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Chapter Twenty
Throughout the ride home, Colleen refused to look at Kevin who had unfortunately won the passenger seat in the rush to escape the fans. She had been glad for the loud talking from the back of the van.
"You mean you wouldn't chase after us?" AJ joked to Kendall who smiled and started laughing at the thought.
"Sure I would AJ," she replied, obviously meaning the opposite.
"Well is there anyone you would chase after?" he asked her.
Kendall thought for a moment. "The ice cream man." AJ started laughing.
"I would have to agree with you there," he said, nodding.
"How about you?" she asked.
"I would chase after Nick," he joked. "He's so sexy."
Nick sat up from his seat in the back. "What?" he said, coming out of the daze that he had drifted off in. AJ sighed.
"Nothing Nick. Go back to trying to think."
Nick shot him a look as Kendall smiled, shaking her head.
They finally pulled into the driveway of the house and Colleen parked the van in the garage.
"Hey we get to see Herman again," Shannon said suddenly as she thought about dinner with her parents that night.
"Who's Herman?" Nick asked.
Shannon laughed. "He's our dog. My mom and dad have been taking care of him for awhile," she informed them as she walked up to the front door to unlock it with her key.
"I love dogs," Nick replied. "What kind is he?"
"He's a miniature bulldog," Morgan stated as they walked into the house, setting down their bags and taking off their coats, hanging them in the hall closet.
"So we get to see him when we meet Mr. and Mrs. Davis tonight," AJ stated.
Morgan nodded.
"Yeah, we will leave in a couple hours," she said. "Be sure to wear jeans and tennis shoes so you can horseback ride."
Everyone separated to go do their different things. Colleen entered her room and walked over to her desk, sitting in the leather chair in front of it. She booted up her laptop, connection to the net. I haven't checked my email in so long, she thought as she logged in and started going through all the emails her friends and business associates had sent her.
Hmmm, Dr. Reinhold wants me to come in to sign some paperwork tomorrow, Colleen saw as she checked one of her messages. She replied that she would be there and went on to the next email.
Her breath caught as it unfolded.
YOU MAY THINK THAT YOU HAVE GOTTEN RID OF ME
BUT NO ONE REFUSED ME WITH OUT CONSEQUENCES
DIRE CONSEQUENCES
CAINE
He's back, Colleen thought. She quickly deleted the message and disconnected. I wish he would just leave me alone, she thought as she climbed up the stairs to her bedroom. She grabbed her favorite romance novel and went to sit out on her balcony. She tried to lose herself in the story but her mind kept going back to the email. She sighed as she closed the book and thought back to when she had met Caine, a computer technician from California in a chat room. They had chatted and she had given out her email address to him. Pretty soon he was emailing her every morning and every night. She tried to tell him to email her less but that had resulted in him writing threatening letters to her. She had just been glad that all he had was her email address.
She hadn't bothered to change it because all her friends and business contacts had it and it would have been to much of a bother to get a new one.
She just resorted to deleting all messages from Caine. He had stopped writing for about a week but it looked like he was back. Colleen just pushed it to the back of her mind, knowing that he didn't know her real name or anything. Feeling more calm about the subject, she got back to her book and soon became engrossed in the story of Alexandra and Jordan. Before she knew it, it was time to leave for dinner at her parents house. Her intercom crackled to life as Shannon's voice announced they had to leave. Colleen looked up from her book and looked out over the yard.
We really are isolated, she thought as she looked at their large property surrounded by high hedges and smiled at how peaceful it was. I love it here.
She stood up and stretched. The solitude that she had been admiring was shattered as Colleen screamed as she was, greeted by the sight of someone standing in the doorway to her bedroom.
"You scared me," she said as she saw that it was Kevin.
He smiled. "I see that," he said.
Colleen nodded and brushed past him, into her bedroom. She checked her appearance in her mirror and decided she looked okay. She ignored Kevin and went into her bathroom to grab a hair tie.
"Colleen, we need to talk about what happened today," Kevin said as he followed her. She said nothing as she brushed her hair, deciding to put it in two pigtails. Kevin decided to just keep talking.
"Colleen, I just want to say I'm sorry," he said as he sat down on her bed, picking at the black velvet comforter. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
Colleen stopped from doing her hair and looked at him. "You're sorry you hurt my feelings?" Kevin nodded.
