A Fresh Start
Chapter One Hundred Seventy Five
When James woke up the next morning, Olivia isn't in the bed. Pushing the covers back, he grabs his pants and slips them on. Going out to the living room, he sees the balcony doors open. He walks over to them. Leaning against the door, he watches her looking out over the Beacon grounds towards the lake and light house. "Did you know it was me that found the Beacon? Cassie didn't even know that Hart's property came down to the lake."
"No, I didn't."
"I had just signed my divorce papers to Josh. I was Alan's girlfriend but Phillip and I had noticed each other. I wanted the Beacon because it could be my baby. I wanted to control everything about it. I never had anything that was completely mine. Richard was using me to substitute for Catherine and then she came back. I had Ava, but I gave her up without even seeing her. My sister and brother, well they were that, my brother and sister. Josh was married to me but Reva was still the center of everything for him. Richard had Cassie and Alan. Alan, we used each other.
He used me to get back at Josh. I used him to distract me from the void in my life. And he did that quite well, except that some times reality would sneak in and I would feel alone, completely alone. The Beacon was going to be the one thing that was completely mine. So I told Alan about it and I told him about it being on Cassie's property. He went to Richard, trying to bypass Cassie and Richard insisted that Cassie be told. The one thing that was supposed to be mine was now apart of someone else. And I had to compromise and let Cassie be a part of it."
"You must have resented that."
"I did at first. There was no love lost between me and Cassie from the very beginning."
"What changed?"
"It started to change before Richard's accident slowly, but when he died, or we thought he died, I saw the pain Cassie was in and I realized how much she truly loved him."
"You didn't know that before."
"Yeah, maybe I did. I didn't want to see it, because I wanted to believe that he only wanted her because she was Reva's sister. And this sounds really catty, but I thought maybe he wanted her because of her former occupation."
"So it changed after Richard died."
"Yes, this became a haven for both of us. For me, it was my chance to do something on my own. For Cassie it was her last connection to Richard. The last time she saw him alive and well was downstairs in our ballroom for Josh and Reva's wedding reception. A reception that I sabotaged."
"You sabotaged, how?"
"I hired Edmund to overload the circuit box in the basement, causing an electrical outage."
"Do you realize what could have happened?"
"Yes, there could have been a fire and we could have lost everything not to mention any one of the guests could have been hurt or killed. It was never proven that there was sabotage, at the time the Beacon was still under construction. We hadn't replaced the wiring yet."
"You can't excuse that."
"I'm not. I'm only explaining what happened. I know I put a lot of people in danger and only because I wanted to ruin Josh and Reva's wedding. Cassie knew it. She suspected it from the moment it happened."
"Did you try to do something to Alan or Phillip when they broke up with you?"
"Not Alan, although I did sleep with his son. With Phillip I tried to take over Spaulding, it was never a very thought out plan. And Phillip wasn't in Raven Wood long enough for the plan to work."
"So every man you have ever been with, you've tried to hurt them or their partners when they left you, why?"
"I don't know. Maybe I wanted to feel powerful. I wanted… maybe I was trying to get justice for that night at the embassy."
"Justice for what Jeffrey…."
"No, justice for what Edmund did to me, for raping me. When I was at the palace all those years with Richard, I never once stayed in a room with Edmund alone. I didn't know why, but if I found myself in a room with just him, I found a reason to leave. I couldn't remember what happened that night. I still can't remember all of it. I know I went to the party. I know I met Jeffrey and we started drinking together and partying, even though he was on duty that night. I vaguely remember Edmund coming over to me, trying to get my interest but I wasn't interested and Jeffrey chased him away every time he came back.
So when I went to the embassy and they told me that the man that raped me was out of the country. That he had joined an American intelligence agency to keep from facing charges in San Cristobel. I believed them. When Ditkins told me that Jeffrey was the one that was accused of raping me, both times he told me that, I believed him."
"Yet Jeffrey had been in town for how long before you saw Ditkins?"
"Over a year."
