Previously...

Brooke called Ethan the morning after Nathan attempted to rape her, but she wouldn't tell him what had happened.  James continued his affair with Leigh Purcell in Rio de Janeiro, then later felt guilty and worried about his troubled marriage to Brooke.  Congressman Seth Walker phoned Leigh in Rio and the two shared a brief, yet cryptic conversation.  Alex and Renee left Rio and confronted Jordan about playing them both, where they wound up in a fight in the marina.  Miranda informed Brett that he would have no rights when it came to their child.  Heather gave in to temptation and slept with Brett. But when Stormy showed up at her door and Brett instigated a fight, she told them both to leave her alone.  Miranda blasted Heather for betraying her trust.  She later told David that she was carrying Brett's baby.  Alex overheard Jordan and Renee talking about a secret having to do with Sierra.  James returned home and Brooke told him that Nathan tried to attack her.

Episode 62

"The Legacy"

James looked at Nathan, studying his eyes and his body language and realizing that he wasn’t looking at a man who would rape a defenseless woman.  Alex and the tabloids had been wrong all those years ago.  Debralee Scott admitted it to the entire world.  His uncle was not the monster they portrayed him as.  He turned to the bathroom where Brooke had locked herself in, wondering what was going on inside his wife’s head.  The next second he motioned to the hall and led Nathan outside the bedroom.

“Look, Nathan,“ James began awkwardly.  “I’m not sure what happened while I was in Rio, but-“

“What is it, James?” Nathan asked and sipped his cocktail.  “Brooke seemed positively jumpy just now.   Is she okay?  Is it Michael?”

James shook his head.  “No, it’s…”  He paused again, unable to keep from stammering over his words. “What happened while I was gone?  Did Brooke seem okay to you?”

“Well, Michael wasn’t feeling well so she stayed up in the nursery quite a bit.  But we had dinner together last night and she seemed in good spirits.”  He paused for optimum theatrical affect and then decided to throw in something for his own benefit.  “Come to think of it, that was right after Ethan left.  They spent some time together in the family room and she seemed very upbeat after that.”

James’s eyes narrowed on him curiously.  There was a time when Brooke and Ethan spending time alone together would concern him, but not now.  That was all in the past. Wasn’t it?

“Brooke claims that you attacked her last night.  She says you tried to rape her.”

As usual, Nathan tried playing the situation like a stage direction in a script.  “Oh my God,” he whispered.  “James, are you serious?  I’m speechless.”

“That was my reaction.”

Nathan placed a hand dramatically on his chest.  “I think the world of Brooke.  You must know that, James.  I would never do anything to hurt her.  She must be listening to the lies Alex has been spreading about me.”

James ran his fingers through his hair and glanced back at the bedroom.   He’d seen the look in Brooke’s eyes.  She believed what she was saying.  She believed that Nathan attacked her.

“That’s got to be it,” Nathan continued with a bewildered expression.  “She’s been listening to that drama queen ex-wife of yours.  Alex can be very convincing when she wants to be.  Remember how she pulled off the role of Miranda in The Tempest?”

Brooke wasn’t a liar, James though to himself.  She was level-headed and intelligent and didn’t have a spiteful bone in her body.  So why would she say something so scathing about Nathan?   Maybe she was overly tired and imagined it.  Maybe she caught whatever Michael had and was delirious and hallucinating.

“You believe that I’m innocent, don’t you, James?” Nathan interrupted his thinking.

James turned to his uncle and patted him on the shoulder.  “I’ll talk to her.  I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Nathan smiled and watched him go back into the bedroom.  Satisfied that he’d removed suspicion from himself, he took a hearty drink of his cocktail and laughed wickedly to himself.

Brooke grudgingly opened the bathroom door after James knocked a few times.  She fell into his arms and squeezed with all her might. 

“James, I’m so glad you’re back,” she sighed.  “I was so scared.  I told you that something bad was going to happen.  I knew it.  Nathan, he-“

“Tell me what happened, Brooke.”

She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.  “He kept popping up everywhere I went the whole time you were gone.  He scared me, James.  We had dinner last night and things got out of hand.”

“You had dinner with Nathan last night?” James asked and led her to the bed where he sat down next to her.  ”But if you felt threatened by him why would you have dinner with him?“

“He surprised me,” Brooke said with a tear in her eye.  “I came down from the nursery and he said he wanted to have dinner together.  He’d set the table.  There were candles and wine and-“

“What happened then?”

“We started eating.  He kept talking about you and Alex together in Rio.  I got upset and I said I was going to bed.  But he grabbed me and he chased me up here to the bedroom.  He pinned me down and he kissed me and….I don’t remember exactly what happened then.  All I know is I got away and hid in the bathroom.”

