Alma frowned as she hung up the phone. She had thought Amanda had acted odd about Vanessa's disappearance, but chalked it up to her imagination. Now Andrew's phone call had her wondering again.
"Was that Andrew on the phone?" Edward asked as he entered the living room. "Is there news about Vanessa?"
"It was Andrew, but he didn't have any news. He just wanted to talk with me about Amanda."
"What about her?"
"Do you think she's been acting odd about Vanessa?"
"Not really, but I don't know her as well as you or Andrew obviously. Odd how?"
"All along she's hated having Vanessa in our lives until suddenly her bad feelings seemed to vanish and they're spending the day together at a spa. Then, just as they're getting along, Vanessa is kidnaped and Amanda . . . I don't know, she's had a strange reaction to the whole thing. I'm not sure what to think."
"I think the two of you are making something out of nothing. I don't think you need to worry."
"I hope not . . ." Alma replied thoughtfully.
"I'm sure it's nothing. You've been so worried about Vanessa, I'm sure you and Andrew are just letting your imaginations get carried away with you. I think you need to take a break. Let's get out of the house for awhile. I'm sure it will do you and the baby some good."
"Do you think I should? What if there's news while we're out?"
"If there is, it will wait until we get back," Edward assured her. "I have a surprise for you and I'm sure Vanessa doesn't want you to wait around worrying about her in the meantime."
"Ok . . . as long as we aren't away for too long."
"Lucy, we need to talk," Craig said boldly as he walked into the kitchen.
"Is there anything left to say?" she asked calmly as she set a bowl of dry cereal onto the highchair in front of Stuart. "I really don't feel like getting into another shouting match with you today."
"I don't know. I just know that something is going to have to change if we're going to make this work. You're going to have to try to work with me and start putting at least half of the effort you spend on your country club and your charities into our marriage."
Lucy took a deep breath and tried to calm herself before she snapped at him. "The same goes for you. Ever since we got married it's been more about your music career than it has been about us. You say I'm the one who's always too busy, but you don't seem to realize how much I've sacrificed for this family. I gave up career, my chance to finish medical school and live my dream of becoming a doctor to manage this household and raise our son, who you're never around to even spend time with."
"And who's fault is that? You know how much I want to be with you and Stuart. You know I spend as much time as I can with him when I'm home. Our family means everything to me and it kills me to be away from the both of you, our little boy, especially. Every time I come home he's grown so much and I feel like I'm missing out on everything in his life. What gets me the most is that it doesn't have to be like this. If you would just work with me, we could all be together like a real family."
"And what? Live a life on the road? That's not going to work. You know that. We've talked about this a million times."
"So what are we going to do then? I go my way and you stay here and try to do it all on your own. I know you don't want that."
"No, but at this point, if it's going to be like this all the time, with us having the same arguments over and over again, I'd almost rather not have you around."
Before Craig could reply, there was a knock at the front door.
Without looking at her husband, Lucy lifted Stuart out of his highchair and went to see who was there.
"We aren't done with this discussion, Lucy," Craig called after her as he followed her through the house. "We need to sort something out."
He stopped in his tracks when he saw a pair of police officers on the porch.
"Mrs. Sexton? We need to ask you a few questions. Starting with your whereabouts on the evening of the 16th."
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