Previously:

Giselle, Remy, and Elena planned a birthday party for Highwind investor Claudia's teenage daughters, but the event spiraled out of control. One of the girls, Astrid, attempted to seduce Jonothan Albion, the notorious snowboarder and playboy involved with the Highwind's upcoming exhibition.

Claudia set out on a mission to bring down Giselle Ormand and was revealed to have an accomplice/lover who was close to the Highwind.

Josie pressed her mother for details about her estranged father, Travis Caudill, but Martine refused to delve into the past.

 

The Highwind - Giselle's Office

"I can explain everything," Remy Ormand said. They were the first words out of his mouth when he entered his mother's office.

Giselle somehow doubted that, given all she had heard of the previous night's events and how Astrid and Ingrid's birthday bash had gone completely off the rails.

"I know the tiger thing was a bit over the top," Remy said, pacing in front of her desk as he searched for an excuse, "but I learned my lesson. Live animals are a no-no. At least nobody was seriously hurt. Elena and I talked to that photographer and gave him a little incentive to forget the entire incident. So we're all good, right?"

"Do you really think it's that simple? That you're off the hook?" Giselle threw the day's copy of a local society rag at him. Astrid was plastered across the page -- and was looking quite plastered herself in the series of photos showing her stumbling down the halls of the Highwind.

"Uh oh." Remy's face fell. For all they had done to salvage the PR nightmare that was the twins' party, Astrid had still managed to stir up a scandal. Because she wasn't alone in the tabloid photos. She was being led down the hall by Jonothan Albion before disappearing into his hotel room at the resort.

"Please tell me your friend didn't sleep with this clearly intoxicated young girl," Giselle sighed, shaking her head sadly.

Remy wished he could tell her that, but this was the first he'd heard of any potential Jono/Astrid hookup.

"So it's true then?" Giselle took his silence as his response. "No wonder Claudia's been rampaging like Satan's three-headed hellhound all morning." Giselle considered the severity of the situation, wondering how to downplay things.

"I'm sorry things got so out of hand," Remy apologized once more. "But really, even if they did have sex, it's not the worst thing in the world, and it's not any of our faults."

"Do you want to tell that to Claudia?" Giselle asked, holding her cell phone out to him.

Her point was taken, and Remy backed away. "Let me talk to Jono at least, before we go accusing him." A part of Remy wanted to believe his friend wouldn't have done such a thing. Jono had been so helpful the night before in dealing with the twins. Remy hadn't noticed anything between him and Astrid that would have led to this, but who knows what might have happened after the party wrapped up?

"You do that. I'm sure he'll be completely honest with you." Giselle rolled her eyes.

"Knowing Jono, he'll probably brag about it, if it's true," Remy said, equally annoyed. "Look, I'm really sorry we let you down. We did the best we could with those two, but they were a handful, to say the least."

"I know," Giselle admitted, tired of the whole thing. A part of her had fully expected this. She knew they'd been set up to fail when it came to the twins, and it irked her that things turned out the way Claudia had surely hoped when she'd assigned them this task. "I'm not mad at you or Elena. I never should have agreed to 'help' Claudia."

If Claudia Crane-Shaw hadn't invested so much in the Highwind and its future, Giselle would swear the woman was trying to sabotage her. Maybe this had nothing to do with the Highwind and was all a personal vendetta. As much as Giselle hated her, she knew Claudia and Bruno Bossi were a package deal. Bossi was the real financial force behind the deal, and if Giselle had to appease Claudia to keep him on board, she'd have to try and bite her tongue, as she'd been doing for years now.

 

The Bistro

Martine Guthrie slumped over her laptop, willing the words she was looking for to appear on the screen. She was attempting to write her latest column for Wonder Magazine, but it was rough going. She was exhausted. Being a new mother again, especially at her age, was no easy task, but for once her weariness had little to do with whether or not her son, Brody, had slept through the night. It was her daughter who was to blame for her latest series of sleepless nights.

