The evening sun cast hues of pink and purple on the water that ran along side US-1 North to Rockland, the trees from the woodlands thinning out and framing the beautiful view of the beach. Sheridan tried to focus on the scenery and the crystal blue of the water outside, but instead her mind kept turning to how the water’s color matched the eyes of the twins. She didn’t understand how a trip that was supposed to start on Friday at noon had ended up being Tuesday evening or how she had been convinced so quickly that this was a good idea. With a sigh, she thought back to Luis and Pilar from just an hour or so earlier when she had unexpectedly been lured into their trap.

“Honey, we’re home,” Luis called, dropping the keys to his car onto the table by the door and stepping inside. Pilar followed, shutting the door behind them. She looked around the room and wondered where Sheridan was.

“Daddy!” Colin called, running to the door to greet his father, his smile radiating warmth. He launched himself into Luis’ arms and squeezed his father’s neck tight. “Mommy is feeding Katie and Kathy’s in her swing watching Blue’s Clues.”

“Oh she is, huh?” Luis carried Colin into the living room where Sheridan sat with a blanket thrown over her shoulder as she fed Katie. “Hey, you,” he bent over and kissed her sweetly, taking a peek beneath the cover at his nursing daughter.

“Hey,” she grinned. “I didn’t expect you home for at least another two or three hours. I hardly had a chance to order dinner,” she winked, teasing him. She had taken to ordering out whenever the day was just too stressful to cook.

He laughed, gently placing Colin on the couch and walking over to the swing. He knelt in front of the slowed basket and looked at his other daughter. Gently, his large hand cupped her tiny cheek and his forefinger caressed the soft, smooth skin of her face. “Hello, angel,” he whispered to his sleeping daughter. It was amazing how beautiful and perfect they were, their tiny fragile bodies fitting so perfectly in his arms. They had gained nearly two pounds since coming home, a sure sign that they were doing well.

Pilar cleared her throat. “Luis, mijo.”

“Oh, right,” Luis shook his head, coming out of the spell his daughter had on him. “So, babe, how fast can you be packed?”

Sheridan arched an inquisitive eyebrow at her husband. “What are you talking about?” she asked, gently removing Katie from her breast and lifting the baby to her shoulder. She patted her back, earning a hearty burp and none of the baby’s dinner, a first that day. “I thought we were going on vacation this weekend.”

“Well, I know I said we were leaving Friday at noon, but I lied,” Luis replied, remaining beside the swing. “The festival opens tomorrow and I thought we could head up tonight instead. I already paid for five nights on the hotel.”

“But…” Sheridan looked at Pilar. “Luis, I don’t know. Five days away from the twins is so long. We’ve never been away from them before and there’s so much that could go wrong between now and then. I…I don’t think I can go away from them that long.”

“Mija, I’ll be here to take care of the twins and I promise nothing will go wrong. Theresa will help me at night and I’m sure I can handle the twins while Colin plays with his friends on the street.”

“I don’t know,” she was hesitant. “Why can’t we just wait until Friday?”

“Come on, babe,” Luis pouted. “Some of the best events are tomorrow. We don’t want to miss King Neptune’s parade. It sounds like a blast! Walking fish…a man with a tail.”

A slow smile spread across her face and she smirked. She didn’t even want to ask about a parade and King Neptune. She looked down at her now slumbering daughter and rubbed her back. Even if it did sound entertaining she really didn’t want to leave the girl’s for so long. She was finally getting the hang of the motherhood thing. “But it’s so far away, Luis, and they’re so little,” she whined.

Luis’ brow furrowed in anger. “Sheridan, we went through this already. You agreed that you would go on this vacation with me. Two and a half extra days is a long time, I understand that, but we won’t be that far away and Mama has raised five children. Ok, so Theresa probably isn’t my first choice as someone to help her but Kay has promised to be here and she used to baby-sit all the time too. She’s even trained in CPR. Eve lives around the corner, Grace promised to help Mama with anything she needs and Whitney said she would spend the night too so that Theresa had little to no contact with the twins. In fact, they are making her the dog walker.”

