A Fresh Start
Chapter One Hundred Sixty Three
Richard rolls to his side, taking a deep breath. "I believe that's the fastest time we've ever done." Cassie says, moving over to him and laying her head on his chest after he lifts his arm.
"I'm sorry. It hit me so hard. I needed you and…."
She reaches up and lays a finger across his mouth. "You don't have to always be slow and deliberate." She says, kissing his chest softly.
He kisses her finger and then pulls her to him. "I love you so much Cassie Winslow."
"I love you so much Richard Winslow." She replies, smiling.
They lay there for several minutes before he hears her stomach growl. "You need to eat." He says, releasing her as she tightens her arm around his waist. "Come on, Cassie. You're hungry."
"I don't want to get up." She says, looking up.
He looks down and then sighs softly. "I can't cook so do you want me to go over to the restaurant and get…?"
"No, I'll get up." She says, pulling away from him.
He reaches for his boxers and pants while Cassie grabs his shirt and her panties, slipping them on before she walks out of the bedroom. Richard follows her downstairs, following her into the kitchen.
Reva walks into the kitchen as Josh is pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Are you going to the office?" She asks, taking down a cup for herself.
"Yes."
"Hawk and Rusty leave this morning." She says, pouring her coffee as he nods. "Are you going to the airport with us?"
"I can't I'm meeting a new client about new project at the lake."
"Okay." She says, as he leaves the kitchen. Going into the living room, she hears him leave shortly thereafter. Sitting down on the couch, she stares out the window. She's still sitting there when Hawk comes downstairs.
"Reva, darlin." He says, walking into the living room.
"Morning Pop." She says, pulling her mind back from the DNA test and Josh. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes, where's Josh."
"He left about an hour ago for Lewis. He's meeting a new client."
"So, he's not going to airport?"
"No, are you hungry?" Reva asks, getting up.
"Reva…."
"There's nothing I can do Pop. I've told him he's got nothing to worry about and that I have no interest in Jeffrey. He won't listen to me."
"Did you tell him about the DNA test?"
"No, not yet. I figured I would tell him about it after we get the results back."
"You know that you will have to tell him."
"Yes, I know I will and I know what his reaction will be. I can't help that. He won't listen to me and Jeffrey deserves to know the truth."
Hawk walks over to her, hugging her to him. "As long as you know what you're doing and you're not fooling yourself into thinking that he's not going to be upset about this."
"I know what's he's going to do. Let me get dressed and we'll go to Company for breakfast before you leave. Is Rusty up?"
"I heard him moving around when I came downstairs."
"I'll be back down in a moment."
"Okay."
"There's coffee in the kitchen." She says, turning back to him at the door.
"I'll get me a cup." Hawk says and Reva leaves.
Jeffrey walks into City Hall. Nodding to different employees and council members, he walks into his office as Stacey comes back from making a pot of coffee. "Good morning, sir."
"Good morning Stacey, how are you today?"
"I'm fine, sir. The coffee will be ready in a few moments. I'll bring you a cup when it's finished and here are your messages."
"Thank you." Jeffrey says, taking the slips of paper before going into his office. He flips through the messages as he sits down at his desk. There's a message from Billy. Picking up the phone, he dials the number for Lewis Construction.
After a couple rings, Wanda picks up. "Lewis Construction."
"Yes, this is Jeffrey O'Neill. Is Billy in?"
"Yes, Mr. Mayor. Could you please hold and I'll connect you?"
"Yes, I'll hold." Jeffrey says, as Stacey bring him a cup of coffee.
"Thank you." Wanda says, putting him on hold as she buzzes Billy.
"Yes, Wanda." Billy says.
"Mr. Lewis, the mayor is on line one for you."
"Thank you." Billy says, turning to Josh. "Is that all?"
"Yes." Josh says, getting up and leaving Billy's office as he pushes the button for line one.
"Hello, Jeffrey." He says.
"Billy, I got your message."
"I thought we could sit down and discuss the project at your loft."
"Umm, that's fine. I'm open now if you want to come over."
"That's fine. I'll be there in a few moments."
"I'll see you then." Billy says, getting up as he hangs up. He leaves a few moments later after stopping at Wanda's desk. "I'll be at City Hall if you need me."
"Yes sir."
Ten minutes later, he walks into City Hall. Going to Jeffrey's office, he walks in as Stacey looks up. "Good morning, Mr. Lewis."
"Now, I believe I told you to call me Billy, Stacey." He says, walking over to her desk.
"You did but I can't here at work. Are we still on for later?"
"If you want to."
"Yes, I'll meet you at Company around six."
"That will be fine. Right now, I'm here to see Jeffrey."
"Yes sir." She says, smiling as she pushes the button for Jeffrey. "Sir, Mr. Lewis is here to see you."
