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Power of Love
I can’t believe this is happening. Why? What made Ali the bigger threat? It was never supposed to be this way. I sit here watching my brother pace with his shirt covered in blood- Ali’s blood. This makes no sense to me. Why didn’t he just come after me, I’m the one who broke it off – not Ali. It’s been two hours since I got the call from Luke telling me that Ali had been assaulted. No one deserves this especially someone like Ali.
“What’s taking so long,” Luke asked turning to look at his sister. “It’s been hours.”
“Luke, I love you and all, but sit down, you’re starting to make me nervous,” Paige ordered her brother as Detective Spencer stepped in the room, “Detective Spencer.”
“Mr. Parker, I need to ask you a few questions,” Detective Rick Spencer told Luke.
“Paige,” Ali’s mother, Pamela James, cried as she ran into the waiting room giving Paige a hug. “What happened to my girl?”
“That is what I would like to know, ma’am,” Rick pointed out. “Mr. Parker, the nurse told me you bought her in. Can you tell me what happened?”
A few minutes later Luke finished his story when Dr. Burton walked into the waiting room. Ali’s mother grabbed a hold of Paige’s hand for strength.
“Ms. James,” Dr. Jake Burton asked Pamela.
“Yes,” she answered. “How’s my daughter?”
“Ma’am, she had a severe concussion when she was bought in and her left foot was broken. She has several bumps and bruises, and she should make a full recovery when she wakes up,” Dr. Burton explained. “When she is released she will need to see a counselor also.”
“Why,” Pamela wondered looking over at Luke.
Luke put his head down and sighed knowing that he could have gotten there too late. If he had only been a couple minutes earlier none of this would have happened.
“She was sexually assaulted, ma’am,” the doctor stated.
“Did we get any DNA,” the detective questioned.
“You don’t need the DNA, I saw him do it,” Luke yelled looking up at the detective.
“Mr. Parker, you said you drove up and he was on top of her. Did you actually see him assault her,” the detective questioned. “If you didn’t, then I need the DNA to convict.”
“He has a history of violence, detective,” Paige interrupted putting her hands in her pocket.
“How do you know this, Ms. Parker,” Detective asked jotting down notes in his little notepad.
“Because he has hit me before,” she answered looking up at her brother. “I’m sorry, Luke. I could have stopped it. I didn’t know he would attack Ali.”
“Wait, what,” Pamela James shouted. “Who are we talking about, Paige? Who is this guy? Why weren’t you there to protect her? What kind of friend are you?”
“Ma’am, please,” the detective said. “Blaming Ms. Parker won’t help anything.”
“Ms. James, you can see your daughter now,” a young nurse said who came into the waiting room. “I’ll take you to her.”
Pamela followed the nurse out of the room while Paige sat down in one of the chairs. She dropped her head into her hands taking a deep breath. She had to get through this.
“This isn’t your fault, Paige,” Luke told sister putting a hand on her shoulder. “I should have gotten there sooner.”
“I still don’t understand what you were doing there anyway,” Paige commented. “When did the two of you get so close?”
“Mr. Parker, are you and the victim having a sexual relationship,” the detective wondered.
“What,” Luke raised his voice. “Of course not, we had an argument earlier in the day, and I was coming to apologize.”
“What sort of argument?”
“It was more of a disagreement,” Luke replied not wanting to reveal anymore than he had to. Luke couldn’t take the chance of revealing his affair with the detective’s wife.
“He’s not the one that attacked her; Tony was,” Paige pointed out. “Luke saved her life and all you want do is interrogate my brother.”
“Fine, just don’t leave town,” the detective stated before leaving the waiting room.
“Leave town? I’m not leaving the hospital until I get to see Ali,” Luke mumbled.
“Luke, tell me truth, what’s going on between you and Ali.”
My brother explains to me what had happened between Ali and him the other night at the house. Then he tells me the news about Professor Spencer and how Ali figured it out. Out of all of my friends and family, Ali would be the first one to tell Luke how stupid he is for getting involved with his professor let alone a married one. I can see her telling him but not trying to preach to him I wrong it was. I see the sparkle in his eyes when he talks about Ali and how much he cares for her. I have to get him into see her but knowing Mrs. James that won’t happen without some reinforcements.
