Note from the authors: This story was originally published way back in 2002 on the HDA site. We cannot believe that it has been 15 years since we wrote this! The story is completed, as is the follow up story, "Consequences," both of which will be published here with chapters approximately every three days or so. In November of 2016, we decided to start writing again, and currently have two more stories completed and two more follow up stories outlined. We look forward to sharing them with you, and we hope you enjoy reading them as much as we have enjoyed the process of writing them. -Alaina and Cheryl

Choices of the Heart

Chapter 1

"Callie? Is it really necessary to take us all out into the woods today to shoot birds? I mean, it's kind of hot, and the beach was looking pretty good today." Twenty -one year old Joe Hardy was speaking to his brother's long-time girlfriend, Callie Shaw. In truth, he wasn't really upset about spending time with his twenty- two year old brother, Frank, his own girlfriend, Vanessa Bender, and Callie. In fact, it was nice to spend time together, since Frank and Callie were often away at college together, and he didn't get to see them as often as he'd like. But, now that it was summer vacation, Frank and Callie could relax before their senior year, and they had invited he and Vanessa to spend the week with them on vacation. Still, he couldn't help but to tease Callie about her choice of locale.

Callie turned to Joe with a twinkle in her brown eyes. "Now, Joe. Don't tell me that this isn't the perfect summer day! It's June, it's gorgeous, and you have the pleasure of my company. What more could you want?" The smile on her pretty face and the tone of her voice was enough to let Joe know she was only joking, and he smiled in return.

"Yeah, yeah," he countered. "I still think a nice, relaxing beach location would have been better. I mean, there are birds there, too. But, I guess I'll live with it." He sighed melodramatically, as if he were making the world's greatest sacrifice.

Vanessa laughed, and pushed her long, ash-blonde hair out of her eyes. At 5'11'', she was just an inch short of Joe's height, which gave her an advantage at times like these. Playfully, she reached for his throat in an attempt to strangle him. "You humble us so much with your generosity," she giggled.

"Hey!" Joe laughed back, and attempted to run away from Vanessa.

Frank rolled his eyes. "Joe! Come on. Callie's doing this project for her photography class next semester. You make it sound like she's going hunting or something." He couldn't help but to smile, though, at his impetuous younger brother. Joe could make even a mundane day something extraordinary with his uncanny knack for looking at the brighter side of things. That's why, in their years together with investigative work for their father, they made such a good team. Frank's own logic and Joe's instincts seemed to be a winning combination. Investigating, however, was the last thing on his mind at the moment. It was just nice to be spending time with the people he loved. He instinctively smiled at Callie, and was struck again by how beautiful she looked as the sunlight reflected from her golden hair.

Finally, Joe settled down. "Alright, Callie," he said, resigned. "Tell me about this project, since we're here, and why you chose birds, of all things. You may as well tell me now, and I'll at least pretend to be interested. I'm in a fairly decent mood right now." He winked at Callie, and then wrapped an arm securely around Vanessa's waist as he attempted to keep a straight face.

"Joe, thank you so much. It's nice to know you care," she said, dryly. "Anyway, it's pretty interesting, really. I chose birds as a subject because they represent freedom and lack of inhibitions. I mean, they sing, fly, care for their young, and aren't limited by boundaries, as so many of us are. They're really the epitome of what's right in the world. There's even a whole study dedicated to birds, called ornithology. Anyway, I thought I'd do a comparison between human and natural freedom, and the best place to start would be in nature. So… here we are!"

Joe had to smile at Callie's enthusiasm. She had always been bright and ambitious, and they'd gotten along pretty well, especially in their college years. Besides, Joe knew that Callie would be a big part of his brother's life for a long time to come. He suppressed the smile that began to form on his lips as he thought about THAT. In fact, it was one of the major reasons he had joined his brother on vacation.

Still, he loved to tease her. "Um… sounds fascinating," he said, lightly. "Callie Shaw—the study in orthopaedics. Deep."

"Ornithology!" she sighed, exasperated.

"Right," he smiled. Callie grinned back—she had to. Joe was too much sometimes.

"All right, well, I'm going to look for a nice setting over here. I won't torture you all by making you come. Just meet me here in a half hour or so." Callie headed off to the right, leaving Frank, Joe, and Vanessa behind.

Vanessa started laughing about some joke that Joe was telling her. In the meantime, Callie found herself deep in concentration looking for the perfect spot to take pictures. She was so deep into looking that she barely heard the noise behind her before it was too late. At once, there was a sudden noise as a footstep crushed a twig. The next thing Callie knew, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she whirled around in fear.

"Frank!" She cried, startled. "You almost gave me a heart attack! Don't do that!" She covered her chest with her hand, and stared up at her boyfriend.

Frank smiled at her. "Sorry," he replied. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Callie, somewhat recovered, felt herself soften a bit, as she often did when she looked at Frank. After all the years they'd been together, she still got butterflies when she was with him, and she couldn't imagine sharing her life with anyone else. "Well," she finally managed, "now that you're here, is there something you needed? I think you scared all the birds away." The softness of her voice and her eyes let Frank know she really wasn't mad.

