JANUARY - DECEMBER 1997

After learning that then-fiancé Tim was busy making merry with one of her bridesmaids, Meg quickly declared "I don't - and I never will!" Then she fled Kansas for the sunny beaches of California, where she hoped to locate the cyberlover she knew only as S.B.

Once out West, our heroine fell off of a pier and into the arms of lifeguard Casey. Naturally, she mistook his washboard abs for shining armor, and assumed that he was the man of her cyberdreams. But after learning that Casey was a friend in deed, but not a lover in need, Meg suspected several other Beach boys of being S.B.

Had she only realized that the initials stood for "sexy" and "brooding", she immediately would've been drawn to the doorstep of Sunset's own pensive Englishman, Ben.

Ben fought his attraction to Meg from the beginning. "I think he has historically been interested in more feisty, fiery types," admits his portrayer, Clive Robertson, adding that, at first, Ben's attraction to down-to-earth Meg was "a safety aspect."

And the whole time that the two were getting to know one another, two feisty, fiery types were blocking Meg's path to Ben's heart. As if Annie's daily attempts to worm her way into Ben's bed weren't enough, Meg also had to face competition from the former Mrs. Evans, Maria, the not-so-living embodiment of the term "gone, but not forgotten."

Although Maria had perished in a boating accident years earlier, her presence was a near constant in Ben's life. Of course, this no doubt was due in part to the fact that he kept his beachfront home as a memorial to his first wife, with a faceless portrait and mysterious locked room beingthe main exhibitions.

When Annie recruited Maria's spirit (not to mention Meg's ex, Tim) in her efforts to come between Ben and Meg, it appeared that the new relationship didn't stand a ghost of a chance. "Meg was the perfect target," explains Sarah Buxton (Annie). "She wasn't jaded - she lived this simple life. Annie preyed on that and used fantasy to make Meg believe this horrible story about Ben."

Annie forged entries in Maria's journal indicating that Ben's insane jealousy had driven him to lure Maria into a cave. When Meg followed in her predecessor's footsteps, Annie and Tim, hoping to throw a scare into the farmgirl, arranged for Meg to be trapped!

Ben's rescue effort met with mixed results - he ended up trapped as well. But it was then that he and Meg made love for the first time.

Unfortunately, thanks to an injury sustained during a cave-in, he called out Maria's name in the throes of passion, and later forgot the encounter altogether!

When Annie's endless plots finally drove Meg back to her parents' farm in Kansas, Ben followed and brought her back to California after declaring that she was his true love. But after she and Ben made love for the first timesince their cave encounter, Meg discovered that his closet contained not a skeleton, but a bloodied sheet and pair of scissors!

Proving that love is not only blind but occasionally really, really easily convinced, Meg bought Ben's claim that the "blood" was actually paint. "Meg decided to trust the man she loves," explains Susan Ward (Meg)

To celebrate their first Christmas together, Ben presented Meg with her very own island, to which she invited all of their friends for a very special New Year's Eve party. It was a slash... er, bash none would soon forget! Speaking from the advantage of hindsight, Ward says, "Obviously, considering what happened, the island wasn't the best gift in the world."

JANUARY - DECEMBER 1998

Meg proved that she knew how to throw a killer party - complete with hacked-up bodies! When Mark unmasked the killer and found a familiar face - Ben's - staring back at him, it was the last thing that the brave deejay would ever see.

Although a crusty old sea captain named Grogan was pegged as the killer, Tim believed Ben to be guilty, and was so vocal in his claims that Ben eventually pushed him off a scaffolding. As Tim lay near death, it appeared that Meg was preparing to marry a killer ... or rather, his evil twin!

No one was more shocked than Ben when his psychotic twin, Derek, showed up. Determined to take over Ben's life, Derek soon had his brother in chains and Meg's emotions in an uproar - which was nothing compared to how Ben felt upon being forced to watch Derek put the moves on Meg through a two-way mirror!

When the sibs finally came face-to-face, Meg learned the truth about Maria's death: The first Mrs. Evans had fallen victim to Derek's bait-and-switch routine, too. After catching Maria in bed with Derek and not believing her claim of mistaken identity, Ben had taken his boat out on rough waters. Maria followed and drowned - although (listen up, Meg!) her body was never recovered.

Later, during a final battle with Ben, Derek plunged over a cliff to his death - although (listen up, Ben!) his body was never recovered.

With Derek dead and Annie wed, Ben and Meg are finally free to become man and wife - or so they think. Only Tim and Annie (who else?) knew that Meg's new pal, Dana, was in fact Maria, who (surprise!) didn't drown, but instead had amnesia. "As much as she wanted to remember," says Christina Chambers (Dana), "she worried that what she was going to remember would be worse than her life now."

JANUARY - MARCH 1999

Maria did manage to remember her life with Ben (but not the 5 years in between) and even claimed him as her own, but he ended up choosing Meg. Maria agreed to grante Ben a divorce. Finally, Meg and Ben were on their way to wedded bliss... or not! Enter, Benjy Evans. The son of Maria and Ben Evans. Where do Meg and Ben stand now? Keep watching!

Part of this is from Soaps In Depth Magazine