Farmer's Daughter
Chapter 8
The firm knock at the door woke 'Brian' from his sleep and he walked groggily to answer it.
He held the door open wide, motioning for Bill, Sr. to enter; yet, the man didn't move. 'Brian' could tell that he was nervous and he guessed at what was coming. 'Why doesn't he like me?' he thought to himself as Bill stood there, hands in pockets.
"Mr. Meyers? What can I do for you?"
"I just wanted to come and thank you proper for what you did for my Donna Jo today. So ... thank you." he said, extending his hand.
Shaking his hand, 'Brian' replied with a shrug "It was the least I could do. How's she doing?"
"She's shook up and has a few cuts and scrapes; but, she'll be all right with a little of her Momma's tending."
"Glad to hear it. Did you want to come in?"
"No. Uh, um, I have to be getting back. Lizzie said I should ask you if you were hungry, since you didn't come for supper."
The loud grumbling in his stomach answered before he could speak and Bill grinned slightly at 'Brian's' embarrassment, "Come on. Get dressed and come on up to the house. I'll have Lizzie warm something up for you."
"Thanks. I'll only be a couple minutes."
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Lizzie couldn't do enough for 'Brian', practically wiping his mouth for him. She even tried to cut his steak, thanking him profusely for getting Donna Jo out of the cattle pen.
"Lizzie darlin', you're embarrassing the man. Quit fussing." Bill chided gently.
"Sorry. I'm just so grateful." she gushed.
Just then, Lizzie caught sight of Donna Jo peeking around the corner and she called her into the room. The little girl came forward slowly, clutching an old rag doll to her flannel nightdress, her crystal-blue eyes wide.
'Brian' put down his fork and leaned back in his chair, looking at her with bemused eyes. As she stood next to him, he reached a hand up a gently put a fingertip to her cheek. "Does it hurt?" he asked softly. As she shook her head 'no', he grinned, "You were a very brave girl today. I'm glad you're gonna be okay."
She stood there, looking up at him, then down to the floor, then back to him, her eyes revealing what she wanted, but couldn't say.
"Do you want to come sit in my lap?" he asked; and, at her vigorous nod, he held out his hands to her, pulling her into his lap. She put her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly, offering him a small-voiced "thank you" before resting her head against his shoulder.
"Aw, you're more than welcome, Sweetheart. I was glad to be able to help."
He subconsciously began slowly rocking back and forth, humming quietly and Bill and Lizzie could only sit back and watch, transfixed by the scene. Lizzie smiled triumphantly at her husband, knowing that this was the proof he needed to show this man would cause them no harm, and there was no reason to be worried. Bill caught the look on her face and returned one of his own, showing his begrudging agreement with her.
Within a few minutes, Donna Jo was fast asleep and Lizzie motioned for 'Brian' to pass the child over to her, so that she could put her to bed.
"May I?" 'Brian' whispered. At Lizzie's bright smile and Bill's acquiescing wave of his hand, 'Brian' rose from the table, carried the little girl up the stairs, and placed her in bed, tucking the covers around her. Placing a small kiss on her forehead, which he couldn't help doing, he turned and left the room, walking straight into Amanda Grace as she came out of the bathroom.
They stood there, silently staring for a few moments, when she spoke.
"Thank you for what you did for my sister." she whispered quickly, casting furtive glances around the hall and stairway.
"It was nothing compared to what your family's done for me." he replied. "You were the one who found me, weren't you?"
"Yes."
Taking her hands in his, he looked into her eyes, "Thank you so much. I'd probably be dead now, if it weren't for you. I'll be forever in your debt."
Her cheeks burning crimson, humbled by his gratitude, she could only smile in reply.
"What's your name?"
"Amanda Grace."
"That's a beautiful name. I'm -"
"Amanda Grace. Shouldn't you be in bed?" She muffled a groan at the sound of her father's disproving tone and 'Brian' dropped her hands immediately.
