A Fresh Start
Chapter One Hundred Thirty
Sarah is sitting at her desk when her assistant buzzes her. "Yes." Sarah replies, holding down the intercom button.
"Ma'am, you have a call on line one."
"Okay." Sarah says, picking up the phone, she pushes the button to connect the call. "Hello."
"You wanted some dirt." Albert says, looks at some photos that his contacts gotten.
"You found something."
"Oh, I certainly found something."
"Alright, meet me in an hour in our usual place."
"Umm, Freddie getting a little…."
"Albert, stop. I'm at work and anyone could be listening to this conversation, just meet me and bring the information."
"Yes ma'am, your Highness. I can only do…."
"I'm hanging up now. I'll see you in an hour."
An hour later, Albert walks into a tavern close to the docks. Sarah is sitting at a secluded table and when he spots her, he walks over to her. Pulling out a chair, he asks. "Are you afraid of being seen?"
"Just tell me or show me what you found." Sarah says, holding out her hand.
He pulls out the manila envelope with the pictures and hands them to her. She opens the envelope and pulls out the pictures of Cassie stripping at Teasers. "Oh my god, how did you find these?"
"My contact found them. Apparently they are on the internet. Her husband's brother showed them to the whole country of San Cristobel to try and discredit her before they were married. It didn't work."
"I knew there was a reason why I didn't like that country, besides the fact that they try to pretend that they are better than us."
"You're simply mad because the ruling prince ignores you every time he's here for a state visit."
"You seem to like me well enough."
"Yes, well I'm a little crazy, which is exactly why you can't stay away from me."
"Albert!"
"Come on, you know you want to. I won't even charge you for this." He says, lowering his voice as he points to the photos. "We can get a room upstairs."
"You want that here."
"When else will I get it?"
She looks at him and then she takes the envelope. "You'll have your money within the hour." She says, standing up.
He doesn't reply as she walks away, but realizes that he almost has her and he smiles. As Sarah leaves the tavern, she walks to her car. Getting in, she pulls her cell phone from her purse and calls the hanger where their private planes are kept. When the pilot picks up, she says. "This is Sarah, have the plane ready within the hour. We'll be flying to Springfield IL."
"Yes ma'am."
Hanging up the phone, she calls the bank when they pick up she says. "I need Michaels."
"Yes ma'am."
When the call is connected, she says. "Michaels, Sarah Langley. I need fifty thousand dollars transferred into this account, 39320-19438."
"Yes, Mrs. Langley. Shall I use your husband…?"
"No, use my private account."
"Yes ma'am."
"Thank you." Sarah says, hanging up the phone.
Ten minutes later, she pulls up to her house. Going in she packs a bag and then goes down to the kitchen. The cook is there. "Martha, I will be leaving the country for a few days."
"Yes ma'am, what shall I tell Mr. Langley?"
"Tell him that I went out of the country on a last minute business trip."
"Yes ma'am." She replies as Sarah walks out of the kitchen.
She leaves a few minutes later. On the way to the airport she calls her office when Emma picks up, Sarah says. "Emma, I need you to cancel all of my appointments for the next several days. I'm going out of the country."
"Yes ma'am."
"Thank you." Sarah says, hanging up the phone.
Twenty minutes later, she's in the air and headed for Springfield.
Three hours later, the jet is circling Springfield and when it rolls to a stop Jeffrey turns to Sam and asks. "Are you ready?"
"Yes." She says, smiling at him.
"Good, come on." He says, unbuckling his seatbelt as Sam does the same.
She grabs her purse, following him to the front of the plane. The captain and crew are waiting and they shake hands as they leave the plane. "You know, I didn't think to ask you, but how are we getting to the loft?"
"I arranged to have a car waiting for us." Jeffrey replies, as they walk out.
Sitting on the tarmac is a black Lincoln sedan and standing beside it is one of Springfield PD's officers. "Oh." Sam says when they reach the tarmac and she walks around him.
Putting his arm around her, they walk towards the car. "Welcome home, Mr. Mayor, Mrs. O'Neill." The officer says, standing up straighter.
