We all have those recipes that we just know how to make - or I think everyone has those things.  I grew up eating chicken friend steak and learned how to make it from my mom.  Over the years I’ve tried “new and different” things - some have worked, some have been horrible failures.  That said, I’m pretty happy with this version.  It seems to be well-received and often requested, which I take as a sign of success.  Try it and let me know what you think (just don’t try it on a night you’re dieting because it’s a diet killer!).

Chicken Fried Steak

• 1 pound cube steak (or round steak)
• 1 cup flour
• seasoning salt (lots)
• garlic salt (lots)
• ground pepper (yep, lots)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• canola oil

So, this isn’t too difficult to figure out.  Preheat the oven to 250 and a cast iron skillet over medium heat (and I think cast iron really makes a difference in the crispiness of the breading).  Mix the flour, seasoning salt, garlic salt, and pepper together in a shallow pan (I use a pie plate).  I don’t measure the seasonings, but it looks something like this before I mix everything together.

Combine the eggs and milk in another shallow pan and set up your dunking stations.  Meat, egg batter, flour, skillet.  Pour enough oil in to the pan to give you somewhere around a 1/2 inch of depth.  Dunk your first piece of meat in the egg on both sides and then the flour to lightly coat.  Then, go back and dunk in the egg and flour one more time!  It gets messy, but I think the double dunking makes a better crust.  If you don’t want to do it twice, you don’t have to.  Once your fingers are covered in flour paste (yuck), stick the first piece into the hot oil.  I don’t have a very large cast iron skillet, so I only fry one piece at a time, but you do what works for you.  You want to fry it until it’s a nice golden brown color on the bottom and a bit bloody on the top.

Then flip it over and let the other side brown.  Don’t worry about getting the meat cooked all the way, you’ll stick in the oven to keep warm and it will continue to cook.  Once that piece is done stick it on a cookie sheet (you can cover it with foil or not - I usually don’t and it doesn’t dry out, but I think the no foil keeps the crust crispier) and stick it in your 250 degree oven.  Continue that process until all of your meat is fried.  Then it’s time to make gravy!

There are lots of gravy recipes and I’m not saying this one is anything special, but it seems to work and tastes pretty good.

Cream Gravy

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 3 cups milk
• salt & pepper

You shouldn’t have a lot of grease left in the bottom of your skillet, but you’ll probably have lots of little browned bits - that makes the gravy extra tasty.  If your skillet got really hot during the meat frying portion, let it cool a bit so you don’t burn the butter.  Over medium-low heat, melt the butter and scrape up all of the browned bits and then add the flour.  Whisk together and cook for 3-5 minutes until your rue is a nice golden brown - stirring the entire time.  Then add your milk and whisk the milk into the rue.  You can increase the heat to medium if you’re impatient like I am.  Add a bit of salt and lots of pepper and adjust to your taste.  Keep cooking until the gravy is the thickness you like.

I think you almost have to serve chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes - it’s a gravy thing, and just to keep things slightly healthy, throw in some veggies.

Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up.  I was out of town on Friday and over the weekend.  I’m glad you all are enjoying it and thanks for reading!

Chapter 4

Jason’s eyes locked with Elizabeth’s and she could see the blank shock in them. She had no idea how long they stared at each other until Jake squirmed in her arms and drew her gaze from Jason’s. Elizabeth turned away and put Jake back in front of the television. As she moved back into the kitchen area, Jason simply stood and stared at Jake, drinking in the site of him. Elizabeth touched his arm and drew him towards the kitchen table. “Jason, let’s sit down and talk. This is what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Elizabeth sank into a chair and waited for Jason to sit across from her. As Jason sat he never took his eyes off of Jake. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He had a son. A son! Elizabeth had been pregnant when she left Port Charles. Why the hell hadn’t she told him? Why had she run away? Why had she lied to Sonny about her reasons for leaving? Elizabeth had kept his son from him! He had lost three and a half years with him and he wanted to know why. Jason’s mind continued to whirl and Elizabeth reached out and linked her hands with his.

“Jason. Look at me,” Elizabeth demanded in a soft voice. When Jason finally dragged his gaze from Jake to meet Elizabeth’s eyes, she gripped his hands, took a deep breath, and started to explain. “I found out I was pregnant right after you left. I though I had the flu, but after feeling sick for a couple of weeks it dawned on me that I might be pregnant, so I took a test. Well, I took about six tests. After I was sure, I knew I needed to talk to you. I needed to know what you wanted to do and I just wanted to share the news with you.” Elizabeth paused and licked her lips.

Jason swallowed hard and whispered, “If you wanted to talk to me about it, why didn’t you try to find me? Why did you just run away?”

Elizabeth glanced up from their linked hands and let out a surprised breath. “What are you talking about? Of course I tried to find you. I went to Sonny and told him that I needed him to get a message to you. I told him that I needed you to call me, that it was an emergency. I didn’t tell him I was pregnant because I wanted to tell you first, and frankly I didn’t trust Sonny or Carly with that information.”

Jason stared at Elizabeth for a long moment, searching her eyes for any hint of deception. All he found was truth, and it killed him. “That isn’t the message I got from Sonny.” Jason ground out as he pulled one hand free to rub it over his face.

