A Fresh Start
Chapter One Hundred Eighty Two
Billy walks into City Hall about an hour after Jeffrey came in. Stacey picks up the phone and buzzes him. "Yes." Jeffrey says, holding down the intercom.
"Sir, Mr. Lewis is here to see you."
"Send him in." Jeffrey says, putting the file he was looking at down.
There's a knock at the door as Jeffrey looks up. "Come in." He calls, standing up as Billy opens the door and walks in.
"Mr. Mayor." Billy says, walking over to the desk after closing the door.
"You can call me Jeffrey, since we are brothers." Jeffrey says, holding out his hand.
"Alright, Jeffrey." Billy says, shaking his hand. "How are you and Sam doing?"
"We're settling in actually."
"Is the article in the Journal true?"
"Yes, she planned to kidnap me and then blame it on Sam."
"How do you feel about her sentence? It was a serious crime she tried to commit."
"I was the one that asked Chris to offer the deal. I didn't want Emma or Ava to see her put in prison."
"Ava came and asked me to have some time off. She told she needed to figure out what she needed to do."
"Yes, she's angry and confused. She wants to protect Emma but she loves her mother. I understand what she's trying to accomplish."
"Do you think Olivia's a threat to Emma?"
"It's hard to say what Olivia is. She does her own thing. She's Emma's mother but like I told her, I believe she needs to take this time to figure out what has happened these last few months and what she has to do for herself."
"Well, I'm glad you and Sam are safe. And may I say, welcome to the family."
"Thank you, although not everyone in family is happy that I am in the family."
"Josh will come around but it will take time. So, I drew up some plans for the renovations to the loft." Billy says, opening the briefcase.
Jeffrey clears a place on his desk and then Billy spreads the plans out on top. Jeffrey looks them over, and then looks at Billy. "These look good, but I've been thinking since all of this stuff happened with Olivia and Ava has Emma now. She's not planning on bringing her back until after Olivia leaves the state. So, I'm thinking that we may need to go ahead and add another room, over here, where my guitars are. I've got to pack them up anyway to move to the other house and we can add a window here between them to let in light and it will give access to the fire escape from there."
"You're positive that Ava's going to keep Emma. She's not giving her back until Olivia is out of the state."
"Yes, that's what she said when I spoke to her this morning."
"If that's what you want to do, we can and another room."
"If she does decide to give Emma back. It can be taken out or left for another use, but right now it looks like she'll need it."
"Then we'll add another room to the plans."
"How much is that going to bring the cost up to?"
"I'll have to go back to the office and look over the bids and see, but I can let you know."
"That will be fine. There was something else that I wanted to talk to you about."
"Okay?"
"Our house, it has a garage." Jeffrey says, as Billy nods. "What's your opinion of it? Do you think it's worth remodeling or should we tear it down and start all over?"
"I remember the building. We looked it over when we were working on the house. It's in fairly good shape. There are a few weather proofing details that need to be done. It's not very big and several feet from the house."
"So, we shouldn't use it then."
"No, it can be used but I think it would be better used for storage or something else. If you're going to need place to practice, I think it's better to build a building closer to the house, maybe even attached to the house."
"It can't be attached to the house, because of the clinic and we don't need a big place to practice."
"If you want to use the garage, then we could get it setup in a few days, probably over the weekend."
"Great, how much would that cost?"
"You and I can do it and it will only cost what supplies cost. We will need to hire someone to wire it for electricity and plumbing. I don't think you want to go back and forth to use the bathroom."
"No, if Sam's busy at the clinic I don't want to disturb her."
"When do you want to do this?"
"Let's get the house furnished and Ava settled and then we'll do this project."
"That's fine."
"Then, let me know the added cost to add the other room to Ava's loft."
"I will."
"I think that's everything."
"Good, I'll be in touch then." Billy says, standing up with Jeffrey following him.
"I'll talk to you later then." Jeffrey says, holding his hand out.