"And you didn't recognize him. You had no feelings when you were around him, like you did with Edmund."
"No, nothing. He didn't look like the Jeffrey I met that night and I never felt threatened by him. In fact, I felt right the opposite. He made me feel safe. Like he was so strong nothing could bring him down. However, I almost did."
"Even if you succeeded in kidnapping Jeffrey, I seriously doubt that you would have held him that long."
"You're probably right, either by him escaping or by Sam rescuing him. Those two are a lot alike."
"How do you mean?"
"They are both fiercely protective of each other and extremely confident in themselves and each other. That's a bond that no one should try to break and I should have known that too." Olivia says, turning back towards the lake. After a while she says. "I would completely understand if you want nothing to do with me after this deal is finished with the Beacon."
"I'm not letting you go. I made that mistake, letting the woman that's important to me walk out of my life, I'm not going to make it a second time." James says, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist.
They stand there for several moments, looking over the grounds. "I can't believe that I'm not going to be able to come back here, ever."
"The sentence was for twenty five years, not life."
"But twenty five years is a long time to be away. What will the Beacon be at that time? What will Ava be doing and Emma too? "What will my grandchild be? He or she will be grown and he'll have no idea I'm his grandmother."
"I don't think Ava meant what she said yesterday."
"She meant it." Olivia says, looking at him.
"Once she calms down, she'll realize that she does what you in her life."
"I tried to kidnap her father. And that's not the only thing I've done to her."
"She forgave you before."
"Maybe, but she's always been closer to Jeffrey, probably because he's been more supportive and understanding about the baby and because I tried to hurt her. I've got one helluva problem." She says, looking at him.
"One that with time; can be solved. So, I say let's go get something to eat and then we'll go talk to Ava and see what we can work out."
"Okay, I'm hungry anyway. I haven't eaten for a couple days now. The food they had in there is awful."
"Then let's get cleaned up and eat." James says, leading her back into the room.
Olivia takes a shower and gets dressed while James goes to his room to change and shower. They meet in the lobby and go into Olivia's to eat before leaving the Beacon.
After finishing the interview with Jas, Sam goes upstairs to tell the painters and electrician she was leaving and to be sure to lock up when they finish for the day. Jeffrey is leaving a meeting when she walks into city hall. When he sees her, he smiles as he walks over to her, pulling her to him and hugging her as he asks. "What's wrong? Was I supposed to do something because Stace told me you called?"
"No, nothing's wrong and you weren't supposed to do anything. I was on my way to Cedars to drop off some paper and I came by here first. I wanted to talk to you, about Ava."
"I've got a few minutes." Jeffrey says, taking her hand and leading the way to his office. Stace is at her desk when they walk in. "Hold all my calls." He says to her.
"Yes sir, good afternoon, Mrs. O'Neill."
"Hi Stace, and call me Sam."
"Yes ma'am." She says with a smile.
Jeffrey opens the door to his personal office, holding it for her. He closes it as she walks over to the couch. "I'm worried about Ava." She says, sitting down.
"You're worried about Ava, why?" Jeffrey asks, walking over to the couch and sitting down beside her.
"She was at the house this morning and I asked her about Olivia."
"What did she say?"
"She said the usual stuff. She's angry."
"That's understandable, considering what Olivia's done to both me and her."
"It's not that she's angry. I expected that. It's that she's acting as though she's not angry."
"Tell me what happened?"
"I saw her when she was upstairs talking to the electrician. I had to point blank ask her about Olivia. And when I tried to reassure her that it was okay to be angry, she flat out told me to mind my own business, not in those exact words but that was the jest of it. And later when she was leaving, she admitted that Olivia took that deal that Chris gave her and that she was released yesterday. And she admitted that she's planning on keeping Emma."
"Well, keeping Emma, legally she has a right to keep her. Olivia signed custody over to her."
"J!"
"She did and…."
"We both know that Olivia only signed custody over to Ava because she thought she would be going away for a very long time."