“But Colin can be a handful sometimes.”

“He’s always been an angel with me, mija. He knows my rules,” Pilar told her.

Sheridan sighed. “What do you think, Colin? Should I let your father take me to Rockland early and leave you with Abuela and the twins?”

Colin weighed his options, considering that Abuela always made him extra desserts and didn’t make him eat his vegetables and asked so little in return. With Aunt Theresa and Kay around it could be a slumber party all the time. “Yes,” he nodded seriously. “You should leave, even though I’ll miss you.”

Sheridan giggled, knowing all too well what was going on in her son’s head. “All right, Luis, but I’m going under protest.” Luis cautiously removed Katie from Sheridan’s arms. “Then go on and pack, Sherry. We leave in an hour.”

Sheridan’s mind cleared and she dropped her eyes to the cell phone sitting in the car charger between them. Her hands itched to dial the numbers and see if the twins were doing all right without her, even if they had only been traveling for thirty minutes. “Luis,” she drew his attention to her.

“Yes babe?” he smiled, looking over at her for only a moment before turning his attention back to the highway. “Something wrong?”

“Well,” she chewed on her lip nervously. “Do you think we should check in on Colin and the girls now? I mean, we’ve been gone for so long. Pilar might need something.”

Luis rolled his eyes; not gone for an hour and she was already worrying about Pilar and the children. “Sher, we’ve been gone about as long as it takes you to go down one aisle of the food store. I’m positive that nothing has happened or else my mom would have called us. The twins are fine, I swear.”

“Shouldn’t we just call, Luis? What if she is too busy to call us because of an emergency?”

“Sher,” he shook his head, trying not to become upset about her behavior. “They’re fine,” he reached for the switch to the radio and turned it on. “This weekend is supposed to help us relieve stress, sweetheart, and I know you don’t want to believe it, but everything is going just fine at home without you there.”

Sheridan crossed her arms, leaning back in the seat and closing her eyes. “But I miss them, Luis,” she whimpered. “How can everything be perfect at home when I miss them so much? Shouldn’t they be missing me too?”

“That’s the funny thing, sweetheart, sometimes they just don’t miss you until they realize you’re gone. Colin is probably having a grand time and calling him right now will remind him you’re not coming right back home and will just cause problems tonight.”

She nodded. “All right, I’ll try to focus on something else,” she grumbled as a song came onto the radio. “Oh! I love this one!” she cried, turning up the volume and easily forgetting her previous desire to call Pilar that very second. “This girl has an amazing voice and I can’t believe how perfect this song is.”

Sheridan took hold of her husband’s right hand, singing along with the voice on the radio. Her life honestly had been bland and lifeless before she met her husband. Not only had he added color to her life, but he had also given her more joy and love than she knew possible. Colin and the girls coming into their lives had only managed to make the world brighter. Looking over at him, she smiled gently and realized that the road to her future lay in the beautiful brown eyes of her husband.

“I love you,” she told him, squeezing his hand gently.

“I love you too,” he squeezed back. “So much that I don’t know if my world would ever be the same without you in it.”

Luis turned the car down one of the smaller streets as they entered Rockland, slowing down slightly so he could enjoy his wife’s voice and his own thoughts. It was amazing just how in tune they were to each other sometimes. In fact, this song was completely about his life before her. Nothing had been the same before Sheridan. His world was dark and bleak; he lived life going around in the same circles every day with no end in sight. But Sheridan crashed into his life, literally, and suddenly he felt as if he were truly alive. He knew without her he would never be able to survive a moment.

Sheridan sang along, thinking about how the words were about her life. Luis’ touch and kiss were the only things that had made her survive through some of the harder days in her life. When the twins were at their worst health wise, Luis had wrapped her in his arms and kept her from completely falling apart. When she thought nothing would ever go right, he had kissed her and chased away the storm. He was her reason for living and she never really lived before she loved him.

