Previously...

James asked Gwen if she would stay on as baby Michael's nurse.  Gwen continued to hide the fact that she had been in prison in Paraguay.  Jordan convinced Alex not to tell James that Will knew he was Ethan's father.  James continued his search for Philip, even though Brooke insisted that he drop it. Miranda grew jealous when james put her off to be with Michael.  Brett told Gwen that he wanted her to have an abortion, and she reacted violently.  Later, she began bleeding and was rushed to the hospital where she miscarried.  James bought out Marilee's interest in Alex's company, then announced that he was dividing control of Sunset Studios between Brett and Stormy.  

Episode 32

"Hollywood Kids"

Hotel Terranova was crowded with guests rushing about the lobby, checking in and out and scrambling to make their tennis lessons or tee times on the golf course.   The Mediterranean décor of the lobby boasted expensive tiles and artwork flown in from places as far off as Marrakech and Sri Lanka.  Nothing but the best for the newly remodeled hotel, Miranda Armstrong thought as she strode across the terracotta floor in her Manolo Blahnik heels.   She paused and took a satisfied look around the glamorous hotel that she’d single-handedly brought back from near bankruptcy.   Quite an accomplishment if she did say so herself.

Veering off into the restaurant, she spotted her cousin Ethan sitting in the bar with Janet Harper, a face she recognized from when they had located Brooke down in Phoenix a few weeks ago.  Unable to resist the temptation of a confrontation, she sauntered over and stood by with her arms folded.

“Hello Ethan,” she said, then looked at Janet.  “Miss Harper, isn’t it?  I believe we’ve met.”

Ethan looked up with a startled expression on his face.  He knew that his frequent visits to Janet at Hotel Terranova would eventually work against him.  Running into Miranda was bound to happen since she ran the place.  “Hi Miranda,” he said.  “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” she replied, then gave Janet an intense glare.  “I see you’ve been keeping yourself busy while you’re not working for my father’s nemesis, Will Thomerson.”

He nodded.  “Yeah, I have.”  He wasn’t about to play her games.  “How is Uncle James?”

“He’s fine.”

“And Brooke?” Ethan asked, swallowing hard and fighting back the bitter feelings of resentment.  “Is she happy to be back?”

Miranda saw right through his charade.  “Brooke is fine.  My father is fine.  And their baby is fine.  They’re one big happy family.  I guess you didn’t have as much of an impact on her as you thought.  She seemed to have gotten over you pretty quickly.”

“Look, I know James is angry with me but that doesn’t mean you have to be,” Ethan said and stood up from the stool.  “We’ve always been friends, Miranda.”

“Yeah well the last mistake you made as my friend was sleeping with my father’s wife,” she shot back angrily.

Ethan laughed at her remark.  “You’ve never liked Brooke.  I would think you’d be happy for anything that came along to keep her from your father.”

“Well I don’t want him to be miserable if that’s what you think,” Miranda said.  “You were like a son to him, Ethan, and you stabbed him in the back.  Forgive me if I’m not grateful for that.”

Janet quickly went to Ethan’s defense.  “I think Ethan was just saying that he-“

“I didn't ask for your input,” Miranda quickly cut her off, again directing her penetrating stare toward her.  “I don’t know who you are, lady, and why you keep popping up around my family, but I’d watch out if I were you.  You don’t want to mess with the Blackthornes.”

With that, she turned and darted off toward her office just off of the lobby.  Ethan sat back down and patted Janet lightly on the hand.  “I’m sorry about that,” he said.  “I’m still pretty much an outsider with my family these days.”

Janet eagerly perked up and crossed her legs as she leaned closer.  “What exactly did transpire between you and James’s wife?” she asked.   “I don’t believe it’s just a simple case of you stabbing him in the back.  You’re much too nice a guy for that.”

“It’s a long story,” Ethan said with a sigh and finished his drink.

Janet licked her lips.  Finally they were getting somewhere.  Ethan Blackthorne was one member of the family she didn’t have much written about for her manuscript.  Even the few evenings they’d spent together hadn’t proved beneficial.  He was surprisingly tight-lipped about his past.  But she was almost there and she wasn’t about to stop until she had the whole story about the Blackthorne family.