Reaching out for her, Frank pulled her into his arms and held her close. The vague scent of her perfume was still intoxicating to him. Looking deeply into her eyes, he said, softly, "Do I need a reason to see you? I just wanted to tell you how happy I am that we're here, together. I know this is going to be a wonderful summer." With that, he tilted her face up to his and kissed her tenderly.

A few minutes later, Callie pulled back from Frank, her body still tingling from his touch. Frank was generally a very private person, but when they were alone, he was probably the most romantic person she had ever known. "I know it will be, too," she answered him at last, just enjoying being in his arms.

"You know," Frank said slowly and playfully, in a southern accent, scrunching his nose at her, "Dah-ling, you're my favorite gal in the whole world. If I had to make a choice between you anyone else, I'd choose you. Always."

Callie laughed, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Well, you always did make smart decisions."

"Mmm," he responded, about to kiss her again, "Like how much fun we'll have tonight after Joe and Vanessa leave us alone," he whispered.

Callie blushed. "Yeah, something like that," she answered, and kissed him.

"Hey!" The sudden voice broke the spell. Frank and Callie looked over and saw Vanessa and Joe laughing at them. Both blushed.

Joe came up to Frank and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Frank and Callie, sittin' in a tree…"

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Vanessa interjected. "Leave them alone!" She was used to Joe's teasing and impulsiveness, and loved his spontaneity. However, she also knew that Frank and Callie were extremely protective of their privacy, and weren't nearly as demonstrative as she and Joe were with their feelings. She had an inclination that Frank might not go along too much with Joe's teasing about this.

Joe took the hint. "All right, all right. Callie, I swear, you have exactly ten more minutes to find your bird- thing. You know, the place. I'm dragging Vanessa and Frank away from you so you can concentrate. Although," he couldn't help but to add, "You didn't look like you minded too much!" With those words, Joe headed off with Vanessa and Frank.

Callie, left alone, chuckled softly to herself. Today was really turning out to be lovely. Vanessa was a lot of fun to hang out with. Joe was a riot; no matter how hard she tried to get mad at him, his good- natured persona always came through. He really was one of her best friends, and she couldn't imagine ever hurting him or getting seriously annoyed at him. And as for Frank… she felt the color rise to her cheeks. Joe was right—she hadn't minded being with him too much. At all.

Happily, Callie found herself sauntering along looking for a spot where birds would be visible. She realized that in the more heavily trafficked areas, wildlife was not likely to make appearances. Holding her camera in her hand, she wandered deeper into the woods, when she heard a noise in the distance. Curious, Callie headed in the direction of the noise. After what seem like a good distance, she was about to head back when something caught her eye.

"That's strange," she murmured to herself, peering down a small incline, where she saw a log cabin in the distance. After a few minutes, she noticed men walking around the cabin. They were looking around suspiciously, as if they feared being seen. Ducking down to avoid visibility herself, Callie decided to take out her camera. Adjusting the focus, she started snapping pictures of the men, zooming into their faces. Normally, she would not have considered such an invasive act, but something about their gestures of nervousness, and the way they looked like they were isolated, struck her as odd.

Then, at once, she saw the men about to clear what looked to be a small mound of bushes. She continued to snap away. "Hmmm…" she said softly. "That is odd." What she saw next made her gasp. Right there, in front of her, was not the pile of leaves she had expected. Rather, it was an all-terrain vehicle, obviously disguised for some reason. Callie didn't see a lot after that, once she saw what was in the back. Hanging from the side of the vehicle were a few guns, but they certainly didn't look like the kind ordinarily used for hunting. Rather, they looked large and menacing, and she began to get an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach looking at them.

Callie felt her heart pounding. She didn't know who these guys were, but she did know that she didn't want to find out—not yet. Hunting was certainly not allowed in this area, nor were there supposed to be occupied homes or cabins. Still, she could notice, even at this distance, that the men were milling around the cabin as though they were occupying it. And they didn't look at all comfortable in their surroundings.

Callie snapped a few more quick shots, but froze when she thought she saw someone looking up in her direction. Scurrying away, she placed the lens cap over the camera and prayed she hadn't been detected. She ran as fast as she could back to the spot where she was supposed to meet everyone. She was very late, and she hoped they'd all be there. They were.

"It's about time," Joe grumbled at her. "I'm hungry. I was beginning to think something happened to you."

"Aw, how sweet," Vanessa cut in. "You do care." She gave Joe a quick kiss on the cheek.

Callie reached for Frank's hand, and held it tightly. He looked at her strangely. "Is everything alright?" he asked, concerned.

Callie managed a tight smile. "Yeah. I'm fine." She looked at Joe. "Nothing happened to me." She couldn't help but to think to herself, at least, not yet.

"Let's just get out of here, okay? I've had a little too much nature for one day."

Joe perked up. "I guess you could say this nature stuff is for the birds, eh?" He grinned at his own joke.

Callie and Frank groaned at Joe's poor attempt at humor, and Callie followed them all back into civilization, clinging to Frank's hand all the while.