Somewhere Over the Rainbow

A Black and White World

Aisling leaned against the window of the SUV, watching as the countryside passed by. In the front seat, her two cousins were busy arguing over music, though she wasn't sure why. It wasn't like they were going to be on the road long enough. It took less than 10 minutes to drive from the rural airstrip to the country house that her parents built, located just outside the small town of Chandler, Oklahoma.

Toto, her golden lab, lifted her head from where she was lying in the seat next to her, intrigued by the argument. While she in no way resembled the tiny pup from the movie, Aisling had been obsessed with it as a child. Then the new book and musical as a young adult. When she adopted the lab three years ago, there was no doubt in her mind what the pup would be named.

Looking over at her cousins, Aisling laughed softly as she reached out and petted Toto's head. Despite their looks, Tiernan and Liam Hughes were essentially night and day. As the oldest, Tiernan was always rather serious and responsible, learning from a young age how to perfect his poker face which helped in his work. His brilliant blue eyes, tall frame, always perfectly styled dark-brown hair and melt-worthy smile (at least according to Aisling's friends), made him into one of the most eligible bachelors in New York City. And well, his fat bank account probably didn't hurt either.

Liam on the other hand, was always smiling. Always teasing. Always laughing. Always had a twinkle in his blue eyes. He didn't take life quite as seriously as Tiernan (much to Tiernan's chagrin), though he was brilliant with numbers and finance - something you wouldn't tell by meeting him. He had the same dark hair, though his was a mop of unruly curls that were constantly falling into his eyes. Now that Aisling thought about it, the two were nearly always No. 1 or No. 2 in the eligible bachelor rankings, depending. Though Liam was most definitely more of a flirt and ladies' man.

And that left Aisling, the youngest Hughes, only girl, and odd one out. While Tiernan and Liam took after their father and her uncle, she had taken after her mother's side with long and wavy auburn hair, pale freckled skin, though she had the so-called Hughes baby blues. Where they were tall and lean, she was much more compact, though managed to keep in somewhat shape despite her busy work schedule.

It had been just the three of them for the last 13 years, after the death of Tiernan and Liam's father, who had taken in Aisling when her own parents died when she was just 10. When she thought about it, this was probably the real reason Tiernan was so serious and stern - at 23, he had been forced to not only take over the family hotel empire, but become the legal guardian for a 16-year-old Aisling and authority figure for an 18-year-old Liam. Not an easy task in the slightest. But, in a way, it had brought them all closer.

A closeness that they still shared today though they were all well into adulthood.

"You do NOT appreciate music, man!" Liam shouted, a wry smile on his face as he looked over at Tiernan in the driver's seat.

"I appreciate music, you just don't know what good music is," Tiernan replied in a more measured tone. Aisling snorted and turned to look back out the window at the countryside.

"See? Ash agrees with me," Liam said triumphantly.

"No, you're both idiots," Aisling replied with a grin, though she remained looking out the window. Toto gave a soft woof as if to agree.

"Yea, but we all know that I'm your favorite idiot," Liam proclaimed.

"You do realize that you're calling yourself an idiot, right?" Tiernan asked. Aisling looked back to the front of the car, taking in Liam's lazy grin as he laughed.

"Someone's got to be the family idiot. Might as well be me," he replied. Aisling just shook her head though sat up as the house came into view.

Tiernan slowed the car down and then pulled into the long driveway, the gravel crunching under the wheels as the car made its way down.