Part 23 - Chapter 6 - Compromise

Lucy stood in the doorway watching as Craig and Stuart sat on the floor of the nursery playing with a toy xylophone.

Craig looked up at her. "He's good. I think this little guy is going to grow up to be a musician like his daddy."

"Maybe," Lucy answered with a smile. "Can we talk, Craig?"

"Sure." Craig patted Stuart on the head before standing up to face Lucy. "What is it, babe?"

"I just wanted to apologize. I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions. I should have trusted you and I do, but we just had that fight and being away from each other so much has been hard for me. It's easy to start to wonder."

"I know. I know. I start thinking that way too. I know I can trust you, but I still miss you. That's why I wanted you to come with me. You and Stuart both. I can't believe how much he's grown since I've been away."

"We miss you too and it's been so hard for me to be away from you. I hate being here on my own. I'm starting to think that maybe you were right. There isn't anything so important here that I can't have someone else take care of for awhile. Maybe we should go with you."

"Is that because you want to or because you don't trust me?"

"Because I want to and because I miss you."

"In that case, I would love for you to come with me," Craig said seductively as he put his arms around Lucy's waist.

He was about to kiss her, when the phone downstairs rang.

"I should answer that," Lucy said as she moved away from him.

"Hurry back," Craig called after her. As she left the room, Craig bent down to pick up his son. He glanced out into the hallway and asked, "What has your mommy been up to while I was away?"

"I have some bad news," Thomas announced before the group of environmentalists. "The building commission has approved construction for the Arrendale-Wilton housing division near Autumn Lake."

When the others around him voiced their disapproval, Thomas motioned for everyone to be quiet. "Yes, it looked like the corporate big shots used their money and influence and power again to get what they want."

"How?" Zara asked, barely making herself heard over the rest of the group.

"What was that?" Thomas asked.

"What did they do to influence the decision?"

"They went to the board with their idea of a compromise. They've agreed to keep a certain amount of land, including part near the lake itself, undeveloped. Apparently that justifies the other acres of habitat that are going to be destroyed in order to build and landscape their big mansions."

Most of the others around her seemed defeated or discouraged, but Zara didn't think the proposal seemed unreasonable. She was relieved that Lawrence had kept his word about doing everything honestly and at least the compromise showed that they had some concern and awareness about the environment. Their protest hadn't stopped the building project, but it had encouraged them to set aside land that might have been completely developed.

"Don't worry, this isn't over yet," Thomas was saying to the others as Zara started to walk away. "This isn't over until we put an end to this development. I promise, I won't let this go through without a fight."

As the group started to disperse, Thomas went after Zara. "Hey Zara, I want to give you one last chance to prove yourself. If you're interested, I have a plan."

"That's the last of it," Hector thought to himself as he closed the doors to his empty closet. He had packed his bags, booked his airline ticket, and was about to leave Bay Pointe behind him forever.

Life had been good here, for awhile. He'd had friends, a promising career, a beautiful girlfriend, but that was all gone now and he knew life would never be that good again if he stayed here.

Sometimes he wondered when the exact moment was that his future began to unravel. Was it when he found Lawrence standing on that street corner handing out fliers? Was it when he went over the edge in Clifford's hospital room? Or was it something else? Whether it was one moment or a combination of events, didn't matter now. He was off to a new job in a new town to start a new life and he was going to put everything what had happened up to this point behind him forever.

Hector had just brought the last of his suitcases downstairs and was going to do a final check around the house before leaving for the airport, when he heard a knock on the front door.

"Hello. Can I help you with something?" he asked the two police officers standing on his front step.

"Are you Hector Burgess?"

"Yes. Is something wrong?"

"Hector Burgess, you're under arrest."

Hector swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. He couldn't believe this was happening. Not now. "What for?"

When the police officer answered his voice seemed very far away, over the ringing sound in his ears, Hector managed to pick out the words, "murder" and "Clifford Stuart." He saw the glint of handcuffs as the officer read him his rights.