The sun is high in the sky over the village of Persephone Pointe. There are no clouds in sight. Children are playing on well-manicured front lawns and the wives of the rich and powerful are lounging seaside bronzing their skin, while their husbands are playing golf on the PGA approved greens of the Country Club or boating on their expensive yachts named for their either their daughter or their first pet. On the outside, Persephone Pointe looks like a picture postcard paradise, but appearances can be very deceiving. Things aren’t always as they appear, lives aren’t always as perfect as they seem, and loves aren’t as deep as those in love are led to believe.

Pamela DeLongpre walks into her bedroom to find her daughter waiting for her. Pamela has just finished a short conversation with her Father’s new wife. She has decided that she must do everything in her power to save her ‘Daddy’ from Jory.

"Hi Love," says Pamela.

"Hi Mom," says Rachel. The girl is dressed to go swimming.

"I came to see if you’d show me how to get to the pool? I was going to ask you to join me, but it looks like you’ve already had your morning exercise."

"I went for a great run along the beach," says Pamela. "It’s so good to be home darling. I never knew how much I missed this place until coming back here. Running along the beach, I’ve been having all of these wonderful memories."

"I’m glad you’re happy Mom," says Rachel.

"I want you to be happy to darling. I want you to start thinking of this place as your home."

"Home is wherever you are Mom," says Rachel.

"Aren’t you sweet," says Pamela. "All right, I’ll take you down to the pool and you can swim until your heart’s content."

"How do I find my way back to my room?"

"One of the servants will help you darling."

"What are you going to do today?"

"I promised your Uncle August that I’d stop by the office and I’ve, also, got a couple of errands to run."

"Gosh, we haven’t been here a whole day yet and your schedule’s booked." Pamela’s cell phone rings.

"Hello?"

"You rang?" The voice on the other end asks. Pamela recognizes the voice as that of her private detective, Jimmy, returning the call she made to him earlier.

"Yes, we need to talk. How long do you plan to be in the office?"

"Another hour or so," says Jimmy.

"I’ll call you back." Pamela ends the call. "So darling are you ready to go to the pool?"

"Who was that? If it was business, I can wait," says Rachel.

"No darling, you come first. That little ole piece of business can wait. Are you ready?"

"Ready." The two leave the room and head for the pool.

_____________________________________________

Jory Booker DeLongpre has found her way out of the house. She is running along the beach, listening to her Walkman, and taking in the beautiful scenery. She decides that when she returns to the house, she will find someone that has a map of the house so she won’t get lost again. She looks up at the imposing mansion high atop the bluff, and remains in awe of its size and grandeur.

When she was involved with Thad, he rarely, if ever, talked about his life in Persephone Pointe or his family. It was almost as if he wanted to forget who he was and where he came from. She never pressed him to talk about his family, and the times he did, were few and far between. Sumner was different. He told her wonderful stories about Persephone Pointe and about his childhood. He told her stories about playing on the cliffs with his best friend, Priss, and of how they explored the caves and tunnels that she was now running past.

Sumner has a great love for the land and the sea. He respects them both and reveres them for all that they have brought his family. She got lost in Sumner’s stories and began to fall in love with the things he loved and wanted the things he wanted.

She remembered the conversation she had with Pamela, earlier in the morning, and how people would talk and speculate about her marriage to Sumner because of the age difference. As she told Pamela, she didn’t care what people said about the age difference or if they speculated on why she married Sumner. She loved her husband and that is all that mattered.

She keeps running on the beautiful beach, and begins to wonder where Sumner is and what he’s been doing all morning. She hopes that everything is okay and wishes that she would have brought her cell phone with her so she could call her new husband and hear his voice.

"I am the luckiest woman in the world. I’m married to a wonderful man and we are going to have a wonderful life together. And people can talk and people can speculate all they want. Our marriage is rock solid. Our love is real — and nothing can change that — nothing."

_____________________________________________

Thad DeLongpre steps out of the shower. His leg is hurting and he is reminded of the accident that cost him his soccer career. He started playing soccer when he was five. He can remember Angus driving him to his practices and sticking around to watch him in action. Thad could always count on Angus, more so than he could count on his own father. It wasn’t that Sumner was a bad father, it was just that with everything Sumner had going on, Thad, sometimes, got lost in the shuffle. Sumner and Chad’s relationship is still not a close one, it is more cordial, just not closer or nowhere near the relationship that August has with Sumner. Psychiatrists might say that Thad is the classic middle child, struggling to find his place between his strong older siblings and his doted on younger sister.

Thad loved Jory. He loved her more than he ever loved anyone in his life. She had his heart and she was his soulmate. When she walked away from him, she took his heart and the desire to ever love again with her. Now that he has seen her again, after all this time, after everything that has happened, all of the old feelings have come back. She was still the most beautiful woman he had ever known. Last night he dreamed about her. He dreamed of their past. He dreamed of the way they made love over and over again. He dreamed of her skin and her touch. There was never a couple more in love or more sexually compatible. Their kisses were like fire and their sex was powerful and intense and all consuming.