“Well why don’t we go up to my room and you can tell me all about it,” she said with a vixenish pout and took his hand in hers. 

Stormy walked out of his office at Sunset Studios and barreled across the hall, marching directly into Brett’s office and slamming the door closed.

“Where are those financial reports?” Stormy demanded, the veins in his forehead throbbing.  “I wasn't finished with them and you took them.”

Brett glanced up and shrugged indifferently.  “Which financial reports are you talking about?” he asked.  He wasn’t about to be bullied by Stormy.  He’d run Sunset Studios for the past six months and he’d be damned if he’d let him come in and tell him how to do things now.

“You know damn well what I’m talking about.  I was working on the budget for Blood & Oil.  I need those reports so I can finish by the start of pre-production.”

Brett stood up and adjusted his suit jacket.  “Let’s get one thing straight, Stormy,” he said and walked around the desk.  “Blood & Oil is my project.  I’ll decide the budget and I’ll decide when pre-production starts.  Not you.”

Shaking his head in frustration, Stormy ran his fingers through his hair and tried to maintain his cool.  “You’re unbelievable,” he began.  “You may have been in charge before but now I’m here and I’m going to make some changes.  That means you don’t do a damn thing until I give the approval.”

“Your father put us both in charge,” Brett exclaimed, glaring wildly at him.  “You don’t call the shots around here.  We have equal say, and if we both don’t agree on something then you don’t get to make the final call.”

“Then let me see the financial reports.  I’ll look over the budget and if I agree then you can start pre-production.  But not until then.”

Angry that he’d managed to make him feel so powerless, Brett grabbed the reports from his desk and thrust them at him.   “Fine.  But what’s next?  I suppose you’re going to take credit for the re-editing of Angel Assassin at the premier tomorrow night.”

Stormy shook his head.  “No.  I know you’ve been working on that for the past few months.  I’ll give you this one.”

He took the papers and gave Brett a final look of warning before turning and exiting the office.  After he’d left, Brett slammed his fists onto the desk and cursed his meddling brother-in-law.  He hated the idea that he was there.  James had entrusted him with his studio all that time, and now he had to share it all with Stormy.  It was enough to make him want to kill. 

When Miranda got home that evening she found James and Brooke in the family room with the baby, oohing and aahing over how cute he was and shaking rattles and squeaky toys in his face.   She rolled her eyes and attempted to sneak off before they saw her but she had no such luck.

“Miranda, Darling, how was work today?” James called from inside the room.

She sighed and walked in with a smile plastered on her face.  “It was great, Daddy,” she replied unenthusiastically.  “How’s everything here?"

“It’s wonderful,” Brooke chimed in.  “Michael smiled for the first time today.”

“It was the spitting image of your brother’s smile,” James said, staring down in adoration at Michael.  “I remember it so vividly.”

Miranda wrapped her arms around herself and stepped forward.  “That’s great,” she said.  “What about me, Daddy?  Do you think Michael looks like me at all?”

James hesitated for a bit too long and then shook his head in reply.  “I don’t think so, Sweetheart.  He’s definitely got Brooke’s eyes and nose, and me and Stormy's mouth.  He's a Blackthorne through and through."

“Oh I see,” Miranda said, gnashing her teeth together.   She knew it was ridiculous but she felt unimportant ever since the baby came home.  Everyone had something they were doing for the family but her.  All she had was the hotel.  “Daddy, I still want you to come up to the hotel and see the progress on the new rooms.  I really think you’ll be pleased.”

James nodded after more hesitation.  “Okay Darling, I will,” he said.  “I’ll be out that way tomorrow for a meeting.  How about if I stop in and take a look?  Then you and I can have lunch together.”

Suddenly Miranda’s world didn’t seem so dark.  “That’s great,” she said with a bright smile.  “I’ll have the chef make something extra special for us.”

James beamed with approval and turned his attention back to Brooke and the baby. 

Miranda turned and started down the hallway, walking past Gwen as she made her way into the family room.  “Mr. And Mrs. Blackthorne, I can take Michael upstairs for his bath if you’d like.”