James wiped his face with his hand.  “Nathan says that Ethan was here.”

Brooke nodded and shrugged indifferently.  “Yes, but that was before.  We were in the family room and-“  She paused, suddenly realizing that they hadn’t been alone.  “Wait a minute.  Nathan was supposedly out when Ethan was here.  If Nathan saw us then he must have been spying.  Don’t you see, James?  He was watching me the entire time you were gone!  He’s obsessed!”

“Wait, slow down,” James said and stood up from the bed.  He began pacing the room, hoping it would help to clear his head and get a firm grasp on the situation.  “The entire time Nathan’s been here he’s been nothing but a perfect gentleman.  You said yourself how kind he was.  Now all the sudden he’s turned into an obsessive maniac?  Brooke, this doesn’t add up.”

She frowned and stood up.  “Doesn’t add up?” she asked, bewildered.  “Of course it adds up.  He raped Alex twenty years ago.  He went on trial for raping Debralee Scott.  He-“

“Alex recanted her testimony,” James reminded her.  “She admitted that she lied on the witness stand.  She spent a month in jail for perjury.  Would she have gone through that if Nathan really had raped her?”

“He threatened her,” Brooke exclaimed and followed him around the room.  “She feared for her life.  James, you were married to her.   Didn’t you notice anything different about her back then?  Weren’t there any signs that she was going through something?”

“Alex is an actress,” he insisted.  “Being dramatic is what she does best."

“What about Debralee Scott?” Brooke continued.  “What about her?  She testified on the stand that she and Nathan slept together  She killed herself in a bedroom down the hall because of what he did to her!!”

“It was consensual,” James added.  “She said so herself.  She said so again weeks ago before Nathan came back.  And she killed herself because she wasn't happy.  That's all.   Brooke, he just isn’t the monster that people make him out to be.”

Brooke couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  Her own husband was standing there defending the man who attacked her.  He was taking his word over his own wife’s.

“What did he say to you?” she asked.  “What did he say to make you believe him?”

James ran his fingers through his hair and sighed heavily.  “It doesn’t matter,” he said and turned to her.  “Brooke, I understand that you had a difficult few days.  Are you sure that you didn’t imagine all of this?“

“Don’t you dare tell me that I imagined what Nathan did to me!” she shrieked angrily.  She couldn’t remember the last time she felt so hurt and betrayed by anyone.  Holding her head in her hands, she struggled to control her emotions.   “I don’t believe this.  I don’t believe that you’re taking his word over mine.”

“That’s not what I’m doing at all,” James said and took her by the shoulders.  “I just don’t want to go accusing Nathan of something unless you’re absolutely sure.”

“What did he say to you?” she asked again.  “Tell me!  I have a right to know, James!”

“He said that you had dinner together and that everything was fine,” James replied hastily.  “He said that he never attacked you and that he doesn’t know why you’d say something like that.”

“Because it’s the truth!”

James sighed and reached out to her again.  “Brooke, I’m sure that it all seemed very real to you.  Maybe you misunderstood what happened.  Nathan is from a different era.  In his day, Hollywood was a very different place.  Things were freer and more uninhibited.  He doesn’t mean anything by it.”

She glared heatedly at him.  “He pinned me down on our bed, James!” she shouted, pointing down to the bed.  “He wouldn’t let me go.  I had to fight to get him off of me!”

“Brooke,“ James began with a certain amount of difficulty.  “Please calm down so we can discuss this rationally.  Let’s go downstairs and talk to Nathan.  I’m sure if the three of us talked it out we could solve everything.“

“I’m not going anywhere near that man!” Brooke screamed.  “I don’t even want him in this house!  I don’t want him near me or our baby!  He’s got to leave!”

James threw his hands up in resignation.  “I can’t ask him to leave,” he said.

“You can’t?  Or you won’t?”

The answer was clear to James.  As much as she hated to doubt her, he was positive that she was wrong about Nathan.   “I won’t,” he said softly.

Brooke’s eyes stung with tears.  James was like a different person to her now.  Having him look at her like she was crazy or a liar was the most hurtful thing she’d ever felt in her life. 

She raced from the room and into the nursery.  She didn’t want to be anywhere near her husband.  She’d never felt so alone and betrayed by anyone.

The next morning, Jordan went to Renee’s office at Blackthorne-Reynolds and surprised her with a picnic basket filled with fresh croissants, succulent fruit, and fresh orange and papaya juice.

“How exquisite,” she said and threw her arms around him.  She was pristinely dressed in a pink Chanel suit.  Her hair, now newly coiffed into an elegant, modern afro, had seemingly recovered from the spill into the marina the day before.  “Is there any wonder why I don’t love you?  Always so thoughtful.”

