"Candy? Candy…Clarke?" Matt repeated. Why did that name sound so familiar? Why did he feel he should recognize it, as though something very important was linked to it?
"Yes, Matt, Candy Clarke." Olivia said the name triumphantly. "She's just a scheming little liar who's wormed her way into your house and cheated all of us!"
"Sarah, is this true?" Matt's face was grim as he looked at Candy, though she noticed that he looked pale.
"Matt, honey, let's go home and talk about this," Melinda interposed quickly. "We shouldn't make a scene in front of Josh. C-Sarah, take Josh to the car."
Before Candy could move, Olivia grabbed at her arm. "Oh, no, you don't," she snapped. Josh began crying and Rich quickly took him from Candy.
"Matt -" Rich began, but Matt put up a hand to stop him.
"Sarah, tell me – is what Olivia saying true?" Matt's brilliant blue eyes were hard and cold as he looked at Candy, a fine sheen of sweat on his brow.
"Matt, I – I -" Candy felt her throat clog with tears as she saw the accusation in his eyes. She couldn't take any more, she thought despairingly. She had come this far in the hope and belief that one day Matt would fall in love with her, the real HER once again even if he did not remember her. But now that hope seemed farther away than ever. She turned to leave, her heart sinking.
"Come back here, you!" Olivia made a grab at her just as Candy started walking away. Her fingers caught the material at the neck of Candy's gown. Candy jerked away, trying to get free, but Olivia pulled her back roughly. The material tore, the ripping sound resounding through the now-silent ballroom.
"Oh!" Candy cried out, clutching her dress to her chest as the back gaped open.
"What – what the – Jesus!" Matt clutched at his head as an avalanche of thoughts, words, feelings, sensations, and images bombarded his mind in a frenetic kaleidoscope. Why did it feel as though the past few weeks had been leading up to this moment? The soaked blouse, that day by the poolside, the kisses, the way he felt when he kissed Sarah, when he touched her, and now, the scars on her back…the woman in his dreams whom he made love to had had scars just like hers…
Black and white images rushed through his mind, like the negatives of a film. "I'm ugly…see the real me…" "…these scars make you even more beautiful in my eyes…"
Suddenly, the last puzzle piece clicked into place.
"Candy!" he cried out, falling to his knees. "Candy!"
"Matt! Are you okay -" Olivia began.
"Matt, son!" Rich and Melinda rushed over to him.
Candy pushed her way through the little crowd surrounding Matt.
"Matt!" she cried, kneeling down before him. "Matt!"
Matt looked up at her, tears glistening in his beautiful eyes. "Candy," he said softly, his hand coming up to cup her face. "My darling…"
Candy's heart began thumping painfully in her chest. "Matt…? Do - do you…remember?" she whispered.
Matt smiled tremulously at her. "I remember everything, my love…I'm just sorry it took me so long…"
"Oh, Matt!" Tears trickled down Candy's cheeks. "Matt…"
"I don't believe it!" Olivia's strident tone made everyone jump. "You conniving little –"
Matt looked up at Olivia, regret swirling in his eyes. He stood up slowly, helping Candy to her feet and slipping an arm around her. "I'm sorry, Olivia, truly sorry for everything. I would never knowingly have done any of this."
"What do you mean, Matt? What are you trying to say?" Olivia glared at them, her face livid.
Matt swallowed hard then looked at her, his jaw set determinedly. "I'm saying that I love Candy, Olivia – she's the only person I've ever loved, or will ever love in my life. I'm sorry I misled you, however unintentionally, but the fact is that in this life, or any other, I will only belong to Candy. I really hope you can forgive me."
"It's this woman who has come between us, Matt – it's all her doing! She was trying to seduce you right from the start -"
Matt raised his hand to stem her vituperative flow. "Say what you like about me, Olivia, and I'll accept it, but leave Candy out of it. She has nothing to do with what has happened between you and me. In fact, if anything, I've wronged her terribly."
"Matt -" Candy began, but Olivia cut her off.
"You bloody bitch! I knew – I KNEW right from the start that you would ruin things between me and Matt! After everything I tried to get you out of the way, you're still around, screwing up my life! Why you didn't just die when I oiled those stairs, I can't imagine!"
She glared around at the people staring at her in shock and disbelief.
"Olivia, you – you OILED those stairs?" Melinda asked at last.
"Candy could have died!" Rich exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Olivia, how could you?" Her father stared at her as though seeing her for the first time.
