hardy boys fan fiction

LOVE COMES SOFTLY

hardy boys nancy drew fan fiction

by

Copagirl

Chapter 4

hardy boys fan fiction

THE CHAPTERS

INTRO

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

The moment that she heard the music to Ozzy Osborne’s tune, I Am Iron Man, Laura Hardy let out a frustrated sigh. Her youngest had forgotten his cell phone again. When she hung up with Frank, Laura noticed that the phone needed to be recharged. It took her almost an hour to find the charger.

“That’s it – tomorrow Joe is cleaning this room and I don’t care if it takes him all day!”

The petite blonde turned around when she heard someone laughing softly, and found her husband standing in the doorway. Placing her hands on her hips, she glared over at him.

“Have I ever told you that you look beautiful when you’re angry?”

One eyebrow shot up as Laura continued to glare at Fenton but soon the corners of her mouth began to twitch.

“Frank may look like you but Joe definitely takes after you!”

“I was never this bad!” Fenton chuckled as he took in Joe’s messy room.

“That’s not what Gertrude told me,” she replied with a smile.

Fenton stepped inside his son’s room and took Laura into his arms.

“Who are you going to believe – my sister or your husband?”

As she gazed into his brown eyes, Laura sighed. Fenton still made her weak in the knees. Her eyes twinkling with glee, Laura smiled up at her husband.

“Considering the mess you left our bathroom in this morning – I’d have to say Gertrude!”

Fenton’s mouth dropped open in shocked silence. Then he started to laugh before he kissed her soundly on the lips.

*****

Fenton and Laura were sitting on the couch watching the eleven o’clock news when there was a knock at the front door.

“Hmm – this can’t be good,” commented Fenton as he got up to see who was at the door.

“It’s too early to be Frank or Joe – maybe it’s Gertrude back early from her trip?”

“And she doesn’t have enough money for the cab,” grunted Fenton.

Fenton was surprised to see his old friend Ezra Collig at the door.

“Ezra, nice to see you – come in.”  Fenton opened the door wider as he moved aside to let the Chief of Police enter.

“Hello Ezra – did you need to speak with Fenton alone?” Laura got up from the couch and smiled at her guest.

“Laura – thank goodness you’re here!” Chief Collig embraced the surprised woman warmly.

“Ezra is there something wrong?” Fenton asked; he knew that his friend was not normally a very affectionate person.

Chief Collig released Laura, the relieved expression on his face suddenly disappearing.  “Are Frank and Joe home?”

“No, they took Callie and Vanessa to the movies.” Fenton answered, an uneasy feeling overcoming him.

“Oh – so they took the van,” sighed Collig with relief.

“No – Joe took Vanessa Bender out on their first date and he borrowed my car.”

Chief Collig could feel his heart sink – there had been two bodies found in the car – what if one of them was Joe or Vanessa?

*****

Joe cried out as a sharp pain shot up his leg when he tried to stand. Vanessa helped him sit back on the hard ground.

“This might be more than a bad sprain, Joe! I think you may have broken your ankle!” Vanessa looked worriedly at him.

“No, I’ll be okay – just give me a minute…”

“Joe, there is no way we’re getting out of here! It’s a steep climb and the ground is uneven! There is no way you can climb out of this ditch!”

Joe sighed, he knew Vanessa was right. Now that his eyes were used to the darkness he could see her clearly, and he saw the worry and concern etched on her face.

“Did I ever tell you how beautiful you look when you’re worried?” Joe gave her his famous mega-watt smile.

Vanessa shook her head as she returned his smile. “You are sooo bad!”

Joe just smiled but then his face turned serious. “You know – you could go up and find help. All you have to do-- ”

“No – I’m not leaving you! I’m staying right here; you’re not getting rid of me that easily!”

“I’d never get rid of you,” Joe said so low that Vanessa wasn’t sure that he really said anything.

“What?” she asked breathlessly.

Joe stared at his swollen ankle; he was glad that it was too dark for Vanessa to see him blushing.

“Um – my ankle is feeling a lot better now – I’m pretty sure I can stand.” He tried it, only to fall back down again in pain.

Joe almost fell on top of Vanessa; she had scrambled up after him when he made his attempt to stand.

“Will you stop being the big hero?!” she scolded him.

Joe grimaced as tried to get comfortable. He placed his arm around her shoulders. Vanessa wrapped her arms around his waist, and laid her head on his shoulder.

They sat quietly, savoring the moment. Joe pulled her closer. He liked the way it felt, holding Vanessa this way. He wished he could hold her even closer.  It felt so right.  He could easily picture spending the rest of his days in Vanessa’s arms. Sitting outside watching their children at play….

An overwhelming feeling of sadness came over him. Thoughts of Iola pushed through. He still missed her. Joe looked up, trying to see the star-lit sky through the leaves. As he thought of Iola, he realized that the ache in his heart wasn’t as intense. Joe caught a glimpse of the sky. One star shone a little more brightly than the others.

The blonde boy smiled as he recalled Iola telling him once that she would always be with him. All he had to do was look up into the sky and find the brightest star – that would be Iola looking down on him.

“See that bright star, Joe – I like to think those are angels looking down on us.” Vanessa let out a sigh as she snuggled closer.

“I think you’re right,” replied Joe quietly, then whispered, ”Thank you, Iola.”

*****

Frank and Callie were leaving the Burger Barn when his cell phone rang. Seeing his home number displayed, he thought that it was Joe calling.

“Hello…”

“Frank, is Joe with you?”

“Dad – no, why?”

“Someone robbed the Food-Mart on Main and Lexington – they were in your mother’s car. Frank – there was a car chase – they ran a red light…”

“Are you trying to tell me Joe was hurt? What about Vanessa – was she hurt too?!”

“We – I don’t know! The clerk at the Food-Mart said two males robbed the store. I’m assuming they stole the car – but I don’t know if Joe or Vanessa were hurt!”

“We’ll find them,” said Frank as he frantically signaled Biff over.

Biff, along with Chet, came running over. Ending the call with his father, Frank quickly explained what happened.

“Tony should be ending his shift at the Pizzeria, I’ll give him a call – I know he’ll want to help.” Biff was dialing as he spoke.

“And don’t even think about taking me home, Frank Hardy! I’m coming with you!”

Frank smiled over at Callie. “Biff you said you saw Joe and Vanessa stopping at the drive-thru. Can you remember which way they went?”

Biff closed his eyes as he tried to visualize seeing Joe drive up.

“Joe was just driving out when the window rolled down and Vanessa leaned out – yelled ‘hello’ and waved – Joe tapped on the horn and then….”

Frank, Callie and Chet waited expectantly for Biff to continue.

“He turned right!! And he kept going straight – I think – yeah, I bet he was heading for the Bluffs!”

“Are you sure?” asked Frank.

“Yeah – I’m fairly sure.”

Frank frowned, he wasn’t sure if he could trust ‘fairly sure’. Seeing the doubt on the older Hardy’s face, Callie gently squeezed his hand.

“That sounds like something Joe would do – he knows how much Vanessa likes looking at the stars and it would be romantic! And you know Joe is a romantic at heart!”

“Okay, let’s go get Tony and head out to the Bluffs.”

Biff and Chet ran back to the car, Frank and Callie got into the van. The four teens then headed to the mall. Tony was outside waiting for them; he jumped into the van and they were soon on their way to the Bluffs.

Let the author know what you think of this story

Home   Library   Authors   Rogue's Gallery   Vehicles   Chums   Message Board  Rap Sheet  Links  Contact

Disclaimer