“Are you thinking what I am?” he asked, steering the car toward their hotel near the pier.

“If you’re thinking that this song was almost written for us, I am. I know that without you and the children I would never have been able to survive. I look forward to waking up every morning to you and the sounds of our children, Luis. I know it’s rough and that having the twins waking so often during the night and having Colin begging for attention is hard on us, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I love our life together.”

“As do I,” he lifted her hand to his lips for a kiss. “You’re the reason I wake every morning and you’re the person I dream of every night. I love you.”

“I love you too. No matter what comes our way, Luis, I know our lives will be perfect,” she sighed contently as he parked the car in front of a quaint hotel.

“I agree completely,” he put the car in park and looked out at the building. “And this weekend, Sheridan, is going to be one of the best times in our lives. Nothing could ruin what I have planned for you.”

“Sounds promising,” she winked, trying to remember when the last time she was able to make love to her husband was. She couldn’t remember what it felt like to have his lips on her body and suddenly she wanted him: badly.

Heading inside, Luis carried the luggage and followed his wife to the front desk. A sweet looking older woman smiled and checked off their names in the registry. She rang a small bell and a pimply, red-headed teenage boy rushed over, nearly tripping on his shoes. Sheridan giggled slightly and the boy blushed, taking the luggage and leading them to their room on the second floor.

“You’re lucky,” he said, opening the door to room two-ten. “This room has the only balcony in the place. It’s the best we have to offer,” he dropped the luggage onto the bed and whipped out a brochure. “This is the schedule of events for this weekends festival. The fairgrounds are about six miles down the road and we have a free shuttle that leaves every half hour starting at six-thirty. The last one returns from the fair at 11pm. Enjoy,” he left without waiting for a tip.

Luis shrugged, closing the door behind him and sitting on the bed. “It’s a cute room,” he looked around. The wooden furniture was all whitewashed wood with dainty little roses painted on it. Sheridan had seen similar furniture for the twins’ room and nearly purchased it. There wasn’t a carpet, instead well polished wooden floors and a Victorian style armchair rested in the corner.

“I like it,” Sheridan put her luggage on a rack and smiled. “So, I see you’ve marked off our agenda? Feel like giving me any hints about what we’ll be doing?”

“I certainly do and it starts with this,” he quickly crossed to her, pulling her into his arms and kissing her sweetly.

She moaned against his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m starting to like this agenda,” she whispered against his lips. Her dark blue eyes met his. “Tell me, do you happen to have any other additions to the nightly agenda?”

Luis led his wife back to the bed and slowly undid her shirt. “Baby, I have many, many, plans for this evening but we’re both far too overdressed for every single one of them.”

Pulling off her bra and throwing it to the floor, she looked at him through hooded eyes. “Then what are you waiting for, Luis? Let’s get going on those plans.” She straddled his lap as he sat on the bed, pushing his shirt from his broad shoulders and kissing the flesh that was revealed.

He groaned. This was going to be a wonderful weekend.

Sheridan and Luis didn’t wake until nearly ten the next morning, enjoying the fact that there wasn’t a screaming baby waking them every two hours during the night. Refreshed, Sheridan purred as she snuggled closer in her husband’s arms and kissed his chest. “Morning, darling.”

“It is a good one, isn’t it?” he smiled brightly. “You were wild last night, Sheridan,” he laughed, looking at the still raw scratch marks on his chest. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that way before.”

Sheridan blushed a deep red, smacking his chest gently. “You’re terrible,” she scolded him and then looked at the clock over his shoulder. “It’s already ten. Didn’t you say you wanted to be at the fair by eleven for the parade?”

Luis nodded. “I’m going to go take a fast shower and I know you want to call Mama and check in on the kids. You do that and when you’re done you can join me, ok?”

