A Fresh Start
Chapter One Hundred Twenty Four
Billy is leaving Lewis as Reva is coming in. "Billy." She says when she looks up and sees him.
"What's up, darlin." He says, as she walks up.
"How is Sam's house going?"
"It's moving along."
"Are you going to have it finished by the time they get back?"
"If we don't we'll be close."
"Good. Listen, could you get away from the site on Thursday night?"
"Why? Jeffrey and Sam don't come home until Friday."
"This isn't about Jeffrey and Sam. Cassie wants us to come to the farm for dinner. She has something she wants to tell us."
"Okay, she didn't say what it was about?"
"No."
"Alright, I'll be there."
"Good."
"You know, speaking of a family dinner, we should plan another one."
"Why?"
"For Jeffrey and Sam."
"Josh will not go for that."
"Since when has that stopped you? If I know you, you're planning to tell Jeffrey when he gets back anyway."
"Maybe I am."
"No maybe about it, so maybe we should do it together and do it before the holidays."
"Do what together?" Josh asks, walking up to them.
"We were talking about how we should tell Jeffrey about being H.B's son and doing it before the holidays." Billy says, turning to his brother.
"We are not telling him."
Reva talks a deep breath. "We'll talk about this later." She says to Josh. "I'll see you Thursday night." She says, turning to Billy.
"Sure thing, darlin." He replies, watching her walk away before he turns to leave.
"Why are you encouraging her?" Josh asks, as Billy stops and turns around.
"Encouraging who?"
"Reva. Why do you both insist that we tell him that his HB's son?"
"The better question is why you are insisting that we don't."
"He doesn't have to know. He's not concerned with it."
"So why are we, this from the responsible pious and always proper Joshua Lewis.
"I hate it when you get judgmental."
"Me, judgmental. I'm only calling the truth."
"The truth, as you see it. I have a very good reason not to tell him that he's HB's son."
"And what would that be? You don't want to share the family fortune."
"It has nothing to do with money, it's Reva." Josh says in frustration.
"Reva, what does she have to do with Jeffrey and telling him that he's a Lewis."
"I won't loose her."
"Loose her, how could you possibly loose her." Billy asks, staring at Josh.
"You know perfectly well what she's going to do once he's apart of this family. She will make it her mission to make sure he feels as comfortable as possible, in any manner she feels is right, including spending a lot of time alone with him."
"Oh my god, you're jealous. The only reason you don't want to tell Jeffrey he's apart of this family is because you're jealous."
"I'm not…."
"Yes, you are. You…."
"I think I have to protect my wife and my family. I will not loose her to Jeffrey O'Neill."
"Do you even hear yourself? You think she's going to go after Jeffrey."
"She's gone after every other Lewis man, why wouldn't she want Jeffrey too? She's been with you and she's been with HB."
"And she has always, always loved you."
"That's why she's married every man in this family, including you."
"She married me to get back at you. Who has she always been drawn back to, every time?"
"I'm still not taking that chance. I will not loose her to him." Josh says, as Reva stands around the corner.
She can't believe what she's hearing. Josh thought that if he told Jeffrey the truth she would leave him for Jeffrey. And that was the sole reason he was insisting that they not tell Jeffrey about being HB's son. She could almost understand why he felt that way. She would be the first to admit she had done some pretty stupid things when it came to her feelings for Josh.
But that still didn't explain why he felt he couldn't explain his feelings to her or allow her to convince him that she would never take Jeffrey over him. Never mind the fact that Jeffrey was completely and totally in love with Sam and anyone with eyes could see that. Anyone who was not unreasonably jealous or delusional could tell that Jeffrey wanted no one but Sam.
"Have you said anything to her about this?"
"No, I haven't and I won't."
"Josh, this will never work. If you don't trust…."
"I trust her…"
"You won't tell our brother he's our brother because you're afraid she'll leave you for him. Has she ever given you any indication that she was interested in Jeffrey?"
"She went to DC with him after I specifically asked her not to go. She's worried about him."
"She went to DC to help with Sam. She's worried about him the same way she worries about me, because I'm family, as is Jeffrey, as is Cassie, Richard, Rusty, and everyone else in this family. The only man she loves is you."
"We're not telling him." Josh says, turning away.
Reva comes back to reality enough to realize that Josh is walking away from Billy. Quickly, she walks down the hall turning the corner as Josh comes around the other corner. He has his head down, so he doesn't see her.
After they finish lunch, Jeffrey and Sam leave the restaurant. "So where do we go now?" Sam asks, looking up.
"We could go back to the room and…."
"No! We've got two days left."
"You want to go to the falls again."
"No, I saw some pamphlets in the lobby about wineries around here. Why don't we go check them out?"