"I never meant to hurt you," he told her.
Colleen angrily started braiding her hair again.
"Kevin, I'm sure you're sorry for hurting my feelings. But what about what you did? Are you sorry for that?" she demanded as she looked at him again.
Kevin looked at her. "I didn't really do anything, Colleen. I was just talking to a girl."
"Only talking? Then why did you get mad when I was only talking to a guy?" she asked him, primly. Kevin shrugged.
"I don't know. It was irrational of me. Colleen, can't we just put this behind us?"
Colleen closed her eyes and counted to ten.
"Sure, Kevin. We can PUT this behind us," she said, between clenched teeth. "Now why don't you PUT the door behind you on your way out," she stated bluntly.
"Okay, I see that you are still mad. I'll leave you alone for awhile," he said and walked down the stairs and out the door.
Colleen sighed. She finished her hair and walked downstairs. She rummaged throughout her wardrobe for her cowboy boots, finally finding them and then walked out to the entryway where the rest of the gang was standing.
"Let's get going. I'm hungry for Dad's hamburgers," Shannon stated. She looked at Morgan. "Don't worry, Morgue, they have veggie burgers," she said commenting on Morgan's vegetarian status.
"Burgers? Sounds good," Brian said, rubbing his hands together.
"Let's get going," Kendall stated. She grabbed the keys from the key rack by the door. "I'll drive," she cried as she ran out to the van. Shannon rolled her eyes.
"I don't think so." She ran after her cousin. The guys laughed as Shannon tackled Kendall playfully, jumping onto her back. Kendall ended up giving her a piggyback ride to the van where Kendall got in the driver's seat and Shannon in the passenger seat. Everyone else loaded in, Colleen making sure that she wasn't sitting next to Kevin.
"Okay, what road do I take?" Kendall asked as she got onto 173. Shannon turned around from her paper ball war with Nick in which she had just successfully hit him on the head and looked at the road.
"Go straight and take Chicory Road to Russel. Russel to Houston and then turn into the Hundred Acre Woods."
"Hundred Acre Woods? You're kidding," AJ said, his eyebrows raised from behind his sunglasses. Colleen grinned.
"Nope. My parents ever named one of their horses Winnie the Pooh because of the name of their property." They pulled into the long driveway which came to an end in front of a big ranch house. They all got out as a pretty woman with a beautiful smile who looked a lot like Colleen walked out, accompanied by a tall man with a cheery face.
"Mom, Dad," Colleen said as she ran over and gave a huge hug to the two people.
"There's my munchkin," John said, giving his daughter a hug.
The Boys stood and watched as Pam and John hugged Ryan and the rest of the girls, the love among the family more than apparent.
"Mom, this is," Shannon started to say when Pam interrupted her.
"Brian, Howie, Nick, AJ, and Kevin," she said, pointing to the right one for each name. Colleen gave her a surprised looked. Pam smiled cheekily.
"I looked it up on the internet," she informed them. Everyone laughed.
"Let's go inside," John suggested, leading the way.
They walked in and John asked everyone what they wanted to drink.
"I'll take a root beer, Dad," Colleen said. Her father handed her a bottle and she twisted it open.
"Thanks Dad. I felt like a root beer," she told him. Her father smiled.
"Really? You don't look like one," he joked. Colleen rolled her eyes.
"You are so corny." Everyone started talking and pretty soon the room was filled with laughter and animated conversation.
"I see where Colleen and Shannon get their humorous and good natures," Brian whispered to Howie, who nodded.
"Yeah, Pam and John are great," Howie whispered back. John went out to the grill and announced that dinner was ready so they all gathered around the dining table and discovered the amazing delicacy of John's hamburgers.
"That was great, John," Kevin said, taking a sip of his Pepsi.
Colleen rolled her eyes childishly, annoyed by anything that Kevin had to say. Kevin shot her a look.
"What? Does the sound of my voice annoy you now?" he asked, exasperatedly.
Colleen looked at him. "Yes."
"Now you're just being unreasonable," he told her.
"I can be unreasonable if I like."
Ryan rushed to interrupt the conversation, seeing where it was going. Her cousin got sort of childish when it came to fighting.
"Aunt Pam, can we ride now?"