“Oh, you can count on it,” Sheridan grinned, watching as he removed himself from the tangle of sheets and headed for the bathroom attached to their room. She definitely enjoyed the naked view of his backside. If her maternal instincts weren’t kicking in she would certainly have skipped the phone call. “Oh damn,” she groaned, getting up. “Forget it. I’ll call them after the shower,” she rushed to the bathroom. There was no way she was turning up this chance.

About forty minutes later, Luis and Sheridan finally made their way out of the bathroom and towards the lobby to wait for the shuttle. She was leaning against him, whispering words of love in his ear when she remembered that she hadn’t called the house in her enjoyment of the shower. “Luis, I forgot to call Pilar. Where’s your cell phone?”

Luis laughed, pulling his cell off his belt and handing it over to his wife. “I thought you were going to call them before the shower. I should have known there was no way you got off the phone that fast,” he teased.

“Oh hush,” she dialed the number and was surprised when the machine picked up. She sadly hung up the phone and handed it back. “Your mother must have taken the children out or else she turned off the ringer so the twins could sleep. No one answered.”

“We’ll try again later,” he told her, kissing her cheek and taking her outside. They stepped onto the shuttle bus and took a front row seat. “Now relax. In ten minutes we’ll bee seeing King Neptune.”

Sheridan laughed and rested her head against his shoulder. Only away one night and she was already feeling more refreshed than she had in ages. She could only imagine how good she would feel on Sunday.

The parade was a very interesting little display. Brought in by a Coast Guard ship, King Neptune and the previous year’s Sea Goddess winner were protected by a man dressed as Blackbeard the Pirate and Hayler, a Navy frigate. They stepped off the ship and onto the dock, waving and making their way down the pier to the fairgrounds where he officially opened the Lobster Festival of 2002. Of course, Luis had thought the “Sea King” was just far too much and laughed whole-heartedly at the display. However, the second the fair was open people rushed inside to check out the booths and head right for the main course: lobster.

Following the crowd, Luis and Sheridan strolled hand and hand into the food tent, their stomachs rumbling at the smell of the freshly cooked lobsters. It hit them suddenly that they had not eaten breakfast that morning and suddenly a whole lobster seemed like a beautiful way to start the day. As they ate their meal, sitting alone beneath a tree in the fairgrounds, they fed each other bites and sat in comfortable silence as they washed the people rush by. It took nearly an hour for them to finish lunch.

For a while they continued to walk slowly down the dirt roads of the grounds, looking at the booths and tents of the fair. Sheridan showed Luis a little lobster costume that would fit the twins and both laughed at the thought of Katie or Kathy in the same outfit. Checking the price, Sheridan blanched and quickly returned the costume to the table on which it belonged before dragging her husband from the tent. He laughed and they continued to enjoy the easy relaxed nature of their first day away.

At sunset, the bay was lit with the lights of carnival rides, most of which Sheridan decided she was in no mood for. It wasn’t until they came to the Ferris wheel that Sheridan decided she wanted to spend some time with her husband far above the rest of the world. They purchased enough tickets for one ride on the mechanic device and spent nearly thirty minutes waiting their turn. Finally, just as the sun reached the horizon and sent rays of pink and purple dancing on the waves, Luis and Sheridan sat on the top of the wheel as the next passengers climbed aboard.

“It’s so beautiful up here,” she shivered from the chill in the evening air. Luis put his arm around her and kissed her cheek.

“Yea, it is,” he smiled, nuzzling her neck. “Today has been perfect, Sheridan. From the moment we arrived here and laughed over that stupid king to this very moment has been wonderful,” he whispered, leaning in and kissing her sweetly.

Sheridan sighed against his lips and kissed him back, just as passionately as she had so many times before. When she pulled away from him slowly, her eyes were dark and serious. “After the coronation of the Sea Goddess, I think we should go back to the hotel and relax, don’t you?”

Luis nodded mutely. “Perhaps a bath?”

Her eyes twinkled mischievously. “It’s amazing how we think so much alike, Luis,” she giggled. She ran her finger from his lips down the center of his chest. “I’ll make you feel like a king.”