"Thank you." Jeffrey replies, as the officer opens the door and Jeffrey helps Sam into the car before he gets in and the officer closes the door and then turns to the crew, watching them unload the plane.
They ground crew loads the luggage into the car and then they leave. When they get to the loft, the officer unloads the luggage, carrying it up to the loft for them. When they reach the front door, Jeffrey turns to him and says. "I'll take it from here."
"Yes sir." He says, putting the suitcases and shopping bags down. "Again, welcome back." He says before turning to go back downstairs.
"Thank you." They reply as he nods going down the stairs. After he's left, Jeffrey turns to Sam "Shall we go in?" He asks, watching her.
"Yes."
He walks around her, unlocking the door he turns to her. Reaching for her, he pulls her to him and then sweeps her up into his arms. "Jeffrey." She squeals. "What are you doing, Put me down, you don't…."
"I'm carrying my wife over the threshold." He says, walking through the open door. Sitting her down, he kisses her. Stepping back after a few moments he says. "I love you."
"I love you too." Sam says, smiling.
"Welcome home." He says, still smiling.
"Welcome home, but maybe we should get our stuff out of the hallway."
Releasing her, he goes out and picks up the suitcases while she gets the shopping bags. With everything inside, Jeffrey closes the door behind them. He carries the suitcases upstairs while she's in the bathroom. When she leaves the bathroom she goes upstairs. Jeffrey is on the bed, with the phone in his hand. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes, I was checking the messages. Megan called yesterday."
"Okay." Sam says, opening up one of the suitcases. "I'll call her later."
"She sounded upset." He says, reaching to help her.
"What did she say?"
"Nothing in particular, but her tone sounds as though she had been crying.
"Crying?" Sam says reaching for the phone she calls Megan.
After a couple ring, she picks up. "Hello."
"Megan…."
"Beca." She says, sighing.
"Okay, what's wrong?" Sam says, sitting down on the bed.
"I can't believe this is happening. I knew he was upset but…."
"You can't believe what is happening and who is upset."
"Patrick."
"What about him?"
"He left."
"He left, when is he…."
"He's not coming back. He left me. I took the boys to a sleepover last night and when I got back he was in the living room with two suitcases packed, at first he told me to leave. We argued and I told him I wasn't leaving so he left."
"He left you. I don't believe… why would he do that?"
"He's upset that I'm in school. I reminded him of our deal. I waited two years more than we agreed. But he's said he's tired of taking care of the boys while I'm off playing at school. He said he's tired of DC and he's tired of his job."
"Did he say anything else?"
"No, I tried to talk him out of it. I told him we could leave DC and that we could work out his job, but he doesn't want to. He's demanding that I quit school."
"You can't do that."
"I'm not going to do that. We made a deal I would stay out of school until the boys were in school and then I would go back."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know."
"Are the boys there?"
"No, not yet, but they will be in a few hours. And I'll have to tell them that their Daddy isn't coming home, I have no idea how I'm going to tell them that."
"I'm sorry, Meggie." Sam says looking at Jeffrey and watching him unpack the suitcase.
"Sam, I have no idea what to do. I've got the boys. I've got a test to study for and then the shop. I don't know if I can do this."
"We're Whitmere women, we can face anything, remember."
"But, he's my life and my boys. I saw what happened to you after your parents divorced. I don't want that for my boys."
"You think he'll want a divorce."
"I don't know what he wants."
"Then don't assume that's what he'll want. Maybe he'll stay away for a while and he'll realize that he wants to be with you and the boys."
"I don't think so. He was cold last night, completely without emotion. He made up his mind and it wasn't going to be changed." Meagan says, as Sam notices the bag in Jeffrey's hands, snapping her fingers she holds out her hand.
Lifting the phone, she says. "You'll see it later, give it to me."
He looks at her and smiles, handing her the bag.
"Sam, are you there?" Megan asks.
"Yes, I'm here." She says, bring the phone back down. "I was getting something from Jeffrey."
