Worry

Eric is just straightening out a mess of wire and recoiling it when Ashlee approaches. He tenses just a little, still unsure of how to act or what to say, lest something he did be taken the wrong way again. 

Standing and working as Ashlee asks if he's seen her mom, he concentrates on the wire in his hands. But when he looks up to see her face, he notices now the worry in her eyes and he realizes that this was more important than her just casually looking around for her mom. 

Pausing his work, he tips his hat back on his head in thought. "Well..." He glances around, trying to remember the last time he'd seen Stacy. "I thought she headed out early on one of the four-wheelers to check on a camera. At least that's what I heard Mick tell Dan. Coulda been that she had to fix something or it was further down the perimeter than she thought..." 

Starting to coil up more wire, he stops again, feeling badly that Ashlee looked so worried. It bothered him to see her concerned. Taking a piece of twine from his pocket to tie off the wire he already had wound up, he then takes off his gloves and stuffs them in his back pocket. "Come on... let's go see if the four-wheeler is back, okay?" The least he could do was help her out and make her feel better.

Heading for the garage near the barns, he makes sure Ashlee is following. Once there, though, there's still an empty spot where one of the four-wheelers was still gone. "Hmm." A small twinge of worry creeps up on Eric, even though he fought it. Stacy knew good and well how to take care of herself. There was no cause to get worked up. "Well..." He sets his hands on his hips and looks down at Ashlee. "Maybe she came back but just didn't put the four-wheeler away yet." It sounded a bit lame, but it was the best he had. He had no explanation of why Stacy was still gone. "Let's ask a few of the other guys. I'm sure somebody knows something we don't." 

Unfortunately, asking around only led to more questions. No the four-wheeler wasn't anywhere to be found. No, she hadn't planned to be gone more than a couple hours. No, she had not shown up for lunch earlier. No, she hadn't called.

"I hope she didn't run into trouble out there." Mick stands outside the barn and looks down the lane, wondering what could have kept Stacy out so long. There were lots of spots out in the woods and along the foothills that were dead zones as far as cell phones went, so maybe she had a perfectly good reason for still being gone and just hadn't been able to phone back in. They had long-range walkie-talkies, but she hadn't taken one with her. 

Eric frowns, not wanting to come up with any scary theories with Ashlee there. "My guess would be she had to fix a camera or something and it just took longer than she'd thought." 

"Maybe." Mick glances to Ashlee then back up to Eric. "Keep an eye out. If she's not back in another hour, I'll take another four-wheeler out and see what's up, just to be on the safe side." 

"Yeah, okay." As Mick walks away, Eric glances to Ashlee and gives her a small smile. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

...An hour later though, Eric wasn't so sure he'd been right. Stacy still wasn't back. The sky was overcast, and even though there was no rain predicted, it was going to get dark sooner this evening without the sun shining. 

Finished with his small tasks, Eric wanders to the lane once more and looks down towards the woods. Had Stacy really run into trouble? Even if she'd had problems with the four-wheeler, she should have been able to walk back in this amount of time. Unless she'd gotten lost. Eric knew she'd been in the near vicinity a time or two and she'd studied the ranch's map, but it was easy to get turned around out there. And there was also the chance of foul play. Unfortunately, that was always a chance around here. If the Agency wanted to take out the extra set of eyes, Stacy was the right one to target. But would they have gone after her? What if they were responsible for the broken camera and not the wind or an animal? 

A revving engine causes Eric to turn around as Mick rides up on the four-wheeler. "I'm heading out," Mick informs loudly over the sound of the motor. He taps the walkie-talkie on his belt. "I'll let you know what I find out. Sparky's going around the other way." 

"Yeah... okay." Eric waves him on, and watches until he'd disappeared around the bend. With both Mick and Sparky out there, surely they'd find Stacy and everything would be just fine. 

Glancing back to the dining hall where he'd told Ashlee to hang out in case her mom showed up, the twinge of worry returns. His eyes go back to the lane. He hadn't spoken to Stacy for two days and he was still upset with what she'd said to him. Despite that though... if anything happened to her... For some reason, his mind wanders to the couple evenings they'd stargazed from the hayloft. And the twinge of worry grows.

Making up his mind, Eric heads to the barn. Crosstying Static in the aisle, he's saddled up within minutes and back outside. 

"Hey, you taking off too?" Jim looks at him with concern. 

"Yeah, figured I would."

"You're gonna ride with that leg of yours?"

Eric's eyes narrow. "All three of the four-wheelers are out. But even if they weren't, I can still ride."