“Sheridan,” he groaned, eyes closed tightly. “I’ll worship you like the Goddess you are,” his eyes grew black with desire. “Do we really need to stay for the coronation, Sher? I really don’t want to see some teenage wanna-be queen when I have my own to worship.”

She smiled brightly. “With a request like that, how can I say no?” she asked.

And she didn’t say no to him all night long.

It wasn’t a complete surprise that Sheridan and Luis did not make it to the fair before eleven the following day, especially considering that they had spend the morning munching on fruit in bed and making love. The hotel staff thought they were newly weds and the woman that owned the small place was pleasantly surprised to learn that they had three children back at home. She made sure to send up fruit whenever she saw them enter the hotel, knowing that food seemed to be the last thing on their minds.

The events on Thursday began with another parade that led them down Main Street and had a patriotic theme to it. The floats were all red, white and blue; the Goddess’ float covered roses where she sat inside a seashell throne beside King Neptune. Along side the parade ran a group of clowns that twisted balloon animals and made children laugh with candy and tricks. Sheridan knew at that moment that Colin would have loved the parade.

When they reached the fairgrounds, Sheridan followed Luis to the touch tank, which was a display of dead fish. She gave him an evil look when they stopped outside the tank.

“Go on, I dare you,” he motioned to the lifeless fish display.

Taking a deep breath, Sheridan started to reach for the fish. Her fear seemed pointless when she thought about it, considering the fact that she had changed really disgusting dirty diapers and been covered in regurgitated breast milk. She easily changed her tactic and started touching the fish.

Luis was shocked for a moment, but proud and after she washed her hands he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “You handled that so well, baby. I’m proud.”

“Thanks,” she shrugged as they stop at the US Coast Guard Damage Control display. Of course, that was a fatal mistake. The second Luis realized what the table was about he started to talk to his “colleagues” about safety on the piers and in the water. Sheridan rolled her eyes when he took on a superior attitude and acted as if he understood every word that was coming out of the mouth of the men running the display. Bored with the conversation, Sheridan started to wander away and look at the gifts she could buy. She immediately purchased a lobster claw hat for Colin and a pair of lobster claw potholders for Pilar. She founds the cutest lobster print pajamas in pink and purple for the twins and added them to her bag after paying.

Looking back, she noticed that Luis was still talking to the Coast Guard officials and sighed: so much for a day together. Stopping outside a small jewelry booth that specialized in bracelets made from seashells, Sheridan noticed someone that looked oddly familiar. The man was in his fifties but looked almost as she someone she knew years before. A woman, whose hair was turning white with age, joined him and they walked off before Sheridan could see her face. Giving up her desire to see the woman’s face, Sheridan turned around and walked smack into her husband’s chest.

“Hey, I was just coming to find you,” he smiled, putting his arm around her shoulders. “I was thinking we could find a small café outside of the fair and get something non-lobster for lunch before getting a tour of the Tillson Coast Guard Station. What do you think?”

Sher looked over his shoulder at the man and woman who were disappearing into the crowd. “Sounds like a great idea,” she smiled. “Let’s go.”

At sunset, Luis and Sheridan had a small picnic on a hill outside of their hotel; the duo snuggled together beneath a tree on a picnic blanket. She rested between his legs, her back against his chest as they munched on sandwiches from a pub down the street from their hotel. After they finished eating, he handed her his cell.

“Go on, call them. You went all day yesterday without checking in and I know it’s killing you. I have to admit, I’m reluctant to let you but I am pretty impressed you lasted so long.”

Sheridan smiled and dialed their numbed quickly without responding to his goading. She counted four rings before Colin answered.

“Hello, Lopez-Fitzgerald house,” Colin giggled.

“Hey sweetheart. It’s Mommy. How are you?” Sheridan gushed, excited to finally talk to her son on the phone. She was surprised he had answered, but her heart swelled with love at the sound of his voice.

“Mama! I’ve missed you!” Colin cried eagerly. “How are the lobsters?”

