They danced for quite a while and then decided to take a break. Elaine went back to the table while Lance got them some sweet tea to drink. When he returned to the table, they sat close and talked and shared their thoughts and feelings about different things.
On the dance floor, Justin and Lynne were still dancing. He would sing softly in her ear along with some of the songs and she would just close her eyes and smile and hug him close to her. Lynne had known that Justin was someone special, but the more they talked and shared, the more she found they had in common. Especially their faith in God.
Justin had never found anyone who shared the deep abiding faith that he had. The Bible studies had helped all of this to come out and they had helped Justin to refocus on what was really important. He looked at life in a whole new light. After all, he was twenty-four years old, it was time to settle down with one person and hopefully have a family to share all that God had blessed him with.
When they were first popular back in the United States, after taking Europe by storm, the fans had ruled how they lived their lives. If they dated anyone, there was an uproar. Why couldn't the fans understand that someone to share your good fortune with was the pinnacle of success? It was an empty life without someone special to share the good and the bad with in your life.
The Bible studies had been a huge success. They were so big now that they either waited until they got to the next venue or they had it when they stopped to eat on the road. Joey was even starting to look at his life differently. In fact, he and Kelly, a long time friend, were taking some time during this break to talk about some serious issues in their relationship. They had all said a special prayer with him before he left and prayed that the right decisions would be made.
Rickii and JC were so intellectually matched, it wasn't funny. They both loved music and making music. JC had been stumped on some lyrics of a song he was working on and she had helped come up with what he needed. He informed her that her name would appear in the credits for the song because he was just about to throw it out. She assured him that was not necessary, but, when he sent it in, her name was right next to his.
She could not believe it and she made a call to her folks especially to tell them about it. Her Dad was blown away by what JC had done. If the song made it big, the royalties for the writers would pay for her college education alone.
Lance and Elaine got back out on the dance floor and were completely lost in one another. Lance held her close and nuzzled his head in her hair and sang to her as the mood struck him. Elaine had the perfect place for her head, on his shoulder where she could give him kisses on his neck, if she were so inclined.
They had talked about so many things tonight. Their views on so many things were the same and Lance was amazed at Elaine's reasoning abilities. Elaine felt she knew Lance even more than she had before. It was good that he was opening up more and letting go of the past and all the hurt that went with it. Elaine encouraged him so that he could have a full life. She reassured him over and over that he had her and all his friends behind him and they would always be there for him.
Lance looked deep into Elaine's eyes as they danced the last song before going in for the movie. There was almost a pleading in his eyes. "What's wrong?" asked Elaine.
"Oh nothing is wrong, I just..."
"What?"
"I was just thinking how lucky I am to have you in my life. Thinking about how much you have come to mean to me, how important you are in my life."
"I was thinking the same thing, Lance. You have bee an important part of my life for so long now," Elaine shared.
"I have? Why?"
"You were my 'savior' that year Wes was on tour with us. You were my hero. Then, I got to know you more and you became more and more important to me. You always encouraged me to go beyond myself. You assured me that I could do anything that I put my mind to."
"You're a bright young woman, all you needed was faith in yourself."
"I know. But you expect that from family. From you it was different. It meant even more coming from you."
"I'm glad I could be there for you. You know you have done the same for me. That night that I was rude and unkind to you, you could have walked away, but, you stood your ground and you cared enough to get tough with me and open my eyes to what I was doing to myself and everyone around me. And when I really lost it, you comforted me and you kept it between us."
Well, I figured if you wanted the others to know, you would tell them," she smiled.
Lance touched her face and traced her smile with his thumb. "You are my angel."
Elaine closed her eyes and kissed his thumb. As she opened her eyes, Lance lowered his face and gently kissed her lips. It was so soft and tender that Elaine's heart wanted to burst with love for this man whom she had adored forever, it seemed. A tear ran down her cheek and when Lance withdrew from the kiss, he leaned back in and kissed the tear away.
The other couples dancing on the floor were stunned when they saw this, but, did not let on. Lynne was moved to tears by Lance's gentleness towards Elaine. "Oh Justin, he better not hurt her because everything is on the line now. She is opening up to him and once she has, he is responsible for her heart."
