Two Brothers and the Girl

"Good thing I added a thirty-day notice before acceptance to give us a chance to prepare," I said. "Connie's husband Tom is coming aboard as our CFO without his arranging the financing there is no way we could have considered doing this. John will be getting contacted about the buying out of his shares later this week."

"Anything happening on the divorce end," Carl asked?

"We have a court hearing this week about getting an order for the blood tests," I said

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We were the last one called before the Judge that Friday. I was surprised to learn Judge Donald McDonald was not a huge man. By his reputation, I had assumed that he was tall and broad but in reality, he was about five foot ten, about a hundred and eighty pounds, he had a very little neck with broad shoulders. He appeared to be in his late fifties.

My lawyer laid out the basic relationship of the three of us explaining how Beth and I had reconnected. She went through how I had discovered who she had fallen in love with, and denial of it by my brother when I had confronted him. She then produced an affidavit from my mother disclosing that Beth had told her that it had been going on for two years. She then played the cam recording from David. Judge McDonald took a real interest in it. Finally, I got called up to explain what I learned the day Beth had accused me of kidnapping my own children. I could see the judge's face getting very concerned. When I told him what Beth's response was when I confronted her about the day, we reconnected his face turned a different color. For a moment he looked really old.

Beth's lawyer tried to explain it all away and gave an honest attempt to contradict our presentation.

Finally, the judge spoke, "It's apparent that there is enough circumstantial evidence that implies that there has been an off and on again sexual relationship between Beth and John Tait longer than there was a marriage between Beth and James Tait. That implies that the one brother might have been trying to pass on his parentage upon the other. That makes it clear that there is a fifty-fifty chance that either one could be the father."

"The only way we are going to know the true parentage of the children, because it is human nature that our memories change over time is to have a DNA comparison of both possible fathers with the children concerned," The judge continued. "The things that weigh the most in making this ruling is the video of John Tait's disclosures to the cop and his response. When all issues are resolved the divorce will granted to James Tait on the grounds of adultery."

Beth was devastated. John looked at me in pure rage. The judge although not saying it was implying that they had been manipulating me all my life. I had a big grin filled with a lot of satisfaction on my face.

As we were getting to leave, we all noticed Beth's parents and her older brother standing there preparing to leave the court room. I could see the pain and sorrow in their eyes. They had been there for the whole hearing. I guess her parents had some hope that we were all wrong in our thinking. Beth started to walk towards them. They turned their backs to her and walked out the door.

We all understood the message they had just given to Beth because of their religious views. From this day forward, she would be shunned. In today's society she was the walking dead. I walked over to Beth with my lawyer beside me.

"Beth, you must be extremely proud, not many can say they have destroyed two families in less than a month," I said. "I'm sure you will be pleased to know that both Bijou and Bree are doing well."

My lawyer and I continue on our way out as Beth began to bawl.

We got outside and Beth's family was waiting for me.

"Mom, Dad do you want the girls for the weekend," I asked. "It would give them a chance to spend time with their favorite uncle."

Mom teared up and hugged me and said, "We'd love to."

Ted, Beth's brother held out his hand, and said, "It's good to see you old friend."

"If my daughters don't tire you out tomorrow," I said as I shook his hand. "How about we go out for a late supper and a few beers afterward?"

"I'm coming home for good, James," He said. "I'm getting too old to keep up with the young. Twenty years is long enough. So, I'm home with the family for a couple of weeks to house hunt and find a job."

Just then my cellphone rang it was Joanne, so I answered it saying, "What's up."

"We just got word the thirty-day count down is on," Joanne said with excitement."

"Thanks, and let Carl know that I have just found the head for our resource department," I said. "That is if I can convince him to come with us."

"How did it go in divorce court," Joanne asked?"

"I will explain when I get back to the office," I said. "Bye!"

"Ted, sixty thousand a year to start until you prove yourself and a review after the first six months as the head of Parrish's new resource department," I said. Do you want it?"

"What does it entail," Ted asked?

"Management of purchasing and distribution and control of inventory to three hubs for distribution to our retail stores and commercial sites that we are working on. Most residential jobs are done through our retail outlets and our contracted bid supplies will be delivered on-site from one of the hubs." I explained.

"Dammit you're serious," He said. "Of course, I will take it."

"James," Beth's dad said. "Take him to see your house if he is interested, I will cover his down payment."

So that's what we did. Since he had been overseas most of what he had over there with his family would be sold off before moving back. They would be starting over with basically nothing. After looking at the house with his wife and finding out what went with it, they decided to go write up an offer at full price. I went with them and accepted their offer. All that was needed was Beth to sign off on it. Ted could not get over how easy it was going to be for them to start over.

I stopped at a wine shop and picked up two bottles of wine and a block of cheese with a cracker plate before heading back to the office. The four in the upper management team had a little celebration before calling it a night.

My girls had to call me to ask me if it was okay if they went with their grandparents for the weekend. I acted surprised but I said, "go ahead and have fun."

When I got back to my mother's I told her what I had done after court this afternoon.

