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I didn't forget about this story, I swear! I know it's been...well...forever (no pun intended) since I updated, but life kind of got in the way of inspiration. With that said, I want to give a shout-out to Nettie, who helped me figure out how to get Fanny and Luke talking once Lorna (and company) got them locked in together. I hope you enjoy this part.

Amy

"Reclaiming Forever," Part 14

"All right, then," Lorna said after she had finished outlining her plan. Cass and Frankie were on speakerphone by now since the Paradise was mostly deserted at this hour of the afternoon, Paulina was behind the bar, and Iris and Lorna were seated at the bar. "Does everyone have their parts straight?"

"We do," Cass and Frankie replied in unison.

"I know what I'm supposed to do," Iris added.

"You can count on me," Paulina agreed.

"Great!" Lorna said. "Then 'Operation: Reunite Felicia and Lucas' is officially underway." She grinned. "They're not gonna know what hit them!"

"I just hope we're not saying that at the conclusion of your grand plan, Lorna." Cass's voice came over the phone.

Lorna leaned over to speak directly into the speakerphone. "We won't be, Cass. I guarantee it," she assured him confidently.
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Felicia was on a roll as she sat at the typewriter, the anguished confrontation between Sabrina and Lance pouring forth from her fingertips onto the keyboard and then to the paper at lightning speed when the phone rang. Without missing a beat, she yanked the cordless phone from its base, balanced it between her ear and shoulder, and continued typing. "Whoever this is, I'm in the middle of a chapter, so make it fast," she said.

"It's just me, honey," Cass replied. He looked to Frankie and mouthed "She's working."

"So she's distracted. Even better," Frankie whispered back. "Ask her."

"What is it?" Felicia was saying on the phone.

"Ah...Frankie and I were wondering if you'd like to meet us for lunch at the Paradise tomorrow," Cass replied. "We can catch up, have a grown-ups day out, kind of."

Felicia started a new paragraph. "Fine, what time?" she asked.

"What time?" Cass repeated. Frankie held up her index finger. "One?" Then she tapped the face of her watch. At Cass's puzzled look, she shoved her wrist right under his nose and tapped the number six. "Thirty!" Cass blurted. "1:30 at the Paradise tomorrow, does that work for you?"

"Yes," Felicia replied. "I'll see you then. Goodbye, Cass."

"Good--" Cass began, but Felicia hung up before he finished the word. "--bye."

"Why were you so nervous?" Frankie asked as Cass hung up the phone.

"Because this kind of scheming is not up my alley at all, Mary Frances," Cass replied. "This is more your area...and obviously Lorna's...and Wallingford would have been great at this, the way he kept trying to nudge Felicia and Mitch together."

"What do you think Wallingford would have thought of Lucas?" Frankie asked.

"I think he would have been suspicious of him at first like I was, but once he saw how happy Lucas makes Felicia, he would have been fine with it," Cass replied. "After he warned Lucas that if Lucas did anything to hurt Felicia, Wallingford would have kicked his butt to Chicago and back." Cass reached for the phone again and punched in another number.

"Lorna Devon Carlino," Lorna answered.

"It's Cass," Cass replied. "Felicia is meeting Frankie and me at the Paradise at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon."

"Perfect!" Lorna exclaimed. "Thank you, Cass, and thank Frankie for me too."

"I just hope you matchmakers know what you're doing," Cass said.

"We do," Lorna assured him confidently before disconnecting the call.
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"Lucas, I want you to meet me at the Paradise tomorrow afternoon at 1:15 for lunch, and I won't take no for an answer," Iris said.

"Iris, I appreciate the effort, but you don't have to be the social director of my life," Lucas replied, settling back against the couch with a sigh in his voice that Iris could hear over the phone.

"Well, of course not," Iris replied. "I think it's time to overhaul Sophisticate and you were greatly responsible for getting the magazine off the ground in the first place. I want you to help me reinvent Sophisticate as we approach the 21st century."

