EPISODE 34
Written by: Bre L. Drew
Last Time On Town and Country
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In order to keep his shares of the farm Daniel swore he wouldn't disclose that she brought Steven's ex-wife and son to town.
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Antoine met a girl after accidentally backing into her car.
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Lynn told Tommy she would find someone to teach him how to drive.
FRANKLIN FARM: MAIN HOUSE
The nonsensical notes leading up to I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas our coming from the holiday playlist from Steven's iPhone resting on the charging dock on the mantle in the living room. Today marks an annual tradition in the Saunders clan of the tree trimming where each family member gets to put ornaments on the tree and to decorate the interior and exterior of the house.
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Sarah Lynn Saunders marvels at the seven-foot tree that Peter got from the seasonal tree lot. Even if it barely has anything on it yet it is getting her in the mood of the holiday.
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"That pine smells good, doesn't it? " Esther Saunders mentions. She has on a teal notch V-neck top with dark leather pants. On anyone else her age, it would seem over the top. Nonetheless, it shows off her curves.
"It sure does come to think about it this family has so much to be grateful for this year." Sarah Lynn says
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Martha Saunders comes out of the kitchen carrying two plates of freshly baked cookies shaped like candy canes, gingerbread men, and Santa Clauses.
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"The cookies are ready, Grandma would be proud of me for not screwing them up." Martha declares confidently.
For years Rosemary Saunders always made homemade cookies during this time of year.
She then takes a seat beside her cousin who has put the hooks onto the ornaments.
About fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rings.
"It's open!" exclaims Sarah Lynn and Steven in unison.
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Seconds later the door opens with Sean and Louise coming in their coats with the twins too following suit.
Exchange of greetings is made between the relatives as the Lockhart's hang up their coats on the rack near the door.
Sean and Esther begin talking about something happening out on the fields the other day.
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Sarah Lynn steps over to her eldest daughter. "Come on let's talk." she guides Louise into the kitchen where bowls and spoons were in the sink with water and dish soap.
"I know you did play a role in this whole open marriage with Sean, but I hope you came to your senses by filing for divorce."
Louise opens the cabinet to reach for a mug and starts pouring some coffee into it.
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"Sean signed the papers yesterday, our marriage is over, momma."
THE WATERFALL BAR
Tony Orlando's Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree is playing for the lunch crowd in the Waterfall.
Peter Saunders gives a fifty dollar bill to family friend and bar owner Mae Jackson, who is stationed at the register behind the bar. As she gives him two bags of various containers of food to take out whilst the family trim the tree at the house.
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As Mae is about to give him his change back.
"Keep the change, Mae," he tells her.
Mae doesn't hide her surprise knowing Peter isn't the type to normally tell anyone to keep money that is his.
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"Thanks, I haven't even got started decorating this place. " Mae says in a pensive sadness tone of voice.
Peter gives her a sympathetic look, "I know this time of the year is hard on you, I miss him too Mae."
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The first week of December has marked two years since her husband Horace passed away from lung cancer. And Mae notices that there are no decorations let alone a light has been set up yet. But it also reminds her of all of the holidays they have celebrated together and many more they won't get to share as well.
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When the Jacksons first came to town in 1989 from Atlanta when they first opened the Waterfall. Horace and Peter became best friends. And it was him who gave an emotional eulogy at his funeral in 2016.
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"It's hard, but I know that Horace would want me to keep going cause he knew that I have to. "
"Take it easy," Peter says.
He is heading for the double doors when he sees Daniel Covington entering.
Daniel claps together his gloved hands. "Who knew a potential meeting with a client, that I would run into the man I needed to speak to."
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"I wish I could say the same Danny Boy." Peter retorts. "I'm on my way out so excuse me," he adds.
"If I were you I would listen to what I have to say. "Daniel says authoritatively.
Peter knows how Daniel ultimately blackmailed his sister into keeping his shares in exchange for his silence that Esther was trying to break up Steven and his daughter so she can get the twenty-percent of the farm so the land and the business can be in complete control of the Saunders family again.
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Daniel gestures for the two of them to take a seat at the booth with a window view of the parking lot.
"I've been in touch with Lyle Wysocki, apparently is in search of new products in his stores. " Daniel informs him
Lyle Wysocki is the head of MarketFresh, a popular chain of grocery stores located primarily in the Southern and Midwestern United States. However, Peter knows that Lyle is quite particular of what comes in and out of his businesses.
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"And let me guess you used your powers of deception to put the bug in his ear that Franklin Farm has the best dairy items? " Peter assumes
"Anyway he told me he will be in touch in the new year, I know whatever problems we have can be overlooked especially if this gets us in those stores."