“What do you mean that isn’t the message you got?” Elizabeth asked in disbelief. “I waited for weeks for you to call me. I bugged Sonny about why you hadn’t called until he snapped at me and told me you’d call when you could.”

Jason tilted his head back and let out a tired sigh. “I didn’t know you were gone until I got back. When I got back, Sonny told me that you had come to him and told him that you couldn’t handle my life anymore, that you were tired of the danger, the secrets, and the lack of a normal life. He told me you’d cried and said you never wanted to see me again.”

Elizabeth was stunned. She was so shocked she barely registered the sharp pain of betrayal she felt. “Oh my God,” she breathed. “I can’t believe Sonny lied to us like that. Why would he do that? Did he hate me so much that hurting you seemed justified?” Elizabeth paused as she thought back on the weeks after she’d realized she was pregnant. “Things changed with Sonny after you left. He wasn’t as friendly as he’d been before, and you know Carly never liked me. I had no idea that Sonny would lie to me about telling you I needed to talk to you. When I didn’t hear from you, I asked Sonny to tell you again. He said something about you being really busy and how I needed to grow up and realize that things didn’t always stay the same. Sometimes people moved on. I asked him what he meant by that. He told me that he’d talked to you and that you’d told him you’d found someone new, and you didn’t want me anymore. I cried on Sonny’s shoulder and he comforted me. He told me that maybe this was for the best and maybe I could do what made me happy now that I didn’t have to consider your feelings. I certainly didn’t want to trap you in a relationship you had moved past, so I packed up my studio and moved here.”

Jason toyed with Elizabeth’s fingers as he processed what she’d said. “Even after Sonny told me you’d left, I tried to find you. I asked everyone I could think of, but no one knew where you were. I even had Stan try to find you, and he couldn’t find a thing.” Jason paused as something occurred to him. “I wonder if Stan really couldn’t find you or if Sonny told him not to pass on any information. What the fuck is going on? Why would Sonny have gone to all of this trouble to break us up?” Jason lunged out of his chair and started to pace in the small apartment.

Elizabeth watched Jason pace for a minute and then asked the question that was nagging her. “If you tried to find me and didn’t know that I hadn’t left you, why did you return the letter I sent without even reading it?”

Jason stopped pacing and stared. “What letter? I never got a letter from you.”

“I sent you a letter after I’d been here about six months, right after Jake was born. I told you that you had a son and that you could see him any time you wanted even if you didn’t want to see me. I gave you my address and phone number and told you to contact me if you wanted to meet your son. You returned the letter unopened. I figured that meant that you didn’t care about anything I had to say to you, so I let it drop.”

Jason shoved his fingers through his hair, which Elizabeth idly noted he was wearing longer than he had when they’d been together, and he let out an exasperated sigh. “I didn’t get a letter from you, and if I had you can bet I wouldn’t have returned it unopened. Where did you send it?”

Elizabeth rubbed her hands over her face. “I sent it to the Corinthos-Morgan Warehouse because I thought that was where you’d be guaranteed to get it. I don’t understand is why Sonny would do this. What did I do to make him want me out of your life so badly?”

“That is a very good question and one that you can bet I’m going to get the answer to just as soon as I get home.”

“Jason, I want you to be careful. I think you should try to figure this out before you confront Sonny. Make sure you know what you’re getting into. I know Sonny is your business partner and I assume you still work for him in the other business, but I don’t understand why he would do this to his best friend. I think there’s something else going on.”

“You could be right, and I need to think about this. If I can’t trust Sonny, who can I trust?”Elizabeth sighed and glanced at the clock. “We aren’t going to solve anything else tonight, and I need to feed Jake. Do you want to stay for dinner? We’re having grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup from the deli on the corner.”

Jason smiled that shy smile that always made her heart beat just a little faster. “I’d love to stay for dinner. What can I do to help?”

“You can go play with Jake while I cook. He won’t watch the television for much longer and he usually likes to play with his toys before dinner.”

As Elizabeth made grilled cheese sandwiches and heated the tomato soup, Jason sat on the living room floor and played motorcycles with Jake. She could hear Jason talking to Jake and Jake chattering away – sometimes making sense, sometimes not. And when Jake laughed and Jason joined in, Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile. Her little boy needed his dad and she was glad Jason finally knew about his son. She had no idea how things were going to work out, but she knew Jason would make it a priority to spend time with Jake whenever he could.

After dinner Elizabeth gave Jake a bath and Jason read him a story before the little boy fell asleep. Elizabeth quietly shut the door to the little boy’s room and turned back to the living room. “I know it isn’t really late, but you’re welcome to stay here tonight if you want. I don’t have a guest room, but the sofa pulls out into a bed. I have to work the breakfast shift in the morning, so I leave here at 5:30. The woman across the hall is a retired school teacher and she watches Jake for me. She usually gets here just before I leave. Jake won’t get up until around 7:00, and Martha will feed him breakfast and then take him to her apartment until I get home around 11:00. On the nights I have to work early, I usually go to bed early, so I guess you might be bored staying here. I can recommend a hotel that’s close if you’d rather” Elizabeth finished in a rush.