"Yes." Billy replies, shaking it. "You know, I just thought about something. If you want to when you get time, you can come by Lewis and I can show you around."
"Umm, what about Josh?"
"You can't let Josh intimidate you. You're a Lewis and you have a right to know about the business we're in. HB showed me everything about Lewis Oil when I first came to Tulsa."
"What's Lewis Oil?"
"Lewis Oil was the first Company we owned when I came to Tulsa. HB built it up from an independent drilling company to be one of the biggest oil companies in Oklahoma."
"What happened to it?"
"Several years ago, we started loosing money and we were transitioning from oil into construction. Spaulding came in and bought us out with the provision that Josh and I would continue to run that division but every thing we did we had to pass through Phillip and any new projects that Spaulding took on as it pertains to construction we got the contract."
"So, what happened?"
"Richard commissioned Phillip to build a factory in San Cristobel. This was right after we found out about Reva and Richard. Richard was still pursuing Reva when Phillip called a meeting to tell us about the project and order us to build it. We refused and Josh and I walked out. They have Lewis Oil and we started Lewis Construction."
"They took it over."
"Yes, Josh refused to build the factory because of Richard and as part of the conditions when they took over…."
"You had to do what Phillip wanted. I can understand not wanting to work for the man that had slept with and been married to your wife. Why would Phillip ask Josh to do that?"
"It's the way Phillip operated. It's the way Alan taught him and they had controlling interest in Lewis Oil. We had no choice but to walk away."
"Lewis Construction is strong now, have you ever thought about trying to get Lewis Oil back."
"Josh and I never talk about it."
"But it could be done."
"I suppose it could. But we're happy with Lewis Construction. We're well respected here in the US and international because of the projects we did in San Cristobel. Well, I guess I'll go." Billy says, standing up.
"Okay, I've got to talk to Ava again."
"You're going to see if you can convince her to come back to Springfield before Olivia leaves."
"Yes."
"Do you think you'll convince her?"
"She's like her father. When she thinks she's right it's hard to change her mind." Jeffrey says, as Billy walks towards the door.
"I'll be in touch about the added room and the garage."
"Thank you." Jeffrey says, as Billy walks out. "Stacey, I'm going to be on a personal call until my next meeting, so hold my calls."
"Yes sir." Stacey replies, nodding to Billy as he walks out and Jeffrey goes back into his office, closing the door behind him.
When he gets to his desk, he picks up the phone and dials William's number. After a couple rings, William picks up. "Hello."
"William, its Jeffrey. Is Ava around?"
"No, not right now. She went for a walk about ten minutes ago."
"When she gets back, can you have her call me?"
"Of course I will."
"How are the elections going?"
"Right now, it looks as though the country wants to stay a monarchy."
"So, the next in line to the throne will take over the country?"
"Yes, unless we have a last minute surge of votes for democracy."
"And in that case, new elections will have to be setup."
"Yes, and in either case. I think I'll be in Springfield by the end of the year or the first of next year."
"Okay, I need to make another call."
"I'll tell Ava to call you when she gets back to the palace."
"Thank you." Jeffrey hangs up and then sits back for a moment before he reaches for the phone again. Dialing a number, he sits back and waits for an answer."
"Wellesley, Brooks and Nash, Wes Wellesley's office, how may I help you?" A woman says.
"Yes, this is Jeffrey O'Neill. Is Wes in his office?"
"Of course, Mr. O'Neill."
"Could I speak to him, please?"
"May I place you on hold so that I can get him on the line for you?"
"Sure."
The woman places Jeffrey on hold before she buzzes Wes. "Mr. Wellesley, Mr. O'Neill is on line one for you."
"Thank you, Brandy." Wes replies, picking up the phone. "Jeffrey, how are you doing?"
"I'm good."
"It's been a long time since I talked to you last."
"I know, I've been a little busy but I need to talk to you about some stocks."
"I thought you were getting out of the stock market."
"I am for the most part. But I need some information. I know it takes 51% of an companies shares to have controlling interest in that company."
