Author's note: This story takes place two months after Unpleasant Reunions. I also want to thank Gina for all of her help, and my friend Cindy for all of her help and support.

Derby Festival Daze
By Wanda D. Hargrove

Captain Hank Stanley of the Los Angeles County Fire Department was musing to himself over his luck. His cousin, Mike 'Dutch' Stanley, had called him three days ago. Mike knew about how much Hank had always wanted to see the Kentucky Derby in person. He invited him and all the guys from Station 51 to Louisville, since they already had a week off on vacation. What better way to spend it than with friends and family during the fastest two minutes in horse racing. Although none of the married men's wives could attend, because of their kids being in school, they had encouraged them to go and have fun.

Now Hank Stanley, Mike Stoker, Chet Kelley, Marco Lopez, Roy DeSoto, and John Gage were now well on their way to Louisville, Kentucky. The plane they were on would have to stop in Chicago, and Stanley knew well the shenanigans that John had pulled when the department had sent him and Roy off to Sacramento for the safety conference, especially when he had met that stewardess. So this time John was under orders from Stanley to stay in his seat unless he had to go use the facility. Which of course, meant that John was driving poor Roy up the wall.

"Look, Roy why do they call it the Bluegrass State if the grass isn't Blue?"

"Because," said Roy for the umpteenth time, "it's called the Bluegrass State because of the grass seed. Which just happens to be called Bluegrass. Now would you quiet down or I'll be forced to ask one of the Stewardesses for a tranquilizer."

John turned toward the window and muttered under his breath, "Grouch."

Finally Roy had a little peace, and Marco who had been dozing on the seat facing the aisle, silently sent a thank you to the powers that be. He had heard the whole conversation, and he was slowly getting ready to lose his temper with the dark-haired paramedic.

Their plane finally landed at Standiford Field, and they were surprised. None of the men from Station 51 had realized that Louisville was such a modern city. As they entered the terminal they found Hank Stanley's cousin, Dutch, waiting for them. "I've got two cabs waiting outside when we get your luggage. Then we can head off to my place."

Hank and Dutch stood there grinning at each other when finally they started shaking hands. Then Dutch yanked Hank into a bear hug. "It's great to see you again you old coot."

"Who are you calling old?" asked Hank when Dutch finally released him. "I'm actually younger you know," said Hank smiling.

"By one day," stated Dutch with a mock serious look on his face.

The other guys from Station 51 noticed the familiar similarity of the two men. Although born to different sets of parents you could tell they belonged to the same family.

As they retrieved their luggage and headed for the two cabs waiting to take them to Dutch's place, he told the guys from Station 51 that they had a week full of fun ahead of them. "Really?" asked Hank dubiously. He remembered the last time his cousin had mentioned that they would have fun. That was when both of their families had gotten together for a family reunion with the rest of the Stanley clan. Dutch had talked Hank into exploring a series of caves he had found and they had gotten lost in. Both Hank and Dutch had been grounded for a month, but then again they were both 10 years old.

"Yeah," answered Dutch smiling. "If the winds hadn't been so high today I wouldn't have been able to meet you here at the airport. See I'm half of a team that flies a hot air balloon, and today was supposed to have been the balloon race. I follow the balloon in my van, and once the race is over I help to deflate and load it on the trailer. Instead it was cancelled until tomorrow, so hopefully we'll have fair winds. Then I'll really be able to show you some sights."

"That sounds fantastic," chimed in John Gage.

"It is," answered Dutch. "If you want you all can come along or one or two of you can ride in the basket with the pilot."

"I think I'd like to take a ride in a balloon," commented Marco. "It'd certainly be a new experience. How about you Chet?" Marco asked mischievously.

Johnny was enjoying seeing Chet on the hot seat for once. Chet wasn't really all that sure if he'd like to ride in a balloon. He was seeing visions of birds attacking the balloon. "No, I'll pass."

"I'll go," Stoker piped up. "I'll take my new movie camera, and make some movies from the basket."

"Sounds like a winner," commented Dutch as they all started piling up into the two cabs.

Dutch's home was modest in comparison to some of the houses the men from Station 51 had conducted some rescues at in Los Angeles. Dutch showed them to their rooms, and had each of them pair off since he only had 4 bedrooms.