"I'm sorry, here I am going on about this and you've just got back from your honeymoon. How did everything go?"
"It was wonderful, but don't worry about telling me about Patrick. I'm sure that whatever is going on, you can work through it. And you can call me any time."
"I'm going to let you go, so you can go back to him."
"Jeffrey's fine."
"No, you spend time with him. Maybe that's why Patrick left, because we got to a point where we didn't spend any of our free time with each other. We got comfortable with each other and we didn't work as hard as we did when we were first together. We had to fight to be together and after a while maybe the fight left."
"Talk to him Meggie, if you talk to him, you'll fix this."
"I'll let you go."
"Alright, you call me if you need me."
"I will. I love you."
"I love you too." Sam says, hanging up the phone a couple seconds later. Sitting on the side of bed, she stares at the phone while Jeffrey watches her.
"Is she okay?" He asks, walking over to her.
"No, she's not." Sam says, laying the phone on the nightstand. "Patrick left."
"You mean…."
"He left her and the boys. She took them to a sleepover last night and when she got back he had two suitcases in the living room. At first he demanded that she leave and when she refused he left."
'"Why?"
"He said he was tired of living in DC. He was tired of his job and he was tired of taking care of the boys while she was in class."
"So he just left."
"Yes, they made a deal. When Megan got pregnant, they made a deal. She would quit college and when the boys were both in school she would go back. She stayed out two years longer than the deal was for."
"Is there any hope of him…?"
"She doesn't think so. She said he was totally cold last night that he had no emotion at all while they were talking."
"Would he come back if she quit school?"
"Yes, he probably would, but she can't do that. If she gives in on this what else will she have to give in on? He agreed that she could go back to college after the boys were in school, and she waited two extra years."
"I thought the salon was doing very well."
"It is, but the salon wasn't something Meagan meant to be her permanent job. She's good at what she does, but she wanted to be and do more. No one in her family ever went to college, let alone graduated from college. She wanted to go to college when we were in school and I had no idea what my life would be." Sam says, getting up and putting the bag on the dresser. Turning around, she leans against it. "And she never wanted her kids to be from a divorced home. She saw the stuff that happened to me after my parents split. Patrick saw it too. I thought those two were inseperatable. They were part of the reason that I never gave up on you."
He gets up and walks over to her. Reaching up, he tucks her hair behind her ear. "I won't ever leave you."
"We can't become complacent, J. We can't get so comfortable we forget to take care of each other."
"We won't."
"How do you know that?" She asks, looking up.
"Because we've already lost each other once so we know the pain of living without each other." He says, wrapping his arms around her.
"I hope you're right." Sam says, laying her head on his chest.
"Of course I'm right, I'm a man." He says smiling, knowing it will get a rise out of her.
"Don't get self satisfied with your self, you don't know everything, in fact there are a lot of things you don't know."
"And what would those things be."
"You… it's too long of a list to name them all." Sam says leaning back to look up.
"You can't name one." Jeffrey says, leaning over to kiss her.
"I can't think of one right now, but I'm sure there is something that you don't know." Sam says, releasing him.
"Alright, fine." He says, turning to watch her walk towards the bed. "You know I can look in the bag…."
"No, you don't." Sam says, returning to the dresser and reaching for the bag as he begins to laugh.
"What are you laughing at?"
"You, you're so predictable."
"I am not. This is a surprise." Sam says, putting the bag in her top drawer.
"For when."
"For whenever I decide to use it." Sam says, reaching for the other suitcase. He walks over to her, picking it up, he lays it on the bed. "I could have moved that."
"Maybe, but I did it. Are you hungry?"
"Let me put this away. I'll need to go to the store to get some groceries."
"Or we could go to Company."
"No, I want to cook for you."
"Alright." He says, reaching to help her unpack the suitcase.
An hour later, they've got everything put away. Leaving the loft, they take Jeffrey's truck to get groceries. They were almost through shopping when Sam runs into Reva. "Hi." She says, looking up and seeing Sam walking towards her.
"Hi, how are you?" Sam asks, stopping.
