Double Trouble: Thirty Nine... not a repost, I just can't count.
 by Cariad  
 
 

Double Trouble
~Thirty Nine~
Take two
“WHAT?” two voices echoed in stereo from opposite ends of the ballroom. Two equally irate ladies approached the stairs, as both Ivy and Rebecca shoved their way through the guests.

“Ethan I hired you to contest the divorce settlement, not the divorce itself!” Ivy snapped.

“But Mother,” Ethan protested, “I finally got my hands on the actual papers, and this is not your signature. It’s not even close!” Ethan held out the papers for Ivy and Julian’s perusal.

Julian straightened. “That does not affect my decision. If these papers are invalid, then I shall have another set drawn up, which you will sign again, Ivy, and I will then marry Theresa—the mother to be of the next Crane child.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Another high pitched voice squealed as Rebecca Hotchkiss strutted up to the stairs. “You will not get away with this Julian. You will not get away with this public humiliation. I also have an announcement to make!” Rebecca called out to the audience.

“Oh God!” Holly whispered, trembling violently.

“I demand that Julian Crane be arrested this instant for the murder of his sister, Sheridan Crane!”

All hell broke loose.

Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald fainted dead away. Luis reached for the gun he was not wearing, and failing that, rushed the stairs towards Julian, only to be restrained by several guests.

Holly broke free of Jonathan’s grasp and headed straight for the stairs. She met Julia halfway there.

“I pray to God Father has a plan,” Holly whispered. “This is what Rebecca was blackmailing him with.”

“Daddy wouldn’t kill anyone. He wouldn’t hurt a flea.”

“He said she had some very damning evidence.”

“But Daddy wouldn’t do that!” Julia protested.

In a unified front, they mounted the stairs below their father and they stood before him, making a public stand that they would stay by their father’s side. He looked as if he was about to pass out from the strain. Identical glances of pure hatred were directed at Rebecca’s smug visage.

“You killed her!” Luis’s voice shouted over the crowd.

Unaware of the pandemonium that had erupted in the ballroom, Diana O’Leary strode on stage for her set of dance songs. Julia and Holly exchanged glances as they stared at the brown-wigged performer, and their minds snapped together in one thought.

“Wait!” Holly called. “For there to be a murder, there has to be a victim.”

“Aunt Sheridan is not dead!” Julia shouted. “She was pulled from the sea in a hurricane.”

Together, the twins motioned to the performer on stage. In unison, they pronounced, “She is none other than Diana O’Leary!”

Julian hit the stairs in a thump, however, no one noticed. All eyes were on the stage where Diana O’Leary removed her wig.

“It’s true,” she said into the microphone. “I am Sheridan Crane.” Then Diana, or Sheridan, quit the stage, leaving a throng of rather confused guests.

By the time someone found the presence of mind to strike of the orchestra and restart the champagne flowing, Julian had roused, grabbing Rebecca by the arm. “I want a family meeting in room 256 in five minutes,” he demanded.

Holly and Julia silently grabbed Theresa by the arms and began pulling her up the stairs.

“Where are you gong with my sister,” a rude voice demanded.

The twins turned to see Luis, his face a mask of unspeakable anger.

“Father called a family meeting,” Holly explained patiently. “Like it or not, Theresa is, or will be, part of the family.”

“You lie!” he snapped, bringing his arm back to take a blow.

“Luis, don’t,” Gwen said, grabbing his arm.

“Is this why you wanted me here?” he demanded of his date. “Did you want me to see that my little sister had married the town child-molester?”

“Daddy is not a child-molester!” Julia shot back angrily.

“Luis, look on the bright side, Sheridan is alive!” Gwen protested.

“I’ll be damned if Julian didn’t have something to do with that explosion on the boat! Damn Cranes!”

Somewhere, Theresa found her voice. “Luis,” she said, her words trembling only slightly, “I’ll be fine. Julie and Holly have been helping me out. I’ll be fine.”

Luis crossed his arms over his chest. “As soon as this so-called meeting is over, you and I are going home—where you belong.”

“If you say so,” Theresa replied.

“How long have you been Julian’s wife?” Luis asked, his voice weary and broken.

“S-since Bermuda,” Theresa confessed.

Luis hung his head in shame.

“He’s the father of my baby,” Theresa continued.

“I’ll kill him,” Luis snarled, at once leaping to his feet.

