Author's note: Thanks so much for reading and responding! I've actually finished this story...I think there's 27 or 28 chapters and I'm rewriting as I post the chapters on here. It may take a bit longer for the next chapters to be posted...they need almost completely rewritten. I'm working on it now and hopefully it won't be too long before the next chapter! I still own nothing of the show Once and Again and I don't own any part of the song "someday We'll Know" but I love both and both inspire me to write! Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoy!!
Someday we'll know
Why I wasn't meant for you
yeah yeah yeah yeah...
"Hi! Anyone home? Oh hey, everyone's here!" Rick, Jake and Geoff stepped through the kitchen door and saw five sets of eyes glaring back at them. Two sets of eyes were noticeably missing and Rick was hoping Geoff didn't notice too quickly. "Can you believe this storm? It seems to be getting worse as the day goes on. Any severe storm watches or anything?"
Geoff needed to know. "Where's Grace? Is she upstairs sleeping? Lily, do you know?" His eyes darted around the room and he realized there was something wrong. 'Grace isn't here. Mr. rebel-without-a-cause-or-a-brain doesn't seem to be here either. Okay, after these looks of pity from everyone here, they're together. But why?' He knew the reason couldn't be good for him.
Lily took a deep breath and answered Geoff. "No, Grace isn't here. She and Eli had to run a few errands for tonight. I asked Eli to help her because I didn't want her alone in the storm. How was breakfast? What took you men so long? What's in the bags?" Lily took a few steps toward Geoff.
Rick put his arms around his wife and said, "Oh no, not so fast! You are not going to see what is in those packages. It is none of your business. Well, not today of course. Tomorrow maybe but not today." Rick knew what she was doing. He knew she simply wanted to get Geoff's mind away from Grace long enough for someone to come up with a logical reason why Eli and Grace were alone together when any one of the five other people in the house could have gone with Grace. He also knew Geoff understood what Lily was doing as well and hoped he would let it go.
"Well, if Grace isn't here I guess I should go ahead and make my way back home to get ready for tonight and tomorrow. It's hard to believe tomorrow I'll be a married man." Geoff didn't want to end things there however. He was too smart and hated the fact they tried to pull so much over on him.
He took a deep breath to gather his thoughts and continued. "I have to say thank you to all of you. You've all been so kind to me and have opened your hearts and your home to me since the first time Grace introduced us. She is the woman she is because of all of you and I have to say thank you. Thank you for molding the woman I love, my wife-to-be, my best friend and confidant. Thank you for making my life better by allowing your daughter to spend the rest of her life with me." Geoff walked toward Jake and shook his hand, turned, and gave Lily a hug.
He said another thank you, shared some more hugs and handshakes, and said "Thank you for breakfast and I'll see all of you later" and walked out the door. Well, I hope that makes them think about whatever they may be doing. Geoff looked down the driveway and then walked to the front of the house to see if he could see Eli's car. He knew Grace's car was gone and realized that Eli's was gone as well. 'Well, well, well. So either Grace left first and Eli went after her, or Eli left first and Grace felt the need to follow. Where could they be? Errands. No, they aren't running errands. They could have come up with a better lie than that. Eli and Grace. Karen was here. Are they at her house? They would be alone there. No one would interrupt them. Well, no one other than me. Do I want to see what they may be doing? She's my fiancee Eli. You wont have her. She doesn't want you and you being here has simply confused her. Grace and I are meant to be. Geoff got in his car and tried to remember the way to Karen's house. Should I go?' He started his car and watched the house get smaller in his rearview mirror as he made a decision that would change his life forever.
Jake summed it up perfectly with a few choice words he muttered as the door shut and the phone rang.
"Hello? Hi Tiffany. Your husband was just cursing but I'm sure he can stop to speak to you." Rick handed Jake the phone with a chuckle. "It's your wife and yes, you had every right to say that. I would have said it if I found myself able to speak."
Jake went to the living room to talk as Rick looked around the room at the stunned faces of his family. "Geoff's really good isn't he? He figured everything out while we were at the mall. He may have even figured it out at the restaurant because he made us walk all over the mall twice and got a present at the first store we were in."
"He knows? He knows about Grace?" Judy was shocked. "How could he know there was something wrong? He can't possibly know there is anything between Eli and Grace can he? I suppose he could, considering Grace has been acting so off since Eli arrived. This is going to be even worse on Grace isn't it?" Judy was worried for her neice. 'She'd fought her feelings for Eli so many years and now everything could crash down around her.'
Rick was perplexed. "I don't know if he knows everything Judy. He was acting very strange while we were shopping and with that statement just now...well, I think that was a beautifully executed guilt trip. He's got to know something is up. We've known him two years now and Jake and I interrogate him today like it was our first meeting. We were the stupid ones. Okay, so which one of us will call Grace and E? Anyone want to interrupt them?" Rick looked around the room waiting for a volunteer that never seemed to appear.
