Eighteen years

"Meh." Eric shakes his head, waving off his sister. "I'm sure the bunkhouse is fine. I don't care if I have to change sheets. As for Dana... I figured she could just stay in one of the guest houses - it's only for a couple days anyway... this time." He gives Dana a sidelong glance as he grins before turning his eyes back to Rosetta again.

"Weather's actually been pretty good. Had some heavy rains a few days ago but nothing we couldn't survive."

Out of nowhere, Dana starts to giggle again. "We had to pull over once and he had to get out in the rain and check a tire on the trailer. By the time he got back in the cab, he looked like a drowned rat."

Eric laughs too and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, well, I guess that was a little adventure in itself."

Mick returns to the table with two steaming bowls of chili, catching just the end of the conversation. "We" seemed to be stated quite often. Interesting. "Okay, here we go..." He sets down the bowls then returns to his seat next to Rosetta.

"Mmm... thanks." Eric takes a bite and sighs with content. "Now that's what I call food."

Dana stares down at her bowl for a moment before taking a timid spoonful. She blinks, then takes a sip of water, clearly surprised at the bit of spice the chili had. "My... you all must have strong tastes."

Eric chuckles and passes her the basket of crackers. "Here, these will help."

Mick watches them for a moment, allowing a pause before joining in the conversation. "So, um... you two... riding together?"

Eric nods. "Yeah, we-"

"Oh my goodness, it's been so fun," Dana breaks in. "I've never been so many places in my life and Eric is such a good driver."

He shrugs, grinning. "Yeah, what she said."

Mick musters up half a smile to be polite. He might as well just ask what he really wanted to. "I hate to ask the obvious, but you two seem to be more than friends."

Eric's smile widens and he slips an arm over Dana's shoulders. "We are," he states proudly. "As a matter of fact, we've gotten..." His eyes look to Dana. "...quite close."

Mick puts another spoonful of chili in his mouth to keep from saying anything regrettable. He just nods and smiles as he chews. "So you've... known each other... I'm sorry, how long did you say?"

"Oh, it's been about two weeks." Eric squints as he figures in his head. "Yeah, that's about right."

"I... I see." Mick nods again, finding proper words harder and harder to come by.

"What?" Eric tilts his head teasingly, his arm still resting around Dana. "Not long enough?"

"Well I..." Mick really didn't have much of an answer for that one. "It's..."

Dana smirks and moves a little closer to Eric, her arm movement now making it quite clear that she was patting his leg. She looks at Mick, seeming to find an awful lot of humor in his stammering. "Not everybody wants to wait eighteen years to make a move."

Mick's eyebrows shoot up, not knowing whether to laugh or be offended. There were an awful lot of extenuating circumstances revolving around why he and Rosetta had not been married until recently.

Eric does laugh, apparently enjoying teasing his brother-in-law. "You have to admit, she got you on that one."

Mick finds it quite difficult to continue smiling, but he does, and even manages a light laugh that he forces out. "Yeah... um, yeah... I guess she did. Sounds like you've told her a lot about us."

"He's told me virtually everything." Dana bats her eyelids. "I feel like I just know everyone here already."

"Ah." Mick doesn't dare look at Rosetta lest he throw her a glance that was too obvious. Taking another bite of chili, he notes that Dana wasn't touching hers after that first taste. Eric was chowing down like normal, seeming completely oblivious to any tension in the air at all. "So how did you two meet?"

"My car broke down," Dana explains. "Silly thing had been on the fritz for practically ages. Finally gave out on me and this very kind, extremely handsome truck driver offered me a lift." She grins and Eric seems to give a quite strange flinch again while concentrating on his food very hard all of a sudden.

"She's in between jobs and a place to live," he ads, gaining back control. "We enjoyed each other's company so much that well..." He shrugs. "We didn't want to stop."

Dana giggles. "We sure didn't. And when he said he was coming back here, I was just dying to come so here I am."

Eric looks to her and grins before leaning over and giving her cheek a kiss. "And here she is." His eyes move back to Rosetta, his grin remaining on his lips while his gaze seems to be searching for what she thought.


Beth's words seemed to help Justin feel a little better. Or maybe it was just the fact that he was finally sharing his burden with someone. Either way, he could tell she genuinely cared, and he was grateful for that.

Her final words make him smile a little and he looks down at his tea. "I suppose there's been some happiness," he admits. "Just not too much of it lately." He had to admit to himself that he was relieved at her response. At least she didn't seem to want to leave now or hold any of this against him.

"I just don't know what to do." Setting his tea aside for now, he turns more sideways and leans his head sideways against the back couch cushions, facing Beth. "I've spent years learning how to help other people, and now when it's me..." He sighs.

The tears that had emerged a few minutes prior were back, but they were stronger this time. Justin couldn't remember the last time he'd cried in anyone's presence and he wasn't about to now. Unfortunately, all it took was a blink for one tear to be released. Swiping at it quickly, he hopes Beth doesn't notice, but the heat rises in his cheeks anyway and he doesn't dare to look at her. "I guess I've got one friend left," he mentions softly.