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Peter laughs at his adversary, "You got some nerve boy,"
"I thought we could at least have a conversation like two grown men, but I guess I was wrong. " Daniel says honestly.
Against his better judgment he decides to tell Daniel to continue trying to convince him on this potential business opportunity.
Behind the bar, Antoine Hall gives out a glass of white wine to a customer who goes back to the table with her co-workers.
Mae comes over to him seeing him wiping down the sticky counter in front of him.
"It is getting crowded in here ain't it?" Mae says
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"Yeah"
Antoine puts down the towel on the counter he knows that she is concerned about him since he confided in her that he still has feelings for her granddaughter despite her dating Max Covington whom she sees taken with. Though he keeps remembering what she told him to move on with his life which he is trying to do.
He is so wrapped up in his mind that he hadn't noticed Mae trying to get his attention.
"Don't tell me you already forgot about me?"
Antoine instantly recognizes the girl whom he accidentally hit the front bumper of her car when he was backing out on Main Street.
Honestly, he thought he wouldn't see her again. Her hair is in a bun with a slim black hairband wearing a pink perfect roll-tab sleeve tunic with black slacks. In her hands, she is holding onto her purse with pink roses on it
"You know you didn't tell me your name when we first met. " Antoine brings up.
The young lady smiles and holds out her hand for him to shake. "Nichelle Austin. I'll take a beer on tap please."
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FRANKLIN FARM: MAIN HOUSE
Tanner and Lynn Lockhart our in the living room hanging stockings along the fireplace.
"Come on Tan-Tan please help a sister out." Lynn pleads with her fraternal twin sister.
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Tanner pushes her glasses on her face." No way on earth do I want to spend hours in close quarters with Tommy Covington. "
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Lynn realized when she told Tommy that he would find someone to teach him how to drive. She knew it would have to be Tanner because Lynn has been punished from skipping school so she wouldn't be able to drive until she gets her grades up.
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"Can his father hire a private teacher or anybody else? "Tanner says with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"No, I told him that I knew someone, you're that someone, he likes you." Lynn says
Tanner laughs
Tommy is probably used to going out with daughters of former supermodels and heads of fortune 500 companies. Not someone who comes from small-town Kentucky who has never had a boyfriend before.
"I mean he calls you teach, you two want to go college, you guys got stuff in common. "
Tanner is silent as she straightens one of the stockings.
"We're going to be going to school with him for the rest of the year we might as well both be nice to him. "
Tanner sighs heavily. "All right, I will teach him how to drive, that does not mean I have to be his best friend."
Lynn walks over to her kissing her sister on the cheek then drapes her arm around her. "I owe you and by the way, no other boy will ever take my place as your best friend."
The two of them mood changes when their father approaches them.
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"I know that you two are pissed at me, I understand that but for today can we try and get along in your grandparents' house?" Sean says
The two give each other looks of reluctance.
"Dad when you're done getting those lights set up outside, could you give us some cokes," Lynn responds trying not to sound jaded.
White Christmas by the Drifters is now coming from the dock as Martha, Steven and Esther our putting ornaments on the branches of the tree.
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Esther shows her son and niece the trinket of a bronze Arabian horse that has seen plenty of Christmases over the decades.
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"Funny enough Steven, your father got me this when he proposed to me at Christmas. " Esther tells the both of them.
"Speaking of him, I talked to him yesterday." Steven says staggering whether or not should he admit in the presence of his mother.
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The two gotten divorced when Esther was pregnant with Steven. She hadn't wanted to uproot her life as a result of Roy Sullivan going around the world as his fame risen in the rodeo circuit.
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"How is he? " Esther asks mostly pleasantly.
Steven places an ornament of an acorn on the tree. "Good, he and Cybil our spending the holidays with her family in Texas this year. "
Cybil is Roy's current wife, the two of them have been married for sixteen years living on the ranch in Oklahoma.
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Martha puts her hand on her back which is hurting from being pregnant she then puts the other hand on her growing belly.
"I talked to Uncle John on Facebook this morning. "
"What is up with my kin talking to my ex-husbands? " Esther demands with humor and honesty.
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Martha explains that John is doing good as well, life is treating him well in Wyoming.
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Esther recalls their marriage it happened a few months after her father passed away. He offered her to help pay on the loan that the family owed Patrick Covington in order to save the farm from hardships. She, on the other hand, would be part of society. Funny enough the two actually fell in love, and it turned out to be her longest marriage. The two parted ways amicably about twenty years ago when he gave her a nice divorce settlement which she used to purchase the land for the stables. He moved to be closer to his daughter Juliet, her husband, and grandchildren.
"I guess I should count my blessings that bastard I married briefly is longer with us. " Esther says
Steven and Martha laughs uncomfortably at her statement.