"She can’t love Daddy. She can’t. There is no way she could feel for him what she felt me." He then remembers another dream he had this morning. A dream where he thought Jory had come back to him. She was standing before him, bathed in light, and she was calling to him and telling him that she was coming back to him. "That was a dream, just a dream — but, it was — it was so vivid — so clear."

He puts on a pair of khakis and a white T-shirt and heads down to kitchen to get some breakfast.

Claudia Eglasca is in the kitchen preparing tonight’s dinner menu for Meredith to approve. Now that Sumner is married, she wonders when she will have to begin clearing dinner menus with his new wife? She wonders how Meredith will react to playing second fiddle to Jory. Afterall, Jory is the new Mistress of the great house and she would have to take on the responsibilities that come with the role, despite who is performing them now.

"Hey Claudia," says Thad.

"Hey you — sleep well?" Claudia asks.

"More or less. Does cook have anything left from breakfast?"

"I’ll check for you," says Claudia.

"No, I can do that," says Thad. He walks into kitchen. Claudia continues with the menu. She wonders how she should bridge the menu-approving topic with all of the interested parties. Thad walks back into the kitchen eating a banana.

"No leftovers?’ Claudia asks.

"Cook’s gonna scramble me up a couple of eggs," says Thad.

"I swear, you’re Cook’s favorite," says Claudia.

"It’s nice to be somebody’s favorite." Claudia looks at him, but says nothing. "So where’s the old man this morning?"

"If you’re talking about Mr. Sumner, I haven’t seen him. Oh, how’s Katie?"

"She’s gonna be all right."

"Oh that good. I was planning to go visit her this afternoon."

"She’d like that."

"So much happened around here yesterday. It was non-stop," says Claudia.

"Just another day in the life of that wacky DeLongpre bunch," says Thad.

"So what do you think of the new mistress of the manner?’

"Jory?"

"The one and only," says Thad.

"I haven’t really talked to her long enough to form an opinion, one way or the other."

"Pamela’s already formed an opinion."

"Let me guess — Gold-digger?"

"Ding, Ding, Ding. You are correct."

"Well I’m sure that she’s just concerned-"

"About her owned damned inheritance," says Thad, finishing the sentence Claudia started. "I don’t know my sister very well, but I do know that she only cares about numero uno."

"She hasn’t been home in a long time, Thad. Maybe she’s different now."

"She isn’t. So no opinion on the newest Mrs. DeLongpre -- I mean you must have some kind of ‘early’ opinion about her?"
"I try not to form early opinions."

"Not even about the age difference — oh c’mon, it’s entered your mind."

"It may have entered my mind, but I shooed it away," says Claudia.

"Well smell you," he says laughing. "C’mon Claudie. He’s old enough to be her Grandfather."

"He’s old enough to be your Grandfather, what’s your point?"

"My point is-"

"Your point is, you don’t approve of your father’s new marriage, just like Pamela doesn’t approve, and just like, I’m sure, August doesn’t approve."

"Eeek, who put a burr in your britches this morning," says Thad.

"No one. It’s just that this girl hasn’t been on the property twenty-four hours yet. Before you judge her and this marriage, get to know her — and once you know here, then judge away," says Claudia.

"I do know her Claudia." She looks at him, as if she didn’t hear him correctly.

"What did you just say?"

"I know her Claudia. I know her very, very well."

___________________________________________________

Bain Roberts is at the Persephone Pointe Medical Center. He has come to see Katherine DeLongpre. Yesterday, while exploring the coastal community, Bain accidentally hit Katherine with his jeep. Even though it was an accident, Bain wants to apologize for what happened. As he’s about to go into her room, her finance, Porter Dandridge stops him.

"I don’t understand, why can’t I go into her room," says Bain.

"Because I said so," says Porter.

"Well forgive me, but I didn’t realize that you were a part of Hospital Security," says Bain.

"Listen, the last thing Katherine needs is some stranger coming into her room, upsetting her," says Porter.

"I’m not gonna upset her, I just wanted to talk to her."

"Talk to her about what?"

"The accident."

"The last thing she needs to talk about is the accident. Do yourself a favor pal, go sightseeing and leave my fiancée alone."

"What in the hell did I do you? You don’t know me and yet there’s this -- this dislike. You know what? I don’t have any agenda, man. I just want to talk to Katherine, apologize, and then leave," says Bain.

"Because of you, I almost lost the woman I love. Because of you, she almost died -- and on top of that, I don’t know you. I don’t know you from Adam. I don’t know what you’re about. This all could be some huge scam to get close to Katherine’s family — to get her money."

"Trust me, I don’t need any DeLongpre money."

"I usually don’t trust strangers, I guess it’s a holdover from my mom telling me about the pitfalls of accepting candy from strangers as a kid."

"Are you gonna let me in the room?"

"Not today, I’m not," says Porter.

"Fine."

"Fine." Bain walks away. Porter watches until the man is out of sight. "I don’t trust that guy. There is something about him — I don’t know what it is, but I don’t trust him. I don’t trust as far as I can throw him," says Porter to himself.

This Has Been Persephone Pointe