Pam looked up from the amusing exchange that was occurring between Kevin and her daughter and nodded. "Sure. You know where everything is."
Everyone stood up, Brian grabbing Kevin's arm to bring him with, and walked out to the stable where the horses were. Colleen stayed behind with her parents to help clean up.
"Colleen, what was that?" her mom asked. Colleen dropped her head on the table.
"That was me acting like a three year old," she replied, her voice muffled.
Pam laughed. "Yeah, that sounds about right. So why are you mad at Kevin?" She stood up and picked up some of the dishes and walked into the kitchen, Colleen followed her with her own load.
"Well, I caught Kevin flirting with this girl," she told her mom. Her dad walked in.
"Oh, is there something between you and Kevin?" he asked as he started scraping off the plates.
Colleen nodded. "Yeah, something being the word. I have no idea what is between us but I didn't think flirting was allowed."
Her mom turned to her. "Well, dump him." Colleen stared at her.
"What?"
"Dump him."
"I don't want to dump him, mom. I just want him to know that he insulted me and any feelings I have for him when he flirted with that other girl."
Her dad turned to her. "Well, did you tell him that?" Colleen shook her head.
"Not really. I just told him to leave."
John sighed. "Colleen, communication is key in anything. How do you think your Mom and I have survived all these years? We communicate and discuss what is bothering us. Go tell Kevin specifically why you are mad and make him understand." He paused. "And then dump him," he joked.
Colleen laughed. "Okay Dad. I'll go now." She turned to leave. "Wait, after the dishes, I'll go." Her mom shook her head.
"No, go on. I'll let you go this time but next time you and your sister have to make up for it," she told her. Colleen nodded.
"Okay." She left, heading for the stables. She walked across the lawn, admiring the setting rays of the sun and just thinking how good her life was. Sure she had problems but who didn't. And what exactly was her problem? She was jealous that a famous celebrity whom she happened to be seeing was flirting with another woman. What some people wouldn't give to have her problems. She quickly reached the stables and saw that everyone had gone out riding. She sighed.
Well, they are probably be on one of the trails so I'll just take my horse and follow them, she thought as she walked towards Mystic, her black stallion. She saddled him and got on, quickly putting him in a canter. Colleen could hear the soft breathing of the horses as she approached the group and she could see the startlingly white hide of her sister's horse, Ghost.
"I swear Shannon, every time I see Ghost, he seems more white. He looks so eerie in the moonlight," she commented as she rode up to the gang.
Shannon raised an eyebrow. "Gee, like a ghost?" she asked sarcastically.
Colleen shot her a look.
"Anyway, where are we headed?" Colleen patted the back of Mystic's neck as she spoke, loving the feel of his silky mane.
AJ swiveled in his saddle to look back at her. "Shannon was taking us on the trail to the beach." He turned his horse around to see Colleen. "We're glad you caught up," he said with a grin. Colleen smiled.
"I see you got Winnie." She pointed to the honey colored horse that AJ was riding. He nodded.
"Well, I couldn't pass up the chance to ride Winnie the Pooh," he said, patting the horse's blonde mane. Kendall quirked any eyebrow at his statement and AJ blushed as he realized how his comment must have sounded.
"I mean, well, um." He sighed. "You know what I meant." Shannon laughed and turned tack to start riding towards the beach.
"Let's go. The beach awaits," she said as she started Ghost into the an easy canter. They rode silently, just happy to take in the beauty of the night around them. Colleen caught Kevin looking at her several times but every time she looked at him, he would look away. She sighted and pulled out ahead as the trail flowed into the beach and the lake laid before them.
Kendall immediately slid off Oreo, the black and white spotted horse she was riding and tied him to the picnic bench sitting on the beach. She walked over to the edge of the lake and waded in, not caring about getting wet. It was a warm, balmy evening and she couldn't pass up the chance to swim in the moonlight. Brian slid off his horse and quietly come up behind her. He jumped suddenly, tackling her and dunking her completely in the water.
"Brian, I'm going to kill you," Kendall screamed as she emerged from under the water. Brian started laughing as he ran away from Kendall who immediately gave chase.
Ryan and Howie were trying to start a bonfire with driftwood they had collected and were quietly talking about the concert coming up and the plans after that.
