who secretly breathes a sigh of relief. "Something that I never should have lied about, but I had my reasons."

"And now?" Houston asks him. "You think you could be honest about it? What does this mean for everyone that you lied too?"

"That's what I'm wrestling with," Kent admits to him. "I'm just giving you a fair warning though, Houston. Your life may change if I decide to come forward with this."

Houston arches his eyebrow. "Well, now I think you owe me an explanation. You can't say that to me and expect me to not want to know what you're talking about. So what is it, Dad? What's going on? What could change my life?"

***
"You seem to have a large smile on your face," Mac observes to Lex, as he comes into his office and sees his son back at work, which is surprising to Mac because Lex had left for the day or so he thought.

"It's been a good day," Lex replies to him. "I can't help but be in a good mood."

"I'm glad to hear that," Mac says back to him. "What brought you back to the office?"

Lex shrugs. "I want to keep working on the numbers after the Russia deal," Lex admits to him. "I hope you know that I take this job very seriously, Dad. I know how important Rockwell Mining is to you and this family. I am trying to show you that I will be able to take over the company when you're ready to step down."

Mac moves closer to him and pulls his son into a hug. "You've made me so proud, Lexington. I hope you know that I love you very much and I couldn't be happier that you are my son."

Lex smiles as he hugs his father. "Thank you for that, Dad. Everything I do is because I'm trying to make you proud."

***

Lydia sits at the bar of the country club and orders a double scotch on the rocks. She takes a sip when the bartender brings her the beverage. She is trying to numb herself from her actions in the last couple of weeks.

She knows that drugging Lexington to get him to sign his proxy over to her was wrong, but she couldn't help it. She was determined to get her children's shares so she and Kent can take over Rockwell Mining, and that was the only way possible for her to get Lex's shares. She knows that there is no way that he would have given her the shares on his own, so she did what she had to do.

"He will never find out," she tells herself. "He can't find out. He would hate me forever. And I'm all he really has."

She thinks that this isn't the first time that she has betrayed her son, and she knows it. She closes her eyes and thinks back to when she was pregnant with Lexington.

<FLASH>

1996

"You're pregnant?" Kent asks her in shock. "How is this possible? We were using protection!"

"Protection doesn't always work!" Lydia yells back to him. "That doesn't matter right now. What matters is that this baby has to be MacKenzie's. There is no other option at this point! He just lost Kelsey Lake, he can't lose a child to you too. He would suspect I helped you closed the deal. I could go to jail!"

"I'm not going to give up my child, Lydia," Kent replies to her in frustration.

"Listen to me and listen to me carefully," Lydia warns him. "You got Kelsey Lake because I told you how much Mac was going to bid. That's corporate espionage. If I'm ever caught, I could go to jail. But I will make that happen and you will lose Kelsey Lake if you breathe a word of this to anyone, do you understand me? Now, this baby will be raised as Mac's and that's final! We have no other choice! A baby will help him get his mind of Kelsey Lake."

Kent shakes his head in disgust at her. "What about blood work? Mac will surely ask?"

Lydia gets a twisted look on her face. "I've already had a paternity test done," she reveals to him. "Mac has no idea because I've told him that this is his child. And, the paternity test proves that. I will show Mac the test and it will be the end to all of this."

"How is that possible?"

"I changed the results," Lydia shocks Kent again. "I had to Kent! I had no other choice!"

"You have this all figured out don't you?" Kent asks her.

"I'm trying to save my family from crumbling down around me," she tells him. "My other two children, they need me too. That's why this has to happen this way, Kent. Please tell me that you understand."

"I will never like this," Kent spits back to her. "But, I understand."

<FLASH>

Lydia opens her eyes and realizes that she's back in the present day. She takes a large gulp of her drink and shakes her head a little as it goes down. She wipes a tear out of her eye. "No one can ever know," she whispers to herself as another tear falls from her eye. "Never."