“You go up to your room and I’m going to grab my jacket and I have to eat something...and I don’t want all of them watching us go up together...you know?” Justin smiled and kissed her forehead.
She nodded again, “I’ll wait upstairs.” She slowly pulled out of his arms and went into the house.
Justin grabbed his jacket and realized that everyone had spread out. Lance and Stasia were walking hand in hand around the lake. Joey and Angela were no where in sight. He could see a silhouette of Chris and Dani on the balcony outside of the room they were sharing. JC was near the pool talking with one of Lyn’s sisters and Lyn was walking out of the house toward them.
He smiled and jogged up the lawn to the kitchen. He took the milk out of the refrigerator and poured a glass as he rummaged around looking for something to eat. Smirking, he grabbed a plate and helped himself to a piece of cake. He was raising his fork to his mouth when Lyn came running through the door. She was sobbing.
“LYN! STOP! WHAT HAPPENED?” Justin dropped his fork and ran after her into the garage.
She was sobbing uncontrollably, “Where in the hell are my keys?”
“What happened?” Justin grabbed her shoulders.
. “I have to go! I have to get out of here!” She was shaking and she dropped the keys she had just found on the hook near the door.
Justin picked them up, “I’ll drive, where are we going?”
“I have to go.”
“OK. OK. We’re going.” He stopped asking questions and climbed behind the wheel of her car.
He drove down the driveway and stopped at the end of the street where the narrow dirt portion of the street met pavement, “L.S. which way do you want me to drive?”
Lyn’s face was buried in her hands and sobs racked her entire body, “The airport.”
Justin reached across the car and pulled her hands down from her face, “Lyn you really need to talk to me here because you are scaring the shit out of me and I think maybe I should take you back and get JC...”
“NO! I don’t want to be anywhere near him.” Her eyes were flashing with an anger he had never seen out of her.
“What the hell could he have possibly done to get you this upset?” He was confused and driving very fast, if she would feel better at the airport, her was going to get her there.
“He was kissing Brenna.”
Justin hit the breaks and gripped the wheel firmly with both hands, “WHAT?”
“I found him kissing Brenna...Oh God...my own sister...” She began sobbing harder.
Lance and Stasia didn’t live far from the airport so Justin pulled into the parking lot and turned off the ignition, “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to get the hell out of here as fast as I can. I’m going to be on the next flight out of here. I don’t care where it’s going or what time it will get me there....where ever there is.”
“Sweetie, I can’t let you get on a flight to nowhere specific. We’ve got to have a plan. I’m worried enough without thinking that you’re going to be in Mexico wearing an evening gown and with nothing else on you.” He reached across the car for her hand.
Lyn reached into the backseat of her car and pulled out a leather briefcase, “I have my passport, all of my ID and....” She dug through the bag, “No cash or cards! Shit they are in my room. You have to go back to Lance’s and get my credit cards.” Her eyes were wide and desperate.
“I’ve got my cards and cash on me, you’re fine. Do you want to go home? We can get you on a flight back to Orlando.”
Lyn slowly shook her head, pushing tears off of her cheeks, “I don’t want to be there. He’s everywhere. I have to get away from him.”
“You want to go to Hawaii? Or how about we send you to New York?” His eyes searched her face.
“No...I have to get away...I have to...I have to go...” Her voice trailed off.
“Help me out here Lyn. You name it and I’ll get you there, but I have to know you’re going to be safe.” He honestly didn’t know what to do. It didn’t make sense. There was no way in hell JC would cheat on Lyn with anyone, let alone Brenna.
She looked down at her hands and got the strangest look on her face, “I have to go...Tipperary.”
Justin ran his hands over his face, “Lyn, sweetie...what does the dog have to do with anything.”
She stared at him for a moment, “Tipperary? Oh God, Blarney! I forgot her! What am I going to do? Jesus? My head is so screwed up. I want to go to Tipperary. But Blarney...”
“I’ll get Blarney. She’ll be fine with me.” He looked into her eyes, “Can you tell me what happened?”
