*This I Promise You* - A fan fiction story by Tammy "Tammtamm" Frederick © Sept. 2000, thetamm@yahoo.com (inspired by the song THIS I PROMISE YOU written by Richard Marx and sung by NSYNC - from their album NO STRINGS ATTACHED, released in 2000)
“You okay?” Joey asked Tara as they sat on the plane, waiting for it to taxi to the gate. They had arrived in Philadelphia on time. Trish and Travis were meeting them, Tiny, and Randy.
“No, I can’t believe this, but I’m scared.” Tara admitted.
“Because you haven’t been back since the shooting?” Joey asked. Tara nodded. Joey wrapped his arms around her. “It’s okay, I’ll be here with you until tomorrow. Once we get you through today, you’ll be all right. You’ll see.” Joey said and kissed her forehead before he sang “Every word I say is true, this I promise you…” He got Tara to smile.
“Do you see them?” Trish asked her husband, Travis, as they watched the flight that Tara and Joey were on exit the plane. Travis was videotaping it all while Trish was anxiously waiting for Tara to come thru the doors.
“Not yet.” Travis laughed. Trish hadn’t been this excited in a long time.
Joey and Tara were one of the first ones off the plane. Tiny was in front of them and Randy was behind them. The people on the plane had pretty much left them alone on the flight up and they were grateful for it. Tiny spotted Trish first and had put a finger to his lips kindly telling her not to bring attention to Joey and Tara. It was then that Trish noticed that Tara had lost some weight, but was looking rested and healthy. Tiny led Joey and Tara over to where Trish was standing.
Everyone greeted each other, retrieved baggage and immediately headed out to the waiting limousine.
“Bad flight?” Trish asked Tara.
“No, just scared.” Tara admitted.
“Don’t be. She’s in New York. She can’t hurt you anymore.” Trish said, taking hold of her friend’s hand. It was cold and clammy. “You weren’t kidding.” Trish was shocked.
“I’ll be okay in a little while.” Tara managed a smile before looking out the window. Trish immediately looked at Joey. He pulled Tara closer to him. He and Tara didn’t know this would be so traumatic for her. Tara was terrified and was shivering. Joey took his coat and put it over her to help her. If she was this bad now, how was she going to survive the rest of the weekend after he left, Joey wondered. They went straight to the meeting with the District Attorney’s office. When they got there, the press was there as well.
“Here we go. Randy, do not leave Tara’s side. Push people out of her way if you have to. Understand?” Joey said. Randy nodded. “Tara, Trish, stay together between me and Travis, and whatever you do, don’t let go of anyone’s hands.” Joey said. “Tiny, let’s go.” Joey held on to Tara’s hand as Tiny led them through the crowd of reporters and into the building. They were only there for an hour. Long enough for a final review of the case, their statements, and an apology letter addressed to Tara, Trish, and Joey. All three declined the letters, they didn’t want them. The DA said that they would keep them on file if ever they changed their minds. They left the DA’s office without making any comments to the media and headed over to Marshall Designs. Tara stood just outside the doorway, afraid to go in. Everything from that day came back to haunt her. The fight with Joey over the phone the night prior, the terror she felt when she heard the initial gunshot and then when she heard the fear in Joey’s voice on the other end of the phone. Everything was passing by so vividly and slowly. She remembered it all as if it just happened.
“Tara?” Joey asked as he noticed her hesitation of going into the office. Trish and Travis were in front of them.
“I can’t go in there, Joey. Everything’s as if it were yesterday.” Tara admitted. She was terrified again. She had that pit in her stomach and felt like she was going to throw up. Trish and Travis turned around to see what was the problem.
“Oh goodness, that’s right, you haven’t been back here since the shooting. How stupid of us to spring this on you.” Joey stated.
“Have a seat and take a few minutes. You have to go back in there or she’s won.” Trish told Tara. She nodded. Travis disappeared into the office and came back out a few minutes later with a glass of water. Joey rubbed her back and she took a few deep breaths.
“How many are in today?” Tara asked, thinking about how much she could handle stress wise.
“We’re at about half staff today.” Trish replied.
“Everyone know I’m coming?” Tara asked.
“Yeah, Beth and I were excited.” Trish admitted.
“If this is too much Tara, just say so.” Joey said.
“No, we need to do this, Joey. I need to. It’s my place of business for goodness sake.” Tara said. She was being stubborn. She took some more water. Trish had kept Tara abreast of how everyone was doing. Only one associate was still out on disability from the shooting incident and that was Tara, to an extent. “Okay, let’s do this.” Tara had put it in her mind to go see everyone and the office again. Joey got in front of her and looked her in the eye.
