A Fresh Start

Chapter Fifty Three

After getting off the phone with Richard, William pushes another line and then dials the number to Colonel Mitchell's office. After a couple rings, he gets the Colonel's voice mail. "Colonel, I need to speak to you about the matter pertaining to Will. Please call me first thing in the morning?"

Hanging up the phone, he gets up and leaves the office. Walking through the palace he walks out to the garden and over to the ledge overlooking the beach and the ocean. Standing there, he watches as the moon rises.

Richard is finishing the last of the boxes in the study when the phone starts to ring, reaching for it, he calls. "I got it." "Hello." He says.

"Richard, its Reva."

"Hi. I need to talk to you. Can you come to the farm?"

"Ah, sure, Josh is still at the office, so I'll be there in a few minutes." She says.

"Thank you." Richard hangs up and then goes to find Cassie. She's upstairs in their bedroom. "Hey." He says, as he walks in.

"Hi, are you through with the office already?"

"Yes, and that was Reva on the phone. She's on her way over here."

"Okay."

"What are you doing?"

"Just putting the last of our stuff away." Cassie says, walking into the closet.

"Can I help?" He asks, looking into the suitcase.

"No, I'm almost finished." She says, walking out and finding him sitting on the bed, holding a picture.

"You cut your hair off." He says, holding a picture of her right after he had died.

"Yeah, that was right before Jeffrey came to town. I was trying to convince myself that I was fine and that I only needed to change my look. It's funny what we'll try to do to deny the truth." Cassie says, taking the picture and sitting it on the table beside their bed.

"Deny the truth?" Richard asks, turning to her.

"Yes, I was dying inside because you were gone. I had just started dating Edmund and I was trying to convince myself that I had what I wanted." She says, looking over at the picture.

"And now?" Richard asks, drawing her attention back to him.

"And now, you're back, we're together and we have our boys. Life is good." Cassie says, sitting down beside him.

"Yes, it is."

There is a few seconds of silence before Richard says. "I've been thinking about the press."

"What about it?"

"I think you're right, we should contact Vanessa about an interview. I'd feel more comfortable if it was Holly, but…."

"I can call and see if she would be willing to do the interview. She hasn't seen RJ in a while, and RJ hasn't seen his cousins since Blake became ill."

"If we can get her to do the interview, I think we should do it. I know it's not going to stop all the reporters, but we'll stop a lot of them."

"Okay, I'll call her." Cassie says, as someone rings the doorbell downstairs. "I'll…."

"It's probably Reva, so I'll get it." Richard says, standing up.

Leaving the room, Richard walks into the kitchen. Opening the door, he lets Reva in. "Hi." She says, walking into the living room. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Richard says, following behind her

"Your message sounded really important." Reva says, sitting down on the couch.

"It is." Richard says, sitting down in the chair across from the couch. "I spoke with William earlier."

"Is…?"
"He's fine. He's still at the embassy, but I didn't want to say anything on the phone, just in case. William called to tell me that they've processed the paperwork for them to come to San Cristobel."

"So, he can leave."

"As soon as possible, which I think is what he'll do."

"Do you think we should see…?"

"No, first I don't want to leave Cassie right now and second we don't want to draw attention to the location."

"I understand." Reva says. "And you're right. We can see them again, once they're settled in San Cristobel."

"Yes, and now we know that they are safe." Richard says, as Cassie comes downstairs.

"Hi." She says, as she walks into the living room. "Is everything…?"

"Everything is settled, they are going to San Cristobel and once they are settled and have been down there for a while, we'll go down to visit them." Richard says, as Reva nods.

"I need to get back to Cross Creek. I've got stuff I need to get done before Josh gets home." Reva says, standing up.

"Okay." Richard says, standing up.

Reva leaves and Richard turns to Cassie. "What?" She asks.

"What's going on between you two, besides the Josh thing?"

"Nothing that is the way it is now. She… we barely say more than a few words to each other when we're in the same room anymore." Cassie says, walking into the kitchen.

"Because of Josh."

"I guess, I mean she was dying of cancer while I was sleeping with her husband." Cassie says, reaching for a glass in the cupboard.