"That's right."
"I need you to find out how much stock is available for one of the Spaulding Enterprises subsidiaries."
"Spaulding Enterprises, it's going to be hard to take over a subsidiary of Spaulding. Most of the family owns the stock in their subsidiaries and rarely will they sell it."
"They might be inclined to now that Alan has been convicted of bribery and other crimes."
"Which subsidiary are you looking to try and get control of?"
"A company called Lewis Oil. It was bought out several years ago by Spaulding and then completely turned over to them about eight or nine years ago. I want to see what I would need to do to get controlling interest of that company."
"I can see what I can do."
"Thank you."
"I'll be in touch." Wes says, hanging up the phone. Jeffrey goes back to what he was doing before Billy came in."
The air is crisp as Julie walks across the parking lot to the courthouse. Tom was in the courtroom when she walks in. She looks around the room before she goes down aisle between the rows of seats for observers and witnesses. "Julie." Tom says, as she walks up to the table. "You're right on time."
"You told me to be here by 10:30. Where is everyone?"
"I'm not sure about Mr. Bertilla and his attorney, but the judge will be here promptly at eleven."
"And if Marciano doesn't come?"
"Do you have reason to believe that he won't show up?"
"He's fought this from the beginning."
"Yes he has. But if he doesn't come today and he hasn't hired an attorney the case maybe continued until the court can contact him. If his attorney shows but he doesn't then we can insist that the case continue."
"So the divorce can go through without him being in the courtroom."
"Yes it can, but it's better if he shows."
"So what will happen if Marciano doesn't show but his attorney does?"
"We'll present our case for divorce. The judge may ask you some questions and then he may recess to make a decision and then he may give his decision right then and there."
"And after the decision is made, how long until the divorce is final?"
"Sixty days is usually the standard waiting period. After that you'll be free."
"Free, this isn't how I saw my life playing out, a widow with three children and about to divorce my second husband."
"We never know how our life will work out."
"And we all make mistakes." Julie says, looking at him.
"Okay, no more platitudes. But I'll say this, I don't think what happened to you and Matt was anyone's fault, it just happened. And I happen to think you've done well with what life has given you. Sometimes the biggest test a person has is what they do when they realize that they've made a mistake and what they do after it. You married Marciano because you were scared. It's understandable, given what happened, but you've realized that you were wrong and you're doing something about it." Tom says, as a man walks up beside them.
"Hello." The man says, turning to Tom and holding his hand out.
"Good Morning." Tom says, shaking his hand.
"My name is Woodrow Banks. I'm Mr. Bertilla's attorney. We have filed a counter suit for these proceedings."
"You filed a counter suit?" Julie asks, looking at Tom.
"Yes, on the basis of adultery."
"Adultery, wait a min…." Julie says, as Tom lays his hand on her arm.
"Let me handle this." Tom says, turning to the Mr. Banks. "What proof do you have that my client has been unfaithful to her husband?"
"That will come out in the hearing." Mr. Banks replies, turning away from Tom and taking the other table.
"We have the right to be allowed to investigate these allegations and defend against them." Tom says, turning to Mr. Banks.
"There's nothing to investigate and defend." Julie says. "I never cheated on Marciano." Julie says, as the Bailiff walks in.
"Court will be in session within five minutes." The bailiff says.
Tom and Mr. Banks nods. "We'll be ready." Mr. Banks says.
Tom turns to Julie. "What happens now?" Julie asks, still staring at Mr. Banks.
"The judge will hear both sides of the complaints."
"So, we'll be able to defend ourselves against these ridiculous and unfounded accusations." Julie says, loud enough for Mr. Banks to hear.
"Yes, but this might be postponed to allow Mr. Bertilla to produce evidence of the alleged adultery. After he presents his evidence we have the right to defend against his accusations."
"Alright, so the judge won't just take Marciano at his word."
"No, everyone has the right to defend themselves against any accusations, either public or private. Settle back and relax.
