Jax tried again to open the library doors but they would not budge. He still heard Thomas and Brenda in the hall laughing so he called out to them, "Hey, Thomas! Give me a hand, will you? The doors seem to be stuck; I think they've come off the track or something."

Thomas and Brenda came over to the library doors when they heard Jax call to them. Thomas also tried to force the doors open, but nothing happened. "Jax, on the count of three, grab the doors and pull. I'll do the same on this side. Maybe between the two of us, we can force them open. One… Two… Three!" Thomas pulled with all his might, but nothing happened. "Jax, let go. Let's try something else. Let me try to move them back and forth; maybe I can work them back on track." Thomas began to slowly push and pull on the doors, but got no resistance to indicate they actually were off track. "Okay, let's try again. One… Two… Three!" Again he and Jax pulled as hard as possible, but again nothing happened.

Brenda was becoming worried when the doors continued to stick. "Jax, are you sure the lock isn't jammed?" she asked, traces of fear showing in her voice.

"Positive -- the key is not even in the lock. I haven't locked these doors since we moved in." Jax suddenly had an idea. "I think I figured out how I can get out of here. I'll meet you guys in the dining room in a couple minutes."

Brenda and Thomas looked at each other totally confused; if the doors were stuck how was Jax planning on getting out? They both shrugged their shoulders and headed into the dining room as Jax had asked. They were surprised when they saw Jax come into the room through the kitchen door. "How did you get out, honey?" Brenda asked, as she came over to hug him. Jax could see the fear written on her face, so he immediately put his arms around her and hugged her tightly for a moment.

"It was easy once I remembered the secret passage to the kitchen. I wonder if this is why it was originally installed? Maybe the doors come off track a lot, so the passage is the only way to get out." He looked down at Brenda to see her starting to relax. "Why were you so worried, luv?" He rubbed his hands comfortingly up and down her back, feeling the tension begin to lessen.

"I honestly don't know. I just had a bad feeling, like you were never going to get out of there, or something. Maybe it was all that talk about ghosts the other day. I had the feeling someone was trying to keep you in the library for some reason." Brenda wrapped her arms around him again, needing to feel him as close to her as possible. "Promise me we'll have someone out to check those doors tomorrow. And don't you dare close them again!" The tone of her voice told Jax she was serious.

"You know, that's the weird thing about all of this. I didn't close them! I wanted to hear when Thomas got here, and I was enjoying you joking with Benton about the table setting or something. When I heard the knock on the front door, I started to put my work back into my briefcase, and when I turned around again I could have sworn I saw the doors closing - by themselves!"

Thomas looked up immediately. Things suddenly started to make some sense. Maybe Brenda's feeling about Jax being kept in the library was not so far-fetched, after all.

The look of fear returned to Brenda's face. She had thought the ghosts -- if they really were in the house -- were friendly. Trapping Jax in the library did not sound like a friendly gesture to her. She shivered slightly when she thought about what happened. When Jax felt her shiver, he pulled her closer to him and looked down at her.

"Are you cold, Brenda?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her again and pulling her close.

"Not really, I just got a chill. Thomas, what do you make of all this?" Brenda looked over at Thomas for an explanation. "After all, you were the one who first suggested we may not be alone in this house. Why would someone try to keep Jax in the library?"

"I'm not sure they did, Brenda. Why don't we wait until we get the doors checked tomorrow? If there is nothing wrong with them, then I'll answer your question. For now let's just try to forget about them."

Jax decided Thomas had a good idea. It was obvious that continuing this discussion would serve no purpose, other than to further upset Brenda. "Tell you what, let's not worry about any of this until after the doors are checked, okay? Now I don't know about either of you, but I'm hungry. Shall we eat?" He gave Brenda a reassuring hug, looking at Thomas over the top of her head, silently asking him to avoid the subject the rest of the evening. Thomas nodded slightly, acknowledging Jax's unspoken request.

The rest of the evening went without incident. They had a wonderful dinner, finally using the regular dining room table. When dinner was finished, they moved to the parlor for dessert and coffee. The subject of what happened in the library earlier was not discussed again. Once they were settled in the parlor Jax brought up the topic that was the reason for Thomas's dinner invitation.

