By ten o'clock that morning, Brewster's was filled with its usual morning crowd. An older gentleman sat in the corner at a table by the window reading the Grayson Daily Post, three women sat at the couches in the back drinking coffee and gossiping about a recent bridal shower they'd been to in which the bride and her mother-in-law to be had gotten into a fight, and a mother sat working on her computer while her ten-year-old son played a game on her iPad. It was quiet for the most part, so James had let Kaylie and Hunter take a ten-minute break to go in the back office. Madison was helping James restock pastries, while Norah Jones played quietly on Pandora. 

"OMG! OMG OMG!" Kaylie's voice rang out in what sounded like panic from the back.  The man reading his newspaper looked up and over at the counter. The gossiping ladies stopped talking and the mom and her son looked up from their computers. James and Madison immediately looked at each other and then over towards Kaylie. James had gotten used to the fact that Kaylie usually overreacted and was quite the drama queen. There had been an instance last week where she was freaking out because a dress she'd gotten in Atlanta from H&M was worn by another one of her friends. "I thought I was going to be the only one in Grayson with that dress!" she'd moaned. "And now stupid Ashley Harrison had to go and get the same one when she went to Jacksonville!"

"I really hope this isn't another dress issue," James muttered to Madison as they went to the door leading to the back office.

Hunter and Kaylie were on the internet and Hunter was rolling his eyes at her. "She found out some stupid dance show was canceled today," Hunter told James and Madison. "Don't worry, it's not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal?! It's a huge deal! I loved America's Best Dance Crew!" Kaylie gasped. 

"Kaylie, it's on Twitter. You don't know if it's true or not," Hunter sighed and stood from the office chair he'd been leaning back in. Hunter was the even-keeled guy friend every girl wanted in high school. He wasn't the guy the girls dated, he was the one they went to for guy advice. From what James knew from Madison and Kaylie, he was quite popular, but didn't date much. He played basketball and was a big fan of Georgia Tech, always sporting a cap with GT embroidered on the front. James was lax about him wearing it to work as long as the rest of him looked kept.

"Um, hello, it was tweeted by Lil Mama! She's a judge on the show. She's gonna know!" Kaylie snapped at him. She flipped her blonde ponytail behind her and stood to her feet, following Hunter towards the door where Madison and James were standing.

"Drama Queen," Hunter said under his breath, and James bit her tongue to keep from laughing at them. Typical teenagers.

"Kaylie, I'm sorry your show got canceled," James told her, "But maybe next time keep your voice down."

"I'm sorry, James," Kaylie apologized. "I swear, it just caught me off guard is all."

"Why don't you and Hunter start getting the sandwich stuff ready while Madison and I finish putting out the rest of the danishes," James told her. 

"Ok, yeah," Kaylie followed James over to the refrigerator below the espresso machine. 

James went back to the pastry shelf and it suddenly hit her which show Kaylie was talking about. Chad's cousin Josh was a judge on that show. She certainly didn't want to tell Kaylie that she'd once met a judge from there back when he was famous for something else. From what she'd just seen, Kaylie might go into cardiac arrest and demand an autograph or something. 

Just then, the bell on the front door chimed and Chad walked in, dressed to the nines as always and on the phone on what could only be a business call.

Chad was a successful interior designer and did work all over Georgia and north Florida. He'd made his first million two years before designing the interior of Paula Deen's newest restaurant and with that he'd bought the house he and James and Sutton were sharing.  Chad liked living in Grayson because it was an easy commute and he'd never been fond of big cities. His interior design firm was in a loft building across the street from Brewster's and he was a familiar face in the coffee shop throughout the day.

"Yes, perfect. I'll schedule a trip next weekend then. I'll bring all of my books and catalogs. Oh, I'm sure we're going to work together fine. Uh huh. Wonderful. Talk then. Good-bye," Chad hung up and walked over to the counter. "Good morning, Madison. Could you fix me a double foam latte with a teensy pump of vanilla?"

"Sure thing," Madison smiled at Chad and went to work at the espresso machine.

"Hi doll," he looked over at James. "Busy day?" He leaned against the counter, taking off his black rimmed glasses and cleaning them. 

"Not too crazy, but good," James replied. "You?"

Chad went around the counter, helping himself to a cinnamon bun. "Just got a job up in Atlanta. A guy who owns a pub in Buckhead wants it revamped and heard about me from Paula," he bit into the cinnamon bun and wiped his mouth. "I'm wondering if Lane'll want to go with me. Is that too soon? It's too soon, right?" Chad was always second guessing himself when it came to relationships and what was considered too soon and too fast and too slow and especially too desperate.

"You can just ask him if he wants to go to Atlanta," James said, wiping down the counter with a wet cloth. She tucked a piece of brown hair behind her ear and looked up at Chad. "It's not like you're asking him to marry you. It's a weekend trip. Not that big of a deal. And it's for work so you can tell him you have to go for work and if he wants to come he can."