"Whether she thought that or not, Ava has a legal case if she wanted to pursue it. And let's face it Olivia hasn't been the most stable mother for either Ava or Emma in the last few months."
"I know what Olivia's done, but…."
"But you don't believe she should loose custody of her daughter."
"There's more than Olivia to consider here. Emma deserves not to have to choose between her mom and her sister. I know what that feels like. Feeling like, if you pick one, you're going to let the other one down, worried that they will think that you don't love them because you picked the other one."
"You know what it feels like because you had to choose between your mom and your father. The difference between your situation and Emma's, is that Emma maybe better off with Ava than with Olivia."
"Could you please talk to her? Find out if she's going keeping Emma because she wants what is best for her, or is she doing it to hurt Olivia because she's mad. That's the feeling I got when I talked to her. She's only keeping Emma to get back at Olivia for hurting her and the one that will suffer is Emma."
"I will talk to her."
"Good."
"This is why you called this morning, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Why did you tell Stace that it wasn't important?"
"Because technically it wasn't, it's just that after speaking with Ava before she left, I thought maybe you needed to know about this and know before she goes to say something to Olivia."
"I'll talk to Ava and see if she'll tell me what she's thinking."
"Okay." Sam says, sighing softly. "How has your day been going?"
"Umm, busy and I have to fight to keep my concentration on what everyone is saying to me."
"Why, are your ribs…?"
"My ribs are fine. I keep thinking about you, last night." Jeffrey says, leaning over to kiss her.
"Last night was active. I don't think we've been that active, five times in one night."
"Six if you count this morning."
"It was the pent up frustration."
"It was that I love you very much." Jeffrey says leaning over to kiss her again as his door opens.
"Mr. Mayor…" One of the councilmen says, looking around. "Oh, I'm sorry." He says when he sees Jeffrey with Sam in his arms.
"What is it Rudy?" Jeffrey asks, still holding Sam but turning to look at the other man.
"I'm sorry to interrupt Sir, Stace wasn't at her desk. We have a meeting to go over the proposal at the Bluffs."
"Yes, I remember. Can you give me a moment?"
"Of course, Sir." He leaves the room closing the door as Jeffrey turns back to Sam.
"It's a good thing we weren't doing anything else." Sam says, looking up at him.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
"I can imagine the headline if he had caught us doing something else, "Mayor screws wife on City Hall couch."
"I don't care about the headline and when I'm with you I'm never just screwing you. I'm…."
"I know. You're showing me how much you love me."
"More and more everyday." He says, leaning in to kiss her again.
When he sits back, she says. "You have to go?"
"I need to talk to him about this proposal." He says, getting up. He turns to help her up. "I'll talk to Ava."
"Okay."
"What papers were you taking to Cedars?" Jeffrey asks, walking to the door and opening it.
"My privilege papers."
"Privilege papers?"
"They give me privileges at the hospital. It allows me to be able to send my patients there."
"Oh, I'll see you tonight." He says, one hand on the door the other around her waist.
"Yes, after I leave Cedars I'm headed home."
"I'll see you then."
"Alright, I love you." Sam says, walking out of the office.
"I love you too." Jeffrey replies, as Rudy stands up.
"Mrs. O'Neill." He says, nodding.
"Hello." Sam says, walking past as he walks into Jeffrey's office and he closes the door.
Jasmine is coming out of the grocery store. Since Reva has been staying at the farm Josh has either eaten at Company, The Beacon or ordered take out but he was getting tired of it. He walks past a woman and she turns around to look at him, watching him walk into the store. She finally goes on to her car. Putting the stuff in the passenger seat, she gets in and is about to start the car when she decides to wait for him. Fifteen minutes later, Josh walks up to his truck and she gets out, going over to him. "Josh." She says.
He turns to her. "Yes."
She realizes that he doesn't recognize her and says. "You don't remember me, do you?"
"I'm sorry, should I?" Josh asks, looking at the woman.
"No, I don't suppose you should. My name is Jasmine Randall."
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Josh says, holding out his hand.
"How have you been?" Jasmine asks, shaking his hand.
