Sheridan glanced in the rear view mirror as Luis drove past the ‘Welcome to Harmony’ sign on the Coast Road. Dillan and Alysa sat in the back seat holding hands and conversing in hushed whispers about the events of the day. Cautiously, Sheridan studied the blue eyes of Alysa and nearly broke down into tears. The emotions held there were something she had imagined many times over the years without her mother. Of course, those thoughts had been nothing more than fantasies throughout Sheridan’s entire life because Katherine Crane had died when Sheridan was just a child, leaving her to fend for herself in a house where women were meek and submissive and lies oozed through the cracks in the wood of the home. Shifting her gaze, Sheridan looked at the man that had haunted her dreams for so many years of her life. Martin Fitzgerald’s death had weighed so heavily on her head and within the last few months more clues to her guilt had seemed to appear out of nowhere. She had almost lost her darling daughters because this man’s life had been taken from him but now he was very much alive despite the fact that he thought he was someone else. Sheridan only prayed that these people turned out to be the parents that had been missing from their lives or else she was never going to be able to face Luis. If Martin really were dead Sheridan knew that her family would have been behind it and that Luis would be justified in his hate of the Crane family at last.

“How are you feeling, Sherry angel?” Luis asked, taking his attention off the road for only a moment. His hands clenched the wheel of the car. “You seem worried.”

“Of course I’m worried,” she replied as if he were an idiot. “Luis, facing off with Julian is not something I have enjoyed immensely over the years and yet somehow it is a necessity in my life. The fact remains that we’ve found two people who resemble missing loved ones from our lives and it’s only natural that we wonder if it’s truly them. But Alysa and Dillan remember nothing of their lives as Katherine and Martin, if they are even them, and Julian isn’t going to just offer us proof that they are who we believe they are..”

“We’ll never find out if we don’t try, Sheridan. Alistair was a cruel man; he took our son from you and then had you brainwashed to believe that the child died suddenly after birth. I wouldn’t put it past him to have some convoluted scheme behind this. I’m sure my father must have been a thorn in his side or else he’d have had no reason to be rid of him.”

“But why fake my mother’s death, Luis? What could he have gained from faking her death when I was a child?” She shook her head, the dull ache in it returning from earlier. There wasn’t any logic to support her father’s faking Katherine’s death. “I know I’ve never really faced the fact that my father was the scum of the earth or even his death for that matter, but even if he was inhuman enough to pretend my mother died, he wouldn’t have gotten much from it. Katherine’s money was already tied up in Crane industries because of their marriage and any stock in her family name would have been immediately reverted to him at the time of their union. He had his two children and his mistresses; I honestly don’t see what her death would bring him beside perhaps some well meant condolences from the men he did business with.”

“Not that he wouldn’t have taken advantage of the widow card, but I honestly think he had more than you realize at the time of her passing. He received the chance to manipulate you and Julian into toys of his empire. You’ve said it yourself, Sheridan, Julian was very close to your mother and was constantly seeking protection from her. With her gone, Alistair could finally have his way to further control Julian’s actions and mold him into the perfect heir, which he wasn’t promising to be with your mother around. Of course, he couldn’t send you away if your mother protested it either.”

Sheridan didn’t want to believe that Luis could be right about her father’s wishes to twist Julian and herself into puppets of his empire. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe that her family were wonderful people, but she did believe that her father was somewhat above murder; not much, but a little. Turning slightly, Sheridan smiled at Dillan and Alysa, realizing that they were privy to the most interesting debate about Alistair Crane. “I’m sorry that we’ve taken you from your home in such a surprising way without even speaking to you much. This is all really sudden for us too, not to mention the fact that we haven’t digested just what this could mean for our families. Luis told me he explained to you the situation?”

“Yes,” Alysa patted Dillan’s hand and he smiled at her gently, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Luis says that the two of you believe I am your mother and that Dillan is Luis’ father, which is very hard for us to understand. You see, Dillan and I met in high school but he went off to make a name for himself, presumably in New York though he refuses to talk about that time. We didn’t meet again until we were older, which is why we haven’t any children, but I know Dillan would remember if he were married before. He’s a very honest and faithful man; he’s been good to me.”

“I can understand your confusion, Mrs. O’Leary,” Luis apologized, turning down the strip towards the mansion. “Sheridan and I were very surprised to see both of you, especially together, at the Festival but you must understand why we believe this is the truth. Besides the fact that neither of you are willing or able to speak of the past before you met, the two of your are identical to the parents both of us have lost and given the power and influence of the Crane family, it would not be very surprising to learn that you two were merely pawns in another Alistair Crane scheme.”

“Crane?” Dillan’s eyes darkened angrily and he gripped his wife’s hand tighter. “You didn’t mention that this had anything to do with that family!”

“I see you know them,” Sheridan sighed unhappily, thinking that yet again her family had caused trouble in someone’s life. “Let me guess, they robbed you of something that should have been yours or was yours at one point in your life?”

Dillan shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he expressed regret at his outburst. “I don’t know where that came from. Alysa and I have had many moments in our lives together where we’ve experienced unexplainable emotions at something we saw or heard. We’ve decided it’s part of our old age but after meeting you two I wonder if it couldn’t be more. The only thing either of us know about the Crane family is what we read in papers.”