Josie was still adamant in her quest to track down Travis Caudill. Ever since she'd discovered that damned photograph of him, all she could think about was finding her father. A reunion between the two of them was the last thing Martine wanted. Why couldn't Josie just take her word for it that they were much better off with Travis out of their lives?

Martine stared down at the blank laptop screen again. Trying to work was pointless when she had this rift with Josie looming over her head. She slammed the computer closed and gave up, packing it in for the morning.

She thought about going home, but Tyson would be there with Brody. He would, no doubt, ask why she was home so soon and wonder how much progress she'd made on her column, which would make her feel like an even bigger failure. When she first moved in with Tyson, things were so much better than she'd ever expected. It truly felt like a fresh start. But lately, since Travis reappeared in her life and Josie took it upon herself to dredge up the past, Martine realized there was no such thing as a clean slate to start from.

Tyson didn't understand why Martine couldn't come clean about Travis to Josie. It made things awkward between them, as Tyson felt Martine should just be honest and tell Josie the truth. But they didn't know anything about her past with Travis and how betrayed she still felt by him, even now.

Martine couldn't work and she couldn't go home, so she found herself parking in Charlie's driveway instead, desperate for advice from somebody outside the situation. She felt like she was crazy for doing what she knew was right in wanting to keep Josie and Travis apart.

She'd become surprisingly close with Charlie during the time she lived with him and Erin. She hoped he would tell her what she wanted to hear, that she was doing the right thing in trying to protect her daughter.

"Martine, hi!" Kerrigan said, answering the door of to find her friend on Charlie's doorstep.

"Kerri?" Martine asked, confused. "What are you doing here?"

Kerri shrugged, brushing a wisp of her light brown hair from her face. "It's a long story. I'm watching Charlie's house now while he's away. I've been staying with him for a few weeks."

"Charlie's away?" Martine asked, more than a little disappointed. At least Kerrigan was there to listen. It had been too long since she'd seen Kerri, who was now very pregnant and reminded Martine of herself not too many months ago.

"Come in," Kerri offered, the two women settling in to the living room.

"So what is this about you staying with Charlie? I don't understand?" Martine asked once they were seated and Kerri had returned from the kitchen with two coffee mugs.

"You know how things have been with Beau and me. I just couldn't stay there with him. Not until we get things sorted out."

"And you think shacking up with your ex-husband, Beau's brother for that matter, is going to help fix things? How exactly?" Martine pressed, coming across harsher than she'd intended.

"It's not like that," Kerri said firmly, clearly agitated by the criticism. "I was only going to stay for one night, but..."

"But here you are," Martine said, arching a suspicious eyebrow.

"You're twisting this into something it's not. I came here when I found out about my accident. Charlie deserved to know the truth just as much as I did. This living arrangement is only temporary. He and I are friends now -- nothing more."

"Good," Martine said. "He's been through enough as it is. I just don't want to see him get hurt again."

"And you think I do?" Kerri said.

"Of course not," Martine said, softening. "You know I love you. I love both of you. But the two of you have been through so much, it would be easy to fall back into something comfortable and familiar. I don't want either of you to make a mistake, that's all."

Kerri let her guard down a bit. "I would never do that to Beau," she said, shaking her head. "Or Charlie."

"I'm sorry," Martine hugged her friend. "I didn't come here to upset you or get into anything like this. I just needed somebody to talk to."

"You're lucky you're my best friend, or I might have taken offense," Kerri brightened.

Martine looked around the room. "Wait. Where is Charlie, anyway? Why does he have you housesitting for him?"

Kerri's smile faltered. "He left for Washington this morning. He's gone with Jasper Kent. They think they've found Erin."

"What?" Martine could scarcely believe what Kerri was telling her. After all this time, they'd figured out where Erin was hiding? "No..."

"Yes," Kerri confirmed. "I saw the surveillance photos the King's Bay police sent to Jasper. It looked just like her."

"King's Bay," Martine said, keeping the words on the tip of her tongue as she tried to recall ever hearing of the place.

