A Fresh Start
Chapter One Hundred Thirty Two
Cassie comes downstairs around nine. Richard and the boys are up and he is getting breakfast for them when she walks in. Walking over to the table, she kisses the tops of the boy's heads as she says. "Good morning."
"Good morning, darling. I thought you would probably sleep late after last night." Richard says, as she walks over to him, slipping her arm around his waist.
"I can't."
"Why not, oh you've got to meet Sam at the Beacon. That reminds me, why are you going in on a Saturday?"
"I'm only going to be there for an hour, two at the most. I've got to go over some contracts Olivia gave me."
"It can't wait till Monday?"
"No, I promise I won't be there all day, an hour, two at the most." She says, leaning up to kiss him.
"Alright."
"So, what are you going to do today?"
"Umm, I thought I would take the boys and go to Laurel Falls and check into finding Blue." Richard says, dropping his voice.
"Alright, when will you be back?"
"I would say around three. I've got to go by the loft too and help Jeffrey carry up the cradles."
"Okay, be careful. I'm going to get a shower."
"Don't you want something to eat?"
"No, not yet." She says, smiling as she leaves the room.
Thirty minutes later, she's walking into the Beacon. She had a couple of contracts to look over before she gave her final okay to Olivia and then she was meeting Sam. Walking into her office, she closes the door and walks over to her desk. Sitting down, she picks up the folders that Olivia left for her. An hour later, she's making her final notes on them. Shutting off her computer, she gets up to leave, taking the folders with her. She drops them on Olivia's desk and then walks out to the lobby. She's at the front desk when James comes downstairs. Spotting her, he walks over to her. "Cassie, love." He says, as she turns to him.
"James, hi, how are you. I thought you were still in Europe."
"I returned a few days ago after I worked out the problems with our Venice project. And I'm quite good actually, thank you for asking. I had a lovely dinner last night with your partner."
"Olivia, why would you…? You were meeting about the hotel."
"Well, there was that, but she's quite a fascinating woman and we talked most of the evening about Europe and San Cristobel."
"I seem to forget she's from there sometimes." Cassie says, walking over to the lounge area with James following her.
"What is your story with her?'
"Olivia, we're business partners. I want to think that we've become friends over the years."
"Do you have reason do think you're not friends with Olivia?"
"Olivia and I were not the best of friends when Richard and I came back from San Cristobel. It might have been because of the fact that he picked me over her. It might have been the fact that I was Reva's sister, which was Richard's ex wife. But needless to say, we were not close when we both found this hotel through Alan Spaulding."
"Alan Spaulding, what does he have to do with the Beacon?" James asks, hoping that she wouldn't tell him that he had a controlling interest in the Beacon. He wanted nothing to do with that man.
"At the time that Olivia found this place, she was seeing Alan. She told him that she wanted it. Alan approached Richard about selling it to him. Richard told him he would have to speak to me about it. I turned him down and then I came out here. I knew Hart's farm was large, but I had no idea that his property stretched all the way down to the lake. When we saw this place, we fell in love with it and then came Olivia. There were a few minor fights, including a mud fight where…."
"Mud fight, corrupting you already father?" Sarah asks, as Cassie turns around and James looks up.
"Sarah, what are you doing here?" James asks, standing up.
"I thought I would come and see my new sister." Sarah says, looking at Cassie.
"Hello, I'm…."
James interrupts her. "I'm sorry, Cassie. Let me introduce my daughter Sarah. Sarah, this is your sister Cassie Winslow."
"I'm pleased to meet you." Cassie says, standing up beside James.
"Likewise." Sarah says, rather formally. "You were saying something about a mud fight."
"Ah yes, but it's not important." Cassie says, seeing Sam walk in. "I think I'll let you two catch up."
"Do you have to go?" James asks, turning to Cassie with Sarah watching.
"Umm, yes, my friend Sam is here and we're spending the day looking for a dress for the wedding."