She said, "Ted is getting a good deal. The items you are selling in that house is worth more than what they are paying for it. Believe me: they know you are setting them up better than they could have dreamed."

"Ted's family, no matter what Beth did," I said. "He will pay me back big time by watching every penny like a hawk."

"Once again you take the high road," Mom said. "Your father would be proud just as I am."

"Thank you, mom, it means a lot especially because I'm still hurting," I said, "because I still love her."

"Oh, that reminds me, John sold the shares back to me this morning," Mom said, "for five million through my personal lawyer so I guess I'm staying in as part of the board."

"What motivated him to do that, I asked?"

"He told my lawyer he had never been happy in the industry. He stayed because it was owned by the family," Mom explained. "As soon as the divorce is over, they will be moving to Florida because he is going into property development as he has a lot of lands down there, he is going to develop."

I was smiling because John would never know that our business was worth over forty million based on current market value according to Tom's report. Using that report we had secured fifteen million which we had spent ten on buying on the assets and contracts in the north for ten cents on the dollar.

Tom in reviewing their assets felt we could recoup close to seven million after streamlining the operation by getting rid of their head office building, the four unneeded storage centers no longer needed and the excess of vehicles on hand. It would cost a couple of million for repainting the commercial fleet and rebranding. Using the retail outlet as we did down here would allow us to use local independent contractors.

The incentives that kept them working for us was based on their production and quality of service they provided for our customers. On Christmas eve all independent contractors got a Christmas bonus equaling ten percent of the revenue they generated tax-free.

We had learned years ago, that by doing it that way our service to the customer improved, complaints about workers dogging it shrunk and customer satisfaction went way up.

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Mom dragged me out with her, to one of the social events that were must-attend situations on Saturday afternoon. I thought it was going to be one hell of a boring afternoon. It was a community fundraiser for a family who was raising money to cover the co-pay of the huge medical bill caused by their daughter's cancer treatment. It was there that I was introduced to Doctor Tamara Braden their doctor. I wasn't looking but she sure caught my eye.

I called our accountant and asked for his approval to donate the fifty thousand needed to cover the debt since the girl's current treatments were over and she was cured. It took him an hour to write out the check, take it to hospital billings and have it directly applied to their bill.

Tamara and I were both going through divorces, so we had something to relate to. We found that both of us were cheated on. She had not had any children yet but didn't seem surprised when I said mine were teenagers. I was just turning forty she wouldn't say but I figured she was around thirty-two.

When he brought me the receipt which showed the bill paid in full, I took it and went to the center of the room. After getting everyone's attention I said, "To the Johnston family I would like to present them with this receipt that says paid in full. Parrish Electrical heard of your plight and has paid the co-pay in full on your behalf. The organization prays that it never comes back again."

Tamara came over to me and whispered, "I'm so impressed I'm taking you home for dinner."

I laughed and said, "Then you will have to drive me home afterward because I came here with my mother and she's my ride home."

She laughed and said, "You can't be serious."

"That my mother right over there," I said as I pointed her out. "The one bursting in pride."

"Oh, you mean Ruth she one of our greatest contributors," Tamara said. "She always helps those she can."

"Bet you didn't know that her maiden name was Parrish," I said. "Our company was named after her."

Tamara smiled and said, "What was wrong with the woman who is divorcing you?"

"She got involved with a man who really has no morals," I said. "Sad because they're both going down because of it."

"Tamara, we made it sorry we were so late," Ted's wife said as she walked towards us. "I got great news if you want me to start early I can I'm not going back with Ted. The kids and I are staying here. James, what are you doing here?"

"Jackie I was just talking to Tamara," I said. "My mother's just over there watching me like a hawk."

"How do you know James," Tamara asked Jackie?

"He's divorcing my sister in law," She said. "And he's going to be Ted's new boss and he gave us a hell of a deal on his old house."

"Why," Tamara asked?

"No matter what Ted's sister did," I said. "Ted is always will be family."

"If you need any furniture," Tamara said, "I have some you can have."

"The only thing that didn't come with the house was furniture for the kid's bedrooms," Jackie said. "Ted's parents bought that this morning for us after the sale was confirmed when Beth signed the agreement."

Ted and I let the ladies talk and walked off. "Beth and I talked for a few; she's hurting big time. She's suffering from depression," He said. "I told her that she did it to herself, but everyone else is hurting too, even your daughters because nobody can understand why you did it, not even you."

"Ted, she doesn't know it's going to get worse for her before it starts to get better," I said, "Because of John's past conduct that is going to become very public."

"A little advice, take it easy with Tamara, she a beautiful woman who is hurting as much as you," Ted said. "She is and has always been a keeper."

Tamara came and took my hand and said, "Let's go I promised you dinner and were going to have to go shopping to pick up a few things."

Mom watched us head out. Tamara handed me the keys and asked me to drive her over to Food City, a small independent grocery store that was known for having the best selection for meat in the area. She offered to allow me to wait but I said no, so we went in together.

"What's on the menu," I asked?"

"Steak cooked on a grill, a tossed salad, and if you have room, desert," Tamara said. "If that's okay?"