“If I think it’s too much for you, I will take you out of there. No arguments, okay?” Joey said.
“Ok.” Tara looked back at Joey. “I would appreciate it if you did, because I’m terrified right now.” She admitted.
“You’ll be all right. You’re with me.” Trish said and offered Tara her hand. Trish took it and followed her into the office. Joey and Travis followed them in. Although physically the office did not look like it had any bullet holes in it, Tara could just imagine what the place looked like after Kim had fired a few rounds. Beth came over to Tara and gave her a hug and some tissues.
“Hey you… been too long. Welcome back.” Beth said as they hugged.
“Thanks, Beth. You know me too well.” Tara said as she laughed at what she saw in her hand even though in the back of her mind she could hear the gunshots. Joey placed his hand on her back to let her know that he was right there with her.
“Beth, I don’t believe you’ve met Joey before. Beth Eichlin meet my fiancé, Joey Fatone. Joey, this is Beth Eichlin.” Tara explained.
“Pleased to meet you, Joe.” Beth replied.
“I feel as if we’ve already met with all the times we’ve talked on the phone.” Joey explained as they shook hands.
“I know what you mean.” Beth said.
“What are you all doing here today? The office is usually closed.” Tara asked.
“I told them you’d be coming today. Those that were home wanted to come in and see you so they figured they might as well get some work done.” Trish explained. Tara looked around at all the familiar faces. She held back the tears as she greeted everyone one-on-one and introduced them to Joey. There were only 15 of 33 associates there so they were able to greet everyone fairly quickly and Tara was sure to ask about everyone’s families. The one place she hadn’t been yet was her office. Beth and Trish had kept it as if she never left. Tara had turned around to face everyone.
“Gang… thanks for coming in today. I know that you all came in just to see me and I’m grateful, but I think you all deserve to be home with your families. Please… go on home.” Tara told everyone. She didn’t want everyone to see her break down when she went into her office.
“Are you sure?” Trish asked. Everyone was looking at Tara.
“Yeah, I need some time here in the offices gang. Please understand. I haven’t been back here since the shooting. This isn’t easy on me at all.” She admitted. Everyone obliged with Tara’s request and gathered their belongings as they turned off their computers and turned off their cube lights. Everyone stopped and gave her a hug on their way out though, which helped life her spirits as she kept looking at the door to her office. Beth, Trish, and Trav were about to leave when Tara stopped them.
“Wait, Trish, please I need you to stay…” Tara tried not to sound like she was begging. Trish put her coat down and went over to Tara.
“C’mon Beth, I’ll walk you out.” Travis said. Tara gave them both a smile as they left.
“I’ll be right out here.” Joey said when Tara looked at him. She nodded as she gave him a look that said “I’ll need you”. Trish went into the office and over to her desk. When she sat down in her chair, all the memories of that day came flashing back and the tears flowed.
"I don’t want you to make a special trip home. Those days off were suppose to be for you and the guys to relax somewhere with no distractions and no girlfriends… remember?" Tara said. She heard noises outside her office door. They sounded like gunshots.
"What was that?" Joey asked.
"Gunshots." Tara whispered.
"Get out of there now, Tara! NOW!" Joey yelled into the phone. The only time he yelled at her to date. JC and Lance had been playing on the Sega Dreamcast and stopped what they were doing. Chris and Justin were working out on the treadmills and stopped those just as quick.
"What’s wrong, Joe?" Tara could hear one of the guys ask Joey.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Tara! Answer me… Please" she also heard Joey beg. She hung up the phone and ran over to the front door to her office and locked it. She ran back to her desk, pulled her cell phone out of her purse and dialed 911.
"911 dispatch." A voice said.
"There are gunshots in my office. 1976 Marx Avenue, 3rd floor. My name is Tara Marshall." Tara whispered.
"Ma’am, I’m sending out police and rescue already to that location. Are you alright?" the dispatcher asked.
"I’m locked in my office." Tara replied.
"Is there any way you can see outside your door or is there another exit for you?" the dispatcher asked.
"There is a back door into another office."
"Who’s office is that ma’am."
"John Guza."
"Ma’am I want you to go over to that door right now. There are several police officers on the other side of the door that will take you to safety." Tara tried to listen to the dispatch but heard gunshots on the other side of her main door and then Trish’s voice.
