A Fresh Start
Chapter Eighty Six
After leaving his office, Richard goes to the court house and applies for a marriage license for him and Cassie. It took about an hour for him to get everything processed. When he walks out, he goes back to his office for the meeting with Marciano for the Chicago deal. His first encounter with Marciano was enough to tell him that he didn't like the man, but today's meeting only confirmed it, and when he left Richard was relieved that it was close to five. Closing down his computer, he walks out of his office.
"Amelia, is there anything else for today?"
"No sir. That was your last appointment."
"Good, I am going home." Richard says, pulling the door to his office closed.
"Yes sir." Amelia replies, closing down her computer for the day.
"I'll see you in the morning."
"Yes sir."
Richard leaves.
"RJ, I want you in the bathtub before you do anything else." Cassie says, as they walk in the house from RJ's football practice.
"Yes ma'am." He replies, headed upstairs to his room to put his stuff away.
"And put those clothes in the dirty clothes. Don't leave them in your room. I've got to wash them for tomorrow."
"Yes ma'am." RJ calls
"Mommy." Will says, walking back into the kitchen from the bathroom.
"Yes sweetie." Cassie says, turning to him.
"Can I go outside?"
"Sure, but stay close to the house. Dinner will be ready soon."
"Okay." Will replies running to the door.
"Walk." Cassie says, and he stops mid-stride. A few seconds later, he opens the door and Cassie shakes her head as she hears the screen door slam behind him. Turning to the stove, she pulls out a couple of pans and starts cooking dinner.
Will is playing with the soccer ball that Richard had brought for him the weekend before when Richard pulls up. Looking up, Will smiles before he stops what he's doing and goes over to Richard's car. He steps back when Richard opens the door and says. "Hi, Daddy."
"Hi." Richard says, reaching for his briefcase and getting out of the car. "How are you?"
"Good." He says, as they hug.
"Is your mom home?"
"Yes sir, she's in the house cooking dinner?"
"Okay. Stay close to the house."
"I will." Will says, as Richard walks toward the front door and Will goes back to practicing with his soccer ball. Richard stops for a few seconds to watch him and smiles. "He's really getting good." He says to himself before he opens the screen door and then the front door. He walks in the house and putting his briefcase on the counter he watches Cassie for a few seconds before he closes the door and walks over to her. Wrapping his arms around her, he leans in and kisses the side of her neck as he says. "Hi."
"Hi." She replies, moving back into his arms.
"How was your day?"
"Busy." Cassie says, putting the spoon down and turning in his embrace. "And you?"
"The same, what did you do?"
"I spent most of the day with Reva, looking for a dress for Sam's wedding."
"Did you find anything?"
"Yes."
"Good. Is that all you did?"
"No, after we found the dress, I spent a few hours at the Beacon, discussing the plans for the wedding and then I picked up RJ and Will, and took RJ to football practice."
"I forgot his practice." Richard says.
"It's okay, but he was really good. They did a miniature scrimmage and he scored."
"He scored, and I missed it."
"Yes, but you'll get to see him again. He was also named team captain again."
"Awesome."
"He's really excited but don't tell him I told you. And then after practice we came home. We haven't been home long."
"Okay." Richard says, releasing her and walking over to the refrigerator and taking out a can of soda. "So where is he?"
"He's supposed to be taking a bath."
"Alright." Richard says, popping the top on his soda. "I went by the courthouse today." He says, casually as Cassie goes back to cooking.
"The courthouse, why?"
"To get something." Richard says, walking over to his briefcase.
"What?" Cassie asks, turning to him as he opens his briefcase and pulls out an envelope. Pulling it out, he walks back over to her and hands it to her as she asks. "What's this?"
"Open it and find out?"
Cassie takes the envelope as she looks at him for a few seconds. Opening it, she pulls the papers out and then opens them. She looks at him again and then looks down and reads. "Marriage License." She looks back up at him and then back down at the paper, reading everything before she looks up again. "You got our marriage license, how?"