Since their flight had gotten in a bit late they all decided to go to bed early. With Mike and Hank sharing one room. Chet and Marco in another, and Johnny and Roy in the final one. Roy was a little worried about Johnny, and he was hoping that this trip would help ease his nightmares. Johnny was still plagued with nightmares from the time when Howard Jensen had tried to kill him and his wife.

The night passed without Roy being awakened by Johnny's moans and thrashings. For Roy, that was a godsend, since no one on "A" shift had been able to get a decent night's sleep at the station for the past two months.

They were awakened by the smells of coffee, bacon and eggs coming from the kitchen. As they made their way into the kitchen they could see their host already fully dressed in a pair of jeans and t-shirt standing in front of the stove. There was another man that none of them had met sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee. "Mornin'" he looked up at them. He was slighter in build than Chet. Although he was possibly a couple of inches shorter than Chet as he stood up to shake their hands. He also had bright blue eyes, blond hair, and a friendly smile. "I'm Steve Goodwin."

"Steve, that's my cousin Hank and his crew that I was telling you about the other day," stated Dutch. "Hey guys grab yourselves a cup of coffee and something to eat. We'll be heading out to the fairgrounds in about 2 hours. The weather report is that the winds are down so the race is on." He said with eyes twinkling. "Marco you and Mike can ride with Steve, that way he can tell you everything you need to know before we get there."

"Thanks," both Marco and Mike answered at the same time.

"I hope neither of you get airsick," asked Steve jokingly.

Two no's were Steve's response. "Well that's good. Now I'll give you a bit of a back ground on it." Steve started telling both Marco and Mike about the Great Balloon Race. "The first balloon to leave is called the Hare Balloon." He could see the confused looks of all the men sitting at the table except for Mike Stanley. He had a mischievous look in his eyes. "It's called the Hare Balloon," Steve continued, "because it was the winner of last years race. Then all the other balloons take off on a preset signal, and we will be following it until it lands. When we get close to the landing spot the team that drops their bag of Bluegrass seed closest to the Hare Balloon wins."

"I've got a question," Roy asked Steve. "How can they tell the difference in the bags of seed?"

"Oh that's an easy one. Each bag has a streamer attached that tells exactly which balloon it was."

"Thanks."

"What will we do?" asked Chet indicating himself and the others.

Dutch turned to Chet and continued with his part. "Well what we'll do is follow the balloon with Steve and your guys in it. Then after it lands we will help to deflate it and then load it on the trailer."

"So I take it that there won't be any ladies around?" asked Chet while jabbing Johnny in the ribs.

"Your wrong there, Chet. There will be a lot of ladies around. Heck some of them are some of the best balloon pilots around," commented Dutch playfully. "Although some of them are married, and some are single. But alot of them travel as crewmembers of the balloon chasers. There's one group you've got to watch out for. They are pretty nice once you get to know them. But until you do they can be pretty mean."

Hank groaned. Well his cousin would be in for a time with some of John Gage's problems with women. Especially the way he could obsess over being dumped sometimes. 'After this week, Dutch may not want us to come back again.'

Both vehicles drove up to the fairgrounds, and were waved through the gate by the person who was taking the toll for parking. "Have a good flight," the woman yelled at Steve as his car passed through first. "Have fun chasing after my man," she directed at Dutch.

Dutch waved and hollered back, "You bet, Lisa."

"Are all the girls around here that friendly," remarked Johnny.

"Nope, that's Steve's wife. She works here in the spring and summer. Usually she's a substitute teacher, but when she's out of work she works here at the fairgrounds. Atleast it helps to pay the bills."

Johnny knew that feeling before. Sometimes he himself worked overtime shifts for other stations.

They passed all the buildings and found some parking spaces. Then they went to work unloading the trailer and getting the balloon all set up in a big field. They could see others who were already in the process of getting their balloons filled. "See that dark blue one over there," pointed Steve over to a balloon that was set off from the others. "That's the hare balloon this year. As soon as we get this baby filled up we'll get ready to launch."

They finally got everything set up and the balloon was filling up nicely. When they heard a muttered curse from Steve. "Look who's comin'."

Dutch groaned inwardly. It was none other than Susan, the meanest of the Stanford girls. "Hi Dutch," she purred. "You know we're gonna wipe the sky with you this year."

"That's what you say every year, Sue."

Chet and the others were taking in the conversation, while Johnny was checking her out. Sue wasn't drop dead gorgeous, but she wasn't homely either. She was a brunette, a little chunkier than Johnny liked. But what made him have this pit in his stomach was her eyes. They were so dark, and mean looking. Sort of reminded him of a female Howard Jensen. He visibly shuddered.