Jason smiled and watched Elizabeth fiddle with her hair. She seemed nervous for some reason. “I would be very grateful to stay here tonight. I didn’t sleep much last night and today was a pretty emotional day, so an early night sounds perfect.”

As Elizabeth got ready for bed her mind wouldn’t settle. The events of the day kept running through her head over and over. She couldn’t figure out why Sonny had done what he’d done and she certainly didn’t know how she and Jason went about incorporating Jake into his life. His life with Sam, Elizabeth realized with a start. She couldn’t forget that Jason was engaged.

Jason came out of the bathroom just as Elizabeth was tucking in the blankets on the sofa bed. He could tell by the look on her face that she was thinking about everything they’d learned that day and trying to figure out what to do. He stepped up behind her and laid his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t think about it any more tonight. There will be time to figure this whole mess out. We can talk about it more tomorrow.”

Elizabeth sighed and rested her head on Jason’s shoulder. “I know, but I just can’t help but wonder. And worry.”

“We’ll figure it out. Somehow.”

The city lights illuminated the living room just enough so Jason could see to move around. Despite his claims of being tired, he found he couldn’t sleep. He had tried to shut his mind off, but after an hour of staring at the ceiling he got up and wandered around the tiny apartment. His mind kept circling around the lies Sonny had told - lies that had been designed to get Elizabeth out of his life. Lies that had robbed him of his son. Lies that would have kept him from knowing his son if he hadn’t run into Elizabeth at that gallery opening. The feelings of anger and betrayal burned through him, and yet he knew he needed to stay calm – he needed his legendary control in order to figure this out. There had to be something more going on because Elizabeth hadn’t done anything to Sonny to warrant that kind of animosity. Carly hated Elizabeth, but that was just Carly. Heck, Carly hated Sam. She hated everyone Jason had ever been with. In her mind, no one was good enough for him. So he didn’t buy that as a motivator. What he needed to do, Jason decided, as sit down and talk to Spinelli. Maybe Spinelli could find something in the organization records that would give Jason a clue as to what was going on. And one thing Jason was sure of, he could trust Spinelli. Spinelli was loyal to him, not Sonny. Having made even such a minor decision, Jason felt better. He turned back towards the sofa, but was distracted by a small sound coming from Jake’s room. He stepped across the living room and quietly opened Jake’s bedroom door. Jake was asleep on the tiny bed under the window and had kicked off his covers. Jason slipped into the room and quietly tugged the blankets back up over his son. His son! Wow. Jason still couldn’t believe he had a son. He had a little boy with Elizabeth’s dark curly hair and his own bright blue eyes. How were he and Elizabeth going to make this work? Who was going to pay for robbing him of the first three years of his son’s life? Because one thing was for sure, someone was going to pay, and pay dearly. Jason reached down and brushed a lock of curly hair off of Jake’s forehead and whispered, “I love you, Jake.”

CHAPTER 3

“Good morning, Mr. Morgan.  How can we help you this morning?”  The clerk at the front desk of the MetroCourt smiled pleasantly, but couldn’t help feel a bit nervous about the reputed hit man standing across the desk.  It was true that Mr. Morgan had always been extremely polite to him, but if what the newspapers said about him were true, Marty knew that he didn’t want to do anything to make Mr. Morgan angry.

“Good morning, Marty.  Can you ring Elizabeth Webber’s room for me please?”  Jason was still annoyed with Sam for declining Elizabeth’s invitation the night before, and he was annoyed with Sonny for needing him to come in to work first thing this morning, so it was now nine o’clock and Jason was just getting to the MetroCourt to see if Elizabeth was free.  Hell, if he was honest with himself, he was just generally annoyed at the world this morning.  It probably had something to do with not sleeping well and wondering what Elizabeth could possibly want to talk about.  Oh well, he’d soon find out.

Marty blinked and typed on his computer, looked at the screen, typed some more, and then hesitantly glanced back up at Jason.  “I’m sorry sir, but it appears that Ms. Webber checked out first thing this morning.”

“What do you mean she checked out?  I thought she was going to be here for a few days.”

“No sir.  She had a reservation for the one night only.”  Marty swallowed hard and looked down at his computer.  “Is there anything else I can help you with today, Mr. Morgan?”

Jason sighed and pushed away from the counter.  “No thank you.  Have a nice day.”

“Thank you sir.”

As Jason stalked out of the MetroCourt lobby he pulled out his cell phone.  He impatiently counted off the seconds as the call rang and then connected.  “Spinelli, where are you?” he snapped as he got on his Harley.

“Oh, StoneCold, the Jackal is partaking in the nectar of the gods at Mr. Corinthos-Sir’s place of business.  Well, place of legitimate business.”  Damian Spinelli answered in his roundabout and special way.

“Get over to the Penthouse.  I need you to do some work for me.  I’m on my way there now.  Sam should be at work, but don’t mention this to her if she’s still there.  This is business.”  Jason disconnected the phone and roared off on his bike.

When Jason stormed into his penthouse, Spinelli was on the sofa with his laptop running, a bottle or orange soda next to it, and a bag of bbq chips on the cushion next to him.

“Spinelli, you really need to get some better eating habits.  Orange soda and chips at nine o’clock in the morning is just disgusting.”