She took a deep breath, “I was walking down the lawn to find JC and he was sitting by the pool with Brenna...”
He nodded, “Yeah I saw them sitting there.”
“When I got to the far said of the pool...” Her voice began to quiver again, “...he cupped her cheek and kissed her and then kissed her neck.” Her eyes met his, “Why would he do this to me?”
“I have no idea. Jesus I’m sorry Lyn.”
“Can we go inside? I want to get out of here. Justin, please don’t tell anyone where I’m going. No one. PLEASE!”
“I swear to you. I won’t tell my own mother.”
“Thank you.” Lyn grabbed her briefcase and small red handbag, “This is all I have.”
Justin shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, “You’ll freeze in that dress on a plane.”
Morgan paced around the bedroom. Checking the mirror, she quickly ran a brush through her hair. It had been forty-five minutes since Justin said he’d meet her upstairs, she understood that he probably didn’t want to draw a ton of attention to the fact that they had disappeared together, but he was going overboard. She glanced at the small antique clock on the night stand and sighed, “Now I’m hungry.”
She kicked off her shoes and decided to go down to the kitchen to get something to eat. She walked out into the hall and found Lance and Stasia whispering quietly. It was obvious that both of them were upset about something. Stasia turned when she heard Morgan approaching. As she got over to the pair she sighed, “Have either of you seen Justin around?”
Stasia turned her concerned eyes to Morgan, “He left with Lyn almost an hour ago.” She whispered looking up and down the hall to make sure that the three of them were alone.
“Left with Lyn?” Morgan couldn’t understand why he would leave with Lyn knowing full well that she was waiting for him in the bedroom.
Lance slipped his hand under her elbow and guided her into his bedroom. Stasia followed and shut the door behind them. Sitting on the edge of the bed he sighed heavily and looked up at Mor, “Something happened...”
“What?” She looked at Stasia who was staring at the wall with one hand over her mouth.
Lance shook his head a little as if trying to clear it, “JC kissed Brenna, and Lyn saw it happen.”
Morgan’s eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped, “What? There is no way...that isn’t possible.”
Stasia sat on the arm of Lance’s chair, “We saw it too.”
“Maybe they were just hugging...or maybe it was a kiss like I’d kiss Lance?” Her eyebrows drew together.
Lance shook his head, “Trust me, you wouldn’t kiss me like they were kissing. How in the hell did this happen?”
Stasia slowly shook her head and whispered, “I don’t believe this.”
Morgan walked backwards until she felt Stasia’s favorite chair behind her. She sat down hard, “How could this happen?”
“She was hysterical. She ran into the house before Lance and I could get there. Before we realized they were in the garage, they had pulled out of the driveway in her car. I have no idea where they went. I’ve tried calling her cell phone and it’s off. I’ve tried his, it’s off. I’ve tried my old house, Cat answered and I didn’t want to get her all upset unless I have to. I’ve called the office...I just don’t know where else to call.” Stasia looked at Morgan, “Where would he take her?”
“I have no idea. I was waiting for him and he was taking forever so I came looking for him, that’s when I found you guys.”
“Ms. Myrtle’s?” Lance offered.
Stasia shook her head, “I doubt it. Too close to Lyn’s sisters at the cottage. Shit. Could he have taken her to Momma’s?”
“Momma would have called by now.” Lance shook his head, “We’re going to have to wait to hear from one of them.”
Morgan ran both of her hands through her hair, “Jesus. Has anyone talked to JC?”
Stasia shook her head, “I don’t think so.”
“So JC kissed Brenna, Justin took off with Lyn and no one knows anything else? Where in the heck is Brenna?”
“She was in the living room last I saw her.” Lance crossed the room to the door and peeked out into the hall, “It’s really quiet out there.”
“I wanted to talk to Justin.” Morgan said quietly, “I have to go in a few hours. I have to go back to school and now everything is all insane.”
Stasia looked at her strangely, “Well I’m sure he wasn’t trying to upset you. He was just worried about Lyn, he couldn’t let her drive like that.”