"You were…."

"Missing you, that doesn't excuse the fact that I took her husband away from her when she was dying of cancer and needed him most."

"Have you talked to her?"

"No, I don't know how to approach her anymore. I guess we'll have to be trapped in an elevator to clear the air between us again." Cassie says, turning to smile at him.

Richard smiles, as he walks over to her. "I know this is hard on you. You need her."

"Yes, I do, but I'm afraid I've messed that relationship up past the point of reconciliation. I'm keeping my distance and I hope that she'll forgive me."

"She will. Something will happen and she'll need you." Richard says, putting his arms around her.

After Jeffrey left, Sam walks back into the living room. Looking around, she realizes the job she's taken on for the afternoon. "Okay, so this probably won't be finished by the time he gets home." Sam says to an empty room as she walks over to the boxes stacked in one corner.

Over the next few hours, she unpacks different boxes, putting stuff away that she can reach or carry and leaving the heavier stuff for Jeffrey. For a couple hours, she unpacks the living room and then moves into the bathroom, putting her stuff in the shower and sink before she heads upstairs to put away her clothes.

While she's in the closet putting away a box of keepsakes she pulls down one of Jeffrey's boxes. As she's pulling it off the shelf a folder falls out and falls to the floor. Bending over, she picks it up and walks into the bedroom. Sitting down on the bed, she opens the folder to straighten the pages and notices that the folder contains his reviews from his time in the agency.

Slowly she begins to flip through the pages and reading the different comments from Jeffrey's supervisors and commanders over the years. Some of the things they say about him, she laughs at, some she agrees with. She's almost to the back of the folder when she finds the information about his parents.

Rereading the report about his mother's murder brings tears to her eyes as she imagines him waking up to police knocking on their door, telling him that his mother had been brutally shot in a botched robbery. And then later, finding out that the man responsible cut a deal to get off with a lighter sentence, by giving up information about one of Chicago's top drug dealers.

Flipping the page, she begins to read the information about his father when an entry catches her eye. "His father was from Oklahoma. That can't be right." Sam says, thinking back to one of their conversations when there were in DC and he was recuperating from the kidnapping in Belfast

"I used to walk around the neighborhood, when mom was at work. And I would look at all the men around and I would wonder if they could possibly be my father. I would try to pick out different things that I had in common with them. You know, the same hair color, eyes. Where my hands like the guys two buildings down, or did I walk like the guy two blocks over."

"Did you every ask her?"

"Yes, many times. She would never tell me, who he was. Just that he was some one she met at the bar. They had an affair and the last time she saw him, was when she got pregnant."

"She never told you his name, where he was from."

"No, and I assumed that he was from the neighborhood, because she never left it."

"Maybe Jeffrey was wrong." Sam says, looking down at the entry again

Closing the folder, she puts the folder back in the box and puts her box in the closet before she leaves the bedroom. She's walking downstairs when Jeffrey opens the door.

"Hi." She says, walking over to him and putting her arms around him

"Hi, how was the rest of your afternoon?"

"Good, I got a lot of stuff put away." Sam says, releasing him and following him into the living room.

"Wow, you did." Jeffrey says, looking around. "You didn't…?"

"No, I didn't lift anything that was too heavy, or move anything that was too heavy."

"Good." Jeffrey says, sitting down on the couch and pulling his tie loose as she sits down beside him

"So, what did you do besides the meeting with Doris?"

"Well, I had a meeting with Rev. Rutledge, Josh and Father Ray about programs they want to start for underage and at risk youth. And then I had a brief meeting with one of the councilmen and then I spent the rest of the afternoon looking over stuff that Stacey left on my desk over lunch. And when I finished with that I went to see Doris."

"What did she want?"

"She wants to cut a deal. She's offering information about Alan for immunity, thanks." Jeffrey says, as Sam hands him a can of Coke.

"Does she have anything concrete?"

"I don't know, I was going to call William and talk to him about it, but it was too late to call."

"William's involved with Alan."

