The next morning, Jenna sat out on the balcony with a mug of warm tea, staring out over the valley floor below. The dew was still on the furniture outside and she didn’t even notice it saturating her PJs. She was so lost in thought. 

JC watched her from the doorway, while talking on the phone with Lance.

“Was everything ok when you got home last night?”

“We just came home and went to bed. She didn’t talk much on the way home. She hasn’t said much this morning either. I’m watching her now, she’s just sitting on the porch staring into space. Dammit this is supposed to be a happy time. She doesn’t have cancer, but I had to go and fuck all that up.” 

“You meant well, C.  You didn’t know.” 

“Now I wish I hadn’t had that idea.”

“It will happen, C. When you least expect it.” Lance said, trying to reassure his friend. 

“Did the piano make it to the house yet?” 

“The Nord? Yes. It got here yesterday while she was sleeping. I set it up in the study last night after she went to bed. Thanks for helping me get a hold of it.  She is gonna love having a place of her own  in the house to make music.” 

“Now you have two studios in your house. Sounds like heaven for you.”

“It’s not exactly a studio. But, she could record there if she wanted.”

“I’m sure you both will.”

“Nope.  This is all for her,” he said as he saw her get up from her perch and come into the house. 

“I gotta go. She’s coming in now.”

“Good luck, man. Let me know how it goes,”  Lance smiled, as he ended the call.

Jenna closed the door behind her, she broke into a slow grin upon seeing him in the kitchen sitting at the island drinking his morning coffee. 

“You ok?” he asked, as she walked up to him and  straight into his arms. 

She nodded her head yes against his chest. He looked down into her violet colored eyes, and could see the lingering sadness. 

He took her hand in his and said, “Come on. I have something for you.”  He smiled as she looked at him questioningly. 

“What’s going on, Josh?” she asked, as he pulled her down the hallway in the direction of the study. 

The door was closed, which was weird. And it had a large multi colored bow on the door. 

“Joshua Scott Chasez, what did you do?” she asked, smiling, actually feeling happy for the first time in a while. 

“Why don’t you open the door and find out.”  A slow grin spread across his face. Not giving her a clue of what was waiting for her on the other side. 

“Not even a hint?” She said, going over to the door.

“NOPE. Now open the door.”  He giggled as he watched her open the door. He watched the look on her face change to that of complete shock when the room flooded with light.

The grand piano was moved over in front of the window, and in its place was a keyboard. 

It was a Nord electric piano that had been set up, along with a small  desk with a couple of monitors set up with what looked like a new PC set up. A stool was set up and a mic with a stand was set up over the piano.  It looked like a smaller version of His studio downstairs.  Her eyes were huge.

“Well, do you like it?” he asked.

“You did this all for me?” she stammered.

“Yeah, I figured that you needed your own space to do your thing.  And the things that you don’t know about the software I can show you. But, you love to play and sing. This gives you a place to do that.” He smiled.

She hugged him tightly, and burst into tears. “Thank you.”

“I’m taking that as a yes that you like it,” he said, not sure how to read her. He hugged her back. 

“I love it, Josh. No one ever cared about this side of me before. Not like you do.  It was always doing this or that. Never encouraging me to pursue my other passions. Even if I was good at or not.”

“That has no place in this house. This is all yours. You can do whatever you want here.” He smiled, Thanking God that she liked his surprise.

She jumped up and down squealing in excitement as she went over to the piano. She sat down and JC handed her a pair of headphones that were hooked up to the piano.  She sat down on the stool behind the piano, and stretched her fingers out over the keys. 

This is all mine, all for me from Josh...

No one had ever done anything like this for her before. She looked up at him and the tears came yet again. “Thank you.””

“It was all worth it for that smile on your face. I’ll leave you to it,” he said, kissing her on top of the head before he walked to the door. He stood there watching her for a few minutes. She was like a kid in a candy store as she turned on the piano and played around with the settings. 

She shrieked with glee and he smiled and shut the door behind him. 

***

There was a knock on the front door, and Bronson bellowed hello to the stranger on the other side of the door. JC came down the stairs and to the front doors.

“Oh hush, Bron. It’s just Justin.”

He opened the door and saw Justin standing there on the other side.  He dropped to one knee, and gave Bronson a good scratch.” Hey man. How is everything? I heard about last night.”

Justin stood and, and came into the house, closing the door behind him.

“News travels fast.”

“I talked to Lance a little while ago. Is she ok?” he asked JC again.

“I don’t know, man. Violet called her Mama  last night, and she just fell apart. She cried herself to sleep last night.” 

“I’m sure it will happen soon enough. You two should enjoy each other for now. “ 

“Looks like that is what we will be doing.” JC said, sighing.

Justin’s ears perked up when he heard the piano coming from the study.

“Who is that?”Justin asked.

“Jenna. She plays when she is sad. Or when she is happy. I’m not sure what she is right now. But, it is an outlet for her. So I set up the study as a small studio just for her,” JC answered, as he watched Justin walk to the doorway that Jenna had opened. He stood there in the doorway, and watched Jenna play. She was completely oblivious to her surroundings, her eyes closed as she began to sing.

