Apology

Con smiles warmly at Misty and shakes his head. "It's fine. I bet something last minute happened at the restaurant." He was a bit more worried than hungry though. It wasn't like Carson to be more than five minutes late...

Ten minutes later, Carson's car pulls into the driveway...

"Honey, I'm home!" Carson slides through the front door, carrying a grocery sack. He immediately spots Misty, Con and Jamie in the living room and his wide smile turns rather crooked. "I am soooo sorry, guys." He kicks off his sneakers and sheds his jacket. "Got out of the restaurant later than I wanted, then I got stuck behind a car accident on the way to the store. By the time I got there, I was already late but I couldn't call 'cause my cell phone had died." He rolls his eyes and heads to the kitchen, still talking over his shoulder. "Then on the way here, would you believe I'd forgotten about the accident so I took that route here and wound up waiting again? I think I left my brain at Mom and Pop's."

Putting the soda pop on the counter, Carson sees that supper had been held, and his gut twists a little. "Holy cow, you guys must be starving. I'm hungry and I haven't been sitting here smelling supper for the last hour."


"Juice, I got." Axel nods and sets about pouring them both glasses of juice. Joining her at the table, he cocks his head and just looks across at her for several moments before reaching over to take her hand and pray for the meal.

Conversation was light while they ate. Axel keeps the topic mostly on Jess and how she was and what she was doing at work. He suggested going to the lake for a picnic over the weekend, or going to a concert - where he wasn't needed as part of the band.

Once the meal was over, Axel clears a few of the dishes but doesn't leave the kitchen. Instead, he turns off the overhead light so just the light above the sink is on, leaving the room in a soft glow. The music was still playing softly, and Axel goes to Jess, holding out his hands. Grinning, he pulls her close to him and sways gently to the music. With his hand around her waist, his eyes gaze down into hers.

"Thanks for coming over." His voice was quiet and just as gentle as the music. "I thought maybe you'd turn me down since I haven't been around much this week."


Trey's mention of the party makes Pete's eyebrows rise. He was certainly surprised at that. He would have been relieved if he would have gotten back to TJY without a fight - Trey's lack of temper was much more than he'd hoped for.

Before he can answer though, he hears Trey's final comment, and it reminds him just where this young man really was - in a pretty tough spot, as far as trust and family and friends were concerned. And that... was why Pete had not informed Reese of what had happened.

Reaching TJY and finding a free parking space, Pete shuts off the car and finally turns to look at Trey, setting his sunglasses on his head. A smile curls his lips. "Don't expect to figure out the trust thing overnight... I still haven't gotten there completely and I've been working on it for years." He gives a short chuckle. "As far as the party goes... yeah... yeah, I think I'll come. You won't be the only one not drinking though - I got an early morning tomorrow."

Giving Trey's arm a friendly light punch, he opens his door. "Come on. If you want, I got some paperwork I could use some help with unless you'd rather go down to the dungeon."