"No, Alan… well Spaulding has a plant on San Cristobel and I'm positive that it's legitimate. But according to Doris all the information about Alan and his other contacts is at his house on San Cristobel. We have to have William's permission to come in and search the house."

"It sounds like you were busy. Are you hungry?"

"You were busy too." Jeffrey says, looking around the living room. Most of the boxes were empty and sitting by the door. The few that were still waiting were too heavy for Sam to move. "What are those?" Jeffrey asks, after swallowing the drink he had just taken and nodding to the boxes sitting in the corner.

"My books and they were too heavy for me to carry over to the bookshelves. I was going to push, I didn't." Sam says when Jeffrey looks at her.

"Alright, I'll take care of them when I get through taking a shower." He says, getting up.

"What do you want to eat?"

"Ah, why don't we go out?" Jeffrey says, turning back to her.

"We've got a whole kitchen full of food."

"I know, but you've been busy all day, unpacking. We can go out. It'll be faster and easier for you."

"Alright." Sam says, smiling at him.

"I'll be out in a minute." Jeffrey says, walking towards the bathroom.

"Okay."

As Jeffrey walks into the bathroom. Sam sits on the couch, looking around the living room. Really, she had gotten the room unpacked, except for the boxes of books. When she hears the water start to run, she realizes that he has nothing to change into. Getting up, she walks upstairs, pulling out a pair of shorts, boxers and t-shirt she takes them downstairs for him. Opening the bathroom door, she smiles when she hears him singing in the shower. Closing the door, after laying the clothes on the sink she goes back into the living room. About ten minutes later, he walks out using one of the other towels to dry his hair. "You didn't want to see me walking naked through the living room." He asks, sitting down beside her.

"I would love to see you walking naked through the living room, but I don't think the neighbors want to see you." She says, nodding to the building across the street.

"Oh well, they're missing something quite good." He says, leaning over to kiss her softly.

"Yes, they are." Sam says, sitting back and smiling at him as he lays the damp towel on the couch.

"So where do you want these books?"

"Really, it's only those four boxes. The other four can stay packed. They are the books from my office."

"So these four." Jeffrey says, getting up and picking up one of the boxes

Walking over to the fireplace, he puts the box down on the floor and pulls the top off. About thirty minutes later, he puts the last book on the shelf and then steps back, and then he turns to look at her.

"What?" She asks.

"It looks like a mini wall of potential chick flicks. Have you read all of those?"

"Yes, some of them twice."

"Harry Potter?"

"Yes, Harry Potter. I like them." She says, getting up and walking over to him.

"And do you have every book written by Danielle Steel?"

"No!" She says, slapping him. "At least there's something there." She says, as he leans over to kiss her.

"Alright, so you have a point, but can I at least put a few male type novels up there."

"Male type novels what! sports catalogues and hand tools, car magazines…."

"Very funny." He says, reaching for her and tickling her. Squirming, she starts to laugh as he wraps his arms around her.

Leaning over, he lightly kisses her until the need to really kiss her fills him and he pulls her closer to him. A few minutes later, he steps back and smiles at her. "Okay, you can have a couple of shelves for male novels, but your girlie maga…."

"I don't have any." Jeffrey says, leaning over to kiss her again. "I threw them away when I moved out of the Beacon."

"Well, I appreciate it, but now you've probably giving some teenage boy…."

"Exactly what he needs." Jeffrey says, releasing her as she slaps him. "Hey, I would have went nuts, if Mr. Holtzmeir hadn't've given me my first magazine." Jeffrey says, walking over to the couch and sits down.

"Mr. Holtzmeir?" Sam asks, walking over and sitting down beside him

"Yea, he was the old man two floors down in our building. Mom hated me going down there, but she wasn't there most of the time, so…." Jeffrey shrugs his shoulders.

"So you went anyway."

"Yea, she found my stash one day while I was at school. She demanded to know exactly where I got them the moment I walked in the door."

"What did you tell her?"

"That I got them off a kid from school."

"What did she do with them?"

"She threw them in the trash and forbid me to have them."

"And I'm sure you completely ignored her."

