HDA - Where Troubles Melt by Cherylann Rivers Introduction

About ten minutes later, a smiling Frank Hardy left his room, intent on going to see his girlfriend. He wasn’t expecting, however, to see his brother standing outside his door on his way down the stairs.

"Yes?" Frank inquired, eager to begin to evening out. "Can I help you with something, Joe? I’m running a little late here."

Joe took a deep breath. This was definitely an awkward situation. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard! Frank wanted to buy Callie a ring? He was only eighteen, and he was going to college. He wasn’t ready to get married! What on earth was he thinking? He wanted desperately to ask his brother exactly what was going on, but he couldn’t very well do that since he was, after all, intruding on Frank’s privacy. So, he did exactly what he did NOT want to do. He did nothing. He stared at his brother, and no he could utter no words. He felt totally stumped.

"Um, Joe? Look, I don’t know what’s with you tonight. I rarely ever see you at a loss for words! I have to go. I’ll be back with Callie later and by then, maybe, the great gift of speech will come to you. Now, move, kiddo!" He bounded down the stairs, and Joe just shook his head in disbelief as he stared after him.

Frank arrived at Callie’s less than fifteen minutes later. As he pulled into the familiar driveway, a wave of sadness came over him. How long would it be, after this summer, before he could see Callie again? For the past four years, she had been an integral part of his life. Whenever he needed someone, other than Joe, Callie was the one constant in his life. She really was much more than a girlfriend to him. She was his best friend.

That was why he wanted to do something special for her. Although Frank tried to push the thought to the back of his mind, he was very aware of the possibility that Callie might, in fact, go to college far away from him. And, as resolute as he had been with his brother about being able to make a long-distance relationship work, he really was worried about it. He couldn’t imagine his life without Callie, but he wasn’t naïve enough to think that it would be easy to stay together if they were separated.

With that idea in mind, he decided that if he couldn’t ensure a totally secure future with Callie, he could at least solidify his past with her. Since he was lucky enough to earn substantial scholarships to college, he had a decent amount of money to play with that his parents had given him. That, along with his earnings from investigations, put him in a pretty decent financial situation. Frank decided to get Callie a really beautiful piece of jewelry to let her know how he felt and how much their four years together had meant to him. He had gone back and forth deciding what, exactly, to get her, and had finally decided on a ring. Callie had always loved rubies; she used to joke with him that she should have been born in July since the stone always "called to her." Finally, Frank had the opportunity to get her a ruby ring, and he was excited about surprising her with it. Tony Prito, one of his good friends and a fellow graduate, knew all about Frank’s idea, and they were planning on going tomorrow to choose a ring from one of the nicest jewelry stores in Bayport, Yeats Jewelers. No price was too high to make her smile one last time before they left for college. He planned to make this a summer to remember and then, in August, right before school started, he’d surprise her. He couldn’t wait.

Callie opened the door before Frank even had a chance to knock.

"Hey, honey! Don’t you look handsome tonight?!" she said, and stepped out to give him a hug.

Frank returned her hug, and gave her a quick kiss in greeting. As she stepped back, Frank was again hit with a wave of sadness. She looked so beautiful with her soft brown eyes and long, golden-blonde hair. And that smile- she was always smiling, no matter how bad things got. What would he do without her?

It took him a minute, but at last he answered her. "Well, Shaw, you don’t look too bad yourself!" he quipped.

"We made it!" Callie exclaimed happily, and gave him a sign for a high-five.

Frank laughed and slapped her hand in return. "Yeah, we sure did!" He gave her an impulsive hug, and then took her hand, where they went in to see her parents.

"So what’s the plan for tonight?" Callie asked. "I mean, we are the official grads! This upcoming weekend should be so much fun! Phil’s having a party, and so is Liz, and…"

"Hey!" Frank joked, cutting her off. "I thought I might spend some time alone with you in the midst of all these parties you have planned!"

"Oh- of course we will, silly! Sorry if I overbooked us."

"That’s okay, Callie. Whatever you want to do…"

"Of course! That’s how it should be!" she joked back.

Frank rolled his eyes. "Yes, ma’am! Anyway, I thought that, after dinner, we’d head over to my house for a little while. I think my mom feels a little slighted that I’m ignoring her on graduation day. She has some big dessert planned or something. Is that okay?"

"Sure! Dessert is always good!" Callie said with a smile.

"Speaking of which, how are you feeling? Are you getting your appetite back? I know you’ve been a little under the weather." Frank decided to broach the subject, since he had been concerned about Callie’s health, but hadn’t wanted to make the situation worse by asking her too much about it. He knew that her parents had been on her case about her weight loss, and he wasn’t about to add to her agitation.

Frank noticed that her grin fell immediately. "Oh. Yeah. I… I think I need to talk to you about something in a little while. Later. Okay?" She looked upset.

"Is everything okay?" Frank questioned her, concerned.

"Sure- yeah. I mean, it will be." Callie tried to perk up. "Frank? Let’s just have a nice night together. Come on." She squeezed his hand. "We’ve earned it."

Frank looked at her doubtfully, but agreed, for her sake. "As long as you tell me later what it is, Callie."

She met his eyes. "I will."

Frank and Callie enjoyed a wonderful meal at a fine restaurant and a nice evening out with her parents, with whom Frank had always gotten along very well. Afterwards, they headed back to the Hardys.

At dinner, everyone joked around and laughed. Everyone, that is, except for Joe Hardy. He tried to mask his shock, but every time he looked at his brother, he couldn’t believe that he would be getting married. And Callie? Well, if she knew, she wasn’t letting on. Joe had to say SOMETHING to Frank, and soon.

"You okay Joe?" Frank asked, laughing at something Callie had just said.

