A Fresh Start
Chapter Two Hundred Seven
On the kitchen table when Harley walks in the door is a package and a note from Gus. She picks up the note and package. "Hon… This was delivered late this morning. I'll see you tonight, Gus."
She flips the package over and reads the return postage and address, Miami Fl. Ripping it open the envelope, she pulls out a DVD and a note. "Harley, I was able to track down some information on the woman. I've included a DVD of an interview I did with the woman's former sister-in-law. I think you'll find it interesting. When you get time, come to Miami. Let me know if you need more. CJ."
Picking up the DVD, she goes into the living room and turns the DVD player on and TV. Putting in the disc, she pushes play. After a few seconds, a woman comes on screen and she hears CJ's voice. "State your name?"
"Renee Austin."
"And how do you know Mrs. Randall?"
"She was married to my brother Joseph."
"How long were they married?"
"More than twenty five years."
"Did they have any children?"
"Yes and no?"
"What do you mean?"
"Jasmine had a child about six years into their marriage."
"Mrs. Randall had a child." He says, looking at her with a confused expression.
"It wasn't his child, although he raised Dorian as his son, biologically he's not."
"How do you know this?"
"My brother told us after she told him the truth when she realized that she was pregnant."
"Do you have any proof that your nephew wasn't your brother's son, besides what your brother told you?"
"I know what my brother told the family after he found out."
"What was that?"
"From what Joseph told us, this happened while she and my brother were having some hard times several years back. They were close to splitting up and one night, she went to a bar in South Beach at one of the hotels and she met a man. He had just lost his wife in a freak accident down in the Keys. I believe she drove herself off a bridge or something. Anyway, the night she met this man, the authorities had decided to stop looking for this man's wife.
She told my brother, they met in the bar and started talking about their lives, spouses and kids. They were drinking a lot. So one thing led to another and she went back to the man's hotel room for that one night. Six weeks later, she discovers that she's pregnant. Her and my brother had decided to stay together by that time. She assured him that she had no idea what the man's name was or how to get in touch with him, so my brother decided to go ahead and be a father to her son."
"Did Mrs. Randall have any other information?"
"No, that's all that was ever said about it."
"Does her son know he's not your brother's child?"
"I'm not sure if he knows or not. He left right after my brother died about eighteen months ago, followed shortly by her. I haven't talked to either of them in several months. Are they in some kind of trouble?"
"No, we're just looking into Mrs. Randall's background for a client. Do you know the name of the bar where she met this guy?"
"Miami Beat, it's a club in one of the hotels in South Beach. A lot of tourists stay there."
"Thank you for your time, Mrs. Austin." CJ says, getting up as he turns the recorder off.
Harley sits back and stares at the snow on the TV for a moment before she picks up the phone and dials CJ's number. After a couple rings, he answers. "CJ speaking."
"CJ, its Harley."
"Hey, it's been a long time."
"Yeah, I know. I just got the DVD. Did you verify anything she said?"
"I went to the club, but most of the people that were around at that time were gone, I did however speak to several of her husband's family and they all confirmed what she told me."
"Do any of them know the name of the guy she supposedly slept with?"
"No, I guess she never told her husband or she didn't know."
"Can you keep digging and see if you can find anyone that worked at the bar during the time this supposedly happened."
"I'll keep digging, if you want me to, but I doubt that anyone will be there that was there during the time this happened."
"Just look and see and get back to me."
"Alright, I'll be in touch." CJ says.
"Thanks." Harley says, hanging up the phone. She gets up and goes over to the DVD player and ejecting the DVD. She puts it back in its case before she grabs her purse again.
Reva is at Cross Creek when Harley pulls up. Getting out of her car, she walks up to the house as Reva opens the door. "Reva, hi. I thought you were staying at the Beacon."
"I was but then I decided to come home. Staying at the Beacon wasn't accomplishing anything." She says, stepping back to let her in.
"I'm actually here to see Josh. Is he home?"
"Umm, no. Is there something I could help you with?" Harley looks at her and then out the window. Clearly, she's not sure if she should discuss this with Reva since Josh was technically her client. "Does this have something to do with the woman he asked you to investigate?"