"I'm good, when did you get back?"
"A couple hours ago, we're out of everything because I didn't go shopping before the wedding."
"I understand. Is Jeffrey with you?"
"Yes, he's over looking at the meat. He's going to grill tonight." Sam says, as Jeffrey walks up.
"Jeffrey, hi." Reva says, as he puts some steaks in the cart.
"Hi, how are you."
"I'm good. You both look good." Reva says, looking at both of them but realizing the resemblance to HB in Jeffrey and wondering why she hadn't noticed it before. Even though Jeffrey's face looks like Richard, he has a lot of HB's mannerisms.
"Thank you." Jeffrey says, bringing her back to their conversation.
"How was the honeymoon?"
"Wonderful, we've got a lot of great pictures. And we pick up a lot of stuff." Sam says.
"Most of which, she bought."
"Some of those things are for you, and the baby."
"Cassie showed me the cradles, those are absolutely precious."
"I know. I feel in love with them the moment I saw them." Sam says.
"Cassie said you picked them up from and antiques dealer."
"Yes, they are hand made. The owner of the shop built them for a couple that lived close to them but the couple left before he could finish them so they used them for their own kids. I love the wear makes from where they rocked the cradles."
"They certainly are beautiful. Have you seen anyone else?"
"No, we went straight to the loft from the airport. Why?"
"I was just wondering if you've seen Ava." Reva says, as Josh comes up.
"Reva, are you ready to go?"
"Umm, I've got a few things left. Sam and Jeffrey are back." She says, turning to him.
"I see that, hello." He says formally, nodding to them. "Hawk is waiting, so we really need to go."
"I'll be through in a minute." Reva says, turning back to them. "Ava's working at Lewis now." She says turning to Jeffrey.
"Yes, I know. She called and told me she was going over there." Jeffrey says, not looking at Josh.
"I'm glad we were able to help. And I know that Billy is working hard on your house." Reva says, looking at Sam.
"I'm excited to see it." Sam says. "Maybe we can go by there on the way home?" She asks, turning to Jeffrey.
"I don't know, we might." He says, glancing at Josh and catching him watching him before he turns to Reva.
"Reva." He says. "We need to…."
"I'm almost finished. Here is the rest of the list and you can go get the stuff. I'll meet you at the front counter." She says, handing a piece of paper to him. He hesitates for a moment, but couldn't come up with a logical excuse not to take the paper, so he takes it and leaves as she turns back to Jeffrey and Sam. "Since you haven't seen anyone, I'm sure you haven't talked to Cassie." Reva says
"No, is he okay?" Sam asks, walking Josh walk away.
"Yes, he was mugged a last week." Reva says, glancing at Josh.
"Mugged, where?" Jeffrey asks.
"Outside Jon's bar, two young men jumped them as he was leaving and Lizzie was locking up. Josh was pretty well drunk so he couldn't defend himself. If Mallet hadn't've come along, it would have been far worse."
"Is he okay? Is Lizzie okay?" Sam asks.
"They're both fine."
Nodding. "Do I need to talk to Cassie about something?" Sam asks.
"I think she wants to talk to you about the wedding."
"Oh okay, we need to go out there to get the cradles anyway. We might swing by there when we leave."
"Speaking of Cassie, William is in town."
"He is, why?" Jeffrey asks.
"I'm not really sure, but some of it has to do with Ava. I saw him at Lewis and he had just left her."
"He's here to see Ava..."
"That's good." Sam says, reaching for Jeffrey's hand.
"He seems quite close to her. We might be having a spring or summer wedding?"
"I don't think…." Jeffrey says
"If we do, then we do." Sam says, squeezing his hand.
"Has she had any problems with Olivia while we were gone?" Jeffrey asks.
"Umm, not that I know of, I haven't seen Olivia since the morning I ran into Ava at Company and told her to go over to Lewis and surprisingly Olivia supported me."
"That is unusual." Jeffrey says.
"I know, but she did. Listen, I better go. I only had a few more things to pick up."
"Alright, it was good to see you." Sam says.
