FISHER HOME

"Claire?"

Claire doesn't react. She sits still in the lawnchair, her eyes roving over the scene. Everything looks perfect: The lively garden, the charming house, the chat over fresh iced tea. It's like Leave It to Beaver frozen in time. Except she's pretty sure that June Cleaver never had to face a custody battle for Ward's illegitimate child, and she knows that no one's criminal first-love came back to haunt them full-time. That, or she missed some of the more interesting episodes.

"Claire?" Paula asks again, raising herself up out of her chair a bit as if ready to take action.

Finally Claire looks over at Paula. She is sure that the last several months have etched more weary creases into the older woman's face, that they have added strokes of silver that weren't part of Paula's sandy hair a year ago.

"You looked like you were a million miles away," Paula says.

"That's how I feel sometimes."

"You're still here. You always will be."

"I know, but--it's like I'm living in a different world now," Claire says. "The life that Tim and I had made with Travis and Samantha after Diane left town -- that all feels like it was some incredible dream or something. And now I've woken up and I'm back in the middle of all this crap."

"I told you, this situation with Diane will settle down."

Claire finds herself again irked by Paula's confidence in saying that. For a moment, she allows herself to be swept under by the currents that have been pushing at her from all sides. And when she withdraws from them, even after just that moment, she feels as though she is gasping for air.

"It's more than that," she says in a rush. "It's the fact that my life is completely and totally different from what I expected it would be at this point. All the planning we did was totally shot to hell. And now I have to deal with Diane and ..."

"And?"

Claire offers no response.

"Ryan Moriani?" Paula fills in. Claire looks at her with great surprise. "That's who that was at the apartment that day I came by, wasn't it?"

Claire's hesitation creates only the slightest blip in the conversation. "Yeah."

"Claire, what's going on? Are you still trying to help Andy Fitch get his mother away from Ryan's father?"

"It's more than that," Claire says, her voice thin. "It's like I'm tied to them or something. No matter how hard I try, I can't break away. I came to King's Bay, I built a life with Tim, my father was finally gone -- and then Ryan and Nick showed up and ruined everything."

Paula listens intently, attempting to piece together the story. She searches for one of the missing pieces: "Why did Ryan come to see you that day? Did you ask him to?"

"No," Claire answers vehemently, as if that's the most ridiculous idea she has ever heard. "No. He just wanted to ... I don't know. I think he wanted to talk."

"And isn't he aware that you hold him and his father responsible for Tim's death?"

"More than aware. But ... that's not enough for Ryan." She stops to exhale heavily, like she is forcing out her inhibitions so that she can fill in the picture for Paula. "The relationship Ryan and I had -- I told you it was volatile. It ended badly. Things happened ... things that affect both of us to this day."

She leans forward, propping up her elbows on her legs. "A lot of that still bothers Ryan, and I think he's looking to justify it or something by making things feel okay between him and me."

"But he's still involved in his father's business, right? He must know that you could never be happy about that."

"He does know it," Claire says. "But Nick has power over Ryan -- the type of power my father wanted over me but he couldn't have. And until Ryan is able to break away from that, he's never going to be what he wants to be."

Unsure of what to say, Paula nods.

Claire continues, her intensity mounting. "But that's no excuse. Ryan is still involved with Nick and he's lying to me about it, I know it. And that makes him just as much to blame for Tim's death."

Paula seems to be struggling with this idea. "Claire, neither Nick nor Ryan pulled the trigger on the gun that killed Tim."

"They may as well have. It's because they lied and deceived people and operated with absolutely no regard for anyone else that Tim is dead -- and they're going to pay for it."

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