"You're so good at this stuff," Chad sighed and came from behind the counter as Madison handed him his drink. His phone buzzed. "Oh, just a minute. It's Josh." He tapped his phone on and then said, "What up Cousin C? Oh my gosh you're kidding me! For what reason?" 

James already knew what Josh was telling Chad, thanks to Kaylie's meltdown a few minutes before. She tried not to eavesdrop but Chad was standing next to her and it was hard not to.

"Well, that blows. Of course you can! Yes, yes, do not worry about a thing. You stay as long as you want. I'll let James know," Chad bit into his cinnamon bun again. "Hm? Jealous? Why would Lane be jealous? Oh, no, James is a girl!" James chuckled at that. She blamed her father who had been scared to death he'd never have a son for christening her with such a masculine name. She'd gotten used to people always thinking she was a boy before they'd met her and confusing a lot of teachers when they read their roster the first day of school. Now, it was just amusing. "You met her before. Yes, you did. Oh, I don't remember. Back at a concert of yours or something. Well, anyway, yes you did but whatever, it's fine. Flying into Savannah at eleven-thirty tonight. Got it. I'll be there. See you then." 

"Let me guess, Josh is coming to visit," James said before Chad could get a word out. "And he's coming because his show just got canceled."
"How the hell did you-" Chad started.

"I work with teenagers, one of which is obsessed with that show and was devastated reading on Twitter that it was done," James replied, grinning at Chad.

"Oh, damn, well don't tell her he's in town. I'm sure he's going to just want some down time. He'll be in late tonight and doesn't know how long he'll stay," Chad whispered, noticing that Kaylie had in fact turned her attention towards their conversation. He cleared his throat. "Ok, so, what time will you be home tonight?"

"Lesly comes in at two and takes over for me. I'm picking up Sutton from ballet at two-thirty and I'll be home then," James said, flicking off a piece of lint from her shirt. Lesly Parsons was the assistant manger of Brewster's and usually worked the later manager shift so that James could be home with Sutton. "By the way, was she ok getting up this morning? She fought me going to bed last night."

"Oh, little diva was fine," Chad mused. "She was up before me already in her ballet outfit. Which by the way, you might want to get her a black leotard next time because the kid looks like a walking bottle of Pepto Bismol with all that pink. Anyway, dropped her at your mom's at eight and reminded your mom about ballet at one."

"What would I do without you?" James smiled at Chad. "Thanks. And I'll keep that in mind for her leotard, but I'm just following her ballet teacher's orders."

Chad was on his way out the door by then, "Ok. Just want our little diva to be stylish is all. I'll see you at home tonight."

"See you," James waved and went to help Kaylie and Hunter.

"Um, James," Kaylie said softly.

"Yes?" James spread mayo on a kaiser roll and then placed a large helping of roast beef on top.

"Um, I heard what you said to Chad. About his cousin's show getting canceled. And his cousin's name is Josh and I know JC Chasez on America's Best Dance Crew's real name is Josh and um, well, is that...I mean, is he...like, I mean-"
Hunter cut her off. "What she's trying to ask you is if JC is coming to town,"

"Shut up, Hunter!" Kaylie hissed. She looked at James. "I mean, is he?"
James winked at Kaylie, "I guess you'll have to wait and see."

LAX
JC hated waiting in airport lines. He should've been used to it by this many years, but he still loathed it. Even worse were the security lines. And they were always dreadful at LAX. He was listening to Coldplay on his iPod while he waited, thinking about his upcoming getaway. He'd locked up his house, given the maid an advance salary for the next month, and called a few of his friends to let them know he'd be out of town for a little bit. They didn't ask where he was going nor did he tell. He was just going and he had needed to leave a long time ago. This was a vacation he'd been craving for almost a year.

The lines started moving unusually fast and when he went through security, they didn't give him a pat down unlike the last few times he'd had to pass through. Before he knew it, he was sitting at his gate,  watching people come off the flight that had just landed. Just a connection in Dallas and then onto Atlanta until he would land in Savannah at 11:30. He'd already planned on sleeping in as late as possible Saturday morning. Nothing to get up for. No one to call about a music project, at least not now. No, he was going to rest and be with his cousin and live life in a small town, something he'd never done. He pictured himself writing lyrics in a cafe on Main Street or relaxing by the pool at Chad's new house or taking a day trip to a nearby city. He wasn't going to have a routine, at least for the first week. He was going to sleep and eat good southern food and gather his thoughts for the next month or so. 

"Flight 2001 with non-stop service to Dallas, now boarding starting with our business class members," came a voice over the intercom. JC stood and took his ticket out of his back pocket, showing it to the flight attendant who was checking people in. 

"Have a nice flight, sir," she said, as JC took his ticket, nodded at her, and then walked down the walkway towards the plane. He found his seat and immediately ordered a gin and tonic before the plane took off. Vacation was starting. Now.