| Chapter 4 Brian made his way up his drive and into his garage. He got out of the car and walked into the house. All the lights were off, "Lee, where are you?" he yelled. "I'm in the kitchen," she answered. Brian walked into the kitchen and was amazed at what he saw. The table was set elegantly for two. It had a beautiful centerpiece and candles were lit on each side of it. "Have a seat," Leighanne said from behind him. Brian jumped. "I'm sorry sweetie, I didn't mean to scare you," she said with a smile. Brian sat down, "Lee, this is really beautiful." "Well, I just wanted to make up for being so upset with you last night," Leighanne said as she sat down across from him. "It's OK Lee, you know that," Brian said. She smiled at him. "So, what are we having?" he asked. "All your favorites," she answered. Brian's face lit up, "All my favorites? Every last one of them?" Leighanne nodded her head and pulled the covers off the dishes on the table. Much to Brian's delight, there in front of him was a small army's worth of his favorite foods. "Lee, you didn't have to do this," he said scooping up some of the mac and cheese in front of him. Leighanne just smiled at him, "Make sure you save room for dessert," she said. "Dessert too?" Brian asked surprised. Leighanne nodded her head. "So far I'm really liking this surprise," Brian said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Howie sat alone in his apartment looking out over the ocean. It was sunset, his most favorite part of the day, but today for some reason he wasn't enjoying the changing colors on the water. He had only been home for a few days, and already he was wishing he was back on the road. At least then he was to busy most of the time to even think about being alone. He'd thought about calling A.J., but remembered that he was with Sarah in California. He thought about going clubbing, but he'd done that almost every night since he'd been home. It was starting to get old. Sure there were a lot of girls there, but none of them really were the �carry an intelligent conversation', �bring home to meet the family' type. He had started to write some, but he noticed that everything he wrote had something to do with being alone and loneliness. Why is it that everyone has someone but me, he thought. Howie reached for the phone, took a deep breath, and dialed the number. It rang a few times, and he was just about to hang up when she answered. "Hello," Tara said. "Hey Tara, it's Howie. How are you?" "Good, how are things in Florida?" Tara asked. "Pretty boring," he answered. "Ohh, yeah it's kinda that way around here too," Tara said. "So, what are you guys up to these days?" Howie asked trying to get up the nerve to ask what he really called about. "Oh you know, same old stuff," Tara answered. "Oh, that bad huh," Howie said with a laugh. Tara giggled, "Yeah I guess you could say that. Howie are you OK, you sound kinda down?" "Yeah, I'm OK, just a little bored that's all," he answered, kicking himself for not remembering that Tara usually picked up on things like that. "Um, I was calling to ask if you guys didn't mind if I came out for a week or so," Howie said, finally getting it out, "I mean I haven't seen your new house yet, and .........." "Howie, we would be glad to have you come out, you don't have to have a reason. You know that," Tara said. "You're sure you don't mind? Ya'll didn't have any plans or anything, cause I don't want to intrude," Howie said. "Howie, if you don't book your flight right now, I'm gonna come and get you," Tara said with a laugh. "OK, OK, we can't have that now can we?" Howie said laughing. "So, when you gonna be here?" Tara asked. "Well, is tomorrow to soon?" he asked. "Of course not, call and let us know what time to pick you up from the airport OK," Tara said. "All right I will, and Tara?" "Yeah." "Thanks." "No problem Howie, see ya tomorrow," Tara said. "K tomorrow then," he said. Howie hung up the phone feeling a little better. He got up and went to his office to get the number to book his flight. Thanks God for them letting me come. If I stay here I'm gonna go nuts, he thought as he dialed the number to the airline. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian finished his dessert and leaned back in the chair. "You want some more?" Leighanne asked. "Oh no, I couldn't eat another bite," he said. "OK then, you want the rest of your surprise?" Leighanne asked. Brian looked at her, "You mean there's more?" he asked. Leighanne smiled and nodded her head. "OK then, bring it on," Brian said. Leighanne got up, walked over to the counter and grabbed a piece of clothe. She walked up to Brian and tied the clothe around Brian's eyes, "OK no peeking," she said as she took his hand and led him out of the kitchen. After they had walked through the house for a minute Brian asked, "Where are you taking me?" "Almost there," Leighanne said. After a minute they stopped, "OK stay right here for a sec," Leighanne said as she left Brian standing in the middle of the room. "Lee, what are you doing?" he asked. "OK, you can take the blindfold off," Leighanne said. Brian reached up and pulled the blindfold from his eyes. He was standing in his bedroom, there were lit candles everywhere, and rose pedals all over the floor and bed. Leighanne was sitting on the edge of the bed looking at him. He looked at her a little confused, then he realized what the rest of his surprise was. Brian walked over and sat down next to Leighanne, "You didn't have to do this," he whispered. "I wanted to," she said as she leaned in and kissed him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hey, who was on the phone?" Nick asked as he walked into the living room. Tara was sitting on the couch, "It was Howie," she answered, "He's gonna come stay with us for a while." "Really? Cool," Nick said, "When's he coming?" "He'll be here tomorrow sometime," Tara said. Nick looked at her with concern in his eyes, "Is something wrong?" "Well I think he's just lonely, but he didn't say that," Tara said. Nick sat down on the couch and put his arm around Tara. "Yeah, sometimes I forget he's the only one of us that doesn't really have anyone. I mean we have each other, Bri and Lee, Kev and Kris, and A.J. and Sarah, I guess he probably does feel left out sometimes," Nick said. Nick looked at Tara with excitement in his eyes, "Hey, do we know anyone we can set him up with?" "Nick, those things never work out," Tara said, amused at Nick's solution to the problem. "Well you never know," he said. "We'll see when he gets here," Tara said with a smile. "OK party pooper," Nick said with a smile, "You wanna watch a movie or something?" "Naw, I think I'm gonna go to bed, I didn't sleep much last night," Tara said getting up. "Well, do you mind if I come with ya?" Nick asked. Tara smiled and reached out her hand for him to take, and together they went upstairs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leighanne lay in bed watching Brian sleep. She had a restless feeling that she just couldn't get rid of. She still hadn't figured out why she was so angry yesterday. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling. Why am I so restless? What is it that I'm longing for? she asked herself. But she already knew the answer. Things just weren't like they used to be, the newness of her love for Brian had worn off a long time ago. She longed for the days when just one look from him would give her chill bumps. She wanted the excitement back in her life, and it just wasn't there anymore. God please help me. I don't know why I'm feeling this way. I truly love Brian, but lately I'm wanting more than what we have. Please help me be the wife that he deserves, I don't want to hurt him, but this feeling is getting stronger everyday. Please make it go away. Leighanne wiped away the tears that had surfaced and looked at Brian again. He looked so peaceful, not a care in the world. And not a clue as to how she was feeling. She couldn't tell him, it would break his heart to know that she didn't feel that way anymore. Maybe working on the project would give her time to clear her head, think about what it was that she wanted, and didn't want. She rolled onto her side and clutched her pillow, closed her eyes and drifted to sleep. Chapter 5 |