"You too." Reva replies, reaching to hug her. "You look happy."
"I am, completely." Sam says.
"Good, I'll see you both later."
"Yes, we'll see you later." Sam replies, as Jeffrey nods and she turns to leave.
Ten minutes later, Jeffrey and Sam are leaving the store. Jeffrey looks up and sees Reva standing beside her car and she and Josh are arguing. Sam notices that he's watching something and she turns to look. They watch as Josh walks away and they can tell Reva is calling for him. "I wonder what that was about." Jeffrey says helping her put the groceries in the truck.
"I don't know, but it was really tense when he was standing there with us."
"It seemed about the same to me." Jeffrey says, putting the last bag in the truck.
"No, there was definitely something else going on beside him being mugged and why would he be at Jon's bar getting drunk?"
"Maybe he was hanging out with the guys and he had a few two many." Jeffrey says before going to return the buggy as Sam gets into the truck.
"Reva said on he and Lizzie were jumped. If he was with the guys they wouldn't they have been jumped?" Sam says, as Jeffrey gets in and starts the truck.
He glances as Reva and then he says. "You can't predict what someone will or will not do, but I really don't want to discuss Joshua Lewis. Do you want to go home?"
"Let's go by the house."
"That's on the other side of town and I'm sure that Billy and his crew are working. Why don't we go get the cradles?"
"You want to see if William is at the farm." Sam says, to which Jeffrey doesn't reply. "We can go to the farm, but I think it's a good thing that Ava and William are getting closer."
"I've got nothing against William but I'm not sure he's the right one for Ava.
"She obviously likes him, they were together once."
"That was supposed to be a one time thing. It wasn't meant to be permanent."
"Maybe not, but she's going to have his child so they are tied to each other now and maybe they could be more than a one night stand."
"A one night stand is meant to be just that."
"Maybe, but are you saying you never once thought about staying longer with all those women you were with for one night."
"If I thought about it, it wasn't a one night stand. William…."
"Is a good guy and Ava could do worse for the father of her child."
"He's wild and…."
"You mean he's like you." Sam says, as Jeffrey looks at her. "It's okay. You're not supposed to like the men your daughter is involved with. But you do need to give them a chance to see where they are going." Sam says, reaching for his hand. He glances at her and then turns his attention back to the road.
When he turns towards the loft, she says. "I thought we were going out to Cassie's farm."
"I thought we would put the groceries up before we went out there."
She looks at him but doesn't say anything, realizing that he's avoiding running into Ava and William being together. When they get to the loft, they get out and with each of them getting the bags of groceries they're able to get them up to the loft in one trip. They're each in the kitchen putting everything away and when they're finished, he turns to her. "Why don't you go rest and I'll fix us something to eat?"
"You're going to cook."
"I'll fix sandwiches, some fruit, maybe some of the ice cream."
"Alright." She replies, turning to leave as he reaches for her.
Pulling her to him, he leans over and kisses her softly. "I love you."
"I love you too, even though you're avoiding Ava and William." She says, releasing him. She leaves the kitchen while he watches her and then he turns for the refrigerator.
Ten minutes later, he carries out a tray with two sandwiches and some fruit he cut up, along with two glasses of water. Carrying the food over to the table, he puts it down before he walks over to the couch. Looking down, he sees that Sam has fallen asleep. He goes back to the table, sitting down he takes one of the sandwiches and begins to eat, sitting back. About ten minutes later, he's finished with the sandwich and is eating some of the fruit when Sam wakes up. "Jeffrey." She says, sitting up.
"I'm over here." He says, as she turns towards him.
Getting up she walks over to him. "You've already eaten." She says, sitting down.
"You fell asleep and I didn't want to wake you." He says, as she reaches for the other sandwich and begins to eat. "After you finish eating, do you want to go to the farm?"
"Can you handle seeing Ava with William?"
"I'll behave but if he hurts her."
"You'll rip him to shreds, I know. You have to trust your daughter. She knows what she is doing. And I think William will take very good care of her. He's like you and that is what scares you."