Jim backs off, knowing that look on Eric's face all too well. "Alright. Just be careful, huh?" 

"I always am." Swinging up into the saddle, Eric steers Static towards the lane at a fast trot.

"Okay, sounds good." Justin stands up and wanders the living room, glancing out the window to check on the dogs. "Um... if you wanna pack a lunch, I won't stop you. You know I'll eat anything of yours." He chuckles. "But if you don't have anything or don't have time, we can stop at the store. I'm good either way." 

Wrapping up the phone call, Justin finally lets her go and hangs up. Sighing, he stares at the silent phone. He was very glad Beth was going to join him on Sunday. And he was looking forward to it. But the thoughts about tomorrow still bugged him.

Jason leans back in his chair with his feet up on his desk, flipping through a file. The day seemed to quiet and he was getting tired. Or maybe it was just the late night he'd had last night. Either way, he wished he could call it in early.

"Jaysh!"

Kaylee's squeal of delight breaks Jason's concentration and he puts his feet down, sitting up straight in surprise. "What on..." Before he can react, Kaylee is by his side, giggling and bouncing with excitement.

A smile creases Jason's lips and he picks her up, giving her a bear hug that makes her squeal all the more. "Kaylee!" Although the warm feelings deep down didn't quite register, he was going to act on them anyway. He knew he had to be excited to see his little sister, so he would act as such. And... it did feel... good, he thought. Setting Kaylee on his lap, he tickles her, making her squirm and laugh.

Cindy stands in the doorway, just watching and smiling. Those two had always had something special. She remembers when Kaylee was just a small baby and she'd found them both so peacefully asleep on the couch. It was an image she would never forget.

Looking up, Jason finally spots his mother and gives her a smile too. "Mom... I didn't expect you so soon."

Cindy enters slowly and shrugs. "I guess I needed a break from the ranch sooner than I thought. Since I booked a room at a hotel, I figured it would be okay if I just showed up."

Jason smirks. "It would be okay any time. You can stay at my place though, if you want, you know."

"I know." Cindy smiles and nods. "I was thinking of a hot tub." In truth, she really did just want some time alone. She knew she was always welcome at her son's house, but it would be nice to just have her own room and relax, and it would be fun for Kaylee too.

Jason chuckles. "Okay. Did you just get in then?"

"A few hours ago actually. We-"

"Trey!" Kaylee points towards the door.

Jason lifts his eyebrows. "Trey, huh?" He looks back to his mother. "Talk about him much?"

"I was just going to explain we saw him. I just came from downstairs."

Jason isn't sure he understands and he quits playing with Kaylee, letting her inspect the badge on his belt. "You just saw him? With Kaylee? After what happened last time?"

Cindy searches her son's face, hoping he would understand. "Yes. It was something I needed to do, and... it actually turned out pretty good this time. We had a nice talk and even had lunch together."

All of a sudden, the good feelings Jason had felt were replaced by negative ones. He wasn't sure what they were though. He felt... upset. But he didn't know why. He couldn't dissect what he was feeling to figure it out, and it was frustrating. His brow furrows. "You were here and just went straight downstairs?"

Cindy comes a little closer, trying to maintain the joy she'd gained by her time with Trey, while also sensing Jason was upset. "I didn't ignore you on purpose, if that's what you mean. But what would you have said if I'd told you what I was planning to do?"

"I woulda said yo were crazy."

"Yeah." Cindy gives him a gentle smile.

Jason remains skeptical. He'd found out about his brother quite a while ago, but he'd had no desire to interact with the Elite's arrogant resident, especially when it was so hard to process it all. Then he'd gotten sick and had been more focused on that than dealing with a twin. Rick had told him that Trey had found out about them being brothers but obviously that hadn't changed anything.

Cindy can read the confusion and mix of questions on Jason's face, and she's sorry. "You two have never spoken since you found out, have you?"

Jason's eyes lower and he toys with one of Kaylee's pigtails. "Just in passing... like a nod when we pass in the hall. We'd see each other all the time before I got sick but never talked, no. Since I've been back to work part time, I haven't seen him. I just hear him being talked about by Reese or Pete."

Cindy sighs deeply. "He thinks you don't want to get to know him."

"Well I don't."

"Why not?"

"He's..." Jason bites his tongue. He was going to say Trey was a jerk. Though they never interacted, he heard and saw all there was to around here. He knew all the reports, he knew where Trey had come from, and he'd seen his attitude. He knew how he'd treated Cindy their first time meeting. But all of a sudden, