It was ten minutes to one when I pulled into the rest area. I was a little nervous, but seeing as the lot was empty except for a couple of busses on the other side of the lot, I wasn’t too concerned. I turned of the engine and hopped out of my truck, locking the door behind me. I slipped a hat on and jogged across the small patch of grass towards the coffee machine. In the distance I could hear someone counting and then heard,

“Ready or not, here I come.”

Awfully late for hide-and-seek I thought, wondering why there were kids in the rest area at this hour, I shrugged and continued toward the vending area. I heard a noise behind me and before I knew it someone had grabbed me around the waist and thrown me onto the ground.

“Gotcha!!”

I screamed and punched the face in front of mine. Whoever it was rolled off of me grabbing his eye.

“What the hell did you do that for?” He asked looking up at me, when he saw me his eyes got wide. “I am so sorry I thought you were one of my friends, with the hat on, and its dark...” I stopped backing away and looked at him, he had an extremely familiar face, though I didn’t know why, and he truly looked sorry.

“Are you ok?”? I asked kneeling down next to him

“I’m fine, I’m just really sorry for scaring you like that, but at least you know that you can defend yourself.” He said with a small chuckle

“Yeah, that wasn’t too bad was it?” I said rubbing my now sore hand “I’m Tiffany by the way.

“I’m Chris; it’s very nice to meet you.”

“Chris?? Are you ok...we heard the scream, what.....” Four other guys came running up and stopped when they saw Chris still holding his eye, and me rubbing my hand.

“What happened here?” One of them asked.

“Just a huge misunderstanding” Chris said standing. I stood as well and dusted myself off.

“Tiffany, is that you?” I looked up and saw my childhood friend Joey grinning at me.

“Joey? Oh wow!! How are you...what are you doing here.....??” I jumped into his arms and he swung me around hugging me tightly.

“We stopped for a little break; we are on our way to Santa Barbara.”

“What are you going there for?” I asked as he set me on the ground.

“Doing a concert, then vacation city.” He said laughing.

“Concert? Are you guys a band? That is so great that you got what you wanted Jojo.” I clamped my hand over my mouth as soon as I’d said it and Joey turned about 10 shades of red. The other guys started cracking up.

“Jojo?” Chris said laughing. “That is one I haven’t heard before.”

“And one I’d better never hear come out of your mouth Chris” Joey said giving his best mock glare. “So Tiff where are you headed?”

“Vacation myself, I have a ranch north of Santa Barbara that is in need of attention, and a body that is in need of rest. I’ve been working for 2 years straight now and I’m burnt out, so I’m going to take some time off and do a whole lot of nothing.” One of the guys jabbed Joey in the ribs with his elbow and cleared his throat looking at me.

“I’m sorry you guys, this is Tiffany, we grew up together, Tiff this is Lance, Justin, JC, and you already seem to know Chris.” I shook hands with everyone and said hello, when I tried to shake Chris’ hand he backed away putting his hands in front of his face laughing,

“Aw poor Chris, did I hurt you?” Everyone was cracking up. When we told them the story about what had happened they laughed even harder.

“So how long will you be in Santa Barbara?”

“Not sure yet, however long we can stand the mass hysteria I guess.” JC said grinning.

“Well, you guys should come up to the ranch, I would love to have the company, I have plenty of room, and it’s kind of out of the way and secluded.”

“Give me your number and I’ll let you know, sounds like a plan to me though.” Joey said, I reached into my purse and handed him a business card.

“You can reach the cell number anytime, I always have it on.” Joey stuck the card in his back pocket as Justin nudged him a little.

“We’d better hit the road” Justin said looking at me apologetically.

“Yeah I gotta get back on my way too, I have to get some coffee though or I’ll never make it. You guys have a safe trip, and remember you are all always welcome if you want to get away.” I hugged Joey and waved to the other guys and headed back toward the vending area. As I was getting my coffee Chris walked up and stood next to the machine, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry again, I really didn’t know that it was you.”

“Chris it’s ok, its not like you hurt me or anything, I’m really sorry for punching you” I ran my hand softly over his face where I had hit him and he looked at me grinning.

“You have a damn good right hook though girl” he said taking my hand and looking at me.

“You know something you look awfully familiar to me, have we met before?” I asked sipping my coffee.

“I don’t think so, maybe you saw a picture of the band, or a video or something.”

“How big are you guys anyway?”

“We do ok for ourselves, and we love what we do, so how big we are or how big we get doesn’t really matter.” He said softly, looking very serious.

“That’s great to be able to do something that you love, it has to be so fulfilling.”

“Yeah it definitely is, makes me feel good, I know that.” Just at that moment someone called from the bus. “Well I guess I’d better get going, or they’ll leave without me” he said walking away slowly. “Hope that we get to see you again while we are here”

“Me too Chris, have a great trip, tell Joey not to forget to call me”

I jumped back into my truck and got out onto the road again, I had to roll down my windows and blast the radio to stay awake but I made it home and crashed as soon as I got to my room. I woke up the next day at about 8 am and got to work. I called a painting company to take care of the exterior of the house, scheduling them in for the next day luckily. I made quick run into town and picked up some groceries and cleaning supplies. I made a mental note to make a trip to the greenhouse for some new plants next time I came into town. I spent most of the next 3 days cleaning, setting up appointments and overseeing the painting of the house and stables. I called some people I knew and they promised to bring out some horses for me to look over, I really wanted to get the house back into its original state, and the 2 years that I had been away had done some definite damage.

