| Chapter Eight Dee managed to make it through the day at work, although dragging and her mind not exactly on her work. Fortunately she didn't kill any patients in the process. She made quick stops at the grocery store on the way home, took a shower, cleaned up the house and had the sauce for the Shrimp Creole simmering when she heard Mel's car pull into the driveway. "Oh my god, oh my god…" she said as she checked herself in the mirror in the powder room off the garage one last time. She pulled at the long tendrils at the base of her neck and fluffed up the top of her hair, took a deep breath and went to the door to let her guests in. She watched as Mel, Lance and Joey got out of the Blazer and walked to the house. The guys were checking out the place while Dee checked out them. Joey looked terrific in khaki pants, white sleeveless tee-shirt and a khaki sleeveless open shirt over it. Lance didn't look too shabby either in his black pants and electric blue sleeveless shirt. "Just you two guys come?" Dee asked as they approached the house. "Yeah, we tried to convince Chris to come, but he said he'd be 'odd man out'," Lance explained. "And we managed to talk Lonnie or Todd out of coming with us." Dee held the door open for them as they came into the house. "Do they go EVERYWHERE with you guys?" "Almost…thank goodness we can go to the bathroom by ourselves though," Lance said smiling. Joey was looking around the large great room, taking in the big screen TV, state-of-the-art stereo system and huge leather sectional couch that curved around the room. "This is a great house. Who's custom Dodge Durango out in the garage?" he asked Dee. "It's my dad's," she answered quickly. Then added, "It WAS my dad's" and looked away. "It's mine," she mumbled as she left the room, walked through the dining nook and out to the deck overlooking her backyard. Joey looked confused. "What was that all about?" "I could tell you, Joey, but I think you should hear it from Dee," Melanie said. Dee was standing at the railing on the edge of the deck when she felt arms enfold her from behind. She jumped and her knees felt weak. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Joey said as he started to remove his arms from around her. "No, " Dee said, putting her hands on Joey's forearms and pulling him back. "I could use a hug." Joey didn't need any more of an invitation and took a step closer and pulled Dee into his chest and leaned his chin on the top of her head. "I'm sorry. I'm tired after my late night last night and working today. I tend to overreact and get emotional." "Want to talk about it?" Joey asked in just barely over a whisper. "No…yes…I don't know." "Okayyyyyyyyyyy," Joey said hugging his arms tighter around her shoulders. "It's just that I don't know if I should burden a complete stranger with my problems." Joey sighed. He released his arms and turned Dee around to face him. "First of all, I hope you don't consider me a complete stranger and second, it wouldn't be a burden if you need someone to talk to. I'm a good listener. You learn that real quick after sharing close quarters with your four best friends for months at a time." Dee smiled and Joey returned the smile and leaned his forehead against hers. Dee didn't know if she could tell him the story if she had to look into those beautiful brown eyes, so she took his hand and led him to the glider and sat down. Joey took her hand in his and laid it on his lap. "I'm all ears." Dee sighed deeply. "Last summer, my parents and Paul were going up to their cottage…." "Paul?" Joey interrupted. "I guess I need to back up. You know the Dodge Durango that you mentioned? It was my dad's. He owned a Dodge dealership in Milwaukee and Paul was his Sales Manager. Paul was also my boyfriend, sort of conveniently arranged by my dad, I guess. He wanted to make sure the dealership stayed in the family and with my brother being a lawyer, he chose the next best thing. Paul was older. He was 30 and I was 22 when we started dating." Joey was rubbing the top of her hand with his thumb and Dee was having trouble concentrating on her story. "Anyway, we had planned a week's vacation together…..my mom and dad and Paul and I. They were going up on a Wednesday and my dad and Paul were going to do some painting and other projects around the cottage. I had to work and was going to come up on Friday night. We were also going to borrow my friend's two jetskis but their trailer was getting fixed and wouldn't be ready until Friday. At the last minute, I asked my dad………" Dee's voice began to get thick and she stopped, knowing she was going to cry. Joey put his arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. "Take your time." "I asked my dad if I could use his Durango to haul the trailer. And instead of just taking a vehicle off the lot, my dad decided just to switch cars with me. I had an Intrepid. On the way up to the cottage Wednesday night, a deer came running full tilt out of the woods and across the highway…….." Dee was now crying freely. Joey pulled her into a hug and held her, not saying anything. "The deer went right through the windshield, my dad lost control, went off the road and hit a tree, killing all of them instantly. If he'd had the Durango, they'd still be alive. It was MY fault they were all killed," Dee sobbed. "Oh God, Dee. It wasn't your fault. Things just happen. You had nothing to do with it." Joey's voice