"Don't look at me like that, all of you!" she retorted furiously. "I never wanted to do anything like that – it's this bitch who made me, by getting between me and Matt! If she had just left him alone after that night at the club when I drugged her drink, I would never have had to do anything more!"
Suddenly she lunged at Candy, her nails extended like talons but before she could touch Candy, Matt stepped in front of her. "Olivia," he said, his voice low and lethal. "You – you tried to KILL Candy? You drugged her? How could you? How DARE you?" He took a step forward, hands clenched at his sides, his face contorted with rage.
"Matt – you don't understand – I love you!" Olivia faltered, unnerved by the fury in his voice and face. "All I wanted was to make you hate her! It's this bitch's fault that I had to do all those things! Everything was fine between us before she came along - if it hadn't been for this – this slut, we would've announced our wedding date today! We belong together, Matt – why can't you just see that? She's just a common servant, not a Meyers!"
"Olivia." Matt's brilliant blue eyes were molten with anger. "First, that's the last time you will say anything disrespectful about Candy in my presence if you know what's good for you. Second, I was actually feeling guilty and bad about you but now I'm simply relieved – relieved that I'm not going to be marrying a would-be murderer."
Olivia recoiled at his words and even Candy gasped at how harsh he sounded. Olivia opened her mouth to speak but before she could say a word her father caught her arm.
"Senator, Melinda, Matt, I apologize deeply on behalf of my daughter," he said grimly. "I can understand if you would want to press charges against her for all that she has done, but I assure you she won't be bothering you again in the future." He turned to Candy, who was standing there quietly, clutching her torn gown to her bosom. "Sarah – Candy," he corrected himself. "We owe you the biggest apology of all. I know it isn't enough, but I am so sorry for all that my daughter did to you."
Candy shook her head. "Mr. Meyers, that's all in the past now," she said, her soft heart moved by the expression on his face. After all, how did you deal with the fact that your daughter could have murdered someone? she wondered. "I would just like to put it all behind us, if possible."
She looked at Matt, whose face was still livid with fury. "Matt?" she asked softly.
Matt came up to her, shrugging his coat off his shoulders and draping it gently over hers. She saw the struggle on his face to calm himself down before he spoke. "I can't say I can be as forgiving as Candy," he said shortly. "But if she doesn't want to press charges – neither will I."
Rich and Melinda nodded, and Olivia's father looked a little relieved. "Thank you, Candy," he said. "Thank you, everyone." He nodded at the rest of them and then strode out, dragging a seething Olivia with him.
"Let's get home now, shall we?" Rich asked with a smile. Both he and Melinda looked relieved and happy and somehow younger, as though years had dropped off them. It was the first time since she had woken up that she had seen them so happy, Candy thought, her heart filling with joy that at last, everything was going to be okay.
Back home, they all went into the living room before Candy turned to Matt.
"Matt, there's one more surprise for you," Candy said shyly.
"What is it, love?" Matt smiled down at her, his eyes shining with the love he felt for her.
"Josh – Joshua is our baby, Matt – he's our son." Candy looked up at him, half-fearing his reaction.
"What? Josh is my – our SON??" Matt gaped at her, trying to process what he had just heard. "But when – how – he's just over two – do you mean -?"
"Candy was pregnant at the time of the accident, honey," Melinda said gently. "But we didn't know until a few months later. It's almost unheard of for someone to have a baby while in a coma – indeed, the doctors even suggested we abort him, but for Rich and me, Joshua was a miracle. We'd lost Candy, and we'd lost you too, in a different way, so Joshua was God's way of keeping us going."
Matt's beautiful eyes filled with tears as he gazed at the little boy in Rich's arms. He held his arms out and Josh leaped into them eagerly. "My son," he whispered, kissing the little boy's soft hair. He held Joshua in one arm and drew Candy close with the other. "Josh, Mama and Daddy have found you – and each other - at last. We love you so much, baby."
"Daddy?" Joshua's face puckered up in a frown as he stared at them. Then, "Daddy! Mama!" he cried out gleefully, throwing his plump little arms around them.
Candy felt her heart fill with so much happiness she thought she would burst. Matt held her tightly as he bent down and kissed her sweetly on the lips. "My love," he whispered. "I'm so happy now, I can't tell you…at last our family is complete."
He lowered his head to her again and as he kissed her Candy saw their future, bright and shining, lying ahead of them. And this time, she knew with all her being, that it would really be forever.