“It most certainly could be more,” Luis told them. “I’ve taken the liberty of calling Eve and asking her to meet us at the mansion at about ten, which gives us almost an hour to speak with Julian alone. With any luck he’ll confess having some knowledge of Alistair’s plot and we can either send Dillian and Alysa home with an apology that we’ve messed their lives up with our out of this world beliefs or we’ll have discovered the family we lost so long ago.”

Alysa looked at Sheridan and felt the butterflies begin in her stomach. She hoped that there was a chance this woman was telling the truth and she was indeed the mother that had disappeared years ago. For her entire life she had wanted a family and Alysa knew this could very well be her last chance to have a child and be part of a real family. Her husband seemed to feel the same way as he whispered the words, “I agree, Aly sweetie.”

Meanwhile, Sheridan looked up at the darkened mansion’s silhouette against the midnight blue sky. Her eyes were hooded by the anger and hate that she held for everything that came with the last name of Crane. They had tainted her and ruined her hopes and dreams. Even now, when she stood a chance of finally being happy, another Crane secret hung over her head and threatened to ruin her entire life. In an hour she would learn the truth: either Katherine and Martin were alive and sitting in their back seat or her hopes would be dashed when Dillan and Alysa left Harmony taking her only chance at peace with them.

Sheridan stormed through the unlocked front door of the Crane mansion, nearly knocking one of the servants to the floor in her rush to Julian’s office. The moment Luis had put the car into park outside of the house she had headed right inside, not stopping a moment to ring the bell and alert her foolish brother to her presence. Catching Julian off guard was the only was she would ever be able to trick him into admitting everything he knew. But in her haste, she hadn’t been around to hear both Alysa and Dillian mention that the house looked familiar, even if it were possibly from a magazine article about the Crane family. Instead, she was halfway through the house. Throwing open the door to his study, Sheridan found Julian looking at a photo album and drinking a cup of coffee at his desk.

“Tell me the truth, Julian,” Sheridan growled viciously, causing her brother to spill his coffee on the album. “Colin wasn’t lying about seeing pictures of Mother and Martin, was he? Those pictures really do exist and they aren’t from the depths of the past but more from the recent past. You knew what happened to Martin and didn’t tell us!”

“What are you talking about?” Julian sputtered, looking up at his irate sister in the doorway as he mopped up the mess he had made. “Where did you come from anyway? I didn’t hear the doorbell ring.”

“That’s because it didn’t,” she marched to his desk and slammed her hands onto the wood. “I want to know everything you’ve locked in that head of yours about Martin’s disappearance, Julian! I mean everything! Even if it’s something as trivial as his sneezing when he arrived that night!”

“I already told you what I knew, Sheridan. The Crane family had nothing to do with why Martin left. He was stealing from the company and disappeared when he was caught. End of story. It’s what I was told and now it’s what I’m telling you!”

“So then you believe that Martin Fitzgerald is alive and living under an assumed name somewhere, possibly with another wife and family at his side?” Sheridan drilled her brother as Luis entered the room, leaving Dillan and Alysa in the hall. “What about the imposter, Julian? The man that died that New Years? How do you explain him?”

“How should I know what Martin is doing, Sheridan? I live in Harmony and have been fussing over you since Father’s death last year. As for the imposter, I was forced to hire him for Father and that’s all I’ll say on the matter. Now why are you here bothering me at this hour? I thought you and Luis were on vacation and enjoying some time away from reality.”

“We were, Julian,” Luis replied, walking into the room and towards the bookshelves. “We were having a wonderful time,” he picked up a photograph of Katherine Crane and was awed by her resemblance to the woman standing in the hall. “But tonight we met two people that were dying to meet you, so we came home.”

“Oh really? A fan club?” Julian chuckled. “And who are these wonderful people?”

“Dillan, Alysa, do join us,” Sheridan called out the door. “I think it’s time for you to meet the man of the hour.”

Alysa entered the study standing tall and proud as she looked over at the man behind the desk. Tears filled her eyes as something inside her cried out his name. “Julian!” she wiped a tear from her cheek, not understanding what was happening to her. She started to sway on her feet but Dillan stepped up behind her and caught her arm. The man before her was aged quite a bit but somewhere inside of her she recognized him.

“M-Mother,” Julian breathed, rounding the desk and walking towards the woman that had died over twenty years ago. This woman that resembled the only person that loved and believed in him was a figment of his imagination to be sure and he refused to fall for his sisters tricks. “Is this some kind of sick joke? Have you decided to get back at the Cranes by using some puny fortune to hire some woman to pretend to be my mother and get me to tell you that our family had something to do with your father’s death?”

“No, Julian, this is Alysa O’Leary, from Rockland. I don’t know if you’ve seen the man behind her, but his name is Dillan O’Leary, Alysa’s husband of seventeen years. We had the fortune to meet them this afternoon at the festival.”

Julian’s gaze fell upon Dillan and he gasped. There was no denying that this man could be Martin’s long lost twin. “The resemblance is uncanny,” he muttered, nearing Dillan and looking deep into his hazel eyes. “I haven’t seen a man this closely fitting Martin’s description since the imposter almost four years ago.”

“Funny,” Sheridan replied. “Luis said the same thing on the way home from Rockland,” she crossed her arms. “Still claiming not to be completely clueless about this, Julian? It seems rather odd that these two could be so like the people that were last seen by members of the Crane family, namely you and Father.”