"Surely you have your wedding dress, the wedding is just a few weeks away from what father told me." Sarah says.
"Yes, I have my dress. We're looking for Sam's bridesmaids dress. I didn't get a chance to ask her before she left for her honeymoon, so if you'll excuse me."
"Of course." James says, reaching for her hand and squeezing it.
"It was good to see you. We'll finish discussing Olivia at another time."
"Of course, I'll look forward to it."
"Good." Cassie turns to walk away as Sam spots her and heads towards her.
Cassie walks up to her and they hug. "You look marvelous, married life agrees with you."
"I've only been married for two weeks, but so far it's been good." Sam replies, smiling as she steps back.
"Good, are you ready to go?"
"I am." Sam says, turning towards the door.
"I thought we would start of 5th street, at the bridal boutique down there. It's where Tammy found your wedding dress."
"That will be great, but I have strict instructions from Jeffrey. I'm not supposes to tire myself out."
"I got the same instructions from Richard." Cassie says, smiling as they walk out of the Beacon.
"What are you really doing here Sarah? And why didn't you tell me you were coming? And where are you staying?"
"You want us to be a family so I came to meet my sister. I didn't tell you because it was a last minute trip and I'm staying in town at the Towers. As a matter of fact, I'm surprised you're not staying there. This is a nice hotel, but it's certainly not…."
"Cassie built this hotel from the scratch and I'm not staying at Towers because I would rather stay here. From our last conversation, I hung up with the impression that you were not happy about Cassie being your sister."
"I thought about it and I figured if you want to have a relationship with her then the least I can do is attempt to get to know her. She is my sister."
"Yes, she is, but you've never had to share me."
"You're not my property." Sarah says, looking at him. "Alright, I have my reservations about this but you seem sold on the idea, so I'll give it a chance."
"Don't try your usual tricks Sarah, she's been through a lot and a lot of it I wasn't there to support her through it."
"What can I possibly do, Father?"
"Knowing you, anything is possible. Did you see your brother before you came over here?"
"He stopped by the office for a few moments."
"Alright, who is overseeing the negotiations with Turkey?"
"Miles has them well under control. And my brother is handling everything else."
"Does Albert know that you're here?"
"I'm sure he does by now."
"Sarah."
"I left a message with Cook."
"He's your husband, Sarah. You chose him, why do you insist on treating him like he was forced upon you?"
"I'm starving, can we eat?" Sarah asks, looking around the lobby of the hotel and sidestepping James question.
"Alright." He says, sighing as they walk towards Olivia's.
"Who is this Olivia person Cassie was talking to you about?"
"She's Cassie's partner and I took her out to dinner last night."
"You took her out to dinner."
"Yes, we were discussing business and other things."
"What other things?"
"We were talking about our families, childhood. She's from San Cristobel."
"What's her full name?"
"Olivia Spencer Lewis." James says, walking into the restaurant
"And she was once engaged to Richard. And I noticed the restaurant is named after her, was that her idea?"
"Yes, she was engaged to Richard before he and Cassie got together. I don't know about the name."
"So you think this partnership they have is stable."
"I think its fine now. They've had their problems but they worked them and they work well together now."
"Was that what you and Cassie were talking about when I walked up?"
"Yes, table for two, please." James says, to the hostess.
"Of course, Mr. Marshall, right this way." She says, taking two menus and leading the way to a table, close to the terrace. "Will this be okay?" She asks, turning to James.
"This will be fine, thank you." He says holding Sarah's chair before he walks around to the other side, sitting down across from her and picking up his menu.
"Have you seen her yet?" Sarah asks, doing the same.
"Who?" James asks, glancing up.
"Alex."
"I saw her for a few moments right after I came to town. She's busy right now keeping Spaulding running and handling Alan's legal issues." Sarah says as their waiter come up to the table.
JR walks into Sarah's office. Emma is at her desk and he walks up to her. "Hello, Emma."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Marshall."