Lucas raked a hand through his hair. He did need a job. He knew that he could work with Iris, because he'd worked with her before. And this would keep him in Bay City, not that he was going anywhere ever again without Fanny, and without Lorna and Jenna at least having knowledge of where he was if not accompanying him.

"All right, Iris, you talked me into it. 1:15 tomorrow at the Paradise," Lucas replied.

"I'll see you then, Lucas," Iris said.

Iris hung up the phone and looked to Paulina. "1:15 tomorrow. You heard it yourself," she replied.

"He certainly won't suspect anything," Paulina said. "Still, that's...well...Don't you think it's a little mean to get Lucas down here on the pretense of a job?"

"Who says it's a pretense?" Iris replied. "Sophisticate is long overdue for an overhaul, and Lucas is just the right person to help me make it cutting-edge and relevant for the millennium. We just won't get around to talking about it tomorrow, but Lucas doesn't have to know that. At least, not until it's too late."

Paulina picked up the phone. "Well, even if things don't work out with Felicia, at least Lucas will have a job," she said as she punched in a number.

"Oh, they'll work out," Iris said. "Felicia is many things, but she's not a fool. Personally, I admire Lorna for forcing the issue. Probably the only person who could get through Felicia's steel skull is Lucas, and tomorrow he'll finally have his chance." Sadness briefly flickered across Iris's face, and Paulina knew that Iris was thinking of their father.

"Iris--" Paulina began.

"Lorna Devon Carlino," Lorna answered, interrupting what Paulina had been about to say.

"Lorna, it's Paulina," Paulina replied. "Iris just called your dad. He'll be here at 1:15 tomorrow afternoon."

"Excellent!" Lorna exclaimed. "I just got off the phone with Cass. He and Frankie talked to Mom, and she'll be there at 1:30. I'll be there at 1, to meet the rest of you. You do know what to do tomorrow, right, Paulina?"

"Yes," Paulina replied. "Although I'm not sure Lucas is going to believe me. Felicia, sure, but Lucas..." She trailed off uncertainly.

"Leave Lucas to me," Iris said.

Lorna, overhearing that, couldn't hold back a scowl. "Tell your sister that's the only time I ever want to hear her talking about my father like that," she told Paulina.

Paulina silently thanked Lorna for giving Paulina the ammunition to stop Iris from sliding into a depression over Mac Cory and the one thing Iris had never been able to make up to him. "Iris, Lorna heard you a second ago, and she told me to tell you that that's the only time she ever wants to hear you talking about her father like that."

Now Iris looked disgusted. "Oh, for pete's sake!" she exclaimed, snatching the phone from Paulina's hand. "Lorna, I will tell you, as I have told your mother many times, I am NOT romantically interested in Lucas!" Paulina, leaning on the bar, raised an eyebrow at Iris in amusement. "Anymore," Iris added, glaring at Paulina, which only amused Paulina further. "I haven't been for years, and even if I were, it obviously would make no difference because the only woman your father wants is your mother, which is the purpose of this entire exercise, if I'm not mistaken, so stop wasting my time with meaningless jealousy!"

"I'm just making sure we're on the same page, Iris," Lorna replied coolly. "I'll see you at the Paradise tomorrow at 1:00."

"I'll be here!" Iris exclaimed, disconnecting the call. She looked at Paulina. "What are you smiling about?" she asked.

"Nothing," Paulina said as she began wiping down the counter. "Nothing at all."
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The next afternoon, Lorna watched from the alcove as Cass and Frankie arrived, followed literally two minutes later by Iris. Paulina brought them over to the alcove where Lorna was waiting. "Okay," Lorna said, checking her watch. "It's five after one. You all know what to do?" Murmurs of assent came from the group. "All right, then. Thank you all for helping me with this."

"We care about Felicia and Lucas too," Frankie assured Lorna. "We want them back together too."

"We just want them to be happy," Paulina added.

"Well, still, I appreciate your help very much," Lorna said. "And just so you all know, if one or both of my parents get angry about this whole thing, I'll take the rap. It was my idea, and I just recruited all of you to help me execute it."