“They’re good. How are you? Are you having fun with Abuela and Tia Theresa?” her eyes teared, unable to believe just how sad she was hearing his voice and knowing that she wasn’t there with him. She wondered if Pilar read to him every night or sang to him and the twins. Sheridan wasn’t sure they left the number for the pediatrician or the schedule the girls were on. Suddenly, she felt as if she were not being a good mother by going on vacation.

“We’re having a great time, Mama! Nana is feeding Kathy and Katie is playing with Miss Kay and Tio Miguel! We’re all going to have pizza when it comes and tomorrow we’re going to the movies!”

“Sounds wonderful,” she sniffled. “Is Nana too busy to talk?”

“Yea, she is,” Colin replied, watching his grandmother check on the chocolate chip cookies that were baking and try to feed Kathy. “Should I tell her you love her and stuff?”

“Sure and tell the girls that too, ok? I love you, Colin, and Papa and I miss you so much. We can’t wait to come home and show you all the things we bought for you.”

“Ditto,” he replied. “Bye,” he hung up.

Sheridan sighed, closing the flip phone and handing it back. “Everything is fine at home. Colin said Mama is taking them to the movies and ordering pizza.”

“Sherry angel, are you all right?” Luis asked, sliding his arms around her more tightly.

“Yea,” she started crying.

Luis held her closely, placing kisses in her hair and trying to keep her from crying. “Shhh, baby, it’s all right. Please don’t cry. Look, if you want to go home…”

“No,” she shook her head. “No. Thank you for being so worried about me, Luis, but I just realized that our kids don’t always need us around and they’re only six-year-old and seven weeks. What will we do when they’re twenty?”

Luis laughed. “Have more,” he teased. “Come on, sweetheart, lets go upstairs and get some rest. Tomorrow is another day and today has been pretty long.”

She nodded, totally letting it slip her mind that she had seen that man at the fair. Right now she just wanted to be with her husband and let his hands remind her of the positives to being away for a while.

At sunrise, Luis woke Sheridan with a kiss and smiled when her blue eyes fluttered open. It was moments like this that made life that much brighter. “Good morning, beautiful,” he murmured. “Come with me,” he offered her his hand and led her from the room out onto the balcony, helping her into her robe as they exited the room. Outside was a simple round table with two covered trays. Sheridan sat on one side and allowed Luis to help her push her chair in. Once he sat on the other, he removed the lids to the trays and revealed their breakfast. The sunrise breakfast consisted of eggs Benedict and strawberries.

“Wow, did you do this?” her eyes glowed and her smile was radiant.

“I had the kitchen staff cook, but otherwise I planned it,” he told her, offering her a bite of the eggs. “How do they taste?”

“Better than yours,” she giggled. “Thank you, Luis. This is perfect.”

“Just the start of a perfect day,” he told her. “Dig in before it gets cold and tastes worse than mine,” he winked and started eating his breakfast.

In the cool morning air, the duo sat feeding each other and kissing the juice away from each other’s lips. It took them nearly two hours to finish their breakfast, especially when the kisses slowly grew deeper and more passionate every minute they were together.

After breakfast, they showered and dressed, heading to the fair earlier so they could catch the children’s parade that started at ten. They caught the nine-thirty shuttle and found a good place to view the floats. The children started walking down the street at exactly ten and Sheridan thought that one little boy looked exactly like Colin. She pointed him out and Luis agreed that their son could be the boy’s brother. Both commented at the same time that next year, the girls’ health lending to the idea, they would bring the entire family to Rockland and spend the weekend so Colin could enter the kid contests.

The parade ended in a half hour and just before the awards for the kid created floats began, Luis spotted the woman that Sheridan had seen the day before. He thought she was Sheridan’s twin, the resemblance between the two uncanny and pointed her out to his wife. By then, the woman was gone and Sheridan had moved on to a lobster preparation demonstration, leaving Luis alone by the side of the road.