When the painting was done, and the house was clean, and the stables were full. I decided that it was time to do some shopping. I needed new linens, and the house was ready for a new look. I went into Santa Barbara knowing that was where the best shopping was. I had been shopping for about 2 hours when my cell phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey sweetheart it’s dad, how is the vacation going?”

“It’s great, just doing some shopping now, the house really needs some freshening up”

“Well just don’t break the bank, ok?” He said laughing

“Of course not, is everything ok?”

“Well it depends on how you look at it, I need you to do me a favor, and you won’t even have to go far to do it.”

“Why do I think that I’m going to have a little break in my vacation?” I said smiling.

“Cause you must be psychic, I have a group that wants to meet with you, today if possible, to discuss some ideas for a video.”

“Well that sounds ok, where do I need to meet them?”

“In Santa Barbara, they are at the convention center now, if you have the time.”

“That actually works out well, I’m in Santa Barbara now, I’ll head right over there, talk to you soon, love you.”

“Love you too, be careful”

I threw my packages into my truck and headed straight to the convention center. When I walked in I was, of course, stopped by security and then cleared to head into the main concert hall. I could hear some music and singing coming from the other side of the door when I pushed it open, but I was in no way prepared for what I saw when I opened it. The music was fantastic, the dancing was unbelievable, and the singing blew my mind, but the biggest shock was that the 5 guys on stage were Joey, Chris, Justin, Lance, and JC. I couldn’t help but laugh.

I walked slowly up to the stage and Joey saw me first jumping down and hugging me tightly.

“What are you doing here?” He asked kissing me on the forehead.

“My dad said that there was a group here in need of a video, so here I am.”

“Hey Tiffany” Chris said coming over and hugging me lightly.

“Hey Chris, how’s the eye?” I asked looking at his eye and smiling, “It looks like its ok to me.”

The rest of the guys came down and greeted me and we got to work, it took the rest of the day to figure out exactly what they wanted but we got it done and I promised to get to work on some preliminary plans right away.

“Oh Tiff, we can come down next week if that’s still ok with you?”

“That sounds perfect actually, I can’t wait.”

“Um....” Justin said clearing his throat “would it be ok if my girlfriend came along?”

“Of course, if any of you want to bring a girlfriend it is fine with me, I can guarantee you absolute privacy and security.” Everyone nodded and I left to head back home.

The next week I was preparing for the arrival of the guys and I headed down to the stables to check on the horses. As soon as I walked in I could smell the alcohol in the air. My new foreman was slouched in one corner glaring at me.

“What do you want?” He yelled.

“Tony, are you ok? You don’t look so great.” I said walking slowly towards him.

“Stay the hell away from me you bitch!” He yelled pulling himself into a standing position.

“Tony what is wrong with you? Is there something I can do to help?” I reached my hand out and he slapped it away, hard. I grabbed my hand and backed away from him.

“My wife left me, and it’s all your damn fault.” He said approaching me slowly, the look in his eye scaring me more than I can describe.

“I’m so sorry Tony, but it is not my fault.”

“Yes, yes it is, she thought that we were having an affair, and it’s all your fault, you told her that didn’t you?”

“Tony I don’t even know your wife, and I’m sorry if she thought that, but it is still not my fault, or your fault.” Every second he was getting closer, and he was edging me into a corner.

The last thing I remember was his hand poised above his head ready to strike me and then I lost consciousness. When I woke up I was in my bed and there was an ice pack on my face. My head was throbbing and I could hardly sit up because of the pain.

“Don’t try to sit up, just relax” I heard a soft whisper from behind me and turned to see Chris sitting on the edge of my bed.

“What happened? How did I get here? When did you get here? Where is everyone else?”

“Whoa, Whoa slow down, one thing at a time. You were beaten up a little, we carried you up here, we got here about an hour ago, and they are downstairs. Joey is talking to the doctor, he just finished checking you over, he said that other than being a little sore that you are going to be fine.” Chris was running his hand through my hair and smiling softly at me. “You sure scared us, we pulled up in the bus and heard you screaming from the stables, next thing we knew some guy was running like hell out of there.”

“Tony...where did he go?” I said flinching at the memory.

“Lonnie, our bodyguard got him, and the police have taken him into custody, he told them everything so they said they probably won’t even need to talk to you.”

“What a mess this is huh?” I said trying to smile but crying instead.

“Tiff? Are you awake?” It was Joey in the doorway looking more concerned than I’ve ever seen him.

“Yeah hon I’m awake, and I’m so glad you guys are here. I’m so glad you got here when you did.” He sat down on the other side of me and took my hand.

“Me too little one, you scared us all pretty bad, do you feel up to seeing the other guys? It would really make them feel better to know that you are ok.”

“Of course, can I get out of bed?”

“You can if you feel up to it, come one Chris and I will help you“

They helped me out of bed, which was a much bigger effort than I thought it would be. I walked slowly down the stairs and saw all of the guys sitting with their heads in their hands.

“Hey guys, I’m so glad you made it over.” I said softly and they all looked up shocked.

“Tiffany, we are so glad you are ok.” They said coming over and hugging me gingerly.

“Of course I’m ok, if I can knock the hell out of Chris, then I can take a little knocking around myself.” The guys laughed softly and Chris blushed. Just at that moment the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it” I said heading towards the door slowly. When I pulled it open Britney, an old friend of mine was standing on the other side.

