Chris walked into the kitchen to find Nicole and Ryan in a heated debate.
"I don't think so. If you put it on like that, it will fall right back off again." Nicole exclaimed.
"It looks fine to me." Ryan exclaimed.
"Yeah, and it'll work fine too, unless we want to do something practical, like, hmm, I don't know, open the cabinet!"
"Oh really, Miss. Smarty Pants?" Ryan retorted, "You didn't exactly have it on right when I came in here."
"Tell me again why you came in here? I don't remember having a help wanted sign hanging in my window."
"Just give me the screwdriver and I'll fix it, okay?"
Nicole was about to say something else when she heard Chris' voice behind her, "It just brings a tear to my eye to see how well you two are getting along."
"Uh, we were just, uh, discussing the finer points of cabinet mending. Weren't we Ryan?" Nicole could feel her face turning red as she nudged Ryan in the side.
"What? Uh, yeah, that's right,'" Ryan added, "and we almost had it fixed too. Until you interrupted us."
"Guys, I could have gone on a there week trip to the Bahamas, come back and you two still wouldn't have finished." Chris began to chuckle. "Ryan, why don't you let me help Nicole. I think Shannon could use a hand out there."
Ryan looked at the mess they had made of the cabinet. "Good idea." With that he left the room.
Nicole looked up from her place on the floor and saw Chris walk over to her.
"I've got one question for you?" Chris began, "What did that poor cabinet ever do to you?"
Nicole looked down and saw the mess she had made of the cabinet door. She started to laugh, "It doesn't look too good, does it?"
"Here, let me help." Chris sat down next to her and took the screwdriver from her hand. Nicole watched as started to attach a hinge onto the door. She could see his powerful arm muscles move as he turned the screwdriver from right to left in slow but consistent movements. She had gotten lost in the rhythm when she was suddenly thrust back into the moment by Chris' voice. "Do you think you can hold this for me?"
"I'm sorry, what?" Nicole asked waking up out of her daze.
"The door? Can you hold it while I finish attaching it?"
"Uh...yeah, sorry." Nicole slid closer to where Chris was sitting and held the door in place. From this position she could faintly smell the cologne he was wearing wafting up from his skin. She was careful this time not to get too caught up in the experience.
"Uh, Shannon tells me you are a fan of Garth Brooks." Chris started.
"I love Garth Brooks. I heard he was in town this weekend, but unfortunately the show was sold out weeks ago. I've always wanted to see that man in concert."
"Well, it just so happens that I have two front row tickets to the show. I thought maybe you'd like to go with me." Chris flashed her a big smile.
"I'd love to go, but you just met me. I'm sure there must be someone else you'd rather take." Nicole replied.
"That's the point. I'd like to get to know you better."
"I don't know...." Nicole started.
"Come on," Chris interrupted, "It's Garth Brooks."
Nicole started to give another excuse but she could see by the look in his eyes that he wouldn't take no for an answer. She smiled, "Okay. I'll go."
"Great!"
Scene 6:
Shannon moped out of the hallway and into the living room. She was frustrated that things with Chris hadn't gone as she had hoped. She plopped down on the couch and looked at the utter mess of half unloaded boxes strewn across the room. She kicked one that was next to her foot, "Stupid boxes!"
"Are you all right?" Shannon's heart raced as she heard a man's voice behind her. She knew it had to be Chris so she put on her best smile and turned to face…Ryan.
"Oh," her smile faded, "It's you."
"You sure know how to make a guy feel welcome" Ryan grinned at her.
"I'm sorry." She replied, "It's just that I thought…I mean…uh, oh, never mind." Shannon paused for a moment and the spoke again, "Wait a second, I thought you were in the kitchen helping Nicole fix that cabinet."
"I was," Ryan began, "But I was kicked out for lack of mechanical skills." He started to laugh. "Don't worry though, I left her in good hands. Chris is in there with her."
"That's what I'm worried about." She muttered under her breath.
"What?" Ryan asked.
"Oh, uh…I just said that maybe I should go in there and make sure everything is okay." Shannon stood up from the couch and started to walk to the kitchen door.
"Shannon, wait." Ryan called after her. "I think they can handle things just fine on their own. Besides, I want to ask you something."
Shannon turned back around to face him, "What is it?" she asked with obvious impatience in her voice.
"Well, I just wanted to know if…" Ryan never got any farther because the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it." Shannon walked over to the door and opened it. On the other side she saw a slender girl of average height with long blond hair and blue eyes standing with a nice looking young man with curly, blond hair. "May I help you?" Shannon inquired.
"We're looking for Ryan." She said
"Hey Aspen!" Ryan ran to the door and gave the girl a big hug, "When did you get back in town?"
"Last night," she replied, "But I'm only going to be in town one more night."
"Girlfriend?" Shannon inquired.
"No," Ryan laughed, "Shannon, let me introduce you to my sister, Aspen, and my other roommate, Dean."
"Nice to meet you Shannon." Aspen offered her hand to Shannon, who shook it.
"It's nice to meet you too." Shannon replied, "Please, come in."
Aspen nodded and she and Dean entered the house. "We can't stay for long. Mom and dad want to take all of us to dinner." She looked around the living room, "Hey Ryan, where's that hunky friend of yours?"
"Chris?" Ryan started to laugh, "He's in the…"
"Aspen!" Chris and Nicole had emerged from the kitchen and Chris ran over and wrapped Aspen up in a big bear hug. Shannon laughed quietly to herself when she saw that the huge grin Nicole had been wearing had been wiped off her face.
"Nicole, this is Aspen." He turned in Nicole's direction but had his arm around Aspen. "She is Ryan's twin sister, but we hung out so much as kids, that I think of her as my sister too. Unlike her brother, Aspen had talent and is now off touring with her band. We hardly get to see her anymore."
The smile returned to Nicole's face as she walked over to shake Aspen's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"And this is our other roommate, Dean" Ryan piped in.
Nicole shook his hand as well. "Please, have a seat. Make yourselves at home"
"Actually, we were sent to fetch these two losers off your hands." Dean grinned, "I hope they weren't too much trouble. You know, I have trouble taking them anywhere."
"My parents are taking us all out to dinner. You two are welcome to join us." Ryan added, smiling at Shannon.
"No, we don't want to intrude. Besides, we have a lot of unpacking left to do, right Shannon?" She looked at Shannon who was staring at Chris.
"Uh….ya, right." Shannon replied without taking her eyes off Chris.
"I hope you don't mind us running out on you so soon." Chris said.
"No, not at all. You're here helping us, remember?" Shannon spoke directly to Chris, "But feel free to come over anytime you want."
"Sure thing." Ryan answered.
"Nice meeting you ladies." Dean said as he turned to walk out the door, followed by Aspen.
"You sure you don't want to come?" Chris asked, "You're more than welcome to."
"Well, I guess we could…" Shannon started.
"No, we'll be fine. Thanks for the invitation though." Nicole smiled as Chris and Ryan walked out of the door.
Scene 7:
That night Widow Twanky sat on her porch in her rocking chair with her eye's on the Conrad's house. She was worried, but so far nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"Don't worry girls, I'll do everything within my power to keep you safe." Twanky murmured. "I may not have been able to help your Uncle, but I'm not going to let the same thing happen to you."
She sat rocking for another few minutes and had almost fallen asleep when she thought she heard a scream coming from next door. A moment later she heard another scream. She shot up out of her rocking chair and ran as fast as she could across the lawn to the little house next door.
"Don't worry girls, I'm on my way." She cried.
