Chapter 33 - My Heart Is In Your hands



Beth is in the driveway saying goodbye to Jon's parents when he pulls in, getting back from seeing Peter in the city. 
Jon parks the car and gets out, walking up to his family that's gathered in the driveway.  He hugs his mother, "Hi Ma."  Shakes his dads hand, "Hi Pop.  What are you guys doing here?"

 

Jon's mom moves in close to Beth and puts her arm around her waist, "We came to check on Beth.  How did it go with Peter?" 

 

Jon walks up to Beth, as if his mother wasn't standing right there, cups her face in his hands and gives her the kiss of all kisses, "Hi babe." 

 

"Hi." Beth replies with a smile on her face.  "How did it go with Peter?"  Jon steps back and stands next to his dad, doing a quick little sweep of the driveway, looking for what Beth calls the Goon Squad.  He was able to see 2 of the 4 that are on the grounds at all times.  They added an extra body because the house and grounds are much bigger than the house at the vineyard.  Jon was glad he was able to put current tour staff in place, there was a deeper sense of trust with them, and he left nothing to chance when it came to his children. 

 

"It was good." he nods his head, looking at Beth.  "I don't think we'll have to worry about Dalton." he smiles at her.

 

"Why?" Beth stands up straight and hates the knot that is quickly forming in her stomach.  "What happened?"

 

Jon not wanting to go into all of the details in the driveway says, "We'll talk when we go inside, but rest assured, he won't be bothering us."

 

"How did it go regarding Dorothea and the divorce?"  Jon's dad asks, only to be nosey.  John knows that Jon is right where he should be and with the woman that was meant for him, but nonetheless, he wanted to know what was going on. 

 

"It should be final soon."  Jon lies, right to their faces. 

 

"I heard she was contesting it." his dad pipes up, "they were talking about it at the barber shop the other day."  Jon's knot started to form in his stomach and he watched Beth's face turn from one of comfort to one of anger in a split second.

 

"What's going on with the divorce, Jon."  Beth asks, taking a natural step backwards. 

 

Jon makes a sweeping motion and says to all of them, "Let's take this out of the driveway." 

 

Jon's mom isn't happy with what John just said, so she jumps in, "Jon, what's going on with the divorce?  Is Dot contesting it?"

 

Jon's watching Beth, watch him and he knows that he can't keep it from her anymore.  She's going to be pissed when he finds out that he kept it from her to begin with, but now there's talk about it around town.  Beth will be crushed and he knows it.  "She is contesting it." he states, and then he waits.

 

"What does that mean in New Jersey?"  Beth has no idea on New Jersey divorce and family law.  She's never needed to know it.  "Tell me what that means, Jon."

 

He looks at his parents and asks politely, under a huge amount of pressure, "Will you excuse us?"  And he takes Beth by the hand, and leads her into the house.  There is no staff in duty, with the exception of security - so they stopped in the kitchen.  Beth places her hands on the counter and lowers her head.

 

"Please tell me what's going on." she pleads with him.  she can put two and two together and knows that he is about to drop a bomb on her.  She knows that he can typically say anything in front of his parents, so taking her away told her that it wasn't good.

 

"Look at me." he asks.  She doesn't.  "Babe, look at me." he begs her, she has to see that he's sincere in what he's about to tell her and he has to know that she trusts him, with everything.  "Babe?" and he waits.

 

"Jon, what's going on?" she slowly lifts her head and looks at him.  Jon can see that she's quite concerned and he doesn't like that.  He moves in next to her and puts his arm around her, kissing the side of her head. 

 

"She's claiming that we reconciled a few months ago." is what he had to tell her and as soon as it came out of his mouth, he wished he could take it back. 

 

"Reconciled?  Why would she say that?" Beth asks, having no idea what did happen months back.  She made it a point to not know what he was doing while she was with Dalton.  What they had and the love she felt for him, needed to be in the past. 

 

Jon takes a deep breath and says, "She told her lawyer that we had sex and are trying to reconcile."

"And?" was all Beth could think to ask.

"And it's not true." he tells her, taking her hand.

"Tell me you're kidding?" she pleads.  "Tell me that this is a joke."

He just shakes his head no.

"What happens now?"

"We aren't sure." he starts to explain.  "She was at Peter's office this morning and tried to start some shit with her lawyer."

"What kind of shit?  Whoa wait a minute, what did you learn about Dalton?"

Jon was shocked by the change in conversation, but he welcomed it.  Dalton was an easier topic to talk about.  The subject of Dot has always been a sore one with Beth.   "Dalton was arrested trying to get into Mexico."

"Arrested for what?"

Jon shrugs his shoulder and says, "You can't leave the country when you're a convicted felon, I guess."

"Did Peter say how long he would be locked up this time?" she has to know.

"Well, from the way I understood it, he has to finish out his original sentence before he can be eligible for parole again."

"But Peter doesn't know for sure?"

"The courts aren't even open yet, babe.  It's still early there." he squeezes her hand, "But Peter did verify that he's locked up and he knows he will be for a very long time."

"Will Peter find out?"

"Yes, he's going to call me as soon as he hears something." he gives her a slight tug and pulls her to him.  With his arms around her, he says, "We're safe.  I can send the Goon Squad home."

"Great.  Let's get back to Dorothea and the divorce." Beth says, but he head is 3000 miles away in California.  Is it true, is Dalton really back behind bars?  Can they stop living with security right outside the door?

"We offered her another settlement and she refuses to take one.  She says that she's going to fight for her marriage."

"WHAT?"

Jon laughs and repeats what he just said, "She says she's going to fight for her marriage.  I didn't ask, I don't know and I don't care."

Beth leans back and throws her hands up in the air, "Is there something I should know about?"

"HELLO!" They look at one another.

Jon yells, "We're in the kitchen."

Beth whispers, "They have been in the driveway this whole time?"  She's feeling like a tool.

Jon's mom and dad pop around the corner into the kitchen.  Dad says, "We're going to take off, we wanted to say goodbye."

Jon's mom could feel the tension and she looks at her son, "Is everything okay?"

Jon nods his head,  "Yes, ma everything is fine."

"Well, it doesn't look fine."

"Ma, things are good." he replies with THAT tone that everyone knows that it means the conversation is over.

John jumps in again and says, "We worry about yous two.  You know that, your mother only wants to help."

"I know pops, but sometimes she can't help." Jon tells his dad as a matter of fact.  "This is stuff that Beth and I need to get through."  Jon walks over and kisses his mother, "Things are good ma."  Carol hugs her son and doesn't want to let him go.  He is her pride and joy and she takes it personally when he's hurting or going through a crisis.  John knows that he taught his son to be a man and that he will take care of what needs to be taken care of.