“Britney?!?” I exclaimed hugging her lightly and flinching a little when she hugged me back.

“Tiff how are you? What are you doing here?”

“I live here, this is my house, what are you doing here?” I said laughing.

“Ok now I’m confused, my boyfriend said to meet him here, and this is the address he gave me.”

“Well I have a few boys in here and they did mention inviting girlfriends up for the week, so maybe you should try your luck with one of them,”

We laughed and walked into the living room, where Justin’s eyes lit up immediately and he ran to hug Britney. She of course asked me what had happened and was really concerned when I told her. But we had a good afternoon despite all of the drama.

That night after everyone had gone to bed I was sitting in bed watching TV when there was a light tap on my door.

“Come in.” I called softly and smiled when Chris poked his head in.

“Fell like some company?” he asked looking hopeful

“If you like Leno and Conan then you can come in” I said laughing.

“A girl after my own heart.” He said flopping down onto the bed and resting his head in my lap.

We sat like that for a long time, laughing and joking. Around 1 Chris dozed off and I started running my fingers through his hair. I marveled at the softness of it and how soft his face was when he was sleeping. I laid back and fell asleep myself before too long, my fingers still entwined in his hair. I was woken up by soft laughing around 8 in the morning. I turned to see JC, Justin, and Britney standing in my doorway.

“Well isn’t this sweet?” Justin said grinning. I realized that Chris was still sleeping and my hand still rested on his head. I smiled softly and put a finger to my lips making sure that they didn‘t wake him.

“What is so damn funny? Some people are trying to.....what the hell is going on here?” Joey appeared in my doorway in his tee shirt and boxers and was instantly upset. Before I could say anything he took off down the stairs.

“ Damnit, will someone please go and find him?” I shook Chris lightly amazed that he had slept through all of that. He looked up at me groggily and smiled softly.

“Sleep well?” He asked, sitting up and stretching.

“Extremely well, until a few minutes ago, I have to go find Joey, stay here ok?” He nodded looking at me confused.

“Should I stay right here, or can I shower and change?” He said grinning.

“Smart ass, I meant stay around the house.”

I jumped up and quickly changed my clothes, running downstairs. Everyone was sitting in the living room sipping coffee.

“Where’s Joey?”

“He took off in your car, said he would be back later.”

“What the hell was wrong with him?” I asked pouring myself and Chris coffee.

“He was either jealous or just being protective, I’ve never seen that look before though.” JC said coming over to get more coffee.

“Protective of what? Chris and I fell asleep watching TV, its not like the door was locked or we were naked or something.”

“Damn, you mean we could have been naked?” Chris asked coming down the stairs and taking the cup of coffee that I offered him.

“You are being quite the smart ass today mister, gonna get yourself into more trouble than you could ever wish for.” I said laughing.

We all sat and talked for a while, trying to figure out where Joey might have gone. He called once to let us know that he was ok, which was nice and quite a relief. We decided to keep busy and hope that when he got back everything would be ok. Chris and I decided to go for a ride on the horses. Justin and Britney went for a swim, and Lance and JC borrowed a car to pick up their girlfriends at the airport.

“Wow its beautiful up here.” Chris sighed when we reached the top of one of the hills surrounding the house.

“Yeah this is my favorite place to be, I forgot how much I missed this place. I may never go back to work again...after I finish your video of course.” I said smiling.

“I know that if it was mine I would never leave. It’s so peaceful and out of the way. No fans screaming every time you walk by, no bodyguards telling you where you can and cannot go. Just you and me, we can do whatever we want whenever we want, this is so amazing.” He looked over at me a blushed slightly. “I’m sorry I tend to ramble on, just tell me to shut up whenever you can’t stand it.”

“No, believe me, I can ramble with the best of them.”

We jumped off of the horses and walked for a bit, taking in all of the beauty that surrounded us. After a while we sat under one of the trees, I rested my head in his lap and closed my eyes, wanting to remember every second of this day.

“Why are you staring at me?” I asked opening my eyes and blushing, the look on his face was so intent that I didn’t know what to think.

“I’m just so damn glad I met you, if you hadn’t stopped for coffee that night we may have never met, you may have never punched me, never been reunited with Joey. By the way, please never do that again.”

“What, punch you?” I said giggling.

“No, silly, please never stop that late at night by yourself again, that was an extremely dangerous thing to do, what if we hadn’t been there, and some crazy person had?”

“Don‘t worry I won’t I don’t think I could handle being tackled like that again.” I started to laugh but when I saw the worry cross his face I stopped. “Chris you are really worried aren’t you. I didn’t mean to make a joke of it, I promise, I won’t ever stop like that again, Okay?”

“Thank you,” he said, a big sigh of relief escaping him.

“I don’t think anyone has ever been so concerned about me before, thank you” I said running my hand down his arm, that was now wrapped around my waist. After a few minutes we decided we had better head back to the house. Before I could sit up Chris ran his hand softly down my cheek, smiling at me, he slowly leaned over and kissed me, gently at first, then more passionately.

“Chris, we should stop.” I said pulling away from him slowly.

“I’m sorry, I thought it would be ok, I didn’t mean to.....” He trailed off and I put my hand gently on his lips.

“No, I did want you to kiss me, I just didn’t expect so much electricity, this is something that could get very out of hand, very quickly.” He smiled softly and took my hand.

“Well I’m at least glad to know that I’m not the only one who felt that.”

