Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: Ha! I have proof that I haven't abandoned this story: this chapter! About the inexcusably long wait, yeah, sorry about that, but I had a major case of writer's block and I was just sitting in history the other day when it hit me how I could fix the story, so, without further ado, Chapter 3!
The next day, Bess and Vanessa joined Callie on the beach for a little sunbathing. Bess glanced over at Nancy, who was sitting on the blanket playing poker with George and the boys. She decided to put her plan into action. "Nancy will win." she said, referring to the card game. "I've never seen anyone beat her at poker." This was true; Bess had spent her entire life losing to Nancy at cards.
"I'll bet Frank could beat her." Vanessa said, right on cue. "I've never seen him lose either."
"Yeah, they sure have a lot in common." Callie said dryly, glaring daggers at Nancy.
Bess and Vanessa pretended not to notice, and Bess remarked, "I know. I always wondered why they never got tog-" Her eyes widened, and she stopped. "I'm so sorry, Callie! I didn't mean that!"
Callie smiled weakly. "It's okay. Can I tell you two a secret?"
The two girls nodded and leaned in.
"I've wondered about that myself." Callie confided. "Sometimes…sometimes I'm just like, why me? Like, Frank and Nancy make more sense… But then I think about how he's Frank and I've known him forever and I love him." she finished in a rush. Then she frowned. "And then I'm angry at him for flirting with her and making me doubt our relationship."
Vanessa snorted. "Come on, Frank doesn't flirt half as much as Joe does!"
"But we all know Joe's not serious about those other girls." Callie explained. "Frank…well, he's different. He doesn't usually do that sort of thing-"
"Except with Nancy." Vanessa finished.
"Except with Nancy." Callie agreed, grimacing as she said the name. "Sorry." she said to Bess. "I know she's your friend and all, but…"
"I understand." Bess interrupted. "I actually think Ned feels the same way about Frank."
Callie laughed, but then turned serious. "Guys, about what you saw in my room yesterday? Me and Ned? That was nothing." she said uncomfortably.
Bess was almost blinded by the flash of inspiration she had then. Taking the plunge, she said, "We know. But what if no one else knew?"
"Knew what?" Callie asked.
"What we know!" Bess said. "In simpler terms, what if Nancy and Frank were jealous of you and Ned?"
Callie looked surprised, and Vanessa looked appreciative, like she wanted to applaud. "I see what you're saying!" said Vanessa. "If you and Ned started acting all 'friendly', Frank could get a taste of his own medicine!"
Callie laughed and shook her head. "That's terrible!" Then she stopped. "Do you think it would work?"
Vanessa and Bess exchanged triumphant glances: she was hooked! "It could work…" they said together.
Callie bit her lip. "Do you think Ned would go along with it?"
Bess smiled slyly, remembering finding Callie in Ned's arms last night. "I think he would if you asked him." she said.
Ned pondered Callie's proposition. "Do you think it would work?" he asked skeptically.
Callie laughed. "That's what I said. What I thought, I mean." She remembered how Bess and Vanessa had told her to pretend it was her own idea. The fewer people who knew about it, the better, they'd said. "But what's the harm?" she asked optimistically.
Ned smiled at her warmly. "Why not?" he said, offering her his arm. "You ready to hit the beach?"
Callie looped her arm through his. "You bet!"
Joe leaned back in his chair as Callie and Ned made their way down the beach toward them. Apparently Bess's plan had worked, because the pair was deep in conversation. Ned was talking animatedly while Callie was laughing at whatever he was saying, her hand resting innocently on his arm.
Joe raised his eyebrows and looked for reactions from his companions. Nancy and Vanessa were chatting earnestly while they listened to the radio, and Bess and George were arguing over Bess's so-called "obsession" with the lifeguard. None of the girls batted an eye at Callie and Ned; they didn't even seem to notice their presence.
Frank glanced up at his girlfriend momentarily, looked surprised for a moment, and then turned back to his book. Interesting, Joe thought. Well, Frank was always the even-tempered one. Joe took a double take at the book. Why was he reading about physics on vacation? Joe settled back and closed his eyes. Actually, that was Frank all over.
Joe furrowed his brow. He hoped Bess knew what she was doing; he would hate to see his brother get hurt.
"Come on, Vanessa! Let's see!" Nancy said encouragingly. She was sitting on the bed in the room she shared with Vanessa and Callie.
Vanessa stepped out of the bathroom in a clingy, scarlet, above-the-knee dress that complimented her blond hair and slim figure perfectly. She grinned at Nancy and did a spin.
Nancy clapped. "It's gorgeous!" she assured her friend.
"Thanks!" Vanessa said. "Yours is, too." Nancy was wearing turquoise, and her skirt was a bit longer than Vanessa's.
Vanessa sighed. "I'm glad we get to go dancing before I have to go." Vanessa had promised to spend a few days with her aunt while she was in South Carolina. "I'm not really looking forward to it." she confessed. "She's my aunt and I love her and all, but her neighborhood scares me."
"Yeah?" Nancy asked. "What's wrong with it?"
"It's just super-creepy." Vanessa told her. "Everything is all dirty and run-down. It isn't the sort of place you'd walk alone at night, if you know what I mean."
"I know." Nancy said. Her work had taken her to a lot of those places. "Why doesn't she move?"
Vanessa bit her lip. "Well, she doesn't like to talk about it, but I suspect it's because her husband died there. She has emotional ties to it or something."
"Oh." Nancy said softly. "That's a shame."
"Yes." Vanessa agreed. "Especially since it means I have to sleep on the forty-year-old couch-bed!" she joked, attempting to lighten the mood.
A knock on the door made both girls jump. "You ready?" Joe's voice called from the other side of the door.
"Yes." They answered in unison, opening the door.
"Looking good, Van!" Joe said, giving her a kiss.
Nancy instinctively looked around for Ned and was surprised to see him walking ahead, next to Callie. What was that about? she wondered.
"You look nice, Nan." said a voice from behind her. Nancy turned to see Frank smiling at her. She smiled back, and neither her nor Frank noticed the secret smile Vanessa and Joe shared.
"Are you sure you have to leave now?" Joe complained as he walked Vanessa to her car. "It's only ten."
"I stayed later than I should have." Vanessa told him. "Aunt Rachel only lives forty minutes from here, but I'd rather not be out there by myself too late. It's a bad place, Joe." she said, kissing him.
"Be careful." Joe said. Vanessa knew he was being entirely serious.
"I will." she assured him.
"I don't want to have to come rescue you." Joe teased, kissing her again.
Vanessa laughed and pushed him away. "See you in three days." she said, climbing into the navy blue Taurus she had driven down from New York. Her car was one of her weaknesses. She loved it, she was proud of it, and she wasn't ashamed to admit it. She grinned and waved to her boyfriend as he made a mournful face at her.
Joe waved back and watched her speed away, the navy fading to black in the darkness.
It was midnight when the group left the nightclub, but everyone was still too hyped up to sleep. They talked and laughed all the way back to the Casa Verde. Nancy, however couldn't concentrate on the conversation. She needed to be alone.
As soon as she could, she slipped away from her friends and went down to the beach. Taking off her shoes, she carried them as she walked down to the ocean. Taking advantage of the calming atmosphere, she ruminated on the interesting events of that evening.
Nancy was sitting at a table, chatting and eating with her friends. Eventually, some music started playing and Joe and Vanessa peeled away from the group to go dance. Bess had found a dance partner too, but that was to be expected, Nancy thought wryly. Suddenly, Callie stood up, grabbing Ned by the sleeve.
"Nancy, do you mind if I borrow Ned for a while?"
Nancy was surprised, but she said, "Sure, go ahead." She was looking at Ned, but he was looking at Callie. Nancy couldn't help feeling a little jilted as the pair left the table and started to dance.
Sneaking a glance at Frank, she noticed that he was watching them too. But not jealously. With…amusement?
Nancy cocked her head as she thought. She had danced with Ned maybe once all night. Why was Callie monopolizing him? Were they planning something?
She shook her head. Maybe she was paranoid. Maybe she was overreacting.
Or, maybe not.
She sighed, scooping up a rock and tossing it into the waves. What really bothered her was that Ned and Callie's flirting didn't bother her as much as it should. Sure, she was upset by Ned's sudden desertion of her, and she was angry that Callie could take advantage of someone as great as Frank…
All of the sudden, she knew what they were up to. Then, suddenly, a rock sailed past her, splashing into the water. Nancy whirled around to see Frank. He gave her the slow sort of grin that always made her shiver.
"Hi." he said quietly.
Nancy raised an eyebrow. "Throwing rocks at me, Hardy?"
Frank chuckled softly as her came closer to her. "Nah. If I'd wanted to hit you I would've."
"Mmm-hm." Nancy teased, acting skeptical.
"Is something wrong, Nan?" Frank asked as he stopped in front of her.
"No." Nancy replied. "I just needed to think."
"Oh." Frank said. "Mind my company?"
"Never." Nancy told him. And she meant it. "Do you want to walk?"
Frank nodded and the pair began to wander along the shoreline. Casting surreptitious glances at him, Nancy wondered how she managed to get herself into these sorts of romantic, alone-with-Frank situations. Sure, nothing ever happened, but that didn't mean, Nancy thought guiltily, that she didn't want them to. Ned, she thought, but she couldn't seem to concentrate on him.
Finally, she knew she had to break the silence. "Did you notice-" She blinked at Frank for a moment before she realized he'd spoken at the same time.
"Sorry." Frank said. "You first."
Nancy cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Did you notice how weird Callie and Ned were acting earlier?"
Frank grinned down at her. "I was just going to ask you that." He leaned closer to her and her pulse quickened. "Have you figured out what they're doing?" he asked confidentially, as if someone were listening to them.
"They're trying to make us jealous." Nancy said slowly.
"That's what I think, too." Frank said, still grinning. Then, in all seriousness, he asked, "The question is, is it working?"
Nancy's eyes widened. Why was he asking her this? "I don't know." she confessed. "I guess I'm feeling a little jilted, but at the same time, I can't help thinking how they're acting so…"
"Juvenile?" Frank supplied.
"Exactly!" Nancy exclaimed. They both laughed, the tension broken. Nancy only now realized that they had stopped walking.
"We should go back." Frank whispered.
Nancy nodded, not trusting herself to speak. They walked back the way they had come in a comfortable silence. Nancy frowned. Were her eyes playing tricks on her? A figure seemed to materialize out of the darkness, shouting and waving its arms.
"Joe?" Frank said, running toward the figure.
Nancy followed him and realized that it was Joe, and he looked worried, almost frantic. "What's wrong?" she cried.
"It's Vanessa." Joe said desolately. "She's missing!"
A/N: There you go! Didn't I tell you there was a mystery? Anyway, please review!