“You have no idea what you are talking about, sister dear. I wasn’t the last to see Martin that night, Sheridan, Father was. Just like he was the last one to visit mother,” he faded off. “That son of a bitch,” Julian cursed, realizing that his sister could indeed be correct about the identities of Alysa and Dillan.

“Julian?” Sheridan asked, worried about his pallor.

Looking at Luis and then Sheridan, Julian crossed to the safe that hadn’t been opened since Martin disappeared over seventeen years before. There had never been a need to look into this particular vault, considering that it held nothing but some papers. Pulling open the door, he removed files and tossed them onto his desk. “When Martin Fitzgerald arrived that night he was carrying these. I had let him in and then left with Ivy for a benefit at the Club. That was the last I saw of Martin Fitzgerald, Sheridan, I swear it. When I returned you were crying about something in your room and Father was on the phone with a boarding school in Europe. The next morning when I woke, you were gone.”

“And Mother?” she questioned.

“Father insisted I take you from the room because your tears were upsetting her and he feared that she was nearing the end. She looked weak, Sheridan, and I didn’t want you there should she pass away. I promised to care for you and I might not have done a great job but I wanted to spare you that pain, so I brought you to Ivy and when I returned Father said it was over and she was dead. He wouldn’t let me back into the room to see her! The funeral was closed casket; Father insisted she wanted it that way.”

“Then there is only one way to get to the truth,” Sheridan looked at Dillan and Alysa. “You two must agree to allow Dr. Russell to perform a hypnosis and attempt to discover if there are any repressed memories buried beneath the surface. If Luis and I are correct, you have been living a lie for the last seventeen years without even knowing it.”

Alysa, who was feeling far too comfortable in the room, nodded. “Anything to help you come to some conclusion on what happened to this Martin and Katherine you two obviously loved so much. But I do hope that you won’t be disappointed too much should we be nothing more than we say we are.”

Dillan agreed, “If you believe we’ll be of some help, then we’ll help no matter the outcome.”

Sheridan looked at the stack of files on the desk that Luis was busy flipping through. Somehow, she already had her answers and having Eve work with them would merely be the final nail in the coffin, so to speak. “You already have been an immense assistance in our discovering the truth. Now we just hope to settle this issue once and for all.”

Upon her arrival at the mansion, Eve found the group sitting in the parlor looking through the files that Martin Fitzgerald had risked his life to bring to the mansion the last time he was in Harmony. Most of the files showed some form of illegal activity that was taking place inside of Crane Industries all those years ago. Drug smuggling, money laundering and even insider trading were just a few of the felonies that Martin had managed to collect evidence of. The worst was the supposed details of a murder that took place in the early eighties. The man was one of the chairmen at the company who had crossed Alistair by voting against a major proposition to take over a smaller company and dismiss the current workers. Of course, all of this activity had ended with Ethan’s acquisition of the company at the time of Alistair’s death. Unfortunately, the little tidbits that Martin had collected were pretty useless at this late date and more than likely wouldn’t have done much damage even when he disappeared.

“I came as soon as I could get myself away. TC was determined not to let me come here, despite the fact that the call came from you, Luis,” she removed her light coat and placed it on the back of a chair.

“We appreciate your leaving your family so late, Eve,” Sheridan stood and hugged a woman that had become her friend. “We would like to introduce you to Dillan and Alysa O’Leary. They’ll be your patients tonight.”

“Pleasure to meet you. Luis explained over the phone that you two wish to go under hypnosis and try to discover if there is any truth that the two of you could possibly be Martin Fitzgerald and Katherine Crane.”

“My wife and I would appreciate your help, ma’am,” Dillan told Eve, looking over at the doctor. “Sheridan and Luis are quite adamant that we look like their relatives and I don’t remember much about my life before my wedding to Alysa. It’s given me some reason to pause and question the reality of their claims.”

“Well, Sheridan has successfully completed two sessions with me and we have managed to unlock some major repressed memories that had been buried years ago. There’s a possibility that opening the gate to your past can answer all your questions.” She removed some things from her bag. “Why don’t you both come with me?”

“All right,” Alysa kissed her husband’s cheek and stood. “After Julian’s name came to me I had a feeling that Sheridan and Luis were telling the truth. You might have an easier time unlocking my memories than Dillan’s so you might want to begin with me.”

Eve nodded. “Julian, do you mind if we use your study for the hypnosis session? I need a room that will be perfectly quiet and private.”

“Sure, Eve. My office is all yours,” he replied, looking down at the file in his hands and rereading just one of the many crimes his father had hidden from him over the years. Should anyone have found these things out before Alistair died and Ethan cleaned up Crane industries, they family would have lost everything.

Eve ushered Alysa and Dillan out of the room, leaving the others behind. Sheridan watched the door to the office close and then rose, crossing to the fireplace and looking at the pictures on the mantle. Julian had added new pictures after their father died, deciding that suddenly his family really meant something to him. The change in Julian was strange for Sheridan; after all, he had never been interested in feeling anything before. She remembered how he’d stated many times that Katherine had asked for him to watch over her. Instead, he had been part of his father’s plots to ruin her life time after time. Shaking her head, she tried to force aside the anger she was feeling. Julian had become a better man and thanks to him she had been reunited with her son and little sister.

“We should call Pilar. She expected us home hours ago,” Sheridan told Luis. “Colin’s in bed by now, but Pilar must be worried.”

“I called her from the hospital and told her that you had passed out from exertion and that she shouldn’t expect us home tonight. I assumed you’d want to get all of this out in the open as soon as possible.”