"Tara… Tara… Open up." Trish knocked on the door. Trish had a gun to her head. The gunman really wanted Tara. Tara grabbed her cell phone and purse and went to the other door that connected with another office. When she opened that door, a police officer pulled her through and put a finger to her mouth indicating not to speak. "Tara… everything’s alright. Please open up." Trish said again. Several police officers filed into Tara’s office while two more pulled Tara away from the door and behind them.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Police! Freeze!" Tara heard the police say when they opened the other door. After a few minutes, she heard Trish ask where she was.
"Please, let me go to her?" Tara asked the police officer. Trish came through the other door. Tara ran to her. "Are you alright?" Tara immediately asked Trish, looking her over for any signs that she was harmed.
"I’m alright, but Tara… the shooter… it’s Kim." Trish said. Kim being Joey’s ex-girlfriend. Tara slumped to the floor in disbelief.
Tara replayed the whole incident in her mind over and over. Then she relived the night of Andy’s death and then again flashbacked to the shooting. She wasn’t aware of her surroundings anymore. It was as if she were sleeping and having a nightmare.
“Tara?” Trish looked at Tara. Tara was in a daze and wasn’t snapping out of it. “Joey!” Trish yelled to the outer office. Trish had never seen her that way before. Joey came running into the room. Tara was sitting at the desk with her hands on her blotter calendar and she was focused on a picture of her and Joey that was taken. Joey went up to the desk and put his hands on either side of her face. He looked directly into her eyes. It was as if she wasn’t there.
“Tara, honey… come back to me… listen to me… come on now… snap out of this.” Joey said sternly but softly. “Tara… answer me…” Joey said. He had no response from her at first but he kept at it for a few minutes and knew she was coming back to him when the tears started to flow again. He started singing THIS I PROMISE YOU to her and hoped his voice didn’t show the fear that he felt from getting no response from her.
“Joey?” she finally said after a few more mintues.
“There you are… there’s my woman.” Joey said and moved around to the chair and pulled her into a hug. They both sobbed.
“Please, Joey… get me out of here.” Tara managed to say into his chest. She couldn’t stay in the office a minute longer. It was then that she knew she could never go back there again.
“Trish, could you get the door?” Joey asked. He picked Tara up off the chair and carried her all the way to the car.
“What happened?” Tiny and Travis both asked.
“Just take us to the house. Please.” Joey asked.
“No, I can’t go back there. Please.” Tara looked at Joey. He saw a look of fear in her eyes that must have been there the night that Andy died and the day of the shooting. He would do anything to protect her.
“You got it.”
“We’ll take you back to our house.” Travis suggested. Tara nodded that it was okay.
“Tara, what happened in there?” Joey asked her softly. Tara looked up at Joey.
“I couldn’t handle it. It got so vivid, first the shooting and then the night of Andy’s accident. I couldn’t shake the images. I felt so overwhelmed.” She admitted. She was playing with a tissue as she explained. Joey placed his hand under her chin and tilted her head up so that he was looking into her eyes.
“I am so sorry Tara. I should have put my foot down and not let you go in there alone.”
“Don’t apologize. Neither one of us knew how I’d react, but Joey. I can’t stay here. Too many memories that I can’t handle anymore,” she admitted. She didn’t want to talk about it, but she knew the sooner she did the better they’d both feel about it.
“We don’t have to stay here tonight. We can go right to the airport and go back to Orlando. Just say the word.” Joey said.
“No… we need to be here. I may be afraid and I know I can’t go back to the house Andy and I shared, but there still some things I need to discuss with Trish and I need to do this.” She explained.
“Alright, you’re the boss. Close your eyes and get some rest.” Joey said as he lifted his arm and put it around her shoulders and pulled her to him. She placed her head on his shoulder and chest and closed her eyes. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, Tara. I was really, truly scared.” Joey admitted as she drifted off. He looked over at Trish and Travis and managed a smile. Tiny was up front with the driver and Randy was on phone with the management company.
About an hour later, Joey gently woke up Tara as they pulled up in front of Trish and Travis’s home.
“Hey, we’re here… wake up sunshine.” Joey said. Tara opened her eyes and looked at Joey.
“I’m awake.” She said. She gave him a smile.
“C’mon, we redid the kitchen and put in new carpets. You have got to see my kitchen.” Trish said. She was excited. She had her best friend back. Travis looked at Joey and said “Video games?” Joey nodded. Mindless fun was what he needed for a little while. Joey and Travis disappeared down to the basement where the family room was while Trish showed Tara the changes that were done on the house.