"Please don't use words like 'execute,'" Cass muttered.

"Cass, relax. If anybody's getting thrown under the bus here, it's gonna be me," Lorna said. "I mean it. I'll take all the heat for this, if there's any heat to take. Mom and Daddy won't have any reason to be mad at any of you. Now, I think it's time we all move to our battle stations, don't you?"

"No last-minute huddle?" Cass asked.

"I wasn't aware we were playing football," Lorna replied.

Frankie grabbed Cass's hand. "Come on, Counselor," she said. "Where's your sense of romance?"

"I save that all for you," Cass replied as Frankie led him to an empty table set for three. Iris claimed an empty table set for two nearby, Paulina went back behind the bar, and Lorna stayed in the alcove, peeking out so that she could see the entrance to the restaurant but those entering the restaurant couldn't see her.

Lucas arrived promptly at 1:15. To lend credence to the charade that this was a working lunch, Iris had brought a few mock-ups of recent Sophisticate covers and a copy of the most recent quarterly advertising budget. Lucas greeted Cass and Frankie when he passed by their table, and they returned his greeting, not mentioning that they were there to meet Felicia. Right on cue, Paulina surreptitiously reached under the bar and killed the lights, causing everyone, including Lucas, to look up. Then she brought half the lights back on and, carrying a flashlight, hurried out from behind the bar. Lorna watched her head over to Lucas and Iris's table, waving the flashlight and gesturing towards the back, where the storeroom was located. "Come on, Daddy," Lorna said aloud softly. "Be a good sport and help Paulina with the fuses." Not 30 seconds later, Lucas rose from his chair and followed Paulina back to the storeroom. Lorna smiled to herself. As soon as Lucas and Paulina had disappeared from view of the restaurant proper, Lorna saw Felicia come through the door and head straight for Cass and Frankie's table, greeting them each with a hug before sitting down. Paulina returned a moment later, went straight to Cass and Frankie's table, and bent to ask Felicia a question. Felicia looked to Cass and Frankie, who exchanged a look, and then both looked at Felicia. This had to work. When Felicia got up and followed Paulina away from the table, headed for the storeroom, Lorna let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. As soon as they disappeared from view, Lorna left the alcove and walked as nonchalantly as possible behind the bar, then turned and headed for the hallway outside the storeroom. Once they saw Lorna heading towards the storeroom, Cass and Frankie, and Iris, abandoned their tables and followed after her.
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Lucas was in the storeroom of the Paradise, shining the flashlight on the fuse box and testing the breakers, when he heard the door open and heard Fanny saying, "What made you decide to change bread suppliers?"

Before Paulina could answer, he heard Iris saying, "Paulina, you have an urgent phone call!"

"Wait here for me, Felicia, I'll be right back," Paulina said.

The door closed and a few seconds later, the lights came on in the storeroom...and, Lucas strongly suspected, all over the rest of the Paradise.

Felicia turned around and saw Luke standing there with a flashlight in his hand and gasped in surprise, one hand flying to her pounding heart. "What are YOU doing here?" she demanded.

"Helping Paulina with the fuse box," Luke replied, holding up the flashlight. "What are *you* doing here, Fanny?"

"Leaving!" Felicia exclaimed. She tried the door, but it was locked. She rattled the doorknob several times, to no avail. "It's locked!" she exclaimed. She whirled to glare at Luke.

"Don't look at me," he said. "I had nothing to do with this. I was here to meet Iris for a business lunch."

"And I was here to meet Cass and Frankie for lunch," Felicia replied. "And Paulina certainly wouldn't lock me in the storeroom!"

"Well, Iris wouldn't lock me in the storeroom either!" Luke retorted.

Felicia and Luke looked at each other, and the answer came to them both in less than a minute. "Lorna!" they exclaimed in unison.

Felicia returned to the door and started pounding on it with her fist. "LORNA!" she called loudly. "Lorna, we didn't see you, but I KNOW you're out there! You open this door RIGHT NOW, young lady!"