"Send him in." Jeffrey replies, standing up as Billy opens the door. "Good morning, Billy." He says, holding out his hand.
"Jeffrey, it's good to see you up and about. How are the ribs?"
"They are getting better. You wanted to talk about the project at the loft?"
"Yes, you want to add another bathroom and bedroom."
"That's correct. Like I said, I want to add a bathroom upstairs, open up the closet and use some of the space in there for a master bathroom and then add a second bedroom on the first floor."
"Do you have an idea where you want this second bedroom to be?"
"We were discussing putting it over where I keep my guitars and music equipment."
"You can put a bedroom there but you would have to add another window to make it a legal bedroom according to the building code. Now if you want to move it to the other side of the first floor and use the two windows closest to the TV then we could do that without the added expense of adding a window."
"How much will it be to add a window?"
"With the cost of the window and materials, it would add another $500-$600 to the bid. I can build the bathroom and bedroom for about $3000 but that's a basic bathroom and bedroom with very few frills."
"Is that including adding the window?"
"No, it would be about $3500 or $3600."
"Alright, I don't believe we need anything greatly expensive. We're adding the bathroom and bedroom to make the loft easier for Ava and William. I can come up with that much money, possibly more."
"Alright, so you want to add the window and turn the space where you have your guitars and music stuff into a second bedroom. What are you going to do with the guitars?"
"I suppose I'll move them over to the house. If the bedroom needs a window, why doesn't the bathroom."
"The bathroom doesn't need a vent because we can vent it through the roof. The reason the bedroom has to have a window is in case of a fire. You won't be trapped."
"That's a fifteen foot drop from a window on that side of the building. Maybe we should consider moving the bedroom. Sam's going to loose some of the natural light from the windows, but those windows are connected to the fire escape."
"It's whatever you want to do."
"Can we put a small window in the bathroom to add natural light in there?"
"We could do that and it won't be as expensive because it will be a smaller window."
"Let's do that. When can you start this?"
"That depends on you. Do you want us to start while you're still living there or do you want to wait till you're in the house and then we start?"
"Umm, lets start now, and start on the bathroom first."
"Okay." Billy says, with a smile.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. I'll draw up some plans and then you can look at them. If you and Sam approve, we'll start immediately."
"That will be fine." Jeffrey says, standing up.
Billy stands up. "I'll let you know when I have the plans finished."
"Thank you." Jeffrey says, holding his hand out again.
"I'll be in touch." Billy says, shaking Jeffrey's hand.
"Alright." Billy turns to leave as Jeffrey sits back down.
Billy closes the door to Jeffrey's office before going over to Stacey's desk. "I'll see you tonight."
"Yes, six o'clock." Stacey says with a smile and Billy leaves.
Ava walks into the Sam's office. Sam is at a computer when she walks in. "Working already?"
"Umm, yes. I've got to hire staff and work out advertising. I've got to contact Cedars for privileges to practice as well."
"Sounds like you're going to be busy. Do you have time to start on the third floor?"
"I do right now. I'm waiting for a call from one of the employment agencies in town."
"You might try an agency in Chicago. You'll get more response that way." Ava says.
"I'll think about it. So, the third floor, the nursery and master bedroom I will do myself, but that leaves three other bedrooms with bathrooms in each to be done. When will the crew be here to start downstairs?"
"As soon as you say you're ready."
"Can you have them here tomorrow?"
"I'll see what I can do. They may be on another project."
"Okay. I've been thinking about these rooms and I think we need to keep these rooms neutral too. They will end up being my kid's rooms but until they are old enough to decide how they want them decorated we'll keep them neutral. One of the bedrooms will also be a guest room, probably the one at the end of the hall and farthest away from the nursery."
"So you want to continue with the off white paint."
"Yes, and we'll need to buy furniture for each room. We'll need the bed, dresser, chest of drawers, night tables, desk and chair. We'll bring in both desk chairs and seating for the windows." Sam says, looking at Ava. "Before the flooring guys come in, could you see about having radiant heating in the floors?"
"It can be done, but we may have to have an electrician come back out to wire the house. I don't think Billy had the house wired for that."
"Could you see and if not see about getting the house wired so that radiant heat can be installed?"
"Sure, I'll talk to Billy and if it wasn't wired up for that then I'll make the necessary arrangements."
"Good, thank you."
"I'll contact the flooring and paint crews and have them begin tomorrow."
"That will be fine. And I'll get your father from City Hall and we'll go look for furniture for these room."
"Maybe you should wait before you do that. Maybe we should get the house finished as far as painting and the floors before we bring in furniture and the other stuff."
"I'm sure we can get the furniture people to deliver whenever we need it to be delivered. Beside the quicker we do that, it's one less thing I have to do."
