JR poured herself another cup of coffee and watched her brother sipping at his own cup slowly. Her concern for Gus was etched on her face. She wore the same look of confusion that had been there since late in the evening the night before when she had returned from the lake only to spot Gus traipsing from the kitchen back up the stairs to his bedroom in his underwear and robe. There was certainly no reason for Gus to be dressed like that unless he was staying at the house. That alone set alarm bells ringing in JR's head. A quick call to Gidge, who had just been dropped off at her house, didn't reveal any answers. Gidge told her friend that she saw no signs of Jason at the house. His car certainly wasn't in the driveway or garage. JR promised to call once she checked out the situation with her brother.



It had been after midnight and JR had a late morning class to attend the next day, but she knew she'd never get any sleep until she found out what was going on. She had tiptoed up to DB and DJ's room at the other end of the hall from hers and Gus' bedrooms. A quiet knock on their door was answered by DJ who had obviously been awakened by her. When she asked about Gus, Justin told her that she would need to ask Gus the details but that it was best to wait till morning. He advised her to get a good night's sleep and not worry about things that were beyond her control. Of course sleep had been difficult to achieve. JR had enough on her mind worrying about her own state of affairs and now it looked like she'd have to worry about her brother too. Well she might as well just ask the question, she told herself, so she grabbed Gus' attention before he could leave the kitchen.



"So big brother, are you going to tell me why you spent the night back in the old homestead instead of in your own place with your boyfriend or do I have to guess?"



Gus gave his sister a dirty look, but then answered. "It's not really something I want to talk about kiddo, but I know you well enough to know that you won't leave me alone till I tell you something...so let's just say that Jason and I have decided to take a little vacation time, but in this case from each other instead of with each other. Now do you think that's enough to satisfy your curiosity?"



"Oh sure. Just tell me that you've broken up with the man you love more than anything and don't give any reason and I'll be more than happy to drop the subject." JR shook her head. "Give me a break Gus. You can't drop a bombshell like that and not explain why. What happened to you two?"



"C'mon Sis, I've got to get ready for class. I don't have time to go into details. I'll tell you more later. But just to keep the record straight, Jase and I didn't break up. I said we're taking a little break. We're going to work on things and I'm sure we'll be fine."



JR would have been comforted by those words but the deflated tone of voice and defeated demeanor of her brother wasn't very encouraging. It was, however, obvious that Gus wasn't in the mood to go into detail this morning so JR took the high road and dropped the subject. She was about to ask Gus if he wanted to hear about her weekend, but the man moved too fast and after dropping his cup into the dish washer, he made a hasty exit from the kitchen and moved on up the back stairs to his old bedroom. JR was left alone. She had time to reflect back on her weekend with Alejandro at his rented lake house before the dads came down for breakfast.



**************************



JR was duly impressed with the lake house that Alejandro had taken her, Gidge, and Kevin to. It could have been better described as a mini mansion than a rustic cabin on the lake, but then she had already learned that Alejandro only went in for the best of everything. JR had always lived comfortably, first in Canada where both her mom's had successful careers, and then living with DB and DJ...but she had never been ostentatious in her behavior over her good fortune. She certainly enjoyed the freedom to shop that all young girls longed for, but JR was far from greedy about desiring wealth. If anything, her interest in politics stemmed from a genuine desire to make life better for those less fortunate than herself. Alejandro was certainly a worthwhile catch for a young lady because of his wonderful manners and charm...not to mention looks that could melt the heart of an iceberg...but JR had to admit that she was becoming a bit put off by his attitude towards possessing the best of everything. He certainly seemed to enjoy flaunting his wealth a bit more than JR thought necessary.



JR had tested Alejandro early in their relationship by bluntly telling him who her parents were. He had acted like it was no big deal but she had found out weeks later that he already knew her entire family history. When she had discovered that he had checked up on her background she had been offended at first until he had calmly explained that his family was behind the whole thing since they had an image to maintain in their home Country. They had made no reference to JR's biological father and his family, but the fact that her adoptive dads were both famous and well connected in the business world had been a plus factor as far as the Reyes family was concerned. There were still deep seated prejudices in many parts of the Latin American world towards gay couples, but things were different this far into the 21st century and most folks kept their opinions to themselves. At the time JR had just been relieved that she didn't have to deal with any more homophobes like the Roberts family, but now she was beginning to wonder if the fact that her dads were rich and famous was the only saving grace to the Reyes family. That thought didn't sit well with JR either.