"Is my sister in?"
"No sir, she's out of the country."
"When did she leave?"
"Yesterday afternoon."
"Did she say where she was going?"
"No sir. She said only that she was leaving the country and to clear her calendar for the next few days."
"Thank you." He says, turning to leave. He turns back to her and asks. "Did she have you process any personal financial transactions yesterday?'
"No sir."
"Thank you." He says, leaving as he takes his cell phone form his pocket.
He dials the number for the hanger where they keep the company jet and after a couple rings they pick up. "This is JR, has the plane returned from taking my father back to Springfield."
"Yes sir, it landed a few hours ago."
"I want you to get it ready to fly back to Springfield."
"I'm sorry sir, but the plane is undergoing maintenance. It will not be ready to fly for at least a few days."
"Alright, I'll fly commercial." JR says, hanging up and calls his assistant.
After a couple rings, she picks up. "James Marshall's office."
"Maggie, its James."
"Yes sir."
"I want you to book me a commercial flight to the United States."
"Yes Sir, where are you going?"
"Springfield IL."
"Yes sir, are you meeting your father and sister?"
"My father and sister?"
"Captain Mitchell took your father back over a few days ago."
"I know this. When did he take my sister over and how do you know that my sister is there?"
"I spoke with Angela this morning. She called to see if you would need the plane before they took it in for maintenance and she told me that they were behind on maintenance because Captain Mitchell had to fly Mrs. Langley to Springfield."
"Okay, I need that flight booked as soon as possible."
"Yes Sir, I'll get right on it."
"Thank you." JR hangs up as he unlocks his car, getting in, he leaves.
After Sam left, Jeffrey gets up and reaching for the phone, he calls Mike's number. After a couple rings, he gets the intercept operator, telling him that the line has been disconnected. He hangs up and dial's Beau's number. A couple rings later, he picks up. "Hello."
"Beau, its Jeffrey."
"Hey man, welcome back, how did it go?"
"Wonderful, I love her, I love being married."
"That's good, although I never thought I would hear those words coming from your mouth. So if she's there, why are you calling me?'
"She's not here right now. She's with Cassie…."
"She's with your ex, after you just got back from your honeymoon."
"Yes, they're looking for a bridesmaid dress."
"So, you're by yourself today."
"Yes, for most of the afternoon."
"So, what are you going to do?"
"I thought we could get together and rehears, but I tried Mike and I got an intercept operator, saying that the line had been disconnected."
"Yeah, about that, he's moved to New York."
"He moved to New York, when and why?"
"He moved right after your wedding. I think he finally realized after seeing Ava at the wedding that after seeing her with that prince guy she wasn't going to come back to him and he decided to leave."
"He just decided to leave after the wedding."
"No, he was offered a gig playing session work for a recording studio New York."
"And after the wedding he suddenly realized that Ava wasn't coming back to him and he took the job. Why would Ava go back to him, he broke up with her."
"After she slept with another guy and got pregnant."
"I'm not saying that Ava was without fault, but she was honest with him and she didn't try to trick him or manipulate him."
"Ava's a good girl, but Mike felt used and that you didn't care."
"What was I supposes to do? Ava's a grown woman."
"I don't know man, but he's left so that's why you couldn't get him. If you want to get together, we can."
"What's going on with you? We didn't have much of a chance to talk before the wedding. Did it…."
"No, she left and I'm staying out of the dating scene for a while."
"So she went…."
"Yes, she's in Seattle with him."
"Did she take…?"
"No, I've got Max."
"She left him too."
"Yes, I've got a lady that comes in."
"Alright, bring him with you."
"I will."
"We'll get things in order to find a replacement for Mike."
"I've actually got someone in mind. I work with him and we've been hanging out and playing, he's really good."
"Alright, we'll listen to him."
"I was thinking we could bring in another guy."
"Why?"
