Episode #9

Thursday, 5/3/07

A Few Days Later, Morning

Beaver Ridge Complex, lobby

“More problems with Paulson!” Alison Marriott said to her father Andy Marriott and John Prentiss as she stormed into the lobby waving a stack of faxes. “I swear, this entire project is going down the tubes. If one more thing goes wrong, we can kiss this entire place good-bye.”

“Let me see those.” Andy walked over to her and took the faxes out of her hands. “Damn, what crap is he trying to pull?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, hurriedly dialed Paulson’s number, and then walked out of the room as he began a counter tirade.

“While he’s doing that, I’ve got to go see how the contractors are doing in the club.” John quickly rose from his seat and prepared to leave the room.

“What’s wrong, John?” Alison asked as she quickly rushed between him and the door, blocking his exit. “Scared to be alone in the same room with me?” She fluttered her eyelashes teasingly. He could only stand there and take a deep breath as he fumbled for how to answer.

The Sterling Home, kitchen

“Morning, Gram,” A.J. Sterling said as he breezed into the kitchen and headed straight for the coffee. “Don’t bother with breakfast for me. I’ve got to get to the office. I’ve got a conference call with that new author and then I’ve got a meeting with the head of the paper division to discuss profits.”

“Now, don’t tell me that you don’t have time for at least a bite of breakfast.” Vanessa Sterling eyes registered with disappointment. “First Rick and Cal are up at the break of dawn and out of the house and now you?”

“Gram, you know that with Barbara in the hospital and with Hank…” His voice trailed off as he reconsidered bringing up troubling family events. “You know that a lot of the responsibilities at Carlson have fallen in my lap lately. Hank was never really a part of the company and I’ve had to take over all of Barbara’s responsibilities.”

“I know,” she sighed. “But I was just starting to get used to having everyone around again. Lynn and Stacy left after the funeral and I’m sure Rick and Cal will be heading home soon. Everyone’s got their own lives to live.”

“I guess it’ll just be me and you then,” A.J. smiled. “Oh! I did get a call from Galen this morning.”

“You did?”

“Yep. She finally got back in cell range. I told her about everything that’s been going on – about Meg. She’s really worried about you and sends her love, but she was getting ready to get on a plane to head back to L.A. She’s due back on the set of her soap in the morning.” He reached over and grabbed a donut off a plate on the counter. “Hmm… Maybe just a bite before work.”

“That sister of yours needs to take a vacation. She’s working herself to death.”

“Well, you know how she is.” He shoved another bite of donut into his mouth. “Where were Rick and Cal off to so early?”

“They said something about heading up to Beaver Ridge to check things out and see how John’s doing and then stopping by to see Suzanne and the baby before the will reading.” Van walked over to the counter and poured herself another cup of coffee.

“Oh, I forgot that was today. Gosh, so much stuff going on.” He ran his hands through his hair and then looked at his watch again. “Crap. I’m late.” He shoved the last bite of donut into his mouth, washing it down with the last bit of coffee. “I gotta go.” He rushed over and kissed her on the cheek before hurrying out the back door, leaving Van all alone in the kitchen to start what she was certain would be a very long day.

Beaver Ridge Complex, lobby

“What are you doing, Alison?” John asked full of annoyance. “What are you trying to prove?”

“Prove?” A slight smirk crossed her lips. “What makes you think I’m trying to prove anything?” She paused for a moment and then ran her fingers lightly along his shoulder. “We had something very powerful once, John. Something that intense doesn’t simply disappear overnight.”

He reached up and pushed her hand away. “It wasn’t just overnight, Alison. Whatever we had was over a long time ago. I’m married to Suzanne, now! Can’t you understand that?”

“Trust me. I’ll never understand what you see in that blonde twit.” She shook her head, unable to fathom the attraction. “Is it because you got her knocked up with your kid?”

“I love Suzanne. I’ve told you that time and time again!” John grabbed Alison by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “The only thing that’s between the two of us now is business – Beaver Ridge. Nothing else.”

“Is that what you told Suzanne?” she smirked. “I’m sure she wouldn’t believe that if she knew where you really were when she was giving birth to your precious little child.”

“That was a mistake, Alison. I thought we agreed on that. It was a onetime thing and I thought we were never going to talk about it again.”

“Well, I thought we had a really good thing going on between us.” She looked away from him, refusing to let him see the honest pain that was in her eyes. “At least as long as we were still in Las Vegas. But, noooo, as soon as we came back to Rosehill and you laid eyes on her…” Her voice trailed off as she walked around behind John, her back to him. “You know, you’re right. It is over. In fact…” A pause. “I thought you should know that I’ve been seeing someone.”

“You have?” John’s eyes were filled with curiosity as he moved closer to her.

“Yes. He’s much older. Brilliant. Sexy.” She spun around to look at him with feigned modesty. “And he’s a far better lover than you ever were.”

John’s eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. “I’m done talking about this with you, Alison. Business. That’s all the two of us are going to discuss from now on. Not a single word about anything else.” He quickly turned on his heel and stormed towards the front doors of the lobby.

“Jealous much?” Alison muttered to herself with a smile.

As John burst through the lobby doors and outside, he ran right into Rick and Cal Latimer, his wife’s aunt and uncle.