was filled with emotion as he tried to soothe Dee. "Well, I've never been able to convince myself. But there's more….." "More?" "When Paul's mother received his belongings from the police that they'd recovered after the crash, she found a velvet box with an engagement ring inside…" "He was going to ask you to marry him?" Dee nodded. "Apparently, he had planned on going out on the jetskis one evening and proposing. At least that's what he'd told his mother. She just didn't realize he'd already bought the ring." "Man……and you've been carrying this around for almost a year?" Dee nodded. "But you know what? It feels better telling someone else about it." "You haven't talked to anyone about it?" "Well, sure. To family and friends. But, being able to tell……..you, for some reason, feels like the burden has been lifted." Joey smiled. "I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to do that." "HEY! Is this sauce supposed to be bubbling all over the stove?" Mel's voice came from the patio doors. "And the buzzer just went off on the stove…something smells wonderful in the oven!" "Oh my god," Dee said, jumping up. "Dinner! It's going to be ruined." Joey sat for a moment, thinking about what he and Dee had just exchanged. He couldn't put a finger on it, but he felt needed. It felt different than the other women he'd met on the tour, and Lord knows, there had been a lot of them. . He felt there was a connection with Dee. It felt good. ******************** Dinner had not been ruined. In fact, it had been a great success. Melanie had made a fresh garden salad while Dee put the shrimp into the Creole sauce and made the rice. Joey and Lance busied themselves looking through Dee's CD's and choosing music to put on during dinner. "Hey, how come there's no NSync in here?" Joey asked, sticking his head around the edge of the CD tower. "Because I don't like those wimpy boy bands!" Dee called out of the kitchen. "Hey, hey…..that's not nice!" Joey pouted. Dee and Mel exchanged smiles. During dinner, the talk was light, with lots of kidding and joking and with just the slightest touch of sexual tension. "Don't tell my mother I said this," Lance said, taking another forkful, "but this Shrimp Creole is better than hers. And this cornbread is awesome." "My gradma's secret recipe." "Everything is great," Joey said. "You can eat just so many sandwiches, McDonald's and dry cereal on the road." He looked at Dee and smiled. "I'm glad you like it. I don't get to cook very much, living alone, but this is one of my specialties." Lance looked around the dining area and into the living room. "So, what are you doing rattling around in a huge house like this all by yourself?" Joey shot him a warning glance, afraid Lance was treading into a sensitive area. Dee saw it and said, "It's okay." She turned to Lance. "This was my brother's house. It's a long story, not sure you'd be interested…." Melanie interrupted, "I took the liberty of explaining things to Lance while you and Joey were out on the deck." She looked warily at Dee, not sure how she'd take it. "Oh good!" Dee sighed. "Saves me some time!" Dee got up and started clearing the table as she continued. "Well, my dad had planned on giving the car dealership to Paul and I once we were married, but seeing as that hadn't happened yet when he died, in his will he left it to my brother, Jim. My parents left their house to me." Dee came and sat down again, and took a minute to collect her thoughts and her emotions to continue. Joey reached over and took her hand. Melanie and Lance exchanged a glance. "There were just too many memories in that house. I couldn't live there. No way, no how. So, my brother asked if I would take his house if he would move into our parents' house. He's married, has two kids and said this house, although it was big, was not as big as my parents' and they'd have more room, plus be closer to his law practice downtown." "What happened with the car dealership then?" Joey asked. "Even though my dad wanted the dealership kept in the family, God knows I know nothing about running a business or selling cars and my brother didn't want to leave his law practice, so he sold it and divided the proceeds between us. I put the money into an annuity and hope I'll never have to use it. It just didn't seem right to go and blow it on things for me…" Dee hesitated again and Joey tightened his grip on her hand. "And it felt like 'blood money' because I felt responsible for their deaths. I just wanted to put it away somewhere where I wouldn't see it, wouldn't know it was there." Glum faces and silence greeted her as she looked up. "Hey, I don't want to ruin the evening. Melanie, how about we take these guys to get a custard at Kiltie's?" Lance and Joey looked quizzical. "Oh, you haven't LIVED until you've tasted Wisconsin homemade custard served at a drive-in while seated in your car!" Melanie told them. "There are places like that still around?" Lance asked. "Wisconsin is in a time-warp, I swear," Melanie laughed. "My car or yours?" she asked Dee. "Can I drive Dee's car?" Joey asked pleadingly as they got up from the table. "Uh oh," Lance mumbled. "Would that be a good thing or a bad thing?" Dee asked eyeing them both up. "Joey likes his cars like he likes his women…" he began as Joey took a few steps toward him. "Ah….never mind." "Sporty and fast? Hot and fast? Sleek and fast?" Melanie offered. Joey turned toward