Sheridan sighed. “Perhaps we should have her come here with the twins and leave Theresa and Ethan with Colin and that blasted dog. She must be insane after getting almost no sleep during the night.”

“She seems fine, angel. Why don’t you come sit down? Pacing the room and being concerned about things we can’t control right now won’t do either of us any good,” Luis put down a manila folder.

“Do you realize the implications this has on our lives, Luis? If Alysa and Dillan turn out to be our missing parents, then my family will have really been the cause of all your suffering. Your hate of me and my family will have been justified.”

“Sheridan, the files alone prove that my hate of the Crane family is justified,” Luis told her, standing and crossing the room to her. Slipping his arms around her, Luis whispered in her ear. “No matter what this proves, I will never hate you. In fact, I never did.”

She smiled and leaned back in his arms. “Luis, if Alysa is my mother, this means that despite what she has missed in my life, she can step back into her roll and be there as my children’s grandmother. I’ve always wanted her to see my children, Luis, and to be at my wedding.”

“Then if she’s Katherine, we’ll renew our vows so that she can be in attendance of our wedding, Sherry angel.”

“You would do that for me, Luis?” Sheridan asked, turning her head slightly to look at him. “I know the first wedding was really rather stressful for both of us.”

“Yes, I would do that for you. Besides, at the first wedding you gave me the most wonderful gift on earth: the news that you were carrying our child, which turned out to be the two most beautiful girls on earth.”

She kissed him sweetly. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” he rested his head against hers.

Julian looked up at them both. “I didn’t realize just how deep some of our father’s crimes went,” he waved a file in the air. “He was cheating his own business partners out of money for the work they were doing and using petty thugs to eliminate smaller competition from outside companies. In fact, he used the men on one of the shipping boats to help us take over Winthrop’s shipping firm by sabotaging most of their fishing trips.”

“You mean, Ivy’s family company wouldn’t have needed our money to keep them afloat? You and Ivy wouldn’t have been forced into marriage?”

Julian nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Father was an underhanded business man. He did everything he could to make Crane Industries the richest and most powerful enterprise the country had to offer. I’ve never denied he was a crook and a cheat, but I didn’t believe he was this reprehensible.”

“He was a bastard; we knew as much,” Luis grumbled, thinking about the past. “Just the fact that he would have me arrested and try to convince Sheridan to give me up for the fortune he could offer her proves that he wasn’t above bribery. The man was Satan incarnate.”

“Which would mean I’m a child of the devil,” Sheridan teased, though part of her was bitter over the thoughts of her deceased father. Removing herself from Luis arms, she walked over to the spot that she remembered from her dreams and knelt beside it. “For years I couldn’t come into this room without tears springing to my eyes and the overwhelming sense of dread filling me. I would stand here, staring at this spot on the carpet and hear my father say that I was a wicked girl. All those years, I let him convince me no one would love me when they learned what I had done and now I could learn that I hadn’t done anything,” Sheridan sniffled, looking up at her husband and brother. “How could my father hate me so much that he would blame me for murder when I was only a child?”

“Sheridan,” Julian quickly went to her side, dropping to his knees beside her. “Father didn’t care about anyone. His only concern was himself. He didn’t want children; he wanted the perfect heirs to take over the company that he and his ancestors had cheated and lied their way into building.” Placing an arm around her, Julian held her close. “Don’t shed tears over him, Sheridan. Alistair Crane was a soulless man.”

Luis was shocked by his brother-in-laws compassion towards his wife. He had never seen Julian behave this way before and was actually enjoying the new side to his in-law. Julian was now enjoying his wife and children in a way he never had before. He became a real brother to Sheridan, an Uncle to the twins and Colin and a friend to the townspeople. Julian not only attended, but threw parties for the people he swore he was so above in the past.

Sheridan rested her head on Julian’s shoulder. “Were we horrible children to him, Julian? Did we deserve his repulsion and hate?”

“No,” he kissed the top of his sister’s head. “If anything he was the one undeserving of us and our love all these years, Sheridan. He was the one that lost out on a decent daughter, one that would have loved him unconditionally. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to realize it.”

Sheridan looked up at her brother; her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “Better late than never, Julian. I’d rather have you in my life now than never.”

The door to the study opened and Eve slipped out, closing the door behind her. She needed a moment to collect herself and allow Dillan, who had silently listened to what was happening in the room, some time to calm down.

“What’s the verdict, Eve?” Julian helped his sister return to her feet. “Is she…”

“I think it would be best to allow her to fill you in on her session,” Eve sighed. “I’ve given her a moment to pull herself together before she comes out here.”

“Eve, will this scar her in any way?” Sheridan asked.

Eve shrugged. “When we went opened the area of your mind that remembered Colin, you had no major scars besides the feelings of loss when you thought your child died, Sheridan. You were able to heal that pain by realizing that Colin was very much alive and in your life again. I can’t say if she will be as fortunate.”

“Dr. Russel,” Dillan called from the doorway. “I’m ready.”

She nodded, slipping back into the room. Alysa exited and collapsed into the chair nearest the door. Looking at Sheridan and Julian, she shook her head. So many things were happening to her tonight, so much pain was being dredge up.

“Alysa?” Sheridan spoke softly, nearing her. “Is there anything I can get you?”

Alysa whispered, “No,” before looking deep into Sheridan’s worried blue eyes. Putting her hands on Sheridan’s cheeks, she almost sobbed as she recognized herself from some thirty years ago. “How could I not have known?” she cried. “How could I have forgotten you? My precious daughter…my angel: Sheridan.”

“Mother?” Sheridan’s voice was tight. “Mother is it really you?”

Katherine stroked her daughter’s cheek gently but nodded her reply. Her throat was constricted with emotion. Sheridan collapsed into her arms and sobbed, her tears falling against her mother’s blouse.

“For years I dreamed that you would come back to me. Oh Mother! It feels so good to hold you again!”

Katherine looked up at Julian and noticed he had tears in his eyes. Her smile wavered as her own feelings took control. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you cry since Sheridan was born, Julian, and that was because I hit you with a vase on my way to the hospital.”

“I still have the scar,” he joked, rubbing a thin white gash behind his ear. “I always said she was a pain in the neck.” He tried to maintain his composure, though was failing miserably as a renegade tear rolled down his cheek.

Katherine laughed slightly. “I am glad the two of you are as close as I hoped you be.”

It was Luis’ turn to laugh, but he hid it within an odd sounding cough. “Sorry, tickle in my throat,” he lied.

“Where have you been all these years, Mother?” Sheridan rested her head in Katherine’s lap as she knelt at her feet.

Katherine ran her fingers through her hair. “I think that is something I would rather discuss when Dr. Russell is completed with her next session.”

“Should I call Pilar?” Julian asked both his mother and Luis. “I can ask Ivy to go pick her and the children up.”

“Yes please,” Luis replied. “I would appreciate it if you had someone bring her here. I believe Misty was going to be spending the night with her and Theresa so she should free to leave.”

Julian nodded and placed the call on the phone in the corner of the room. He didn’t explain anything more than Sheridan and Luis were at the mansion and were requesting her presence and if she needed someone to take her place he would be happy to send Ivy. Moments later, he returned. “She’ll be here in a few minutes, she was just checking on Colin when the phone rang.”

“I haven’t seen Pilar in so many years,” Katherine shook her head. “And whom is this little angel Colin?” she asked, having forgotten the earlier conversations now that her memories had returned.

“Colin is our son,” Sheridan moved back so she could look into Katherine’s eyes. “He’s so darling. He’s five now and just the sweetest child in the world. And the girls, oh Mother, you’re going to love them. They’re so beautiful.”

“I can’t wait to meet them,” she told her daughter.

For a time they sat quietly, trying to absorb everything that was happening. When the doorbell rang, Julian answered it. “I’m sorry I called you so late, Pilar,” he apologized as they entered the sitting room. “Luis insisted that you be present tonight as we discovered so many truths about the Crane family.”

“I understand,” Pilar looked at her son and smiled. “Mijo, I’m so glad you and Sheridan are back. Did you have a nice trip?”

“Wonderful and quite eventful,” Luis told his mother. He went to her side and hugged her gently. “Mother, I would like to introduce you to someone you probably remember better than Sheridan and I do.”

Pilar was confused by her son’s words and sought out her daughter-in-law. She gasped in surprise when the regal form of Katherine Crane was there before here, stroking her daughter’s hair much like she would the fur of a puppy. “Mrs. Crane! I thought…”

Katherine shook her head to stop her from completing the sentence. “I have returned, Pilar, and you are quite a sight for old, sore eyes. I see you have helped to raise my darling Sheridan into an honorable and wonderful woman. You were right; she and Luis did end up as a wonderful couple.”

Pilar blushed. “They made such adorable playmates back then.”

Sheridan giggled, also turning a shade of pink. Rising to her feet she hugged Pilar and then rested in the warmth of Luis’ arms. “Can you believe this, darling? Our mothers had planned our marriage long before either of us were interested in a relationship.”

“I believe it,” Luis chuckled. “Mama, why don’t you have a seat? We have a few more surprises in store for you and then we all have explanations.”

Pilar nodded, sitting in one of the armchairs. Katherine rose and moved closer to her friend, sitting on the couch. Julian and Sheridan joined their mother while Luis stood by the mantle. For a few minutes the room was silent. Finally, Eve exited the office, picked up her coat and dashed out of the house in tears.

“That’s not promising,” Julian grumbled, resting his head in his hands. If Eve Russell was crying, it had to be bad news. He waited impatiently to see if Dillan O’Leary was going to return to the room as someone else and finally he did.

“Oh my God,” Pilar cried in surprise, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. “Oh Dios Mio, He has answered my prayers. Martin!” she gasped, trying to rise from her chair and falling backwards into it.

“It’s me, Pilar,” Martin slowly made his way deeper into the room. “My beautiful Spanish rose, you haven’t changed a bit in all the years I’ve been gone.”

“I…I don’t understand,” Pilar’s head was swimming. “What’s going on? How did this happen?” she was desperate for answers.

“That’s what we’re all going to find out now, Mama,” Luis sat on the arm of her chair. “It’s time we find out just where Papa and Mrs. Crane have been all these years and just why they didn’t remember anything until now.”

“Didn’t remember? Mijo, what are you talking about?”

“When Luis and I found Martin and Katherine, they believed they were Dillan and Alysa O’Leary and not Katherine Crane and Martin Fitzgerald. They have been living as a married couple since Martin’s disappearance.”

“I…I don’t…” she stuttered.