Another thing that bothered JR was a bit more personal. JR was proud of her virginity. She longed to give herself to the one man that she could love for the rest of her life and because of that she had guarded her virginity like the Hope Diamond. She was far from frigid...as a matter of fact there had been times that she had taken more than one cold shower to ease her frustrations...but JR knew her worth and wasn't willing to settle. With Alejandro, this had not presented a problem. The man had been a perfect gentleman from day one. He barely even kissed her, even now. Yes, he had finally planted a decent kiss on her after they had dated for a couple of weeks, but it had been almost chaste in its delivery. Being a straightforward kind of gal, JR had bluntly asked him if he didn't find her attractive. His reaction convinced her that he certainly did when he had patiently explained that he thought too highly of her to go too far...then he dropped his bombshell. Alejandro announced that she was the kind of girl he was looking for to make his wife and thus he was not about to sully her or her reputation by taking advantage of his desire for her before the wedding.



JR's jaw had dropped to the ground with this revelation, and she quickly reminded the young man that...one, he hadn't even asked her to marry him and two, she hadn't said yes. Alejandro had just as quickly reminded her that they were both still young and he wanted them both to complete their education first and then he could proudly present her to his family and his country as his future wife. JR had been impressed with how far thinking and mature Alejandro was being and she certainly admired his restraint so she had let her doubts fall to the wayside...for now. She never mentioned Alejandro's surprising revelation to her family, but often discussed it with her best friend. Gidge thought the world of the sophisticated and handsome Alejandro so she encouraged her best friend to give the man a chance to continue to impress JR with his many fine old world qualities. It was okay for now, and it didn't hurt that she was too busy with Alejandro to think about Noah anymore. For those reasons she let her doubts lay dormant where Alejandro was concerned.



Noah had slipped further back in JR's thoughts with each passing week, but she still felt a surprising jolt to her senses on those rare occasions that she spotted him on campus. He had finally stopped hanging around looking for her, but she could still see that he sometimes stopped and stared when she came into sight, if only for a brief second or two. But Noah was a lost cause and JR didn't have time for lost causes. She didn't have much longer to enjoy her first full year at the University and she was too busy with keeping her grades at the top of the class and spending time with Alejandro to worry about what was going on in Noah's life.



****************************



Noah sat in his parents kitchen and finished his cup of coffee and bagel. He sat the cup in the sink and went up to his room. He was looking forward to his classes today....well not so much the classes themselves, but the fact that two of them were right across from JR's classes. He knew it was stupid to still be mooning over a girl he could never have in his life, but he couldn't help it. Just the sight of JR would always set his heart to fluttering. Noah often replayed those stupid words he had used in the cafe with JR months ago. Why had he been so judgmental? Noah had a close friend who attended classes taught by JR's older brother and the friend had nothing but praise for his teacher. Professor Marcus/Peterson had a wonderful reputation for fairness and understanding throughout the school. He was quite obviously a good man. The more Noah thought about his own brother Matthew and men like JR's brother, the more Noah questioned his father's teachings.



Noah was upset the first time he realized that JR had found someone new to date on a regular basis, but it was out of jealousy...plain and simple...but he had wanted her to be happy so he sat back and watched with sadness as she went on with her life without him being any part of it. Recent events, however, had changed the young man's mind. He had been hearing rumors about JR's boyfriend. The girlfriend of one of Noah's best friends had casually mentioned that she had been hit on by Alejandro one night at a local club that students hung out at a lot. Her and several of her female friends were standing at the bar chatting when the man had insinuated himself into their conversation and flirted outrageously with all four of them. They had all turned him down since they all had steady boyfriends and this had been a girls night out only, but she could swear that she saw him walk out with a different girl some time later.



Noah knew better than to run to JR with the story. She wanted nothing to do with him in the first place and would probably never believe him in the second place. Since then, however, he had been paying more attention to what was being said about the wealthy exchange student who had garnered a lot of attention on campus. Noah knew how smart JR was so he just hoped that she would catch on to some of the things he himself had noticed about Senor Reyes.



For now, Noah's mind was on something even more important to him. His sister-in-law was about to have a new baby and his brother Jacob had asked Noah if he would come up to Rhode Island during his Spring Break to help the family out a bit. His wife's family lived overseas for their ministry and his mother's doctor had advised that she not travel since she was still having chemo treatments for the cancer that had been diagnosed the previous month. The Reverend, of course, could not leave his own flock which pretty much left only Noah. For once their father agreed to his son's decision to visit and even offered to help pay Noah's way. What Reverend John had not been told was that his other son Matthew was also taking a week off from his restaurant and visiting Rhode Island at the same time. It would be the first time all three brothers had been together since Matthew was driven away from home and Noah was more eager for this trip than anything else in a long time. Maybe talking to his elder brothers would clear up all the questions that had been bothering young Noah for some time now...questions that he knew he could never ask of his own father.



To be continued.....................................