"I wanted to start playing more of the drums and you can lead us on guitar. This guy I know, he's a great bass player and keyboardist. That would leave me free to play the drums for you."
"We can see after I listen to him. Can you come over this afternoon?"
"Yeah, let me get Max ready and we'll be over."
"I'll see you then."
Richard pulls up to the auction barn where Sam had taken Blue to be sold. He and the boys get out of his car. "Why are we coming here?" RJ asks.
"I've got something I want to look into." Richard says, as they walk into the barn with the boys following him.
When they reach the office, Richard turns to RJ and Will. "You wait here and I'll be right back."
"Yes sir." They reply, sitting down in chairs by the wall as Richard walks up to a counter.
An older woman walks up to him and asks. "May I help you?"
"Yes, my name is Richard Winslow. I need to speak to the owner."
"He's out in the yard, looking over the stock for auction."
"When will he be back?"
"Probably not till the one o'clock sale."
"Alright." Richard says, turning to the boys. "Come on, boys." He says, opening the office door.
"Are we going to buy some horses?" Will asks, following Richard and RJ out of the office.
"Why would we get horses?" RJ asks.
"We have a farm, why wouldn't we have horses?" Will asks, looking at his brother.
"Are we going to get some horses?" RJ asks, looking at Richard.
"I don't know, but I thought we would go to the next sale. Would you like a horse?"
"I would, I miss riding." Will says, walking beside Richard.
"I do too. I used to go riding as much as I could when I didn't have duties and things to do when I lived at the palace."
"Do you remember Tammy trying to ride Napoleon?" RJ says, smiling. "She feel off so much she didn't want to ride for awhile."
"I know, but she did ride and she got to be quite good."
"She loved to go riding with you." RJ says, looking up at Richard.
"I know. Why don't we go look at the horse? We've got about an hour before the sale starts."
"Okay." The boys nod, following Richard to the stockyards.
As they walk out to the stockyard, a group of men are standing around the corral. One of them turns to see who came out of the barn and recognizes Richard and he says. "Hey fella's looks like we have royalty with us today. Your highness, where's your servants." Richard ignores him and walks over to one of the paddocks. When Richard doesn't answer him, the man says louder. "Are you too good to talk to us common folk, your Highness?" Richard continues to ignore him. When Richard turns away and starts to walk down the other way. The man breaks away from his friends and steps in front of Richard. "Can you not hear, your Highness."
"Hank, leave the man alone." Another man says, as Richard looks at Hank.
"No, he thinks he's too good to speak to us common folk."
"I don't want any trouble." Richard says, looking the man in the eye.
"So, you can speak. But he doesn't want any trouble boys. I don't care what you want." Hank says, taking a step closer to Richard.
"I don't know you. But I have my son's with me I would appreciate if you would step out of my way and let us pass."
"Hiding behind your kids." Hank says, taking another step towards Richard.
"Leave my Daddy alone." Will says.
"Will, be quiet." Richard says, never taking his eyes off the man in front of him.
"Boys he's a good parent. Listen to your daddy, and mind your place boy."
"I'll correct my son." Richard says softly.
"Woo hoo boys, I think I touched a nerve." Hank says.
"No, but it's not any of your business what my boys do. I'm their father, I'll correct them when they do something wrong. Now, if you'll excuse me I would like to look at some of the horses."
"What do you want with a common work horse, your highness. You have thoroughbreds. See guys, I'll bet he has a couple Arabians on his little estate."
"Excuse me." Richard says, trying to step around the man.
The man blocks his path. "You afraid of me, your Highness."
Richard looks at him and tries desperately not to smile or laugh. "Sir, I don't even know you, why would I be afraid of you?" He asks, with a twinge of laughter in his voice.
"Are you laughing at me?"
"Actually…."
Richard doesn't see the man swing, but reacts out of instinct, blocking the man's punch and punching him hard in his stomach. Knocking the air out of him and bring him to the ground.
"Go, Dad." RJ says, smiling as the man kneels in front of him.