"Okay." Julie says, glancing at Mr. Banks.
Richard moves to his side, Cassie is beside him still sleeping. He reaches over and brushes back a strand of hair that is clinging to her cheek and sees her smile. He looks up and finds that she's awake. "I didn't mean to wake you up."
"It's okay." She says, moving over to him.
Lifting his arm, he pulls her to him before he leans in to kiss her. "Good morning, Darling." He says, leaning back.
"Good Morning." Cassie says, laying her head against his chest
They lay there for a few moments before Richard asks. "Are you ready to go home?"
"Yes, I want to see my boys." Cassie says, snuggling closer to him.
"Me too." Richard says, lightly kissing her forehead.
After a few moments, Cassie looks up and says. "I think we need to take care of something before we leave."
"I like the feel of your body against mine."
Cassie smiles as she lifts her leg and lays it across his hip and he sucks in a deep breath when they touch. She leans up and kisses the underside of his chin before she moves down to his neck. He lets her continue for so long and then he wraps his arm around her and rolls her to her back. Leaning up on his forearms, he looks down into her surprised face. "I was going to go slow." She whispers.
"I know, but I can't really do that this morning." He whispers, moving against her. She sucks in a deep breath at the feel of his erection pressed against her thigh. "I need you now." He whispers, leaning in to kiss her neck, nibbling on her as he moves down.
She reaches up and buries her fingers in his hair, closing he eyes and letting him go at his own pace. For a moment when he reaches her breasts he hovers over them, letting the coolness of the morning air mix with the heat of his breath. Her nipples instantly harden. Lowering his head, he softly licks one of them. A surge of desire sweeps through her, feeling the muscles in her stomach clinch as her grip tightens in his hair. He continues to play with her, loving each of her breasts before he finally looks up. Seeing the fire in her eyes, he smiles.
She releases him and he leans up on his elbows, watching her breath, listening to the rhythm as they lay there. Lifting her head, she kisses his chest as she moves down his body. She stops for a moment to nibble on his nipples before she moves on. He soon realizes what she's about to do and he moves away kneeling over her. She feels the muscles in his stomach clinch as his breathing deepens. She stops for a moment. Running her tongue over his navel, playing with it, mimicking each stroke he would give her if they were connected.
That realization brings him back to reality. Sitting back, he looks down and smiles. She looks up. Her eyes filled with fiery heat. He moves up, letting his hands move over her hips and stomach. He pauses for a moment cupping her breasts where he methodically rolls her nipples between his fingers. "Richard." She moans, arching her back while the muscles in her stomach clinch again.
He leans up and kisses her. She opens her body to his, giving him a silent invitation. He moves back. Kneeling in front of her, he reaches for her hips and pulls her to him, slipping the first few inches inside her. "Cassie." He groans, his grip tightening on her hips while he fights for control. She moves against him, taking him deeper. He thrusts deep, completely entering her.
"Sweet… Richard." She cries, sucking her bottom lip into her mouth as she arches her back. Holding out her hand, she looks up, catching his gaze.
He reaches for her hand, pulling her up and wrapping his arms around her. He holds her to him as she wraps her arms around his neck. After a few moments, she moves against him. "Sweet… Cassie." He groans, closing his eyes.
She continues to move over him, sliding her hips back and forth. They both feel the pressure building, the tension winding tighter and tighter. He moves back, wrapping his arms around her, he lays her back. Leaning over her, he thrusts deep. Picking up the pace by thrusting over and over until he feels them both at the edge of a deep precipice. She looks up and they eyes meet. She nods, moving against him as he thrusts again. The tension bursts inside each of them. Surges of release rush them, their bodies clinging to each other. Arching her back, she pulls him to her and he moves again, drawing their release out. After a moment, he lays down beside her while small flutters of their release sweeps over them.
They lay there until everything is back to normal. He moves away from her, lying on his back. He turns his head and smiles. "I think we need to get up and get ready to go." He says, as her stomach grumbles. "And we need to get you something to eat.