The remainder of the day was spent checking out the cooking awards and tasting the concoctions that the women and men dreamed up for the contest. They decided that the rest of the afternoon should be spent doing anything that didn’t involve eating another lobster. Neither could stand it anymore and both decided to go back to the hotel, where they spent the remainder of the day locked in their room enjoying each other.

Luis did not let Sheridan leave the bed again until seven Sunday morning when they arrive in time to sign up for the crate races. Sheridan was practically giddy over the chance to beat Luis at something and have an award to prove it. Luis, on the other hand, thought that he was sure to win the race. Neither voiced their thoughts as they headed to the Codfish Carry, which was a race for the five through twelve-year-olds.

“Look at him,” Sheridan pointed to the boy that looked like Colin. He was carrying the largest fish and doing it quite swiftly. She could almost imagine her own son doing the same thing and beating out the competition.

“He’s going to win for sure,” Luis told his wife as they watched the boy easily cross the finish line.

“I think next year that could be Colin,” Sheridan smiled. “Don’t you?”

“I do and I definitely like that idea,” he told his wife. “Come on, over there is the diaper derby,” he tugged on her arm. He laughed at the sight of babies with numbered diapers on crawling randomly on a “race track”.

Sheridan pouted, pointing at one of the smaller babies in the race. “I miss the girls,” she leaned against her husband. “I can’t wait to get home tonight, Luis, even if I’ve had a great time this week I still miss them.”

“Me too,” Luis told his wife. “I didn’t realize just how much until this very moment. In fact, I’m tempted to call home but Mama probably has the entire crew at church.”

“Oh my,” Sheridan giggled, thinking of poor Pilar trying to pray with Colin and the twins in the pew beside her. Sheridan and Luis hadn’t been to church since the twins were born finding themselves at the hospital on Sundays and then just unable to control the twins and Colin at mass. “After today they’ll be sure to canonize your mother.”

Luis laughed. When his laughing subsided, he heard the beginning strains of a tango play. His eyes sparkled as he realized that the salsa and tango booth was beginning their hour-long music session. “Do you hear what I do, Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald?”

“I certainly do,” she smiled at him. “Shall we?”

“We shall,” he took her hand and led her over to the booth. They parted a crowd and started to dance the most seductive tango they had ever shared. Every move and caress was perfectly in tune with the music and their partner. Each and every person stopped dancing and circled around Sheridan and Luis, watching them make love with their dance. After the three-minute dance, the people around them began to cheer loudly. As they started to leave, a woman caught Luis’ arm and pulled him aside.

“My husband and I were watching you two dance and we were wondering if you were trained professionals that were hired for the day.”

“No,” Luis looked into Sheridan’s eyes and smiled. “Sheridan and I have been married for nearly a year now and it’s our love that causes our well-tuned dances. But thank you for the compliment. We appreciate it.”

“Thank you for dancing for us,” the woman patted Luis’ arm. “Feel free to dance for us again anytime.”

Sheridan was bright red as they departed the salsa tent and headed towards the area where the crate race took place. The women went first, Sheridan being part of the twenty to thirty race, and each had a separate chain to run. When it was finally her turn, Sheridan took a deep calming breath and started racing across the floating lobster crates. She easily made it across, barely touching the wooden boxes as she raced from one side of the pier to the other. After all the women went, Sheridan was the only one to make it across without falling into the water and the men took their places.

Sheridan watched the races with interest and when Luis took his place she cheered loudest for him. He hadn’t taken more than seven steps when he lost his footing and fell into the shallow water of the harbor. She laughed as he emerged from the water, drenched and looking none too pleased that he failed at the chore of crossing the pier.

“Don’t say it,” he held his hand up as they headed to the stage where the awards would be given out for all of the races. “I don’t want to hear it.”

Sheridan laughed, pulling a piece of seaweed off his shoulder. “I wasn’t going to say a word,” she snorted, laughing even harder than before.

“Oh haha,” he rolled his eyes. “I’m going to go get a drink. Want something?”

“Yea, whatever the winners are drinking,” she called as he walked away.

