Episode 35

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Episode 35

Scene 1:

"Why Ellen?" Hallie asked watching Ellen's face contort with mixed emotions. "Is there something I should know about Morgan Birch?" Ellen's head snapped up and stared back at Hallie, her eyes searching Hallie's.

"No," Ellen replied at last to Hallie's dismay. She shrugged and went back to her fabric samples. If Ellen wouldn't tell, of course, she would contact Morgan. She had to know what the secret was!

"Well, it was just an idea," she said dismissing it with a wave of her hand. "Morgan Birch was never that great anyway." She peeked at Ellen out of the corner of her eye and saw her sigh visibly. How strange that Ellen seemed to want this particular secret kept that way...secret. Jamie must be more involved than either she or Luke imagined.

She sorted through the remnants until Ellen sighed in boredom. "Okay, I can take a hint. Go on, you probably want to see Jamie before you have to leave anyway." Hallie pushed her chair back and studied Ellen for a moment. "You know, I would have thought that Jamie would have cleared his schedule to spend time with you," she remarked.

"Jamie's busy," Ellen replied in defense of her brother. "Besides, Jude told me he was working on two really big real estate deals."

"Oh? I hadn't heard."

"He's selling that hospital in Florida to some woman...I think she's a doctor. And then there's some vacation resort in North Carolina he's working on," Ellen said. Funny, Hallie thought, Luke never told her these things anymore.

"North Carolina? That would be the project Phillip Ashby is working on. Now Ellen, you want a good man, go meet Mr. Ashby. He is very nice," she said with a wink.

"No thanks. Unfortunately, there's another man I have to see today. And it isn't Jamie either."

"Oh? You are going to tell me, right?

"All right, I have to go apologize to Jory Conlan."

Scene 2:

Jamie studied the proposal before looking up at his young executive. It was a good idea and a well written business plan. Phillip Ashby took things seriously too. He wasn't one to "play" at anything. That was the reason why Jamie had promoted him to Director of Commercial Properties. Now, Ashby was paying off.

"Phillip, I think this is an excellent idea. But if the land in North Carolina is so inexpensive why haven't we closed on this yet?" Jamie asked hoping for a decent reply. Phillip shuffled papers nervously, stalling for time. "Well?"

"Mr. Mason...I wish I had a good answer. But the reason is there is about 15 acres of land that is owned by a woman named Dacey Fairchild. And she refuses to sell."

"Have you spoken to her?" Jamie asked.

"Not personally. The bank manager has been keeping me informed."

Jamie tapped the desk in front of him. The woman's land was worth quite a bit to the development deal. Without her land, there would be no deal at all. "Tell me, Phillip, why is she so set on keeping this land? Is it money? Think she's holding out for more?"

"Honestly? It's the house. She won't leave the house. Her family has owned it since it was built and the bank manager says that she has told him on several occasions that she'd rather die than lose it."

"Do you want a suggestion Mr. Ashby? What I think you ought to do, is go down to North Carolina and try and work with her. Find an angle and see if you can get her to do what you want her to do."

"Well, she does have ideas of turning the house into a bed and breakfast," Phillip mentioned.

"Of course she does. So you suggest to her that ME could underwrite her efforts. It's all simple. You can expense the trip. Just make sure there are results." Jamie turned to the next file. "Now, this is the Hospital in Hope's Cove Florida. Who put this up for sale?"

"Mr. Fontaine. He said it wasn't profitable anymore after you left."

"Ah. Well, Jude is right. Now, let me just sign this and you can take it up to legal." Jamie scribbled his name across the papers and handed them over. Jude had made a smart decision to get rid of the hospital. It had been the last tie Hope's Cove with the exception of Michaela's brother. But with the hospital gone, he and Michaela and the kids were finally a part of their new home.

Scene 3:

"Okay, Dinah, you're in Section 2 with Noah. He'll train you and make sure no one bullies you on your first day. After tomorrow, you're on your own with the bullies," Maura said handing her an apron and a name tag before leaving her in Noah's care.

"What does that mean?" Dinah asked watching Maura ensconce herself at the bar. Noah grinned and tossed her a package of paper napkins.

"You'll find out when Dusty comes in," he remarked. "Okay, first on the to do list, fill the napkin dispensers. It's busy work until you get a customer in your section." He showed her how to fill the dispenser and left her to it while he drifted off to chat with Maura. Dinah watched him for a moment before continuing with her job at hand.

She had made headway with Noah at Luke's party. Good headway. But she hadn't seen nor heard from Piper since then. That worried her a bit. Selfishly, she had hoped that the guy Luke had introduced her to was sweeping her off her feet. Maybe then she wouldn't feel so bad about going after Noah. If...no, when Piper found out, Dinah was sure that it wouldn't be pretty. Piper had been in love with Noah since he had started working at Connie's last summer. Dinah hadn't given him a second look until recently. He wasn't her type, she had told herself. She liked men wild and spontaneous, not kind and thoughtful like Noah. But then, maybe he was her type and she was missing a good thing, she had thought.

She heard Maura laugh and looked up to catch Noah grinning back at her. They were awfully chummy, she thought, jamming napkins into the dispenser. Too chummy. She didn't like the way he looked at Maura...like she was an angel. Because Dinah could attest to Maura's bitchiness. She'd been on the receiving end of her attitude too many times to count. The thought that she should worry about his relationship with Maura crossed her mind but was quickly dismissed by a sharp voice behind her.