"You can't be around…."
"I can't drink it, that doesn't mean I can't go on a tour. Besides, you love wine, you've loved it since we were in France and you want to go, so let's go?"
"You make it sound like I only like wine because we were in France. I liked it before that."
"Do you want to go or not?"
"Of course." He says taking her hand and leading the way back to the car.
Richard is lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling with his arm around Cassie, idly playing with her hair. "I've been thinking about something." He says.
"You've been thinking about what?"
"My brother's family."
"What about them?"
"Maybe we should hold off seeing them."
"Why?" She asks, leaning up to look at him.
"We've got a lot going on right now. You've got your father. We've got the baby coming. Jeffrey and Sam will be back soon and I'm sure that Reva will insist that he be told as soon as they get back, adding my family into all that might be too much to handle."
"But you want to know them. They are your last connection to your mother."
"I'm not saying we will never see them, just that maybe right now isn't the time to do it."
"We are always going to have things going on. There will never be a convenient time to see them. Your brother's family will fill in a part of you that you knew nothing about."
"What about your… James?"
"What about him? He'll still be a part of our lives. We'll still have the baby coming. We still have Jeffrey to bring into the family. We have William after the election and probably Ava."
"You know your father is going to want to spend time with you. He's not going to stay in Springfield forever, eventually he will go back to Europe."
"So he goes back, my family is here."
"He's a part of your family too."
Cassie sits up, looking over at the window while he watches her. "I'm not trying to pressure you darling. But he didn't come here simply to tell you he's your father and then go back to Europe. He'll want you to be apart of his life and he'll want to be a part of your life."
"Right now, Hawk is my father. James is someone I need to get to know. I don't know where or what will happen over the next few months. And you're getting away from the original subject, not seeing your brother's family."
"I've gone this long not knowing what happened to my mother. I can go a little longer. Meanwhile we can focus on you, your father, our baby and everything else that's going on right now."
"What's behind this?" She says, turning to him.
"I told…."
"Tell me the rest of it."
He looks at her and then looks away. After a few moments he says. "My brother is dead because of me. He was killed because the man Camille hired mistook him for me. What if they blame me? What if they blame me for his death and me for surviving?"
"What happened was not your fault? You did not cause your brother's death. You had absolutely no control over Camille or the man she hired to kill you. We had no way of knowing Camille would come after us. Maybe we should have suspected it, but we are not responsible for what she did, that's completely on her and you lost something too. You lost five years of your life. Five years that none of us can ever get back. We're both sorry that your brother lost his life because of what Camille did."
He looks at her and then looks away again. "I know what you're saying is true. I had, we had no control over what Camille did. I couldn't protect against what I didn't know existed, but I do feel guilty. From what Noah told me, my brother and his wife were like us, completely and totally in love with each other. They have three beautiful kids together and Noah said that his death nearly killed his wife and it did kill my mother. How do I not feel guilty about that? How do I not feel like I'm taking what he should have right now?"
"Because you lost things too, you didn't loose your life, I'm grateful for that, but we all lost stuff. She lost her husband, and I am totally sorry she did. I know what that feels like and I know how you feel like you will never go on, never feel again. How you feel cold and numb but I'm grateful that I have you again. You lost five years of your life. Five years to watch your children grow up, to know your son, to see Tammy grow into a beautiful young woman, to fall in love. To see RJ on his first day of school, to see Will walk and talk.
You missed all of that. You missed Shayne growing up, Marah growing up and going to Paris. You missed getting to know William and maybe you missed getting Edmund to see that he's not his father's son, but his own person. You missed Jeffrey coming to town and seeing me faint because I thought it was you. You missed watching me and Olivia hash out all the little details for the Beacon. You missed Danny leaving the mob. You missed all the ups and downs that life in Springfield brings. You're alive, yes and I'm grateful you are, but we all lost something and we have to all remember that."
"You think I should tell them?"
"Yes." Cassie replies, lying back down beside him.
"I love you." He says, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, brushing a kiss on the top of her head.
"I know you do and I love you too. Do you want something to eat?"
"Not right now, I want to lay here and hold you." He says, pulling her closer.
Cassie is walking into the Beacon the next morning when James walks up to her. "Hello." He says.
"Hi." She says, looking up.
"I haven't seen you in a couple days."
"I've been busy getting things ready for the wedding."
"Is everything going okay?"
"Yes."
"I was wondering if we could take a walk."
"Umm, sure." Cassie replies, changing directions and following him out to the garden.
When they reach the garden they take the path leading to the back of the garden away from the guests and staff working near the hotel. "Is something wrong?" Cassie asks, following him.
"No, I thought it would be better if we talk where we can't be overheard." James says, nodding towards one of the benches.