“No! That’s not what I meant.” Mor felt horrible, Lyn needed Justin more than she did at this point, but things were left completely up in the air, “I’m just trying to sort everything out in my head. Of course he had to take her.”
Morgan walked back down to her room and began packing. She had to be at the airport in Jackson at 5:00 AM to make all of her connecting flights back to New Hampshire. Justin had been prepared to give her a ride there, but now she was going to have to find another way there. She changed into a pair of navy warm up pants and a white t-shirt. Pulling her hair up into an high ponytail she tossed her dress and shoes into her suitcase and dropped her sneakers onto the floor. She sat on the edge of the bed and debated what she should do next.
Making her way back to Lance and Stasia’s room she tapped lightly on the door, “It’s open.” Lance’s voice was tired.
“Guys I feel like a total ass, but I have to leave for the airport at 4:30. Justin was supposed to take me...”
Lance nodded his head, “I’ll take you Mor.”
Stasia shook her head a little, “Mor! I forgot about that dress for your dance.”
Morgan shook her head, “You know what, don’t worry about it. This silly dance doesn’t seem quite as important now. I can just wear the dress I wore tonight.”
“Nonsense.” Stasia walked across the room to Lance’s closet and flipped on the lights.
Morgan followed her into the walk-in closet and smirked, “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were living here. Lance’s closet is full of your stuff.”
Stasia cocked her head slightly, “I do live here now.”
Mor looked at her hands, “I guess that I was getting ready for school or something. This is great! I’m really happy for you!”
Stasia began sliding dresses along the bar, “Which dress did you have in mind?”
“I don’t care. Which one do you think would look good?” Morgan ran her fingers over all of the heavy satins, the airy chiffons, the sophisticated crepes. Stasia had an amazing collection of formal dresses. Most of them were either gray or silver but there were a few bright colors and a few stunning black gowns.
Stasia looked her up and down and then smirked, “I know exactly which dress you should wear.” She grabbed a beautiful steel gray gown, “This is the famous Grammy dress. I had a fantastic night and I’m sure you will too. Now, let me find the shoes and purse.”
Morgan laughed as Stasia moved over to a wall of clear plastic boxes, each box had a picture of the pair of shoes inside attached to the outside. It was obvious that the shoes were sorted by style and color. Stasia scanned the boxes and pulled out the one she was looking for, “Do you like these? Or I have another pair that would match perfectly as well....” She pulled out a second box.
Slipping one shoe on Morgan took a few steps and tried on the other style, “I think I’d be more comfortable in these.”
“They were more comfortable.” Stasia nodded, “Here is the purse they sent with the dress. You can’t get much more than a key and an ID in here, but it looks good.”
“Thank you so much for letting me wear this.”
Stasia smiled, “I’m just glad to see it getting worn again. I think it’s a shame that these are all just hanging here gathering dust.”
Lance laughed as they emerged from the closet, “She’s got three million dollars worth of dress just hanging there taking up space.” When he noticed the dress laying over Morgan’s arm he smiled, “Nice choice. I liked that one.”
“I never would have known that.” Stasia rolled her eyes.
“You looked hot.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and the smirked, “True.”
Morgan watched the couple interact, both of the still dressed in their formal clothes from the wedding, both of them very concerned about JC and Lyn and both of them unable to hide their love for one another. She wanted that. She wanted to fell as if she was part of something bigger than herself. Something so huge and so important that it cannot ever be hidden.
Lance glanced at the clock next to their bed and sighed, “Well kid. I had better change my clothes so I can give you a lift to the airport.” He stood up and disappeared into the bathroom.
Stasia sat down in her chair and looked out the window, “I can’t believe that this is all happening.”
Morgan laid the dress, shoes and purse carefully on the bed and sat down in Lance’s chair, “It just seems to me that there has to be more to this story. This can’t be it. We’re talking about JC and Lyn.”
