Unspoken

Chapter 28

November 17, 1992

"I thought I might find you out here," Marlena said softly. "Dinner's ready."

"I was just heading that way. I wanted to make sure that Eric and Sami finished putting away the brushes, and hung the bridles." He rubbed his hands over his face, and leaned against one of the gates. Taking a deep breath, he said. "It's been a month since Isabella died, and it feels like a lifetime."

Marlena came closer. "A lot has happened. It's not surprising."

"I had a dream about her last night." His blue eyes held hers, and then he held his hand out. Marlena took it, and allowed him to draw her closer. He said, "We were back in Mexico. I was on the beach, but she–she acknowledged that I loved you, and she told me to go find you. I've been thinking about it all day. About how differently our lives might have turned out if one or the other of us had made a different choice."

"You can think about it, but I wouldn't get stuck on it. We are where we are right now because our choices have led us here." She stared up at him, and then rested her palm against his chest. She heard Peony knicker a few stalls down. "I think what we need to figure out is where we go from here. I need to reach out to Tom Horton, and tell him I've decided to end my practice in Salem. I'll need to see if there are doctors there that might take my patients, and determine who would be a good fit. Then I have to consider what I have at the house that needs to be packed... and file for divorce. It all starts to feel very overwhelming when I lay it out like that."

"We can go together," he said. "Have you spoken to Carrie?"

"Briefly, but she was clear that wherever we are, she'll follow. Part of me feels like we'd be taking her away from her family, but I can't bear to think of her so far away. Am I being selfish?" she asked.

"Doc, she can visit Salem. The kids can visit if they want... Caroline and Shawn can come here too. This isn't a one way ticket with no return." He smiled at her, cupping her face with his rough hands. "But at least for now, this is the right choice. The children are thriving here."

"They are," she said softly. "I just never thought I'd end up back here, you know? I was in such a hurry to get away when I was a teen. So was Sam. She ran to LA to become a movie star, and I ended up a psychiatrist. We used to complain to each other when we were kids about how frustrating it was to live on this ranch, so far from everything, and yet... here I am, back on this land, and so damned appreciative of the slow pace, and the quiet sense of relief that I get from it." She laughed, and then looked around the barn. Pointing towards the hay loft, she said, "I used to hide up there, and read books. As a matter of fact my dad caught me up there kissing one of the summer hires when I was in high school."

"Marlena Evans!" John exclaimed in mock surprise. "How scandalous!"

"I don't know about scandalous, but I can tell you this... he didn't kiss as well as you do. He didn't make my belly flutter or my toes curl."

"I make your toes curl?" he asked softly.

She pressed herself against him, whispering, "Among other things."

John wrapped his arms around her hips loosely, and buried his face in her hair, breathing her in. Quietly, he said, "So, we'll go back to Salem, wrap up our business there, and come back here?"

"Yes," she said softly. "And we'll build that house my dad has told everyone about, and you'll learn to run a ranch, because my dad always wanted a son to run this ranch."

"Hey! I'm actually pretty good at it," he said.

"I noticed, and my father sings your praises every chance he gets. Mom loves you, and she's thriving with the children around. When I was younger they were different. My dad was emotionally distant, and my mom had such high expectations. Samantha was suffocating, and I was trying to be amazing at everything just to get my mother's approval... they're different now, and maybe I missed that all these years, but Sam's death changed them." She sighed softly, and then reached up to touch John's face gently. "Death can do that I guess."