“Let us explain, Pilar, I promise, it’s not as tawdry as it sounds at all. I guess I should begin, seeing as how my ‘death’ not only occurred first but I am the most unlikely to return to Harmony,” Katherine sighed. “As you know, Alistair and I did not have the most wonderful of marriages. He never loved me in the least; instead he loved his money, his power and my sister: Rachel. But Rachel died in that accident long before I entered his life and he needed someone from my family to extend his empire. So he married me. I was delusional enough to believe he could love me and when I gave him a son I thought his love would grow. Instead, he wanted nothing to do with me and once Julian was old enough, he began to limit the time I spent with my son. As any woman, I longed for another child. I was young and naïve and I thought if we had another child then he would realize we were in love. But he never came to me and when I went to him, I’d often find him with another woman.”

“I remember the first time I saw Father with a mistress,” Julian confessed. “It was the moment he told me Crane men married out of necessity and not love. It ruined the image I had that you two were actually happy.”

“I was never happy,” Katherine admitted sadly. “Not until slightly later when I met someone else. I assumed if your father could have lovers, I could as well. He was a wonderful man and he made me feel as if I were priceless. His wife had passed away a year earlier in child labor, leaving him with two sons. I wanted to be the mother to his boys so badly and he wanted to give me what I craved, a child. But I couldn’t let your father know what I was doing and I knew he’d rather kill me than let me leave here free to love another, so I never let on that I was seeing another man. That was until I became pregnant with you, Sheridan.”

“What?” Sheridan gasped. “Mother, what are you saying?”

Katherine chewed on her bottom lip nervously. “I became pregnant by the man I had been seeing. When I told him, he was overjoyed and he wanted nothing more than to come with me when I told your father. Of course I was fearful of telling Alistair the truth, but your real father insisted and I allowed it. When we told Alistair, he seemed frighteningly calm but he refused to divorce me.” Closing her eyes she repeated the words as they echoed in her head. “’Katherine, no one will know of this infidelity and that bastard you are carrying shall become another gem in my royal crown. He or she will be most useful in future mergers between the Crane empire and the richest, most influential men in the world.’ He bid your father good day and as I turned to leave, he ordered me to never leave the grounds again without him. I became trapped in this prison of a home until your birth.”

Everyone tried to digest the new information, so Katherine paused in her story. The only person who did not seem to need any time to mull over her words was Pilar, the woman who had known the truth some time before.

“But your illness,” Julian whispered. “Father said you died because Sheridan’s birth left you unhealthy.”

“Nothing of the sort,” Katherine shook her head. “Your father had been passing drugs through my system in the IV he had his ‘nurse’ connect me to. The Crane physicians insisted I was dying and inside I was. I couldn’t be with the man I truly loved and your father wasn’t permitting me to have time with the only thing I had left: Sheridan. He told me that he was going to send me away and keep me from my precious daughter forever and he did. For a while I remember being on my own and wanting to come home, but I was forced to live with a guard. Finally, your father came one day with a doctor and the last thing I remember was being forced to allow the man to inject me with an odd looking fluid. When I woke up all I remember was being someone else. Your father was there but he acted as if he were my friend and called me Alysa.”

“He faked your death,” Luis wasn’t shocked, but appalled all the same. “What a horrific thing to do to his wife and children! He led Sheridan and Julian to believe you were dead and placed the entire blame on Sheridan’s shoulders.”

“Not very surprising though, is it Luis?” Katherine asked.

“But you didn’t tell me,” Sheridan replied, totally numb from the news. “You didn’t tell me who my real father is. Who is the man you loved so much you risked your life to have me?”

Katherine’s eyes softened and she smiled. “You have his same mind for detail. He was an amazing man, Sheridan. You’d have loved him if you had the chance to know him. His name was Benjamin Bennett, the police chief.”

“Sheridan is a Bennett!” Julian screamed. “My sister is related to my wife’s ex-lover!”

Katherine nodded. “Sheridan is Sam and Hank’s sister.”

“Oh dear God,” Julian got up, looking for his brandy snifter. “Now I really need a drink.”

“Julian!” Katherine cried in outrage. “Behave! Sam and Hank are wonderful boys and Ben was such a loving man. Just because they didn’t come from money…”

“Sheridan dated Hank, Mother,” Julian shuddered. “To think she could have married her brother! Oh the travesty.”

“She’s married to me, thank you very much,” Luis snapped, bringing the argument to a close. “Now what I don’t understand, Mrs. Crane, is how my father ended up your husband.”

“I believe that is where I should take over the story, son,” Martin interrupted, shifting slightly in his seat. “I had been working for the Crane family many years before I met your mother. When we married, I had just been given a job as a manager and was working long hours trying to take control of the floor I had been given authority over. As a manager, I was expected to do certain things; one of those was make appearances at certain business functions. It wasn’t the best paying position, mind you, but it guaranteed that your mother and I were able to afford the children we wanted. We were very excited about the prospects of starting a family when one day she came home quite a mess. She was still working with the Winthrops,” Martin paused, his features locking in anger as he remembered the past.

“Martin please, spare Luis this details,” she begged. “He doesn’t have to know…”

“Yes he does,” Martin replied bitterly. “He needs to know the truth about Antonio.”

“Antonio?” Luis grumbled. “What could be so important about him? He left us!”

“The reason I was forced to disappear all begins with Antonio, Luis,” Martin looked lost in the past. “It was because of Antonio that I sought revenge on the Crane family. I had to! It was my pride that made me want to defend the honor of my wife.”