Spinelli was muttering to himself and typing away on his computer and didn’t even register Jason’s presence in the room until Jason nudged him with the toe of his motorcycle boot.  “Oh, StoneCold.  Hello.  I was just analyzing the benefits of diversifying my portfolio by…”

Jason interrupted by snapping, “Not now Spinelli.  I have something urgent I need you to work on for me.  I need you to find someone.”

“Are we finding someone for good or for evil?” Spinelli asked as he leaned back on the sofa cushions.

“I need you to find a woman named Elizabeth Webber.  Middle name is Imogene.  She is an artist living in New York City.  She lived in Port Charles until four years ago.”

“And may the Jackal be so bold as to ask the reason for this inquiry?  Is Ms. Webber someone of importance?” Spinelli asked as he started typing on his laptop.

“Elizabeth and I were friends.  She saved my life once.  We became close.  We were together for awhile and then I had to leave town on business for Sonny.  When I got home, she was gone.  I tried to find her then, but Stan couldn’t find a trace of her.  I’m hoping now that we know where she lives I’ll be able to track her down.”  Jason paused and moved to the window overlooking the city.  “She was the artist last night at Jax’s gallery opening - she paints.”  Jason sighed and shoved his hands into his jean pockets.  “She wanted to have coffee and talk last night, but Sam got jealous and butted in to tell her I had plans and couldn’t meet with her.  Whatever she wanted to talk about seemed important.  I need to find her so I can talk to her and figure out what happened four years ago.  Figure out why she left.  And Spinelli, if you tell anyone any of this, I swear I will hurt you.”

Spinelli glanced up from his computer monitor and smiled.  “Surely StoneCold realizes by now that he can divulge his innermost secrets to the Jackal and nothing will be revealed.  I am loyal to no one but you, StoneCold and I can be trusted.”

“I know you are Spinelli.  That’s why you work for me.  And I trust you to do the job right, and quickly.  I want results today.  I have some coffee business I need to take care of and then I have a meeting with Bernie.  I should be done by noon.  Do you think you can have something for me by then?”  Jason asked as he paced back across the living room.

“Finding someone in this day and age is usually quite simple and for the Jackal and his superior hacking abilities, it is a walk in the park.  I have no doubt that I can have the information you desire when you return from your meeting with the Perpetually Dour Accounting One.” Spinelli responded without looking up from his computer.  In fact, Spinelli was so engrossed in his search he didn’t hear Jason’s response or hear him leave the apartment.

“Interesting… no driver’s license issued by New York State.  Let’s see if we can find any employment records…” Spinelli muttered as he worked his way through cyberspace.  “Artist, gallery showing, that means an agent.  Agents have records.  Let’s see if I can find the press release for the gallery opening.  That should have some information.”  Spinelli continued searching until he hacked into the records of Barrett Management Services, Inc.  “Here we go.  We have an E. Webber listed as a client, but no home address or telephone number.  What about a contract?  Surely there’s a contract somewhere in this system.”  Spinelli continued muttering and typing for another two hours and had basically uncovered nothing more than he was sure StoneCold already knew about the alarmingly difficult to track down Elizabeth Webber.  Spinelli sighed and resigned himself to hacking into the Social Security Administration.  Hacking into federal agencies made him nervous, but not as nervous as the thought of telling StoneCold that he hadn’t been able to find anything.  So he took a deep breath and did it.

Thirty minutes later Spinelli had an address for an apartment in Brooklyn, a social security number, a place of employment – a restaurant of some kind, and little else.  But when Jason walked in the door, Spinelli was just glad he had something to give him.

“What did you find?”  Jason demanded the minute he closed the door behind him.

“I had a surprisingly difficult time finding information on the mysterious Elizabeth Webber.  But after much searching and stress on the Jackal’s part I found an address in Brooklyn, a place of employment, and a social security number. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to find more in the time allotted, but now that I have the basic information I can look for credit cards, utility information, and personal information.”

Jason shook his head.  “Don’t bother.  All I need is to know how to find her.  What you have is great.  I’m going to leave now and see if I can track her down tonight.  When Sam gets home, just tell her I had to leave on business – don’t mention Elizabeth.  I should be home tonight, but if I can’t find Elizabeth tonight, I’ll be home tomorrow after I talk to her.  This is driving me nuts and I need to know what she wanted to tell me.  I can’t let it wait any longer.”

*****

The flight from Port Charles to New York City was blessedly short, especially when you had your own plane.  Even with the flight and the drive to Brooklyn, Jason managed to arrive on Elizabeth’s doorstep by mid-afternoon.  As Jason sat in the car in front of Elizabeth’s building, he couldn’t help but wonder again why all of this had happened.  What had made Elizabeth leave?  Why hadn’t she contacted him before she left?  They could have worked things out, whatever those things were.  They had mattered to each other.  He could still remember the hurt and disbelief when Sonny had told him that Elizabeth had left and that she’d wanted Sonny to tell him that she’d decided she couldn’t live in his life any more – couldn’t handle the danger or him keeping things from her.  She had told Sonny that she hated that Jason was gone all the time and that his hours were so erratic.  She’d told Sonny that she wanted something normal, not having to worry if Jason was going to come home.  And despite that Jason had still tried to find her.  He’d loved her.  He’d had Stan search for her, he’d talked to everyone at the diner where she’d worked, he’d even gone so far as to ask Sonny’s wife Carly if she had any idea where Elizabeth might have gone.  No one knew anything and Stan couldn’t find a trace of her.  So, he’d put the hurt aside and had thrown himself into work.  He’d moved out of his room above Jake’s Bar and into the penthouse across the hall from Sonny.  And eventually he’d listened to Sonny’s urgings and asked Sam out.  And now, two years later, they were engaged.  But he realized that he’d never really gotten over Elizabeth leaving him like she had.  Well, he was here to put closure on that and move on with his life once and for all.