“You will not!” A new, commanding, voice said. “Cease at once, Officer!” Chief Bennett continued.

Luis froze at the command.

“Go outside and cool off,” Sam said in a quieter tone. “You’ve had too much excitement at the moment.”

Holly and Julia took the moment to each take one of Theresa’s hands and escort her up the stairs to room 256. Holly felt as if she had drowned once more—and the night had not even struck midnight yet.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Room 256, the room Diana O’Leary used as a dressing room, was rather crowded as the assembled Cranes gathered. Holly and Julia sat on the bed, Theresa between them. Ivy, who assured the room and her lover that she was only a Crane temporarily, stood looking out the window. Jonathan—as a future Crane son-in-law—stood beside Holly. Aidan sat, sprawled in one chair, a leg draped over the side of the chair, a sappy, contented smile playing over his lips. Sheridan slumped in the other chair, squeezing her brown wig until it resembled a drowned rat. Brian crouched at her side, holding her together. Rebecca was nowhere to be found. Ethan entered slowly and stood awkwardly by the door.
“Does this mean you forgive me, Ethan?” Theresa asked hopefully, breaking the tense silence.

Ethan shook his head. “No Theresa, I do not forgive you. After Julian had asked me to attend, I ran into an old friend, Chuck Wilson and he had a lot to say.”

Theresa paled and looked down in her lap, the silence again wearing hard on the room.

At last, Julian entered, but would answer no questions as nearly all the room’s inhabitants began speaking at once. Julian held up his hands and pointed at Ethan. “You,” he demanded, “why did you show up tonight?”

Ethan stood, facing the man he once thought of as his father. “I had tried to get a hold of you earlier,” he began. “I only realized early this morning what looked wrong about the documents. Everything in them seemed quite in order, yet the signature on them was not the signature of my mother… my client,” he amended. “Thus the divorce papers are not valid, therefore, you are still married to my m… client. My client has stated publicly that she is not opposed to a divorce, only that she would like the terms of said divorce reflect her years as a Crane, and as the mother of three Crane children.”

Julian nodded briskly. “As I said, I will have the papers drawn up tomorrow…”

“I request to be party of the terms, on behalf of my client.”

“Fine,” Julian snapped. “I will not have Theresa’s child born out of wedlock.”

Ivy turned at the window. “What makes Theresa’s baby so special, Julian,” she hissed. “I’m sure there are several Crane bastards flitting about the countryside.”

“But that was when I thought my WIFE was loyal to her vows,” he countered.

Ivy tossed her hair. “As if I should have been loyal while you spread the legs of every woman who crossed your path.”

“Stop it!” Sheridan cried. “I’ve had little enough time dealing with the fact that I suddenly remembered I am Sheridan Crane without all you fighting!”

“Problem number two,” Julian said, and turned his gaze on Brian. “When I hired you to pick her up, I thought I told you to keep her in the islands forever… or at least until Father died. For all intensive purposes, Sheridan Crane was supposed to be dead. Why do you think I went through all the trouble of having the body double and the records to match?”

Sheridan turned to Brian. “You were hired?”

Brian turned his gaze away from Sheridan’s. “Yes,” he confessed after a long pause. “I was hired to keep you in the islands.” He turned back to his wife. “But I wasn’t hired to fall in love with you. That happened on its own.”

“How long have you known I was Sheridan Crane?”

“Since the moment I pulled you out of the water. When you had amnesia, I thought it best that you not remember who you really were. That way it would make it easier for you not to go back here.”

Sheridan pulled away from his grasp.

“Why did you come back here?” Julian demanded.

“You hired Diana O’Leary. I thought you had some sort of revelation in mind.”

“I didn’t hire you to think!” Julian snapped at Brian.

Sheridan buried her face in her hands.

Holly cleared her throat. “So you didn’t plan this?” she asked. “How did you plan on dealing with Rebecca?”

“None of your business, child.”

Holly looked as if she had been slapped.

“Right then,” Julian continued, “so we will all go back downstairs, say nothing of the events of this evening and pretend everything is normal. Sheridan, you will kindly try to keep yourself from Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald. I would not want to pretend to kill you once again—and those were Father’s orders—Kill Sheridan.”

Sheridan glanced up, fear in her eyes.

