"Oh God! I wish I was there!" Laughed Nicole, just like she had been doing for the past ten minutes while Jade recounted the events from earlier that morning. "What happened then?"

"Nothing much... Alec got up and started explaining what was going on. And then was interrupted midway through his speech by Steve who told him to put on a shirt or something...." Nicole started laughing again at that, "And I said that I had an important call to make, excused myself and ran from there." Jade finished.

"You ran?" Nicole asked once she had calmed down a little.

"Yes I ran." Jade spooned cereal into her mouth and then spoke through it, "You have no idea, Nicky! It had become so awkward. If looks could kill Emmaline's glares would have surely sent me to the Emergency Room."

"Alec didn't stop you?"

"No he was the only other person in the room who could see Emma's face. And he too was getting enough of those glares. So I ran."

One hour had passed since the time Emma had walked into Alec's bedroom to see Jade almost on top of her almost naked boyfriend.

But the redness had still not vanished from Jade's cheeks, the embarrassment still fresh in her memory.

She took a large swig of her coffee, which was her third cup of the day and continued, "Juliana tried to stop me. But then, I guess she saw the pleading look on my face and let me go."

What had happened once she had left?, thought Jade.

"But seriously, Jade you punched him? You made his nose bleed?"

This time Jade had to laugh along with Nicole.

"Yes I did. And I loved every minute of it." Jade replied.

After coming back home she had immediately jumped into the shower, to get rid of the massive headache which was partly due to the hangover and partly because of the awkwardness and tension from the Carter house.

Then she called Nicole and started telling her about her interesting morning while having cereal.

"In short you've had a terribly eventful morning. Now take it easy the rest of the day." Nicole said.

"Yeah... I'm planning to stay in the whole day. Watch some movies, get some writing done and rest. Nothing stressful."

They said their goodbyes and Jade kept the phone.

She picked up her empty bowl and mug and took it to the sink. As she washed them, she wondered what had happened to Alec after she had left.

The look on Emma's face had made it very clear that she was not going to let Alec off easily.

As she debated whether to give him a call or no, the bell to her apartment rang.

She walked to the door and pulled it open.

There on the threshold stood Amanda.

Jade could see that her mother had dressed up very carefully in grey slacks and a green sweater. Her grey streaked hair was pulled away from her face.

"Hi mom!"

Jade said moving aside to let her come into the house.

"Hello Jade! Did I disturb you?" Amanda asked sitting down on the sofa in the living room.

Jade came and sat beside her mother, "No... I just finished breakfast."

Amanda raised an eyebrow at her daughter, "Breakfast? What were you doing the whole morning?"

"I swear you don't want to know mom." Jade laughed, "Anyways what brings you here?"

"Actually... I got a call from Stuart this morning. He's in town."

The mention of her dad's name, made Jade sit a little straighter. Somehow any mention of Stuart Tucker managed to raise her hackles.

"What did he say?"

Her mother looked a little worried, "He said he's staying at The Inn."

'The Inn' was the most popular and ironically named inn of Millbrooke.

It was the place which housed most of the tourist crowd the little town got during the winter months.

"He's staying at The Inn?"

This was different.

Normally, Stuart always managed to meet Amanda on the day he arrived in town which meant that he always got invited to stay at her Mom's house.

He never had taken the initiative to book a room at the inn or any of the small motels in town.

Amanda crossed and uncrossed her legs, "I know. I was surprised too."

"Doesn't he want to 'meet' you, and 'apologise'?"

Jade knew that sarcasm was not what her mother needed at the moment but she couldn't help herself.

She just had a feeling that this was one of his new plans.

Amanda gave a stern look to Jade but answered normally, "He does. He requested to meet us at 'Beans' in an hour."

"By 'us' you mean 'you'."

As a rule, her dad had always wanted to meet only Amanda on the first day that he came back to town after one of his disappearances.

He knew that it was much harder to melt Jade than Amanda.

But she always managed to tag along with her mother for these meetings. Not that it made any difference.

If the meeting went according to her plans, she would send him packing on the first day itself.

"No. He especially told me to ask you to come too." Amanda said, "Will you come?"

If Jade was surprised she didn't let it show on her face, "Of course. Give me a minute. I'll just get changed."

What was her father upto this time?

Her plans of spending one drama free day were all history by the time she got ready and left the house to meet her father after 3 whole years.