"You know about that?"
"Yes, Cassie told me. Did you find something out?"
"Ummm, I think I need to give this information to Josh. After all he is my client."
"I'm his wife." Reva says. "I believe that earns me the right to know why my husband is having this woman investigated and what you have found out."
Sighing, Harley looks at her. "You guys are back together…."
"We're not together, we're not apart. We are however, living in the same house, so what did you find out?"
"I have contacts in Miami. When Josh approached me about finding out about this woman I contacted them and asked them to looks into this woman's background. Today, when I got home this was waiting for me." Harley says, pulling out the DVD.
"What is it?" Reva asks, reaching for the DVD.
"It's a recorded interview of a woman named Renee Austin. She is the former sister-in-law to the woman Josh asked me to investigate."
"What's on the DVD?"
"I think Josh should be the one to tell you what's on the DVD." Harley says, putting the DVD back in her purse.
"Harley, don't protect him." Reva says, reaching for the DVD. She takes it and walks over to the TV. Turning the DVD player on, she follows the steps that Harley did and then steps back and pushes play. A few seconds later, Renee comes on.
It's only about five minutes long and when it's finished, Reva stands in the middle of the living room, staring at the TV and then she looks at Harley. "Did you realize the time frame that woman is talking about?"
"Yes." Harley says quietly.
"This happened within a few weeks of me driving off that bridge in Florida."
"If her story checks out. I have my contact in Miami still looking into this. We're trying to find anyone that worked at the bar during this time."
"Do you realize how long ago that was? That's been close to twenty five years ago."
"I know." Harley says. For a moment, Reva stands there, staring at the blank TV.
"I don't know what to say. I never Josh… I'm the impulsive one. Josh is slow and steady. He doesn't do this sort of thing."
"Reva, don't get worked up…."
"Don't get worked up, according to that woman, Josh slept with her brother's wife within hours of the authorities calling off the search for me."
"She did say that they both were drunk."
"Drunk or not and in his frame of mind, he slept with a woman within hours of my supposed death. And from what that woman said, her sister-in-law got pregnant from that encounter. The boy must be twenty five or thirty years old."
"We still don't know all the facts, Reva." Harley says, going over to the TV. She takes the DVD out and puts it back into the case.
"What are you doing?"
"I need to give this to Josh."
"Why?"
"He's my client Reva." Harley says, putting the DVD back into her purse. As Reva sits down. Harley turns to her. Watching her, she asks. "Are you going to be okay?"
"I… umm… I don't know." Reva says, staring at the blank TV.
"I shouldn't have let you watch that. You should have heard this from Josh."
"Josh and I are barely speaking right now. If you had shown this to him instead of me, I'm not sure he would have said anything to me about it."
"You realize that Josh does love you. He was in a lot of pain after you drove yourself off that bridge. I was there Reva. I saw what that did to him. He was devastated and he had no idea how to explain everything that was happening to Marah. I'm sure that this woman…."
"It meant nothing to him. Is that supposes to make me feel better?"
"I… I'm going to go. Will you be okay?" Reva doesn't answer. She continues to stare out the window behind Harley. "I think I'll go." She says, backing slowly to the door.
Josh walks into Jon's bar after his last meeting. Lizzie's at the bar and she walks up to him. "You're becoming a regular Josh." She says, pouring him the drink he usually asks for.
"I need to unwind a little before I go home."
"Is Reva home yet?" Josh looks at her and she nods. "Have you ever considered listening to her?"
"Not you too, Lizzie I don't come in here for bartender advice."
"Maybe you should." Gus says, walking up to Josh.
"What is this and intervention or something?"
"Do you need and intervention?"
"No, I'm only here to unwind before I go home."
"Seems to me you're trying to drown whatever problems you're having and I think the biggest one is your relationship with your brother. Jeffrey's a good man."
"I'm tired of hearing that."
"You might not hear it as much if you would listen to it." Gus says. "What exactly has Jeffrey done that is so terrible?"
"He raped Olivia."
"It's been proven that Edmund did that. DNA proved that Ava's his daughter and the video tape from that guys trial proved that Edmund raped her not Jeffrey."