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Esther's second husband was banker Obadiah Wyatt, whom she married on a rebound when Steven was a toddler. Although, unbeknownst to her he was carrying on an affair with Peter's childhood friend Jeffrey Hawthorne impressionable little sister Marie. Being lonely she forgave him, Though she found out that he was still a lothario, so she divorced him. However, a year later or so Obadiah turned up murdered. Somehow the police foolishly charged Esther with the murder. She spent time away in prison upstate away from her little boy and family. She was later cleared and the murderer turned out to be Obadiah's mousy secretary Mildred Geiss who was carrying on an affair with him.
Esther reflectively hangs the horse on the tree seeing how far she came from that rowdy but insecure girl she was in the past.
Peter walks through the door with bags in his hand. "Food is here!"
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"About time daddy," Martha says
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"I would've been here sooner baby girl but uh -- I ran into Daniel Covington at the bar. "
Peter's older sister folds her arms across her chest. "What does he want this time? " she says expecting just about anything from that man.
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He summarizes his discussion with him about Daniel wanting their items in the MarketFresh grocery stores. Believing he knows what it takes to make that into a reality.
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Esther presents a look of hesitation to the thought of working with the man who is full of himself that has the percentage of her family's farm then remembers her brother telling her they have control due to them having the majority of the shares of the farm.
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"Let's not focus on work, this tree is coming along all right. " Peter says changing the subject realizing that his family is more important.
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Louise is nursing her cup of coffee whilst she is expressing how she went down to the courthouse to file for divorce, giving Sean his divorce papers and how he finally signed them yesterday.
"Do you know when you're going to tell the girls? " Sarah Lynn asks while she is washing dishes.
Louise takes a sip of her drink. "No, I don't -- I know it has to be done. "
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Sarah Lynn turns the faucet off, and she turns to face her eldest daughter.
"To tell you the truth, it is never going to be the right time to tell your children that their parents are getting a divorce, Louise. "
The clearing of Sean's throat makes them silent figuring he overheard them talking. He goes to the refrigerator to grab the two cans of Coca-Cola for Lynn and Tanner.
Sean chuckles. "I guess, I'm all kind of names in the book huh Sarah?! "
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"No, you made your own choices in your marriage, My main concerns are for my daughter and my granddaughters, their well-being. " Sarah Lynn says
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She gives him one more glance before she exits out of the room.
"My mother is right, we can't keep putting off telling the girls we're splitting up Sean. " Louise says forcefully.
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Louise puts her empty cup on the table "It's not about us, they are going to know when you and your belongings are gone out of the house. "After Christmas, we have to tell them about what is going on but importantly remind them that we'll always be there no matter what. Come on let's get back out here before everyone gets to wondering where we both are."
Sean waits for a few seconds before he follows her out.
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THE WATERFALL BAR
Antoine lost count on how long he has been talking with Nichelle. He found out that she is in her third year of law school at Sampson University and hails from Detroit.
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"Once again I apologize about the car." Antoine says candidly.
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Nichelle waves it off with her hand. "Don't worry about it, my roommate's boyfriend is a mechanic, he owes me, for spending all of his damn free time at the apartment." I hope you're looking where you going when you get behind the wheel."
"Yeah" he smiles at her.
Nichelle gets up from the stool. "I better get going, I need to pick up some stuff from the non-profit law firm that I work at."
Antoine admits to himself that he does enjoy the girl's company. He then gets a sly idea in his head. " Hey, Nichelle, what are you doing tomorrow night? "
"What do you have planned?" she asks cautiously.
"Upstairs, dinner 7:30 " Antoine offers confidently.
Nichelle bites her lip. " Sure. " She then makes her way out of the bar.
"I show you that I can move on," he says surely.
FRANKLIN FARM: MAIN HOUSE
A jazzy version of Winter Wonderland, making the moments even more atmospheric in the living room. Esther is seeking assistance from Steven and the twins to take a snapshot on her phone.
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Meanwhile, Sean is standing close to the staircase where he slowly realizes that he wouldn't be celebrating any more holidays in this house as Louise's husband. Soon it will be just the place where he works outside of and his day
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Peter puts his arm around his wife both staring at the completely furbish tree.
Then Martha waddles over to the two of them in which he takes her in to join them.
Louise seeks her attention to her husband who she can tell that he would rather be anyone else but here.
She is about to go over to him, but she feels the familiar touch of her mother pulling her in to be surrounded by her father and her little sister. They all look at the top of the tree where the star is shining brightly. In a way, Sarah Lynn looks to it hoping for a better future for her family.
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END OF EPISODE
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ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF TOWN AND COUNTRY
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Antoine tries to make Shauna jealous
Steven gives Courtney some advice
And Much More!
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