"I've never heard of it, either."

Martine sighed heavily. A part of her worried about him getting wrapped up with Erin again. Erin was like a sickness to Charlie, the way she blinded him to everything else. If they followed her across the country, if this confrontation didn't end the way Charlie hoped, he might never be the same. "Poor Charlie. I don't know how he'll cope with seeing Erin again. And Summer, that poor girl. This had better work out for him. I don't know if he'll be able to take it if anything goes wrong."

Kerri agreed. "He's already lost so much. Things will work out this time. They have to."

 

The Sleepy Hollow Inn

In terms of majesty, the Sleepy Hollow Inn was a far cry from the Highwind Resort, but to Claudia Crane-Shaw, it was the perfect stepping stone toward her ultimate goal: bringing down Giselle Ormand. Claudia had worked with Giselle Ormand for years, and her jealousy only grew greater with each new success Giselle achieved. That pompous, puffed-up old battleaxe always had to be the center of attention, taking credit for the Highwind's grandeur without so much as mentioning the people who helped her to her pedestal in the first place. It was about time for Giselle to suffer a long-overdue fall from her throne.

With her recent business trip, her plan was fully in motion now. But there was still much work to be done if the Sleepy Hollow Inn was to become the Whitebridge Resort, Claudia's soon-to-be rechristened challenger to the Highwind.

The Sleepy Hollow's previous owner, Lucy Emery, may have left St. Laurent in shame, but Claudia was poised to pick up where the woman left off, building on Lucy's meager business acumen to gain a foothold in town and in her quest to overtake Giselle. The only problem was that she needed her business partner, Bruno Bossi, to be on her side, at least financially.

That shouldn't be a problem for much longer, Claudia thought, looking down at the tabloid in her hands. Astrid and Ingrid's debauchery was only another incident in Claudia's longstanding quest to prove Giselle's incompetence. If Claudia went crying to Bossi, actually managing to squeeze out a few tears at the way her girls had been morally exploited by Giselle and her mishandling of their birthday celebration, perhaps he would finally be forced to admit that Claudia had been right about Giselle all along.

Of course, Claudia hadn't known just exactly what sort of trouble her twins would get themselves into at the Highwind, but she knew enough to know they'd make Giselle's life a living hell, if only for a day or two. The one instruction Claudia had to give her unknowing accomplices was for her daughters to demand the biggest and best event of their lives and to try and make this their big debut by gaining themselves some publicity in the process. Which was just what they had done. She was almost proud of her girls in some sick way.

But they were only a fraction of the plan. The real challenge was soon to come.

While she thought ahead to her next step, her phone sounded. "Hello," she answered with a smile. Just the person she was hoping to hear from.

"You're back in town?" the caller asked.

"As of this morning," Claudia confirmed. "You're talking to the official owner of the Sleepy Hollow Inn."

"Congratulations. Looks like Project Whitebridge is a go."

"Don't congratulate me yet. We still have our work cut out for us," she said. "I have to make sure Bruno's on board, and we both know how stubbornly loyal he's been to Giselle in the past. Still, even he has his tipping point. He can only give her so many chances."

"This will be the final straw. The X-Limit is the Highwind's shot at redemption, but with a little assistance on my end, this grand opening of theirs is going to be the most expensive flop in Highwind history."

"I love the sound of that," Claudia said, a tingling feeling of exhilaration coursing through her body. Without her co-conspirator's inside track at the Highwind, Claudia wasn't sure she could have pulled off such a power play. But her companion had been invaluable to her with his knowledge and encouragement. Not to mention satisfying her in other ways...

"You're going to own St. Laurent. You already have the magazine, the money, and me," her partner in crime said. "And with the Whitebridge, you'll beat Giselle at her own game."

It was everything the deliriously jealous Claudia could ask for. To not only take everything from Giselle, but to become an even more powerful and influential version of her rival while stealing her position in St. Laurent. "Giselle's going to be begging for a job on my cleaning staff when we're finished with her," she said, laughing throatily at the thought. "But enough talk of that woman, at least for now. I need to see you. It's been too long."