"He slept with his own niece."
"Something neither one of them knew about." Lizzie says.
"Look what he did to Cassie, pretending to be Richard…."
"That was his job."
"But was it his job to pretend to be Richard so that he would be able to sleep with her."
"He made a mistake. You've made a few in your life. What about Maryann Caruthers?" Lizzie says.
"It's more than those things. I have to protect….."
"Did you ever think that Jeffrey might protect your family as well as you do? Maybe that's what you're afraid off. You don't want him in the family because you're afraid that he'll take your place." Gus says
"Jeffrey could never take my place. He doesn't have it in him to be self sacrificing." Josh says, as Harley walks in.
Gus looks up and sees her first. "Hi." He says, getting up from the bar stool.
"Hi." She says, kissing him quickly before she pulls away.
"What are you doing here? Where are the boys?"
"The boys are with Daisy. I need to talk to Josh." She says, walking over to the bar. "How much of that have you had?" She asks, nodding to his drink.
"Not you too. I'm only here to unwind."
"I don't care why you're here. I want you sober. That's why I asked."
"Sober, for what?" Josh asks, looking at her.
She turns to Gus and Lizzie. "Can I talk to him alone?" She asks, looking at them.
"Lizzie lets go discuss security for Halloween." Gus says, as Harley sits down beside Josh.
"What's with all the secrecy?" Josh asks, turning to her as he reaches for his drink. She pushes it away.
"You need to listen to me." She says, sitting her purse on the bar. "I received a package today from my contact in Miami."
"You received a package. Where is it and what was in it?"
"It's right here." She says, taking it out of her purse. He reaches for it but she pulls it back. "You need to listen to me, what this DVD says will shock you and you need to be prepared."
"What's on it?"
"It's an interview my contact had with the sister-in-law to the woman you wanted me to investigate. She makes some fairly shocking claims about you and the woman you're investigating."
"Claims about me and the woman I asked you to investigate. What could she possibly claim? I've never seen the woman before she came here."
"You need to watch the DVD. You need to watch it privately and then you need to decide what you want to do. I've asked my contact to continue to investigate, but you may not want me to after you watch this." Harley says, giving him the DVD. He takes it and then looks at her and then the DVD. "And another thing, Reva knows about the DVD. She knows what's on it."
"She knows, how?"
"I let her watch it."
"You let her watch it, why?"
"I went to Cross Creek to find you and she was there. She insisted that I show her the DVD, so I did. Whatever you decide to do, you had better discuss it with her." Harley says, getting up.
"Did you watch it?" Josh asks, looking at her.
"Yes, I watched it."
"Is it bad?"
"I think it will shock you. And it might change your opinion of Jeffrey, once the message sinks in and you realize what's happened." Josh looks at her. "Either way, you need to watch it and then you need to talk to Reva after you do." Harley says, walking away. She goes over to Gus and Lizzie as Josh looks at the DVD before taking his drink and downing it. He leaves as Harley looks up.
When he leaves Jon's bar, he drives home. And when he pulls up to Cross Creek, he's surprised not to see Reva's car in the driveway. Getting out, he goes into the house. Tossing his keys on the counter, he walks into the living room. Turning the TV on, he puts the DVD in and pushes play. A few moments later, a woman comes on the screen and Josh sits down.
Five minutes later, he stares at the TV, shocked, just as Harley predicted. He's still sitting there when Reva comes in. She looks at the TV and then at him and she turns around to leave. He looks up. Seeing her, he says. "Reva, wait." She turns back around, watching him. For several moments, they stare at each other. "I don't know what to say." Josh says quietly.
"Did it happen?" Reva asks, just as quietly.
For a moment, he doesn't reply. Finally he says. "Yes." As he looks at her. "You need to understand. I was in shock. We were on our honeymoon and you drove off the end of that bridge." He waits a moment for her to say something. "They had just told me that they were calling off the search and presuming that you were dead. I had Marah and I had Shayne. How was I going to explain to them where their Momma was gone?"
"So, you turned to her instead of concentrating on the fact that our kids needed you."
