CHAPTER 9
“Whoa! This house is awesome!” Justin said with a smile on his face.
“Aww, it’s nothing.” Lynn said with a smile. It was two days later and everyone was gathered at Lynn’s house in Richmond.
“Hey, cuz, where’s Aunt Cheryl???” Vanessa asked as the group made their way down the front hall of Lynn’s huge ranch house.
“Sorry Jellybean but she’s outta town for the week, you know, business.” Lynn answered. None of the guys could say much of anything, they were all too awed by the beauty of the house.
“Hey Lance, we have some horses not too far away, if you want we could go riding later.”
“Yeah, that would be great Lynn, thanks!” Lance said with a huge smile. Vanessa practically melted on the spot when she saw that smile. She couldn’t wait to spend three glorious days of no stress with her best friends and of course her cousin! Lynn took them to the left wing of the house where the guestrooms and her room were.
“Alright, Vanessa, you have the normal room and Justin you have the one across the hall. Lance and Joey you have the double room next to Vanessa and Chris and J.C. are across the hall from me.” Lynn said, pointing in all different directions.
“Lynn, don’t you get lonely being out in these rooms all by yourself?” J.C. asked.
“Nah, I come home about once a month and being out here with no one to disturb gives me a chance to blast my stereo!” She said with a glittering smile. Everyone decided to unpack and then meet downstairs for dinner.
Vanessa loved this house. It held so many happy memories of her and her family. This is where her mother had first taught her to ride horses and her father had taught her to catch fireflies. Maybe being here would settle her emotions and allow her heart to mend.
When everyone met downstairs, Lynn was hard at work chopping tomatoes and other vegetables for a garden salad. Vanessa insisted that she help with the meal so Lynn left her to cook the noodles. Joey volunteered to heat the spaghetti sauce and the other guys went hard to work on setting the table. Chris did a very nice rendition of “Whistle While You Work” and within twenty minutes dinner was ready. Everyone dug in and complimented the Chefs on their yummy dinner. After the dishes were washed Lynn and Lance decided to go down to the stables and ride. As they were leaving Joey, Chris, and J.C. found a copy of Terminator and decided to settle down and watch it.
Vanessa quietly stole up to her room. She had brought something very special; an old jelly jar with holes punched in the cap. The first summer she had come up here with her parents to visit she had made the jar with her dad. It had taken them a week of eating peanut butter and extra jelly sandwiches to clean the jar out. That night they went outside at dusk to wait for “the dancing lights” as her dad called it. Vanessa smiled sadly at the jar and thought if only Daddy were here. She sighed and cradled the jar. Tonight she would catch as many fireflies as she could. Vanessa turned to walk out of her room and spotted Justin in mid-knock. He smiled and pointed at the jar.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing much, thought I might take a walk.” Vanessa said nonchalantly.
“Cool, can I join you?” Justin asked. Vanessa nodded with a smile and they both headed downstairs and towards the porch in the back of the house. As soon as they were outside Vanessa took in a deep breath and smiled. She loved the openness and tranquility of the countryside. Justin was smiling too; he enjoyed the break from tour. Even though he adored the fans and performing, getting a break was nice.
“So Justin, have you ever caught fireflies before?” Vanessa asked with a small grin. Justin thought about it for a second.
“Nope, I can’t say that I have.”
“Good, I’ll teach ya how.”
“Cool.” The sun had started to drop behind the horizon in a beautiful array of color. The two of them walked a narrow path towards a field of wildflowers.
“Hey Vanessa, I hope you don’t mind if I ask you something,” Justin looked to Vanessa for approval. ”I’ve noticed that there’s something going on between you and Lance.” He waited for her response. Silence. Vanessa had stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart was beating furiously and her cheeks were boiling. She looked into Justin’s eyes and realized that he knew.
“I’m sorry Vanessa, I didn’t mean to bring something up that you don’t want to talk about.” Justin said, regretting ever thinking of bringing it up with her.