"I'll be there as soon as I can," he said eagerly.

"You know how impatient I can be," she purred. "Make it quick, Paul, or I can't promise I'll be nice with you."

"Who said I want you to be nice?" he teased, ending the call.

Claudia was equal parts annoyed and turned on by his quick dismissal her. Paul Schultz could give as good as he got, that was for sure. In the end, her arousal won out and she raced home to ready herself for his arrival.

 

The Highwind - Jono's Suite

Remy knocked loudly at the door to Jonothan Albion's luxury suite and kept it coming until his friend opened the door.

"What's your problem?" Jono asked, irritated by Remy's impatience.

"Did you fuck her?" Remy asked, shoving the tabloid into his chest.

Jono's eyes widened. "Watch the language!" he chided, gesturing into his hotel suite.

Remy's eyes passed Jono's shoulder into the room, where three different cameramen were aiming their equipment into his face. A woman approached him and reached for Remy's jeans. "Hang on one second. I want to make sure we get this." She was attaching a microphone pack to his hip. "Can you go out of the room, then come back in and start yelling at him again?" she instructed a baffled Remy.

"What the hell is going on here?" Remy asked, stepping into the room. The cameras swiveled to follow his path. "Will you stop that!" he barked.

"This is my production crew," Jono said proudly, waving an arm in their direction. He introduced the cameramen to Remy. "And this is my beautiful and talented producer, Sloane," he said of the microphone woman.

"Producer of what?"

"My reality documentary series. An inside look at my life and my career. The Jonothan Albion Show!"

Remy couldn't stifle his mocking laughter. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

"It's just a working title," Sloane said, embarrassed. "I told you we needed something more original!" she hissed at Jono.

"The title is the least of your worries," Remy said, wiping away his tears of laughter. "A reality show? Are you serious?"

Jono narrowed his eyes. "Of course I'm serious. Who wouldn't want to watch me?"

"Are you guys getting this?" Remy asked the cameramen. "I can't think of anything more 'Jono' than a reality show."

"You don't think people would tune in for a 'Behind the Slopes' look at the one of the hottest professional athletes of our time and the media firestorm that follows him from country to country?" Sloane asked in a practiced tone.

Remy looked between the two of them with disbelief. "Which one of you came up with that pitch?"

Sloane beamed, but Jono's expression was dark, seeing through Remy's ridicule. "We've got a lot of work to do here. What exactly did you want again?" he asked.

Remy had to be reminded of the reason he'd come to see Jono in the first place -- to get to the bottom of this Astrid mess. "I think maybe we should have this discussion in private."

Jono waved it off. "My life is an open book -- at least it will be now, once this show kicks off." He glanced down at the tabloid Remy had given him. "What's this? They're claiming I slept with her?"

"Are you saying you didn't?" Remy asked hopefully.

"Of course not," Jono said. "Why? Are you jealous she went home with me and not you?"

"Hardly. But if you didn't sleep with her, why did she come back to your room with you?"

Jono sighed and paced the room for dramatic effect, the cameras following his every move. Remy could tell he was going to be even more insufferable than usual if he kept up this reality show business until the exhibition was over.

"She wanted to sleep with me, obviously. But she's eighteen and she was drunk. Give me a little credit. I told her to come back to the Highwind with me so I could let her down easy and walk her back to her own suite to sleep it off. I figured it was better to get her back under the Highwind's roof than to have her wandering the streets on her own."

Remy was skeptical. "So that's all that happened? You just took her back to her hotel room here?"

"Not quite," he answered. "She wasn't too happy when I rejected her, so the plan didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped. We came back here, I told her no, and she went mad. I couldn't let her claw me to pieces or give me a black eye, especially if I'm going to be filming," he said, "so I locked her out of my room."

"We got some great footage out of it," Sloane said. "She must've stood outside his door crying, kicking, and screaming for at least an hour."