"You're not hungry?" She asks, turning over to him.
"No, I feel quite satisfied right now." He says, with a smile. She leans over to kiss him. He deepens the kiss for a moment and then pulls away. "Let's go before we get too carried away."
"I thought the other was a good idea."
"It was, but we have to be out of here in a couple of hours and it will take you that long to get ready."
"It will not." Cassie says, getting up as he chuckles. "You're going to put yourself in the dog house before we've been married a month."
"Umm, but getting out of the dog house can be so pleasurable." He says, with a cocky smile.
"Maybe, if you can get out of the dog house." She says, walking towards the bathroom.
He watches her and then decides to follow her, determined to prove that he could definitely get himself out of the dog house.
After talking to Jon, Reva had gone over to the Beacon, checked in and left her stuff in her room. She wouldn't be staying in the room until Cassie and Richard came back from their honeymoon, but she didn't want to have to deal with moving everything in when they got back. And she hoped that there wouldn't be too many questions from Richard and Cassie if she only had the one suitcase to take with her when she left. The boys should be home by the time Richard and Cassie came or she hoped they would be home and she was hoping that, that would also stop the questions. She should have known better. Reva met them at the kitchen and after giving each of them a hug. Cassie steps back and asks. "What happened?"
Reva looks at her and then sighs. "It will get worked out."
"How will it get work out? Have you talked to him?"
"We talked for a few minutes." Reva says, walking out of the kitchen with Cassie following her.
"You talked for a few minutes, when?"
"A couple days ago." Reva says, sitting down on the couch. Richard walks in from the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe.
"Cassie, maybe we shouldn't interrogate her right now." He says.
"No, I want to know what's going on. Why did you call Richard and ask to stay here at the farm? What happened?"
"We had a fight."
"About what?"
Reva looks at Cassie for a couple moments before she says. "Jeffrey, we fought about Jeffrey, okay."
"Jeffrey, why would you fight about Jeffrey?"
"You know that Billy and I suspected that Jeffrey was HB's son."
"Yes."
"And you know that Josh didn't want us to tell Jeffrey what we suspected."
"Yes, but we have no conclusive proof that Jeffrey is HB's son."
"We do now." Reva says, as Cassie looks at her, surprised. "After the wedding I took the DNA samples to Rick…."
"What DNA samples?" Richard asks, looking at Cassie and Reva.
"Before the wedding, I remember that Marah used to wear a locket that had her grand parent's pictures inside. When HB died, I cut a lock of his hair and put it in the locket for Marah. When I remember the lock of hair, I realized that we had a way to prove conclusively whether Jeffrey was HB's son."
"How were you going to do that? You needed Jeffrey's DNA to run a test."
"I got Jeffrey's DNA. I went to the loft a couple days after Jeffrey's accident. I went to talk to Sam and explain my suspicions to her and then ask for a sample. It didn't work out that way, because Jeffrey was at home when I arrived at the loft so I explained why I was there and what we suspected. Jeffrey gave me a few strands of hair and I left. I spoke with Rick after I got home from the farm."
"The farm?"
"I went to Cassie, and I explained everything to her. After I got home I spoke with Rick and requested the DNA test on the samples I had. He agreed and after the wedding I went to Cedars. I gave Rick the samples and he rushed the tests for me. He contacted me a couple days later. When they came back, I went to get them and then I went to tell Josh what I had done."
"You did all of this without telling Josh what you were doing?" Richard asks, looking at Reva.
"Don't look at me like that Richard, if I had gone to Josh before the samples were turned in and the test run he would have stopped me. So, I went to pick them up and then I went to tell Josh what I had done."
"What did he do?" Cassie asks.
"He wanted to destroy the results and he still insisted that we not tell Jeffrey anything about what we suspected or the test."
"But Jeffrey already knew what you suspected and he knew about the test." Richard says.
