Billie grabbed Greta’s arm, her voice dropping to a fierce whisper. “You cannot tell Hope I have this compact. You have got to keep my secret. This is the only thing I have to remind me of my daughter, my Georgia.
”
Greta looked uncomfortable. “I hate lying to Hope. ”
“Come on, isn’t there something your mother gave you that you would not give up no matter what? ”
Greta hesitated, then nodded slowly.
“Okay. Fine. I won’t tell Hope you have the compact. For now.
”
Across the square, Gina watched the exchange with narrowed eyes. So that’s who Greta’s been protecting. Bo spotted her and waved. “Hey, Hope, glad I ran into you.
”
They walked toward each other, and Bo couldn’t hide his excitement. “This is a good sign. ”
“Why’s that? ”
“Because I want to talk to you first.
I figured out a way to crack DiMera’s world. ”
Gina raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, crack? What are you going to do?
”
“It’s simple, really. To get a handle on what Princess Gina did for DiMera, all I have to do is figure out the activities DiMera was involved in. Uncover some of his secrets. ” He paused.
“I think he was behind a string of art thefts. ”
“Bo, it’s a dead end. You already explained the dates from when I stayed at the hotel in Capri don’t coincide with any of the art thefts. ”
“I’ll figure that out.
But my point is, you could have been involved without knowing it. DiMera was using you to get into high society the same way he used the real Princess Gina. He’s behind those thefts, I know it. All I have to do is prove it.
”
“And then what? ”
“Not me, Hope. Us. We’ll get our future back.
And if I’m right, Lili Faversham gets her masterpieces back, and icing on the cake, DiMera will be behind bars. ”
Gina seemed distracted. “Nothing means more to me than solving the mystery of my past, Bo. And if Stefano gets what’s coming to him as a bonus, then great.
But your plan has some major problems. ”
Bo studied her. “What’s going on? You’re distracted.
You’re a bit distracted here. ”
Gina glanced across the square. “Oh, I’m sorry. I just noticed Billie and Greta are over there.
Come on, let’s go say hi. ”
The three women greeted each other warmly, but tension crackled beneath the surface. Gina smiled at Billie. “There is a lot of history standing right here, isn’t there?
Most people wouldn’t be able to get past it and still be friends. Luckily, we’re bigger than that. Take Billie and me, for instance. If ever there were two women who had more reason to be lifelong enemies, and look at us.
We’re on our way back to being best friends again, just like we were before a certain man got in the way. ” She paused. “Oh, dear, did I put my foot in it again? ”
“No, no, no,” Bo said.
“I’m sorry, I keep doing that. ”
“Forget it. I think we all appreciate what you’re saying. It is long past time to move on.
”
Gina turned to Billie. “I hope you feel the same way. I’ve really missed you. When I think of you in the bayou, losing your baby, I honestly don’t know how you got through it.
”
Billie’s voice was tight. “It’s still very hard to talk about. ”
“Maybe it would help if you were able to share your pain with people who really care about you,” Gina suggested. Greta stepped in.
“Maybe Billie just needs more time. ”
“Has time helped you get over the loss of your mother? ” Gina asked. “I accept that she’s gone, but I’ll never get over it.
”
“Well, it’s the same for me. I can’t stop wondering about those years that were stolen from me. I wake up crying some nights. It’s like I’m being haunted by the ghost of someone I can’t see.
If I could just know what my life was like during that time, maybe I’d be able to start thinking about a future again. ”
Billie glanced at her watch. “I’ve really got to go, you guys. I have to go to work.
See you later. ”
After she left, Gina turned to Bo. “God, it is late. I better go, too.
”
“Wait, wait. Can’t you hang for a minute? ”
“No, I can’t. I told Lili I’d meet her.
I’m sorry. I’ll see you later. ”
Greta watched her leave, then looked at Bo. “Are you all right?
”
“Yeah, I’m fine, but Hope… one minute she’s flying high, and the next… ” He shook his head. “Too bad about that silver compact.
I didn’t know it was so important to her. ”
Gina caught up to Billie on the street. “Billie. Are you practicing for a marathon?
