It took several days, and the guys must have made a thousand phone calls apiece, but their big plan would prove well worth the time and effort. Lance was right about needing Sheri’s sister and mother to truly pull this off, and both women rose to the occasion magnificently. Tami once told Joey gleefully over the phone, “So far, so good; Sheri doesn’t suspect a thing!”

And Ann couldn’t contain her emotions as she said, “This will mean the whole world to my baby girl.”

On the day of their grand scheme, JC and Chris went on ahead, and Joey, Justin and Lance used their special van to shuttle Sheri and her family. When the drive lasted well over an hour, Sheri had to ask, “Where are we going, anyway?”

“That’s for us to know and for you to find out when we get there,” Justin said, grinning shrewdly at the girl’s reflection in the rearview mirror.

Joey, who sat next to Justin, turned his face toward Sheri as he informed her, “Don’t want the surprise to end prematurely, do we?”

She insisted, “If you tell me, I’ll still act surprised.”

Lance shook his head and mimed zipping his lip. “Sorry, sweetie, but every occupant of this vehicle is sworn to secrecy.”

“Including you?” Sheri asked her family.

Her mom just smiled, and Tami held up both hands with a don’t-look-at-me expression on her face.

Joey said, “In the words of Willy Wonka, ‘Patience, patience, little dear. Everything has to be in order.’”

Sheri stuck out her lower lip and crossed both arms over her skimpy chest with a loud, “Hmmph!” But, of course, Joey knew she wasn’t the least bit angry. He could see it in her eyes, in the smile that broke onto her face in five seconds. Even now, that smile never lost its charm, by any degree; it would be one of the things about her he would remember best.

Sheri’s expression soon became one of wide-eyed, openmouthed wonder as a magnificent seashore came into view. Sparkling white sand and the majestic blue-gray ocean spread in either direction for as far as the eye could see. Several gulls could be spotted flying together in a broad circle. Justin pulled up in front of an elegant, state-of-the-art beach house, with bright wooden siding and enormous glass panels. The expansive windows provided the perfect view of the ocean, and a colorful flagstone path led up to the front door.

Even after the engine was cut, it was a full minute or so before Sheri could speak, and then the girl could hardly sputter, “What is this?”

“This is all yours, Sheri Cooper,” Joey proudly announced. “For two whole weeks!”

“All for me?”

“And your mom, and your sister, too,” Justin said. “Of course, we could never leave them out.”

“Are you sure it’s big enough?” Tami asked.

“To accommodate all of us,” said Lance with an impish wink, “if you don’t mind our company.”

“Do you like it, Sher?” Joey asked, already knowing the answer.

“Like it? I love it!” Sheri swiped futilely at her eyes. “Oh, you guys, I…I don’t know what to say!”

Lance gave her shoulder an amiable squeeze. “You don’t have to say anything, sweetie. I think we get the picture.”

“You said you wanted to see the ocean, up close and personal,” said Joey. “So we decided to make it as up close and personal as possible.”

“I’d almost forgotten how beautiful the ocean is,” Ann said as she gazed dreamily out her window. “So few of God’s creations can compare.”

“It is gorgeous,” said Tami with a sigh. “None of the pictures I’ve seen come anywhere close to this.”

At length, Joey unbuckled his seatbelt and said, “Well, ladies, shall we proceed?”

Sheri countered, “Heck, if it wasn’t for this wheelchair, I’d be out of this car faster than you can fire a bullet!”

They all laughed, but they still took their sweet time getting to the door, partly because Sheri wanted to look at the ocean for as long as she could; Joey wouldn’t have been at all surprised if she’d spent the rest of that day—or the rest of that week—watching the waves, and he wouldn’t have blamed her, either. Sure, he’d seen the ocean plenty of times and admired it as well as anyone. But here, now, it took on a new, almost hallowed meaning.

With Sheri by his side, with everything that had transpired these last few months, it was like he was experiencing everything he’d grown so used to seeing, hearing, and having around for the very first time.

No sooner had they gotten through the door than a chorus of voices rang out, “SURPRISE!”

Sheri just about hit the ceiling.

The entire living room, which was already stunning by itself, was gorgeously (but not garishly) decorated, and there to greet her were Chris, JC, and at least fifteen other people. Not just any people, either, but Sheri’s old friends. Two or three stood off to the side, looking like they would really rather not be there, but the majority of the crowd appeared genuinely thrilled to see Sheri. They swarmed around her like bees around a flower, taking turns hugging her, touching her, and gushing about how good it was to see her and how long it had been. Tears mingled with the laughter, Sheri’s face all but glowed even as she bawled her eyes out, and Joey felt thoroughly satisfied.

He took one look at his four mates as they stood by, and knew what they were all thinking: “Mission accomplished!”