"Mel came by my office today and gave me the ruling for the death certificate. And when she left I went to the courthouse and filed for our marriage license. It took about an hour or so. We are now officially able to get married." Richard replies, as Cassie hugs him.
They hug for a few moments before Cassie leans back and says. "I love you."
"I love you too." Richard says, leaning in for a kiss.
He meant it to be a soft, simple kiss, but Cassie holds on to him when he tries to lean back, deepening the kiss as she sighs softly and he returns the kiss by pulling her to him. For several seconds, the room is silent until they hear RJ yell. "Mom!"
Jumping, Cassie steps back as Richard chuckles and she smiles. "I'll go see what he wants and we'll finish this later tonight."
"Okay." Richard replies, leaning in to kiss her again quickly before she turns and leaves the kitchen.
Walking over to his briefcase, he closes it and then walks into his office.
Billy walks off the Lewis Jet in Tulsa around seven pm. He looks around for a few moments before he walks over to a man standing in front of the hanger. "Mr. Olson."
"Yes."
"Billy Lewis."
"We have your car, Sir." Mr. Olson says, handing Billy the keys while he steps out of the way.
"Thank you." Billy says, taking the keys and walking around to the back of the car. Opening the trunk, he puts his suitcase inside before he closes it and walks around to the driver's side of the car. "Do you need a ride?"
"No, I've arranged for one of our service men to pick me up, thank you."
Nodding, Billy opens the door and gets in. He leaves a few moments later. He drives to his hotel and checks in. When he reaches his room, he pulls out the list of names that Wanda had given him. The first name he recognized. The man was related to H.B's personal attorney and he himself had worked for H.B. He had spent several evenings at Cross Creek while they were growing up. In fact, he and Josh had at one time fought over Reva. Billy smiles at the memory. Pulling out his cell phone, he dials the number that Wanda had given him. After a few rings, he gets the man's voicemail.
"Yes, this is Billy Lewis. You worked for my father several years ago before he died and I need to speak to you about an important matter. If you could please call me back at this number 390.555.3939, again that's 390.555.3939, thank you." Billy hangs up and goes down to the next name on the list.
For the next three people he leaves the same message and then he puts his phone away. Looking around the room, he decides to go get something to eat.
Later that evening, Richard walks upstairs as Cassie's coming out of Will's room. "Is he asleep?"
"No, he's waiting for you to tell him a story."
"Okay." Richard says walking into his room as Cassie walks down the hall to their bedroom for a shower.
About twenty minutes later, he walks into their bedroom. Cassie's lying on the bed looking through a magazine. She is wearing a soft pink robe when he walks in. "Is everything okay? I was about to come see if something was wrong." She says, looking up. He stops to watch her for a couple seconds.
"Its fine, he's nervous about school."
"He told me he was okay." Cassie says, putting the magazine down and sitting up.
"He is now." Richard says, walking over to the bed as Cassie starts to get up. "Cassie, no don't go in there." He says, reaching out to stop her.
"But he's…."
"He's fine now. He's a little worried about starting a new school but I reminded him that RJ will be there as will Emma, and I told him if he needs to he can have the principal call me and I'll come to school and get him."
"Richard!"
"I know I shouldn't've told him that, but he's scared and it's only for the first week. He'll be fine after he been there a few days and he starts making more friends. He's my little boy, I'm…."
"It's okay. I understand why you did it." Cassie says relaxing. "He's really okay about it."
"Yes, I think he will be once he gets there and he realizes that everything is going to be fine."
"Okay." Cassie says relaxing some more.
"I'm going to go get a shower. I'll be right back." He says, getting up.
"Okay." Richard gets up and goes into the bathroom. About twenty minutes later, he walks out with a towel wrapped around him with another towel in his hand and he's drying his hair. As he walks into the closet, Cassie asks. "Why didn't he tell me he was scared?"
"What?" Richard asks, walking back to the door.
"I said, why didn't Will tell me he was scared about school?"
"Umm, I don't know. Maybe he wanted to be brave for you or something."