“Please, Martin, please,” Pilar started sobbing, turning her head into her son’s embrace and crying in his arms. “I don’t want to remember this. I don’t want to.”

“Mama?” Luis rubbed her back. “I don’t understand.”

“Antonio isn’t a Lopez-Fitzgerald, Luis. He isn’t my son!” Martin growled. “Antonio was born because Alistair thought he had the power to sleep with any woman he wanted. He took your mother’s precious innocence and instead left us with a child. Antonio is a Crane.”

Luis’ hands balled into fist and he tried to control his anger. “He raped Mama?”

Martin nodded. “That’s why I started collecting information about the illegal dealings going on in the company. I wanted to bring Alistair to his knees. I was going to take my findings to a friend I had in the FBI. I knew the Cranes didn’t own him and he was my only hope of ever catching Alistair in the act. Before I could deliver my findings, Alistair found out. He called me to the mansion one night and demanded I bring the files I had.”

“I remember that,” Luis looked at Julian and then Sheridan. “I had been listening to the conversation from the other room.”

Martin chuckled softly. “I know. I saw you even if I didn’t tell you that. When I got to the mansion, I heard Sheridan screaming. I rushed into the room and found a man attacking her. He was hired to kill her because Alistair believed she was worth more dead. I couldn’t let him hurt Sheridan; Katherine would have wanted Ben’s daughter to survive and I couldn’t let anyone hurt her. So I stepped in between them and we struggled for his gun. It went off and he was shot in the chest.

“M-my father wanted me killed,” Sheridan started crying. Julian and Katherine wrapped her in their embraces and held her tightly.

Martin continued as if in a trance. “Alistair entered the room and pulled me into his office, leaving Sheridan with the body. Instead of threatening me, he was going to hide what he decided was a murder secret for not turning him in. I refused and the next thing I remember was waking up beside Alysa.”

“And their marriage?” Pilar asked her son and Julian. “Is it legal?”

“Probably not,” Julian replied. “Considering the fact that even Father wouldn’t have gone to that expense. He probably had them brainwashed like he did Sheridan and then kept tabs on their life together, which explains the few photographs I managed to find for Colin.”

Luis looked at Sheridan and then at his mother and father. So much had been revealed to him that night. Suddenly, his eyes widened in surprise and he realized what that meant. “Sheridan! The blood on your hands! The body you saw! It was that man that was my father protected you against. You didn’t kill anyone, Sherry angel.”

Sheridan smiled for the first time since they returned that night. Her memories of the blood could no longer ruin the life she had built. “That means…”

“That means your free, angel,” Luis smiled at her. “You never have to fear Alistair’s control again.”

“I only wish you could know your real father, Sheridan,” Katherine sighed. “Ben would have loved you.”

“But, Mrs. Crane,” Pilar argued. “Ben is very much alive and still living in Harmony.”

Katherine smiled. “He needs to know about Sheridan and that I’m still alive.”

“And he will tomorrow,” Luis looked at his watch. “I think tonight enough feelings have come out to last us all a lifetime. In the morning I’ll personally bring you to Ben and we can have Sam and Hank learn the truth as well.”

“I agree. I would like to go home to my children,” Sheridan replied, thinking about crawling into bed with Colin between herself and her husband. They rose and walked to the door, Pilar and Martin going to her car and Sheridan and Luis climbing into theirs. They said their goodnights with Katherine watching from the doorway as they drove away. With a sigh she realized no one’s lives would ever be the same again.

“How are we going to explain this to Colin?” Sheridan asked as she changed for bed. “I’m not so sure I understand myself just what happened today. I’m glad my mother and your father are home, but I don’t know what to do.”

“Well I don’t believe telling him the truth is going to make much sense to him, so we can just tell him the Grandma Katherine and Grandpa Martin returned from a very long time away because of some very bad people. He’ll understand that,” he climbed into bed and pulled down the sheets for her.

Sheridan slid into the bed and rested in his arms, her head on his chest. “My mother’s back, Luis. My entire family is together again.”

“Almost the entire family, Sheridan. Tomorrow is going to be a very emotional day for everyone. Ben is going to find out the woman he loved is very much alive and that his daughter finally knows the truth about her paternity…and then there are his sons…”

“Do you think Sam and Hank will be angry, Luis?” Sheridan asked, closing her eyes and snuggling as close as she could to his body.

“No,” he kissed the top of her head. “They’re lucky to have such a special woman as their sister. I know I am very fortunate to have her as my wife.”

She sighed contently. “Goodnight, Luis.”

“Goodnight, Sheridan,” he kissed her again as they fell asleep.

The next night, Sheridan and her parents sat on the deck in the back of Sheridan’s house, looking at the late blooming roses with the radio playing softly. Telling Sam, Hank and Ben the truth about the last twenty-odd years hadn’t been easy. Hank had been relatively disgusted with the thought that he had dated his sister. He was a little upset about his father’s love affair, but said nothing as he returned to his fiancée’s side. Sam was thrilled to discover that he had a little sister, especially one as wonderful of Sheridan. His father’s romance with Katherine Crane hadn’t been all that surprising to him because even he had remembered how happy his father had been during that time and he never wanted his father to suffer. Both had been very accepting of their new sibling.