"So Thomas, now that we're all moved in the question arises, when are you planning to start your real job?" He looked at Thomas with what could almost be described as a sneaky expression on his face.

"What do you mean, my real job? I thought my real job when I came here was keeping an eye on this house while the workmen were here, and on Brenda when she was here?" Thomas caught the expression on Jax's face right away and decided to play along with him.

"Well, I guess that was true then, but now that the house is finished and Brenda no longer needs your 'company,' it's time for you to get a real job -- one that pays a salary and makes you go to an office and everything -- you know, a 'big person' job!" Jax could not resist the urge to laugh. When he glanced over at Brenda, he saw that she had finally started to relax again, the first time since the library incident. He had every intention of making sure she stayed this way.

"What exactly did you have in mind as my 'big person job'?" Thomas asked, knowing full well that he had already agreed to take on the new job. He also could see Brenda beginning to relax, so he played along to continue to put her at ease.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe babysitter for the company mascot. What do you think? Think you can handle it?" Jax could not hold back his laughter any longer. His loud easy laughter quickly had both Thomas and Brenda laughing. A large part of the rest of the evening was spent joking about Thomas's prospective job responsibilities, but eventually the discussion did turn serious, as Jax and Thomas discussed the job he would be starting with Jacks International. They agreed that he would begin his responsibilities as Head of International Security for Jacks International on March 1. In the meantime, he would spend some time becoming familiar with the requirements of his job by working with Travis. For now he would continue to live in the company apartment in the Port Charles Hotel. Thomas had wanted to move out immediately, but Brenda had convinced him to stay at least until he was comfortable with his new job. She had promised to help him find his own place at that time. Reluctantly he agreed.

Thomas left shortly after 11:00. Once he was gone, Brenda and Jax headed up to their suite. Once inside Brenda walked over to the fireplace and stared into the fire burning there. (Obviously Benton had been busy during their time in the parlor with Thomas.) When she glanced into the bedroom, she noticed that another fire was laid in the grate there and also that the bed had been turned down for them and their nightclothes laid out on the foot of the bed.

Jax came up behind her, wrapping his arms tightly around her tiny waist. "What's up, Mrs. Jacks? You look a million miles away." He leaned down and softly kissed the side of her neck, never releasing his hold of her.

"I was just thinking, that's all." Brenda tried to cover what she had been thinking about, but Jax knew, he always knew.

"Thinking about what happened with the library doors?" He turned her around so he could look into her eyes. "Like I said before dinner, let's not worry about it until we get the doors opened and checked tomorrow. There's probably a perfectly logical explanation for what happened. After all, this house is over a hundred years old, remember. Those doors probably just got a little out of line, and now they're stuck. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, okay?" He looked deeply into her eyes, trying his best to reassure her. He wasn't sure if he was successful, since she pulled away and started to walk toward the bedroom without answering. "Brenda?" he asked as he reached out to stop her.

"What?" she asked as she turned around to look at him. He couldn't shake the feeling that what had happened tonight had scared her more than she was willing to admit.

"Are you okay, luv?" He took her by the hand and walked back over to the couch, sitting down with Brenda in his lap. "Okay, what's wrong?"

Now that she was safely sitting in Jax's lap Brenda was able to face the fears she had been keeping inside. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and snuggled closer to him. "I don't know why, but what happened with those doors really scared me tonight. It seemed like someone really did not want you to get out of that library. The idea of that locked door between us scared me. I can't explain it; it just did. Does that make any sense to you?" She had pulled slightly away from him so she could look him in the eyes.

"I think so. I promise, honey; we'll have those doors checked first thing in the morning. Now, don't you think it's time we get to bed? I have to reschedule some things at the office tomorrow because I want to be here when the repairman comes."

When Jax and Brenda came down the next morning, they both stopped suddenly in the foyer. As Jax looked over at the library doors, he was amazed to find them wide open, as if nothing had happened last night. They both looked at the doors and then at each other, not believing what they were seeing.

Jax was the first to regain the ability to speak. "Benton!" he called out at the top of his lungs. "Come here!" There had to be a logical explanation for what they were looking at, he just couldn't think of it at the moment.