"After a while." Jeffrey says, with a smile

"You know, speaking of your mom, I was upstairs in the closet, putting something away and I found the folder with your evaluations in it. How did you get that by the way?" She asks, looking at him.

"Ah, Ditkins sent it to the Spaulding when I was running for mayor. I had Dinah get it back for me. Why?"

"Well, it actually fell out of the box when I was taking it down so I picked it up to straighten it up and I sort of went through it. "

"Okay."

"I found the part about your father."

"Wow, I haven't thought about that in a while, but I'm sure it's a mistake." Jeffrey says, remembering the entry in his file.

"Are you sure? You never asked about it?"

"No, I didn't know until I got the file during the mayor's race. And I haven't really been thinking about it. It doesn't really matter."

"But it says your father was from Oklahoma."

"Yea, I know." Jeffrey says, shrugging his shoulders

"And you're not curious about how they got that information?"

"No, it doesn't matter. I gave up finding out who my father was a long time ago."

"But…."

"Sam, drop it. It doesn't matter anymore. My mom's dead. I'm not in the agency anymore. I'm mayor and the town knows about my past so that file can't hurt me anymore." Jeffrey says, leaning over to kiss her softly.

"Okay." She says, sitting back.

"Why don't we go get something to eat?"

"Okay."

Getting up, they head to Company. Buzz is standing at the counter when Sam and Jeffrey walk in. "Hey Buzz." Jeffrey says, as they walk by and head for one of the booths as Buzz follows them.

"Mr. Mayor." Buzz says, noticing Sam, which Jeffrey notices.

"Buzz, this is Sam. Sam, this is Buzz Cooper, owner of Company and a Springfield staple."

"Welcome, I haven't seen you around town." Buzz says taking Sam's outstretched hand.

"I just moved to town yesterday."

"Yesterday, so how did you met, I thought you…."

"We used to work together." Jeffrey replies, cutting him off.

"Does Olivia…?"

"She knows." Jeffrey says stiffly.

"Okay."

"She's free if you want to go after her." Jeffrey says, looking at Buzz.

"What can I get you?" Buzz asks, ignoring Jeffrey's statement and turning to Sam.

"Ah, I'll have a garden salad and some water with lemon."

"You need to eat more than that."

"I'm not that…."

"Please Sam."

"Alright, can you bring me a chicken breast, broccoli, a small baked potato and some fruit?" Sam asks, looking at Buzz

"Sure, Jeffrey?"

"I'll have my usual." Jeffrey says, as Buzz nods and writes it down before he turns to leave.

A few minutes later, he brings them their drinks and then turns to leave as Sam asks. "What was that about?"

"What?"

"Between you and Buzz, it was almost hostile."

"Ah, you remember me telling you about how Olivia and I got together?"

"Yeah, you said she was engaged but that she broke it off before you got together."

"She did, but it was Buzz that she was engaged to."

"Oh." Sam says, looking at him. "Does Company cater?" She asks, turning back to Jeffrey.

"Does Company cater? Ah, yeah, I guess." Jeffrey says, looking at her "Why?"

"Because we need a caterer." Sam says, taking a drink of water.

"We do, for what?" Jeffrey asks, not realizing what she's thinking.

"For the wedding."

"Oh, the wedding, Ah, I'm not sure Buzz is the one you should ask to cater my wedding. In fact, I'm not sure I…."

"He's not going to do anything to you, besides is there anywhere else that we can get to cater the wedding?"

"Well, there's Towers."

"Towers?"

"Yes, it's the restaurant at the top of the Towers hotel downtown. It's expensive."

"Like how expensive?"

"Like Richard and Cassie expensive."

"Like they would want more than about six weeks notice before they cater a job."

"Yes, probably."

"So, there's Towers and Company, anywhere else?"

"Yes, but it's not an option."

"Why?"

"Because I fear that, more than I fear Buzz." Jeffrey says, as Buzz brings Sam her salad.

"You fear me?" Buzz says, putting Sam's plate down and turning to Jeffrey.

"I, ah…."

"Buzz, does Company cater?" Sam asks, saving him.

"Ah, yes." Buzz says, turning to look at her. "Why, planning a big party Mr. Mayor?"