“I think that was probably felt in China my dear, that was amazing, I may have to have a doctor on call next time, just to make sure my heart doesn’t beat out of my chest.”

We rode quickly back to the house and we were relieved to see that Joey was back. We washed up in the barn and went up to the house, when we walked in everyone looked up, and no one looked happy.

“Tiff, Joey is out back and he wants to talk to you.” I shrugged and headed outside. I found him in the guest house playing pool.

“Hey Joey, everything ok?” He looked up at me and I almost saw a smile creep onto his face, but he hid it quickly and motioned for me to come and sit by him.

“Tiff, I’m sorry about this morning, I’m just worried about you and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Hurt? Joey all we did was watch some TV, it was no big deal, really.”

“I can tell you like him Tiff, I’ve seen that look before.” He said taking one of my hands and putting it between his. “ I just care about you so much, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Joey, I’m a big girl and it’s nice of you to be concerned, but really it’ll be ok.” I couldn’t quite read the look on his face but I knew it wasn’t a happy look.

“Tiff, don’t you understand, we are on the road all the time, we barely have time for our families, let alone girlfriends.”

“Well Justin and Britney seem to be ok, and JC and Lance went to pick up girlfriends today. So if they can do it why can’t Chris and I do it?” I was starting to get angry and Joey just shook his head and looked down at his watch.

“Damn, I need to get changed, Kelly will be here any minute.” He stated getting up and heading for the door. I grabbed his arm and turned him to face me.

“Kelly? Is that your girlfriend Joey? Why is it ok for you to have a girlfriend and not Chris? If Kelly can put up with all the traveling then why can’t I?” I stormed out of the guest house and it was pouring down rain but I didn’t care. I slammed into the house and Chris Justin and Britney we sitting talking quietly. Chris jumped up as soon as I came in.

“Tiff, you’re crying, what’s wrong, what did he say?” Chris asked coming over to put his arms around me.

“I’m sorry I need to be alone for a while” I said moving away from him, and running out the front door. I headed to the stables and saddled up my favorite horse. I rode through the rain for almost an hour, stopping finally at the hill where Chris and I had been earlier. My ribs were starting to hurt again, and my medicine was wearing off. I slid off of the horse and sat on the wet ground trying to catch my breath and hoping that the pain would ease up on it’s own. I started to shiver and decided that I needed to head back to the house, I held tightly to the horse as I made my way slowly back to the stables. The pain was getting more intense with every step that I took. I made it to the stables and got the horse put away. I was just about to the house when Chris came outside, as soon as he saw me he came running over.

“Tiff, baby what’s wrong?” He said pulling me up by the shoulders.

“I hurt, I need my medication, take me inside please.”

“What the hell happened?” Joey said running over to us when we came into the house.

“I just need to rest, no big deal, can you bring my meds up to me?”

“Sure thing, I’ll be right up, and Tiff? I’m sorry about earlier.”

“Joey not now, please. I cant’ do this right now.” I made it slowly up the stairs and Chris retreated so that I could get some dry clothes on and take a warm bath. I found that I was shaking too badly and hurting too much to get my clothes off and sat down and cried.

“Tiff, what’s wrong?” Joey said coming to kneel down in front of me, handing me some juice and a couple of pills.

“Damnit Joey, I’m so damn cold I can’t get my clothes off. I need to get dry, take a warm shower, but I can’t.”

“Tiff, that’s no big deal, I can help you.”

“No you can’t!” I said looking at him in terror.

“Tiff, I can unbutton your shirt and pants for you, then you can do the rest, no big deal.”

“Well....I guess I don’t have a whole lot of choice.” I said standing, Joey unbuttoned my blouse and pants, then turned and started me a bath in my whirlpool. He added some bubbles and then turned to leave the room.

“Thank you Joey, I appreciate it. Can you give me a minute to hide under the bubbles then send Chris up?”

“Yeah Tiff, anything you want.” He said heading back down the stairs.

I settled into the bubble bath and had almost dosed off when I heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.” I called.

“Are you decent?” Chris called from the doorway.

“No not really but the bubbles are helping me hide out.” I said laughing.

“Damn, and I was hoping to get lucky.” Chris said coming around the corner.

“Awfully soon to be hoping like that isn’t it?” I said putting a handful of bubbles on his face as he sat on the edge of the tub.

“Tiff, is everything ok with you and Joey?”

“I don’t know, for some reason he seems to think that even though everyone else has a girlfriend that can handle the fame and traveling or whatever, that you and I couldn’t possibly handle it.”

“Can you handle it?” Chris asked taking my hand.

“Chris, I travel just as much if not more than you, didn’t you hear me say that I haven’t been home in two years? I have maybe 2 days off a month. Besides I’m on extended vacation, so when you guys go back on the road I’ll be at your beckon call, if you want me somewhere I’ll be there. I can absolutely handle it.” Chris smiled and kissed my hand.

“How did I get so lucky?” he sighed.

“Well I don’t know but you aren’t going to get so lucky yet, cause I need to get out of this tub.” Chris’ face lit up. “And you, need to get out.” His face fell and we laughed for a while.

After I was dried off I slipped on some flannel pjs and headed downstairs. JC and Lance were back by then with their girlfriends so I was very happy to meet them. Kelly had also arrived and I was equally happy to meet her, although she seemed a little shy. Joey called me into my office before I had a chance to sit down. So I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed in there.

“Tiff, could you sit down please and talk to me?”

