Callie Hardy walked into the kitchen of her dream house and stopped short at the sight before her. Frank was seated at the table, a pile of shredded napkins in front of him. Unaware she had even entered the room, he plucked another unsuspecting napkin from the holder and methodically began tearing it into tiny pieces.

"Frustrating day?" she asked, wincing slightly when Frank jumped. He turned and smiled at her before resuming his task of reducing the helpless napkin to a useless pile of rubbish.

"Frustrating brother," Frank muttered. "No, correction…frustrating brother and frustrating father," he amended. "Think it’s too late to put myself up for adoption? I could be an only child…" Frank dropped what was left of the napkin and gazed out into space, a serene smile on his face.

Callie laughed as she positioned herself behind him and began massaging his shoulders. The muscles beneath her fingers were hard and tense, telling her Frank was even more aggravated than he was letting on.

Frank sighed contentedly and closed his eyes, letting his head drop forward. The comfortable silence and Callie’s firm but loving touch proved to be a potent combination. Twenty minutes later, drowning in a languid tranquility, Frank reluctantly lifted his head. He really didn’t want Callie to stop but knew her fingers had to be cramping by now. Reaching over his shoulder, Frank took her hand and guided her to the chair next to him. Leaning forward, he kissed her firmly, Joe and Fenton the farthest thing from his mind.

"Thank you," he murmured, his lips still hovering dangerously close to hers.

"My pleasure," she replied with a smile, taking advantage of their close proximity by initiating another satisfying kiss. Reluctantly pulling away, she asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Frank stared into the deep brown eyes that never failed to captivate him and wondered how he got so lucky. "Later," he replied. "Right now I want to enjoy some quality time with my wife." With a seductive smile, he took Callie’s hand and led her upstairs.

*****

Frank placed another log in the fireplace, watching the flames dance. He poked at the pile until he was satisfied with the placement and then stood up and walked back to the couch. He stretched out on the plush, inviting sofa and sighed, mesmerized by the orange glow.

‘You are one lucky man, Hardy,’ he thought with a self-satisfied smile.

After the ‘quality time’ Frank had insisted on, Callie had indulged his request for yet another massage and then prepared his favorite dinner, serving it by candlelight. Just as they had started to move their impromptu romantic evening to the living room, the phone rang. Frank had exhaled in relief when it turned out to be the nightly call from Callie’s mother, having feared it was Joe or Fenton wanting to drag him back into their idiotic dispute. Whispering for her to make it short, Frank went into the living room and built the fire that now suffused the room in a soft glow.

"Miss me?" Callie asked seductively, stretching out her petite frame half on the sofa and half on Frank.

"Mmmm….immensely," Frank replied, kissing the top of her head lightly. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and entwined the other in her silky, blonde hair as they lay in contented silence, broken only by the occasional crackle of the fire.

"Feel better now?" Callie questioned, raising her head slightly to gaze at Frank.

"Much better – all thanks to you," he replied opening his eyes to look at her. "If I could take you to work with me, life would be perfect," he mused, warming to the images that thought conjured up.

"Joe and your Dad aren’t exactly seeing eye to eye?" Callie guessed.

"That’s an understatement," Frank muttered sarcastically. "You know I wouldn’t mind so much if they kept me out of their differences of opinion…or at least let me decide when I wanted to get involved." He sighed heavily. "I never know what to expect. One minute they’re fine and the next they’re at each other’s throats. They never tell each other what’s really going on but they take every chance they can to unload on me. They both feel guilty about the way they treat each other but they’re too damn stubborn to admit it and then they want me to repair the damage." Frank railed on, deciding it felt pretty good to get everything out. "It’d just be a whole lot easier if Joe hadn’t inherited so much of Dad’s temper," Frank maligned the gods of fate that had given his brother such a fiery personality.

"But then he wouldn’t be Joe," Callie pointed out logically, to which Frank replied with a muffled grunt. "So has he found anything yet?" Callie asked, nestling closer to her husband. "I talked to Vanessa today. You know she’s convinced Joe is going to clear Kara completely – and soon."

"Yeah, I know…and I think that’s the crux of the problem," Frank confirmed somewhat dismally. "Deep down I think part of Joe believes Kara is guilty. I mean she needed the money desperately; she had the means and the brains to get it, not to mention the opportunity. If that client of Uncle Brad’s hadn’t asked for him to look things over personally, she’d still be getting away with it and no one would be the wiser.

"Logically, Joe sees all that, but he’s thinking with his heart. To him, this isn’t about Kara or Uncle Brad or three million dollars…it’s about Vanessa and not letting her down." Frank stared at the ceiling, wishing his brother wouldn’t blindly follow his heart all the time when it came to Vanessa. ‘Like that would ever happen…’ he thought sardonically.

"He’s getting obsessed, Cal. I know he won’t let this go unless Vanessa says it’s okay and gives him her blessing." Frank frowned, stroking Callie’s hair absently. "And we both know that will never happen. Vanessa is nothing if not loyal to her friends." Frank shifted, pulling Callie a little closer, subconsciously trying to comfort himself. "He’s gonna drive himself crazy…if he doesn’t drive me crazy first…"

*****

Joe stared at the copious notes he’d taken earlier in the day, feeling the first signs of defeat creeping up on him. No matter how he looked at it or who he spoke to, the facts never changed. Running his hands through his blonde hair, Joe dropped his head forward and listened to Kara and Vanessa talking in the living room. Their voices carried into the office allowing him to catch bits and pieces of their conversation.

"Couldn’t decide…traditional or modern…veil…train…" Vanessa’s voice bubbled over with excitement as she was apparently sharing with Kara the one secret Joe was not privy to – her wedding dress.

Joe grinned as he listened to Vanessa talking animatedly about the details of their impending nuptials that had been worked out so far by she, Andrea and Laura and what still needed to be done.

‘Smartest thing I ever did,’ Joe congratulated himself, reflecting on the day he asked Vanessa to marry him. ‘Even Frank said so,’ Joe chuckled recalling the look of utter astonishment on his brother’s face when Vanessa had flashed her engagement ring at him for the first time. ‘Frank…’

Joe’s thoughts suddenly turned melancholy with his brother’s words fresh in his mind.

"Sorry, bro," Joe said aloud, knowing Frank had been upset with him and rightfully so. It wasn’t the first time Joe had put Frank in the middle of a disagreement with Fenton and unfortunately, he was sure it wouldn’t be the last, no matter how hard he tried not to.

Aside from Frank’s obvious frustration with him, he’d also managed to make his father angry to boot. Rubbing the back of his neck, Joe wondered if it were just a matter of time before Vanessa, too, expressed her disappointment in him. If he couldn’t find anything to help Kara and she was sent to prison, would Joe finally have to admit he was no longer Vanessa’s knight in shining armor?