"And you're busy right now setting up your practice."
"Well, yes."
"Okay. I'll talk to Billy and then speak to the flooring people and have them start along with the painters. Oh, before we go. I have paint samples in my car. I'll need you to look at the samples and then tell me which colors you want to use."
"Okay." Sam says, looking at her watch. "I need to make that call, so why don't you put the samples up and I'll look at them after I get off the call and let you know which colors."
"Okay."
Sam leaves for her private office while Ava goes out to her car. Getting the cans of pan, she goes back into the house. Going into the living room, she puts up three different color options that they had discussed for the living, kitchen and dining rooms. While she waits for Sam to finish her call, she pulls out her cell phone and dials Billy's cell phone. After couple rings, he picks up. "Hello, Billy Lewis.
"Mr. Lewis." Ava says.
"Ava, how many times will I need to tell you, call me Billy?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. … Billy."
"That's better, is there something I can help you with?"
"I'm over at Jeffrey and Sam's house."
"Yes."
"Sam mentioned adding radiant heating for the floors. I need to know if the house was wired for that."
"I don't believe it was. The best person to ask is the electrician. He would be able to tell you whether it was wired and if not how much it will be to wire the house for that. Is she wanting the whole house or certain room?"
"She said the whole house. I'll have to clarify with her about that to see if she wants it on the first floor too. Thank you, Billy. I'll contact the electrician."
"You're welcome." Billy says, with a smile.
They hang up and Ava is about to call the electrician when she decides to wait to speak to Sam. Calling the painter, she's hanging up from that call when Sam comes back into the room. "How did the call go?" Ava asks.
"Good, they will start looking for candidates. Are these the samples?"
"Yes, you tell me which one you like and then I'll tell the painters and they will be here tomorrow to start."
Sam looks at the wall for several moments before she asks. "Is this as dark as the colors will be?"
"They could dry a little darker."
"Okay, we'll do these three."
"I'll tell the painters. Now about the radiant flooring, do you want that through out the whole house or only in certain rooms?"
"Umm, I want in definitely the bathrooms, but it would be nice to have it through out the house. I like to go barefoot and a warm floor would let me do that all year long."
"Okay, do you want it in the office too?"
"No, there's no need for that."
"Okay."
"I was thinking about something. I said I wanted hard or laminate floors through out the house, but I was wondering would it better to do tile floors in the bathroom, because of the water."
"Hardwood floors can be sealed to cover against water, laminate is an option but if you want tile we can do tile. You will need to pick out a tile."
"I'll look into it and let you know before the painters are through."
"Okay."
"Now, I'm going to City Hall." Sam says, picking up her purse.
"Is my dad driving you mad?"
"No, not really, nothing I'm not really used to, but he can be frustrating sometimes. Last night he tried to pick me up and carry me upstairs. Of course, I didn't let him, but I did have to convince him that he couldn't quite do that just yet." Sam says, as Ava smiles.
"Has he bought another car yet?"
"Yes, yesterday."
"Did he get another truck?"
"No. He got a Mercedes SUV. It's black and completely your father." Sam says, as Ava follows her out of the house.
"I'll find out about the radiant heating for the floor and let you know."
"That will be great." Sam says. "Thank you." She says, hugging Ava.
"You're welcome and tell my dad to behave." Ava says, as Sam smiles.
"I will, but he doesn't always listen to me."
"I'll be in touch." Ava says, nodding at Sam's comment about Jeffrey.
"Okay." Sam goes to her car while Ava walks to hers and they both leave a few minutes later.
Rick is walking back to his office when a lab tech walks up to him. "Dr. Bauer." He says.
"Yes." Rick replies, stopping and turning to him
"I have the results for the DNA test you order." The tech says, handing Rick a folder.
"Thank you." Rick replies taking the folder and the tech turns to leave.
He continues on to his office. Checking in with his assistant, he goes to his office and picks up the phone, dialing Reva's home number. Reva is walking in the door as her phone rings. Putting her purse on the counter, she reaches for the phone. "Hello."
"Reva, its Rick."
"Yes."
"I'm calling because I have the results for the DNA test."
"Oh, this quickly."
"I asked them to rush the test."
"Okay, thank you. I can come by Cedars and get the results."
"That would be fine. I have patients that I must see, but if you come by my office, I'll leave the results with my assistant."
"Thank you." Reva says, hanging up the phone. She takes a deep breath as she reaches for her purse.
Ten minutes later, she walks into Cedars. Going to Rick's office, she opens the door and walks in. Walking up to the office window as a receptionist opens it. "May I help you?"
"Yes, I'm Reva Lewis. I believe Dr. Bauer left some test results here for me."
