Bradley Bean was in his kitchen cooking dinner waiting for Jane to come home. His ears perked up at a story on the radio.
"Christine St. Jeremy an heir to the St. Jeremy Milling fortune was arrested for shoplifting in the Gucci store in Beverly Hills today. In addition to this current trouble Ms. St. Jeremy, is currently out on bond for driving under the influence..."
The radio went silent, and Brad turned around and saw Jane standing in the kitchen door with the radio remote in her hand. She was wearing a pair of skintight black leather slacks with a white semi-transparent blouse. Brad embraced her and kissed her.
"Shall we go upstairs so I can make love to you, darling?"
"You must be really horny Mr. Bean. You're reverting to the first time I met you. Besides I don't think you want dinner to burn," responded Jane.
"I was listening to the radio, Jane, and we can always go out," said Brad.
"The California branch of the family is always getting in trouble. If its not my cousins then their kids make headlines," said Jane as she walked toward the great room.
Jane moved to the great room and pulled the Scotch bottle from the shelf and poured herself a glass and sat down. Brad continued to stir his sauce.
"Do you want anything?" asked Jane.
"A little conversation would be nice while I am getting dinner ready, I didn't know that there was a "California branch" of the family," said Brad.
Jane got up and walked to the kitchen and sat on one of the stools that surrounded the island. After a minute she got up embraced and kissed Brad and then retook her seat. Brad continued to stir the sauce and dropped a wad of spaghetti in a large pot of boiling water.
"I'm surprised. They make news every time they are out in public. Grandfather had two sons, my father gravitated to the business and our branch of the family moved into the management of St. Jeremy mills. Father followed grandfather and turned a small company into the large conglomerate that it is today. My uncle became a lawyer, and his kids didn't want to be a part of the company. They live off the stock that came through Grandfather.
"So, there is a small amount of resentment about that side of the family?" said Brad.
"Not just resentment, but a full civil war between the two clans. They allied with a couple of Wall Street sharpies to try to take control of the company. Two years ago they tried to mount a proxy fight for control of the company, so they can sell off the parts and reap the profits. We beat it back then, thanks to father, but we are always on the lookout. William and I have a lot of differences, but we are of one mind in this matter. I should be getting a call from William about going and papering over this latest problem," said Jane.
"How do you paper over a problem like that? If there is so much animosity between the branches, why would you get involved?" asked Brad.
"You paper over it with lots of money and bowing and scrapping. We'll offer a large sum of money to the store to not file charges. We get involved because the publicity will be bad for the company," said Jane.
She got up and pulled two plates from the cabinet, pulled knives and forks from the drawer and set the table. She returned and stood by Brad and moved his head to hers and kissed him. It was a long kiss and they exchanged tongues. Brad stopped stirring and massaged her breasts and Jane felt his erection. They kissed again. Jane moved back to the stool and finished her drink. There was a bottle of wine on the island and Brad asked her to open it. After the cork was pulled, Brad took the bottle and poured about a half a cup of wine in the sauce. Jane took the bottle and two glasses and put them on the table. She then came back and leaned over Brad as he finished cooking. In the four months that they have been living together Jane really enjoyed coming home to Brad's cooking. There was no comparison between living with her ex-husband and coming home to Brad. She wasn't as interested in traveling for business since she had a stable home base.
"I went by the house before Mr. Burns brought me home. He seems interested in living in the garage apartment. Will you really like having him around?" asked Jane
"If you feel safer having him near you that is fine. How is the renovation going?" asked Brad.
"The decorator, the kitchen and bath designer and I met today to finalize the choices of the tile and fixtures. It's exciting to be this involved in the project. Marly will be calling you to get your thoughts on tile for your bathroom. I really like the way the kitchen is coming together. The wine room is started and the bar in the family room will be finished soon. They were painting our bedroom while I was there. We should be thinking about moving in, in about two months."
Shortly after Jane and Brad's trip to visit his mother, they toured the property and made an offer. Jane wanted to offer the asking price, but Brad held out and wanted to offer two hundred thousand under the asking price. He had a feeling that they would be spending that much if not more to update and furnish the house. The home inspector noted that the house needed a new roof and some foundation work. Jane and Brad had the resources to offer a total cash purchase. The sellers were motivated to sell and accepted the lower offer. Jane assembled a team of contractors, architects and designers to go through the house and suggest changes. The pair discussed the proposed updates and moved forward with the project.
"I spoke with mother, and she wanted me to tell you that she enjoyed our visit," said Brad.
"Before we left, she said something to me about not letting you get away, are you planning to run away Bradley?" asked Jane.
"I have too much invested, emotionally and financially to run away, besides I love Jane FranΓ§oise St. Jeremy."
Brad drained the pasta and moved the mass to a large plate. He poured the sauce over the pasta and opened the oven and pulled a platter of meatballs out. He put the six meatballs on the platter with the pasta and moved to the dinning area.
As if on cue Jane's phone began playing the Star-Spangled Banner indicating that her brother was calling. She put it on speaker so Brad could listen in.
"I got a hold of George O'Brian of O'Brian and Williams to investigate and handle Christine's problem Jane," said William.
"Will she accept our help?" asked Jane.
"Her brother is sending her to a treatment center in Aspen Colorado. He reached out to me for the name of a lawyer. I don't know why she gets into trouble, and we don't," said William.
"Because we work for a living William, and they never had to. One thing we can thank father for,"
"I guess you got a point. Visit me tomorrow and we can discuss this further, darling,"
"There are only two men that can refer to me like that one is sitting across from me, and the other is father," said Jane.
"Ok Jane, I will see you tomorrow," said William