......................

Stuart Tucker had always been a handsome man, and age had not reduced the good looks in any way. Instead the years had just added to the dignified look he always had.

Maybe the good looks were the first thing that attracted, 18 year old Amanda to him.

His charm and crooked smile could soften even the hardest of souls and she had always been a romantic at heart.

So it had not taken long for her to fall head over heels in love with the town rogue.

Stuart too, fell in love with the sweet girl who was more often than not, hidden behind a pile of books.

This had always come as a surprise to Jade. Her dad had never liked life in a small town.

He wanted to travel the world live in different place, meet new people. Then why did he end up getting married to a girl who had no plans of ever stepping out of the town?

The happily married, blind in love couple had Jade just 2 years after the big wedding which had been held in the local church.

The first few years had been great for both Amanda and Stuart. But soon married life and family became like a prison for Stuart.

The family and the responsibilities that came with it were suffocating him.

Amanda and Jade were the only ones keeping him in Millbrooke and he started detesting them for that.

Finally, 10 years after their marriage, at 35 he couldn't take it any more. One night he packed his bags and left.

He knew he was causing a lot of pain to both his wife and his daughter but once he was out of the confining town, he could breathe again. He was free.

He kept coming back every few years to Millbrooke. Something always pulled him back.

But once he knew what life outside the small town was like, he kept going back for more.

Jade walked into'Beans' with it's strong smell of coffee and chocolate and immediately spotted her father looking uncomfortable in a booth, with a group of loud teenagers sitting next to him.

In the three years since Jade had last seen him, Stuart had lost a lot of weight and his hair had lost some of it's usual shine.

She squeezed her mothers hand and both of them walked to where he was sitting.

Stuart Tucker had the looks of an actor from the old black and white movies they showed on the TV. A sharp jaw, green eyes and a smile that had the power of getting him whatever he wanted.

He was tall and had a lean figure even at his age.

As soon as Stuart saw Amanda and Jade walk towards him he stood up and waited for them to come into hearing distance.

"Hello Amanda. How are you Jade?"

Jade noticed that his smile was just a little off.

"Hello Stuart. How are you?" Amanda asked as she took the seat next to Jade who sat down without even acknowledging his question.

"I'm fine. You look great, Amanda." Stuart said.

That was more like him.

Charm. Compliment. Lies. These things came naturally to Stuart Tucker.

"Thanks."

Before anyone else could continue the awkward conversation the waiter came to ask for their orders.

Jade gave her order and again sat quietly glaring at her father.

The silence continued even long after the waiter had served their drinks.

Stuart cleared his throat and finally broke the silence, "Congratulations on the success of your new book Jade."

Amanda had to nudge her daughter in the stomach till finally Jade spoke up, "Thanks."

Again the conversation came to a still.

Finally Jade couldn't take the silence anymore or bare the pleading looks her mom was sending her.

"So you're alone?" She asked.

Not exactly the conversation starter Amanda had hoped for when she had nudged her daughter.

"What do you mean?" If her dad was surprised at her question he didn't let it show on his face.

Jade smirked, "You know what I mean, 'Dad'." She emphasised the last word. "Where's Bianca?"

The name of his young secretary got the reaction, Jade had been hoping for.

Stuart's shoulders tensed and his lips formed a thin line. He in unclasped his fingers and held onto his cup of coffee.

"Bianca quit three months back. She's in London." He stated, he was clutching the handle of his cup so tight that his knuckles were white.

"So that's the reason you're here." Laughed Jade, "I should have guessed. Got bored of you did she?"

"Jade!" Gasped Amanda on the seat next to her.

"What? I'm just asking. I do have the right to ask don't I ?"

Jade knew that her words were hurting her mother more than Stuart who was her real target. But she couldn't help it.

One look at the man and all the bitter feelings she had for him came spilling out. Most of them because of all the pain he had caused her by leaving.

Bianca was a Mexican, stunning air head who had the attention span of a toddler and who also happened to be Stuart's secretary. Not to mention mistress.

"I came back here because I realised my mistake." Stuart replied.

"Like you do every 2 or 3 years." Jade scoffed, "Like you did 3 years back. Pity your 'visit' last time got cut short because of the business problems that you had to take care of. Everything's fine now?"

"Jade that's enough!" Amanda said.

There were tears in her eyes that Jade could see her mother was trying hard to stop.