Ben, on the other hand, hand welcomed Katherine back with opened arms. He had cried openly to see the woman he loved back in his life and he wanted to make up for lost time. Meeting Sheridan had been his dream come true and the three of them had spent the day bonding as best they could given the circumstances. Later, Luis had made them dinner at the Lopez-Fitzgerald house and Katherine had spent most of the time sitting with a very excited Colin on her lap.

Sheridan looked up at the evening stars, her elbows resting against the railing of the deck. The twinkling orbs above were so beautiful and she thought back to all the times that she wished she had a loving mother and father in her life or that she would marry a man who meant the world to her. She felt Luis’ arms slip around her and smiled, leaning back against him. Now she wasn’t dreaming and wishing any more. She finally had everything she wanted; it was finally the way it was supposed to be.

“Nana Katherine!” Colin ran outside, waving his favorite book in the air. Click Clack Moo had returned. “Read to me please Nana! Please Poppy Ben!”

Katherine and Ben laughed, pulling Colin into the porch swing with them and opening the book to read the story. Sheridan kissed her husband’s lips and watched as her family all enjoyed their time together. “I wish your mother would have come tonight, Luis. I would have liked Martin to meet the girls.”

“Papa and Mama have many years to make up for, darling. I’m sure they’ll join us another time so that he can get to know the twins.” Luis hugged her close. “I’m going to go get their monitors, I’ll be right back.”

She nodded and returned to the stars.

Sheridan knew that through all the pain in her life she had one thing that had always kept her strong: thoughts of her mother. No matter what happened, Katherine’s final words rang softly in her mind. ‘You are a beautiful girl, Sheridan. You mean the world to me and no matter what happens to me, I promise that I’ll always be with you. I love you, forever.’ Those words had been with her in the direst of times and she always based her actions on what she thought her mother would want her to do. When she was finally with Luis, she realized that he was the other reason for her to live. Luis was the man she had dreamed of from the earliest point in her life. She had always seen the mysterious man and he had always saved and guided her.

Looking at her parents, Sheridan smiled. She was a part of them just as they were a part of her and she could finally know what it was like to be cherished and have the love of a real family. No longer would she be denied the people that meant the most to her.

Katherine listened to the song as Ben continued to read to their grandson. Meeting Sheridan’s eyes she smiled. Her daughter had turned out to be an exquisite woman inside and out. Her only regret was not being there for all the milestones in her daughter’s life. She watched as Luis exited the house with little Kathryn in his arms and brought the very awake baby to her mother. Sheridan kissed little Kathy’s forehead and hummed along with the song on the radio. At that moment she knew that Sheridan believed her daughters were going to be something some day, just like she had some thirty years ago when she first held Sheridan.

“Isn’t my mommy special?” Colin whispered to his grandmother, watching as his baby sister kicked her feet. “When the twins were sick, my mommy took such wonderful care of them. She visited them every day.”

Katherine nodded, ruffling Colin’s hair. When Sheridan had shared the story of her life, including the birth of the twins and their discovery of Colin, she had been shocked and heartbroken. Her daughter’s life resembled that of a soap opera. But she knew one thing for sure, Luis loved his Sheridan and vice versa.

Sheridan’s eyes met her husband’s and they shared the sweetest of kisses. So many times in the past, Sheridan found herself close to losing the man that was her everything. She remembered the frightening day when the imposter had shot Luis and she came desperately close to losing him before they admitted that they loved each other. Then she had turned down his proposal and sent him to the edge. Just after that, her father had charged him with her kidnapping and she had no way to free him. Misty’s arrival in town had nearly ruined their chance at love, especially after the miscarriage, and then there was only recently when she almost died having their children. She had started to believe forever wasn’t meant for someone like her, someone that had committed a crime in the past, but she was wrong and she was going to hold on to his love for the rest of her life.

“I love you, Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald,” Luis held her and their daughter in his strong arms. “You and our children.”

“Ditto,” Sheridan breathed, closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling of being in his embrace. “No one could love you the way I do,” she told him.

“No one is going to get the chance to try.”

Looking down at Colin, Katherine smiled. “I do believe someone is ready for bed, Ben.”

“But the story isn’t over,” Ben whined, much like Luis had when he read the story to Colin. “I’ve got to know if these cows get the blankets!”

Katherine shook her head. “Let’s go put your grandson to sleep, Ben, and then I can read you the remainder of the story.”

He chuckled, standing and lifting their grandson from the swing. Holding him close, they motioned to Luis and Sheridan that they were taking him to bed and disappeared inside.

“My mother truly loves him,” Sheridan told Luis as she looked at their now sleeping daughter. “I used to hope and pray that I’d have this life. Now I don’t remember what it was like to be alone.”

“And you never will,” Luis promised. “The pain is over, Sheridan. My father is back and you never have to feel guilty for something you didn’t do again. We’re going to spend the rest of our lives together without that hanging over our heads.”

“I’ll be right back,” Sheridan told her husband, going into the house for a while. She returned a few minutes later without their daughter but holding something else. Taking his hand into hers, Sheridan led Luis further into their yard. She put a small black cassette tape onto a rock and handed him a hammer. “Let’s get rid of it once and for all, Luis. Let’s forget this tape ever existed.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Luis hit the tape only three times before it shattered. “Here’s to letting go of the past and finding a better future,” he pulled his wife into his arms.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better ending.”

“But it isn’t and ending, Sheridan. It’s a beginning…”

Epilogue