Chapter 8: Ireland
"If you would all kindly follow me to the limo now." Said Mr. Alan opening the hatch door and descending the flight of stairs outside.
"Did he say, limo?" Sage asked Ty.
"Uh, yeah.... my family is kinda well known around here." he said nervously.
There was an all white limo waiting for them on the runway. The driver got out and opened the door for them.
"Wow" Lance said as he got into the limo.
"What does your family do exactly?" he asked Lyla as she slid in next to him.
"Well, we are kind of old money. Our family worked from the railroad for four generations on our father's side. He is the fifth generation. He is one of the ones responsible for creating the first super train. Which is a train that can travel extremely quickly, making transportation a lot easier. We then take the funds from his work and invest them into Free Men though no one knows that." she said settling down in her seat.
"We will be staying at my parents house while we are here." said Ty as he stretched out and put one of his arms over the back of Sage's seat. She blushed. Lance noticed, he wasn't sure why he felt both happy and a little jealous.
"So y'all are filthy rich in other words." said Sage with a smirk.
"Pretty much!" laughed Ty.
"So while we are here, we should totally go on a shopping spree Sage!" said Lyla excitedly.
"I'm down with that, want to come Ty?" Sage asked turning towards him and looking him into his eyes. He smirked.
"Sure, I'll come along if you want me to. Want to come with us Lance? I don't really want to be the only man going on a shopping spree."
"What are you talking about?" Lyla laughed. "You are a model, you go on a shopping spree once a week!"
"Hey, that's not true, it's more like once a month."
Everyone laughed.
"Sure, I'll come." said Lance.
"First, we will get settled at mom and dads, then we can go out tomorrow. It's late tonight and I need some rest." said Lyla with a yawn.
"Sounds good, I could go for a good night of rest. But we should at least walk the grounds tonight and show them around. We just slept most of the plane ride." said Ty
"Sure, but we may not be able to. Who knows how long debriefing will take." said Lyla
"Uh, I hate debriefing." said Ty with a groan.
"Ty, you have been gone for two years. There is a lot to talk about and we are here." Lyla said as they drove through iron gates up a long driveway.
They pulled up to a large estate, it looked like a small castle.
Lance and Sage stared with open mouths at the huge house.
"My parents inherited this place from my grandfather. It's a little much but we like it." said Ty opening the limo door and offering his hand to Sage.
Sage took his hand and stepped out.
"Justin! Lyla!" shouted a man as he ran towards them. He was tall and thin yet muscular like Ty. His hair was dark red and greying in places. He had shockingly blue eyes that seemed to smile at the slightest hint of a laugh. He ran and grabbed Ty in a tight hug lifting him off his feet.
"Oh, Justin, I've missed you so much!" he sobbed into Ty's shirt.
"I missed you too Dad." Ty said gasping for air.
"Oh Lenard, for Gods sack, put the boy down! You're going to throw your back out again." said a very beautiful older woman as she walked gracefully up to the limo. Her hair was almost white and done up in a very tight, neat bun. Her eyes were grey and kind looking though they did not smile the way Lenard's did. She looked composed and proper. She wore a white blouse with grey slacks and black dress shoes. She reminded Lance of Lyla when they had first met.
"Hello, mom." Lyla said as she hugged her mother.
"Lyla, oh, I have missed you. And this must be Lance." she said breaking apart from Lyla and gesturing to Lance who was standing close to her.
"Oh, yes, this is Lance and Sage." Lyla said introducing them.
"Wow, Lance is a handsome young man, isn't he?" she whispered into Lyla's ear rather loudly.
"Mother!" Lyla said blushing.
"Lance and Sage, this is my mother, Molly." Lyla said somewhat embarrassed.
They shook hands.
"It is nice to meet the both of you. Welcome to our home. You all must be tired. Come, let's go in, dinner is waiting. Mr. Alan, see to the luggage please. Lenard, stop strangling Justin and come eat." Molly said as she led them into the house.
The house was huge, with stairs leading in every direction and doors that seemed to pop out of no where. It was beautiful, with it's white marble floors, tall ceilings with hanging crystal chandeliers and dark cherry wood railings. It was all simply breathtaking and overwhelming. They walked into a great dinning room with twelve chairs centered around a large granite table.
"Please, take a seat wherever you like." said Molly as she gestured towards the chairs. "Our two youngest children are already in bed and our oldest is on a mission so it will just be us tonight."
They all sat as the waiters began to serve soup.