"So what's the future touring schedule after you leave next Sunday?" Ryan piled up some driftwood and lit a match, trying to get the bonfire started.
"I think we go to New Orleans and then Houston," he said, trying to remember the schedule. "New Orleans is such a great city," he told Ryan.
She nodded. I've never been but I've always wanted too. Colleen and I want to travel there during Mardi Gras." Howie smiled.
"Man , it's crazy during Mardi Gras. There's tons of drinking, dancing, but most of all music. New Orleans has some of the best jazz and blues around."
Ryan nodded. "Yeah, that's one reason I want to go so bad. I want to go into some smoky jazz club and hear some authentic blues." She paused as a small flame formed and started burning. She blew on it softly, trying to make it bigger. "So when is the next time you see your family?" Ryan watched as Howie's face turned sad at her question. "I didn't mean to upset you."
Ryan put her hand on his shoulder in comfort.
Howie nodded. " I know. I just get homesick, that's all." His face brightened. "My mom is going to join us next month along with my sister, though."
Ryan smiled "That's cool." She turned and sat in silence, thinking about how hard it must be to live Howie's life. She stared into the fire as she thought and relized how pitiful the fire was.
"I suck at fire-making," she moaned as she flopped back onto the blanket behind her. Howie nodded.
"Yeah, you do." Ryan scowled at him as Howie looked at her.
He shrugged, not sorry at all. "Hey you said it not me." Ryan laughed as Howie tried to make the fire bigger. They both jumped as the heard a laughing scream travel through the air and they turned to see AJ and Shannon horsing around.
"AJ, if you throw that sand at me, I swear I will kill you," Shannon yelled as she backed away, her hands stretched out in front of her.
AJ paused. "Hmm, I don't know. It might be worth it to see the expression on your face as you are introduced to Mr. Sandy," AJ said as he pointed to the ball of wet sand in his hand. "Say hello to Shannon, Mr. Sandy." AJ moved the sand up and down as he threw his voice and made the sand talk.
" Hello Shannon. It's nice to meet you. Please shank my hand," AJ said as he threw the sand at Shannon hitting her square in the face. Shannon sputtered and wipred the sand off her face, slowly.
"You . . . are . . . dead." She reached down for some sand an quickly flung it at him, hitting him in the neck so that the sand traveled wetly down the back of his shirt, oozing nastily down his back. AJ quickly retaliated and a sand war was born.
"I will conquer you!" AJ yelled as he and Shannon threw sand back and forth, laughing hilariously.
"They are really going at it," Nick said with a grin as he saw Shannon's sand connect and splat in the middle of AJ's brightly colored hair.
Morgan smiled. "Yup. And Shannon is kicking AJ's behind." Shannon landed another blow but turned and ran as AJ grabbed a huge handful, ready to throw it.
Morgan turned and continued climbing the rocks that stretched out into Lake Michigan, part of the rock wall that helped section off the marina.
"Nick, watch it right there. It's slippery." Morgan pointed to the section of the rock and Nick nodded.
"So Morgan, what are you going as for the Mask?" he asked as he carefully climbed one of the rocks. Morgan smiled.
"I'm not going to tell you. You will just have to wait and see. What about you?" Nick shrugged.
" I don't know. I think that I'm going to choose tomorrow when I go to the costume shop with the rest of the guys."
Morgan nodded as she looked out over the lake. "It's gorgeous out here."
She took a deep breath, loving the smell of the water and moonlight. Nick nodded. "Yeah. I love the water. At home, one of my favorite things is to go out on my boat and just watch the sun rise. It's so serene." Nick looked at Morgan who was nodding in agreement.
"It must be great to have a peaceful moment like that when you have your career," she commented. Nick smiled.
"Yeah, but don't get me wrong, I love my life."
Morgan looked out onto the water. "It would be awesome to have your own boat," she murmured.
"Well, when you guys come to Orlando, we'll go," he offered. Morgan nodded.
"It's a plan." She paused. "I think Shannon said something about Brian wanting us to come out during the winter."
"We have a concert on the 31st."
"Yeah, Brian said we could come around the first of December and stay for your concert so we could spend the holidays together."
Nick smiled as he looked over at the group of friends on the beach. "It's going to be great. Home for winter and have family and cool friends to hang with." He looked at Morgan suddenly.