Charlotte stood at the bottom of the staircase looking over at her sister sitting at a booth with their father. It was after midnight and the last police officer had just left the restaurant. She walked over to the two of them with the coffee pot in her hand just in case her father wanted another cup.
“I just think it’s a good idea, dad,” Ariel said.
“What’s a good idea,” Charlotte questioned sitting next to her father.
“Ariel thinks we should close the restaurant for the day to show respect to Ali,” Jack responded looking at his oldest daughter.
“NO! I mean no offense to Ali, but you are here what one day and you suddenly know what is best for this place. We are struggling these days to even turn a profit and you want to close for the day. No, Ariel. In the fifty year history of this place we have only closed for one day and that was grandma’s funeral,” Charlotte explained.
“Sweetheart, don’t worry, it was just an idea. I mean you are going to be down a couple of waitresses because I know Paige, she isn’t coming in while Ali is in the hospital,” Jack informed his daughter.
“Fine, then Ariel can get her hands dirty for once. Dad, we can’t afford to close this place even for one day.”
“I understand, sweetheart,” Jack said putting his arm around her. “I will see if some of the other waitresses can come in to cover Ali and Paige’s shifts.”
“What about you, Ariel,” Charlotte asked starring down her sister.
“I have to go meet someone,” Ariel responded. “Dad, by the way I need to talk to you about mom.”
“Oh, please,” Charlotte sighed. “What did I tell you about that?”
“Charlotte, please. Why do the two of you attack each other all the time? Why do you hate each other so much,” Jack questioned pounding the table. “I didn’t raise the two of you any differently than I did Luke and Ali. Those two are close as a brother and sister could be.”
“Dad, they’re twins, they’re supposed to be close,” Charlotte mentioned moving out of the booth away from her father. “I’m going to bed.”
“Do you mind if Noelle stays here tonight,” Jack asked Charlotte. “She crashed in Ella’s room earlier.”
“That’s fine,” Charlotte whispered giving her dad a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
A couple of minutes later Charlotte was upstairs in the apartment leaving Jack and Ariel alone in the restaurant. Ariel ripped apart the napkin she was holding in her hand nervously.
“You found her, didn’t you,” Jack asked his daughter putting his hand on top of her hand.
“How did you know?”
“I know you, Ariel, it’s the reason you came back, isn’t it. It’s the reason you haven’t been returning my calls,” Jack said shaking his head slightly. “You and Paige have always had this notion that she was coming back to us. She moved on though, Ariel, I don’t blame her for leaving.”
“But I do, dad, I mean she didn’t have to leave. Sure, mom made some mistakes but unlike Charlotte I don’t hate her.”
“Your sister doesn’t hate her, she’s just upset. Ariel, you remember your sister has a child of her own, and yet she’s still looking after all of you.”
“But it’s not my fault she didn’t marry Tyler. He’s a good guy, dad, nothing like his father.”
“I know that and in a way your sister knows that, but Ariel if your sister had married Tyler who knows where all of us would be,” Jack informed his daughter. “I’m not even sure if this restaurant would still be standing.”
“What if I came back to help you run this place,” Ariel wondered. “Do you think Charlotte would get a life?”
“She has a life,” Jack laughed. “If I plan on getting here early to call the other waitresses I better get going.”
Jack got up from the table and began to walk towards the entrance. Ariel sat there for a second before bouncing up from the table also.
“Dad, I need to tell you something,” Ariel said.
“What is it, Ariel?”
She looked over at him and the lines on his face from the years of hard work. Her father looked tired and not all physical; she knew what he had been through all these years and what he gave up to raise all of his children.
“I love you,” Ariel stated going over to her father and giving him a hug.
She knew no matter what she said it wouldn’t erase the past or give him back anything. The only thing telling him about her mother would give him was more heartache.
“I love you, too,” he replied smiling at his daughter’s declaration of love.
Minutes later Ariel walked through the hallway towards the bedroom. Charlotte leaned against the master bedroom door with her arms crossed waiting for her sister.
“Did you tell him,” Charlotte demanded to know.
“No, I couldn’t do it, not yet that is. Charlotte, don’t you think he deserves to know though,” Ariel asked. “What happens if he runs into her somewhere around town?”
“But telling him that she is town will just hurt him or about the affair, Ariel. He doesn’t need to know about the girl either.”