Roy who was closest to him noticed, and whispered in his ear. "Hey junior, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Johnny said out of the side of his mouth.

Sue and Dutch continued the verbal barbs until one of the other women yelled over at her. "Hey Sue, quit fraternizing with the enemy."

Sue left and Dutch turned to the other guys and sighed with relief. "That's one mean lady. And I use the word lady liberally."

Finally the hare balloon took off, and all the other teams in balloons all different colors, shapes and sizes were ready to follow. Finally the signal was given and the balloons started lifting off, about 50 in all. It was a spectacular sight from the ground.

The guys ran to Dutch's van and hopped in. They were ready to chase the balloon carrying Steve, Mike and Marco. As they started leaving a beat up white truck cut them off. They could see the driver was Sue. Johnny felt an involuntary shudder as he remembered the look in her eye.

Steve, Marco and Mike watched as they lifted off the ground and felt the wind take them in the direction of the other balloons. Marco and Mike loved the view of the countryside. What with the rolling hills in the distance; the trees and the city looming off in the distance. It was beautiful here.

"So what made Dutch settle down here?" asked Marco.

"Well from what I know," began Steve, "Dutch married a girl who was originally from here. Well his family didn't like the idea, and she wanted to move back home anyway. So Dutch left LA, but during the trip here they had an accident. They were in Oklahoma and were hit head on by a drunk driver. She died and Dutch was laid up in the hospital for months. He never remarried. Although he's been asked a few times, but he feels like he would mar her memory if he was really serious about someone."

"What about his wife's family?" asked Mike.

Steve laughed, and his eyes had that twinkle in them. "I'm Dutch's brother-in-law." Then Steve laughed even harder.

Marco looked over at Mike and asked, "Do you get the feeling that we've been had?"

Mike just nodded.

In the van the guys were getting a good view of the countryside, from taking back roads. They loved the view of the trees, a few farms here and there, and the rolling hills in the distance. It was as beautiful as a picture postcard.

Johnny loved the view. It was completely different from where he had grown-up, but not altogether different from the foot hills below the mountains, where he would go camping quite a bit around LA. Just the farms didn't quite fit in.

Suddenly Dutch veered off the road, and they could see why. The hare balloon had landed and it had already been taken down. In its place was a huge red X. They saw bags with streamers attached falling on the ground as they got closer.

Dutch had to veer out of the way of the truck being driven by Sue as her teams balloon landed. "Damn woman," Dutch swore. "One of these days she's going to cause an accident, she takes too many chances."

"Sounds like someone else I know," quipped Chet jabbing Johnny in the ribs.

"Oh go take a flying leap," muttered Johnny.

"Alright, 'Children'" commented Stanley from the passenger seat. "Remember we're here to have fun."

Chet gave Stanley a sheepish look, and Johnny just leaned back trying to forget those eyes of Sue Stanford's.

Roy knew something was bothering his partner, but just couldn't place his finger on it.

They saw Steve land the balloon and he along with Marco and Mike leaped out of the basket. "Hey guys," called Steve to the van that was pulling up. "I'm going to head over to the officials and see if they can tell me who won this year."

The others starting deflating the balloon and dismantling all the equipment from it. It wasn't as easy taking it down, as it had been to set up. But while they were finally getting the last part of the balloon loaded onto the trailer and strapped down, Steve came running up to them excitedly.

"You'll never believe it. We WON!!" he hollered.

Both Dutch and Steve started jabbering to themselves and clapping each other on the backs. Neither of them noticed Sue walk up. "So, you finally won for once," she stated icily. "Well next year we'll be the ones winning."

Dutch and Steve both turned around as she stalked off. "What was that about?" asked Marco.

Steve started explaining before Dutch could, "She's just upset cause they came in second place this year."

Finally everyone pilled up into the van and drove off back to the fairgrounds to get Steve's car and then head back to Dutch's place for a victory celebration. And what a celebration it was. Some how they all found their beds.

Roy was awakened by the sound of his partner thrashing around in the bed. 'I knew something was bothering him today,' he thought as he made his way slowly across the small bedroom. "Johnny," he called quietly. There was no response other than the sounds of Johnny's thrashing's becoming more violent. Finally Roy grabbed a hold of him. "Johnny, wake up," he said rather harshly.