Just then Benton came into the foyer, "You needed something…" Benton stopped in mid-sentence when he saw the open doors. "Congratulations, sir, you got the doors open. Should I cancel the repair technician?"

"I didn't open the doors, Benton. They were open when we came downstairs. I was just about to ask you how they were opened!" Jax walked over to the doors to look at them more closely. There were no marks to give some clue as to what had happened last night. Both doors looked perfectly normal. It suddenly occurred to Jax that Brenda had not said anything since seeing the doors. "Brenda? Are you okay, honey?" Jax took one look at her and knew that she was not. "Brenda?"

It wasn't until the second time Jax called her name that Brenda realized he was talking to her. She could not believe what she was seeing; those doors would not budge last night. She had seen Thomas struggling to open them. It had been like they were nailed shut. How could they be open now? This made no sense. "Jax, how is this possible? Last night I saw Thomas struggle to try to force them open. I heard you on the other side, trying to pull them open without success. How did they open during the night?" When Jax saw how uncomfortable she was with all of this, he walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulders. She immediately wrapped her arm around his waist and looked up at him, waiting for his answers to her questions.

"I have no idea, Brenda. I can't explain it. If we believe Thomas's theory that the Stanhopes are back in the house, that might explain it. One or both of them did not want me to leave the library." Jax could feel Brenda tense up as he spoke. "The only flaw in that logic is, why? What reason would they have for keeping me in there, away from you? Everything else that has happened around here, the furniture arranging, the scent of roses, the vision that supposedly told Jerry to stay away, have all been supportive things. They would be the acts of someone welcoming us into the house. What happened last night was not a friendly act by any stretch of the imagination. It just doesn't make any sense!"

Brenda could not relax the entire time Jax was talking. Everything he said made sense. Everything that had happened up until now had been friendly. Why, if Thomas were right, would the Stanhopes suddenly turn nasty? It didn't make any sense to her either. Unless they had done something to offend one or both of them. "Jax, do you have to go in to the office right away?" When he looked down at her, he knew she needed to talk about something. They had promised each other when they were remarried that they would always be there for each other when they needed to talk. This was obviously one of those times.

With his arm still wrapped around her shoulders, Jax led her toward the breakfast room. "I can stay as long as you need me to. I already told the office I would be in late because of the repairman coming, so they aren't expecting me for a while. Why don't we talk over a nice leisurely breakfast? What do you say?" He squeezed her shoulders reassuringly as they headed in to breakfast.

Brenda picked at her food all during breakfast, not saying much of anything for a long time. Finally, Jax couldn't stand watching her any longer. "Brenda, what's wrong? You've barely touched your breakfast or said a word the entire time we've been here. Talk to me, luv. What's bothering you?"

Brenda put down her coffee cup for what seemed like the hundredth time and reached for his hand. Jax knew her so well. He must have known what was bothering her, but he didn't say anything. He was waiting for her to be ready to talk on her own, without being pushed. "You know me so well, don't you? You're right, something is bothering me. I was just wondering if maybe Thomas might be right about the Stanhopes. Maybe they are back in the house again." She looked out the window, staring off into the distance, not really sure how to say what was on her mind.

"Brenda, what's bothering you? I know it has to be more than Thomas's ghost theory." Jax reached his finger under her chin and turned her face back toward him. He could see the confusion in her eyes. "Talk to me, luv. What is it?"

"I just can't shake the feeling that what happened to you in the library yesterday has something to do with me -- that I'm somehow responsible for making the Stanhopes do that to you -- lock you in there. Do you think they were trying to protect you from me for some reason?" Actually saying out loud what she had been thinking finally allowed her to breathe again.

"Now that's ridiculous, Brenda! Why on earth would you think they would want or need to protect me from you?" Jax suddenly had a thought. It followed Brenda's logic about the 'ghosts' being responsible for what happened but it had nothing to do with Brenda.

Brenda immediately noticed the change of expression on Jax's face. He was thinking about something. She could see the wheels turning in his brain. "What?"