“The girl has a name, it’s April. And I think she will be a nice addition to the family. She seems like a nice enough girl.”
“I don’t care,” Charlotte snarled.
“Why do you act like this, Charlotte? What did I ever do to you to deserve this?”
Charlotte stood there for a few seconds then she stepped closer to her sister. When they were just inches away from each other, Charlotte pointed at her younger sister.
“You left just like she did,” Charlotte admitted before turning away and slamming the bedroom door leaving Ariel standing there in shock.
He sat there holding her hand like it was the easiest thing in the world. He looked up at her beaten body saddened about what had happened yet full of rage for what he couldn’t do.
“Ali, please just wake up,” Luke pleaded closing his eyes for a moment and putting his head down next to their joined hands.
“Luke, we have to go,” Jeremy announced coming into the hospital room a few minutes later. “Josh just called and said Mrs. James is on her way back up here.”
“I can’t,” Luke said.
“We have to go, buddy. You can hang with your girlfriend another time,” Jeremy replied grabbing his friend’s arm and pulling him out of the room.
It was early in the morning before visiting hours had even begun, yet Josh, Jeremy and Paige had distracted enough nurses and Mrs. Parker to sneak Luke into Ali’s room to be with her.
“A nurse is coming this way, buddy,” Jeremy announced as the two men exited the room. “It’s time for another distraction.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“She’s hot, so just go with it,” Jeremy whispered before he fell to the ground. “Oh, my heart!”
The nurse ran to Jeremy’s aid as fast as she could. She had jet-black hair with blue sparkling eyes and about average height. She led Jeremy to the closest gurney.
“Are you okay, young man,” the nurse asked checking Jeremy’s pulse as Luke ran behind the nurse.
“Just the sight of you, angel, made my heart skip a beat,” Jeremy smiled as he looked at the name on her hospital badge. “A beautiful name for a beautiful woman, Isabelle.”
“Oh please,” she sighed. “I don’t have time for games.”
“It’s not a game. I just couldn’t help myself,” Jeremy replied before leaning over to kiss the nurse on the cheek and jump off the gurney.
“Get out of here, kid,” Isabelle ordered him as she shoved him down the hall.
Minutes later Jeremy caught up to Luke in the lobby as Josh and Paige stepped off the elevator.
“What happened,” Paige asked the two guys as Jeremy fell onto the sofa laughing.
“I just pulled off the greatest diversion ever on a nurse outside of Ali’s room,” Jeremy laughed holding his stomach.
“Great,” Josh mumbled shaking his head in disgust. “Paige, do you want a lift home?”
“Thank you, Josh,” Paige said linking her arm to Josh’s as they strolled past Jeremy.
“Paige, thank you for helping me,” Luke told his sister as she stopped in front of him.
“Anything for you, Luke and Ali, of course,” she replied before leaving arm and arm with Josh.
“Now what,” Jeremy questioned looking up at his friend.
“Now we find Tony Sanchez,” Luke roared as his anger began to grow for the man who would feel his wrath.
“What are you doing,” Charlotte asked, Ashley, one of the waitresses, a couple of hours later as Juniper’s was in full swing for the Sunday morning rush.
“Your dad asked me to grab a jar of pickles from the freezer,” Ashley replied heading towards the freezer door.
Ashley had been a waitress at Juniper’s for years hiring in with Ali at the young age of sixteen. At the beginning Charlotte enjoyed the quirky young girl, yet as the years went by and Ashley started to date, things had begun to get out of control.
“No, I’ll get the pickles,” Charlotte informed her walking past Ashley.
“It was one time, ONE TIME,” Ashley said holding up her pointer finger in front of Charlotte’s face.
“I don’t care, the freezer isn’t the love shack,” Charlotte huffed as she stomped to the freezer.
“You need to get laid, lady,” Ashley whispered as she turned to go back to Jack.
“Doesn’t she ever,” Tyler said standing in front of Ashley smiling.
“Sorry,” Ashley frowned. “It’s just my boyfriend had been so busy tutoring everyone trying to earn some extra cash so we could go to Vegas. He showed up one night and we had a little romp in the freezer. No one got hurt but Miss Priss said if I did it again she would fire me.”
“I’ll take care of her,” Tyler stated as he walked to the freezer to give Charlotte a piece of his mind.