Slowly Johnny woke up and looked at his bleary-eyed partner. "Sorry," he muttered. "Just a nightmare."

"That must have been one hell of a nightmare."

"It was," Johnny started to sit up in the bed. He looked at the clock on the wall and could see it dimly read 4:30.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No," Johnny stated flatly.

Roy went and laid back down in the other bed and pulled the covers up around his ears, as he slowly drifted off to sleep again.

Johnny got up and pulled on his clothes, then went into the living room and sat down in front of the TV, keeping it turned down low. The only thing on were old reruns of Gilligan's Island. 'Oh Well,' he thought to himself. 'I think I'll just sit outside on the porch for awhile.' He sat down on the front porch, and was a bit surprised to see someone come walking up to the house. He recognized her as one of the women from the Stanford team. She was nice looking, and had all the right curves in all the right places. Johnny thought she was totally beautiful.

"Hi," she called to him.

"Hi," he answered back.

"I've been doing a lot of soul-searching today, and was hoping to find someone still up."

"Why?" Johnny asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

She looked down at the ground before continuing. "Mind if I join you on the swing?"

"Be my guest," he said while motioning her to sit down next to him. "I'm Johnny."

"I'm Lori." She sat down and slowly began. "I wanted to apologize for Sue. When the balloon race rolls around every year, she can be a real pain in the ass."

"I completely understand," responded Johnny grinning. "I can be that way sometimes myself. Ask the guys when they get up."

They sat there on the swing talking. Johnny told her about where he was from. Lori told him about how she had married into the Stanford clan, and how her husband Brian had been a fireman. She also told him about how he had been killed in the line of duty a couple of years ago.

"I still miss him," she said sadly.

"I've lost friends myself," Johnny stated understandingly. He started telling her about Tess and Howard Jensen. How Howard had went off the deep end and tried to kill him and Tess. He also mentioned the nightmares and how Sue's eyes had freaked him out. He didn't understand why he was telling this perfect stranger about himself. But somehow it just seemed perfectly natural.

They watched as the sun came up. Finally Lori looked over at him and quickly gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Johnny was startled, and Lori completely broke up laughing. Johnny had to admit, she had a great laugh.

"How about joining me on a moonlight cruise tonight?" she asked him.

"I'd love to."

"Great, I'll pick you up at 8 tonight." She quickly rose, then stopped and gave him a slight kiss on the mouth. Then she ran and climbed into her car, giving him a quick wave as she drove away.

Just then Dutch walked out onto the porch. "Wasn't that Lori Stanford?" he asked Johnny.

"That sure was, and I have a date with her tonight."

Mike grinned at Johnny. "Why you sly dog," he said laughing as he gave Johnny a slap on the back. "She's a great catch."

Johnny decided that tonight should probably be taken slowly. He didn't want to ruin what little bit of something he and Lori already had.

Lori picked Johnny up at 8:00 pm just as she had promised. They parked in an area reserved for people to ride the steamboat called The Belle of Louisville. Johnny noticed that it was one of those old fashioned looking steamboat’s like the ones that used to go up and down the Mississippi River in the 1800's. The red paddle wheel caught his attention first. "Are you sure it's safe?" Johnny teased.

"Yes, and wait till you see inside," said Lori with a small laugh.

"I can't wait."

They went on board The Belle, and Lori led him up to the deck area. Johnny noticed how cool it was just being on the river. They sat down at one of the tables and Lori noticed someone there that she knew. She waved and a man waved back. Johnny watched as he approached with another girl in tow.

"Hi, Lori," the man said pleasantly.

"Hi, Todd," she said, "This is John Gage, he's a firefighter/paramedic from Los Angeles."

Todd and Johnny shook hands. "This is Cheryl."

"Hi, Cheryl," both Johnny and Lori said in unison. They decided that they would share the table they were at. Johnny didn't know if he should be jealous or not of this other man. He finally decided that he would give the man a chance.

Johnny felt like a spell was being cast upon him. He loved the scenery and felt that he was slowly falling in love with Lori. Though he had promised he would take it slow with her, somehow it just felt right for him to be there with her. Lori leaned her head onto his shoulder and he put his arm around her shoulders.

A woman screamed from one of the other tables as a man she was with collapsed onto the deck. Johnny ran over to the man quickly and checked him. "No pulse," he said. Johnny quickly started chest compressions on the man.

The woman, who was hysterical now, had never seen a paramedic at work. She was certain that Johnny was going to kill him.

