It's Your Move

[Brandon Spaulding]

“Your move, Henry,” Brandon grinned devilishly across the wooden chessboard upon capturing his old friend’s Queen’s Bishop.

[Henry Chamberlain]

“Some things never change,” Henry’s eyes twinkled with nostalgia. “Never the common decency to mount a direct attack. You’d rather just chip away at my defenses, striking wherever I’m most vulnerable.”

[Brandon Spaulding]

“I am neither common nor decent,” Brandon chuckled. “But then you’re not exactly a babe in the woods yourself. A regular fox in sheep’s clothing, you might say. And I have the scars to show for it.”

[Henry Chamberlain]

“Not that you haven’t deserved it,” Henry smiled warmly. “I could never hold a candle to you. It would take a whole legion of spiders to spin some of the webs you’ve concocted over the years.”

Henry paused for a moment to consider his next move before cautiously advancing one of his few remaining pawns forward.

“Which reminds me…you never finished telling me what happened with that lady of yours. Sharina, wasn’t it?”

[Brandon Spaulding]

“As you already know,” Brandon scanned the chessboard, meticulously plotting his next course of action. “Sharina and I deeply regretted the damage our secret had caused, Victoria’s rightful place as my natural child and the way poor Conrad died. Scandal was inevitable, a perpetual embarrassment, not only to Victoria and Alexandra but to generations of Spauldings to come.”

Brandon shifted his gaze, wistfully staring off into the distance.

“Sharina and I knew what had to be done. The easiest way to protect everyone from any further humiliation was to remove ourselves from the situation. The Tamerlain name carries as much weight in Barbados as the Spaulding name carries in the rest of the world. It wasn’t difficult to find a few well placed government officials willing to cooperate.”

[Henry Chamberlain]

“And the two of you kept yourselves hidden away all these years?” Henry inquired. “With no thought of what it would do to Alexandra, having just found you after all those years only to lose you again. And what about Victoria? You and Sharina had been the only family she’d ever really known.”

[Brandon Spaulding]

“Alexandra had little use for me,” Brandon dryly responded. “She made that abundantly clear. Not that I can really blame her...not after everything that happened with Luvonoczek. But despite our differences, I knew Alexandra would make sure her sister was taken care of.”

[H.B. Lewis]

“Yee-haw!” H.B. barreled through the front door of the cottage. “It sure is pretty country you got out here, Brandon. I can see why you suggested we cool our heels here for a spell before we face what’s waitin’ for us back in Springfield.”

[Brandon Spaulding]

“I wouldn’t be going back at all if Sharina hadn’t talked me into it,” Brandon advanced his Knight toward Henry’s Queen. “Everything that happened with Phillip and Alan. My family needed me, she said. I asked her to come with me, but Sharina was adamant. I needed to face my family...and I needed to do it alone. She’d only be a distraction.”

[H.B. Lewis]

“I sure ain’t lookin’ forward to what’s waitin’ for me,” H.B. moved toward his two old friends. “Joshua is bound to have a real hissy fit when he finds out I’m still alive and kickin’. Not that he ever wished me dead, of course. Joshua may be as unforgiving as old man winter in the middle of January, but he’s as kindhearted as they come!”

[Henry Chamberlain]

“Vanessa is sure to be more than a little cross as well,” Henry’s eyes glimmered mischievously. “With me for escaping from that clinic of hers…and the two of you for helping me. I can’t tell you how surprised I was to find the two of you at my bedside that morning. For a moment I thought you were the Angel of Death, here to take me away.”

[H.B. Lewis]

“Brandon and me ain’t ever been mistaken for a couple angels before,” H.B. howled with laughter. “But now Vanessa’s bound to simmer down when she sees how miserable you was, hidden away in that fancy clinic. There ain’t a girl alive that loves her daddy any more than your Vanessa. But if she don’t, let her heap the blame on Brandon and me. Brandon was the one to bribe your caretakers into lookin’ the other way. And it was me that drove the getaway car.”

[Henry Chamberlain]

“Vanessa means well,” Henry moved his Queen to one side. “I can’t blame her for overreacting. But those damn doctors, them I blame! Working everyone into a frenzy with a bunch of medical mumbo jumbo, saying that the stress of my daily life was killing me and that complete bed rest was in order. Cutting me off from everything and everyone I knew, that’s what was killing me.”

[H.B. Lewis]

“Vanessa was protectin’ her daddy,” H.B. smiled broadly. “There ain’t no better reason for lettin’ folks think you was dead than that. It’s a whole heap better than what I did. My reasons were nothin’ but selfish. Billy and Joshua were doin’ fine without me. Even Melinda Sue was makin’ quite a name for herself. I was feelin’ as useful as a pair of spurs at a tea dance.”

[Brandon Spaulding]

“At least your children care,” Brandon bluntly interjected. “Mine had been wishing me dead for years.”

[Henry Chamberlain]

“What about Phillip?” Henry asked. “He was just a boy when you left Springfield. Surely he will be more generous toward you. And the rest of your family…there is a whole generation of Spauldings waiting to meet you.”

[H.B. Lewis]

“What do you fellas say we bite the bullet and take our lumps sooner than later?” H.B. raised an eyebrow. “The longer we wait, the harder it’s gonna be!”

[Henry Chamberlain]

“Go back to Springfield now?” Henry looked at Brandon for reassurance. “I don’t know. Do you think we should?”

[Brandon Spaulding]

“Perhaps the two of you should go on without me,” Brandon responded. “It’ll give you a level of deniability once the fallout begins. Alexandra is certain to go on the warpath once she discovers I’ve been alive all these years.”

[Henry Chamberlain]

“We’ll finish our game back in Springfield,” Henry rose to his feet. “H.B. and I have some packing to do.”

[Brandon Spaulding]

“No need,” Brandon advanced his Bishop. “Checkmate!”

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