Charlotte stood in the freezer with her back to the door as Tyler walked in shutting the door behind him.
“I’m not going to apologize to her, dad,” Charlotte stated turning around to see her former lover standing there.
“I’m not expecting you to apologize, but you know she has a point,” Tyler replied as he walked up to her grabbing the pickle jar from her hands. He bent in to kiss her on the lips. “It brings back memories from the time we did in here.”
“Tyler,” Charlotte mumbled as their lips met again. Suddenly she remembered what his father did to her family and she pulled back. “I can’t do this not again.”
“I’m the one that got my heartbroken the day you walked out on me, Charlotte. Why don’t you want to believe that I had nothing to do with my father’s shady business dealings? Is it that hard for you to believe in love? Did your mother leaving destroy your chances for a happily ever after?”
“My mother has nothing to do with this. Why does everyone think that my mother has something to do with it? She left, Tyler, I stayed that is all there is,” Charlotte shouted.
“Okay, okay. I didn’t come here to fight with you. My sister is throwing a dinner party Thursday night and she wants you to come,” Tyler commented. “I want you to come also.”
He covered her cheek with the palm of his hand. Tyler couldn’t help but fall in love with the blond beauty all over again like he had a couple of years ago. He wanted to be with her in every sense of the word; he wanted a family with her and Ella.
“Please, Charlotte, say you will join me Thursday night,” Tyler requested.
“Is your father going to be there,” Charlotte asked pushing past Tyler.
“Yes, along with the Reed’s. Do you remember them? Caroline and Dalton have gotten pretty close the past few months.”
“Of course, I remember the Reed’s. Dalton was going to be one of your groomsmen in our wedding,” Charlotte recalled looking down on the freezer floor. She had wished things had turned out differently between them.
“Can I ask you a question and I want the truth,” he said walking to her, putting his finger under her chin and lifting her face to look at him. “Do you still love me?”
“I’ve never stopped, Tyler, but it doesn’t matter,” Charlotte replied as a couple of tears fell down her face. “But your father won’t let it happen.”
“I’m not worried about him,” Tyler declared.
“It’s not me I’m worried about; it’s Ella. I know what it feels like to lose a parent, I don’t want her to go through that,” Charlotte explained shaking her head. “I won’t let it happen.”
“Neither will I,” Tyler commented. “I love you, Charlotte. All I want is for us to be a family even if that means my father cuts me off, I’ll do it. Please, just give us another chance.”
“I’ll think about it,” Charlotte stated. “Now I really need to get these to my father.”
Tyler watched as she walked out of the freezer. He knew this was their chance at happiness.
“I won’t let you ruin this for me, father,” he said to himself.
The sun was shining bright without a cloud insight on the crisp fall afternoon. Ariel walked along the pier heading towards the coffee shop on the lakefront. Her mother and she had agreed that telling the family about Penelope and April wasn’t the best idea at the moment. They would wait until things settled down at the restaurant along with Ali being released from the hospital.
“Mother,” Ariel said as she came upon the coffee shop finding her mother sitting outside on the patio.
“Sweetheart,” Penelope replied. “Have I told you how lovely you are? You have turned into such a stunning young woman.”
“Twenty years might do that to someone,” Ariel mumbled realizing what she had said before she could take it back. “I’m sorry, you don’t deserve that.”
“Yes, I do,” Penelope commented offering Ariel a chair. “I left all of you when you needed me. It must have been so crazy growing up without me there.” “It wasn’t all bad. We had dad and then grandpa and grandma looked after us when dad was working. After grandpa died it was a bit harder on grandma to take care of all of us, but then dad met Morgan,” Ariel explained. “Morgan was great, I think you would have liked her.”
“You said your father and her were married?”
“Yeah, for about three years until she died giving birth to Noelle. When he married Morgan he was so happy, something I hadn’t seen in a very long time.”
“I bet,” Penelope commented realizing that she was part of the reason he was so unhappy.
“When she died, he shut down for a few weeks. Charlotte stood up and took care of all of us including Noelle. She had just graduated college and received a scholarship to the college of her choice, but she gave it all up to take care of us,” Ariel remembered realizing that Charlotte was right. Charlotte gave everything up to take care of her brother and sisters along with her dad, and the instant Ariel could she left.