"Sort of." Jeffrey says

"Yes we are; a wedding." Sam says

"A wedding, who's getting…. Ava." Buzz says, turning to Jeffrey

"No, it's not Ava. It's me." Jeffrey says.

"You, to whom?" Buzz asks

"To me." Sam answers the question, taking Buzz's attention away from Jeffrey.

"You're marrying him, moving a little fast, don't you think." He says, looking at Jeffrey.

"Ah, no, more like very slow." Sam says, looking at Jeffrey. "We would have been married twelve years ago, but extenuating circumstances got in the way."

"Extenuating circumstances?"

"Yes, he thought I was dead." Sam says

"Really, you have a way with…." Buzz says, looking at Jeffrey

"It wasn't him, it was me. It's really too long a story to get into now, but if those circumstance hadn't've come up, we would have been married twelve years ago."

"So, how did you find out that she was alive?"

"Richard." Jeffrey replies.

"Richard! Yeah I heard he was alive, something about the agency taking him to Washington DC and holding him there and letting Cassie believe the he was dead and Reva believe that she pulled the plug on her son's father. How much of that did you…?"

"Not everything is Jeffrey's doing, Buzz. I realize you're upset at him because of Olivia, but he's not…."

"He's not the reason she left."

"No, I'm not. That was her decision to make. I didn't force her. In fact, I had no idea she was going to break up with you when I left that night." Jeffrey says.

"That night, what night?"

"The night she broke up with you. I found her at the Lighthouse, crying. We started arguing as we usually do, but then it got to the point that we both realized that it made no sense, so she finally broke down and told me that she didn't see me as the man that raped her, at least that's what she said. We talked, and I told her that before we did anything she had to be honest with you and then I left. I didn't know she was going to break up with you right then and there."

"So…."

"So, it was her choice."

"I didn't know that. I thought you talked her into doing it. You had such a pull on her then, I felt it."

"I wasn't intentionally trying to take her away from you. It just worked out that way." Jeffrey says

For a few seconds, Buzz looks at him, nodding he turns to Sam. "So, you need a wedding catered?"

"Yes, but its a little short notice." Sam says.

"How short of a notice?"

"Ah, Labor Day."

"Where are you having the reception?"

"We haven't really gotten down to the planning. We know we're scheduled to have the wedding on Labor Day weekend around 6pm at the light house."

"I thought the Spaulding's…."

"We convinced the committee to give us a couple of hours between events." Jeffrey asks.

"Does Alan know?"

"No, not that it matters either way." Jeffrey says

"So what were you thinking?" Buzz asks, sitting down next to Sam.

"We haven't really discussed it." Sam says, looking at Jeffrey.

"It doesn't matter to me." Jeffrey says, shrugging his shoulders.

"Since it's coming so soon, maybe we should have something light, finger foods, fruit, cheese, stuff like that, instead of a full course meal."

"So, finger foods, fruit, and cheese, anything else. What about something to drink?"

"I don't really want a bar or alcohol served, especially since Richard and Cassie will probably bring Will and RJ. Maybe some punch."

"We'll add punch. What about the wedding cake?"

"The cake, I hadn't thought about that." Sam says, looking at Jeffrey.

"Ah, it's up to you."

"Would it fly in the face of tradition if I want just a simple cake, nothing really fancy, maybe a couple layers?"

"It's up to you."

"If you want a simple cake, we can make it and I won't charge…."

"You don't have too…."

"I owe it to him." Buzz says, looking at Jeffrey. "I think we have everything covered for that." Buzz says, writing everything down on a piece of paper. I'll draw up the menus and I'll fax them over to you." Buzz says, looking at Jeffrey.
"Actually, if you'll just give me a call, I'll come by and look at the menu." Sam says

"You don't want…."

"We don't want any added problems." Jeffrey says, looking at Buzz.

"Ah, yes. Then I'll call you Sam with the menus and we'll go from there after your final say." Buzz says

"Thank you, Buzz." Sam says, squeezing his hand

"You're welcome, and let me go check on your food." Buzz says, getting up and leaving the table.

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