"Her sister came and got her eventually," Jono defended. "Look, I wasn't trying to be a jerk to her or anything, but she wouldn't take no for an answer."

"I don't think she knows the meaning of the word," Remy agreed. "But thank God you didn't do anything with her. Her mother's already pissed enough as it is."

"Her mother can get stuffed. I was only trying to help," he said. "Do you want me to talk to her?"

"No!" Remy said immediately. "For God's sake, no." He rubbed his temples. "Just try to stay out of trouble and out of the papers until the exhibition is over, will you?"

"Whatever you say," he said with a salute.

"Are you two done here?" Sloane asked Remy. "I need that mic pack back. And if you'd just sign this release form so we can use your image..."

"It's all yours." Remy tossed the mic pack at her, all too ready to escape Jono's newest media circus.

 

The Guthrie Home

The awkwardness of their earlier confrontation was soon forgotten as Kerri and Martine caught up on each others' lives. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, I've been on edge lately with Josie and Tyson," she admitted.

"What's wrong now?" Kerri asked, concerned. "Things seemed to be going so great with all of you?"

"Ha!" Martine snorted. "Isn't that always when things turn sour? I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop for months now. I knew it couldn't last."

"What happened?"

Martine didn't know where to begin. Actually, she knew exactly when it had all changed. "I ran into someone at the Wonder Magazine party. My ex, Travis Caudill. Josie's father."

Kerri's eyes widened. She didn't know much about Josie's father, save for the fact that it was one of the touchiest subjects of discussion with Martine. "Why was he there? Did you speak to him?"

"I saw him across the room. At first, I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it, I suppose, but a part of me knew it was him the second I laid eyes on him." She nearly shuddered just remembering that moment. "I was with Tyson and the last thing I wanted to do was go talk to Travis, but I had to know if it was really him. I found him outside and he had the nerve to say hello and chat me up like I was an old friend!"

"I'm guessing you two aren't close," Kerri said. "But why was he there? Was he looking for you or Josie?"

"It was a coincidence, I guess. Unless he's lying, which would hardly surprise me. He's a photographer, and he claims he's doing a campaign for the magazine."

"Can't you just avoid him? He won't be around for long, right?"

"I hope to God he's already gone before he can cause any more damage. I would love nothing more than to forget he even exists, but for some reason, right after I met up with him that night, Josie started digging around in our old family photos and asking questions about her father. Something's up with her. I think she knows he's in town, and I'm terrified of what might happen if they get together ... assuming they haven't already."

"Would it really be so bad if he wanted to see her? Maybe he's come back to make amends with you both?"

"I don't care! Too little, too late, as far as I'm concerned. I'll never forgive him, and I'll never let him hurt Josie if I can help it."

Martine stewed in her seat. Everyone was making her feel like she was the bad guy for wanting to protect her family. Travis Caudill was a disgrace, and even if he had changed for the better, she wanted nothing to do with him.

"I think you should talk to Josie. At least tell her what she's getting into," Kerri advised. "I don't know what happened with you and Travis, but she should know the truth before she makes up her mind about pursuing him."

"I don't want to talk about it with her. Not about this," she said, frustrated to the verge of tears. "It's painful and embarrassing and stupid. A stupid mistake I never should have made. I loved him, Kerri."

"Martine," she sighed as her friend broke down.

"Isn't that bad enough?" she said. Travis was her first love, but that memory, that feeling of falling for someone for the first time, would be forever tainted by what had happened between them. "That's why I can't face him, even now. He's one of the few people I've ever truly cared about."

"What did he do to you?"

"He left me when I needed him the most," she said, feeling foolish for crying over him after all this time. She brushed away her tears. "But he never cared about me or about anyone other than himself." Her temper flared once more. "And then he left me. For a man," she said, her words twisted with disgust.

Kerri's lips parted as her mouth dropped open, but she had nothing to respond with.