"Ah, yes. I need to see some ID." The lady says, picking up and envelope. Reva pulls out her wallet and shows her, her ID and the receptionist hand her the envelope. "Will there be anything else, Mrs. Lewis?"
"No, thank you." Reva says, turning away from the window. She leaves the office and walks quickly to her car. Opening the car door, she gets in and closes the door. Laying her purse on the seat beside her, she stares for a moment at the envelope before she tears it open. Sighing softly, she pulls the papers out.
It takes her a moment to look over the results before she gets to the end. "With 99.9%" accuracy, the subjects are genetically related." She reads. Sitting back, she closes her eyes. "So Jeffrey is HB's son." She whispers.
She sits there for several moments before she reaches for the ignition and starts the car. Putting it in reverse, she backs out and leaves Cedars.
Josh is walking into Lewis when Reva pulls up. He stops when he sees her. As she walks up to him, he sees the envelope in her hand. "I need to speak to you." She says.
"I've got meetings…."
"This is important." Reva says, turning for the building and leaving him no option but to follow.
She walks into the outer office, nodding to Wanda as she walks through, followed by Josh. They go into his office and he closes the door. "What's so important Reva?"
"I want to tell you about something I did." Reva says, sitting down across from his desk. Josh watches her and then he walks around his desk so he can see her face. "Before Cassie's wedding, I remember that there was a lock of HB's hair in the locket that he gave Marah. I took some of that lock of hair and with a sample from Jeffrey I had a DNA test run. The results came back today." She says, holding up the envelope.
"You took the lock from Marah's wallet and ran a DNA test with it."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"It's the quickest and most accurate way to prove whether Jeffrey is HB's son."
"So, you took upon yourself to run a DNA test. How did you get Jeffrey's DNA?"
"I got it from a sample of his hair." Reva says, as Josh reaches for the envelope. He pulls the papers out and looks over the test just as Reva had done. "With and 99.9% accuracy the subjects are genetically related." Josh sits down and then looks at Reva. "This changes nothing."
"He is HB's son and we know it for a fact. We have to tell him the truth."
"We're not telling him anything. Up until now and in the future, he knows nothing about the test or the results." Josh says, getting up.
He turns for his shredder as she says. "Josh, give me the envelope."
"No. I will not let that man wreck my… our life. He doesn't know about…." He says, turning the shredder on.
"He knows it all." Reva says.
Josh stops and turns to her. "What do you mean he knows it all?"
"Exactly what I said, he knows it all. He knows about the folder you had destroyed. He knows about the fight you had with Billy about it. He knows about the investigation that Billy conducted. He knows about the folder we found from the private detective. He knows about the DNA test, because he was the one that gave me the sample after I explained why I wanted it. So, he knows it all." Reva says, sitting back.
"You told him after I expressly forbade you to do so."
"First, Josh you will never forbid me from doing anything. And secondly, the only reason you don't want him to know about this is because you think I'm going to leave you for him. I might have considered it…"
"…See."
"…if I wasn't already in love with my husband and he wasn't in love with his wife. You can destroy that file. I'll get another one from Rick and I will tell him why I need another one and then I will take it to Jeffrey and I don't give a rats behind if you don't want it or like it. We're not lying to him because you're insecure."
"This has nothing to do with insecurity. It has to do with your history. You've slept with…."
"Yes, I was married to Billy and I was married to HB. On those occasions I was a different woman, you were a different man and there were different circumstances for that. And that fact is not a reason to not tell your brother the truth." Reva says, getting up and walking around Josh's desk. She takes the file out of his hand.
"Reva, he'll destroy…"
"…what, our family, Marah, you and me, what?"
"YES!" Josh yells.
"Jeffrey and Marah are over. They have been for a while and now it will remain that way. Marah will understand once it's been explained to her and they didn't know. And how you perceive him hurting his family will not happen either, but you won't listen to me."
"Reva please, you can not tell him this."
"He's already been told. We were only waiting for confirmation." Reva says, walking back around his desk and picking up her purse.
"I will never forgive you for this."
"I think you will once you realize that Jeffrey being told will not change anything between you and me because that's your main complaint. You don't want him told because you don't want to loose me. You won't, I've told you that. This will prove it."
"You're seriously going to do this."
Reva sighs. "It's already been done. He knows the truth and now you have to learn to accept it."
"I will not accept that man as my brother."
"That's your choice." Reva says, walking over to the door. "I'll see you at home tonight." She says, opening the door.
He stands there staring at her too shocked to speak as she opens the door and walks out closing the door behind her. It's not till the door is closed that he finally sits down, still staring at the door. Reva walks out to her car. Getting in, she starts the car and then pulls out of the parking lot. She heads for Jeffrey's loft.