"I'm fine. I've got stuff here that will melt if…."
"Oh, I'm sorry. It was good to see you." Jasmine says, stepping back as Josh gets into his truck. He backs out as she stands there watching.
Across the parking lot, Dorian is watching them both and when Josh leaves he walks over to his mother. "Are you trying to get him back?" He asks in her ear.
She jumps and then turns to him. "DJ." She says, blushing slight. "No, I wasn't trying to get him back. I simply wanted to see if he remembered me. He doesn't." Jasmine says, looking away.
He can hear the disappointment in her voice and it pisses him off. "Well, maybe if you get him drunk he'll remember. There are a few bars around town, I'm sure he goes to one of them."
"Josh was never that way. He was drunk that night because he had just lost his wife. He was in pain."
"And you were there to ease that pain, is that it. You had my father at home so what was your excuse."
"I told you your father and I was having some problems… Do you want to discuss this on street?
"Actually I don't want to discuss it at all." Dorian says, turning away. He goes into the store while she goes to her car.
Jeffrey finishes up the meeting with Rudy and he's taking care of some paperwork that Stace has left on his desk when his phone buzzes. "Yes." He says, holding down the button.
"Sir, Chris is on line one for you."
"Okay." Jeffrey says picking up the phone and hitting the button for line one. "Hello, Chris." He says, sitting back in his chair.
"Jeffrey, I'm calling about the Spaulding case."
"What about it?"
"I wanted to let you know that it just went to jury."
"What do you think our chances are for conviction?"
"I think we've got a 90% chance of getting a conviction. We had a very strong case against him and Doris's testimony helped a lot. The agents and Detective Mallet went by the letter for gathering the evidence both here and in San Cristobel."
"Alright, Chris thanks for letting me know."
"You're welcome. Do you want me to call you when the juries in?"
"No, there's no need. I'll hear about it like everyone else."
"Okay."
"Thanks again." Jeffrey hangs up and then sits there for a moment before he picks up the paperwork that Stace had left him.
Sam walks into the loft. She puts her purse on the table by the door and then goes into the bathroom, using it. She goes into the kitchen to see what is in the refrigerator for dinner, pulling out some steaks. She puts them in the sink to thaw before she puts the clean dishes away and then goes into the living room. She straightens that up and then goes upstairs to change. She's sorting clothes when the phone rings. Going into the bedroom, she answers on the second ring. "Hello."
"Sam, its Megan."
"Hi, how are you?" Sam asks, sitting down on the chair by the window.
"I'm fine. I just left the court house."
"The hearing was today. I forgot… I'm sorry, we've had so…."
"It's okay. The attorney that Jeffrey set me up with, she's great."
"You got the boys back."
"Not only did I get the boys back. The judge ordered Patrick to vacate the house with his friend and he's allowed to have the boys every other Saturday, but he has to have them home by six and he can't bring his friend around them until the divorce is final."
"So, you get to move back in to the house?"
"Yes, although now that I know he's had her there, I'm not sure I want to."
"Where are you going to stay then?"
"I may have to stay there, but I guarantee that I won't be staying in our room."
"When is the hearing?"
"October 1st, 10 am. The judge that heard this hearing will hear the divorce hearing. My lawyer is confident that he will rule in our favor."
"Have you thought about what you're going to do after that?"
"Umm, I've been thinking about it. But before I make any definite plans I need to talk to the boys. How are things with you and Jeffrey?"
"We're great. We had a bit of an issue about a week ago but Jeffrey's fine now."
"What happened?"
"He was rear ended and wasn't wearing his seatbelt so he was thrown into the steering wheel and hit his head on the windshield. He had a slight concussion and he broke three of his ribs."
"What did you do?"
"I went to the hospital and was absolutely terrified until I saw him. I knew something was wrong the moment he was hit. And when I got to the hospital they told me the wrong room and I walked in on the doctors working on the other victim. That terrified me even more until we realized I was in the wrong room."
"So, he's okay?"
