The Devil You Know: Chapter 5

Immediately after Molly had accepted Jack Manning’s invitation to come to Llanview to attend his aunt’s wedding, she began bombarding him with questions.  Was it going to be formal or informal?  Outdoor or indoor?  Being the practical young woman she was, Molly needed to know the answers to these questions for her search for a dress.  Unfortunately, Jack, being a typical teenage boy, could have cared less about information like that.  He did, at least, put Molly into contact with Starr to help out.

Starr had offered to take Molly dress shopping, as she herself needed to get something for the affair.  Starr really liked Michael’s cousin, more than her older sister who still treated Starr with disgust.  So, with a week or two to go before they were scheduled to leave for Llanview, Starr and Molly, along with Sarah Roberts, spent a Saturday in Wyndham’s dress shop.

“According to what my cousin Jessica said, the bridal party is wearing a wine color,” Starr informed the teenager.

“So then I’ll stay away from that color,” Molly reasoned.  She eventually saw three dresses that were to her taste: a long black dress with one shoulder that crossed from her right side to her left; a strapless navy blue and a forest green halter.  Molly went with the black dress. 

Sarah’s taste, a little less conservative then the others’, led her to find a cocktail length dress.  It was black and beaded, with a more asymmetrical hem and she thought, it was funky enough to befit her personality.   

Starr found her dress on the first try.  It was a strapless gold under a gauzy off white material, with a diamond broach affixed in the sweetheart neckline.  When Sarah saw it, she remarked, “It actually reminds me of a more modern version of the dress you mom wore when she married Uncle Todd.”

Molly turned to Sarah.  “You were at Todd and Blair’s wedding?” she asked, her eyes widening with wonder.   Molly loved romances and this was sounding like one right up her alley.

“Well, it was their second wedding,” Sarah amended.  “I was the flower girl and my brother was the usher/ring bearer.”

“They were really happy that day, weren’t they?” Starr asked, almost for reassurance. 

“Your mother was.  Uncle Todd, yeah, he was too, but Blair radiated it,” Sarah said.  “When I look back on it now, I think Andrew and Cassie and Dorian were all very nervous about something.”

“It was my dad,” Starr said.  “They weren’t sure if he was going to come.”

Sarah looked at Starr, stunned.  “What do you mean?  Of course he was going to be there.  He loved Blair then and he loves her even more now.”

Starr looked over at Molly then turned back to Sarah.  “You don’t know what happened the night before?” 

Sarah thought about it for a minute.  “I remember Uncle Todd coming to Llanfair to tell us about the wedding.  My mom was having a hissy fit about it.”  She shook her head.  “Whatever it was, it must have happened after my mother hustled CJ and I into bed.”

Starr took a deep breath.  “Dad wanted to know about his father…about Victor Lord,” Starr said.  Realization settled into Sarah’s eyes as Starr nodded.  “My mom told me a while ago.”

Molly looked between the two cousin in confusion.  She could tell that whatever it was awful and she didn’t want to pry, but curiosity was winning out with her.  “What happened?” she asked.  Starr turned to Molly, almost forgetting about the other girl for a moment.  She thought of how to broach this when Molly said, “My mother was raped by her own brother.  I can’t think of anything much worse.”

Starr grimaced at the comment.  “This may be worse.”  Taking a deep breath, she began, “You have to understand, my dad, when he was in college, was convicted of raping a fellow student.  It was brutal and he’s lived with the guilt since then.  Then he learned he was adopted and that his father was Victor Lord.  At the same time, our Aunt Viki was suffering a mental breakdown.  She had been diagnosed with Disassociative Identity Disorder years before, but at the time this was happening, more personalities were emerging.”

“In one of her episodes, she nearly burned down her home, Llanfair, with her daughter Jessica in it,” Sarah said. 

“Eventually, she learn that her father, our grandfather, had molested her for years when she was a child.  On the night before my parents were getting remarried, Aunt Viki told him that,” Starr said, rather sadly. 

Molly didn’t know how to react.  She had a flashback to her sister’s penthouse and the haunted look on her mother’s face when she admitted that her brother Stavros had raped her and was in fact Sam’s father.  Then she straightened up and said, matter-of-factly, “My sister Sam was the product of an incestuous rape.”

Starr and Sarah eyed each other.  “Okay, you may understand,” Sarah said.