"But mom...."

"Jade enough..."

For the first time in years Amanda raised her voice while speaking to Jade.

Silence fell again.

No one knew what to say.

"Amanda... Look about Bianca..." Stuart started.

Amanda started shaking her head. She didn't want to know.

"No... Let me explain. Yes. I was having an affair with her. She was young. Hell! She was younger than my daughter." Stuart let his head fall in his palms, "I won't say it was love. Because it was far from it. On my part as well as hers. For her, I was a way to get money and all the luxury that came with being my woman. She used me and I have to say.... I deserved it!"

"Stuart...." Amanda tried to stop him. She didn't want to hear all this.

During his last visit she had been introduced to Bianca, his secretary. And it had not taken her long to realise that a professional relationship was not the only kind of relationship they were having.

It had been clear by the way they would behaved around each other, talked to each other. Lingering touches. Secret looks.

Amanda had lived her whole life in a small town. But she knew the ways of the world. And she was not stupid.

She had been almost relieved when, Bianca had made up an excuse about some business emergency and had gone back to London. Taking Stuart along with her.

Knowing that her husband, ex- husband, had affairs was one thing. But seeing it so shamelessly portrayed in front of her eyes was another.

"No let me finish.... What happened three years back... I wish I could just completely erase all that."

Jade listened to her father speak. For the first time she believed his story.

With downcast eyes he recounted all that had happened in the past years.

Bianca had hatched a plan with her boyfriend before taking up the job as Stuart's secretary.

Stuart Tucker was famous for two things his wealth and his weakness for beautiful women.

Taking advantage of this weakness, the Mexican beauty had come into his life.

She fed him a pity story, about how she was on the run from a violent boyfriend, and Stuart had offered her a job.

For almost 4 years, she used him for money, to live the life she wanted.

Now Stuart knew that she used to squirrel away some of the money to her boyfriend.

But soon they became more ambitious they wanted money for themselves, without going through all the trouble of acting in front of Stuart.

She had had all the access she needed to Stuart's accounts and file.

So they came up with another plan. Stuart didn't go into all the details but from what he said, Jade understood that they stole more than a million pounds from him.

"There was no way I could frame them. Bianca might have been an air head but that boyfriend of hers was sharper than nails." Stuart sighed, "When I confronted her, she said one thing that I will never forget. She said that what they did to me was million times better than what I had done to you'll. If they deserved to go to jail, I deserved to rot in hell."

By this time Amanda was crying. Jade took her mother's hand and squeezed it.

"And you know what Amanda?" Her father continued, "I completely agree with her."

There was water in his eyes too. This was the first time Jade saw her dad cry.

"So why are you here?" Amanda words were almost inaudible.

"I'm here because I hope that you both will forgive me. Though I would not have forgiven myself if I had been in you place." He turned to look at Jade. "I know what you think. You think that I'm here because of all that happened with Bianca. But more than stealing from me. She taught me a lesson. A lesson I should have learnt years back. Let me make amends."

Jade didn't know what to say, he sounded so genuine, so like the father she remembered.

"I'll stay at the Inn. But I wanted to say this, I'm here to stay. I'm not going back."

They sat at the table each lost in their own thoughts.

"We should leave." Amanda stated once she had composed herself.

"Okay." Both Stuart and Jade said together.

They got up and as Jade started following her mom out of the cafe, suddenly Amanda turned around to face Stuart again.

She took a deep breath, "Jade I hope you don't have a problem with this." She said to Jade then continued, "Come for lunch to my place tomorrow."

Jade looked at the hopeful smile in her dad's face. He nodded and they walked out of the cafe again leaving him at the both.

"Say something Jade." Amanda said once they were outside.

She shrugged, "I don't have a problem."

"You don't need to come you know."

Jade could see the hope flare in Amanda's eyes. The hope of getting her Stuart back.

And for the first time in years, Jade didn't want to crush the hope.

"I don't know if I'm making a huge mistake. But no I won't come."

She was gifted with a huge smile from her mother for that.

This time even she hoped that her dad was here to stay. That doesn't mean she would forgive him. Far from it.

But it would mean not seeing Amanda get hurt. At least for some time.

You better not hurt my mom again, Stuart. This is your last chance.

These words kept playing on a repeat in Jade's mind as they walked to the parking lot where Amanda's car was parked.

....................

Happy Reading!!