“I pray that you’re right, but I don’t see how that’s possible. JC kissed Brenna like I would kiss Lance. And Mor, HE kissed HER. It was bizarre.” Stasia let her head fall back against the chair.
“I wonder where the heck Justin took Lyn...and why hasn’t he called?”
Justin and Lyn had gotten more than a few strange looks. The pair was dressed in formalwear in the middle of the night, in the middle of the airport in the middle of Mississippi. Lyn was leaning over the counter talking quietly to the ticket agent. She nodded to the ticket agent and turned to Justin, “B.B...” she didn’t have to say another word.
He reached into his wallet and produced his credit card, “Put whatever she needs on this.”
Taking the card the agent whispered, “That is going to be $2,374.84 sir.”
Justin waved his hand, “Whatever.”
Lyn looked over at Justin with tears in her eyes again, “I can’t believe you’re doing this.”
“It’s not a big deal.” He smiled weakly at her, “I’ll be back in Orlando tomorrow afternoon. I’ll have Cat come with me to your apartment to help me pack some stuff to send to you. I’ll ship it, so she won’t know where you are.”
Tears began rolling down her cheeks again, “Thank you.”
He wrapped his arms tightly around her, resting his chin on top of her head and squeezing her, “It’s going to be ok.” He leaned back to look at her, “Are you positive you want to fly to England and then drive to Ireland wearing that? If you wait until later we can get you some other clothes.”
“I want to leave as soon as possible.”
The woman behind the counter slid a receipt toward Justin with a pen, “If you’ll just sign there, we can print the tickets.” Justin continued to hug Lyn, reaching only his right hand out to scrawl his signature on the line. After making a few keystrokes and waiting for the printer to issue Lyn’s tickets the woman handed the small folder to Justin, “She need to go quickly to the gate to make her flight to New York.”
She started to slip his jacket off and he shook his head, “You keep it. You need to make sure you’re warm enough.”
Nodding she kissed his cheek and turned to walk to the gate, “I will never be able to thank you....”
“You don’t need to.” He kissed her forehead and watched her walk through the door to the jet way.
Lance guided Morgan through the side door of the terminal, carrying one of her bags, “I wish you could have stayed longer. At least until tomorrow.” He smiled down at her.
“I have to get back to school and going from Mississippi to New Hampshire, you have to connect nine-fricking-billion times. I’m not going to get back there until 7 PM.” She shrugged, “But, what are you gonna do?”
Lance looked down at her again, “It’s not a lot of fun being friends with us is it? I mean...it’s hard to be friends with someone who is never in the same place and who is never there when you need a shoulder to lean on.”
Morgan shook her head slowly, “It’s not that. Not exactly that. It’s the part where I don’t know what’s happening in my own life that got to me. You guys keep me sane. I have a list of eight people who I can call whenever I need anything.”
“Don’t you mean nine?” He stopped in front of the metal detectors and waited for her to pass through before following her.
“Nine? You, Joey, Chris, JC, Stasia, Angela, Dani, Stasia, Lyn...eight.”
“What about Justin? Your best friend....who I happened to see kissing you tonight.” He smirked when she looked shocked.
“You saw that?”
“Yeah. I saw that. Morgan, I don’t know what’s going on with you guys, but I do know he cares about you a lot.”
“I know.”
“We all care about you...all NINE of us. When you figure out whatever it is you want to figure out...all nine of us are still going to care, all of us.” He handed her the bag he’d been carrying when they reached the gate, “This is your stop.”
She looked him in the eye and nodded her head slowly, “Yeah this is me.”
Lance wrapped his arms tightly around her and squeezed hard, “I love you. Be careful and take care of yourself...cut yourself some slack...and remember you are loved, a LOT.”
She nodded again, “Who died and made you my big brother?”
“Nobody died. I just won the draw today...we take turns you know. Everyday one of us gets to be sane, today is my day. JC CLEARLY took the day off.”
Morgan smirked, “No kidding. Keep me posted on that one.”
“Trust me. I will, it’s like my very own soap opera.” His eyes were sad.