Jason got out of the car and walked up the two flights to the address he had for Elizabeth.  He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.  He could hear the television from inside the apartment, heard Elizabeth call, “Just a minute,” and then the door opened.

The stunned look on Elizabeth’s face made Jason smile.  She clearly hadn’t been expecting him.  “Hello, Elizabeth.  I thought maybe we could get a cup of coffee and have that talk you mentioned.”

Elizabeth stepped into the hallway and pulled the apartment door partially shut behind her.  “Jason… what are you doing here?”

“I told you.  I missed you in Port Charles this morning and it seemed like what you wanted to talk about was important, so I tracked you down.”

“How did you find me?  Did you talk to Brenda?”  Elizabeth asked, clearly puzzled by Jason’s presence.

Jason smiled and put his hands in the pockets of his jeans.  “Trust me, you really don’t want to know.  Can I come in?  Or would you rather we go out?  Or is now not a good time?”

Elizabeth’s mind was spinning out of control.  Oh God, Jason was here – standing on her doorstep.  What was she supposed to do now?  How was she supposed to handle this?  So much for living her life on her own.  So much for getting Jason Morgan out of her head and her heart.  She wasn’t going to lie to him.  A lie of omission was one thing - especially since she hadn’t seen or heard from him in four years, but lying to his face was something completely different, and she wasn’t going to dishonor their history by pretending that she didn’t have anything to talk to him about.  Elizabeth took a deep breath and raised her troubled indigo eyes to Jason’s clear ice blue ones.  “I can’t really go anywhere right now, but you’re welcome to come in if you’d like.”  And God help her when the shit hit the fan.

Elizabeth stepped back and allowed Jason to enter the apartment.  The first thing Jason noticed was the cartoon on the television.  And then he noticed the child sitting on the floor in front of the television.  His eyes snapped to Elizabeth’s.  Whose kid was sitting on her floor?  Was she babysitting or had she had a child since he’d last seen her?  The thought of Elizabeth having a baby with some faceless jerk made Jason feel sick.

Elizabeth stepped away from Jason, walked over to the toddler, and picked him up.  As she turned, Jason could see the child was a little boy dressed in jeans and a shirt with a motorcycle on the front.  “Jason, I’d like you to meet my son Jake.”

The breath rushed out of Jason’s lungs as he stared at the little boy.  Jake seemed fascinated by the stranger standing next to his mom.  Elizabeth leaned close to Jake and said, “Jake, I’d like you to meet my friend Jason.  Can you say hi?”

The little boy looked at Elizabeth and then raised his gaze to Jason’s and smiled shyly.  “Hi Jason.”

Jason couldn’t breathe and he couldn’t tear his gaze away from the little boy.  The only thing Jason could think about was that Jake had his eyes.

“Elizabeth?”  Jason managed to get out of his suddenly tight throat.

“Jason, this is my son Jacob Morgan Webber.”  Elizabeth looked up and met Jason’s startled eyes.  “He’s your son too.”

Yeah, I know it’s Thursday and last weekend was awhile ago.  I haven’t got an excuse except the week got away from me.  I find that with karate and yoga every night after work, the nights seriously get away from me and before I know it, another day has come and gone without a blog post.

Friday night I made Deb’s Chocolate Caramel Crack(ers) and wow!  They are so good and so easy.  I love a recipe with a couple of ingredients that doesn’t make a huge mess.  These crackers are a perfect combination of sweet and salty, crunchy and chewy!  Yum-meee.

Saturday was busy with my brother, sister-in-law, and my nephew.  That baby is quite a cutey and has personality to spare.  I like babies - when they aren’t mine and they don’t cry.  We did the whole family shopping extravaganza and had a great, but exhausting day.  Here he is with his grandma.

He thought a margarita sounded like a good idea.  Luckily, grandma was wise enough to put a stop to that!

Sunday was full of cooking for Easter dinner, but I found time to make Pioneer Woman’s Mac & Cheese for lunch and it is awesome.  It has just enough bite to be interesting, but isn’t so doctored up that you don’t recognize it for the comfort food it is.

The baby blanket is coming along.  I just finished the seventh block - five more to go.  Five more progressively larger blocks.  I haven’t heard that the baby has arrived, but I’m losing hope that I will be done with the blanket before she shows up in the world.  But hopefully I won’t be too far behind the arrival.

The responses I got to the first chapter were pretty positive, so I’m going to keep posting this story.  Let me know what you think.  I hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend.