"I know, and I told him that along with telling him that I would have Rick give me another print out of the results if he destroyed the one we got. I also explained that Jeffrey already knew what we suspected and that he was waiting for the test results to confirm or deny our suspicions. I took the results away from him and left Lewis. I went directly to the loft. Both Jeffrey and Sam were there when I arrived and I immediately told him we had the results back from the test and I gave him the results which he read and showed to Sam."
"So, what did the results say?" Richard asks.
"He's a 99% match to HB. Jeffrey is a Lewis. After they had both seen the results I invited them to Thanksgiving and Christmas and then I left. Jeffrey walked me out and I was in the middle of telling him good-bye, like I've told Billy and you good-bye. I hugged him and then leaned up to kiss his cheek. Josh came from out of nowhere, punching Jeffrey while he's pulling me away from him and demanding that Jeffrey stay away from me. Of course I was furious. I made sure Jeffrey was okay and then I dragged Josh out of there."
"So, Jeffrey knows that he's Josh's brother."
"Yes. I expected Josh to follow me home, but he didn't. I was in the middle of telling Billy what happened when Josh walked in. Billy left and I confronted Josh about punching Jeffrey. We fought, and I found out exactly why Josh didn't want Jeffrey told."
"Why?" Cassie asks.
"He's afraid that I'll decide that I want Jeffrey and I'll leave him."
"He what?"
"He thinks that I'll decide to leave him for Jeffrey. He's also jealous of Jeffrey because of Richard."
"Because of me, how did I get dragged into this mess?" Richard asks.
"Jeffrey looks exactly like you and…."
"We're nothing alike. On the surface, Jeffrey can be me but we're not alike."
"We all know that, but when Josh looks at Jeffrey, he sees you and that reminds him of you and me. He's never gotten over my time in San Cristobel. Our marriage or Jon's birth, he's jealous of all that and he admitted that to me along with some other things."
"Other thing, what other things?"
"He basically admitted that he believes that I am the slut of Springfield."
"Reva, he doesn't believe that."
"He doesn't deny it either."
"You asked him?"
"Of course I asked him, he never replied."
"So, Josh didn't want Jeffrey told about being a Lewis because he's afraid of loosing you. Did you remind him about Sam?"
"Of course I reminded him about Sam. He doesn't listen to me, not anymore and I'm not going to let him destroy his brother because he's selfish and insecure. And if he has such little faith in me, then maybe we don't belong together."
"Reva."
"I've always felt he thought he was superior to me. Like he was better than me and I always had to prove myself to him."
"Josh is like that with everyone."
"He's especially like that with me and to be honest I'm tired of it. I'm tired of thinking that he's the better one in this marriage and that I'm lucky he's interested in me or loves me."
"We all know he's not perfect."
"Do you Cassie?"
"Maybe a few years ago, I might have thought he was perfect but since we were together, yes I know he's not perfect."
"Well, at least one of us knows he's not. But the rest of Springfield still looks at me and sees the slut…."
"Would you stop calling yourself that?"
"Alright, but they look at me and see the wild and crazy one. I'm the impulsive one. And usually that impulsiveness brings a whole mess of troubles down on my head. And I deserve it but I always thought I could lean on Josh. And it hurts to know he looks at me like all those other people do." Reva says, as Cassie gets up and walks over to her. Sitting down beside her, she puts her arms around her.
"It's okay." Cassie says, looking at Richard.
"I'll go meet the boys." He says, getting up
Cassie and Reva set there for several minutes while Reva cries. "It's going to be okay. Josh doesn't believe you're the slut of Springfield. He loves you. Right now, he's scared and he's holding onto everything he thinks is his."
"Jeffrey isn't a threat to me or to our relationship. They are brothers."
"Josh realizes this and once the fear decreases he'll realize that Jeffrey is a part of this family and that he's no threat to you or your marriage." Cassie says, as Richard walks in with the boys. "We'll talk about this more." Cassie says, as Reva nods, as the boys and Richard come in.