Episode 25

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Episode 25

Scene 1:

Noah's job at Connie's kept him busy. That was the best part about it...well, next to being near the Conlan family, that is. He had a special place for all the Conlan's, especially Maura, who had given him a job in the first place and had always been generous when he needed help. Jory and Luke were cool, distant mostly, but not bad guys. Jillie made him feel alive. What man wouldn't feel alive around her, he had often wondered. She had the face of an angel and the body of a playmate, though he would never tell her that. Not that he could talk much when she was around either. But Piper was his favorite Conlan without a doubt.

She was shy but sweet, smart but not condescending. She was everything Maura was and would rival Jillie in the looks department. Not that he felt anything for her, he would often remind himself. She was like a sister...that wasn't true, but he held onto it. for sanity's sake. He hated to see her doubting herself which she did a lot. With sisters like the Maura ,who was always confident and ambitious, and Jillie, who was beautiful and alluring, he didn't blame her but he still wished she wouldn't.

He would see a lot more of Piper this summer too. She had gotten the lead in the Frank Farley play at the PAC and he had gotten the janitorial job. She had been flushed with excitement when she found out and hugged him hard, surprising them both. Maura had smiled and given him a strange look, but he ignored it in the hopes that she wouldn't question him about Piper. Maura was great but really entirely too overprotective.

With two jobs, he rearranged his schedule a little and found himself working the breakfast rush more in the last week. It was a completely different crowd but even Danny McKeown showed up once he heard Noah was on the morning shift. Noah was a favorite with the regulars and even he hadn't figured out why.

He saw Dinah Stafford sneak into the diner and poke her head into the employee break room, looking for Piper. If Dinah were a little less spontaneous and a bit more serious, he could see himself asking her out. She was pretty and funny, not to mention intelligent. But as it was, she was a little too flaky for his tastes. She was a great girl, he wouldn't deny that, but a little too carefree for him, was all. Though, he had seen a different side of her lately. If only she were more like she had been and not like she usually was.

She caught his eye and grinned. How long had he been staring at her, he wondered, as she made her way toward him. He looked around for Maura but she was engrossed in a conversation with someone Noah hadn't seen before.

"Hey, Noah!" Dinah said as she paused in front of him. "How are you?"

"Busy," he replied nervously, wiping off a table nearby. "How are you?"

"Okay...I just spent the night at Jamie Mason's house. His wife had a baby this morning."

"Who's Jamie Mason?" Noah asked standing up again. Dinah rolled her eyes and giggled.

"He's the Mason Heir," she said using her fingers for quotation marks. "You know, the one who came back and took over ME? Don't you read the paper?"

"Not if I can help it. Were you babysitting or something?"

"Yes. I hate it but it's good money." She looked around and frowned slightly. "Have you seen Piper? We were supposed to go to Halwood for that free concert series today."

"Didn't Piper tell you?" Noah asked but seeing the confused look on Dinah's expression he went on without waiting for an answer. "Piper got the lead in that play. Maura gave her the summer off for rehearsals and performances. I thought she would have told you."

"I bet she left a message at my house," Dinah replied with a sigh. "The whole summer huh? What a drag."

"Not for Piper," Noah remarked. "You should be happy for her."

"I am. I'm just bummed out for myself. Piper always gets the cool stuff. What do I get for the summer? A babysitting job."

"You could work here," Noah offered. "Maura said she would have to hire another waiter with Piper gone. I bet she'd hire you in a minute. besides, I think it would be fun to have a friend to work with. I'll even put in a good word for you."

"You will?" Dinah's face lit up momentarily. "Okay, I'll talk to her. Later. Right now, I have got to take a nap! I'll see you later?"

Noah shrugged. "Sure. See you later!" Dinah smiled at him and fairly skipped out the door. Noah watched her go, wondering if that had been such a smart idea.

Scene 2:

Phoebe looked up at the knock on her door. She had been deep into a revision of the follow up article on the Mason shakeup but set it aside as Rick poked his head into the room.

"Hey Phebes," he said casually. It always amazed her how men picked up on that dumb nickname. She didn't care for it much but allowed it's usage when she was in a pleasant mood. "Got a minute?" She shrugged and motioned for him to enter. She started to say something but was stunned into silence at the person following Rick into the room. "You remember Dane Lennox?"

Phoebe nodded numbly watching as he took a seat across from her on her couch. "Yes, from the Mason Dinner," she added feeling like she was about to be ambushed.

"You weren't too happy with the Mason's buying The Observer, if I remember correctly," Dane added with a slight touch of a smile. Phoebe pressed her lips together in a thin line willing herself to keep quiet in this case.

"That's right, Phoebe thinks it's a bit of a monopoly don't you?" Rick cut in, casting her a warning glance.

"No, monopoly isn't quite how I saw it. But that doesn't really matter anymore does it?" She replied trying to be gracious. Trying being the operative word. "What can I do for you Rick?"

"Well, it turns out that Dane wants to learn about the world of journalism. He's taken the Observer on as a pet project and wants to learn the ins and outs of it."

"What? As an editor?" Warning signals were going off in Phoebe's head as she looked from Rick to Dane.

"No. Not really, Miss Cameron...or may I call you Phebes?" Dane asked in a calming tone.

"Phoebe is fine."

"All I want to do is be a part of the day to day business of The Observer. Primarily, my participation is purely on a financial level. But I think I need to know how the paper works, don't you think?"

