" Dr. Russell. I’m sorry you had to wait. I’m Alexandra Simmons.", she says to Eve, extending her hand.

" Nice to meet you."

" Well, since you’re here, I’m assuming that you want a divorce."

" I don’t really want one, but, I’m expecting one."

" I don’t understand."

" How much do I have to give you to put you on retainer and make our conversations strictly confidential?"

" Five hundred dollars."

Eve pulled the money out of her purse, and put it on the table.

" There. Now, whatever I tell you is strictly between us?"

" Yes."

" I don’t want a divorce. I love my husband. But, information about my past is about to be revealed, and I believe that it’s possible that my husband will be instigating a divorce."

" So, you’ve come to me for ‘just in case?’"

" Yes."

" Is there any way that this information won’t be revealed."

" No. It’s unavoidable. I have to tell my husband."

" Well, what is your goal, if it comes down to divorce."

" I have a daughter who’s still underage. In all honesty, the only thing I want is joint custody of her, and a say in what happens with her. Our other daughter is already of legal age."

" What about the house? The assets?"

" The house is his family’s house. I don’t want it. As far as assets are concerned, yes, I’d like half. After all, it was mostly my paycheck that went into investing for the family’s future, but, I have my own nest egg that he knows nothing about. So, push comes to shove, I’m not going to fight over the joint assets. We do have a cabin in the lake country, and another beach house, but, my children enjoy it, and it’s never meant  that much to me, and the beach house has been in his family for over 50 years. That’s my children’s legacy. If it comes to divorce, I want it legally clean as possible, because the emotions will certainly be messy."

" I can’t do anything until your husband decides to file for divorce. You sure you don’t want me to put a lean on those assets, making them frozen?"

" No. In the end, it’s only money, and like I said, I have a nice nest egg of my own. Now, I DO expect you to help me keep it, and make sure that he can’t get to it."

" I’ll need some particulars, but, if we go into divorce proceedings, you’ll have to divulge this to his counsel, otherwise, you can be opening yourself to another can of worms down the road. A sympathetic judge believing that you were trying to shortchange your husband, and it could be quite punitive."

Eve nodded. " I’ll have my financial advisor send the records to you."

" You don’t seem like you want  divorce. Are you sure that whatever you’re going to reveal to your husband will push him to end your marriage?"

Eve shrugs. " I dunno. What do you think a man would say if one day you told him you had a son by the one man he hates most in the world? How many men could get over that?"

Alexandra nods. " I understand."

" I’m hoping for the best. Preparing for the worst."

" I have to say…you’re far out ahead of the curve. Most women get to me only when their lives have been turned upside down. Few have done any planning for themselves, and wind up behind the 8-ball."

" Thank you for seeing me. We’ll see if I contact you again."

" You’re welcome, Dr. Russell."

Eve leaves her office, readying herself for the most difficult conversations she’ll ever have.
 

" She  is? You’re sure she’s on duty tonight? Thank you."

Chad hangs up and Beth comes over.

" You sure have a big smile on your face. What’s up?"

" I just called the hospital. Dr. Russell is back, and she’ll be working there tonight. I’m going to see her."

" About Whitney?"

" Yeah. I’m going to ‘declare my intentions’ to her. I hope that this works. I really want for her not to give Whitney a hard time about us."

" She won’t, Chad. You’re a great guy, and anyone can see it."

" Wish me luck."

" You don’t need it. Everything will be fine. I promise. "

" Thanks, Beth. You’re a great boss and friend."

" I try.", she says laughing, as Chad leaves the Book Café.
 
 

" Well, Penny, you’re doing very well, considering all that you’ve been through.", the doctor says to Penny, with Julian and Ivy hovering.

" When can we take our daughter home?", Julian asks.

" Mr. Crane, don’t you think it would be best for her to stay and recuperate here? We have an excellent facility."

" No. I don’t want my daughter in this country any longer than possible."

" I agree with Julian.", Ivy speaks up. " Penny has been through enough. She should be recuperating with her FAMILY, not a bunch of strangers, no matter how well meaning."

" Ok. Well, I have one more series of neurological tests to run on Penny. If those check out, she’ll be free to go in a day. I’ll make sure that all of her records will be available when she leaves."

" You do that.", Julian says.

The doctor leaves, and Julian goes over to Penny and kisses her. " See that, Darling. It will be a short time before we leave."

" Daddy, I’m really happy about going home. Can I tell you something?"

" Always.", Julian says, leaning in for the secret.

" I didn’t like boarding school. I know that Cranes are supposed to get the best, but, why couldn’t that be with you and Mommy?"

Julian kisses her again. " I don’t know. We’ll have to think on it."

Julian looks at Ivy as she hangs up the telephone.

" Anything wrong, Ivy?"

" I called Sally, and she said that there had been deliveries to the house. That a florist had been there, and that they had been arranging things in the garden. She said that it looked like they were putting up a wedding arch."

" Wedding arch?"

" Could it be that Ethan’s going to marry Theresa soon? Julian, we can’t miss Ethan’s wedding? We have to get back home!"

Julian rolled his eyes. " Of course, Dear. We couldn’t miss your precious Ethan’s wedding."

Ivy got on the phone to the hotel, and to the airport, preparing everything for their departure.
 

" Ethan, I don’t think I understood you."

" I can’t marry you, Theresa. The wedding’s off."

" You mean that you don’t want to get married right away?"

" No. I mean that I’m not marrying you. I’m going to be married soon….to Gwen."

" Gwen?"

" When I went to comfort her about her father, I felt the connection between us. And, I realized that marrying you was the wrong thing to do."

Theresa shook her head. " No. You don’t mean this."

" Yes, Theresa, I do. I’m sorry. But, I thought I should tell you as soon as I could get up the courage."

" No! That’s what the dating was all about. You dated BOTH of us, and then decided that you loved ME! You wanted to spend your life with ME!"

" I was wrong. Gwen is the woman I’m supposed to be with."

" NO! Gwen is the woman your family wants for you. It’s what they want for Ethan CRANE. I knew that this would happen. I knew that your family would put the pressure on you to do this. But, Ethan, you don’t have to do it. You don’t have to do it, Ethan. You don’t have to do what’s expected of you as a Crane,…because you AREN’T A CRANE!"

Ethan looks at Theresa. " What did you say?"