“No, uh, it’s okay. I mean if you know, why hide it.” Vanessa finally sputtered out. Justin kind of nodded.
“I guess it is pretty obvious but I tried to keep it secret best I could. I know that if I don’t expose my feelings that I won’t be hurt. Naturally, heartache isn’t fun so I wanted to hide my feelings from Lance.” Justin, taken back by Vanessa’s openness, felt that he shouldn’t push her to talk about this.
“Vanessa it’s okay, I don’t need to know. Only go on if you are okay talking about it.”
“Justin, I need to talk to someone about my feelings before I explode. Just promise me that what we talk about stays between us.” Vanessa said with all seriousness. Justin nodded.” Since the day I saw his beautiful green eyes and dazzling smile on that plane from France, I have been consumed by an overwhelming feeling. Lance picked me up off the floor of unhappiness and put me into a new life, a life with him and you guys. He changed my outlook on life. For the first time in four years he made me laugh and smile, you have no idea how much that meant to me. It’s like he became the sunshine that warmed me up after the storm of my parents dying. I realize that he was my guardian angel with a heart of gold. I don’t think that I could ever part from him and deep inside me I know that the overwhelming feeling that I hold is love.”
Lynn and Lance had just finished feeding and brushing the horses down as dusk set. Lance had enjoyed the invigorating ride through the hidden trails in the countryside. It gave him a chance to clear his head and release some tension. Lynn and him had chatted a little about how great it was to get away for a while. Lance found Lynn to be a good listener and also a good friend.
“So Lance, was Dixie a good horse to ride?” Lynn asked. “She’s one of our fastest.”
“Yeah! I really connected well with her trot and run. Thank you so much for letting me come and ride.” Lance said with his mellow enthusiasm.
“No problem, it should really be me thanking you.” She said with a smile.
“For what?” Lance asked curiously.
“For saving my cousin. If you haven’t realized, you’ve changed her. She really needed someone who could be there for her and, maybe by miracle, you walked on to that plane to save her. Since you have been with her she has smiled and laughed like she had never done since her parent’s death. So you see I really owe you thanks.” Lynn said with a heartwarming smile.
Lance looked at Lynn for a second and then said, “ I don’t think that I have done anything special. Vanessa gave me a lot of strength that first summer that we met. I found her to be such a strong person and an outgoing friend that I would remember forever. Walking on to that plane was probably one of the best things I have ever done. When I saw her sitting there, beautiful as ever, I knew we were destined to be close friends again. The fact that she was in a time of need just gave me a chance to repay her for the summer that she changed my life. These past couple months have been the best, we’ve really had fun together and I don’t think that it will end anytime soon. Truly I hope that our time together never ends because I…”
“Because you love her.” Lynn finished with a soft knowing smile. Lance turned to Lynn and swallowed hard. It hit him, of course he loved her, but how did Lynn know. Lance tried to ask Lynn but she had already foreseen his question.
“Lance, I kind of have the gift of seeing through people. I saw the feelings for her in your eyes when you’re together. You love her with emotion that you have never felt before.” Lynn said in a light voice of reason. Lance listened intently and realized that she was right about everything. He loved Vanessa with his heart and soul.
When Lance finally made it back to the house after taking a long walk by himself, Justin was sitting on the dark porch holding a glowing jar. Justin realized that Lance was looking at the jar.
“Fireflies. Vanessa taught me how to catch them. How was riding?” Justin asked with a smile.
“It was fun but tiring, I think I’m gonna hit the sack. See you tomorrow.” Lance said as he walked up the porch steps and into the house. Justin just watched him go. He hoped that Lance would realize that Vanessa is what he needs.
Up in her room, Vanessa sat looking out her window at the beautiful stars twinkle. She had felt good about telling Justin everything; it was a relief to stop bottling it up inside. Suddenly she spotted a shooting star. Silently she made a wish. Hopefully it will come true.
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