“Joey, what do you have to say, cause I am too tired to deal with much.” I sighed slumping into a chair.

“I’m just worried about you, but I’ve thought about it and I think it would be kinda cool to have you around. I can tell Chris really likes you and that you really like him. I just don’t think you realize what this relationship would involve.”

“Joey, Chris and I have talked about this, and we both understand perfectly. I travel too, I work all the time too. I’m a big girl now, you don’t have to be so afraid for me.”

“But Tiff, I will always worry about you, you are like a little sister to me, you always have been. But I also know that you have bad luck with relationships.”

“What?! I can’t believe you would say that to me Mr. flavor of the month.” I stood up and was yelling at this point. “Maybe my relationships never worked because I never had anyone who understood what a demanding job I have, they never understood how important it was to me, or how my job had to come before everything else in my life everything. You should know that better than anyone. Maybe Chris will understand that, maybe he won’t but either way I have found a life long friend, four new lifelong friends. So whatever happens I will have a happier life knowing that I can pick up my phone and someone on the other end will understand what I am going through. If you can’t accept the fact that Chris and I are together then I don’t know what to tell you Joey, I love you and you will always mean the world to me, but you can’t try to control me, no one can.” My body gave out on me at that point and I sat down again racked with sobs. I hated crying in front of people, but even when I was younger I could never hide it from Joey.

“Tiff, please don’t cry, I’m sorry. You are so right, everything that you said is right. I love you little one, nothing could change that. If Chris is the man you want to be with then of course I accept it, I love him like a brother and you couldn’t have picked a better guy.” He hugged me and pulled me down onto his lap in the floor and held me for what felt like hours.

“Ahem. Uh guys, I’m sorry to interrupt but we’re getting kinda hungry out here.” Chris was standing sheepishly in the doorway, hands in pockets.

“I’m sorry I’ll get something started in just a second. Joey could you leave Chris and I alone for a minute?”

“of course.” Joey said standing and leaving the room. As soon as he was gone I threw myself into Chris’ arms.

“Baby, are you ok?” he asked stroking my hair.

“Yeah I am, I had forgotten how overprotective he is.” I said sniffling and laughing.

“But everything is ok with you two right?”:

“Of course it is, everything is fine.” I wrapped my arms around Chris’ neck and he pulled me close and kissed me softly on the lips.

“God this is so amazing” He whispered.

“I know, lets stay right here forever, I don’t want this feeling to go away.”

“Well not to sound like a jerk or anything but being away from each other will be kinda cool.”

“What...?” I tried to protest but Chris put his finger over my lips.

“No baby, all I mean is, we can never get old, every time we see each other it will be so exciting.”

“You have a point there.” I said pulling him back down for a more passionate kiss.

“Damn you two, we are hungry are you done yet?” Justin whined from the door.

“Yes sir, I’ll get right on that.” I said giving him a mock salute.

I walked into the kitchen to find Joey hard at work on a lasagna. We had made lasagna together a lot as kids so I stepped right in, it was like we had never stopped cooking together. We laughed and danced, and everyone thought we were insane. It was one of the greatest nights of my life.

I got into bed at around 12:30 and hadn’t been there long when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in” I said, already giggling.

“Time for Conan, thought that maybe we could make this ritual?” Chris said coming into the room.

“Sounds like a great idea” I said as he flopped onto my lap, same as the night before.

After the show had been on for a few minutes I grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. Chris looked up at me puzzled and then his eyes lit up. He climbed up next to me in the bed and started softly stroking my cheek. We were both very obviously nervous but it didn’t take long for us to get comfortable with each other. He was such a wonderful kisser and the way it made me feel was so amazing. We explored each other’s bodies slowly and gently. He didn’t push me too far and it was such a romantic night. We fell asleep in each others arms just as the sun was coming up. Although we didn’t go all the way, didn’t even consider it really, he went all the way in capturing my heart.

I felt like I had just fallen asleep when the phone rang.

“hello?” I whispered groggily.

“Hello, may I speak with Tiffany Stump please?”

“Speaking, who’s calling please.”

“Ma’am this is Charles from TRA airlines, I’m afraid we have some bad news for you.”

“What?” I screamed jolting Chris from sleep. “What do you mean bad news? What’s happened?”

“There was an accident earlier, one of our planes crashed and although the bodies have yet to be recovered, we have your father’s boarding pass. As soon as he is recovered we will need to you come and identify the body.”

“Identify the body? Are you insane? My father is not dead, he can’t be.” By this time everyone had heard me screaming and were in my room.

“Ma’am I cannot confirm or deny that your father is dead at this point, we will be sure to call you back as soon as we’ve recovered...”

“If you say recovered the body one more time I’ll scream, you call me back when you can confirm or deny something ok?” With that I slammed the phone down and ran downstairs to turn on CNN. They were, of course, doing full live coverage of the accident.

“Tiff, what happened?” Joey and Chris said racing down the stairs. I couldn’t even speak I just pointed to the TV and cried. Chris came over and pulled me up out of the chair, sat down and pulled me into his lap, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

“Baby it’s gonna be ok, we are all here for you, everything is going to be fine.” All I could do was nod and stare blankly at the television.

I watched for almost an hour before I realized that I needed to call Marlene, my dads fiance. I got up and wandered into my office looking for my address book. I couldn’t even focus on my desk though and ended up throwing my head onto the desk in frustration.

“Tiff, what do you need, what are you looking for?” JC asked from the door.