The days passed quickly, one day blending into another like the hues of a sunset. Joey grew quite fond of Sheri’s buddies, a few of whom had known her since first grade. One pretty, dark-haired girl, by name of Caitlin Rentmeister, wore the old rainbow-beaded bracelet Sheri had made for her when they were kids. Sheri once told her, “I can’t believe you still have that old thing after all this time.”

Caitlin only smiled and fingered the plastic beads like a rosary as she answered, “I just never found the heart to throw it away.”

At another point, Bryan Pearman, a tall, lanky young man with wavy brown hair and square glasses, shared half a package of Twinkies with Sheri. “To pay you back for sharing your Twinkies with me,” he said with a wink.

“Gee, Bryan, it was only a Twinkie from the fourth grade.”

“And I never forgot it. Heck, I can still taste that roast beef sandwich you split with me, too. Your mom always made the best sandwiches.”

“Her mom should totally go into the food industry,” Joey couldn’t resist putting in.

“I’ll vouch for Ann’s culinary talent, too,” said Lance.

Ann said nothing, but her face was like an overripe strawberry, even as a smile reached from ear to ear.

Some of Sheri’s friends stayed only for a day, others a few days. Joey wasn’t surprised that those who were the least enthusiastic about being here were the first to leave; he didn’t want to judge them unfairly, but they still put a painful knot in his stomach and a sour taste in his mouth. A couple of them seemed to genuinely regret having to go, and Joey knew that they truly would have stayed longer if they could.

However, more than half of the gang stayed for the entire two weeks, including Bryan and Caitlin, and Sheri was never seen without one or two companions besides her family. Some of the people certainly took advantage of spending exclusive time with the members of *NSYNC.

Indoors, they watched a good number of movies, all Sheri’s favorites. She was a huge fan of Disney and old westerns, and she would watch pretty much any movie featuring Marilyn Monroe or Johnny Depp.

They also played frequent rounds of cards and board games. Sheri proved a champion at Scrabble and Old Maid, and she wiped the floor with all five *NSYNC guys in checkers. Even when she and Chris played ten rounds of checkers in a row, she trounced him every time, and only Tami could rival her sister’s victorious streak.

Sometimes they held singing and dancing competitions, for the pure fun of it. Some of Sheri’s mates could dole out some impressive notes and decent steps, while others were so terrible that Joey had to enjoy them anyway. Joey’s mates were an especial hit with their renditions of famous numbers from old musicals, including “Singin’ in the Rain,” “You’re the One That I Want,” “My Little Buttercup,” and “Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army.”

Outdoors (and the weather cooperated with them ninety-nine percent of the time), Sheri relaxed on the silky sand in the shade of a big umbrella, and Ann, Joey, and a couple of others took turns staying with her while everyone else swam, snorkeled, and walked and played on the beach.

At all times, there was all the food they could eat, and a host of fascinating stories. More than once, the entire group stayed up as late as three in the morning, talking and laughing their heads off. Joey learned an incredible deal about Sheri and what she was like in her younger years; he learned of things she’d said and done that he would never have suspected her capable of, and yet the stories cracked him up anyway.

One of his favorites was about the time Sheri and Tami ate lunch at a popular burger joint with Caitlin and another guy named Dean Fisher, an attractive African-American with a buzz cut. Dean had bet Sheri twenty-five dollars she couldn’t finish her lunch (two double cheeseburgers, a heap of fries, and a whopping ice cream dessert they called “the kitchen sink challenge”), and when it looked like Sheri might win the bet, Dean changed it to fifty dollars, plus the tab for everyone else, if Sheri could eat everything in five minutes or less.

“So what happened?” asked Justin.

“Let me guess,” said Joey. “Sheri came out on top.”

“Bingo,” said Sheri. “I got a free lunch, and I came home with fifty bucks in my pocket and the stomachache of a lifetime.”

“Oh, no!” Lance exclaimed, laughing.

“Where she managed to put it all remains a mystery to this day,” said Tami. “I’m telling you, I don’t think I could have handled that kitchen sink challenge, and I was usually the one who ate the most!”

Ann added, “When the girls got home, Sheri all but passed out on the living room floor and stayed there for three hours straight. She didn’t even get up for dinner, and I can’t say I felt too sympathetic.”

“And how did you feel about it, Dean?” JC asked.

Dean responded with a shrug, “I’m over it now, obviously. But, man, was I a sore loser then. I was supposed to use those fifty bucks to take another girl out later that night, and we ended up watching football at her place and eating microwaved popcorn.”

“Nothing wrong with a date like that,” said Chris.

“Sure, but it was at least a week before Sheri was back on speaking terms with me. And you can bet that was the last bet I ever made with her.”

“For that matter,” Caitlin put in, “we all learned never to place bets with Sheri Cooper, because she’d win. I don’t know how she did it, but that’s the way it went, nine times out of ten!”

Sheri only smiled cheekily and rejoined, “Not everyone has the gift, Caitlin.”