"I never asked him for child support. I never asked him for anything, because I was sickened by him. For wasting my time with him. I wanted to forget ever meeting him to begin with, but that was hard to do when I was carrying his child."

"I'm so sorry. I knew you raised Josie on your own, but I never knew..." Kerri whispered.

"I never wanted anyone to know. That I wasn't good enough for him? That my gay boyfriend ran off with another guy? I felt so stupid."

"That wasn't your fault, Martine. You didn't know any better," Kerri said sympathetically.

"Because he never told me," she snarled. "You'd think he might have mentioned it when we were having sex," she said, unable to keep the wry smile from her lips, despite her anger.

"Or maybe before the sex, perhaps?" Kerri reasoned.

Martine couldn't help but feel slightly better, getting things off her chest. "Do you think it's horrible of me to still hold such a grudge after all this time?" she asked earnestly.

"I understand why you're upset, obviously. What he did wasn't right."

"I don't see what he could possibly have to offer Josie? What does she think she needs from him that I can't give her?"

Kerri thought about it. "Answers, maybe? It sounds like she just wants to know. About who she is, and where she came from," Kerri decided. "Those are things you can give her. And if you're honest with her, maybe she won't need to go to Travis at all."

Maybe Kerri was right and that was all Josie was searching for. But knowing her daughter, Martine somehow doubted it would be that simple.

 

The Highwind

At Giselle's request, Elena Halstrom tracked down Paul Schultz just as the man was walking out the door of the Highwind. Luckily, she caught him in time to beckon him to Giselle's office for an impromptu strategy session.

"So tell us, how bad do you think it is?" Giselle Ormand asked, laying out the tabloid story for the Highwind's PR Coordinator. Elena looked over his shoulder, reading the report of Jono and Astrid Shaw's alleged hookup.

"It's not the worst thing in the world," Paul said, surprising them both. "The timing couldn't be better actually ... stirring up a little controversy before the X-Limit opening this weekend. It's not like a crime was committed. This is just cheap gossip."

"That's what I said!" Elena shot Giselle a look.

Giselle wasn't so sure. "But it could be damaging to Jonothan, and he's our main draw."

"I doubt his fans will be put off by this sort of thing. Judging from his reputation, Astrid is hardly the first questionable hookup on his roster," Paul said.

"Nobody cares about Astrid Shaw. She's not even a local celebrity. Claudia can barely even get press of her own, and she's a certified Guinness Book freak. They're a family of wannabes, trying to stir up trouble." Elena was certain the whole thing would blow over. As irritating and full of himself as Jono could be, she hadn't seen any indication that he was interested in either of the twins. She didn't believe the story, which wasn't so much a story than a couple of harmless photographs. "By next week, no one will even remember Astrid's name."

"I know that," Giselle said. "And normally, I wouldn't care what Jonothan does on his own time, but Claudia, unfortunately, is an investor in this resort. I can't have him upsetting my tenuous working relationship with her."

"Don't let Claudia rattle your cage. Everyone knows she's all talk," Elena said.

Paul nodded. "She wouldn't walk away from the Highwind over this. Not with the X-Limit's opening only days away. She'd be a fool to cut her ties at this point."

"I hope she recognizes that," Giselle said.

"Apologize to Claudia as best you can, and move forward. The X-Limit launch should be our only focus now. This event is far more important than all the infighting that's been going on around here. All of you need to pull it together and make this a success," Paul advised.

"You're right. Of course, you're right," Elena said.

"This event will be a success," Giselle said. "And if our projections for the X-Limit are correct, busting our humps to remain in Claudia's good graces will no longer be a necessity for the Highwind."

Paul left the office a moment later, running late for his rendezvous with Claudia after being sidetracked by Elena and Giselle. But it had been worth his while to listen to Giselle's gloating. He had Giselle right where he wanted her, resting all her chips on the launch of the X-Limit.

She thought she had everything worked out, but there was one fatal flaw in Giselle's restructuring of the Highwind. She thought she could trust Paul. And that, ultimately, would be a grave mistake on her part.