“John! You’re exactly who we’re looking for!” Cal exclaimed with a smile.

“W-what are you two doing here?” John stammered, his eyes darting from one of them to the other.

“We went over and saw Suzanne and the baby,” Rick explained. “And we wanted to take a drive up here to see how the place is coming along.” Rick stood in front of the complex and eyed it up and down, in awe of a place that once occupied a great deal of his life. “You’ve brought this place a long way, John. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see Beaver Ridge up and running again after I heard about that fire.”

“It’s coming along pretty well,” John half-lied. “There’s still a lot of work left to do, though. It seems like the more that we get done, the more there seems to do.”

“Well, if you need any help with the place, just let me know,” Rick said. “I know this place inside and out like the back of my hand.”

“And I just want to tell you that little Tess is absolutely adorable.” Cal wasn’t all that enthused with talking about business on a family trip. “I’m sure you and Suzanne are very proud.”

“Proud doesn’t even begin to cover it,” John beamed.

“Do you mind if Cal and I take a look around?” Rick walked over to the front of the building, examining the new hardware and fixtures. “I’d love to see everything you’ve done to the old place.” He turned to his wife. “I think we have time before the will reading, Cal.”

“Oh, the will,” John sighed. “I’d almost forgotten. That’s today, isn’t it?”

“Yes, in a couple of hours,” Cal nodded. “Suzanne said she was getting Mrs. Deane to watch the baby and she’d meet us at Mom’s.”

“Then I guess we better get moving if you want the full tour.” John opened the doors to the lobby and escorted Rick and Cal in, silently hoping that Alison would be nowhere to be seen.

Rosehill Hospital, research lab

“Sorry I’m late,” Dr. Tom Crawford said as he rushed into the lab. “I had… some personal business to take care of.”

“It’s okay,” Dr. Alex Marriott replied barely bothering to look up from his microscope. “I think I’ve made some progress with that anomaly we found the other day.” He motioned Tom over to the table. “Here. Take a look. I think this could be the strain that’s been causing us problems.”

Tom leaned down and peered through the lens of the microscope, carefully examining the sample. He stood back up, turned to Alex, and with a satisfied nod, “I think you could be right. This could really be the break we’ve needed. Just a little more testing and we’ll really have something to show those pharmaceutical guys.”

“Well, you better hope you can get everything done in the next couple of weeks,” Dr. Andrew Marriott spoke up as he stood in the doorway. “I just got the orders to shut down the project effective next month.”

“Next month?” Tom’s eyes grew wide with worry and concern. “But, Andrew, there’s no way we can have all of this research completed, documented, and ready to submit that fast. We’ve got to have more time.”

“I understand that. Honestly, I do.” Andrew sighed wearily. He knew how much this project meant to both Tom and his grandson Alex. “But without Meg’s endowment, there isn’t enough funds to continue the project by then and the hospital’s board of directors simply can’t shell out those funds from the regular budget. There isn’t enough money. Especially since we’re gearing up to build that new wing.”

“But, granddad, we’ve got to have more time,” Alex spoke up with just as much concern as Tom.

“I’m sorry, guys, but that’s how it’s been put down to me.” Andrew glanced down at his watch. “Look, I’ve got a meeting in about fifteen minutes with some of the administrators. Maybe I can convince a few of them to redistribute some of the funds, but if I were you, I wouldn’t get my hopes up.”

As Andrew left the lab, both Tom and Alex slumped back against the table, their once joyous wind quickly removed from their sails.

“I guess we better get to work if we have any hopes of getting everything done before they shut us down,” Tom finally spoke after a long silence. “I never would’ve dreamed that Meg would’ve pulled something like this. I’m convinced she would’ve changed her mind about the endowment eventually if only… if only she hadn’t died first.”

“Meg’s death has been hard on everyone, Tom,” Alex nodded and then took a long moment of hesitation before broaching a subject that had been on his mind for the past few days. “I saw Vanessa over at Van’s after the memorial service. I can’t believe how much she’s changed since she and Megan went to New York.”

“That niece of mine is quite a young woman,” Tom agreed, returning to the microscope and his notes. “Betsy and Ben are very proud of her.”

“Do you… know if she’s been seeing anyone in New York?”

Tom looked up from the microscope and smiled. “Ah. You’ve taken a liking to little Vanessa?”

“You could say that, I guess. I was just curious.”

“As far as I know, Vanessa hasn’t been seeing anyone.” He leaned back against the table. “So, I’d venture to say that you have a clear field, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“Dr. Crawford? Dr. Tom Crawford?” an unfamiliar man in a business suit asked as he rapped lightly on the door of the lab.

“Yes, I’m Dr. Crawford.” He walked over to him.

“I’m here on behalf of Lester Powell.”

“Meg’s attorney?” A look of confusion covered Tom’s face. “What can I do for you?”

“Mr. Powell is in charge of Mrs. Marriott’s estate.” The man handed Tom a large manila envelope. “You attendance is required at the reading of Mrs. Marriott’s will this afternoon.”

“Her will?” Tom opened the envelope and pulled out several sheets of legal documents describing the time and location of the reading of Meg’s will.

“Yes, sir. All the information is in that envelope.” The man turned and headed for the door. “Good day, sir.”