Strumming my pain with his fingers

Singing my life with his words

Killing me softly with his words

Killing me softly with his song

Killing me softly with his songs

Telling my whole life with his words

Killing me softly with his song. 

She set up a beat, and began bobbing her head and singing the song, moving her head and shoulders to the rhythm of the music that pulsed through her fingers.

I heard he sang a good song

I heard he had a style

And so I went to see him 

And listen for a while

And there he was this young boy

A stranger to my eyes

Strumming my pain with his fingers

Singing my life with his words

Killing me softly with his song 

I felt all flushed with fever

Embarrassed by the crowd

I felt he found my letters and read

Each one out loud.

I prayed he would finish

But he just kept right on

Strumming my pain with his fingers

Singing my life with his words

Killing me softly with his words

Killing me softly with his song

Justin and JC stood there in the doorway, watching her sing and play. Justin bobbed his head to the beat of the music. She all of a sudden felt like she was being watched and opened her eyes, seeing them looking at her she stopped playing abruptly.

“Don’t stop on my account, Jenna. That was amazing,” Justin said, JC beaming proudly. Justin walked into the room, JC moving into the room behind him.

“Do you mind?” Justin asked Jenna.

She shook her head, and put her headphones on their rack beside the piano and let him have the stool she had just been sitting on. He put on the headphones and started to play around on the piano, then began playing the song, much the same way she had played it herself. She caught herself moving to the music. JC moved the mic stand in front of her and handed her another set of headphones. He sat down at the computer and began to mess around with the system. 

“Alright, let's go,” JC said, and Justin began playing the song again on the piano, much the same way that Jenna had, and she sang into the mic.  Justin added his own vocals here and there. After a few minutes, the song was done. JC sat there, smiling like a fool.

Justin stood and said, “Jenna, that was amazing.” 

“Only amazing because you were on it,” she mumbled, sitting there in awe of what had just transpired. She had just put down a track with Justin Timberlake, in her house, in her studio. She could not shake the feeling that she was still just dreaming all of this was real, and she would wake up someday. Her body began to shake. Justin looked at her with concern.

“Jenna, are you OK?” he asked.

“Yes. Just nerves. Sorry,” she smiled, and JC stood from his chair and pulled her up into his arms, where she rested her head on his chest for a moment.  Then she turned in his embrace to face Justin. “It’s not everyday that Justin comes to your house and does a song with you.”

Justin looked amused by this comment and said, “Actually, I’m here to help C with something in his studio,” he quipped. 

“I meant me,” she said, her face turning red. 

“It’s not everyday that I get the honor of playing or singing with someone who has the talent that you have, Jenna. It’s like a breath of fresh air. Thank you.” Justin replied. 

“Thank you, Justin. But, I’m not that good,” she said, hanging her head.

“Whoever told you that bullshit needs to be taken out behind the shed and shot. Jenna, you have a natural gift. Most people can sing, but not like you.” 

She was dumbstruck by Justin’s words. They echoed what JC had been telling her for weeks now. Were they right? Was everyone else wrong? She chose to believe the people closest to her, that knew what talent looked like.

“Thank you, Justin. That means alot coming from you. And from Josh, too,” she said, as the tears she had tried to keep at bay betrayed her and began to flow down her cheeks.  “Excuse me,”  she said, running out of the room and up the stairs to their bedroom, slamming the door closed behind  her. 

They came out of the study behind her, and JC hung his head, Shaking it back and forth.

“I’m sorry I upset her. “ Justin said, feeling bad that he had been the one who made her cry.

“ No. It’s not you. She does not take compliments well at all. Or people in general telling her that she is good at something that so many people over the years told her she was wasting her time on,” JC sighed.

“Anyone with ears can hear, can tell that she has exceptional talent. Who in the hell would do that to her, and tell her she is bad? Let me guess, her mom?”  Justin sputtered.

“Her dad didn’t help. They wanted her to get a degree in something that she could support herself with. Or support her boyfriend at the time. So they pushed her to get a teaching degree. Told her not to waste her time on music or singing. So she double majored in  teaching and in music. She has credentials to teach music, but she loves general ed more. So she just plays at home.” 

“Does her mom know about the test results?” 

“Yeah, she hasn’t spoken to her since Thursday night. When she told her that she was having the surgery, her Mom went off the deep end. She forbade her from having the surgery and said it was all my doing.”

“What the hell is this woman’s problem? Isn't Jenna 39? She is a grown ass woman that can make her own decisions.”

“That’s what I told her. I also told her that if she could not respect her daughter’s wishes that they would only be receiving text messages on her progress. I’m not gonna have her stressing Jenna out. She has enough on her plate to deal with as it is,” JC said, grabbing a beer out  of the fridge and offering one to Justin, which he gladly took. They both cracked their beers and sat down on stools at the kitchen island. 

“So, Sarah is still trying to run the show?”