“The kitchen looks fantastic.” Tara said. Trish and Travis had not only remodeled the kitchen but had expanded the house outward to make the kitchen a little bigger.
“Tea?” Trish asked, “I have vanilla-maple.”
“Yum, my favorite.” Tara declared and nodded in agreement. Trish put the tea kettle on. Tara heard some kitten meows coming from a box in the corner of the kitchen. “Trish? When did Lacey have her kittens?” Tara asked. Lacey was a stray that Trish had found outside Tara’s home.
“Almost five or so weeks ago. Go ahead and pick one up. There’s four of them.” Trish said. Tara went over to them. She went for the runt who was quiet and in the corner of the box away from the rest of the pack. Lacey was watching Tara’s every move from her end of the box. She meowed at Tara as if to say “be careful with my precious baby”. Tara offered her hand to Lacey. Lacey sniffed and licked her hand and Tara returned Lacey’s gesture with a few scratches behind Lacey’s ear.
“Someone left her out and never claimed her, eh?” Tara asked as she walked back near the stove to Trish.
“Yeah, we’ve run several ads in the paper and have posted flyers but decided that she was ours now so we stopped the ads and took down the flyers. She’s so gentle and loving. A true lap kitty.” Trish replied. “I see you have the runt. I think this one will be just like Lacey.” Trish told her.
“Look at the whole body shake as he purrs.” Tara smiled. She was so taken in by the kitten. Trish made their tea and took it over to the dining room table. Tara followed her with the kitten. It had fallen asleep in the crook of her arm.
“So, you haven’t gone to see anyone since the shooting, have you?” Trish was very straightforward with Tara.
“No.”
“You really should. It does help.” Trish encouraged her.
“I’ve been preoccupied with the chemical imbalance and Joey.” Tara said.
“That’s no excuse Tara. You ran away as soon as Joey came and got you. No chance to face what happened head on until today and when you did face it, you were so far gone, Joey was physically shaking from crying because he was so worried about you. Neither one of us could get thru to you for nearly ten minutes. You scared us really bad Tara. I went through the same shooting incident with you Tara. Everyone in the office did. Take your own advice and talk to someone.” Trish begged her best friend.
“I am. I’m talking to you now, aren’t I? And I talk to Joey.”
“It’s not the same, Tara. I’m telling you. It does help.”
“Not now Trish. Please.” Tara begged. She knew Trish was right, she just didn’t want to admit that to Trish, let alone to herself. She took the kitten and placed it with the others. She looked at the time on the microwave. It was time for her medication. She took the pill box out of her pocket and swallowed one pill before putting the box back into her pocket.
“How about we grab the guys and go to lunch at The Olive Garden?” Trish asked as she came into the kitchen with the tea cups.
“Sounds great.” Tara lied. She wanted to go take a nap.
“Liar. You look tired. Go on and take a nap. I’ll get the guys to order a pizza or something.” Trish said.
“You sure?” Tara asked.
“Yeah, you’ll be here all weekend. We can catch up later.” Trish said.
“Guest bedroom still second door on the left?” Tara asked.
“Of course… and the pillow case is waiting.” Trish giggled.
“Oh no… you didn’t!” Tara laughed. The first Richard Marx concert that Trish and Tara ever went to, Tara had made iron on transfers of Richard and his different hair appearances. She made two pillow cases that way and they had gotten Richard’s signature on both.
“And then remember the next month in the Q & A with RM on the site, he said that the weirdest thing he signed recently was a pair of pillow cases and gave us a shout out and said that we were nutty in a fun way.” Trish said.
“Oh yeah and everyone kept bugging us to put up the pillow cases so we had Trav take pictures of us with the pillowcases.” Tara continued.
“Yeah… exactly.” Trish agreed.
“Don’t have to do that with Joey and Travis. We’ve got our men every day and night.”
“Girl, you are so funny. C’mon, I’ll walk up with ya.” Trish said as they headed for the staircase leading upstairs.
After Tara’s nap, she and Joey borrowed Travis’s car so they could go visit Andy’s grave and the park. Randy went with them and Tiny stayed behind.
“You sure about this?” Joey asked Tara as they pulled into the cemetary.
“Yes. This is a good thing. C’mon, you know he would do the same for you if the tables were turned.” Tara said.
“I do.” Joey said. Randy stayed back as they walked from the car to the gravesite.
“Susie?” Tara asked as she saw a young woman sitting at the bench next to Andy’s grave.