More Than You Know

Chapter 2

As Jason stepped into the lobby of the Jacks’ Gallery he asked himself for the hundredth time what the fuck he was doing here. Why had he let Sam talk him into coming? He didn’t understand art. Hell, he didn’t even know who the artist tonight was. And he didn’t care. He would rather be at Jake’s playing pool and drinking beer than in a suit drinking champagne at some high society gallery opening. Maybe Jax would have some beer stashed in the back - if he was really lucky. He was here because Sam had nagged him into coming. She’d whined and cried until he’d finally just agreed so she would leave him alone. Sam had been so needy lately. She’d been driving him nuts. Always wanting to go and do things - things like gallery openings and society dinners - things she knew he hated. Why couldn’t they just stay home once in awhile? What was wrong with going to Jake’s and playing a game of pool? Why did they have to do social things? He sneered at the thought - social things - god knew he was anything but social. He wasn’t sure, hadn’t really taken the time to think about it much, but it seemed that things with Sam had been deteriorating for the last few months. Maybe that’s why he’d been putting off planning the wedding and using work as an excuse to be gone so much. Well, he supposed he’d have to find the time to think about all of this and see where he was and whether he still wanted a future with her.

As he stepped into the gallery he stopped. There was a petite woman with wavy mahogany hair in a backless knee length red dress standing with her back to him, talking with Jax. She reminded him of Elizabeth. Elizabeth was so tiny and she’d had all that gorgeous brown hair. Even as his mind started to go there, he shut it off. It would just piss him off if he started thinking about Elizabeth. She had left without a word to him. She had just given Sonny a message to give to him and he’d never heard from her again. As far as Jason was concerned, Elizabeth was out of his life and he was glad. And then the woman turned around. It was Elizabeth! The electricity that had always been between them sparked instantly. It was like they had seen each other four hours ago, rather than four years. Their eyes locked and they both stepped forward, without any conscious thought it seemed. And then Sam grabbed Jason’s arm and ran her hand down to link her fingers with his. The action snapped him back even as he saw Elizabeth gasp and take a step back and then turn around again. What the hell was Elizabeth Webber doing in Port Charles? How dare she come back now, after all this time.

Sam noticed Jason staring at Elizabeth and tugged on his hand to bring his attention back to her. “I think that’s the artist, Elizabeth Webber.” Sam murmured to him as they stepped out of the doorway.

Jason’s head whipped towards her with so much force she would have been pulled off balance if she hadn’t been holding on to his hand. “What did you say? Elizabeth Webber is the artist? This is her art?” Even as Jason snapped out the question, he couldn’t stop the feeling of pride that flooded through him. She had finally done it. Elizabeth had finally made it as an artist.

Sam staggered and righted herself, gave Jason a perplexed look, and said, “Yes, Elizabeth Webber. My understanding is that she’s a relatively unknown artist. She’s represented by Brenda Barrett, who is friends with Jax. I believe she’s from New York City. Why don’t we go introduce ourselves before we look around?” When Jason didn’t respond to Sam’s explanation, she shook her head and started towards Jax and the artist in question.

When Jason and Sam stopped behind Elizabeth and Jax, Jason could see Elizabeth stiffen and take a deep breath. She knew he was behind her. She’d always been able to sense when he was close to her, and he had had the same ability. Damn that connection for still being there. The pair turned to face Jason and Sam and Elizabeth raised her eyes to Jason’s. He could see the pain and uncertainty in her eyes, which made his temper spike. How dare she be hurt. She’s the one that had left him. She’s the one that had run off with nothing more than a message passed to him by Sonny, run off with no way to contact her, no way to find her and ask her what the hell went wrong. If anyone had the right to be hurt, it was him.

“Hello, Jason.” Elizabeth said quietly.

In some peripheral part of his brain, Jason felt Sam tense beside him, but his entire focus was on Elizabeth. “Elizabeth.” Jason couldn’t think of anything else, but just drank in the sight of her. As he noted all the changes the last four years had brought, he forgot that he was hurt and angry. After a long moment, Jason finally pulled himself out of his preoccupation and said, “I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”

She smiled - that little half smile she’d always had, just a little quirk of her lips. “Funny you should say that. I was thinking the same thing about you.”

Sam didn’t know what was going on, but she knew she didn’t like the vibe that was in the air. Who the hell was this Elizabeth Webber? She stepped forward and extended her right hand while keeping a firm hold on Jason’s arm with her left, “Since Jason doesn’t seem inclined to introduce us, I’m Samantha McCall, Jason’s fiancé. It’s very nice to meet you Ms. Webber. I look forward to seeing your work.” She looked between Jason and Elizabeth and noticed them staring at each other. “I didn’t realize you and Jason knew each other.”

The awkward silence continued and neither Jason nor Elizabeth seemed inclined to fill it. Finally, Jax said, “Elizabeth and Jason were friends when she lived here a few years ago. For a while I think they even dated. One of the reasons I was interested in having Elizabeth’s art shown at the gallery opening was because of her ties to Port Charles. I felt that an artist with local ties would be perfect for the opening of the gallery.”

Brenda noticed the charged atmosphere between Elizabeth and Jason from across the room, just as she noticed the annoyed brunette hanging on Jason’s arm. She excused herself from the group she was talking with and angled across the room to reach Elizabeth. As she approached she heard Jax’s explanation of Elizabeth and Jason’s relationship and couldn’t help but snicker to herself. If only things were that simple, she thought.