"You're doing that wrong," the nasal voice said. She turned to the voice and almost laughed at the sight. The girl standing in front of her was very short and very thin with long black hair pulled away from her face with a clip. She wore chunky glasses and a skirt that looked like her mother had worn it in the fifties. She stared at Dinah with sharp green eyes that looked more like a cat's than a girls. "That dispenser will break if you keep stuffing napkins in there," the girl added taking the dispenser from her.

"Oh. Sorry. Today's my first day," Dinah explained. "I'm Dinah Stafford."

"Piper's friend...I know who you are. I guess Noah is training you." Dinah pulled back in surprise at the bitter tone of the girl's voice.

"Yes he is." The girl looked over her shoulder at Noah joking with Maura and shook her head.

"Not doing a very good job is he?" Dinah opened her mouth to reply but the girl continued. "I'm Dusty. I'll actually be training you."

"But Noah..."

"No," Dusty interrupted. "Maura asks him to train, he says yes and then I get stuck with the newbie. So, welcome to Connie's. Oh and if you think having this job means Noah will attention to you? It didn't for Piper, it didn't work for Joanie, it didn't work for Jeff, and it's not gonna work for you."

Scene 4:

The phone rang in Maura's office twice before she was able to answer it. She'd been going over the deposit from the week before making sure all the amounts were right. It was something she liked to do. It put her mind at rest for some reason. Or rather, it took her mind off other things that were bothering her...like Rick.

"Hello?" She said, picking up the receiver.

"Hi Maura," Jude's voice rang through the phone line and spread a smile across her face.

"Hello! How are you?"

"Your question should be 'Where am I?' I'm in D.C. right now, Maura. Senator Mitchell died in a car accident. I came to help his widow with arrangements."

"Oh Jude, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" She asked, knowing how he had felt about the senator once upon a time. It would be even worse now for him, she thought, now that he was dead, Jude would never be able to make amends for whatever it was he had done to hurt the Senator.

"I'm fine. Look, I just wanted to call and tell you where I was and not to worry about me. I won't be back to the Glen for a few days but I wanted you to know that I missed you already."

"That's really nice. I miss you too," Maura smiled. "Take care of yourself okay? Call me if you need anything."

"I will. Thanks Maura...I'll see you soon." She replaced the receiver in it's cradle and stared at it. He missed her. The thought made her smile.


Scene 5:

"Who was that?" Cynthia asked coming out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee for him. She handed him the cup and settled down on the couch next to him. "You can tell me, I won't get upset."

"What would you get upset about Cyn?" Jude asked frowning. "It was nobody. My aunt."

"Oh? I wasn't aware you were so close to your aunt," Cynthia remarked. Jude shrugged and took a drink of coffee. There was no need to go into detail with Cynthia about his life now. They were history after all. She had seen to that.

"How are you feeling?" He asked gently. The last 24 hours had been hard on her, he could see it in her eyes, but she had managed to sleep for a period of time. "Did you get enough rest?"

"You're very kind to be concerned, Jude. I'm okay. You once called me the strongest woman you ever met, I'll survive."

"You are the strongest woman I've ever met. You've got this steel in you that I've never seen anywhere else. I know you'll be okay."

"That's very sweet. now who were you talking to? Do you have a girlfriend?" She teased. She caught the slight coloring of Jude's ears and laughed. "You do! What's her name? Come on Jude, fess up!"

"I don't know if you would call her a girlfriend, but she's very special. Her name is Maura." Cynthia nodded and stood up, walking to the window. "What's the matter?"

"I've been replaced. I lost the baby and I lost Derek and now I've lost you too, Jude. I don't think that steel can hold that," she replied softly. Jude went to her and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her gently.

"No one will ever replace you," he whispered. "Ever."

Scene 6:

The phone rang once before a man's voice came over the line offering Hallie a deep hello. "May I speak to Morgan Birch please?" She asked. There was a pause on the other end before the man replied.

"And who may I say is calling?"

"Hallie Mason Lennox. Mr. Birch was a good friend of my uncle, James Mason." She heard the man set the phone down and call for Morgan. She waited for a moment before she heard the phone being picked up again.

"This is Morgan Birch. May I help you?"

"Mr. Birch! I guess you don't remember me. I'm James Mason's niece, Hallie. My mother was Corrine Mason."

"Yes, Hallie, I remember you," Morgan replied. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is fine," she replied puzzled by his reaction. "I was hoping to hire you for a portrait. I'm getting married in November and I was hoping you would do a portrait of me like you did for my aunt and my mother."

"Ah, I see. Well, I'll be honest with you, Hallie, I'm in retirement. I really don't plan on doing anymore art. I think I've had my fill."

But Mr. Birch, won't you consider it for my sake? My whole family will be there...even my cousin Jamie. He's moved back to the Glen and I really wanted it to be a family affair. Without a portrait from you, it just won't be complete." She threw in Jamie's name hoping to get a reaction.

"Jamie is back? I didn't know that. How is your cousin?"

"He's wonderful," Hallie smiled at his response. "He and his wife and kids are settling in and getting used to the town."

"He has a family?"

"Yes. Two boys and a beautiful new daughter. Please say you'll come do my portrait, Mr. Birch. It means so much to me!"

"I'll have to check my schedule, Hallie. I'll get back to you." He hung up the phone abruptly. Hallie smiled triumphantly to herself and set her own cell phone back on the table.

"Good news?" She jerked her head up and met Stephen's eyes. Stephen Roth was like a bad rash that wouldn't go away, she thought miserably.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes," she replied curtly. He pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down leaning into the table.

"Well, tell me all about it. You know how I love to hear what's going on in your life," Stephen replied with a smirk.