“She is trying her best to, But not getting anywhere. Jenna gave me and Kelly power of attorney while she was in the hospital and that is killing her soul. I can't imagine being like that to a child of mine. “

“Because you would never raise a child to believe that they were less than, C. Just to make yourself feel better. You are a better person than that.”

“She is too. She has been so wounded by these people. I just want her to understand that she is as good as we think she is. But, she doesn’t believe it.”

“I think that she does, C. Or at least she is starting to,” Justin replied, taking a swig of his beer.  “Are you ready to get started on your project?”

JC smiled, and said, “Sure am. Let’s go.”

They disappeared into the studio .

***

Jenna was laying on their bed with her eyes closed  to the rest of the world. Her phone started to ring. She opened her eyes and looked at the screen. A slow smile spread across her face.  It was Michael. 

“ Hey,” she said, still sniffing, answering his facetime call.

He frowned when he saw her red eyes.

“Well, I can see that you aren’t ok.  I just called to check up on you,” he said, sitting down on the couch in his living room.

“Someone wants to say hi,” he said, and Violet crawled up into his lap and popped onto the screen.

“HI.” Violet waved at Jenna on the screen and this brought happy tears to Jenna’s eyes.

“ Hi Vi. How’s my sweet girl?” Jenna asked.  Violet squealed with glee and then she was gone, down and out of her daddy’s lap. 

“And there she goes,”  Michael laughed. “I swear we need bells on them both. Or some kind of alarm system. Some kind of kid tracker for the house.”

Jenna laughed out loud at that idea. That made Michael smile.  “There now, that’s what I wanted to see. That smile. Are you ok? Really?”

“I think so. I just have been a lot more teary lately. Maybe it’s that time of the month or something. I don’t know.”

“Have you gotten sick anymore?”

“No. Thank GOD. That sucked,” she said, sitting up in bed, leaning against the headboard. “Josh turned his study into a studio for me. So I can play and record whenever I want. “

 “I know. Lance helped him get the piano. He told me all about it.”

“I just recorded my first song in it as well.  With Justin on it too,” she said, still not able to believe what had happened earlier.

“Really?

“Yeah. He heard me playing the piano in the study. Then he took over playing and it sort of turned into this jam session and Josh recorded it.”

“I bet it sounds great.”

“They both said that I’m a good singer. “

“That’s because you are a great singer, Jenna. The only person that doesn't know that is you.” Michael grinned. 

“I just….” She felt a new torrent of tears threaten to start. 

“You Just what?” 

“I don’t know what to feel.”

“Feel blessed, that you are surrounded with people that love you as much as JC does, Jenna.  There are no people like the people in your past here now.  Time to move forward. Don’t look back.” He tried to encourage her. She grinned, and sighed.

“Thank you, Michael. You always know what to say to make me feel better.”

Now he was misty eyed.  “You’re welcome. I’m only telling you what I see. What everyone that knows you already knows. That you are a beautiful soul with a heart for people. That makes the best brownies this side of the Mississippi.”

They both laughed.

“Thank you,” she said, and sat up on the side of the bed. “Well, I guess I should go see what Josh and Justin are up to.”

“With those two, there’s no telling,” Michael laughed. 

*******

She went downstairs and saw the light on the outside of the door of the studio. She could swear that she heard Josh’s voice. He was singing.  She almost melted into the floor right there. She walked up to the door, and put her head against it. She was right, he was singing. Her soul was damn near purified right then and there. 

She turned and walked back upstairs, and went back into her study and put her headphones on.

She began to play the piano again.

***

Justin sat in the booth grinning from ear to ear listening to his brother sing again. Stevie Wonder’s I Wish was playing and he was vibing to it.

Looking back on when I was a little 

Nappy headed boy

Then my only worry was

For Christmas what would be my toy

Even though sometimes 

Would not get a thing

We were happy with the joy that 

Day would bring.

Sneaking out the backdoor 

To hang out with those

Hoodlum friends of mine

Greeted at the back door

With boy thought I told you

Not to go outside

Trying your best to bring that water to your eye

Thinkin it would stop her from whooping your behind,

I wish those days could come back once more

Why did those days ever have to go?

I wish those days could could come back once more

Why did those days ever have to go

 Cause I love them so.

“I think that’s it,” Justin grinned after the music faded.

“You sure? I thought that the bridge into the second verse was a little flat,” JC said, coming out of the booth and into the control room.

“It’s perfect C.” Justin shook his head no.  “I have been doing this as long as you have, C. This is about as perfect of a take as it gets. 

“You really think so?”

“I know so. It’s like riding a bike. You never forget.”

Being behind the mic felt incredible.  He had forgotten just how much he enjoyed singing. He has not smiled this much in days.

Justin’s phone rang, and he answered it.  He spoke to the person on the other end for several moments. JC assumed it was Jess. Then he hung up.

“Hey man. I’m sorry I have to cut this short. That was Jess. I need to go get Silas from a friend's house. Jess has Phin out with her mom and I forgot I was supposed to go get him.”

“No problem man, Thank you for coming all the way out here and helping me out.”