“Thanks Lance. For the ride, and...being you.” She stepped back out of the circle of his arms and made her way onto her plane.
Brenna was sitting in the living room at Lance’’s house when Justin walked through the door at 5:45 in the morning, “Is Lyn OK?”
He walked right by her without a word. He stormed up the stairs two at a time, not breaking his stride until he threw JC’’s door open, causing it to crash against the wall. JC was wide awake, sitting in a chair in the corner, “You’re a bastard!”
“I know.” JC said quietly.
Justin looked around the room, “Blarney, COME!” The dog jumped up from her place on the bed with Tipperary and ran over to his feet.
JC turned tired eyes to meet Justin’s, “How is she?”
Justin picked Blarney up off of the floor, and then pointed at JC, “You lost the right to ask how she is.” As quickly as he’d burst into the room, he was gone.
Justin walked into Morgan’s room and looked around in confusion, she was gone. He still had Blarney in his arms as he ran down the stairs to find Stasia and Dani whispering in the kitchen, “Where is Morgan?”
Stasia looked at him strangely, “Justin, she had to go back to school. Lance took her to the airport over an hour ago.”
“Shit! I can’t believe she left without saying goodbye.” He set Blarney down on the floor.
“She wasn’t excited about it.” Stasia handed him a cup of coffee and shifted on her stool, “ She was looking for you a couple of hours ago. She didn’t know anything had happened, so she said she’d been waiting for you and you hadn’t shown up. She said she’d wanted to talk to you.”
“Shit! Could this situation get any worse?” He leaned against the counter and sighed heavily, “How did all of this happen in less than an hour? Nothing is ever going to be the same again. It can’t be.”
Staring out the window watching clouds go by Morgan sighed and rested her forehead against the window. Life was once again spinning out of control. Everything she took for granted was changing.
Her relationship with Justin was different. For a few fleeting seconds when she had first gotten off the plane in Mississippi, things were normal, the way she wished they could always be. As good as it had felt to be completely relaxed with him again, it felt better when his lips had briefly been on hers.
Her head flopped back against the seat. Everything was going to be different. Stasia had moved into Lance’s and she hadn’t known it was happening. She thought of the look on Stasia’s face when she’d told her, it was the look of pure bliss. Stasia and Lance had what they all wanted, they had love that was stronger than anything else. But then again, she had thought that JC and Lyn had the same kind of love, and she had been wrong.
She was starting to wonder if there was anything she was right about. She had assumed so much. She has assumed that she and Justin would be friends forever, she had assumed JC and Lyn would live happily ever after, she had assumed that just because she was at school wouldn’t have to mean that she would lose track of what was happening with her friends.
The man sitting next to her tapped her wrist, “Miss, we’re here.”
Morgan looked at him blankly, “We are?”
He smirked and nodded, “You’ve sort of been in your own world. I didn’t want you to end up alone on the plane.”
“Thank you. I would have wound up flying where ever they are going next.”
As the passengers deplaned, Morgan shuffled along with everyone else. She shifted her bags and felt something poke her in the back. Swinging her backpack around to see what had worked it’s way out she smiled faintly. She pulled out a small Free Lance folder, inside were four, open ended, round trip tickets with her name on them. She recognized Lance’s handwriting on the front of the folder. He had written, ‘Come home whenever you need to...or want to. -L’
She pushed the folder back into her backpack and continued walking into the terminal. She had to laugh when South went running by, stopped short and doubled back to walk next to her, “So I sort of got lost.”
“Getting here or once you got here?” Morgan shoved one of her nags at her friend.
South blushed slightly, “Both.”
“Dork.” Morgan smiled, “You would get lost going to the bathroom...”
“So about the puddle on your floor.” South winked at her.
“You’re sick.”
“I’m aware.” They walked quietly next to one another for a few minutes until South nudged her with her shoulder, “So are you going to tell me what happened in Mississippi or am I going to have to ask Justin when he calls for the nine billionth time today?”
~Chapter 9~
~Main~