“Charlotte was always the mother hen. When you were born she wanted to help take care of you all the time, then when the twins were born she did the same thing,” Penelope recalled. “Your grandmother always thought it was so adorable when Charlotte did that.”
“Yeah, grandma was great. She helped dad with us until the day she died.”
“Your grandmother was quite a lady,” Penelope stated remembering the tough old lady who had welcomed her into the family years ago without hesitation.
“You didn’t call me here though to talk about grandma, did you,” Ariel questioned.
“No, sweetheart, I didn’t. The motel we are staying at right now is pretty horrific. Remember the little run-down motel outside of town on highway six?”
“You want something a little more suitable, not a problem,” Ariel replied grabbing her cell phone out of her purse. “I’ll call Coop and have him set everything up.”
“Thank you, sweetheart, I appreciate it so much. Now if you could do one more thing. I have a few things to take care of this afternoon trying to find a job and such. April is at the motel by herself without a vehicle, so I was hoping you or Cooper could help her get things settled in the new place.”
“Yeah, I can do that. I want to get to know April some more anyway.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to keep thanking me. I should be thanking me for coming back after all these years,” Ariel said standing up giving her mother a hug. “I’ll have April call you once she is settled in the hotel.”
With that said Ariel left her mother sitting there at the coffee shop. Penelope sat there drinking her finishing her espresso realizing things were falling into place. Now it was time to go see an old friend. She put a couple of dollars down on the table and walked away from the coffee shop.
Cooper looked around the parking lot of the beat down motel that Ariel had sent him too. The place looked over thirty years old and that it hadn’t been renovated in that long. The brown paint was pealing off everywhere, the pool out front was bone dry and it looked like it hadn’t been used in years. He hit the locks on the car realizing that in a place like this as he made his way down to Room Nine. The few cars that were also in the parking lot were rusted and some even had the hood up.
He shook his head knowing that no one deserved to stay in a place like this. He knocked on the door to the room where Ariel had told him Penelope and April was staying. A few seconds passed and he knocked again.
“April, its Cooper, your sister sent me,” he said knocking on the door for a third time.
He tried the doorknob but to no luck. Knocking again finally proved to be successful as he heard someone on the other side unlink the chain. The door opened with April standing behind it.
“Come on in,” April stated and as soon as he stepped inside she shut the door. “I was just in the shower.”
Cooper looked around noticing clothes scattered all over the floor and one of the beds. When he finally looked at April she was standing there soaking wet in nothing but a towel. Her long blond hair was clinging to her glistening bare shoulders. He quickly looked away before his body reacted to the young woman before him.
“Do you like what you see,” April asked stepping closer to Cooper.
“Can you please get dressed,” he asked grabbing a shirt from the bed holding it out to her.
“Nah, I like this better,” she responded as she dropped the towel.
Cooper stepped back farther falling onto the bed. April moved between his legs and leaned over him.
“See, I know how to use the assets I was given, I can show you moves that would blow your mind among other things,” she stated seductively.
“Stop,” Cooper mumbled as she began to unbuckle his jeans. “I’m in love with your sister.”
“What does love have to do with sex,” she asked leaning over with her body completely on top of his and kissed him.
“I said stop,” he hissed shoving her off as she fell to the floor. He got up off the bed immediately leaving her naked on the floor.
“You’ll pay for that. No one says no to me,” she told him grabbing the towel covering herself up.
“Get dressed and packed now. I’ll be outside waiting for you,” Cooper informed April as he opened the door and left the room. As soon as the door was shut he leaned against the wall and sighed. He couldn’t believe what had just happened. His cell phone rang bringing him back to reality.
“Hello,” he said.
“Hi, honey, it’s me. What’s taking so long, I figured the two of you would be here already,” Ariel wondered. “Ariel said she would be waiting for you.”
“You called her ahead of time,” Cooper asked.
“Yeah, I called her about twenty minutes ago. She said she would have everything packed and be ready for you.”
“She was ready all right,” Cooper mumbled. “We’ll be there in a few minutes, babe.”
He hung up the phone a minute later realizing that April had sent him up. Cooper wasn’t sure if Ariel would believe him or not, but for the moment he wouldn’t tell Ariel what had happened. She didn't need to know what April was capable of; all he knew was he had to keep his distance when it came to April Carson.
End of Episode Three
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