By Caelie M. Haines, from Guiding Light, The Complete Family Album. Used with permission.
Nola Reardon was the pariah of Springfield after getting caught trying to trap Kelly Nelson into marriage by passing off the baby she was carrying as his (Floyd Parker was really the dad). Archaeologist Quinton McCord came to town trying to escape a past that had caused him nothing but heartbreak. They met in the gazebo of his Thornway Road mansion when he interviewed her for a job as a live-in assistant.
It was definitely not love at first sight. "He thought she was kind of flaky," admits Michael Tylo (Quint). "She thought he was weird,” declares Lisa Brown (Nola). "She was like, 'Who is this guy? He's kind of scary.' It was spooky." Tylo enjoyed his character's dark side. "I just thought he was so cool," he says. "He could have been anything from a vampire to whatever. He was just so dark and gothic. I loved it, because I think that kind of gothic romance is appealing to both men and women. It's more appealing than a couple of teenagers getting together, deciding who's going to the prom with whom. Older viewers like it, and the younger ones find it interesting, too, because it’s something they think is missing from their own relationships."
Quinton's gothic nature sparked Nola's vivid imagination, and he soon became the subject of her active fantasy life (NOLA'S FANTASIES) Although Nola always won Quint in her dreams, doing so in real life did not prove so easy. Even after their feelings for each other became obvious, something always seemed to keep them apart (usually another person walking in just as they were about to kiss). Romance finally came when Quint and Nola went to St. Croix to search for an artifact known as The Temple of Gold. Nola almost died while diving for clues to the Temple's whereabouts, and Quint came to her rescue, told her how much she meant to him, and kissed her for the first time. "People always remember that first kiss with Nola," Tylo says. "It was one of the most romantic things we ever did. It really turned that story around."
This happy interlude came to an end with the reappearance of Quint's ex-lover, Helena Manzini, who was running from Quinton's nemesis, Silas Crocker. When Nola stormed off after a fight with Quinton about Helena, Silas kidnapped her. As Quint was rescuing Nola, he spotted the Temple of Gold, but had to leave it behind when the volcano on the island erupted. Although he didn't blame Nola for the loss of the artifact he had searched for half his life, Quinton let Helena comfort him instead of her. Believing she would never be the most important thing in Quint's life, Nola decided to move out of his home. She was stopped by Silas, who kidnapped her again.
By the time Tony and Quint rescued Nola, she was seriously ill. While she was hospitalized, Quinton declared his love for her, thinking she was asleep, but she heard every word. Although Quinton was afraid to admit to her face that he loved her, Nola moved back to Thornway Road, and the two grew closer, despite the fact that Helena was also living there, butting heads with a jealous Nola at every opportunity. After Quint was almost killed in a violent confrontation with Silas, he was finally able to tell Nola how he felt about her to her face. But their relationship faced another roadblock when Nola learned Quint was hiding a woman named Rebecca on the third floor.
Like Helena, Rebecca had once been involved with Quint, who was paying for a series of operations to help Rebecca recover from a serious accident. Nola tried to be understanding about her, but Rebecca didn’t make it easy. As Quint and Nola were about to make love during a romantic trip to California, Rebecca called and interrupted them. Then she arranged for Nola to find her and Quint in a compromising position.
Quint finally got Nola to forgive him, but on his way to kiss and makeup, he and Rebecca got into a serious accident after she starting tormenting him about how Nola would never forgive him for his past. While he was in the hospital, Nola discovered that Quinton was the long-lost son for whom Henry Chamberlain had been searching. Quint did not want Henry to know of their relationship, but Nola couldn't keep quiet when Quinton was presumed dead in Tanquir, where he'd gone to prove his innocence in the accidental death of Archibald Renfield, Mrs.Renfield's husband and his mentor.
Actually Silas had been behind the explosion that killed Professor Renfield. Just after Quinton discovered this, he and Silas got trapped together in a cave. Silas died after a few days, and Quinton believed he was about to face the same fate, so he penned a letter to Nola to let her know that his last thoughts were of her.
Click here to view the letter written by Quint in Tanquir to Nola.
Henry and Nola rescued Quinton, who forgave Nola for telling Henry that Quinton was his son and shared a warm reunion with his father. "Quint's had two really memorable moments: the first kiss with Nola and the realization that they were in love, and the end of this storyline," says Tylo. "Most importantly was Nola, but also finding his father and reconciling with his father, who as an actor and a character was a true inspiration to me."
Believing they were free from the troubles in his past that were keeping them from a future together, Quinton and Nola took off on a romantic cruise. Although it was the perfect opportunity to consummate their relationship, he went along with her decision to wait to make love.
Upon their return to Springfield, Quinton and Nola once again had to deal with Rebecca, who was determined to spoil their relationship by telling all about her past with Quint. Nola didn't believe Rebecca’s claim that Quinton had pushed her off a cliff in a jealous rage, killing their unborn child. Actually Rebecca's husband, Samuel Pasquin, was the one who had pushed her, after seeing her on the cliff with Quinton. During a confrontation with Quinton and Samuel, who was going by the name Mark Evans, Rebecca shot Mark, who fell off the cliff to his death. Rebecca then jumped off the cliff herself.
Finally free of all the roadblocks that had been standing in their way, Quinton and Nola got engaged. Henry threw an elaborate antebellum ball to celebrate their impending marriage, which included the infamouscatfight between Nola and Vanessa when they showed up in the same dress.
Like most of their relationship, Quinton and Nola's wedding did not gosmoothly. The church they were supposed to be married in burnt down theweek before the wedding. Luckily the Reardons took good care of the firefighters, and they agreed to ride Nola to her wedding on the fire truck when her family accidentally left her behind. With Pachabel's Canon in D playing in the background, Quinton and Nola finally became husband and wife.
Married life was much less rockier for Quinton and Nola than their courtship, despite the fact that Nola found it almost impossible to get along with new sister-in-law, Vanessa. A month before the couple’s first anniversary, their son Anthony James (named after two of Nola's brothers) was born. Nola made sure the birth wasn't a typical one by going into labor during Tony and Annabelle's wedding.
Nola had a tough choice to make when Quinton was offered a job in Tanquir heading up the archaeological site he had created in honor of Professor Renfield. Although she didn't want to leave her new business, Nolaerobics, just as it was getting off the ground, she realized her life was with Quinton, and left Springfield behind.
CHARACTER BIOGRAPHIES:
Nola
Quinton
Anastasia
Silas
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