"But he's just a little boy."
"He's almost eight, or will be in a few months. And he's not a normal little boy."
"I know, but he's my little boy and he can tell me if he's scared."
"I'm sure he will and I had to make him tell me so don't feel left out. He'll get to where he will show his emotions more, but it takes time to forget what he learned in San Cristobel and realize that he can be a normal little boy." Richard says, standing in the doorway and leaning against the door jam.
"Have you forgotten your training to be Prince? Do you remember how not to show emotion?" Cassie asks, getting up and walking over to him.
"I've forgotten a lot of my training to be Prince as to emotion. I thought show you a lot of my emotions, especially earlier tonight."
"I think you did too." Cassie says, putting her arms around him and leaning back.
"Where exactly did we leave off?" Richard asks, his gaze falling to her mouth.
"Umm, I think about here." Cassie says, leaning in and kissing him softly.
"I think you're right but I think we were closer." Richard says, pulling her to him.
"Yes we were." Cassie says, as he kisses her again.
Sighing softly, she moves her hands up his back to his neck, wrapping her arms around it. She runs her finger through the hair at the back of his neck as he drops the towel he's still holding in his hand.
Wrapping his arms around her, his tongue slips inside her mouth when she sighs softly, caressing her mouth and lips. After several seconds, he breaks the kiss and then swallows hard as he leans his forehead against hers. Reaching for the towel wrapped around his waist, she pulls it loose and then kisses him again.
Reaching for the belt on her robe, he pulls it free and then brushes it back so that it falls open. Stepping back, he looks down and then sucks in a deep breath when he sees that she's not wearing anything underneath the robe. Shrugging out of the robe she takes a step closer as she says. "I told you we would finish later."
"Umm, yes you did." Richard says, reaching for her and pulling her to him.
Bending down, he sweeps her up into his arms and then turns for the bed. As he's walking across the room, she begins to nibble on the side of his neck and earlobe, slowly running the tip of her tongue around the upper rim of his ear.
When they reach the bed, he lays her down before kneeling over her. Their gazes lock and they each can see the fire burning in the others eyes. Holding her arms out to him, he leans over her and softly kisses his way across her jaw to her ear, caressing her neck and ear as she had done to him while he slowly moves one hand down her body.
Laying his hand on her stomach, he concentrates for a few moments on the rhythm of her breathing. And with each breath she takes, the more ragged the rhythm becomes, forcing the desire inside each of them to burn hotter.
Laying down, half of him on the bed the rest laying across her, he slowly beings to move his hand down her body. He starts at her neck and slowly moves his hand across her upper chest. For a few moments, he lays his hand over her heart as he looks up and catches her gaze, shivering slightly when he reads the fire in her eyes.
Leaning up, he begins to kiss her gently before he moves his hand up, cupping her left breast as she sucks in a deep breath and holds it, waiting for him to continue. He stays as he is, laying there and watching her for several minutes. "Richard." She moans softly, slowly releasing the breath she was holding as she arches her back and reaches for him. She tries to pull him to her.
Moving closer to her, he hovers over her breast, letting the warmth of his breath caress her, while contrasting with the coolness of the room. He watches as her body responds to the heat of his breath. "Please Richard." She pleads, waking him up from the trace her body's response put him under.
Leaning down, he lightly licks her nipple as she sucks in another deep breath and moans loudly. Arching her back, she buries her fingers in his hair, and holds him to her tightly, reaching for more. Her response fills him with such intense need to satisfy her that he moves closer to her, caressing her with everything he can think of.
After a few moments, he feels her change again. Reaching for her other breast, he begins to caress it, massaging it with the rhythm of his mouth. She feels higher and higher waves of desire building inside her. The need to be connected to him completely burns hotter. Arching her back, she reaches for the rest of him, hoping that, that simple contact would bring relief to the fire building inside her, but she knows that the only way the fire would be extinguished is to have all of him. "Richard, I need you."