“Oh Brenda, lovely to see you. I’d like to introduce you to Jason Morgan and his fiancé Sam McCall. Jason and Elizabeth are old friends. I was just explaining to Jason and Sam how I stumbled upon Elizabeth’s art and that I felt it was perfect for the gallery opening.” Jax explained as Brenda joined the group.

“Hello, Jason. I’m Brenda Barrett, Elizabeth’s agent. It’s so nice to meet you.” Brenda shook Jason’s hand and then turned her attention to the brunette emitting hostile vibes. “And it’s lovely to meet you too, Ms. McCall.”

Sam pulled her gaze away from Jason and made eye contact with the stunning brunette standing before her with her hand outstretched. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Brenda smiled and turned her attention back to Elizabeth and touched her friend on the elbow. “Elizabeth, if you have a minute, I need your help with a painting Mrs. Anderson was asking about.”

Brenda’s touch snapped Elizabeth out of her trance. She swung her gaze to Brenda and smiled, “Of course.” She glanced back at Jason, but didn’t quite meet his eyes as she said, “It was lovely to see you again Jason.” Her gaze swept to Sam, “It was nice to meet you Ms. McCall. I hope you enjoy the evening. If you’ll both excuse me.”

Jason continued to stare at Elizabeth without speaking and Sam glared at him before stuttering, “Of course,” as Elizabeth and Brenda turned and walked away from the group.

As soon as Brenda and Elizabeth were out of earshot of the group, Elizabeth started shaking. “Oh, god. You have to do something. Please, Brenda. I can’t be here.” Elizabeth whispered.

Brenda glanced at Elizabeth in surprise. “I thought you had relaxed. You looked just fine when you were talking to Jax. What’s going on? Why are you so freaked out all of a sudden?” Brenda steered Elizabeth to the side of the room and behind a large flower arrangement set on a pedestal.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then another. “Brenda, Jason’s here… I can’t be here with him. I can’t do this.”

“Jason? Who exactly is Jason to you?” Brenda asked. As Brenda looked at Elizabeth’s pale face and pain-filled eyes, she knew. “Oh my god, Jason. You mean … that Jason? Your Jason?” At Elizabeth’s jerky nod, Brenda continued, “Why didn’t you tell me Jason lived in Port Charles? This is why you were so hesitant about this showing, isn’t it?”

Elizabeth nodded again. She didn’t appear capable of actual speech. She looked shell-shocked. Brenda grabbed her hand and dragged her down the hallway and into the ladies room. “Ok, Elizabeth. I realize this is a shock and you’re upset about seeing Jason again after everything he did to you, but you need to snap out of it. There are a hundred people out there right now who have come to see your art. You need to pull yourself together and get out there and promote yourself. This is your one shot. If you screw this up, you’ll be waiting tables for the rest of your life. Do you want to live the rest of your life as a waitress? Do you want to have to worry about paying the rent or making ends meet? Do you? Or do you want something better? Do you want to be able to live comfortably and afford the things that are important to you?” Brenda gave Elizabeth a little shake and Elizabeth’s breath rushed out. She blinked, and then straightened.

“You’re right. I can do this. I will do this. And after this is over, I need to talk to Jason. I need to tell him, but not here. Not with his fiancé there. Oh god, this cannot go well.”

“So you’re finally going to tell him? Interesting.” Brenda paused and studied her friend for a minute. “If that’s what you want, then why don’t you see if he can meet you for coffee after the showing. But, for now I need you to focus. I need you to go out there and be charming and witty and sell your art. I need you to pull it together and deal with your personal life after this is done. Can you do that?”

It took another couple of deep breathes, some powder, lipstick, and a spritz of perfume before Elizabeth felt like she was in control, but she got there. “Yeah, I can do this. Let’s go back out there and sell some art.”

And sell some art they did. Elizabeth talked to what seemed like every single person at the showing about everything from where she found her inspiration to what kind of paints she used to what she thought of the Yankees this year. There were a few people she recognized by name or face from the time she’d lived in Port Charles, but most were strangers. She had been avoiding Jason all night and thought he might have left, and then she found him alone staring at a watercolor of a bridge.

“This looks like our bridge.” Jason said, as Elizabeth walked up to stand beside him.

Elizabeth glanced at Jason’s profile and then back at the painting and couldn’t help but feel pleasure that he had recognized the spot. “It is. It’s the bridge at Vista Point.”

“I always loved that spot. I still go there when I need to think. You did an amazing job of capturing it. I feel like I’m right there.”

“Thank you. That means a lot coming from you. I’m glad I made you feel it because that place was always so special to me.” Elizabeth paused as she drew a deep breath and prepared herself to ask him. “Jason, I’d like to talk to you. There are some things we need to clear up - things I need to tell you. But, I’d like to do it privately. Maybe we could get a cup of coffee after the showing.”

Jason turned to look at Elizabeth, but she was staring at the painting. He started to agree to a cup of coffee because he really did want an explanation as to why she’d run away from him, but before he could say anything Sam walked up and hooked her arm through Jason’s, making sure her engagement ring rested on the top of his arm where it was plain to see. “Oh, I’m sorry Elizabeth, but Jason isn’t available to meet with you tonight. He promised me a romantic evening and I already have plans for him when we leave here. He doesn’t have time for an old friend. I’m sure you understand.”