Relief flooded Phoebe's face, only to be replaced by a suspicious glance at Rick. What was he planning? "I think you'd be right," she replied cautiously.

"Good!" Rick interrupted. "Phoebe, I'd like you to show Dane the ropes. Show him everything no matter how minor a detail it is."

"But...," she started to protest but Rick fixed her with a look that said, don't start. "That would be fine. When would you like to start Mr. Lennox?"

"It's Dane. And next week would be fine. We've got a little bit of excitement going on at home and I won't have time this week."

"Of course," Phoebe nodded dying with curiosity over the excitement in the Mason household. "Next week then." Dane stood and left the office, motioning to Rick as he left. Rick turned to Phoebe once before following Dane.

"I know you don't like it that his family owns the paper, but play nice, Phebes," he warned. She stuck her tongue out at him as he left. She felt ambushed for real now.

Scene 3:

His mother was outside again. This time, she was leaning against the big white care she drove and staring at the house. Chris watched her from his room upstairs while Jamie napped. He'd been there for an hour just looking at her as she stared when he heard footsteps at the door. He turned as Jamie walked into the room.

"Hey kiddo," Jamie said taking a seat next to Chris on his bed. Chris kept his eyes away from the window and prayed that she would leave before Jamie saw her. "How are you doing? You look a little worried."

"Dad...when is Mom coming home?" Chris asked suddenly. The very idea that Michaela was even in the hospital disturbed him. Then there was that baby they were bringing back from the hospital.... Hospitals were bad places so this baby couldn't be anything good, he knew that for a fact. Jamie wrapped an arm around him and hugged him tightly.

"Oh, soon, Chris. She just needs to rest. Hospitals are good places to rest."

"Was I bad? Is that why she has to stay there? Because I need to be punished?" The look of shock in Jamie's eyes scared Chris for a moment before it disappeared into a concerned expression.

"No," Jamie replied firmly. "You are a great kid. Michaela is in the hospital because of your new sister. She's not sick and you are not a bad boy. Okay?" Chris nodded and glanced over at the window. Momma had told him every day what a bad boy he was. He had never really believed her but it must be kind of true, otherwise, Micki wouldn't be in the hospital right now. Chris knew it was a place where bad things happened and Micki was surely being hurt because of him. It was only logical.

"Can we go to Grandma's today?" He asked. He didn't want to be in this house anymore without his dad or Micki. Jamie smiled and tousled his hair.

"Of course you can. Go get your brother, I'll drop you off before I go see Mom and Lily." Chris jumped off the bed and ran towards the living room at full speed. He would be safe behind Grandma Gwen's big fence and so would Jesse.

Scene 4:

"Seriously," Maura said sitting down across from Jude on her break. "Why are you here?"

"Needed the company," Jude said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "And you are the best company I know. Don't you want to see me?"

Maura tilted her head and shook it slightly. "That's not fair. You know I like talking to you no matter where or when," she smiled. "I just hadn't heard from you since the dinner and I was beginning to wonder."

"I know and I'm sorry. I'm a schmuck sometimes when it comes to women."

"No you're not! I thought I had done something wrong," she admitted. Jude laughed aloud and took her hand across the table.

"You did nothing wrong at all. In fact, you're perfect. It's really just me being a fool." He let her hand go and leaned back in his chair. "I let someone upset me during the dinner and I felt like such an idiot."

"If it makes you feel any better, someone upset me at the dinner too. So we're even. Don't feel bad, Jude. Just because you let someone get to you doesn't mean you're an idiot."

"Thanks. Who upset you? If I can ask that is..."

"Oh," Maura sighed. "An old college friend of mine is in town. He's the editor of The Observer now. He didn't really upset me, he just has a way of getting to me. How about you? Who upset you?"

"Hallie. She's a brat and I know she's a brat but she just rubs me the wrong way sometimes." Maura laughed in spite of herself.

"Aren't you used to Hallie Lennox yet? You've only known her what? Your entire life?" Jude grinned back at her.

"You're right. She just hit a sore spot...," he trailed off and studied Maura for a moment, trying to decide whether he could confide in her or not. He decided he could and continued after a moment. "An old girlfriend of mine is pregnant and she chose the dinner to tell me."

"Oh." Maura let the word hang in the air until his words sank in. "Is it...?"

"I doubt it. That relationship was over a long time ago. "

"But there is room for doubt?"

Jude sighed heavily and dropped his eyes. "Yeah there is always room for doubt. Much as I hate to admit that. Does that make you a little wary of me?"

"No. We all make mistakes, Jude. In fact, I'm sure you'll make it right."

"I'm glad you think so, Maura. I hope you're right about me."

Scene 5:

"You've reached Hallie Lennox. Sorry I can't take your call, but do leave your name and number and I'll call you back!" Ellen Mason sighed as she waited for the beep. Why was she doing this? Her life was good here. Going home to Virginia would only make her crazy. She was doing it, she reminded herself, because Hallie had asked her too. And Hallie would do the same for her.

"Hi, Hal. It's El. I've thought about it...and I'll come. Only for you though. If my mother harasses me, you have to deal with her. If Jamie is a jerk, you deal with it. And if Dane calls me Smelly Elly...I'll deal with it. I'll be there Friday. Love you, Hal. See you then." She hung the phone up and stared at it for a moment before shaking herself free and going back to work. Conlan's Glen...it seemed like a world away from San Francisco..........