Looking up, he sees how close to the edge she is and as much as he would love to force her over that edge, her needs mean more to him than his. Moving up, he leans over her again. She looks up as their gazes catch and he moves into position. She sucks in a deep breath when she feels his body slipping inside hers, sinking deeper until they are totally connected.
Slowly he begins to thrust, as she wraps her arms around him and pulls him to her, holding him tightly. After a few seconds, he tries to move again, but she's holding him too tightly. Leaning over, he kisses her softly before he whispers. "Let me love you, Cassie."
She relaxes her hold, and he begins again. After a few moments, she begins to move with him, caressing him as he tries to move closer to her. They each try to satisfy the other, doing little things that they know will bring incredible pleasure to the other. Leaning up on his elbows, he sinks deeper inside, caressing her with smooth gentle thrusts.
Looking up, she groans. "Richard, I need you now and I need it hard."
Those ten words burn through him, forcing him up and he begins to thrust hard than he had been. "Cassie." He groans, feeling her closing around him, caressing him as she moves with him. Reaching for him, she holds him against her as the muscles inside her begin to clinch, caressing him from the inside out. "Oh, darling." He groans, feeling her caress and feeling his body respond. "I love… what… you do… to me." He gasps, thrusting deeper.
"I love it too." She whispers, arching her back.
From out of nowhere her release crashes against him, caressing him and forcing him to thrust deeper, reaching for and holding onto the desire he feels rushing through her. "Richard." She cries when the most intense wave of release collides with her soul.
That final wave pushes him over the edge. He thrust for the final time and feels the spasms of his release roll through him. "Cassie." He groans, laying his forehead against hers, and reaching for her hips, holding her tightly while residual waves roll over him, caressing him and bringing more pleasure with them. When he feels the final caress flow out of him, he collapse in her embrace, holding her to him she take a breath and then sighs softly, closing her eyes, and relishing the feel of his weight on top of her.
After a few moments, Richard rolls off her. Lying on his back he struggles to catch his breath as she moves over to him. Lifting his arm he lays it across her shoulders as she lays her head on his chest. "I love you." Cassie says, kissing the side of his neck. "And I can't wait to do this for the rest of our lives."
"Neither can I." Richard says, turning his head and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "And we're going to have years to plan, years to love each other, years to raise our children and I'm anxiously awaiting every one of them."
Cassie lays there for a few moments before she replies. "Sometimes it's hard to imagine that, or accept that I'm not dreaming. That this is real, you're real."
"I know, but we have each other again and we have the time to do what we didn't get to do before. I'm not going to leave you or the boys, if I can help it."
"I know." Cassie replies, moving closer to him. After a few seconds, she says, "I was a little afraid when you said you went by the courthouse."
"Afraid, why?"
"I thought maybe you had done something else."
"Something else, I don't understand." Richard says, pulling away from her. Cassie moves to her back and for several seconds stares up at the ceiling. "What did you think I had done?"
Turning her head, she looks at him before she says. "It doesn't matter."
"Cassie." He says, his tone demanding that she tell him what she thought he'd done.
"I thought… for a moment… more like a split second…." Cassie says, stalling and Richard realized it.
"Cassie, tell me. What did you think I had done?"
"I thought maybe you had decided that maybe you didn't want us to be together again, maybe you…."
"What!" Richard exclaims, leaning up and looking down at her.
"I thought maybe you had decided that you didn't want to be married to me anymore." Cassie says quickly, rushing through it while Richard stares at her bewildered.
"How could you possibly think that?"
"I don't know." Cassie says, sitting up with Richard following her.
"Why would you think I would ever leave you, would ever want to leave you or the boys."
"I don't know. It was split second thought that popped into my brain when you said you'd gone to the courthouse."
"Is it because of Edmund? Do you think that I haven't forgiven you for that, because I have? I know you were hurting and you were looking for comfort the only way you knew how. And in some sense of what happened I can see why you turned to him. He knew me, he knew you. He knew what happened…."
"Mostly because he was the cause of it all."
"That is true, but I have forgiven you." Richard says, reaching out to caress her cheek."