"Rick, I'm not sure they're inside the house. They were in the backyard and not even this rain could make the two of them move. I doubt Eli would think to check for messages. Eventually, they'll find their way inside and Grace is smart, she'll call here. She wouldn't come back here not knowing where Geoff might be." Karen wanted desperately to help figure everything out, but she was as lost as the rest of the family in the room. Her eyes stopped on a set of determined eyes full of fire. To Karen's surprise those eyes belonged to Zoe. 'What is she thinking? Zoe with a plan?' "Okay Zoe, what is buzzing around in that mind of yours?"
"Look, why are we standing around here moping like it was the end of the world now that the big jerk knows? Okay, so he's smart and figured it out. Hooray for him. Do we know he's not on his way somewhere to find Grace instead of going home like he'd said? How long would he have to prepare himself for tonight and tomorrow anyway? He knows where Karen lives. He knows Eli and Grace are together. Geoff will want to find Grace before he's lost her forever to Eli. Come on, he saw Eli this morning in his boxers in Grace's bed while Grace was standing right there with him and she had to have had some sort of reaction. So, I think the smart thing would be for Jess and I to get the lovebirds or at least warn them. We wont interrupt anything because I know my sister well enough to know she wont jump into bed with Eli, even though she's wanted to jump him for years."
Zoe looked around the room and noticed the shocked looks on each face. "Oh, would you stop looking at me like I've grown another head? How old am I? Have you forgotten I've grown up? You will always think of me as little Zoe wont you? I know all about these things. No, there's no need to worry and I'm not getting into that discussion until Eli and Grace are living their happily ever after story. Anyway, Jessie lets go. Let's find your brother and my sister and tell them the idiot is on the prowl. Mom, we'll be home soon." With that, Zoe hugged her mother, gave her father a kiss on the cheek, put on her raincoat and walked out the door. She was on a mission and nothing would stop her. Love was in the air and if she didn't have love in her life now, at least everyone else should and she would do everything in her power to see to it.
Jessie giggled, grabbed her raincoat and an umbrella and said, "Well, I guess I'll be going now. I wont let her hurt herself. The woman has found a mission and a purpose in life and who am I to stand in her way? Scary thing is that she's reminding me of Eli and how he is at times. Determined. Stays quiet until he can't take it anymore and then lets it all out with these brilliant statements you never thought would escape his mouth. And so much more intelligent than we ever give him credit for. Eli and Zoe alike. That is too strange. Don't worry moms and dads, we'll be careful. I know, bad storm, but we're big girls now and we will be okay. You need to take care of everything here. Shouldn't the rest of the family be arriving soon? They'll need an explanation. If we don't get back in time with Grace, it looks like all of you will have a very important job. Bye!" Jessie walked out the door to join Zoe in the car.
Jessie put the key in the ignition and turned to Zoe. "Okay, miss thing, where did that come from? Who are you? You are not the same Zoe I've known all these years. What have you done with my sister?" Jessie giggled, started the car and began the drive to her mom's house.
"I have no idea. Maybe Eli finally bringing that sexy butt of his home after all this time inspired me and made me even more determined to get the two of them together. Oh why can't everyone stop looking at me like I've gone insane when I say something like that? I have grown up and you need to get over it. The only child left is wild little Phillip. Oh, wait, who's picking him up? Knowing mom she'll have him spend the night again tonight at his friend's house. That could be a good idea though. Wild man shouldn't be around all that chaos. He causes enough chaos all on his own. He's a cutie though. Almost as though he were the best of all of us ya know? A beautiful mix of Sammlers and Mannings...or I guess I should say Brooks. Considering Daddy had nothing to do with creating wild man. Speaking of creating...I hope we don't interrupt anything. Oh, that is something I do not want to see...ever." Zoe gazed out the window as the rain splattered against it. Lightning flashed across the sky and Zoe felt a chill run down her spine. 'That's not a good sign.'
"Zoe Manning, don't ever say anything like that to me again. First off, I do not want to look at my brother again after hearing you say he's got a sexy butt. I never actually thought he had much of a butt. I guess it's improved over the years. Oh god, why am I discussing my brother's butt? And second of all, to think of E and Grace where you're thinkin they'll be and what they'll be doing is just not an image I want to live with okay. Almost as bad as thinking of Dad and Lily doing it. Great, now I've got these awful images and chills because of them."
"Okay, so should we ride by the house to see if the big jerk's car is there and then if its not, ride around a while and go back? I really don't want to interrupt them. And I'm certainly not going to sit downstairs if they're upstairs. Oh, or they could be downstairs because they couldn't wait. Oh that is disgusting. I don't want to know. We'll drive by and then drive around. How does that sound?" Jessie glanced over at her little sister and burst into laughter when she saw the look on Zoe's face. "See, you don't want to see any of that any more than I do. We'll drive by and go get some hot chocolate, okay? Good." She didn't want to ask and take the conversation farther into the gutter but in her mind Jess was wondering how long they would have to wait before actually going into her mom's house to warn them.