“The thing is, it really shook my dad.  He thought, and to some extent still thinks, he’s just like his father, that he could do…something like that,”  Starr told Molly.  “He never would, but he was worried about that, about history repeating itself.  See, earlier that day, my mom had a doctor’s appointment.  She was pregnant with me and afterwards, she told my dad she thought she was having a girl.  That, coupled with his own past and what his own father had done, nearly drove him to leave my mom…and me.”

Sarah came over and gave Starr a hug.  She had never realized just how much her younger cousin had been through in her life.  Eventually, Sarah said into Starr’s ear, “He loves you and he would never hurt you.  You know that, right?”

Starr nodded.  “Aunt Viki found him in the crypt the next morning.  Andrew called looking for him and she figured out where he would be.  She finally got through to  my dad and he showed up and my parents got married.”  Then Starr pulled out her phone and scrolled through the pictures.  Holding it up for Molly to see, it was a picture of her parents laughing as gold balloons rained down on them.  “I’m going to make sure that when they get married, for the last time this time, that they have the gold balloons again.”

Molly laughed at the picture.  “Your dad looks so different!” she exclaimed.  “Was he trying to be a real rebel back then?”

“Well, Todd Manning never has been known to conform to the rules,” Sarah said, a smile flickering across her face.

A few flicks of Starr’s finger and up came the image of the newlyweds with the Cramer women and two blonde-headed children.  “And here’s Sarah and CJ, with my mom‘s family.”

“Aw, you were so cute, Sarah!” Molly enthused as the eldest of the three cringed.

Before anything else could be said, Starr looked at her watch.  “We need to go pay and get you back to the house.  I think your mom’s meeting us there soon.”  The three girls brought their purchases to the counter and they headed back to the Manning home.

Reginald opened the door to find Alexis Davis on the other side.  “Miss Davis, it’s been a long time,” the former butler to the Quartermaines said as she stepped inside. 

“Reginald, how have you been?  I thought your former employer’s drove you out of this line of work,” she asked.

“Well, next to the Quartermaines, any family is a piece of cake.  At least here, I don’t have to worry about be held up at Thanksgiving by disgruntled family members,” he replied, remembering the Thanksgiving thieves the two had endured years ago.  “You’re here to see…?”

“Molly went shopping for a dress with Starr, for the Lord/Buchanan wedding she was invited to.  I told them I had some business nearby and I’d pick her up here,” Alexis explained.

Just then, Blair came down the stairs.  “I thought I heard voices.  Hello Alexis,” she greeted the lawyer warmly.

“Blair, I’m glad you’re here.  I just wanted to get a few things straightened out about this trip,” Alexis said.

“Sure thing.  Any questions you have, fire away.”

Alexis took a seat across from her hostess in the library.  “Well, first, to be sure, where will Molly be staying for the weekend?”

“Todd and I discussed this and since Molly is still a teenager, we’ll have her bunk down with Starr at my aunt’s home, La Boulaie.  From what Starr told me, Michael and Dillon got a room at the Palace Hotel for the weekend,” Blair explained.

“And how long will she be gone?” Alexis read off the list she had prepared.

“We’ll be leaving on the Tuesday evening and Molly will come back with her cousin on that Sunday,” came Blair’s answer.

“You’re not returning then?”

Blair shook her head.  “No, Todd wants to take a little family trip afterwards, so we’ll be heading to Chicago after the wedding.”

As that answer came, the they ladies heard the front door open and in came Molly, Starr and Sarah.  “Hey, Mom.  You’re here early.” the teenager said.

“My business was done early,” Alexis stated.  “Did you find a dress?”

Molly zipped open the garment bag and showed her mother and Blair.  “It really looked good on me.  I’ll show you when we get home.”  As she closed the bag, she added,  “I hope Jack like me in it.”

Molly turned to go and Alexis’ eyes narrowed.  She turned back to Blair, who merely shrugged her shoulders.  “Girls like to dress to impress the boys they like,” she responded carefully.  Blair was fully aware Alexis was still unsure of her daughter’s relationship with Jack.

Alexis chose not to answer and, followed Molly out the door, said,  “If I have any other questions, I let you know.  We’ll talk soon.”  With that, the Davis women left.

Blair let out a sigh.  “I’m sure we will,” she said.

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