"And Josh and Jeffrey?"
"Jeffrey, was a little hard to accept considering what happened with the both of you in San Cristobel, I'll admit that, as was Edmund. But as you so eloquently pointed out to me, San Cristobel wouldn't have happened if I would have told you about Jeffrey in the first place, so I'm partly to blame for that. Josh, it's a little more complicated, especially since it obvious where his heart lies and has always lain. He and Reva have the same connection that you and I have. I wasn't here when Reva was sick, and I don't know what exactly was going on with you at the time. The point I'm trying to make, is you thought I was gone, dead, never to come back. I would have wanted you to be happy. And while I may not like some of the choices you made to be that way, in some way you were happy." Richard says, reaching out to caress her cheek as Cassie turns her head and kisses the palm of his hand before he pulls her to him. "I love you and I'm not going to leave for any reason as stupid as you trying to make a life for yourself after you thought I was gone."
"I love you too." Cassie says, wrapping her arms around his neck.
After a few moments he leans back and says. "Come on, let's get some sleep."
"Okay." Cassie says, releasing him and moving to lie back down. Lying down beside her he pulls her back into his arms.
Jeffrey is at the kitchen table, looking over some paperwork for Springfield, when the phone rings. Reaching for it, he answers on the second ring. "Hello."
"Yes, is Sam there?" Jeremiah asks.
"Who is this?" Jeffrey asks, putting the paper down on the table.
"This is Jeremiah Whitmere. I'm her brother."
"She's not here right now." Jeffrey says glancing at the terrace and hoping the she didn't decide at that moment to come inside, she didn't.
"Will you tell her that I would like to speak with her?"
"I'll be sure to tell her."
"Thank you." Jeremiah replies, hanging up the phone.
Jeffrey's laying the phone on the table when Sam walks in from outside. "Who was on the phone?"
"Your brother." Jeffrey says, looking up.
"My brother, he called again."
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
"He wanted to know if you were here and I told him that you were out."
"You told him I was out, but I was on the terrace."
"I know that." Jeffrey says, looking up at her.
"I could have talked to him."
"No." Jeffrey says looking back at the papers he was working on.
"No."
"Yes, I said no."
"J, I can handle my…."
"I don't want you handling your brother. I don't want you having to deal with anything he has to say to you right now. So I told him you were not home, and I'll do it again."
"Excuse me, but I'll decide to whom I talk to. My brother…."
"Upsets you every time you talk to or think about him, and that isn't good for you or our baby." Jeffrey says, getting up from the table and walking over to her. "I'm not trying to control you Sam. I've learned not to do that, remember. But I will protect you, when I have to. And you don't need to deal with him anymore, okay."
"J."
"At least till the baby is born and your better able to handle whatever he wants."
"I can handle what he wants now, but alright. I won't talk to him.
"Good." He says, turning around and walking back to the table.
"Speaking of my brother I need to call Megan. I want to find out if she's spoken with him recently."
"Okay." Jeffrey says, picking up the phone and handing it to her.
She takes the phone and dials Megan's number as she walks over to the couch. Sitting down, she waits for her to answer while Jeffrey halfway listens to her. After a couple rings, Patrick picks up. "Hello."
"Pat, its Sam, is Megan home?"
"She's upstairs, getting things organized to leave, why?"
"I need to ask her something."
"I'll go get her." Patrick says, walking over to the stairway. "Meggie." He calls.
"Yeah." She calls back.
"Sam's on the phone for you."
"Okay." Megan says, picking up the extension in their bedroom. "Sam." She says, as Patrick hangs up the phone.
"Hi." Sam says, sitting down on the couch.
"What's going on?"
"I wanted to ask you something?"
"No, you can't come back to DC, whatever has happened between you and…."
"This isn't about me and Jeffrey. Have you talked to my brother?"
"No, of course not, if I had you would have been the first one that I told."
"That's what I thought." Sam says, relaxing a little bit.
"Why would you think I might have talk to Jeremiah? He doesn't like me anyway."