”
Billie stopped. “What do you want, Hope? ”
“Oh, dear. I’ve upset you.
I am sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable talking about personal things. ”
“You haven’t upset me. I just need to get to work, okay? ”
“Okay, well, how about tomorrow?
Could you squeeze in a girls’ lunch, just you and me? It’s been forever since we’ve shared a real sinful dessert together. What do you say? ”
Billie hesitated.
“Fine. ”
“Great. It will be like old times. I’ll call you in the morning?
”
“Okay. ”
As Billie walked away, Gina watched her, a cold smile forming. “I’ll have that compact back before Billie even knows what hit her. ”
Meanwhile, Lucas paced in the hotel lobby, phone pressed to his ear.
“Operator, this is Lucas Roberts. Did Nicole Walker ring my room in the last half-hour? Are you sure? No messages at all?
”
He hung up and called his mother. Kate answered, her voice sharp. “So much for your foolproof plan, Victor. Nicole took the $5 million, and she disappeared.
I know. I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming. I thought it was worth it. I hated writing out that check, but I thought, well, if she marries Lucas, he’ll get custody of Will.
If she thinks she can get away with hurting Lucas and ruining his chances of getting custody of Will, she better think again. Wherever she’s disappeared to, I will find her, and I will make her pay. ”
Lucas’s voice cut through. “Mom, forget it.
I’m not going to just wait around here. Nicole’s out there somewhere, and she could be hurt. I’ve got to find her. ”
Inside her hotel room, Nicole stared at her reflection.
She looked at the cashier’s check in her hand. “I used to think if I could just be rich, I’d be happy. Now I have $5 million, and I couldn’t be more miserable. Of course, Kate gave me the money to marry Lucas, not to disappear.
Not that she wanted me as a daughter-in-law anyway. She was just using me to help Lucas get custody of Will. ” She set the check down. “But I can’t help anyone now.
The best thing I can do for everyone is to just walk away. ”
She thought of Eric, of his face when he’d proposed. She’d been such a fool to let herself believe in a future. A girl who’d done the things she’d done didn’t deserve to live happily ever after.
His father had been right. She wasn’t good enough for him, and she never would be. Eric had met Austin at the diner, watching the toddler play with a toy truck. “You’re great with him, man.
”
Austin smiled. “I love that boy so much. I’m just trying to spend as much time with him as I can before the hearing tomorrow. ”
“So?
Did you find Carrie in Vegas? Did you work things out? ”
Austin’s face fell. “I found Carrie.
But as far as working things out… ” He shook his head. “Anyway, regardless of what happens, I can’t lose Will. ”
“You won’t,” Eric said firmly.
“Besides, you’ve got the whole Brady family in your corner. ”
Austin forced a smile. “Your brother Lucas, when he wants something, he pulls out all the stops. ”
“That’s his style, all right.
You should have seen what he gave Nicole to impress her, try and get her to break up with me. He gave her a Mercedes. Can you believe that? Then he got her a Hollywood agent.
She was poor growing up, so he was pushing all the right buttons. Probably would have worked with most girls, but it’s kind of refreshing to know that Lucas Roberts doesn’t always get what he wants, because he didn’t get Nicole. I did. ”
“You two are getting pretty serious.
”
“Yeah, you could say that. We’re engaged. ”
Austin’s eyes widened. “What?
You’re engaged? That’s great, man. ”
“I can’t believe it. If somebody would have told me last year that I would be willing to make this kind of a commitment, I’d have laughed in their face.
But I guess all it takes is the right girl. ”
“I hope things work out for you,” Austin said quietly. Eric studied his friend. “Hey, you and Carrie have been through way too much.
You’ll work it out. And besides, Will needs both of you, especially tomorrow at the hearing. ”
Austin’s jaw tightened. “Well, I got to level with you.
I’m not sure that Carrie’s going to be there tomorrow at the hearing. ”
In her room, Carrie stared at Mike, her face twisted with guilt. “It makes me sick, what I did to Austin last night. And how am I going to face my family?
They have always trusted me to do what’s right. And Austin trusted me, and now he’s never going to forgive me. Nobody will. ”
“Hey, you’re talking like we committed some kind of crime,” Mike said softly.