“My...address...book” I stuttered between sobs.

“Ok no big deal I can find it for you.” JC went through my desk until he found it, then led me back to the living room. Everyone was glued to the television. “Who do you need to call, I will look up the number for you.”

“Marlene...no Jordan Knight, I need to call Jordan, Marlene can‘t be alone when she hears.”

JC looked up the number for me and handed me the book. When my hands shook too badly to dial he dialed for me and handed me the phone. Chris came up and started rubbing my shoulders for me.

“Hello?”

“Jordan?”

“Yeah, who‘s this?”

“It‘s Tiff...” I started sobbing and had a hard time even talking to him. “J I have some bad news, and I need to you get to your mom right away.”

“Tiff what is going on? Why are you crying?”

“J it‘s dad...there‘s been a....plane accident, they think he was on the flight.”

“Oh no, Tiff are you ok? Are you alone?”

“No J, I‘m not alone, just get to your mom ok? She needs you.”

“Ill go there right now, I love you girl and I‘ll call you later.”

“Love you too, bye“ I set the phone down and hung my head. “I need coffee....how am I going to get through this, what will I do without my dad?”

“Baby we‘re here for you, just tell us what you need.” Chris said handing me some coffee. I stared at the cup and tried to drink it, but wanted to throw up instead. “Why don’t you try to lay down for a while...”

“No, I don’t want to lay down, I want to talk to my father, to know that he is ok.” I was sobbing uncontrollably and Chris held me rocking me slowly.

A few hours later I was sitting with Chris and Joey on the couch watching CNN when there was a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it.” JC said jumping up. We could hear him talking softly in the entry and when I looked up I was shocked to see Donnie standing in my living room.

“Donnie!!” I cried jumping into his arms and crying even harder. “What are you doing here?”

“Jordan called and told me, I’m so sorry baby, he was afraid you were alone and since I was in Santa Barbara I decided I’d come by and check on you, I’m glad you aren’t alone.”

He sat me down and I rejoined Chris and Joey on the couch. Everyone was introduced and we again concentrated on the television. I sat like this most of the day, they guys were in and out, each taking a turn to sit with me. They forced me to eat around 8 pm, and a threw it all up. Donnie left and around 11 and everyone else went to bed, leaving Chris and I on the couch, he stayed right by me all evening, massaging my shoulders and rubbing my head. I dosed off at around midnight and when I woke up I thought that I was dreaming. My father was on the television talking to a reporter. I jumped up and down screaming and within a few seconds everyone had dashed down the stairs to see what was wrong.

“Tiff, what is it..... oh my god.” Joey said as he saw my dad on the TV.

“Tell me Mr. Stump, how did you avoid being on this flight that you were scheduled for?”

“Well I was on the plane seated and ready to go, when I realized that I had forgotten to pick up a snow globe for my daughter, she is an avid collector. I ran off the plane to the gift shop and there were so many people there that by the time I got back the plane had taken off without me.”

“Wow that is an amazing story, I’m sure this will be her most treasured globe yet.” The reporter said smiling. The phone rang almost instantly after that and it was Marlene, we cried and laughed together and hung up a few minutes later.

I hugged everyone and thanked them for being so supportive and then sent them off to bed. I pulled Chris up the stairs with me and we curled up in each others arms and slept more peacefully than either of us had in a really long time. The next morning we were woken by the telephone ringing.

“Hello?”

“Hey baby, it’s dad.”

“Dad? Oh dad I’m so glad to hear your voice, I love you, I’m so glad that you are ok.” I said crying all over again. Chris woke up and started rubbing my back.

“Baby, I’m fine, I can’t talk long though. I just wanted to tell you I love you, and I’ll send your new snow globe out as soon as I get a chance.” He said chuckling softly.

“I think I’ll have it bronzed.” I said laughing. Talk to you soon, Love you.”

“Bye bye, love you too.”

We hung up and I turned to Chris. “Morning, sexy.” I said running my hands down his arms.

“Sexy huh?” He said smiling mischievously and kissing my neck. He had just about turned my entire body to Jell-O when someone knocked on the door. “Damn.” he said rolling away from me.

“Come in.”

“Hey we are all going to breakfast, just wanted to see if you would like to join us?” Joey said grinning. “But from the looks of things you probably want to stay right where you are.”

“You are so smart Joe, now go away, and bring us something to eat.”

“Who says we’re coming back any time soon?” He said laughing and walking out the door.

“A whole day for just us, what do you want to do?” Chris asked nuzzling my ear.

“Well if you keep that up, we are going to spend the day in bed.” I said moving away from him slightly.

“And that is bad because...?” He asked sliding his hand up and down my leg.

“Because, I’m not ready for that, because I’m a.....never mind, it’s too soon.”

“You’re a what babe?”

“Nothing, don’t worry, we can talk about it another time ok?”

“You know that you can talk to me right?”

“Yeah, I’m just not ready to tell you this yet, Joey doesn’t even know.”

“Wow, then it must be huge.”

“It is, or was, still is, but.....oh never mind. Come over here and lay by me.”

We did spend most of the morning in bed, watching TV, talking, reading. It was all very domestic feeling. Every so often I would put down my book and lean over to kiss Chris’ neck or just lay my head on his chest. Around noon we got out of bed and dug around the kitchen looking for something to eat. Later that day as we were sitting by the pool the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Tiff? It’s me Carol.”

“Hey girl, how are you?”