"They are both opening up and they're going to be in each other's hands. I haven't seen him look that way since...but this is different. This is right, this is pure and honest," Justin offered.
The music stopped and they all walked toward the main house to go in and watch a movie. "I think I'm going to take a rain check on the movie tonight. I am exhausted from the ride and the horseback riding and everything. Dinner was fabulous, please let cook know how much we liked it."
"You sure you don't want to just crash on one of the couches and watch the movie?" asked Rickii.
"No, you guys go on and I will say goodnight."
"Me too," piped up Lance. "I think I'll make sure she gets to her room okay and I'll turn in, too. I need to check my emails and make a call home to check on things."
"Party poopers! You're no fun," chided JC and Justin.
"Goodnight everyone," Lance and Elaine chimed in unison.
They walked hand in hand up the stairs and down the hall to Elaine's door. Lance gently turned her to him and lifted her chin to where he could look her in the eye. "You are so special to me. I don't want this night to end."
"I know what you mean. Whata ya say that you go check your emails and make your call home and I will go in and change into something more comfortable and I'll meet you on the balcony?"
"Now that sounds like a plan. I'll see you in a few," Lance said as he opened Elaine's door for her.
Elaine went into her room and changed into a pair of sweat pants and an oversized T-shirt and put on her TAZ slippers that Lance had gotten her for her birthday last year. "Won't he be surprised?"
Meanwhile, in Lance's room, he was kicking his boots off and pulling his sweater over his head, as he checked his email. His ImPooFu mailbox was always crammed full. He went through and checked a few and deleted some from online companies. As he picked up his cell phone to call home, he kicked off his slacks and pulled on his sweat pants and left his wifebeater on.
He dialed his Mom and Dad's place and went back to continue checking emails while he was on the phone. "Hello?"
"Dad, that you?"
"Lance, son, where are you? We tried to reach you at the hotel you were supposed to be at and they said you were gone for a few days."
"Yeah, we're at Justin's retreat outside of Memphis. Just wanted to take advantage of some down time. How are you and Mom?"
"We are fine. Did you say we? Who all is there?"
"Well, Justin, of course, and JC and Rickii, Lynne and Elaine."
"Oh. How is everyone?"
"We had a full day and just came back in from dinner. Everyone else is watching movies."
"How is Elaine?" Jim ventured to ask.
"She's fine, Dad. I can't believe how she has taken over the liaison job along with everything else, and she's doing a fantastic job from what I can see."
"Your Mom certainly has no complaints. There have been less foul-ups since she took over than there ever has been. It's made your Mother and Stacy's job a whole lot easier. So, how IS Elaine?"
"I just told you, Dad."
"I'm not talking about work, I'm talking about as in you and her."
"Dad, I don't want to rush anything. We've been doing a lot of talking and getting to really know one another type of stuff."
"That's good. See how much you have in common."
"We have a lot in common, in fact, a lot more than I realized."
"Very good. Well, you keep working on that and I'll give the phone to your Mother before she beats me up for it. I love you, son."
"I love you, too, Dad."
Lance was still talking to his Mom when Elaine knocked on the balcony door. He walked over and opened it to find Elaine standing there like a little girl with her thumb in her mouth and her legs crossed. She had a blanket in one hand and a bear in the other, and in a little girl voice asked, "Can Wancey come out and pway?"
He broke out into laughter when he saw her and his eyes dropped to her feet and saw the slippers he had given her and his eyes went immediately to hers.
"What is wrong with you Lance?" asked his Mom, "This is NOT funny."
He had forgotten what they were talking about and he apologized and said he had to go. "I love you, Mom."
"I love you, too, son. Call soon."
He had cut his Mom off, but he wasn't thinking about her or the business they had been discussing. All he could do was smile and laugh as Elaine stood and twisted back and forth and sucked on her thumb. She cut her eyes up at him and grinned. "Do you want to pway, Wancey?"
That was it, they both lost it. Lance wrapped his arms around her and hugged her to him and in an equally child like voice answered, "I will pway wit you anytime."
"Pwomise?" Elaine edged on.
"Just let me shut the computer down first." As Lance went back to shut down his computer, Elaine took her blanket and spread it out on the lounge chair on the balcony and sat down. The moon was full and it was beautiful out tonight. As she sat back on the lounge, her body started to relax. She was suddenly aware of how really tired she was.