"Marah and Shayne were always my first concern. But I was hurt. And as it turns out, you weren't dead. You were in San Cristobel, married to another man."
"Do not turn this back on me, Joshua Lewis. I didn't know who I was or where I was from. I didn't know about you and the kids. You knew it all and you still slept with her."
"I was drunk, we both were. We were hurting. She thought her husband had left her and I thought I had just lost you. I didn't want her. I wanted you but you were gone."
"So, you easily substituted me for a woman you picked up in a bar."
"No, it wasn't easy. I kept thinking that it shouldn't be this way. That we were supposes to be on our honeymoon. You were supposes to be there with me, not her."
"You thought all that, but you were drunk."
"She took away the pain for a moment. Please, I wanted you. I still want you. I have always wanted you. That's why I do everything I do."
"That's why you make me feel like I'm a failure when I go off half cocked and do something. That's why you've possibly destroyed any relationship you could have had with your brother because you say you're afraid that I'll leave you for him."
"You have done it before."
"And I learned from it. We were different people then. If there is one thing I can say, I have learned from every mistake that I've made. And the one thing that I've learned is that you are where I'm supposed to be. You, not Richard, Billy, HB, Alan or Buzz. We always come back to each other."
Josh looks at her, the message starts to sink in. "What are you going to do?" She looks at him. "You can't leave. You just said that…."
"Did I say I was leaving? I'm not going to pretend this doesn't hurt, but I'm not leaving. I've never walked away from a difficult situation."
He walks over to her. "I'm sorry. I really am."
"I'm not the only one you owe an apology to." He reaches for her and for the first time in months, she goes to him, hugging him.
Pulling him to her, she wraps her arms around his neck as they kiss. The kiss starts out sweet and innocent, but as the flames of desire wash through their bodies it becomes hot and passionate. A moan escapes deep from Reva's throat as Josh slowly slides his hands down to her waist were he tugs her t-shirt from her jeans, pulling it up and over her head.
Once this is accomplished he discards the offending material while Reva is driving him to distraction by kissing his chest that is slowly being revealed as she unbuttons his shirt, pulling it from his pants as she kneels in front of him softly tonguing his navel. He buries his hands in her hair pressing her mouth to his stomach. He closes his eyes tightly. A groan escapes from deep inside him as she lightly nibbles on his abdomen.
"Reva… Stop" He cries, pulling back.
He reaches down pulling her back to her feet his arms locked tightly around her, his mouth searching for hers for a kiss fierce with passion as he fights for control. She breaks the kiss needing to catch her breath. She moves over to his jaw, nibbling as she goes.
He tightens his arms around her as he slowly walks her the short distance to the couch. Reaching for the snap in her jeans as she reaches for the clasps of his dress pants. He brushes her jeans brushing downward sweeping them off her.
A few steps later her knees touch the cushions of the couch. She sets down raising her eyes to his face. Their gazes lock as she slips her hand inside his pants sweeping them down his body. After he steps out of his pants she slides her hand up the inside of his thigh her hand brushing against him.
He kneels on one knee beside her as he gently push her back to lie across the cushions leaning in for another kiss. Her arms lock around his back, as his hand slides underneath her were he finds the clasp to her bra.
Within a few seconds he has it unclasped and she is shrugging out of it. He leans back drinking in her beauty as she gazes quietly in to his face watching his reaction. Emotions start to build inside her that she can no longer control. She tries pulling him down to her but he resists. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just love you so much."
"I know, and I love you too."
He leans back down to her, their lips meeting once again. She slides her hands down his back till she reaches his waist. Her hand slipping inside his boxers softly tugging. He pulls back and looking down. He stands up and pushes his underwear off before he moves back into her waiting on. Lifting her hips, he reaches for her panties and pulls them down. She kicks them off as she softly scratches his chest. He moves his hands slowly up her body to her breasts. He softly teases her as she throws her head back, her eyes tightly closed, her lower lip tucked in her mouth. She can feel him beneath her hard and insistent.
He continues to caress her body she rocks back and forth against him bring a loud moan from both of them. She pulls her down to him, kissing him. He lightly skims his hands down her body till he reaches her
"Are you ready?"