Elizabeth glanced up at Jason and couldn’t read anything from his granite expression, but she could feel the anger radiating off of him in waves - anger at her for suggesting coffee or anger at Sam for speaking for him - she didn’t know. She waited for him to disagree with Sam, but he remained silent, staring straight ahead. Finally, Elizabeth smiled at Sam and said, “I understand completely.” She glanced at Jason and murmured, “Maybe we can get together some other time.” And she turned and walked away.

As Jason and Sam were leaving, Sam finally noticed that Jason wasn’t speaking. “Are you angry about something, love?” Sam asked as they climbed into the car.

Jason glared at her for several minutes while he wondered if she really didn’t have a clue as to what might be wrong. Finally he muttered, “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Oh, what has you so upset? Surely it isn’t that tiresome Elizabeth Webber. She seemed so … meek and unimportant. And I found her artwork completely uninspiring. I can’t imagine you ever being friends with her. And for her to even think that you would want to have coffee with her - well, you should thank me for saving you from such a complete bore. I mean really. What did the two of you ever have in common?”

Jason was speechless. Where the hell did Sam get off passing judgment on Elizabeth and making decisions as to who he would see and when? “Elizabeth and I were friends for a long time. We were more than friends. She saved me when I needed saving, and I did the same for her. We mattered a lot to each other. I wanted to have coffee with her and catch up. I haven’t seen her in four years and from the looks of things, her life has changed quite a bit. I cannot believe you would speak for me like that, and I cannot believe you would be so deliberately rude to anyone, let alone a friend of mine. I thought you respected me more than that.” Jason turned to look out the window as the lights of Port Charles passed by as the limo drove them towards his penthouse. More than friends, he thought. What an understatement. He had loved Elizabeth. He realized he had never told her how he felt, but he was sure she knew. Just as he was sure that she had loved him too. He didn’t think Sam would appreciate that insight into his relationship with Elizabeth. She was already acting like a jealous shrew, and he certainly didn’t want to add fuel to the fire.

“I cannot believe that you would expect me to be ok with you going out for coffee with an old girlfriend rather than spending time with me like you promised.” Sam pouted.

“I promised to go to the gallery opening with you, nothing more.”

“Fine. Be that way. If you want to see her so damned bad, call her and tell her you changed your mind. I can see where your priorities are and they clearly don’t include me.”

“Please, Sam.” Jason sighed. “Let’s not be overly dramatic about this. I’ll call her tomorrow and see if she has time to have coffee. I don’t need to see her tonight, but I don’t like you speaking for me. That isn’t new. You’ve always known that about me, and yet lately you’ve been doing it more and more often. Just so we’re clear, you do not speak for me. Don’t make that mistake again.”

Sam stared at Jason in shock. What the hell was this all about? Why had he gone off on her like this? She needed to think - about what was going on with Jason and how this Elizabeth factored in. “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

*****

The night had been endless, but awesome too! She’d sold her paintings! The showing had been a success. Jax was extremely pleased with the opening and Brenda was over the moon. They were out celebrating with drinks and dancing. They’d asked Elizabeth to go, but all she’d wanted was to go back to the suite and sit in the quiet and relax. There was something going on between those two, and Elizabeth wasn’t in the mood to be a third wheel - especially not tonight. She was too happy and wanted to hug that happiness and success around herself for the moment. As she opened the door to the suite she kicked off her heels and sank down on the sofa. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the cushions. She’d seen Jason. She hadn’t expected to see him. Hadn’t expected to experience an overwhelming feeling that she needed to tell him about what had happened four years ago. She’d thought she’d made peace with all of that. She’d thought she was over him. She’d thought he had made his choice and that choice hadn’t been her. And the facts did support that conclusion. She’d told Sonny that it was important that she talk to Jason and he’d promised to get the message to him. But Jason hadn’t called, and he hadn’t come home. Hell, he hadn’t even sent a letter - or a postcard. She’d waited weeks and had bugged Sonny until he’d snapped at her that Jason would call as soon as he had a minute. She’d even sent him a letter from New York after she’d been there about six months. It had been returned to sender - unopened. Why did she need more than that to get the message? Why did she still think that Jason might care? What was it in her that wanted to sit across from him and bare her soul? When everything she knew said he wouldn’t care. Elizabeth sat and relived all those moments that had brought her to where she was. All the sleepless nights, all the nights spent worrying about rent and food and paying the stupid electric bill, and she realized that she had given Jason every chance he deserved. Probably a few more than she should have. He had made his choices, and so had she. She was going home tomorrow morning as planned and she was going to pretend she hadn’t seen him. Her life was just fine the way it was. She certainly didn’t need Jason Morgan. Not anymore. She had done just fine on her own, and it seemed that Jason was doing just fine without her. With a sigh, Elizabeth got up off the sofa and wandered into the small bedroom off the entryway. She immediately felt a sense of peace. Everything she had been through and done had been more than worth it. She wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world. She stepped up to bed, “Sweet dreams, my precious boy.” Elizabeth whispered as she tugged the blanket up over her sleeping son.