"Sounds good," I replied. "We best pick up a couple of bottles of red wine to go with it," I said.

It was after midnight before I got back home. Tamara and I had a wonderful evening together. We had agreed to get together the following Saturday. For some reason, I had the best night's sleep since Beth walked out of our marriage.

Mom dragged me to church on Sunday. Connie had finally found and put in an offer on the house she wanted. I told her to submit a copy of the purchase agreement to accounting if it was agreed to so they could issue the check.

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The girls met their mother at the mall for lunch. They told me afterward that it did not go well. First, they had revealed that I had met someone, and they hoped the lady would help me to start healing. My mother had called them and informed them about my first date. They then had told her what they had found on John's computer.

That was the first time that Beth had heard about it. Beth was devastated because she knew that her getting sole custody of our daughters had been lost. The girls believed their mother was going through a depression.

While that was happening, the district attorney had just finished laying multiple charges of statutory rape against my brother. He apparently had told all the parents of John's previous victims that John had just moved a woman into his house who had two minor daughters that suited his taste. Most of them had agreed to lay charges to protect those innocent girls from him.

They arrested him the next day at his home in front of Beth. The moment they took him into custody Beth realized that she would never be allowed custody of her children. What her divorce lawyer had written up in the original divorce petition was coming true. Not for James but for her because she had allowed herself to be taken down by someone who was the complete opposite of James.

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It had been just over two months since Tamara, and I had met. John was out on bail. Beth and my divorce lawyers had worked out all monetary details. She would get four million dollars and that was it. She would not get any of my shares.

The DNA tests had confirmed that Bijou and Bree were my biological daughters. Even Beth seemed relieved. We had agreed that I would get sole custody, but Beth would be allowed liberal visitation and access as long it was not in John's presence.

Beth had fought us on it during meditation, but I pointed out that I would raise the thought that the only reason John wanted her to move in was so that he could have liberal access to my daughters. Hearing that had broken Beth because she had to face the fact that what I threatened to claim may be fact.

The amount of money I was giving her if invested properly would allow Beth some quality of life if John did indeed have to do time. I provided her with the name of two investment advisors that she should work with when the divorce was finalized.

Connie and Tom had moved back with their brood of five much to my mother's delight. She was getting to know Connie's children intimately and for her, that was truly a blessing. Mom said her life had been filled with more love than what she had lost. I could see the truth in that comment. My mother, my sister and I decided that Connie would remain CEO much to Tom's delight.

John's reputation had been totally destroyed even those he had called lifelong friends had turned against him. His legal bills were mounting. My daughters believe that as soon as their mothers and my divorce was final their mother would dump him. The cost of having a real relationship with him to her had ended up being too great. They were concerned with their mother's depressed state.

The takeover was moving ahead quite well. The contracts that had fallen behind because of the bankruptcy had been caught up to date and we're now ahead of schedule. Most would end up coming in way under the agreed price. We had decided to rebate them all ten percent after the final payment had been received.

We had cut the projected cost of labor and their related costs by fifty percent since taking them over. I had flown out to see some of the changes being made and some of the new buildings and land we became owners of. The excess had been put up for sale at their appraised value.

Human resources, working with the former employees had worked out so that more than half of them had become contractors working out of our new retail locations. We had given them interest-free loans to buy the trucks and equipment that they needed from us at wholesale prices. Part of the package set up with them was the accounting program from "Quicken Books."

Ted, in his first major purchase because of the increase of volume we needed, and his skillful negotiations had cut the cost per item by twenty percent. He had started reorganizing our whole approach which would cut our handling costs greatly when fully completed. He was proving that I had made the right choice. Jackie and he were tickled pink with their new home. They were slowly making decoration changes to make it their own.

The upper management team was thrilled because by the time it was completed the allowances, we had for write-offs and losses had been cut by two thirds. We had learned that those at the Capital had wanted the bankruptcy handled as quickly and quietly as possible, giving credibility to our thoughts that there had been major paybacks for some of those contracts. We had been the first and only offer. We all figured those in power had wanted to make sure certain things remained hidden. Tom had hired his old firm to do a new appraised value because of our huge growth.

Mom and I were preparing for a huge barbeque at mom's place this Saturday. I was a bundle of nerves because most would be meeting Tamara for the first time. The whole management team and their whole family were coming. All of Beth's and my family would be there too.

I slipped away to pick up Tamara because I wanted her to meet my daughters before the rest of the crowd arrived. Even though it was a casual affair Tamara had decided to wear a dress that accented her body in a complimentary manner.

She truly looked stunning. With her red hair let down resting on her shoulder wearing white with hand-stitched embroidery monarch butterflies going down the sides she was a knockout. Tamara was five foot eight weighted less than a hundred and twenty pounds, but she was dynamite. We shared a few sensual kisses before heading out.

We entered the backyard of my mother's together holding hands. Bijou and Bree came right over. Tamara must have felt my nervousness because she said, "relax."

After introductions, Bijou said to her, "If you're my dad's girlfriend he sure picked a good one."

I could see the change in Tamara right away I leaned and whispered, "You were as nervous as I was." Tamara acknowledged that she was.