“I have a lot to make up for,” Jordan replied with a grin and began unpacking their picnic breakfast.

“You mean for sleeping with Alex?” Renee quipped.  She couldn’t resist throwing it in his face again.  She was still so humiliated by the prospect of Alex Reynolds getting a one up on her.

Jordan sighed and handed her a glass of papaya juice.  “I already told you that I made a mistake,” he said.  “What do you want me to do?  Apologize for the rest of my life?”

She smiled and sat down at the conference table.  “Yes.”

Before Jordan could reply, Alex walked into the office with a stack of files in her arms.  “Renee, these reports are strictly slap-shot work.  I think you need to rethink some of your budget proposals because-“  She stopped short, pretending to be surprised to see Jordan there.  “Oh, I’m sorry.  I didn’t know you were entertaining during work hours.”

Jordan rolled his eyes.  “Hello Alex.”

“There is nothing wrong with my proposals,” Renee spat.  “If you have a problem with them then I suggest you take it up with the foreman because I got those figures straight from him.”

“I’ll do that.”

Jordan stood up and started to the door.  “If you’ll both excuse me, I think I’ll go out into the reception area and make a phone call while the two of you finish hissing and scratching.”

When he left, Renee stood up and glared at Alex.  “What do you think you’re doing, Alex?” she asked.  “You knew Jordan was here.  Your office is right next door.  Those reports could have waited.”

“I’m sorry, I guess I should rearrange our work load to suit your social life,” Alex replied bitterly.  She looked down at the picnic basket and managed a fake smile.  “How lovely.  Is this a celebration?  Or does this go on every morning?”

Renee folded her arms and stepped forward.  “I’m on to you, Alex.  You’re trying to come between Jordan and I.”

“Wrong, as usual.”

“You can’t stand the fact that he chose me over you so you’re being childish about it.  It’s so obvious.  Then again, I don’t think I’ve met an actress yet who wasn’t transparent.  But get this through your head:  Jordan is with me now.  You divorced him.  Now why don’t you step back and accept defeat like a gracious loser?”

Seething, Alex turned and stormed out of the office.  She went into her office next door and began pacing the room furiously, stopping only to throw a crystal cigarette lighter across the room.

Sierra sat on the terrace overlooking the tennis courts at Hotel Terranova, sipping lemonade and wiping a bead of sweat from her brow as she recovered from a grueling lesson with the pro. 

“Nice job today,” he said.  “Same time tomorrow?”

“We’ll see,” she said with a wink before he walked off to the courts.  She sighed, put her feet up on the chair beside her, dabbing a cool towel on her face and fanning herself from the exhaustive heat. 

She turned and saw Nathan Blackthorne talking to a few men who looked like movie stars.  She wanted to go up and talk to him but she held back, realizing that she would probably look like a star struck little girl to his peers.  Remaining at her table, she casually sipped her lemonade and glanced over to him only when she thought he wasn’t looking.

Before she knew it, he was coming up on her and hovering above her table.  She felt his shadow loom overhead and she looked up with surprise. 

“Oh hello,” she said, pretending to be caught off guard.   She knew she was no actress, but she was fairly confident in her abilities to play coy.   “I didn’t see you.”

“I saw you,” Nathan said with a grin, then gestured to the chair across from her.  “May I?”

She nodded and sat forward. 

“I was here meeting some co-stars of my new film,” Nathan explained and motioned for the waitress to bring his usual.  “We start filming tomorrow on Donnie & Johnny.”

“How exciting,” Sierra gushed.  “I’m sure you’ll be very busy for a while.  You'll be accepting another Filmmaker award in no timer.”

Nathan laughed and ogled her long slender legs.  He thought she saw the direction his eyes traveled, and quickly recovered by picking a penny up off the ground and handing it to her.  “For luck,” he said with a wink.  “You know, I have some pull with the producer.  Maybe you’d like to come to the set sometime and watch a few scenes being filmed.”

Sierra’s eyes lit up instantly.  “I’d love to!” she exclaimed, then quickly regained her composure.  It wouldn’t do for him to think of her as a schoolgirl with a fan website or something lame like that.  She was a woman, and much more mature than a lot of star struck girls in Hollywood.

“You’re not wearing the earrings I gave you,” he said.

“I was playing tennis.  I don’t wear diamond earrings when I play tennis.”

“And why not?” he asked.  “You seem like a young woman who does what she wants.  Why not break the rules?”

“Is that what you do?” she asked.  “Break the rules?”

“Whenever I can,” he said and winked.

Sierra smiled fondly and brought her glass to her lips.  She was entranced by Nathan Blackthorne.  He was so distinguished and worldly.  The best part was that he was actually paying attention to her.  After years of living in stuffy boarding schools in Europe