"Josh, Please."
Catching her gaze once again he slips his hand downward as a sigh of ecstasy slips from her lips she slowly moves her hands down his back, until she reaches his hips. "I need you." She whispers. He looks up as he softly caresses her inner thigh working his way up to her.
At the first touch of his hand on her she cries out then closes her eyes in ecstasy her lower lip once again tucked inside her mouth. Even though she's doing nothing more than holding him, he all too aware of her. Her touch is enough to drive him to distraction.
She is so wrapped up in him that she's forgotten what she was doing. A soft cry of disappointment escapes her as he leaves her only to be replaced by a cry of ecstasy a few minutes later when his mouth replaces his hand. He plays her almost to the point of explosion and then backs away.
Arching her back, she silently begging him to finish what he started but he holds off. He moves up her feverish body, softly kissing her until their eyes lock and he silently asks a timeless question, which she answers by once again arching her back while she runs her hand down his body slowly guiding him home.
Cries of pure unadulterated pleasure escape them both as he sinks into her. He moves inside her slowly at first then with greater speed. She wraps her legs around him deepening his penetration with each thrust. For several minutes he carries her to the edge almost to the brink of release just to slow down again. Slowly building them up again, almost to the point of explosion but instead of slowing down, he completely stops. He buries his face in the side of her neck as she moves restlessly beneath him. "Please I need you now."
She tries desperately arching her body against his, but his weight holds her motionless. Squeezing the muscles deep inside her, she silently begs him once again to finish it. This time he changes rhythm and starts with heated thrusts building in intensity like a storm, with each thrust drawing them closer to the peaceful center. As they reach their highest peak, he groans. "Reva."
"Josh." She cries out, holding him to her.
Leah is at the front desk the next morning, when Josh walks into Sam's office. She looks up and then turns to leave. "Don't walk away. I want to talk to you." Josh says, stopping her.
"There is nothing to say to each other." Leah says, turning back to him.
"Is there some place we can talk, privately? I have something I need you to see."
"I'm at work." Leah says, as Sam comes in.
"Sam, do you mind if I speak with your assistant?" Josh asks, looking at her.
"Umm, no." Sam says, looking at both of them.
"Thank you." Josh says. "Is there some place we can talk?"
Leah puts the file down that she was looking at and walks over to the door, letting him in. "We can talk in here." She says, leading the way into the lab.
"I need a DVD player." He says, holding up the DVD.
She looks at him and then leaves the room with Josh following her. She leads him back to Sam's office. Opening the door, she says. "This is Sam's office, so we can't be in here long."
"This won't take long." Josh says, walking in.
She closes the door and then turns to him. "What is this about?"
"Who is your son's father?" Josh asks. She stares at him. When she doesn't answer he asks again. "Who is your son's…?"
"I heard you the first time. My son's father is none of your business."
"You need to watch something." Josh says, walking over to the TV that Sam had in her office. He turns it on and then puts the DVD in, pushing play. She gasps when Renee comes on the screen. She goes for the remote but Josh grabs it. She then reaches for the TV and turns it off before she turns to leave, Josh steps into her path. "Is it true?" He asks. For a moment, she stares at the floor and then she looks up. "Answer me, is it true?"
"If you have to know, yes, it's true."
Josh takes a step back, staring at her. "He's my son." Josh says, after a while.
"You're his biological father. He's not your son. My husband raised him."
"Only because I didn't know. You never told me."
"You were gone by the time I found out and even if I did want to tell you, how was I supposes to do that? We were both drunk that night."
"You could have found me. Reva's accident would have been all over the paper in Miami."
"You were gone and I wasn't about to jeopardize my marriage to bring you back into my life. My husband was willing to claim my son as his own."
"So, you cut me out of the picture and let another man raise him because you didn't want to jeopardize your marriage. Didn't you do that when you slept with me that night?"
"And what about you, you slept with me within hours of your wife being pronounced dead." Leah says, as Sam opens the door.
"Is everything okay?" She asks, looking at Josh and her.
"It's fine." Leah says, turning to go.
"I've got one more question." Josh says, stopping her as she leaves the office. She turns back to him. "Does he know?"