"You think you're smart." Jeffrey says reaching for a strawberry.
"I am smart. But I also know you. This will be a good thing for them. A child should know both of their parents and with them being together their child will have a chance to know them."
"Alright, I'll step back and let her decide what she will do, for now." He says, stubbornly.
Sam shakes her head as she smiles at him. "We can go to the farm."
When she's finished eating, they put everything in the kitchen, putting the remaining fruit in the refrigerator and the dishes in the dishwasher before they leave for the farm. Cassie, Richard and the boys are finishing dinner when they pull up. "It looks like Jeffrey and Sam are back." Richard says, looking out the window from the table.
"Why do you say that?" Cassie asks, from the sink.
"Because they just pulled up outside." He says, getting up to go to the door as they walk towards the house. Opening the door, he walks out. "Hi, how are you." He says, as they come up the walk to the porch.
"We're great." Jeffrey says, following Sam up the steps to the porch.
"When did you get back?"
"This afternoon, we ran into Reva at the store and she mentioned something about Cassie wanting to talk to me and we thought we would come out and get the cradles." Sam says.
"Oh, well come on in. We're just finishing eating." Richard says opening the screen door as Cassie turns from the sink.
"Hi, you two." She says, smiling as they walk in.
"Hi." They reply.
"Jeffrey." RJ says, walking up to Jeffrey.
"Hi, buddy. How are you?"
"I'm good, I'm captain of my soccer team and we've won our last four games."
"You have, that's really good."
"We might make the championships this year."
"You keep playing like that and you will."
"I'm on a soccer team too." Will says, walking over to RJ and Jeffrey.
"But his team doesn't…."
"RJ." Richard says.
"But it's true, they're not very good, but I'm helping Will." RJ says, looking up at Jeffrey.
"That's good."
"I have to help and take care of my little brother, isn't that right Jeffrey."
"That's right."
"Boys, why don't you go in the living room and watch a video?" Cassie says.
"Yes ma'am." They reply, leaving the living room.
"And no fighting." Richard says.
"Yes sir." They call.
Richard sits down at the table, followed by Jeffrey and Sam. "Would you like something to drink?" Cassie asks.
"I'll have some water." Sam says.
"I'll have some of your tea." Jeffrey says, looking at Cassie.
She smiles as she takes down two glasses, filling one with water and the other with her tea. "Jeffrey wouldn't drink tea until he tasted mine." Cassie says, carrying the glasses over to the table, sitting down beside Richard. "So, what brings you out to the farm?" She asks.
"We ran into Reva at the grocery store and she said that you wanted to talk to me and since we need to pick up the cradles, we decided to come out."
"Those cradles a so cute, I would love have for…." Cassie stops looking at Richard.
"You've already started you might as well tell them."
"Tell us what?" Jeffrey asks.
"I'm pregnant." Cassie says softly.
"Really, how, I thought you couldn't have anymore?"
"She's not supposes to, but apparently we've got our own miracle." Richard says.
"Why can't you have children?" Sam asks.
"When I was pregnant with Will, I was involved in a car accident in San Cristobel. The accident caused too much scaring to allow me to get pregnant. We didn't realize until we started to try again." Cassie says.
"What caused the accident?"
They all look at each other before Jeffrey says. "Edmund caused the accident."
"It's a long story and I really don't want to talk about my brother." Richard says.
"So, what happened this time?" Jeffrey asks.
"We're not really sure how it happened, but I'm about six weeks pregnant."
"So you go pregnant right after you came home from San Cristobel."
"Yes." Cassie says.
"Well congratulations." Sam says, standing up and hugging Cassie.
"Thank you." She says, hugging her back.
"So, we're going to be over run by babies next year." Jeffrey says.
"Well, you will be, Sam and Ava within a month of each other." Richard says.
"Actually, it's more like a few weeks." Sam says.
"I can't imagine being a father and a grandfather within a month." Richard says, looking at Jeffrey.
"It's not something I usually think about." Jeffrey says, slightly uncomfortable as Cassie and Sam smile.