“Oh my god. Tara? Joey!” Susie embraced them both. Susie was Andy’s sister.
“Needed to talk to him, eh?” Tara asked.
“Yeah, I’m on my way back to Chicago. I just needed to visit with him for a while. Tell me, who keeps the gravesite so tidy?” Susie asked.
“We have a friend who comes and keeps it neat and tidy.” Tara replied.
“Thank you. That means a lot to me and my family.” Susie replied. Tara smiled.
“And how is everyone?” Joey asked.
“We’re all good. Thanks.” Susie said. “Well, I should be on my way…” Susie gave them both a hug.
“Susie… wait… Joey… I just want a few minutes with her.” Tara said and followed her to her car. Joey knelt down in front of Andy’s grave stone.
“Hey man. Well, we’ve got quite a woman in Tara, don’t we?” Joey began. He had so much he wanted to say to Andy but it all seemed so mute. So instead of pouring out his heart and soul to Andy’s grave, he started to weep, quietly and gently. He was being so strong for Tara and had hid his feelings from the guys, but the one person he could always tell anything to was Andy and now Andy wasn’t here for him to talk to. He thought to himself about how Tara reacted earlier to going back to the office. They had never talked about physically going back there and the toll it would take on her, let alone him. He, too, had remembered back to that day when he was on the other side of the country and had heard the gunshots. He felt the agony of not knowing what was happening and whether she was all right; he remembered the plane ride into Allentown when he had to break down and tell the guys about the chemical imbalance and Steve too. The one thing he and Tara had ever tried to keep from everyone possible and he had to tell them when everything was so crazy. He also thought about his parents and his sister. He had called them while on the way to Tara’s that day and talked to his dad. JC, too, had tried to calm him down. The only thing that did was seeing Tara and seeing that she was safe and sound. How could someone ever get to him the way she did. She was so loving and caring and understanding about the group. Never complained about him going away until she had canceled the doctor’s appointment the night of Chris’s accident.
“Joey?” Tara had been standing beside him for a few moments as he sat facing the grave stone with his eyes closed and tears streaming down his face. “Joey… are you all right?” she asked.
“I miss him Tara. I miss him so much.” Joey admitted, “I can only imagine how much you miss him.”
“Don’t make this out to be about me, Joey. This is about you. You always focus on me… well right here and right now, we’re going to focus on you.” Tara said and kneeled down next to Joey. Joey just looked at her… not more than four hours ago she was the one who was stressed and zoned about what had happened and now she was turning the tables on him.
“I don’t know where to start.” Joey admitted as he looked down at the grass. Tara placed her gloved hand under his chin and moved his face up until his eyes met hers.
“How about at the beginning with Andy.” She suggested.
“What can I say except that he was my best friend. No matter where my travels took me in the group, I could always call him when I had a problem or was homesick. He was always there. He would tell me about you two and how the simplest things you would do would make him happy. From just brushing his shoulder in passing to giving him some space if he needed it. He had always said you were a special lady and he was right. And maybe I’m wrong for doing this, but I know I compare the friendship I had with Andy to those I have with the guys. I just don’t have the history with them that I had with Andy.” Joey said.
“It doesn’t matter how many years you’ve known someone, Joey. What matters is what’s in your heart. Tell me how you feel about JC… I know out of all the guys, he’s the one you’re the closest to.” Tara stated. Joey hesitated for a few minutes and smiled.
“Yeah, you’re right. Workaholic bee that he is, he and I will drop whatever we’re doing to talk. Maybe I don’t open up as much as I should and I guess up until about a year and a half ago, I had Andy.”
“You know what I think?” Tara asked.
“What?” Joey wanted to know.
“I think you are lucky. You are lucky because you not only had Andy for most of your life as your best friend, but he left you four wonderful brothers that you’ve gotten to know a little better since his passing because you opened up a little. I think you think that you have to choose one of them to be your overall best friend. But, ya know something, you don’t have to. And Andy left you something else. He left you me. Only we didn’t know it back then. And we did fight it for a while. What we have, Andy helped us achieve. And now we need to move on without him. You’ve got four best male friends in JC, Lance, Justin, and Chris and then you have me… your best friend overall.” Tara told him lovingly.
“How did you get so wise?” Joey smiled. The tears had stopped and Tara handed him some tissues.
“With you and Andy as guides, how could I not?” Tara asked. “So, what else is on your mind?”
“Earlier today when you went into the office alone and I stayed out near Beth’s desk. I, too, remembered that day and I pictured what must have been happening back here. I think we both forgot one step in the healing process in getting over this trauma.” Joey admitted.