She looks at him for a moment before she answers. "Yes, he knows." She says, walking out of the room.
Leaving Sam and Josh to stare at each other before Josh says. "I'm sorry Sam." He turns to go, leaving Sam alone.
Slowly Sam walks out of her office. She follows Josh and Leah to the front. Josh walks up to her. "We still have things to discuss." He says, before he walks out of the office. She watches him before she turns and sees Sam watching her.
Reva walks into Cassie's office the next morning. "Good morning." She says, sitting down across from Cassie and leaning back.
"Good morning." Cassie says, looking up. "You seem quite more cheerful than you were a few days ago."
"I am." Reva says, smiling.
"What happened? When you left the other day, it looked like you were going to take Josh's head off when you saw him again."
"It's been tense the last few days at the house, but things are looking up." Reva says.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because we were together last night." Reva says, with a smile.
Cassie looks at her and then says. "You slept with him last night. Did he admit that he's been wrong about Jeffrey?"
"Well no, but I think that's about to come."
"You have completely lost me."
Reva sighs and then sits up. "Okay, I'll start at the beginning."
"That would be helpful."
"Harley came over to the house last night looking for Josh. She had a DVD of an interview with sister-in-law. Well, I guess she would be her ex-sister-in-law, since her husband is dead…."
"Reva!"
"Okay, anyway, Harley came over with the DVD of the interview. In the interview, the woman claimed that the woman Josh has Harley investigating is a woman that Josh met while he was in Miami after I drove myself off the bridge in the Keys. According to this woman that was interviewed, she and Josh slept together that night. Her name is Leah and she works for Sam…."
"Wait, Josh slept with this woman?"
"Yes."
"And you're okay with that?"
"Well no, but let me finish the story."
"Go ahead."
"Josh slept with her the night that the authorities called off the search for me…."
"He slept with this woman within hours of finding out that you were presumed dead, Reva!"
"He was hurt, Cassie. And they were both drunk."
"That doesn't excuse…."
"I'm not saying that didn't hurt. It does, but it's nice to know that he's not perfect."
Cassie stops to listen to her. "You're more relieved that you're not the only one that makes mistakes. Go on." Cassie says.
"Anyway, I wasn't home when Josh watched the DVD. I guess Harley gave it to him. Anyway, when I did get home. It's the first time he's wanted to talk to me, in months."
"So, what did he have to say?"
"Basically what I told you. He slept with her after the official search for me was called off. They were both drunk. It was one night and then he came home."
Cassie looks at her for a moment before she asks. "Are you taking this so well because you were in San Cristobel for those years and married to Richard? Maybe you feel guilty."
"I don't feel guilty. I didn't know about him or the kids when I was in San Cristobel and when I did finally remember I came home, as did he. No, I'm this calm because it's nice to know that he make as big of a mistake as some of mine have been."
"Okay, so you talked, how does that translate into things getting better about Jeffrey and you sleeping with him?"
"We hugged after I told him I wasn't leaving him and one thing lead to another."
"So, you slept with him. How does this affect the situation with Jeffrey?"
"I basically told him that he needed to apologize to him."
"And he's going to do that, he said that?"
"No, but I think the message is beginning to sink in."
Cassie looks at her for a moment. "You're okay with this."
"I'm hurt." Reva says her voice serious. "But I'm not going to judge him Cassie. I've made my own share of mistakes. And to be honest, it's a relief to know that he's not perfect."
"It's taken you this long to realize that."
"I knew he could make mistakes. But he's never made the kind of mistakes that I've made in this relationship."
"You've always been the one that everyone's judged." Cassie says.
"I've been the one that he believes he has to be there to protected from myself, and I think that's what he's trying to do with Jeffrey and now I think he's starting to realize that he doesn't have to protect me from myself. He doesn't have to fix my mistakes, or bail me out of them. At least I hope that's what he's seeing."
"And what if he's not?"
"I don't know. Right now, I'll settle for this." Reva says, getting up
"Where are you going?"
"We've got a hotel to run." She says, with a smile. Cassie smiles back, shaking her head as she leaves.