Brooke nodded in reply.  “That’d be fine, Gwen.  Thank you.  I’ll be up in just a little while to put him to bed.”

“Oh I can do that,” Gwen said and took the baby from her.  She smiled sweetly at Michael, cradling him gently in her arms.  “You and Mr. Blackthorne should spend some time alone.  Lord knows you've both been through a lot lately.”

“Well I would like to see him before he goes to sleep,” Brooke said, determined.  “I’ll be up in a while.”

Gwen’s expression turned stark and she nodded obediently.  “Yes, Mrs. Blackthorne,” she said and left the room with Michael. 

After she’d gone, Brooke followed James across the room where he poured them each a tumbler of brandy.  “Do you think Gwen’s okay?" she asked, her voice filled with concern for the young nurse.

“Why do you ask?”

Brooke shrugged and took the drink from him.  “Ever since Stormy took her to the hospital the other day she’s been different,” she said.  “Has she told you anything about what happened?  Why she got sick and had to go off in an ambulance?”

James sighed and shook his head reluctantly.  “No, but Stormy told me."  He paused and took a deep breath.  "She had a miscarriage.”

Alarmed, Brooke threw her hands up to her mouth and gasped in shock.  “How awful,” she said.  “That poor girl.  I didn’t even know she was pregnant.”

James led her to the sofa and sat down beside her.  “Apparently she didn’t want to make it an issue,” he explained.

“Well who was the father?”

“I don’t know.  She didn’t tell Stormy.  My guess is that it wasn’t someone she planned on having a baby with.”

Upstairs, Gwen stood above Michael in his crib and gazed down at him with longing eyes.  She felt a tear roll down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away.  It was no time for sorrow, she thought to herself.  She’d lost her baby but she’d been given the blessing to care for Michael.  He was just as beautiful as she’d imagined her own baby being. 

“Gwen,” a voice said from behind and she quickly spun around, placing her hand on her heaving chest.  To her disgust, Brett was standing there in the shadows, watching her closely as if studying her carefully.

“What are you doing here?” she asked and turned toward him.

“I just got home,” Brett said in as gentle a voice as he could manage.  “I’ve been wanting to talk to you for the last few days but it never seems like the right time.  How are you doing?”

“You mean since I lost the baby?” she asked bitterly, her eyes darting around the room and landing back on Michael.  “Our baby.”

“Yes, I was concerned.”

“I know how concerned you must have been,” Gwen spat sarcastically.  “This entire house has been whispering being my back since it happened.  Gwen lost her baby.  Gwen’s all alone in the world.  Who was the father of poor Gwen’s baby?”  She quickly turned back to him and rushed across the room.  “How about if I tell them who the father of my baby was?  I bet you’d be real concerned then, wouldn’t you?”

Brett didn’t know what to say.  It wasn’t his fault that she had the miscarriage but somehow he felt that she blamed him.  “Gwen, I-“

She turned around and returned to a relatively calm state.  “You got what you wanted,” she said softly.  “Now please just leave me alone.”

But Brett had to put his mind at ease.  He had too much to lose.  “Are you going to tell them that I was the father of the baby you lost?” he asked in desperation.  

“I said leave me alone,” she hissed.

Deciding it was best to drop it for the time being, Brett quietly ducked out of the room and started down the hall.  Gwen lifted Michael into her arms and smoothed her hand down the back of his head.  She closed her eyes and slowly began singing him to sleep.

The next day, Heather made her way into the parlor room of Will Thomerson’s estate.  Ethan was there and she immediately grew tense, struggling to come up with an easy way to back away and avoid another confrontation.

“Heather, wait a minute,” Ethan said.  “There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”

She rolled her eyes and looked at him with irritation.  “What?  Do you want to attack me again and tell me what a horrible person I am?  Well save your breath.  People have done a lot worse to break into the business.  All I did was steal a few scripts.”

“Yeah, for James,” Ethan began.  “Do you have any idea how much he and Will hate each other?  If he found out you did anything to help Sunset Studios get the edge over him, he would go ballistic.”

“Well he won’t find out if you don’t tell him,” Heather said shortly and then turned around just as Will emerged from a hidden staircase in the wall. 