“I’m ok, how about you?”

“I’m doing good, thanks.”

“I thought I saw your dad on TV earlier and I wanted to make sure everything was ok.”

“Yeah everything is great.” I proceeded to tell her the story and she was crying by the time I was done. “The only consolation of the whole thing was that I knew he would be with Greg if something had happened.” I started to cry at this point and walked away from Chris a little. “It just still hurts so much you know?”

“I know, everyday I know. You need to come see me, I miss having you around.”

“I know I do, how are mom and dad doing by the way?”

“They are good, they miss you too, they keep asking me if you’ve met anyone.” At that I had to laugh through my tears.

“Met anyone? Damn they just don’t want me to waste anytime do they.”

“Tiff, it’s been two years now.”

“Oh my goodness, two years tomorrow.” I cried fresh tears then and Carol joined me. “It feels like just yesterday....”

“Please don’t go there, I want you to stop this and get out and meet someone.” I sat back down next to Chris and he smiled in my direction.

“What if I told you that I already met someone.”

“Tiff?? Really, who?? Who is he?? Can I come and meet him??” She was laughing outright by now, and more excited than I’d heard her in a long time.

“Whoa slow down, I just met him a couple of weeks ago myself, I don’t think I should subject him to you yet.” I said giggling, Chris looked at me confused and grinned.

“That was mean, I think I may drive up there tomorrow, see what you are up to.”

“Don’t you dare, I do not want to see you tomorrow, of all days, please not tomorrow.” I was serious and on the verge of tears again.

“I’m sorry Tiff, I wasn’t thinking.” I could hear the tears in her voice as she apologized.

“Don’t be sorry, I do want to see you though, come up when you can, I took some time off, so I’ll be in and out. I need to get up to see your mom and dad too, they probably think I‘m terrible, It’s just so hard to look at them you know?”

“I know Tiff, but when you are ready we will be here, I’ve gotta get going though, I’ll talk to you later ok?”

“Ok, talk to ya soon, Love you.”

“Love you too. Bye.”

“Who was that?” Chris said as I put the phone down.

“Just an old friend.” I said vaguely.

“Why were you crying?” He asked sitting up on his lounge chair.

“Just reliving some painful memories.” I said looking away. He took my cue and dropped the subject.

When everyone got back that evening we decided to barbecue and play in the pool a little. We had a wonderful time, even though Joey threw me into the pool before I got my swimsuit on. While he and Chris stood at the edge of the pool laughing at me, Lance came up and pushed both of them in. It was a blast.

The next morning I got up early and put on a nice dress, I fixed my hair and took extra time with my makeup. I had just poured myself a cup of coffee when JC came downstairs.

“Wow, you look nice, what are you up to today?” He asked pouring himself some coffee.

“Thank you, I just have to go visit an old friend.” I said staring down into my cup.

“You don’t seem to excited about it, is everything ok?”

“Yeah everything is fine, it’s just always a stressful, difficult visit, you know?”

“Then why do you go?”

“Because I feel like I have to, I don’t want them to think I’ve forgotten them, to think that they are alone.”

“Why don’t they come and see you here?”

“They do, almost everyday.” I said, tears filling my eyes.

“I don’t think I quite understand.” He said putting his arm around my shoulders.

“Don’t understand what?” Chris asked coming down the stairs with Joey in tow. “You look great today sweetheart, where are you headed?”

“Out, I’ll be back later ok?” I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, grabbed my purse, keys and sweater and headed out the door. I was in my car before I let myself break down.

“That was weird.” Joey said after I’d left. “What was wrong with her J.”

“I don’t know, she said she had to go and visit a friend and she didn’t really seem like she wanted to go. She looked close to tears actually.”

“You don’t think she is in some sort of trouble do you?” Chris asked looking worried.

“I wish I knew, but something definitely wasn’t right.”

“Joe do you think we should...?” Chris started to ask as Joey held up the keys to one of the cars.

“Way ahead of you man, let’s go.” JC scribbled a quick note and they flew out to the car. They actually weren’t far behind me but they held back so that I wouldn’t notice them.

I pulled into the cemetery and was thankful to be the only one there. I stopped beside the now familiar oak tree and slowly climbed out. I knelt near the headstone wiping away the leaves and stray grass before placing the flowers in the vase.

“Why did you have to leave me? I am so lonely, and I miss you more than you could possibly know. You were the world to me, my air, my breath, my rain, my sun. And you took all of that away. I know that we have been over this before, but why did you have to go out that night? Why didn’t I just go get the ice cream my self, why didn’t you tell me no? I can feel you in the house sometimes, I can smell you as you walk by me, and I know that you are there. Are you taking good care of the baby? Does he look like you? I hope that he got your love for life, tell him mommy loves him, tell him I’m sorry for letting him go.” Suddenly there was a hand on my shoulder and I looked up to see Joey standing over me tears flowing freely. “Joey what are you doing here?”

“We followed you Tiff, we were worried that you were in some kind of trouble.” He said hugging me close. “Would you please tell me what is going on?”

“I can’t not yet, let me clear my head, and I will tell you and Chris what is going on ok?”

“Tiff?” For the first time I heard Chris and it startled me. “I just want to know, are you ok?”

“Chris, I’m fine, and I’m so glad you are here.” I said walking into his arms. “I’m going to head home and clear my head, I’ll meet you guys back there.” I moved away from him and saw JC standing back near the car. I walked over and hugged him.