"I just thought of something. Say I go along with your theory that one or both of the Stanhopes were responsible for what happened last night. What makes you think you were the reason? I mean think about it. Last night was not the first time something weird happened in that library." Jax suddenly realized that he had not told Brenda about the files the other night.

"What are you talking about, Jax? What else has happened in there?" Brenda asked as she got up and walked around to his side of the table and stood in front of him. "Why didn't you tell me something happened in there before? What was it?"

This had not gone at all the way Jax had intended. He had thought to ease her fears, and, instead, had only increased them. Time for some quick thinking -- and talking. "It was nothing important. It happened the first night I went back to the office, remember? I was working in there until dinner was ready. When you came to get me, I left several files open and the cabinets for the equipment either open or unlocked. Well, if you remember I never made it back to the library that night since I had more 'pressing' matters to attend to." Jax looked up at her with that adorable little boy face that she so loved.

"And…" she waited for him to finish his story.

"And when I went back to close everything up and gather my files the next morning, all the files were neatly stacked in the center of the desk, all the equipment was turned off, and the cabinets were all closed. I figured Benton had gone in to tidy up after he finished serving our dinner and before he retired for the night, so I didn't give it another thought."

"So what does that have to do with what happened last night?" Brenda was confused. She could not follow Jax's logic in this.

"Well, the whole time I was in there I kept feeling like I was being watched - 'tested' might be a better word -- like someone was making sure I finished my work. When you came in to get me for dinner wearing that amazing outfit, all thought of work was gone for the rest of the evening, but I got the distinct impression that I had failed some kind of test when I was leaving with you."

"So you think that what happened last night was what -- their attempt to make you stay until your work was done? Why?" Brenda asked. She was amazed that Jax was going along with her theory about the ghosts.

"I'm not sure it was them, more like only one of them. Look back on all that has happened. I think, if we go along with Thomas's theory, that all of the positive things that have happened were the work of Madeline Stanhope. After all, these things started happening before the library furniture was delivered, and since Thomas figures that Everett came with the furniture, he couldn't have been here for the furniture arrangements and Jerry's vision, if it happened. After all, there was always the scent of roses left behind when one of these things happened."

"Right, and it's only been in the library that we smelled the bourbon and the unpleasant things started happening. But, Jax, why? What could Everett have as a reason for doing these things to you?" Brenda shivered slightly, as a chill went down her spine. When Jax noticed it, he got up and put his arms around her, pulling here close to him.

"What was it Thomas said about Everett after Madeline died? Didn't he say that he became a workaholic? That would explain why he was unhappy when I left things unfinished to go to dinner with you. Maybe he didn't want the same thing to happen again last night, so he closed and jammed the doors so it wouldn't. Once I got out through the passageway, there was no reason to keep the doors closed anymore, so he eventually just opened them up again."

Brenda thought about all that Jax had said. It made sense, if you agreed with Thomas's theory about the ghosts. At least this way, if Jax was right, there was no real threat to him. He would just have to be careful about bringing work home in the future. If he didn't bring work home, Everett couldn't expect him to finish it before anything else. That would be an easy solution to all of this. For the first time since last night, she felt herself begin to relax. There was no danger to Jax, as long as he didn't bring work home from the office. She snuggled closer into his embrace and a slight smile crossed her face.

Jax could feel her relaxing against him. When he noticed the contented smile on her face, he knew she would be all right. Now all he had to do was convince himself that what he had told her made sense. Normally he was not one to believe in ghosts, but what other explanation could there be? He decided to try a little test one of these evenings to see if he was right about Everett Stanhope. In the meantime, he was just happy to see Brenda relax again. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, as he tightened his arms around her again.

In the shadow of the fireplace, Madeline Stanhope stood watching them. She could hardly believe what they had been saying. Her Everett would never do the things they were accusing him of -- or would he? After all, he always was consumed with his work. It was only at her insistence that he would leave it to spend time with her or the children. She promised herself to keep a closer eye on things around here. She was not about to let anything harm these two or drive them out of the house. These were the first people in years that she really felt belonged here. No one -- not even her beloved Everett -- was going to change that, she promised herself. When she noticed them heading toward the door, she faded back into the shadows so as not to be seen.