Gathered in the alcove, Lorna and her band of conspirators exchanged looks. "Lorna," Cass said seriously, "that's a tone that I have only ever heard Felicia take with Cecile before today."

"Who's Cecile?" Lorna asked.

"You don't want to know," Frankie replied. "But Cass is right. Felicia is seriously ticked off."

"And she'll only get more seriously ticked off the longer she's locked in there with Lucas," Iris added.

But Lorna was unconcerned. "What can she do to me?" she asked the group. "Ground me? Send me to bed without supper? Forbid me to go to the Policeman's Ball with Joe? She's been mad at me before, and I'm sure she'll be mad at me again. I already promised all of you that if anyone's going to get thrown under the bus for this, I'll make sure it's me. Besides, I would rather have Mom mad at me than mad at Daddy."

"Then we're behind you," Paulina said, resting a hand on Lorna's shoulder for a moment.

"Especially once we let Felicia and Lucas out of there," Cass muttered.

Inside the storeroom, Felicia gave up her pounding and yelling. "She's not going to let us out," she said.

Luke fought his grin. "If I were her, I wouldn't let us out, either," he replied. "I really have to hand it to Lorna. She sized up the situation and then made sure to get us into a position where we have no other choice but to talk."

"You can talk. I'm getting out of here," Felicia told him.

"How, Fanny?" Luke asked. He gestured to the door. "There's only one door, which locks out from the outside. And you don't have long hair anymore like when we were kids, so you can't use a bobby pin to try and jimmy the lock from in here."

"I don't need a bobby pin. I'll use kickboxing!" Felicia exclaimed.

"Excuse me?" Luke asked, thinking he surely hadn't heard right.

Felicia was already slipping off her shoes. "Last year, when that maniac was running around town trying to kill people, one of the first people he tried to kill was Courtney Evans," she said.

"I don't know her," Luke replied.

"You wouldn't," Felicia said as she set her shoes aside and then did a few deep-knee bends and stretched first one leg and then the other. Luke watched her as she stretched and continued to talk. "She's married to Cass's brother Morgan. Anyway, after she was attacked in the hospital parking lot, Morgan insisted she take self-defense classes. When Courtney signed up for kickboxing, Frankie, Jenna, Lorna, Rachel, and I all signed up with her."

"You know how to kickbox," Luke said. It wasn't a question, but it was a statement of obvious disbelief, going by the tone in his voice.

"Yes, I do, and I'm going to break that door down and get out of here," Felicia replied. She stopped bending and stretching and then looked at him. "You don't think I can do it."

"Did I say that?" Luke asked.

"You didn't have to. I'll show you! I'm getting out of here RIGHT NOW!"

Luke then watched as Felicia faced the door, reared back, let out a yell, and slammed her right foot against the door so hard that she lost her balance and started to fall. He hurried forward and caught her before she could hit the ground.

"OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!" Felicia screamed.

"Are you all right, Fanny?" Luke asked anxiously, holding her up, her right foot off the ground so that she wasn't putting any weight on it.

"I just tried to kick down a solid oak door. What do YOU think?" she asked sarcastically.

Still holding Fanny, Luke carefully lowered them to the floor. When they were both sitting down, he gently scooted her off his lap, then took his foot carefully in both hands to see how bad the damage was. "Well, the good news is you didn't break any toenails," he began.

"No, just my ankle," Felicia replied. She hissed a breath through her teeth as Luke gently probed her ankle.

"I think it might be sprained, or more likely twisted," he said after a moment. "But I don't think anything's broken." He lifted his gaze from her foot to look into her eyes.

Felicia looked up at him through the tears of pain in her eyes. "If you laugh at me, Luke, I swear I'll kickbox you with my good foot!" she threatened.

"I'm not laughing, Fanny," he replied seriously, and even through the blur of pain-induced tears in her eyes, she could see how somber he looked. "I am ready to talk, though. And knowing Lorna, if we sit in here and say nothing for the next five days, she'll just lock us in somewhere else until we talk, so what do you say? Can we really talk now, about all of it?"

TO BE CONTINUED
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