"What about your family?" Won't they mind not having you there when they get together?"
Morgan smiled sadly. "No. I was an only child and my parents died in a plane crash four years ago. The Davis' are basically my family."
Nick's face dropped. "I'm so sorry." He paused. "I can't imagine what it would be like to lose my parents."
Morgan laughed humourlessly. "It's no carnival." Nick moved over to her rock and put his arm around her.
"But you survived and you're a great person."
Morgan smiled for real and looked at him. "I am, aren't I?" she joked and Nick laughed.
"Shut up," he said and they both looked out onto the water, listening to the silence, hearing the soft whinnying of the horses breaking through the silence.
Colleen edged her horse through the trees along the beach as she followed the sounds of Hobo, Kevin's horse. She broke through the trees to a small stretch of sand, where Kevin sat atop his horse.
Kevin heard Mystic approach and turned to see Colleen coming out of the trees. He looked at her and turned his horse around to face her.
"Hey," he said quietly. Colleen smiled.
"Hi." She looked at the moon shining on the water and sighed. "It's beautiful here isn't it?"
Kevin nodded. Colleen looked towards him. "Kevin, I want to say I'm sorry for acting like a three year old."
Kevin looked at her, surprised so Colleen quickly clarified what she meant.
"I mean I'm still mad at you but I shouldn't have reacted as childishly as I did."
Kevin interrupted her. "Colleen, I want to say I'm sorry too. I realized that it wasn't so great of me to flirt with that girl." He sighed.
"Kevin, you don't know how much that insulted me. We made no commitments to each other but I did think there was a silent understanding that we wouldn't try to hook up with people when we were together," she told him.
She stopped and took a breath.
Kevin opened his mouth. "There was and I broke it." He stopped.
"Okay. Well, let's try to start over, okay?" Colleen asked with a hopeful smile. Kevin nodded, happy to see her smile.
Colleen looked at her watch as it beeped. "It's 11 pm. We better get going. Don't you have rehearsal tomorrow?"
"Yeah, we do." Kevin turned his horse around. Colleen moved her horse into the forest and turned around in her saddle to reply when a bright flash appeared near her horse, causing Mystic to rear up.
Mystic bolted and Colleen lost the reigns as the horse took off.
"Colleen!" Kevin's eyes widened in fear as he started riding after her, watching as she tried to stay on, still twisted in the saddle.
Colleen grabbed the mane of Mystic as the stallion galloped wildly through the trees and she tried to concentrate on avoiding the branches. Mystic continued his mad run when Colleen saw a huge branch come out of nowhere.
It caught her in the middle and knocked her off her horse. She lay on the ground, trying to catch her breath as she heard Mystic continue.
Soon she heard Kevin ride up, his voice calling her anxiously.
"I'm here, Kevin," she called out as she tried to sit up. Kevin dismounted and rushed over to her.
"Are you okay?" He ran his hands over her arms and legs to make sure nothing was broken. Colleen started laughing. "I'm fine. You know you're just trying to cop a feel," she said jokingly.
Kevin looked at her with a grin. "I wished I had thought of that. But seriously, are you okay?" She nodded.
"Yeah. I probably just have a bruised rib from the branch but nothing serious." She got up and brushed herself off. "Ow." She grabbed her side as she felt how sore it was. Kevin reached for her shirt and lifted it up enough to see her side where the beginnings of a huge bruise were forming.
Colleen grinned as he felt the area, for any breaks.
"Kevin."
"What?" he asked as he continued to examine it.
"Do you remember what I do for a living?" she asked casually. Kevin stopped feeling for a break and looked up at her, grinning sheepishly.
"Oh yeah. You're a doctor." He put down her shirt and stepped away.
Colleen felt her ribs and after she was sure there was no break or fracture, she scanned the trees for Mystic.
"It looks like I'm walking back," she commented. Kevin didn't reply. He just picked her up and carried her over to Hobo. He set her in the saddle and climbed up behind wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Or not," Colleen said as she got comfortable and leaned back against him.
They rode silently back, just enjoying each other's presence as Colleen wondered what had caused the bright light that had spooked Mystic. Kevin thought the same thing as he rested his chin on top of Colleen's head and never noticed the dark figure in the bushes.
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