Cassie sits down followed by James. "I've been on the phone with my office in London the last couple days."
"Okay."
"It seems they need me to oversee some things on a new hotel we're building in Venice."
"So you can't stay for the wedding?" Cassie says, looking at him and surprised at how much she wanted him there.
"No, I'll be at the wedding and if I can I'll bring your sister and brother with me."
"My sister and brother."
"Yes, I have a son James Rockford Marshall the second..."
"That's his real name."
"Yes, but we call him JR, he's from my first marriage right after I went to Europe. I wasn't over Sarah when I met a beautiful young lady. She was the daughter to the man that gave me my start in the hotel business. It was a mutual decision to marry, and even more mutual decision to divorce. For a while, I wasn't sure if JR was my son but DNA tests proved he was. My daughter Sarah is from my second marriage. She lives in London with me. JR has a flat in London, but he's rarely there. He travels all over Europe overseeing operations for me."
"Did you name your daughter Sarah after my mother?"
"That was part of it, but I also had an Aunt named Sarah, although she spelled it different."
"If you need to go home, I understand. And if you can't make it to the wedding…."
"I will be here for your wedding. I've missed too many things in your life, I won't miss this.'
"Thank you."
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, why?"
"I know I haven't been around you long but you seem tired."
"I'm busy with the wedding and my family from Oklahoma will be here tomorrow and I'm planning a dinner for them tomorrow night. I thought that would be the best way to tell them about you." Cassie says, without looking at him.
"And you're worried about telling them?"
"Rusty and I aren't really close, but Hawk as accepted me as his daughter because I was Sarah's daughter. He didn't have to. He could have rejected me so I don't want to hurt him."
"By including me in the wedding, I don't want to cause you problems Cassie."
"You deserve to be there. You're my father. But Hawk deserves to know about this before he comes to the wedding and sees you or hears from someone else about you."
"If you want me there, I'll be there."
"I want you there. I wouldn't have invited you if I didn't."
"Alright, is there something else?"
"No, I'm fine. I want the wedding to be over with."
"Where are you going on the honeymoon?"
"You know what, we were discussing that the other night, but we don't have any concrete plans. The last one was on the royal yacht, but I seriously doubt we could do that again, especially since they sold the yacht to Michelle and Danny."
"Who is that?"
"They are friend of ours, and they used to live in Springfield until a few years ago and then they moved to California."
"Alright, well I've got to make the arrangements to go back."
"I'll see you in few days?"
"Yes." He says, getting up. He walks away with Cassie watching him.
She's walking into her office from the garden when Reva calls to her. "Cassie, wait."
Stopping, she waits for her to reach her. "Hi, what's wrong?" She asks when she sees her.
"Can we talk?"
"Sure, come on in, hold my calls." She says to Jessica as she opens the door.
"Yes ma'am."
Cassie follows Reva into her office and closes the door behind them. "What's going on?" She asks, walking over to her desk while Reva paces back and forth in front of her desk.
"I know why Josh doesn't want Jeffrey to know he's a Lewis."
"He told you!"
"No, he told Billy and I overheard him." Reva says continuing to pace.
"Sit down and tell me what he said." Cassie says, feeling slightly sick from watching her pace back and forth.
"I went to Lewis to take care of some things this morning and while I was walking in Billy was leaving. So I stopped him to tell him about the dinner and make sure he would come. When that was settled he mentioned that we should arrange a family dinner for Jeffrey and Sam. And of course, I pointed out that Josh wouldn't like it. And he pointed out that I never let that stop me.
Anyway, Josh came up while we were talking and he wanted to know what we were talking about and Billy told him about the idea to have a dinner for Jeffrey and Sam to tell him about being a Lewis and Josh gave his usual reaction so I left, but as I was walking away I heard him ask Billy why he was encouraging me to tell Jeffrey. So when I reached the end of the hall, I stopped and I listened. Billy got him to tell him why he didn't want Jeffrey to know." Reva says, sitting down.
"So, what is the reason?"
"Basically, he doesn't want Jeffrey told because he won't loose me."
"Loose you, how would he loose you?"
"Apparently he's afraid that I'll leave him simply because Jeffrey's a Lewis and I've been with Billy and HB."
"What! That's the most idiotic…"
"I know, but he has some part of a point Cassie."
"I don't see the point. And he's made mistakes, the biggest being with me and you forgave both of us for that. You've never given him any reason…."
"In a way I have…."
"You were with HB and Billy. You know it hurt him and you would never do that again. You've never given him any reason to believe that you would ever leave him for Jeffrey, have you?"