"Yes, he went to the doctor yesterday and was partially released. It's been extra hard on him because we haven't been allowed marital relations, until last night."
"I'm glad he's okay. How's is the baby?"
"He's fine. I went to the doctor the other day and everything is processing as it should be."
"Good, listen I've got a class."
"Okay, I'll talk to you later."
"Take care."
"You two and hug the boys for me."
"I will." Megan says, hanging up.
Sam hangs the phone up and then goes back into the closet, gathering up a load of clothes, she takes them downstairs and starts the washing machine.
Jeffrey is finishing up the paperwork that Stace left for him when someone knocks on his door. It was close to time to go home so he had sent Stace home for the day. "Come in." Jeffrey calls, looking up.
The door opens and a woman walks in. "Mr. Mayor." She says quietly.
"Yes." He says, getting up.
"My name is Barbara Milton." She says, still standing in the doorway.
"Please come in Mrs. Milton." Jeffrey says, motioning for her to enter.
"I'm sorry to disturb you."
"It's alright, I was finishing up some paperwork and then I was going home for the day. What can I do for you?"
"I… It was my son that rear ended you a couple weeks ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss."
"I had told Travis many times not to text while he was driving. I wanted you to know that."
"What happened was an accident?"
"It was an accident that could have been avoided. I'm sorry you were hurt but I'm glad that you weren't more seriously injured. I've been thinking about what happened and I think we should do something to educate kids about the dangers of texting while driving."
"It's not just kids that do it. I've done it myself."
"I know we've all done it. What I was thinking was that we should propose a city ordinance banning texting while driving."
"A city ordinance would take a while to get into affect. There would have to be research done to establish the legalities of the ordinance, how it would be enforced and what penalties should be put to use."
"But do you think it could be done."
"Yes, it could be done. I would suggest that you speak with Chief Cooper and the DA as well the councilmen for your precinct. They would be better able to get this started. Of course any city ordinance will have to be put before the city council and voted on to be included on the ballot for the next election. If it passes then I or the next mayor will sign it into law."
"How long do you think it would take for it to be put on the ballot?"
"It might be a year, maybe more. The first thing I would do was speak to your councilmen. They would be able to write up the proposal and present it to the City Council."
"Alright, I'll contact Ms. Evans and speak with her."
"That would be where I would start." Jeffrey says, as she stands up.
"Thank you and again I'm sorry for my…."
"You're son made a mistake. I'm sorry he lost his life at such a young age. I'm a parent and I would never want to loose my child for any reason."
"Thank you again." She says, holding out her hand. He stands up, shaking her hand. "Take care of that new baby and that lovely wife of yours."
"I will." Jeffrey says, smiling. She leaves and Jeffrey sits back down, finishing the work Stace left. He shuts his computer off before he leaves.
Sam is coming out of the kitchen when he walks in the door. She stops, smiling as he puts his keys and briefcase on the table by the door. "Hi." She says, as he turns to her.
"Hi." He replies, walking over to her and pulling her into his arms, hugging her.
"Is everything alright?" She asks, hugging him.
"Yes, I just wanted to hold you and the baby." He says, easing his hold on her.
"Did something happen? Did you talk to Ava?"
"Nothing happened and I didn't get a chance to talk to Ava. I had a visit from the mother of the boy that hit me. She came by the office to apologize for what happened and ask about proposing a city ordinance to ban texting while driving. She wanted to tell me that she had told her son Travis not to text while he drove. We talked for a few minutes and I gave her some advice about how to start the ordinance and then she left. But I could tell she is hurting, deeply. When she left she told me to take care of you and the baby."
"What happened to her I could never imagine? Is she going to propose the city ordinance?"
"She's going to contact her councilwomen and work it out with her." Jeffrey says, releasing her and pulling his tie off along with his jacket.
"I've got dinner started. If you want to start the grill for the steaks."
"Can I get a shower first?"
"Sure, put that suit and shirts in the closet and I'll take it to the cleaners tomorrow." Sam says, going over to the closet.
"Okay." He says, going upstairs.