“That’s how I feel. ”
“We didn’t set out to hurt anybody. For months, we tried to do what’s good and what’s right. ”
“God, Mike, can’t you just admit that what we did was wrong?
”
“We love each other, Carrie. How can that be wrong? ”
“We hurt another person, Mike. My husband, in the worst possible way.
”
“It’s not like we planned to. We had no way of knowing he was going to show up at that hotel. ”
“Do you honestly think it would have hurt him any less if he’d found out some other way? ”
Mike sighed.
“Okay, so it was a shock. But at least he knows now how we feel about each other. ”
“Yeah, we threw that in his face, didn’t we? ”
“Carrie, you think I want to sneak around?
You are the woman I love. Whenever I think about my future, whenever I allow myself to believe that I will finally be happy, you’re there with me. We belong together. ”
“I don’t want this.
”
“No matter what you say, I know you feel the same way. You showed me your true feelings last night. ”
Carrie shook her head. “And what about Will?
Austin’s supposed to go to court tomorrow to get custody of Will. But if he doesn’t have a wife to be a mother to Will, he might lose. And Lucas, he hates Austin so much that he would probably never let Will see him again. So Austin could lose everything that he cares about because of what I have done.
”
“Will is totally innocent,” Mike argued. “He does not deserve to have his life torn up. ”
“That’s right, Mike. I didn’t know because I was having so much fun with you that I couldn’t even call and ask how Sami was.
I could have been there for her. I could have waited for my husband to come back to me instead of driving across country with you like Bonnie and Clyde, with not a care in the world and to hell with anyone who gets in our way. ”
“Is that how you really feel about us? ” Mike asked, hurt.
“All I know is that I have to try and make things right. I have to be at that custody hearing tomorrow. ”
“Okay, so what? You’re going to stand in front of the judge and pretend like everything’s perfect between you and Austin?
”
“If I don’t, Mike, Will and Austin could lose each other forever. And I cannot let them down like that. And you have no right to ask me. ”
Mike looked at her, his voice softening.
“I’m sorry. I was way out of line. Of course you have to do what you think is right. And if that means being in court for Austin tomorrow, then that’s what you have to do.
And I’ll be there for you. That’s why I drove twelve hours straight to be here, so that you wouldn’t be alone. I know this is not going to be easy, but I think both of us knew that the first time we kissed and neither one of us could breathe. ”
“Mike…
”
“Carrie, please don’t. I’m never going to leave you, no matter how rough this gets. We belong together, and that’s all that matters. ”
“No, Mike.
That is not all that matters to me. I can’t be around you. I see you, and all I can see is the pain on Austin’s face last night. ”
“Please, don’t do this.
We need each other. ”
“No, I need to be alone. Please. ”
“I can’t just leave you.
”
“Please, Mike, leave. Okay? ”
Mike looked at her for a long moment. “You really mean that.
” He stood, his voice thick. “I love you. And I know that you love me, too. I can’t lose you, not now.
” He walked out, closing the door behind him. Carrie sat alone, staring at nothing. She picked up the phone and dialed. When Austin answered, her voice trembled.
“Will needs you, Austin. And I promised that I would help you get custody. That is a promise that I’m going to keep. ”
In the diner, Austin hung up the phone and looked at Eric.
Something in his expression had shifted. He didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, or what was left between him and Carrie. But he knew one thing for certain. He would not fail Will.
Outside the hotel, a taxi pulled up. Nicole slid into the back seat. “Where to, gorgeous? ”
She stared ahead, her heart aching.
“O’Hare International Terminal. ”
“Get in. ”
“Goodbye, Eric,” she whispered. “I’ll always love you.
” She looked at the driver. “Let’s go before I change my mind. ”
Back in the square, Bo walked along the water, thinking about Hope. One minute she was flying high, the next she was spiraling into despair.
He hadn’t realized how much that compact meant to her, a physical link to the years she couldn’t remember. Gina stood on the other side of the square, watching him go. She smiled to herself. Tomorrow, at lunch, she would take care of Billie.
And then she would have the compact, the key to everything she’d lost. And maybe then, she could begin to remember.