“Funny!” he disappeared into the crowd.

Sheridan took her seat beside one of the other winners from the men’s races. For a time she searched for Luis to return with their drinks, but she heard the man beside her mention Harmony. Her eyes turned from the crowd to him and she gasped in surprise. It was the man she had been seeing all weekend. “Excuse me, sir. Did you say you were from Harmony?”

“I used to have some family there,” he smiled. “The name is Dillan O’Leary. Yours?”

“Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald,” she shook his hand. “I’m on vacation with my husband, Luis. We’re from Harmony so I was happy to meet someone else from our hometown.”

“My wife Alysa and I live just outside of town. She went to get something to drink. When she returns, I’ll introduce you.”

“I can hardly wait,” Sheridan replied, trying to place just where she had seen Dillan before. She could only hope Luis would hurry back so she could finally make him meet the mystery phantom that had continuously appeared this weekend.

Luis paid for the two sodas, taking the cups and turning back towards the awards booth. He was surprised to find the white-haired woman from the day before putting straws in the drinking cups she had. “Excuse me, miss. Could I ask your name?”

The older woman smiled, sipping her diet soda before replying. “My name is Alysa O’Leary. Why?”

“Oh, well my wife, Sheridan, looks so much like you that it’s kind of scary. I was just wondering if maybe you were related or something. But her last name is Crane and I don’t think she’s Irish at all.”

Alysa laughed, shaking her head. “I don’t have any family that I know of, son. Where are you headed now?” she asked, taking a step forward and having Luis follow her.

“Back to the awards booth. My wife won the crate race for our age group. I’m pretty proud of her. Considering she wasn’t much of a sports player as a child.”

“Oh! How fun! My husband, Dillan, won the race as well,” they continued walking in step together. “Perhaps we could sit together and talk. I’m sure Dillan would love to meet you. In fact, you almost remind me of him.”

They walked down the thin aisle to the front row where their spouses sat. Luis leaned over and kissed Sheridan’s cheek, placing the cup in her hands. “Babe, I have someone you have to meet.”

“So do I,” she stood, turning to her husband. “Luis, I want you to meet Dillan O’Leary.”

“Funny,” he chuckled. “I want you to meet Alysa O’Leary.”

The O’Leary couple turned and faced the people they were being introduced to, earning a collective gasp from Sheridan and Luis. Neither could move for a moment as they surveyed the pair standing before them. The astonishment shook them to the core and neither made a sound for the longest time. Sheridan finally broke the silence

“Mother!” her eyes grew wide as she looked at the woman that stood before her and grabbed hold of a chair.

“Papa?” Luis questioned, shock registering on his face.

Dillan and Alysa looked at each other confused and Sheridan felt the world begin to spin. With a choked gasp, she collapsed into Luis’ strong arms and everything went black.

Sometime later, Sheridan awoke at a local hospital and found Luis sitting at her bedside. Confused blue eyes met worried brown ones and his soft lips kissed her forehead.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, caressing her cheek. “I was worried about you.”

“Weak, but fine,” she replied, looking around. “Where are ‘Dillan’ and ‘Alysa’?”

“Outside. I’ve convinced them to come back to Harmony and confront Julian. It took a while to explain just why they needed to do this for us, but they were willing when I showed the pictures of the kids. It’s almost as if they could tell that Colin and the girls were their grandchildren. I can’t believe that man out there could be my father, Sheridan, and that he could have been with your mother all this time.”

Sheridan nodded and looked out into the hallway where a very worried Alysa paced the length of the floor. Part of her wondered if this woman was really the mother she had been missing for over twenty years. She never could have dreamed that the woman she loved more than life itself had been alive and kept from her, or decided not to come back to her in either case. As Luis rose to find the doctor and bring him back to the room, Sheridan whispered, “Only Julian knows the Crane secrets and if it’s the last thing I do I’ll learn the truth about my mother’s death and Martin’s disappearance.”

Chapter Ten