"Mr. Meyers. It's my fault. I ran into your daughter as I came out of Donna Jo's room. I just wanted to thank her for finding me and helping me. It was nice to meet you, Amanda. Thank you again."
"You're welcome." she mumbled, her eyes downcast as she walked over to her father, kissing him on the cheek. "G'night Daddy. Goodnight ...?"
"Brian."
"Goodnight Brian."
"Goodnight Amanda."
Stealing a quick look up at him, she returned her gaze to the floor before silently heading into her room.
"Goodnight Mr. Meyers." 'Brian' said, offering his hand this time.
"Goodnight." Bill replied gruffly, quickly shaking the man's hand. "Do I need to say anything to you about Amanda Grace?"
"No, sir."
"Good. See you in the morning."
"See you in the morning, Sir."
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Sometime during the night, a missing persons fax came over the wire in the small town police station, falling off the tray onto the floor behind the machine.
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"It's been over two weeks since your bandmate's gone missing. Has there been any news?" John Norris asked as the remaining Backstreet Boys sat in the MTV Studios. The interview was being broadcast live around the world; and, the boys were trying hard to remain composed.
"No, John, we've heard nothing." Howie answered, his voice a monotone.
"All we've been able to do is wait and wait and wait some more ..." Kevin began, his voice beginning to break.
"Right now," Brian interrupted, "we've been praying ... a lot ... and we want to take this time to thank all the fans for all their love and support. The cards and letters have been pouring in; and, just thank you all so much. We'd also like to ask all our fans, all over the world, to pray for Nick and that he be found safe and unharmed."
"Now, you're scheduled to record the new CD next week. Have those plans changed?"
"Yeah. We're postponing the recording for another month. We ... we just don't feel right singing without Nick." AJ responded and the interviewer's understanding nod. "We don't WANT to sing without Nick ..."
"... if Nick isn't found soon, we'll have to get together with our label and our management ... and each other ... and decide what we want to do with the group." Howie commented, gravely.
"How can you even talk about that, Howie!" Kevin snapped, his voice breaking. "He's alive and we're going to find him!"
"Kev. Calm down, cousin." Brian whispered. "Hold it together buddy."
"Sorry, Howie." Kevin offered, wiping the tears from his cheek.
"No, man, I'm sorry."
"We're all a little ... on edge" Brian explained, "We're really frustrated at their not being any leads; and, our tempers are real short right now. In fact, we're offering a $10,000,000 reward on any information that leads to finding Nick."
"The number to call will be on the bottom of the screen for the rest of the interview. It will also be posted on the MTV website as well as the Backstreet Boys' Official website." John said, as the number appeared on the screen.
"We ask that this number only be used for leads." AJ began, "We know that our fans are going to want to call and offer us their love and support. What we need is information; so, please, if you don't have any, don't tie up the line for someone who might."
Howie added, "We'll be assigning a special section of our Official website for the fans to be able to leave messages for Nick, and the rest of us, as well as up-to-the-minute news about the search."
"Well, guys, our time's about up. I want to thank you all for coming and speaking with everyone watching ..."
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"Dude, did you see that?"
"Yeah, I did. $10,000,000. That's a lot of fucking money."
"Are you guys nuts?! We CAN'T call that number. We'll get caught."
"Relax, Joe. I'm sure that we can think of something so that we can get our hands on that money without them tracing the dude's disappearance to us."
"How can we Tony? We're the only ones who know where we left him. There's was nothing around for miles. We even HINT at where we left him and the cops'll know that we had something to do with it."
"Shit, dude's probably dead by now." Jack laughed. "How much is gonna be left to be found? Tell you what. That was one heavy fucker." he chortled, throughly amused with himself.
"Just let me think on this awhile." Tony offered, rubbing his chin in thought.
"Well, what if he's not?"
"Not what?" Tony asked.
"Not dead." Joe replied. Jack's laughter died quickly, and the look on Tony's face gave Joe all the answer he needed.
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