"Lyla and Justin, your debrief will be after our meal, for now, I would like to spend this time getting to know Lance and Sage." said Molly as she seated herself and placed her napkin on her lap.
She asked them many questions, everything from how old are you to how many family members do you have, what is you favorite color, are you a cat or dog lover, how did you meet each other. The questions went on and on through all four courses of dinner. She ended her questions with dessert where she asked one final question.
"We know how you came to meet Lyla and how you ended up here but I would like to ask if you don't mind, what you were doing before all of this?" she asked politely as she took a small bite of raspberry cheesecake.
"Well I worked at a coffee shop and that was about it. That's where I met Lyla." said Lance.
"And you dear?" she asked Sage. Sage was looking down at her cheesecake and poking it with her fork but showing no interest in eating it.
"I had just graduated high school and was living with a friend while I saved up to go to Haiti." Lance noticed as Sage said this that her eyes grew wet.
"Haiti? Really! That is fascinating! Why would such a beautiful young lady want to go to such a dangerous country?" Molly said excitedly as she put down her fork and gave her whole attention to Sage.
"It... it's a long story..." Sage said still looking down. This time Ty noticed her eyes.
"Mother I think our guests are tired." Ty said as he stood to his feet.
"I'll show y'all to where you will be sleeping. I'll be back in a moment mother and father, for the debriefing."
"Oh yes, very well dear. We will talk more tomorrow, Lance and Sage it was delightful getting to know you both."
Sage and Lance followed Ty up a flight of stairs and down a long hallway.
"I'm sorry about my mom. She can be a little noisy at times." Ty said as they walked.
"I don't mind, I want to get to know you guys better too." Lance said.
Sage followed behind them looking at the ground.
"Is she okay?" Ty whispered to Lance.
"She will be after a little while. Haiti is a sore subject. But it's not my story to tell, if you want to know, you will have to ask her." Lance whispered, looking back at Sage.
"So this is your room Lance." Ty said as they reached the end of the hall and Ty gestured to a door on the right. "Mr. Alan had our stuff brought up so it should all be in there. We will walk the grounds tomorrow if we get time."
"Okay, well, I will see you guys tomorrow then. Goodnight."
"Goodnight." said Ty.
"Goodnight." Sage said under her breath still not looking up.
"Um, so Sage, your room is down this way." Ty said as he walk down a small hallway on their left.
They came to a door directly at the end of the hallway.
"I think you will like this room. It is my favorite. Do you mind if I come in and show you something?" Ty asked.
"Sure." She shrugged.
Ty opened the door to reveal a small flight of steps. They ascended the steps which led to a large circular room. The walls were a light green color but that's not what you noticed first. First you noticed little tables all about the room with small glass domes in the center of them. Sage walked over to one of these tables and looked into the dome. Inside where little plants growing on what looked like a mini mossy hill. She walked around the room to the other domes. Each held either a small hill like the first that had small plants dotting around it or small bonsai trees or even small orchids. In a small circular room off to the right was a circular bed with dark green flowery bed dressings. To the left of this small room was a door that Sage assumed led to a bathroom.
"Do you like it?" Ty asked. "My siblings and I use to play in here when we were younger, that's the reason there's a swing." He added, pointing at a swing hanging from the rafters that Sage hadn't noticed.
"Lyla and I liked plants as children so my mother let us make these terrariums. Mr Alan takes care of them when we are away. I just thought you might like it." Ty said, blushing slightly and looking away from Sage.
Sage walked over to the swing and sat down on it. Gently swinging back and forth with a small grin on her face.
"I love it, thank you." She said looking into his eyes.
"Oh, here, there is one more thing." He said as he walked over to the bed. He laid down on the bed and pointed up at the ceiling. Sage tentatively walked over and laid down next to him. Above them was a round window that showed the night sky. It was beautiful, dotted with thousands of tiny stars. Sage stared in amazement.
She sat up again and her face fell.
"I heard what you whispered to Lance."
"Oh...Sage, I'm sorry, I just wanted to know if you were alright." Ty said looking ashamed.
"Do you want to know the story?" Sage asked.
"You don't have to tell me, I don't want to pry."
" I don't mind telling you, but it is a long story so maybe tomorrow?"
"Sure, I'd like that." Ty said as he got off the bed and walked over to the stairs.
"I should get back to be debriefed. Well, goodnight Sage."
"Goodnight Ty."
" Since I am home now, you can call me Justin if you want?"
"Oh, okay, goodnight Justin."
He smirked and closed the door.
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