“I’m sorry Tiff, you were just acting so strange this morning, and I didn’t know what to think.”

“It’s ok, you have all actually done me a huge favor, I have to tell someone some day right?”

I got back into my car and waved to the guys before pulling out of the cemetery. I stopped long enough to put the top on the car down and turn up the radio as loud as it would go. Then I flew off down the freeway. When I reached home I headed in and changed my clothes. When I got back downstairs everyone was in the living room waiting for me.

“Looks like everyone wants to know huh?” I said smiling.

“We can leave if you want.” Lance said starting to stand. I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“I would really like it if all of you were here actually, you have all become like family to me.” I took a deep breath before starting and Chris grabbed my hand. “About three years ago I met a fantastic guy. He was funny, charming, romantic, just about everything a girl could ask for. We fell in love almost instantly and decided that we should get married.” Joey took in a sharp breath and looked at me amazed. “I know Joey, no one knew that I got married, we just went away quietly and did it, the only people who knew were our families. Any way, not long after we got married I got pregnant, we were ecstatic, I cut back on work and really took it easy, Greg took total and complete care of me. When I was about 5 months along I got a terrible craving for ice cream and begged and begged for him to go and get me some. It didn’t take much before he was dressed and out the door. When he was about two miles from town he was hit head on by a drunk driver.” At this point just about everyone in the room was either in tears or near tears. Chris pulled me down into his lap to finish the story. “As soon as I found out what had happened, I broke down, I wanted to die right along with him, I had to be hospitalized and I lost the baby that night. I lost the two most important things in the world to me that day. It was two years ago today. I miss them everyday and wish that they were here with me. That is one of the reasons I haven’t had a break in so long, I was afraid to slow down, afraid the memories would overcome me.” I snuggled closer in to Chris’ chest and he kissed the top of my head, when I looked up he was trying to smile through his tears. “ Everyday I am thankful for the things that I have and for the people around me. Everything happens for a reason, maybe this happened to me so that I could be blessed with all of you, and friendship is one of the biggest blessings if you ask me.”

Everyone was silent for a few minutes, just staring at me, until finally Joey came over to me and pulled me to my feet into a ferocious bear hug.

“Damnit Tiff, why didn’t you call me? I would have been here for you in a heartbeat.”

“I didn’t call anyone. Most people don’t even know that I was ever married.” I said stepping back to look at him and he kissed me softly on the forehead.

“You better call me next time you have big news like that. If I’m not at your next wedding there will be hell to pay.”

“Next wedding? Who says I’ll ever get married again?” I said laughing.

“You will, I know that you will.”

“And by the way speaking of big news. Do you have some to share with me?” I said smiling sweetly.

“What, are you talking about?” He asked looking confused. I looked pointedly at Kelly and she grinned. He looked at me baffled. “How did you know?”

“I’ve been there done that, remember?”

“We were actually planning on telling you tonight. I can’t believe Chris didn’t tell you already.” I turned and looked at Chris and he just grinned.

“Yeah Chris, thanks for sharing. Your best friend is going to be a daddy and you didn’t even tell me.”

“Well, maybe next time one of my best friends is going to be a daddy I’ll tell you.” I had to laugh as all the other guys looked up in mock horror and the girls crossed their legs quickly.

“How are you feeling?” I asked Kelly as she stood and I hugged her.

“Eh, so so. I crave everything in sight, and if I’m not careful I’m going to gain a hundred pounds. “ She said laughing.

“Don’t worry, the first time you feel the baby move it’s all worth it.” I said smiling softly. “You guys are going to be great parents.” I hugged them both and excused myself to go upstairs.

“Sweety are you ok?” Chris asked coming into the room after me.

“I’m ok, that was just so hard, harder than I thought it would be. But I am so happy for them, it is the most exciting thing in the world.” He sat next to me and wrapped his arms around me.

“Thank you so much for telling us that, I was so worried about you.”

“It is just such a relief, that someone knows, it’s like a huge weight has been lifted.”

“Well I hope that you know that you can tell me anything, nothing you could say would make me leave, nothing would make me think less of you.”

“Thank you baby, that means more to me than you could possibly know.” I stood up suddenly and pulled him to his feet. “Let’s go have some fun, everything around here is too serious, and it’s way to early in the day for everyone to be all serious.”

“What did you have in mind?” He said giving me a wicked grin.

“Well, not what you have in mind I can see.” I said, softly hitting him in the arm. “I was thinking we could go to the beach, there is a small beach not far from here. No one ever goes there, it would be perfect.”

“Well, I guess that would be ok. Is it a nude beach?” He laughed ducking my swing and running from the room. I chased him down the stairs and out into the backyard. When I caught up with him he was bending over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

“Are you ok?” I said grinning mischievously.

“Yeah I’ll be fine, just need to catch my breath and cool down for a minute.”

“Oh, well I can help you cool down in a hurry babe.” I laughed pushing him into the pool, he was too quick for me though and he grabbed my arm, pulling me in with him. I came up coughing and laughing. “I can’t believe you just did that!”

“You have a lot to learn then, sweetheart.” He laughed pulling me close to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek before pushing him under water again.

“What are you two doing now?” Joey asked coming outside.

“Who us? Nothing much. Just needed to cool off a little.” I said pulling Chris back up to the surface. “Do you guys want to go to the beach?”

“I’ll go ask everyone, while you two get dried off.” Joey shook his head and laughed as he walked back into the house.