Jack curses to himself when Greenlee isn't at the boathouse, and wonders aloud, "All right, kiddo, where are you?" He sits down and prays, "Okay, God, tell me I have no good reason for being so afraid for my daughter!" Erica comes up and asks if he remembers when they used to ring in the New Year with champagne and dancing, and smiles when Jack recalls there also used to be some kissing involved. She asks if he's still on the lookout for Greenlee? Jack says he is, and he's been looking everywhere for her, finally getting so desperate that he actually called Mary. When Erica asks about Pablo, Jack says Pablo has dropped out of sight as well; he's afraid if Greenlee is with him, she might put herself in harm's way. Erica thinks a more likely scenario is that she and Pablo are off on this impossibly romantic getaway, living life to the fullest in a luxury 5-star hotel room. Jack notes she must be freezing; he manages to get an old heater fired up and asks, "Who's your caveman daddy now?" They laugh together, and Jack asks what she's thinking about? Erica says special times, the times that don't get circled in red until they're past. Jack agrees, like the night he found out Greenlee was his daughter, but Erica was thinking about the night he was named Pine Valley's Man of the Year. She remembers they met in the park after that event, he brought her here and they danced, and that was pure magic. Jack agrees it was until they had a knockdown, drag out fight and she stormed off into the darkness. When Erica asks when they ever did things the easy way, Jack laughs, but wonders if some things shouldn't be easy, like getting through to his own daughter? Erica points out that she's a grown woman, not a toddler, and doesn't need a permission slip to run off and have a love affair. Jack says he actually went by Wildwind to see if Edmund had a line on Pablo, but he's disappeared, Maria's nowhere to be found, and Isabella's beside herself with worry. Erica shrugs that she's an old mother hen, but Jack asks what if she's right to be worried? He told Greenlee over and over again that Pablo is a target, and she should stay away from him! Erica gently says he's brilliant when he's reading the law, but needs a crib sheet when it comes to reading women. Assuming Greenlee is in love with Pablo, certain behavior is a given; she will act impulsively, and she will make choices that are rash, stupid or downright risky. Jack notes, if this is supposed to be reassuring him, it's falling a little short! Erica says women run on passion and impulse, but men all seem to compartmentalize, thinking they can keep their accounts separate. Women think with their hearts, running the tides of their emotions wherever they might lead them. That's why, when they make a mistake, their whole lives are on the line, but if they find a love that lasts, it's worth any risk. Jack asks if any risk includes keeping secrets from this man they love? Erica says yes, it absolutely does; women do keep secrets from the men they love, and horrendous mistakes are made in the name of love! Jack gets that they're not talking about Greenlee anymore, and Erica agrees they're talking about any woman who withholds or manipulates the facts, telling herself it's for the best. Jack asks what if she's wrong, just making things worse instead of better? Erica thinks that kind of love is so blind and intense that protecting the man she loves takes precedence over anything. "Even if it costs her this man's love?" Jack asks. Erica says that's not even something to be considered, because life without that man is out of the question; she doesn't know what's in Greenlee's heart, but can speak for herself. They each need to decide what they can live with, and what they can't live without, and what they can forgive because love is the only reason there is. Erica tells Jack to take her home, and she'll tell him a secret that she kept to keep him safe. He holds out his hand, and they leave the boathouse.
Back at the penthouse, Jack asks if Erica's sure she wants to tell him this secret? Erica says she can't face the New Year or him until she tells him this secret she's been withholding; it all started last August, the last night Michael Cambias was seen alive. Jack notes that would be the night she and David Hayward spent wrapped up in each other's arms but, for the record, wants her to know he never believed any part of that story. Erica sighs with relief, saying she never meant to hurt him.
Click "Next" for more.
Recap Calendar