Todd, who wasn't sure what was going on, started trying to calm her down. "Ma'am, please calm down. He's trying to save your husband's life."

The woman started calming down, as Johnny shouted, "respiratory arrest." Lori knelt down next him, making sure the man's airway was clear. She started breathing for him.

Johnny was surprised to find that she knew CPR. 'She's full of surprises,' Johnny thought.

A steward hearing all the commotion ran over to them. He was wanting to know what was going on. Some of the onlookers were convinced that Johnny was trying to kill the man. Others thought that he was trying to save him.

Johnny checked the man again. "Okay, Lori, you can stop. He's breathing on his own again, and he's got a pulse."

The steward looked down at Johnny and asked, "What happened?"

"We heard the woman scream," Johnny started, "and her husband collapsed. I started chest compressions, cause he didn't have a pulse. Then he stopped breathing, so Lori here," he said while indicating the woman next to him. "She started breathing for him, and we got him back. He's had an apparent heart attack, and he needs to get to a hospital immediately."

"I'll put in a call to the River Patrol," said the steward. "I'll also get the doctor up here right away, to take over. Thanks for being here and knowing what to do."

"No problem," said Johnny as he and Lori started to move away. Todd and Cheryl joined them back at the table. The rest of the cruise was spent answering Todd and Cheryl's questions about what a firefighter/paramedic was, and what they do.

The guys had decided to let him sleep late. When finally Chet and Marco burst into the bedroom rousing Johnny from his dreams of Lori. They had the local paper with them that had a headline, which announced boldly. 'LA County Paramedic Saves Local Man.'

"I don't believe you, Gage," started Chet. "Even on vacation you find some way to make the headlines."

"What are you talking about?" asked Johnny sleepily.

"This," Marco chimed in and read the headline aloud.

Johnny grabbed the paper from Marco's hands and saw that there was a picture of himself and Lori working on the man from the cruise. He began reading the story noticing that the article was written by none other than Todd. 'No wonder he wanted to know so much about paramedic's last night,' Johnny thought. He noticed that atleast nothing he said had been taken out of context. Also he had made it plain that without his partner Roy, he never would have been a paramedic in the first place. He also noticed that at the end of the story there was a plea to the Mayor and Governor to have a paramedic program in Kentucky.

Ever since the cruise, Johnny and Lori started seeing more and more of each other. She loved meeting the guys that Johnny worked with. She also had to admit that they were all a great bunch of guys. They went to quite a few of the Events that were scheduled that week before the Derby.

Finally the day came. Lori picked up Johnny, and Roy. They would head out to the racetrack first and pick an area where they hoped it wouldn't get too rowdy. Lori had told them all the stories of her other visits to the Derby in the infield. Some of them were funny. Some were appalling.

They entered the infield through the tunnel. And found a nice spot over in between the second and third turns, where they would have a good view of the horses going by. Johnny and Roy put up a canopy that would provide them with some shade, while Lori went over to a stand that was selling Mint Julieps. She bought three, and gave one to Roy and Johnny.

"What's this?" asked Roy taking the drink from Lori, and sniffing at it.

"It's a Mint Juliep. You can't say you've been to the Kentucky Derby without having one."

Johnny took a sip of his. "Hmmm... It's not too bad, what's it got in it?"

"Oh some bourbon, crushed ice and a mint syrup."

Roy tried his and really didn't like it too much. "I think I'll stick with beer." He smiled apologetically at Lori.

"It's a bit of an acquired taste," commented Lori, smiling at Roy.

Just then the rest of the guys from Station 51 along with Dutch, Steve and Lisa joined them.

"This is really a nice spot," said Chet.

"So, Lori," asked Dutch, "how's this hotshot from LA treating ya?"

Lori smiled and put her arm around Johnny's waist. "Just fine. You should have seen him in action the other night. He knew exactly what to do."

"Well that's what I get paid for," Johnny said while putting his arm on Lori's shoulders.

Finally they all sat down on the ground with either Mint Julieps or beers, depending on their tastes. Roy was personally glad that Johnny had found someone who was really nice.

Marco was glad for Johnny, and Chet was a little bit jealous. Hank and Mike Stoker both thought that they made a cute couple. Lori was sitting in front of Johnny leaning back into his chest while Johnny had his arms around her. They were quietly talking together. Suddenly Lori started laughing at something that Johnny had said, and he had a look of mock hurt on his face. Which turned into a grin. She raised her face up to him and he bent down to kiss her passionately.