"RJ, be quiet." Richard says, reaching for the man.
The man jerks back and glares at him before one of the man's friends pulls him away. "Come on, Hank. You deserved that. The man hasn't down anything to you." The other man says, drawing Hank away.
"I'm sorry about him." Another man says.
"Thank you."
"Chris Stinson." The man says, holding out his hand.
"Richard Winslow and these are my two boys, RJ and Will."
"Hello." Chris says, nodding to RJ and Will.
"Hi." They reply.
"Are you here for some horses?"
"Yes, we have a farm and I thought a couple horses would be good. I'm actually looking for a particular horse."
"You're looking for a particular horse."
"Yes, he was traded here several years ago and I would like to get him back if I could find him."
"We keep records of all our sales. We might be able to track down the buyer. What was the horse's name?"
Richard turns to the boys. "RJ, take Will and go look at those horses but don't leave my sight."
"Yes sir." RJ says, turning away with Will following behind him.
When RJ is far enough away, Richard turns back to the man. "I want to surprise him. The horse I'm looking for belonged to my oldest boy's biological father. My wife had to sell him to cover some bills she needed to pay. The horses name was Blue."
"I don't remember a horse named Blue but if it was sold through here, we have a record of who bought it in the office."
"Okay."
"I've got a few minutes before the sale, if you want we can go look."
"That would be good." Richard says, turning to call for RJ and Will. "Boys, come on."
They turn and follow Richard and Chris into the office. "When was the horse sold?"
"Umm, about ten years ago." Richard says.
Chris sits down at a computer and pulls up a program. "Do you know about what time of year the horse was sold?"
"Not the exact date, it was before Thanksgiving." Richard says.
The man puts in the information Richard was able to give him and then clicks search. After a few moments, the computer pulls up a couple sales. "Okay, we've got Royal Blue, he was sold in August and here we are, Blue, sold around Halloween to…." Chris stares at the name of the person that bought him.
"Does it say who bought him?" Richard asks.
"Umm, yes it does, but I don't think you're going to like it." Chris says, looking at him.
"Why?" Richard asks, as Chris gives him the file."
"Hank Lawson." Richard says, reading the name on the file.
"Yes, Hank Lawson, the man you just punched."
"Oh." Richard says, handing the file back to Bobby. "I'm sure I can convince him to part with horse."
"Umm, you don't know Hank. He can be terribly stubborn, especially if he thinks he's been insulted."
"I was defending myself. He swung at me."
"It won't matter to Hank. You punched him. You're rich and he'll hold both of those things against you."
"I'm not that rich." Richard says.
"You're former royalty, are you saying you don't have money?"
"I'm saying that my former title and my money have nothing to do with this. I don't want this horse simply because I want it. The horse belonged to my son's father." Richard says quietly, not wanting RJ to over hear."
"Let me talk to Hank before you approach him. He may not have the horse anymore. He doesn't keep his horses long."
"Alright."
"Do you have a number I can reach you at?"
"Yes, its 555-2932, that's my cell number. If I don't answer, leave a message and I'll call you back."
"I will as soon as I speak to him."
"Thank you." Richard says, holding out his hand.
"I'll be in touch. And stay for the sale, you might see another horse you like."
"We'll stay for a few moments." Richard says, turning to the boys. "Come on." He says, walking towards the door. They get up to follow him out of the office.
When Beau arrived at the loft, he brought with him his son Max and the man that he had hanging out with. They listened to him play and Jeffrey decided to let him play in the band. So instead of starting anything new, they go over the old songs and the new guy caught on pretty fast. They were just finishing up when there is a knock on the door. "I'll be right back." Jeffrey says, putting his guitar down. He goes to answer the door. Opening the loft door, he sees Richard with the boys on the other side. "Hi." Jeffrey says, stepping back to let him in.
"How are you?" Richard says, coming in with the boys.