“What’s that?” Tara said.
“Talking to someone who is not in our equation.” Joey told her. He brushed away a leaf that had fallen on Tara’s hair.
“Yeah, Trish mentioned that to me when we were talking earlier.” Tara got quiet.
“Maybe we should, Tara. It just might help.” Joey suggested.
“I don’t know, Joe… but I’m willing to give it a chance.” Tara admitted. She knew that both Trish and Joey were right, that a person that didn’t know about them and what happened, could help her overcome the shooting.
“Good, because I’m going to go as well. See, things like today and the shooting really shake me to the core…” Joey broke off.
“And those are the times when you feel you need Andy the most because these times all have something to do with me?” Tara inquired.
“There ya go again, getting all wise on me.” Joey joked, “but yeah.”
“That’s what JC, Lance, Justin, and Chris are for ya know. When you feel that you can’t talk to me because it involves me, go to them. You men have this problem of opening up to your male friends about the real serious issues. You guys always think you have to be macho.” Tara shook her head.
“That’s how we’re taught. It’s in our genes. Passed on from man to man.” Joey chuckled.
“Men.” Tara rolled her eyes.
“See, you just have this way about you that makes my troubles go away.” Joey told her.
“But they don’t, Joey. They’re still there, you just don’t deal with them sometimes. I know I’m really bad at that, but you and I, we gotta work on these things. You’ve got to lean on me more, Joey. And you should rely on the guys too. They’re really good sounding boards when you let them be.” Tara said.
“You would know?” Joey asked.
“Yeah, I would. I’ve used them. You taught me to.” Tara explained.
“Wow.” Joey was astonished. “I taught you something.” Joey laughed. Tara pounced on him and he fell backward onto the ground with an oomph which made him laugh even harder. Tara joined in on the laughter. But things turned somber.
“You think Andy would approve of us?” Joey asked, “He may have been my best friend, but you were his girl.” Joey said as he propped himself up on his elbows.
“Yeah, what mattered most to him and to me was that we were happy.” Tara said.
“And are you?” Joey asked.
“Yes, I believe I am. And you?” Tara asked she got back up into a sitting position.
“Yes. I am.” Joey said.
“Joey, Tara… I hate to interrupt you two, but you’ve been made.” Randy said and jerked his head over to the entrance of the cemetery. Tara turned to look.
“How’d the press find us?” Joey sighed. Randy helped them both stand. “Well, Andy. I promised you once, and I promise you again… I’ll take care of our lady. See ya buddy. I miss you.” Joey said and placed a hand on Andy’s gravestone. Tara simply kissed her fingers and placed them over his picture on the gravestone. They all ran for the car and managed to get around the news van after it had tried to block them from leaving. Randy took down the license plate. Joey made a note to talk to Jonathan and have him handle it. He knew Randy would tell Tiny about what happened as soon as they got back.
“You two okay?” Randy asked them.
“Just ducky. Tara?” Joey asked as he drove.
“I’m okay.” Tara admitted.
“How about you Randy?” Joey said.
“That was close.” Randy said.
“That was nothing Randy…” Joey laughed. Tara’s cell phone rang. It was Trish.
“Hey girl… where are you?” Trish asked.
“Um… Route 309. We should be back any minute now.” Tara told her.
“Lance and Betsy are here.” Trish said.
“You’re kidding?” Tara said. Joey glanced over at Tara.
“No, I’m not. Betsy and Lance felt that she should be here after she had declined your offer yesterday so they flew up here on their own.”
“Isn’t guilt a wonderful thing?” Tara laughed.
“You sound in a good mood? You and Joey get some talking done?” Trish asked.
“Yeah, thanks Trish and we should be there momentarily.” Tara said.
“Okay. See you soon.” They both hung up their phones.
“What’s going on?” Joey asked.
“Lance and Betsy are here.” Tara told him.
“And what’s this about guilt?”
“I told Betsy this would be the perfect opportunity for her to meet Trish and everyone at the company. Since she doesn’t have any classes until Tuesday, she could fly back with me on Monday.” Tara said.
“So you’ll stay then?” Joey asked, hoping she would.
“I should stay. Need to pack some stuff from the house and send it down to Orlando and now that Betsy’s here, maybe Trish will want to show her the office and stuff.” Tara explained.
“Good girl. I’m proud of you.” Joey said and took Tara’s left hand and kissed it as he pulled into Trish’s driveway.