“Don’t tell me what?” Will asked with a smile.  He approached Heather and kissed her lightly on the cheek.  “You two weren’t talking about me, were you?”

“Maybe just a little bit,” Heather said playfully and tossed her long brown hair over her shoulder.  “So what was so important that you wanted me to come right over?”

Grinning from ear to ear, Will led her over to the sofa and sat her down.  “I have wonderful news,” he began.  “I’ve found a part in a film that I think you would be perfect for.”

Heather’s face lit up instantly.  “Really?" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him in elation.  “That’s fantastic!  What is it?”

“It’s a very juicy role, Princess,” he began.  “It’s exactly the kind of film you've been wanting to star in.  Now I’ve set up a screen test with a director.”  He casually reached into his jacket pocket and handed her a slip of paper with a man’s name and an address scribbled out on it. 

“Screen test?” Heather asked with a slight tilt of her head.

“It’s just a formality, dear,” Will said.  “The director just wants to get a feel for how you look on camera, that’s all.”

“Who’s the director, Will?” Ethan asked from across the room.  He thought it was strange that Will hadn’t mentioned this to him before. 

“He’s new,” was Will’s easy reply.  “And very talented.  Very hip with what’s hot right now and what the audiences want to see.  So Heather, can you make it over there later?  He said he'll be free tonight."

“Can I?” she exclaimed and shot up to her feet.  “I’m going to go home and pick out something to wear.  Oh God, I’m so excited!”

In a flash she was racing back out of the room.  Will smiled to himself and almost forgot that Ethan was there.  When he turned around, he saw the young man staring at him from a distance.  "Things seem to be getting serious with you two," Ethan said.  "That necklace you gave her, now a part in a movie.  Is it a Jaguar Studios production?"

Will shook his head dismissively.  "No," he replied and quickly changed the subject to something else.  "Shall we send out for lunch today?  There's a lot of work to do and I think we should buckle down."

"I have plans for lunch," he replied.  "With Janet Harper."

Will raised an eyebrow and followed Ethan across the room.  Every time he looked into his eyes he saw more and more of himself.  He wanted so desperately to tell him that he was his father.  He wanted to start making up for all the years they'd lost.  But first he'd have to deal with James.   Making him pay was going to have to come first.

"You're seeing Janet Harper again?" Will asked inquisically.  "It seems like you may be getting serious about this woman."

Shrugging, Ethan absently began gathering a stack of papers on the desk.  "I think that I'd like to see where it goes," he replied.  "She's a very exciting woman."

"But how serious can it get?  She lives in Denver.  She won’t be in L.A. forever.”

"I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Ethan said.  The truth was his relationship with Janet was a mere distraction for the time being.  True, she was vital and attractive and he respected her but he didn't see it lasting.  Relationships were out of the question until he really got over the pain over losing Brooke.

"Ethan, I've warned you about this woman," Will continued, unable to hide the paternal instinct to protect his son.  "Her reputation precedes her.  I'm surprised you'd want to get involved with her in the first place.  Are you even aware of the media circus she started with the Fallmonts back in Denver?" 

Unwilling to hear any more about his new interest in Janet, Ethan held up his hand and started to the doorway.  "I'm a big boy, Will.  I think I know how to handle myself with a reporter.  Besides, she's not interested in me for that reason.  We enjoy each other's company.  End of story."

But Will wasn't so convinced.  He rubbed his chin and wondered what Janet Harper was after. 

Miranda ambled her way through the kitchen at Hotel Terranova, peering over Chef Antón's shoulders and watching as he masterfully created an elaborate lunch for her and James. 

"Make sure you don't use any cilantro," she goaded.  "My father hates cilantro."

The chef threw his hands up in resignation.  "I know, I know.  Now leave me alone so I can work!"

Miranda offered a good-natured laugh and turned to exit the kitchen.  She was thrilled to finally spend some time alone with her father.  Since Brooke had returned, and in particular since the baby had been born, she felt like she was no longer important to her father.  Yes, some quality time was just what they needed.

In the meantime, James and Alex were standing in the office space they'd leased to act as headquarters for their new venture.  James looked around at the expansive suite of offices in downtown L.A. and nodded with approval.