Strangers Once More

Candy felt the room dip alarmingly again as Melinda's words sank in. "My – my SON?" she asked faintly. "I had – we have a SON??"

Melinda nodded, tears flowing down her cheeks again. "You were pregnant when you had that accident, Candy, though no one knew it at the time. It was only a few months later that we realized…miraculously, the baby was fine in spite of the accident and you being in a coma, and Rich and I could not bear to lose him too after we thought we'd lost you. By then, we'd already told Matt that there was no one in his life so we couldn't tell him about the baby and risk anything happening to him. Once Josh was born, Rich and I brought him home and simply told Matt that he's a close friend's grandson who'd tragically lost his family. I'm so sorry, Candy…all our lies have led to this mess…"

Candy sat with her head bowed, absorbing everything she had heard. Apparently, she and Matt had a son together, and Matt was now going to get married to someone else…Overwhelming grief threatened to weigh her down. The injustice of it all hit her hard - she had survived that horrific accident, managed to have a beautiful baby even in her coma, and then woken up after all these years only to find Matt, the love of her life and the father of her child, engaged to be married to another woman…

Then she rallied. Candy raised her head and looked at Melinda, who was sobbing quietly. Though she too was crying, there was a resolute tilt to her chin.

"I'm going to get him back, Aunt Mel," she said firmly. "Matt fell in love with me once, I'll make him fall in love with me again. Josh deserves me to try, I deserve to try - for both of us." She wiped her cheeks and smiled tremulously. "And if I fail, at least I'll know I tried."

A FEW DAYS LATER

Candy dressed nervously, trying to calm her frantic mind. It was a few days since the Kanes had brought her home, and today she would meet Matt for the first time since her return. He came over almost every weekend to meet his parents and Josh, Melinda had informed her. After much deliberation, they had decided to introduce her to him as Sarah Kent, Josh's new nanny.

"What should I wear?" she wondered, her heart fluttering nervously. "What will Matt's reaction be when he sees me? Will he remember anything?" She pawed through the dresses in her closet as various thoughts, doubts, and memories crowded her mind. At last, she settled on a simple cotton dress in soft pink, deciding that if she was to be Joshua's nanny, she should at least look the part for this initial meeting.

She heard a car drive up just as she finished getting ready and steeling herself, hurried downstairs.

"Ah, here she is!" Rich exclaimed.

Candy froze on the stairs, the world coming to a standstill around her as her eyes fell on the one person who had been, and still was, her whole world. He looked even handsomer than she remembered, tall and dark, his lean, muscular body perfectly defined by the expensive suit he was wearing. His thick, dark hair was shorter now, swept back from his high forehead, and those eyes…Candy gazed into Matt's brilliant blue eyes, all the feelings she had for him rushing to the fore as she drank in the sight of the one person she loved more than anyone in the world.

"Sarah?" Melinda's voice held a subtle note of warning.

In a dim corner of her mind Candy realized that she was standing halfway down the stairs, gaping at Matt. And he – she searched his azure eyes for any sign of recognition, any remembrance of who she was, anything that would tell her he was not completely lost to her, but all she saw was polite indifference coupled with slight impatience. Up until that moment, Candy had not realized how desperately she had been hoping that Matt would remember everything when he saw her and that somehow, things would be back again to where they were three years ago. Her heart broke as she saw that to him now, she was nothing but an unknown woman employed by his parents to care for a little orphan boy. But even then, the sheer joy of seeing him again far outweighed the disappointment that they were essentially strangers to each other now.

"Sarah, this is our son, Matt," Rich spoke up as she remained paralyzed on the stairs.

"Sa-wah!!" Joshua's happy shout broke her out of her daze. She stumbled her way down the rest of the stairs, her lips stretched in a caricature of a smile. She was almost up to Matt when she noticed the tall, willowy brunette clinging to his arm. "Olivia!" her mind screamed instinctively. This gorgeous woman who was hanging onto Matt's arm so possessively, her body pressed so close to his, had to be Matt's fiancée!

"Sarah, dear, meet Matt and his fiancée, Olivia Meyers," Melinda said apologetically, sympathy and guilt warring on her face. "Matt, Olivia, this is Sarah Kent, Josh's nanny."

"Sawah!" Josh hurled himself at her, wrapping his plump little arms around her legs. Candy quickly bent and lifted him up, using the few minutes to compose herself. The warm, baby scent of her son somehow gave her courage too, and by the time she looked at Matt again she could meet his cold blue eyes without flinching.

"Hi, Mr. Kane, Ms. Meyers," she said politely. "It's nice to meet you at last."

Matt looked at her curiously, as though really seeing her for the first time. "Josh seems to have really taken to you, Ms. Kent," he said slowly. "He usually takes time to adjust to new people."

"Yes, he doesn't like strangers, only family, isn't that right, baby?" Olivia reached out to the little boy. "Come to Olivia, sweetie."

"No!" Joshua turned away from her, burying his face in Candy's neck.

"Joshua, I said come here." Olivia tugged at his arm.

"Josh want Aunty Sawah." His little arms went around Candy's neck, holding her tight. Candy saw temper flare momentarily on Olivia's beautiful face before she smoothed it back into an insincere smile.

"It's SO good he likes his new nanny," she said with saccharine sweetness, latching on to Matt's arm again. "You're lucky you found a good servant, Melinda."

Candy's face reddened and Melinda opened her mouth to protest, but Rich cut in.

"Why don't we continue this someplace more comfortable?" he suggested. "Let's go to the living room and have some coffee."

"I'm sure Ms. Kent has chores to do," Olivia chimed in as Candy moved to follow them. "You can run along with Joshua."

"I think Ms. Kent should join us for coffee," Matt interjected. "It'll give us more time with Josh."

"Matt!" Candy heard Olivia hiss as she went quietly after them. "Are you seriously planning to have that nanny – a SERVANT – join us for coffee??"

"I want to see how she is with Josh," Matt replied imperturbably.

Candy saw Olivia's body stiffen for a fraction before she pressed closer to him. "Oh, Matty darling, that's one of the things I so love about you!" she exclaimed. "You're so protective of Joshua…I can't wait to see you with our own kids!"

Candy felt nausea well up in her throat at the unwelcome image of Matt's and Olivia's children. She cuddled her son, comforted by the feel of his warm little body in her arms.

"Coffee!" Melinda said with forced brightness once they had all settled themselves in the spacious living room. Candy found herself sitting on the large double sofa with Olivia at the other end. Joshua was surprisingly clingy and sat close to her, as far away from Olivia as he could. Matt had chosen to sit in a large sofa diagonally across from her and was watching her with a speculative look in his brilliant blue eyes.

Melinda served coffee while Rich launched into a long, rambling story about one of his constituents. When he was done, an awkward silence fell over the room once again. Olivia broke it with a tinkly laugh.

"Oh, Melinda, Rich, Matt and I are thinking of a summer wedding but we haven't been able to agree on the details so far. I think it needs to be a really grand affair, considering how many people we'll need to invite. After all, we aren't just ANYBODY!"

Candy could not help but flinch at the prospect of Matt's wedding. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to still the storm inside her. When she looked up again, she saw Matt's eyes on her, a slight frown on his handsome face.