The moment was broken when a fight broke out between a couple of drunks and they stumbled upon the group, most of who were from LA. One of the drunks had fallen over Chet and the other one was trying to hit the first drunk and missed. Instead he caught Marco in the eye, who was trying to help untangle Chet from the first drunk. Hank and Johnny grabbed the second drunk, as Dutch and Mike got the first drunk off of Chet. Just then the police ran up and quickly sorted out the mess, and decided to send both of the drunks off to the drunk tank to sober up since Marco decided he wouldn't press charges.

Roy, who was checking his eye, said, "Well it's gonna be sore for a couple of days. But it doesn't look like there was any damage done."

For the rest of the day there were a few other incidents that both Roy and Johnny had helped people with. That was, until the 5th race. Johnny had been keeping his eye on a couple of young women who were with their boyfriends. They had been horsing around quite a bit that day.

Johnny watched as the girls climbed onto their guys’ shoulders so they could get a better view of the race. One of the girls was getting sooo excited she started bouncing on her boyfriend’s shoulders. Then a guy came out of nowhere bumping into the young man. Causing him to lose his balance for a moment. His girlfriend fell off his shoulders and struck her head hard on the ground.

"Roy," Johnny hollered at his partner, "head injury." He pointed out where the girl had fallen.

Roy grabbed his first-aid kit, thankful that he had brought it with him. Inside was a bit more than could be found in a regular first-aid kit. Like a penlight, bandages, bp cuff, stethoscope, and splints.

They both knelt down next to the girl. Johnny began checking her over for other injuries. He started bandaging a gash on the girl’s head, while Roy was writing down her vitals.

A police officer that had been standing over to one side of the infield had seen the accident happen. He rushed over a few minutes after Johnny and Roy began working on the girl. He'd seen both the guys in action earlier when a small boy had had a slight mishap, and broken his arm. "You two are being kept busy," commented the officer.

"Seems we can't get away from it," quipped Roy with a slight grin on his face.

Just then the officer, who had been trying to remember where he had seen the dark haired man before, finally the realization hit him. "Hey you two are those guys from LA. The para... para.."

"Paramedics," said Johnny as he finished bandaging the gash on the girls head.

"Well, I hope the rest of your day here is uneventful," commented the officer as he put in a call for an ambulance.

Roy handed to the officer a slip of paper. "What's this?" asked the officer.

"It has her vitals on it," while Roy motioned toward the girl.

"You'll need to transport her on a backboard. She may have spinal injuries," Johnny said as the girl started coming around.

"Calm down," Johnny said soothingly to the girl. "You need to lie still, you've taken a pretty bad fall."

Once the girl was loaded into the ambulance and the nervous boyfriend had thanked both the paramedics, they went back over to the others. "How is she," asked Lori, who had been silently watching with the others.

"Well she's got a pretty nasty gash on her head, and she may have some spinal injuries that we couldn't find here. But all in all I think she's gonna be fine," said Roy.

The rest of the their day was uneventful as the police officer had hoped it would be for them. Then came the eighth race. And Lori and Johnny had placed a bet on a big chestnut colored horse.

After Johnny and Lori had cashed in their winning tickets, they decided it was time to head back to Dutch's.

After they all got back, Lori and Johnny were sitting on the couch together, while the other men were packing their belongings for their trip back to LA.

"Lori, please come with me to LA," asked Johnny.

"Oh, I'd love to, Johnny," she stopped looking up into his dark eyes. She looked thoughtful for a moment and then sad.

"What's wrong?" he asked while lifting her chin up, when she dropped her head.

"Well, it's just that," she started sighing. "It's just that I was sure I'd remain a widow all my life for Brian's sake. But I do know that he would want me to be happy." Then she smiled up at him, "And you, John Gage, make me very happy."

He smiled back at her. "Then it's settled. You can send for your things after you find an apartment, or you can stay with me."

She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him deeply. Chet and Marco had just walked in upon hearing the last comment from Johnny. Marco mouthed to Chet to leave them alone. They both quietly exited the room and gathered the other men into the kitchen.

Marco was all grins; he couldn't wait to tell the other guys. "Guess what," he asked. The others asked what, and Marco told them. "Lori is coming with us tomorrow to LA."

The other guys had never seen Johnny so content as he had been since meeting Lori. They hoped it would last for a good long while.