Next thing she knew, she was looking into the dreamiest eyes that there ever was. "You must really be tired," he said softly.
"What do you mean?"
"You've been out for about fifteen minutes. I've just been sitting here watching you sleep."
"That couldn't have been very interesting."
"On the contrary. You can learn a lot about people watching them sleep. You're a side sleeper and you twitch your nose when you sleep."
They laughed and talked about some other things that Lance observed. Elaine went into her room and put on the first CD she could grab. It was one that JC had 'burned' for her with all her favorite songs on it. They were mostly slow songs and that fit perfectly for what she wanted. She wanted to dance with Lance again. There was a need for the safe haven he created when he held her in his arms. Her two most favorite songs were first and they were God Must Have Spent and This I Promise You.
She turned up the stereo where the music would filter out to the balcony and then, she went to dance with the man she loved. When she reached the lounge chairs, she reached out her hand to Lance, "May I have this dance, and the one after that, and the one after that..."
Without a word, he took her hand and pulled her close to him. They held each other close for such a long time. The CD played through once and started a second time. When This I Promise You came on again, Elaine looked deep into Lance's eyes. It was as though she was willing Lance to know how she felt, to know that she loved him before herself, that she would sacrifice everything for him. "Oh God, please let him see the love in my eyes. Let him know it's not just infatuation or lust, but genuine, heart felt love."
Lance was relishing in holding Elaine so close and listening to her hum and sing with the songs. Her voice was beautiful. They had coaxed her into singing with them a couple of times on tour over the years. In fact, he thought, they were going to have her sing with them for her birthday this year. She was going to be so surprised for her birthday. It was going to blow her away and he couldn't wait to see the look on her face that night.
This I Promise You came on and he heard her singing in his ear. When she pulled back to look into his eyes, he thought his heart would stop. The look in her eyes was so intense and so over powering. She seemed to be conveying some message to him. As they danced, she never lost contact with his eyes and she lowered her right hand to lay over his heart. Suddenly, he realized what she was trying to let him know. She cared. She honestly and genuinely cared and she wanted him to know that his heart was safe with her.
Was that it? Was he understanding her look? The deeper he looked into her eyes, the more the light shown bright. "LOVE...I see love. Pure love. Could she possibly...love...me...?" He touched her face, her precious, incredible face. At his touch, she closed her eyes as if to intensify his touch and her hands drifted to behind his head and played in the hair there. She felt him draw closer to her and, soft as a whisper, his lips touched hers. He pulled back a bit and then he nervously wet his lips and went in for another kiss.
Elaine's knees were already jelly from the first kiss, but with the second one, they just wanted to buckle under her. The kiss became more and more intense and as she opened her lips slightly, his tongue gained entrance to explore her mouth and served to drive her crazy with ALL the feelings that were coursing through her body. His touch was timid and she knew she felt his hands tremble as they touched her face and then when she thought she would faint, his arms wrapped around her and held on for dear life.
As the drama on the balcony played out, it did not go unnoticed by other eyes. Justin and Lynne had gone for a walk and were headed back to the house when they heard the music. When they looked up, there was Lance and Elaine in a romantic embrace. Lynne squeezed Justin's arm when Lance leaned in to kiss Elaine. "Finally," she whispered.
Justin laughed and looked down at Lynne, "well, I was always told to follow the lead of my elders, what do you say we sit on the porch in a swing, and, swing?" He gave her an evil grin and they headed to the swings, each offering up a silent prayer of thanks to God on behalf of their respective friend's good fortune.
Elaine and Lance finally stopped to catch their breath. She sat on the lounge chair and looked at Lance in the moonlight. If it was possible, his eyes were even more hypnotic in the moonlight. He just stood there and looked at her and the look she was getting sent a tingle down her spine that caused her to shiver. Lance, thinking she had gotten a chill, ran to his room and brought out one of his blankets.
"I'd rather you keep me warm," she said as she slid over on the lounge chair to make room for him beside her. He slipped onto the chair and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. They were quiet for a long time, just listening to the music and each other breathe. And, that is where they found themselves when the sun came up in the morning.