"I'm fine. Hello boys." He says, to RJ and Will.
"Hi." They reply.
"We were coming back from Laurel Falls and I thought we could get the cradles and bring them up." Richard says, as they walk into the living room. "Oh, I didn't know you were busy." He says, seeing Beau and Robbie, the newest member of the band.
"It's okay." Jeffrey says, following Richard and the boys. "Let me introduce my band. You know Beau from the wedding. But this is the newest member Robbie."
"Hello." Richard says, shaking each man's hand.
"You're the Prince of San Cristobel." Robbie says.
"I was the Prince of San Cristobel." Richard says. "Do you listen to world event?"
"Not really, but my mom used too. She watched everything concerning San Cristobel, especially the stuff leading up to your wedding."
"I think everyone watched that." Richard says, with a smile.
Jeffrey turns to Beau and says. "I've got two cradles in the bed of my truck that I need to bring up here. So, Robbie would you mind staying up here with the boys and we'll carry them up."
"That's fine." Robbie says.
They leave and as they are walking downstairs, Richard says. "There's something familiar about him."
"What do you mean?" Jeffrey asks, opening the front door and bracing it.
"I don't know, but he reminds me of someone." Richard says, as they walk outside.
Jeffrey walks over to the truck. Putting the tailgate down, as Beau looks inside. "Wow, those are beautiful."
"I know, we found them in an antiques shop in Niagara and had them shipped here." Jeffrey says, getting up into the bed of the truck. "Sam had to have them." He says, moving them onto the tailgate. He gets down as Richard reaches to help. "Why don't you let Beau carry it?" Jeffrey says.
"I'm fine." Richard says, taking the end of the cradle.
"Okay." Jeffrey says, taking the other end
They start towards the building. When they reach the door, Beau leads the way to the loft. Opening the door, he holds it open for them. "Where do you want this?" Richard asks.
"Let's take this one upstairs and we'll leave the other one behind the stairs so that Ava won't see it when she comes over." Jeffrey says, carrying the cradle up to their bedroom.
They repeat the process, leaving Ava's cradle behind the stairs and then collapse on the couches. After a few minutes, Richard sits up. "I think I'm going to need Cassie to rub my back tonight."
"If I reinjured your back, Sam will kill me." Jeffrey says, sitting up and looking at him.
"It's not your fault. I carried them up here and I didn't reinjure it, but I think I'm going to be sore." Richard says, standing up. "Boys, let's go."
"Okay." They say, getting up.
"Don't tell Cassie I let you carry those up." Jeffrey says, getting up and following him to the door.
When he comes back, Robbie says. "If we're finished, I think I'm going to go too."
"No, we're through." Jeffrey says.
"How are you going to get home?" Beau asks.
"I don't mind walking." Robbie says, closing up his guitar case.
"Your…."
"I'll be fine." Robbie says, walking towards the door. Jeffrey opens it and Robbie walks out. "Thank you for letting me in the band." He says, turning to Jeffrey.
"You're welcome, but you're really good. I wish I was half as good as you are when I was your age."
"Thank you, but you're good too. I'll practice and let me know when we'll get together again."
"I will, and be careful walking home." Jeffrey says.
"I will." Robbie replies, turning for the stairs as Jeffrey closes the door.
Jeffrey walks back into the loft. Beau is sitting on the couch, holding Max and when Jeffrey sits down Max reaches for him as he asks. "Where did you find him?"
"Robbie."
"Yes."
"He was hanging out on 5th street with some guys. They were playing and I asked him to come over to the house. They guys he was hanging out with were not good ones."
"Where's he from?"
"I'm not really sure. He stays at one of the group homes."
"So, he doesn't have any parents?" Jeffrey asks, as Sam opens the door. She walks in and closes it as Jeffrey gets up and goes to see who came in, taking Max with him. "Hi." He says, smiling as she turns to him.
She looks at him for a moment with Max in his arms before she says. "Hi."