Dee. "I'll kill them later…I'll be careful with your car, I promise." Dee went to her purse, got her keys and threw them to Joey. "C'mon before I change my mind!" On the way to the drive-in, Lance and Joey shared some "on-the-road" stories with Mel and Dee, who were in stitches. "Hey, remember the time we discovered those 2 naked girls in our hotelroom, Joey?" Lance reminisced. "You must've loved that!" Dee kidded. "Actually," Joey confided, "they were ugly as sin and obviously underage, so we got out as fast as we could and found Lonnie to shag them out. I guess he put the fear of God into them, threatening to take them to their parents just the way they were…" Melanie and Dee roared. "Never a dull moment, huh?" "Tell me more about the 'be gentle with me' thing. Did someone really throw up on you?" Joey asked, referring to what Dee had said to him in the ER the day before. "I'm really sorry about that. I shouldn't have teased you like that in front of the others," Dee apologized. "We loved it," piped up Lance from the backseat. "It's great when a woman can put Joey in his place." "Seriously, "Joey said, "Did that really happen?" "More than once. But the time that sticks in my mind is when the guy who, just after I got the needle in his vein, announces 'I'm going to be sick' and sits up in bed and lets me have it right down the front of my uniform." Everyone appropriately responded with a chorus of "Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!" "And guys really faint?" "The bigger they are, the more likely. I had this 6 and a half foot 300 pound guy pass out while I was drawing his blood. He was sitting on a chair next to his bed and he started sliding out and all I could do was try to prop him up with my little 5 foot 5 inch frame and scream for help." More stories were exchanged and laughs and giggles shared. Joey and Lance appreciated the high school girls and their short carhop uniforms and flirted outrageously when they served them the ice cream. Mel and Dee about died laughing when they heard the girls talking as they took their tray back to the counter. "The guy in that car looks exactly like Lance from NSync!" "Hey! They don't recognize me!" Joey whined. "Maybe if you weren't so butt-ugly and could dance they would!" Lance teased. Joey reached over his head behind him and got hold of some of Lance's hair. "What'd you say, Mr. Hollywood?" "Boys, boys, boys……." Dee pointed to the girls starting to approach the car, peering inside. Joey took the hint and started the car and put it in reverse and peeled out of the parking lot. Dee covered her eyes and screamed. "I warned you…" Lance laughed from the backseat. Soon they were out on the highway, heading back to Dee's house. "Should we get you guys back to your hotel? I imagine you want to go partying tonight." "No plans tonight. Actually, that gets old after awhile, " Joey said looking at Dee briefly. "This is great spending time with real people…not just fans and tour personnel and people who want something from you." He reached over and took her hand. Dee felt herself blushing and glanced into the backseat. Lance and Melanie were huddled together in the corner, his arm around her, their fingers intertwined. In her wildest dreams, Dee or Melanie never would've expected anything like this to happen to them. Two ordinary, hard-working, Midwestern girls and two of the hottest singers in the world. Dee giggled to herself. "What?" Joey asked. "Nothing!" Dee was horrified that he'd heard her and she was not about to share her thoughts. "You guys want to go back to my place and watch a movie…or do you want to get back to the hotel?" Dee asked. There was her alter ego again! "A movie sounds great!" Lance said. And Joey agreed. ********************* When they got back to Dee's house, Lance made a quick call to the hotel to let their secuirty guards know where they were and not to "wait up" for them. Melanie and Dee exchanged a look and Dee shrugged her shoulders. After much discussion about what movie to watch, the girls wanting to watch a "chick flick" and the guys wanting to watch "blood and guts" they finally ended up with "Silence of the Lambs" even though both girls protested that it was too scary. The guys just smiled and each took a corner of the huge leather sectional couch, grabbing the girls' hand and pulling them down next to them. Dee felt like a giddy teenager again, butterflies floating in her stomach and her palms sweaty. She really hadn't felt this way in a long time and she didn't think she had ever felt this way with Paul. Again, she felt guilty and pushed those thoughts out of her mind. "This has got to be the scariest movie I've ever seen," Melanie said. "It really creeps me out!." Lance hugged her close and whispered, "You'll be safe with me." "Don't believe him, Mel," Joey joked. "He's dangerous." Lance picked up the nearest couch pillow and tossed it at Joey. Joey threw his legs up on the couch and pulled Dee up next to him, so that they were cuddled together, his arms wrapped around her. She fit so perfectly in his arms and was so comfortable. She looked up at him and smiled. Those eyes again. He returned the smile and bent and kissed her lightly on the lips before returning his eyes to the movie. It had been a long day after a short night for Dee. The last thing she remembered before drifting warmly off to sleep in Joey Fatone's arms was…………… Chapter Nine Home |