"If it's hard for you, think about me." Sam says, teasing him.
"You."
"Yes me, I'm too young to be a mother and a grandmother." She says, leaning over to kiss him.
"But you are a very good looking grandmother."
"Certainly looks better than my grandmother did." Richard says, smiling.
"Okay, let's change the subject." Sam says. "How is the wedding plans going?" She asks, turning to Cassie
"Everything is ready except for one thing. I meant to ask you this before your wedding but I would like you to be one of my brides maids."
"Really." Sam says, surprised.
"Of course, you part of the reason we're able to do this again. You gave him back to me, so you should be in the wedding. Please."
"Yes, of course."
"I know its short notice, but if you want we can go looking for a dress tomorrow."
"That would be wonderful."
"I'll be at the Beacon early tomorrow morning, but after that we can go look."
"Great."
"Speaking of the wedding, Jeffrey I want you to be one of the groomsmen." Richard says, looking at Jeffrey.
"Umm, okay." He says surprised.
"William will be my best man and Josh is one of the groomsmen. Will that be a problem for you?" Richard asks.
"No, I've got no problem with Josh. I never have."
"Well, that's settled. Maybe we should get those cradles loaded up." Richard says, getting up from the table.
"Alright, we'll be back in a few minutes."
"Okay." Sam says, as he stands up, following Richard out of the house.
"You're very good for him." Cassie says.
"Thank you, he's good for me."
"What was the honeymoon like?"
"Wonderful, we've got so many pictures of the falls."
"Fall?"
"Yes, we went to Niagara Falls."
"Niagara Falls, how did you pick that?"
"Before the accident and I left Russia, we decided that we were going to go to Niagara Falls when we finished the assignment in Russia. After the accident neither one of us could go without the other."
"That's so sweet."
"He found a Bed and Breakfast that resembled an inn we stayed in when we were in England several years ago. It was the first time that I realized that I was in love with him."
"You've got so much history together."
"I just hope that history is enough to keep us together."
"Why would think it wouldn't be?"
"It's nothing, Jeffrey and I are fine."
"Sam, we're friends, talk to me."
"When I got home, I had a message from my cousin Megan. Her husband left her." Sam says, getting up and walking to the door.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Why did he leave?"
"He said it was for a few reasons, but the biggest one was because Megan went back to school this fall. When she got pregnant with their oldest son, she and Patrick made a deal, she would quit school and when the boys were in school, she could go back and finish her degree. Their youngest started school two years ago."
"So, she didn't go back right away."
"No, she waited two extra years."
"What were the other reasons?"
"She said he said was tired of DC and his job, both things that they could work out."
"So, you think he left because she went back to school?"
"Yes, it's something that Patrick would do."
"Maybe they can work this out."
"I told her the same thing, but Megan and Patrick were the reason I hung on to Jeffrey and I. They had to fight both of their families, including Jeremiah to be together. I thought they were completely committed to each other." Sam says, as Jeffrey and Richard walk into the house.
"They're both loaded up." Jeffrey says.
"Good." Sam says.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, we were talking about Megan and Patrick."
"Oh." He says, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Maybe we need to go home."
"Yeah, we should." Sam says, getting up.
"You don't have to leave." Richard says.
"Thank you, but it's been a long day and Sam needs to rest."
"I'm fine." Sam says, standing beside Jeffrey.
"It's okay. I didn't want to share her very much after we got back from our honeymoon either." Richard says, putting his arm across Cassie's shoulders and pulling her to him.
"Richard."
"What it's true." He says, smiling.
"We're going to go, thank for keeping those."
"You're welcome, and I'll come over to the loft tomorrow and we'll take them upstairs." Richard says, opening the front door.
"Good." Jeffrey says hugging Cassie before he walks out followed by Sam Richard and Cassie.
"You guys take care and Sam I'll be home around noon, if you want to come by then."
"Alright, I'll see you then."
"See you then." Cassie says, as Jeffrey and Sam walk out to the truck. He helps her inside and then gets in, starting the truck, waving as they leave.