"Huh? Ah, yes. I guess I just zoned out for a second."

Frank laughed again. He said, "That’s probably because you ate the three pieces of pecan pie that mom made and it’s clouding your mind! A sugar rush, maybe?"

Joe had to grin at that. "Yeah! Speaking of which- mom? Do you have any more? YUM!"

Laura Hardy shook her head in amazement. "Where do you put it all Joseph? One day your metabolism will catch up to you and then you’ll regret this!"

"Mom," Joe replied, feigning hurt. "Can’t you see that I’m fighting my battle with anorexia? I'm just- well, winning it!"

Callie cracked up at that. "You are a success story, Joe!"

Joe would have made a comment back to Callie about weight when he caught himself. Vanessa had told him to never, ever joke with a woman about her weight, even if he was just teasing. He had made that mistake once with Vanessa, and he wound up paying dearly for it. It had cost him three flower deliveries in one week, two dinners, and a nice necklace. That had set him back about two months in his Play station game collection! More than that, though, he noticed that Callie had barely touched her dessert, and he made a mental note to tell Frank to check on her to make sure everything was all right. He loved to bicker with Callie, but he liked her, too. She had proven herself to be a loyal and good friend, and once you were on Joe Hardy’s good side, you generally stayed there. Generally.

Finally, Frank got up. "Okay, guys. I’m taking Callie home now. I’ll be back- um, later." Frank had been about to announce a prompt return when he remembered that he had to speak with Callie. With a quick wave, he and Callie headed out the door.

At her house, in the driveway outside of the car, Callie leaned up to give him a kiss. "’Night!" she said softly. "Thanks for everything."

"Um, Callie?" Frank asked. "Aren’t you forgetting something?"

She looked innocently at him. "Happy graduation?"

"No," Frank replied, a little more sternly than he had intended to. "You said that you were going to tell me what’s been bothering you. What’s up? I’m not leaving until you tell me."

Callie leaned back against the car, and fought back the lump in her throat. No, she hadn’t forgotten to talk to Frank. She had purposefully tried to avoid it. Callie blinked back tears as she fought the tightness that was beginning to form in her chest. Frank, seeing her sudden change in mood, immediately reached out for her, and hugged her gently against him. "What’s wrong?" he asked, quietly. "Why won’t you tell me?"

Callie pulled back from him, and met his eyes. She had to do this, and she had to hold herself together, for his sake. Taking a deep breath, she managed to find her voice. "Frank? What I have to tell you isn’t easy. It’s..." She struggled for words. "It’s really difficult actually. I’ll make it simple, though."

Frank, concern etched in his deep brown eyes, said only "Go on" as he continued to clasp her hand.

"You know how I’ve been sick lately? How I’ve been really tired, and I’ve lost weight, and I’ve gotten those terrible migraines a lot?"

"Yes." Frank bit his lip.

"Well, a few weeks ago, when we were in Florida on your last case, I got really sick, and I went to the hospital to get checked out. The doctor there… he… he found a mass, a lump, as a result of a routine CAT scan, on the back of my head."

Callie tried to keep her voice from breaking.

Frank felt his heart beat a little faster. "What? What are you saying?"

Callie swallowed hard, and tried not to tremble. She knew she was losing the battle when she looked into Frank’s eyes and saw the fear there. Taking a moment to collect her thoughts, she knew she had to protect him, but she also had to be honest.

"Frank," she began, noticing the quivering in her voice, but trying to control it. "The doctor says that mass could be benign, but based on my symptoms, it could also be…" She paused, finding her inner strength. "Cancer."

Frank felt his heart drop. His moth fell open, but he closed it with an audible snap. This couldn’t be happening! Not now, not ever, not to Callie. He wanted to say something to comfort her, but he was trying to deal with the implications of her words at the same time. No words came to him. He looked into her eyes. Why- why wasn’t she falling apart? How could she not cry, scream? He felt himself holding back tears of his own, and tried desperately to be strong for her. He searched for the right words, but Callie pre-empted him.

"Frank?" she said to him, gently touching his face with her hand. "It’ll be okay, no matter what the doctor says." Callie tried to convince herself of her own words. She needed to believe them. She simply had no other choice. "I… I need to make an appointment to get a needle biopsy. That’ll at least give the doctors a starting point. I was planning on going tomorrow. They say the results take about a week. Can you- can you go with me?"

Frank gazed at her. Her eyes held a pleading quality that her voice managed to hide. Fighting back his own emotions, Frank reached out for her and held her tightly. "Of course I’ll go with you. I’ll be with you every step of the way."

Callie, resisting the urge to remain there in the moment, broke free of Frank arms. She met his eyes, and smiled, weakly. "I just have one request."

"Anything you want," Frank replied earnestly.

"Please, PLEASE don’t tell anyone about this. Not even Joe. I need to find out the results first and deal with it before people start asking me a million questions. I... I don’t think I could deal with that. Promise me."

Frank had no choice. "I promise." Suddenly, the need to get Callie the ring became more important than ever to him. He HAD to do something, anything to make her happier. He made a quick mental note to go out the day after tomorrow with Tony, that upcoming Friday, and get it for her. He knew that concentrating on the ring was the wrong thing to do, but he couldn’t wholly take in Callie’s words- not yet.

"And remember," she said, smiling softly, "It could be benign. Everything will be okay."

Frank, amazed at her strength, forced a smile in return. "That’s right. No need to panic yet. It’ll all work out."

"It’ll be okay," Callie repeated. They both knew the other was lying.

"Don’t tell."

"I won’t."

Callie, took a deep breath and held back tears. "High five?" she asked, drained, weakly holding up her hand.

"High five," Frank replied, gently touching her hand.

He didn’t let go.

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow them without express permission of the authors.