"No, of course not, I'm not interested in Jeffrey besides he loves Sam and anyone with eyes could see that, but the truth is, Josh is threatened by Jeffrey because he's a Lewis and I've been with both HB and Billy."
"And does he realize how ridiculous that sounds?"
"I don't know. I walked away before he could realize that I had heard them talking. "
"So, what are you going to do?"
"I'll have to say something to him."
"What are you going to say?"
"I don't know what I'm going to say, that's why I came here to calm down before I talk to him. I understand, sort of understand why he's thinking the way he's thinking, but I'm also hurt that he didn't talk to me and I'm hurt that he has so little faith in me and maybe I deserve some of that."
"You've made mistakes, Reva. You admit that. Josh has a tendency to forget that he makes them too. And if either one of you has reason to wonder about the other person that would be you, because according to his thinking, you should be worried about…." Cassie stops, she had almost said something about Sarah and James
"Worried about what?"
"Nothing, I'll explain it tomorrow night."
"If what you were going to say has something to do with what you're gong to tell us tomorrow night why don't you tell me now?"
"It's more than I can tell you right now." Cassie says, looking at her.
"You and Richard are still getting married?"
"Of course we're getting married. This has very little to do with my relationship with Richard."
"Alright, I won't press. I've got to go anyway. I got some more errands to run before I can go home."
"Alright." Cassie says, getting up. She walks around her desk to Reva. "I'm glad you came to talk to me. There was a time a few months ago when you wouldn't have."
"You know him almost as well as I do."
"I'll see you tomorrow night?"
"Yes."
"What time does Hawk and Rusty arrive?" Cassie asks, following Reva to the door.
"I believe around noon."
"Okay, we'll see you at six then?"
"Yes." Reva replies, walking out of the office.
"Good."
Cassie stands in the doorway, watching her leave. When she's gone, she turns to Jessica. "I'm going to be on a call."
"Yes ma'am."
Closing her office door, she walks back to her desk. Sitting down, she looks at the phone for a few moments before she reaches for it. She dials Josh's cell phone. And after few rings his voicemail picks up. She hangs up not leaving a message. Looking at the clock, she picks up some files that Jessica left for her.
Sarah is leaving the boardroom when her cell phone rings. Pulling it from her pocket, she answers the call. "This is Sarah."
"You wanted to talk to me."
"What have you found out?" She asks, sitting down with her back to the door.
"I've got a few leads."
"I need something now. My father is coming home and I have to have some reason to tell him."
"I'll have something concrete in a few days."
"I need it tomorrow, at the latest."
"You're not paying me, so don't be demanding."
"I'm sorry, but I'm worried about my father and this obsession he has with this girl."
"I'll call you as soon as I know something concrete."
"Okay." Sarah says, hanging up. She puts her phone away before she gets up. Turning for the door, she finds her brother standing there. "How long have you been there?"
"Long enough, what are you up to?"
"Just looking up some information."
"And it involves Dad, and you're worried."
"I thought you were going to Lisbon, what are you doing in London?"
"Dad asked me to look at some potential sites for this new project he wants to start on with the Americans. And I came to give him my suggestions while he back from across the pond."
"So, you think this is a good thing, this idea about building the hotels for the common tourists." Sarah says her voice filled with disdain.
"Don't hide your true feelings sis. Yes, I think it's a good idea, especially with the economy the way it is and even with the unstable American economy I think it will work."
"So where are these sites you're recommending?"
"One is outside Bath and the other is in the wine country of France. Have you seen the returns these women have made, even with the US economy?"
"You realize that one of these women he believes is his daughter."
"Yes, he explained that she's the daughter of a woman he knew before he come to Europe and married my mother."
"Do you believe she's his daughter?"
"I don't know. But he seems convinced that she is. And you know she's married to the former Prince and President of San Cristobel."
"The former Prince and President, his mother probably demanded that her son be the heir or she threatened to tell all. His brother found out what was rightfully his and came back for it."
"You know that's not what happened. It was all over the news. He had nothing to do with the cover up about the crown."
"That's what he claims. We don't necessarily know that for the truth."
"You're not jealous of her, are you?" He says, turning to leave the room. Sarah follows him.
"Jealous of a common American, never, but I will not let her twist her way into his life simply because he thinks this woman is his daughter and he feels guilty, I'm looking out for him."
"What do you have planned?"
"I'm simply covering all the bases."
"You know, he's going to resist anything you do or tell him."
"I'll convince him and if I expose her in the process then he'll be…."
"Thankful, I don't think so. He'll be furious with you, my dear. When is he coming in?"
"Later, tonight."
"Then I'm going to my flat. I'll see him later, after you've made a fool of yourself?" JR says, walking towards the elevator.
"You will all thank me later." Sarah says, as he shakes his head.