"I see you found a dress." Jeffrey says as she puts the bag and her purse down, nodding.
"I'll show it to you later. Who's this?" She asks, as Beau comes out of the living room.
"This is Max, Beau's son." Jeffrey says, leaning over to kiss her
"He's precious." She says, reaching up to run her hand over his soft curly hair.
"Thank you." Beau says, taking him from Jeffrey. "And since you're back, I think it's time we go."
'You don't have to go just because I came home."
"It's not just because you came home. Its dinner time and my housekeeper has him on a strict schedule."
"Okay, but bring him back anytime and I'll babysit anytime too."
"Thank you." Beau says, smiling. He picks up Max's diaper bag.
"I'll let you know when we're going to rehearse again." Jeffrey says, walking to the door.
"Okay."
Beau leaves and Jeffrey closes the door behind him. He turns to her and wrapping his arms around her he says. "I missed you today."
"I missed you too, but it looks like you were busy."
"I was, I had Beau come over to rehearse and we had to find new bass player so he brought this great kid with him. I guess I shouldn't say he was a kid. He's about twenty five or so, anyway I wish I could have played as well as that kid does when I was his age."
"Why did you need a new bass player?"
"Mike moved to New York after the wedding." Jeffrey says, releasing her and walking back into the living room.
"He just decided to move to New York?"
"I guess so. Beau said that he realized after the wedding that Ava wasn't going to come back to him."
"Ava, what does she have to with it?"
"She was dating Mike when we flew to San Cristobel to tell William and Cassie about Richard."
"Oh, so she was dating Mike when her and William were together."
"Yes, she told him what happened right after she got home and long before she ever knew she was pregnant and he broke up with her and as far as I know he never tried to get her to come back to him."
"So, he was waiting for her to come back to him but he never said anything to her."
"Yes, as far as I know." He says, looking at her and noticing that she looks tired. "Why don't you go upstairs and lie down and rest?"
"Will you lay down with me?" She asks, looking at him.
"If it will get you to rest, I'll lay down with you." He says, getting up.
"You want to lay down with me and you know it because you want something else." Sam says, following him.
"Do you want something else?" He asks, walking towards the stairs.
She follows him up the stairs and they walk into the room with Jeffrey ahead of her. He moves out of the way so that she can see the cradle. "You brought them up."
"Yes, Richard came by and helped me bring them up."
"Jeffrey, he shouldn't be lifting that much."
"He's fine." Jeffrey says, walking over to the bed.
"Did he carry up both of them?" Sam asks, looking at him.
"Yes, I offered to have Beau carry them but he insisted."
"I'm calling Cassie." Sam says, reaching for the phone.
"No, you're not." He says, reaching to stop her. "You'll get him in trouble."
"He needs…."
"He's fine, I promise." He says, tugging on her hand. She sits down on the bed. "Now, lay down and rest or you're going to be in trouble."
"I'm going to be in trouble. What are you going to do about it?"
"I can tickle you." He says, moving towards her.
"No, J, don't you dare." She says, scrambling away from him.
He sits back, smiling as she sits there, watching him. "Come on, lay down." He says, holding out his hand. She looks down at his hand and then back up. "I'm not going to tickle you." He says. "I promise."
Slowly she moves over to him, lying down. He lies down beside her. "What were you rehearsing?"
"Mostly we were teaching Robbie the songs we have."
"Robbie."
"Yes, that's his name."
"What's his last name?"
"I don't know. I didn't ask him. I've got his cell phone number."
"But you don't put their last name in your cell phone."
"I'll have to ask Beau." He says, with a slight shrug.
"So, did Ava come by?"
"No, I'm assuming she busy with work."
"It's the weekend." She says, moving over to him and laying her head on his chest and her arm across his stomach, closing her eyes.
"I'm sure she'll be over sometime."
When she doesn't reply, he looks down and smiles. Turning his head, he softly kisses the top of her head and then he lays there holding her.