“I can’t say that you are safe, now, sister dear, with Father knowing you’re alive and all. I suggest that you slip away unobtrusively.”
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One by one, the Cranes left the room, nonchalantly, rejoining the party as if they had never left. Jonathan escorted both Holly and Julia back down the stairs, passing Gwen, sitting mournfully on the steps. For the first time in the evening, Jonathan let the two sisters leave together and sat down next to his sister, putting an arm about her shoulders.
Julia saw Chuck coming from one side, and Holly saw Hank coming from the other. They exchanged a glance knowing Gwen would be amply comforted by the abandonment of her date. True to his word, Luis was waiting by the door, his mother and younger brother beside him. As soon as Julian escorted Theresa down the stairs and into the fray, Luis strode over and snatched her away. For his part, Miguel looked rather mournful for being forced to leave the party so early—and without his precious Charity.

The twins ducked into the bathroom. “As if nothing else could go wrong tonight,” Holly sighed.

“Are we switching dresses again?” Julia asked wearily.

Holly gave her sister a very small smile. “I don’t think so. Our little charade seems remarkably childish now. In the face of everything else that has happened. I just wanted a minute or two to compose myself once more.”

Julia drummed her fingers on the sink. “Of course, you realize Johnny will think we’ve changed dresses again. That could give you a little time to sneak off and visit Nerdly-boy.”

Holly laughed a small laugh. “In everything that’s happened tonight, I haven’t seen him at all.”

Julia elbowed her sister suggestively. “You know there’s a nice balcony where you could go out and watch the stars.”

Holly blushed furiously, but recovered her good humor. “Of course, with Jonathan chasing you, you’ll be quite happy.”

The younger twin sighed. “He doesn’t want me, Hollis. He’s made that abundantly clear tonight. I’m persistent, not stupid,” she said bitterly. “I’ll find another golden ticket out. That Chuck Wilson didn’t seem so bad, even if he is a little old. He’s like Ethan’s age. And you need your ticket out too.”

Holly could not believe her ears. Her sister was giving up on a man! “But my ticket out is not going to be Jonathan. I don’t love him and he doesn’t love me. No, I’ll find my way out in more humble surroundings.”

Julia grinned. “Are you ready?”

“Ready,” Holly agreed. They set out from the bathroom, Holly weaving her way around the outside fringes to where she spied a group of people her own age. Julia headed in the opposite direction—away from Jonathan Hotchkiss. As if by magic, he followed her and quickly caught up with her.

“I don’t believe you’re still up to your little tricks,” he growled.

Julia gave him a wide-eyed glance, feigning absolute innocence. Jonathan caught her by the waist and pulled her out of the crowd.

“Well I’ll be damned,” he said in wonder. “You didn’t switch again.”

“Would we do a thing like that?” Julia asked with all the innocence she could muster in her voice. She could not hold a straight face long, and a laugh began bubbling between her lips. “Seriously,” she said, gaining control of her laughter, “how can you tell us apart? It’s like three times just today that you’ve correctly identified us.”

“Well, little sister-to-be,” he said expansively, “among other things, I happen to know from careful observation that Holly is dreadfully ticklish and you are not.”

Julia stared at him, only good manners drilled into her from birth kept her mouth from hanging open in amazement. “So that’s why you always managed to get a hand on me!”

“Confirmation, yes,” he replied. “So tell me, Julie, where is your errant sister run off to now.”

“I saw her heading off towards the stairs.”

Jonathan immediately took off after his perceived fiancée, and Julia felt a tremendous burden lifted from her shoulders. She turned and nearly ran into Gwen and Chuck.

“Julie!” Gwen started, “You won’t believe what Chuck has to say!”

“Actually,” Chuck drawled, “I’m sure Julia has a pretty good idea about what I told you. You see, sitting next to Julia at dinner, I realized that what I thought was a harmless favor was truly a terrible mistake.”

Gwen gave Julia a large hug. “I’ll never be able to thank you for helping all this come to light. You know, for a time there, I actually doubted my own instincts!”

Julia smiled in response.

“But you realize the oddest thing this evening,” Gwen continued, “was just as Chuck was coming over, Luis’s best friend Hank Bennett also was coming over. Hank had say about three words of condolences when this little old woman dressed out of the 1940’s came up and swept him away. ‘I didn’t know there was three of them here!’ she said”

Julia broke out laughing. “That’s my Great Auntie Juniper. She has a thing for Bennetts.”