Chapter 196: Chapter 197: Brought to Tears by Fright
Thea Lynch turned her head to look at Julian Zimmerman and said after a while, "You’ve changed, Second Brother."
Julian Zimmerman had even started teasing her and Ian Preston.
Julian Zimmerman smiled in good spirits.
When the two of them arrived in the yard, Silas Cheney had already gotten there first, sitting and fiddling with some colorful lights.
"What are you doing with all this stuff?" Thea Lynch looked at the boxes on the ground and pursed her lips.
"It’s the holidays, just for the atmosphere." Silas Cheney was having a great time pulling a ten-meter line of lights. "I even bought ones for the Spring Festival too."
Thea Lynch: "..."
Soon enough, Silas Cheney called Second Brother over to help.
Thea Lynch sighed and stepped forward, intending to help him.
"Thea, there’s no need for you here. Go to my trunk and help me bring the stuff over."
"The keys are on the table."
Thea Lynch glanced around, picked up the car keys from a nearby stone table, and headed out.
Silas Cheney’s car was parked right at the entrance, just a few steps away. He was driving an SUV today, with a very spacious trunk. Thea Lynch looked at the two large boxes inside and fell into deep thought.
She shouted, "Do you need both of them?!"
"Yes!"
"..."
Thea Lynch silently exhaled and carried the boxes to the Cheney Family yard in two trips.
The boxes were quite heavy and packed tightly, making it so she couldn’t hear anything jingling inside as she walked.
Once she set the items down, Thea Lynch dusted off the coat dirtied by the boxes and prepared to leave.
"Open them and take a look."
Silas Cheney stopped her. Thea Lynch lightly kicked the box on the ground and asked, "What did you buy?"
"You’ll know when you open them. Scissors are right over there." Silas Cheney nodded his chin, pointing to the scissors on the ground not far away.
No matter how close they were, Thea Lynch would never open someone else’s things without permission to pry into their privacy. Unless the person insisted strongly.
She asked again, and after getting permission, she proceeded.
Two minutes later, the box was opened.
Thea Lynch stared at the fireworks inside, and fell into contemplation...
"So, what do you think?" Silas Cheney looked expectant, waiting to see her reaction.
"If I remember correctly, fireworks have been banned in Coronet since before I went abroad, right?"
"Correct." Silas Cheney nodded, "That’s why I bought small ones. We can still go out and play where there’s no one."
Thea Lynch squatted down, removed a few boxes from the top layer, and continued searching underneath.
Sure enough, they were all children’s fireworks, stuffed to the brim.
"Are both boxes filled with these?"
"Mm-hmm." Silas Cheney smiled at her, "Do you like them?"
"These are hard to buy nowadays. I had someone drive overnight to bring them from the south."
Julian Zimmerman took one of the boxes from Thea Lynch, glanced through it, and finally laughed, "I remember Thea used to love playing with these when she was a child."
"Exactly, I remember she once set Third Brother’s clothes on fire."
"..." Thea Lynch suddenly raised her head as if hearing some horror story, "Really? I don’t remember."
Silas said her memory lapse was normal, "You were really young at that time."
Thea Lynch didn’t believe his nonsense, turning to Second Brother with a pleading look.
The latter chuckled, nodded, and said, "You were frightened to tears, and caught a fever that night. It happened during the New Year, on New Year’s Eve."
Thea Lynch: "..."
Reflecting on all the things she did to Ian Preston during her childhood, Thea Lynch now found it quite absurd that Ian Preston still liked her.
No wonder she was so scared of Ian Preston when she was young; it turned out she was in the wrong first.
It was no surprise he wasn’t friendly with her.
If he hadn’t lashed out or cursed at her, it was only because of Aaron Lynch.
"Was Third Brother okay then?"
"He was fine." Julian Zimmerman patted her head, "Only the coat got scorched. But you were quite a problem."
"Ah..." Thea Lynch felt relieved yet unsettled, "What about my brother? He didn’t scold me, did he?"
"How could he; you really scared him that time."
Thea Lynch suddenly realized. Whenever she made a mistake, Aaron Lynch would definitely punish her, even on days like New Year’s Eve.
So, those punishments ensured she’d remember her mistakes vividly even today.
The fact that she had no recollection of this incident probably meant that Aaron Lynch had never settled the score with her.
At ten o’clock, after dinner, Silas Cheney tidied up the yard and drove out with Julian Zimmerman and Thea Lynch.
The three drove to the beach in Westmere.
There weren’t many people around, so Thea Lynch could play freely.
Feeling spooked by the childhood stories Silas Cheney had brought up earlier, Thea Lynch was hesitant to play, fearing she might hurt the others or herself.
In the end, it was Silas Cheney who lit them up and handed them to her.
"Look at your nerves." Silas Cheney stood on the side with his arms crossed, mocking her, "Aren’t you usually fearless?"
"You’re the one who scared me." Thea Lynch silently raised the fireworks in her hand a bit higher.
Nearby, Julian Zimmerman took out his phone to snap a photo of her and post it in the group.
Meanwhile, Ian Preston saw the message and clicked into the group chat.
Staring at the photo for a while, he quietly saved it and typed, "Only one photo?"
Over on the other side, Silas Cheney was still helping Thea Lynch with the fireworks, "Hold it, hold one in each hand."
The two were caught up in the excitement of playing and hadn’t checked their phones.
Only Julian Zimmerman had the time to deal with Ian Preston.
"Just for now," Julian Zimmerman replied, shaking his head with a smile and sent a few more shots to the group for Ian Preston.
The group played until the early morning before heading back, and Thea Lynch checked the group messages on the way.
Besides that, Ian Preston had also sent a private message wishing her a "Happy New Year."
It was perfectly timed.
Thea Lynch quickly replied, and her message was almost instantly answered, "Are you finished?"
"Yeah, we’re on our way back. We’ll likely get home around 1:30."
It was too late, so they decided not to stay at the yard tonight. Second Brother mentioned Sean Bell had landed and asked if they wanted to go over for a late-night snack.
Silas Cheney didn’t mind.
"Thea, are you going to rest?" Second Brother didn’t suggest his own preference first; he asked for Thea Lynch’s opinion.
If he agreed, he worried Thea Lynch might feel bad about turning down the offer.
She had been working overtime a lot recently, so it was uncertain if she could handle it.
"I’m okay either way." Thea Lynch turned off her phone, leaned forward towards the two in the front seat, and asked, "Are we going directly there?"
Silas was still excited, "Then let’s go."
Lately, everyone’s been busy and had few chances to gather, so this holiday was a perfect opportunity.
At three in the morning, Thea Lynch was at Sean Bell’s place, playing cards.
"The little sparrow," she said as she discarded a card, asking, "When are we heading back to the yard tomorrow?"
"Once we’re awake," Silas Cheney was still too hyped to sleep, "We can go back before dinner."
Thea Lynch agreed, picking up the wine glass beside her to moisten her throat.
They all had planned for an all-nighter tonight.
Originally, Thea Lynch didn’t want to agree, but when she saw that even Second Brother, who usually kept a stable routine, didn’t object, she let it go, not wanting to dampen everyone’s spirits.