"He called me the other night… actually last night."
"He called you. How did he get your number or know that you were in Springfield?"
"I don't know, but he called."
"How was… did he…?"
"He was as sanctimonious as ever." Sam replies.
"And he didn't tell you how he knew that you had left Springfield?"
"No, but he knows about the wedding?"
"He knows about the wedding?"
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
"The usual, but I didn't let him get too far. He called again a few minutes ago but Jeffrey wouldn't let me talk to him."
"Well I'm glad he didn't."
"You sound like Jeffrey." Sam says, looking over at him as he glances up and smiles.
"He upsets you, the situation upsets you and right now, you don't need to be upset."
"I'm fine where Jeremiah is concerned." Sam says, trying to sound like she didn't care and failing miserably.
"You can't tell me that, I know you. You want the brother you had before everything happened, and he just doesn't exist anymore."
"I know who and what my brother is. And I can live with that."
"You can survive with it. You don't like it and as much as you want to pretend to yourself, me and Jeffrey it hurts you and you want it to be different." Megan says, as Patrick walks into the room.
"Well, it's not going to be is it?" Sam says, getting up from the couch.
"No, it's not." Megan says softly. "You can't change him and he won't change. So you're sort of stuck in the middle. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to see if you had talked to him."
"Alright, then I need to go. Patrick needs me."
"Okay."
"I'll see you in a few days."
"Okay, I'll see you then." Sam says, walking over to the window. "Bye." Sam says, and hangs up. Looking out at the view of Springfield until Jeffrey walks up behind her and puts his arms around her, pulling her back against him.
"It's going to be okay."
"I know." Sam says, laying her head back against his shoulder.
"It's his loss." Sam smiles before she pulls his arms tighter around her.
The next morning, Cassie and Richard are up early. She's in the bathroom when she remembers the meeting with James that was scheduled for this morning. Walking into the bedroom, she says to Richard. "I've got a meeting this afternoon with the guest I was tell you about, the one that wants to recreate that Beacon across Europe."
"I thought you weren't comfortable with him."
"I'm not, but he wants to see me." Cassie says, walking back into the bathroom.
Richard follows her. "If you don't trust him, let Olivia talk the meeting."
"He's a client Richard." Cassie says, as she reaching for her makeup.
"I know he's a guest of the Beacon, but if you don't want to do business with the man, then let Olivia take the meeting."
"He doesn't want to talk to Olivia. He wants to talk to me." Cassie says, looking over at him as she stops putting her makeup on.
"Alright, but he's going to have to talk to Olivia anyway." Richard says, as Cassie starts to say something to him. "If you won't give it to her completely, then take her with you. She's a good judge of character, you both are. If she agrees with you then you're better off."
"And if she doesn't, then I have to convince her to see things my way. Do you know how hard that is?" She asks, turning back to the mirror to finish getting ready.
"Yes, I do. I was engaged to her, remember. But she has good instincts about people and business."
"Would you say that to Jeffrey and Sam?"
"She has good instincts about people and business, not people that she's personally involved with." Richard says, reaching for the comb.
"I think about giving the meeting to Olivia, but I don't want to look like I'm running. I'm not afraid of the man, I just don't trust him."
"Alright, but there's no shame in letting someone else handle something you're not comfortable handling."
"I'll be fine." Cassie says, putting her makeup away.
"You'll be more than fine, darling. You'll know exactly what to do and you'll stick to your guns." Richard says, following her out of the bathroom a few moments later.
"I'm glad you have such strong faith in me."
"I have more than that." Richard says, reaching for his suite jacket.
"I know." Cassie says walking over him and helping him adjust his tie. "And I love you for your faith in me."
"I have more than faith in you. I know you'll make the right choice." Richard says, leaning in and kissing her softly. "I love you." He says, stepping back.
"I love you too." Cassie says, reaching up to brush his hair back his forehead, as he reaches up to wipe the lipstick off his mouth and she smiles.
Turning, he opens the door and holds it open for her as they leave the room.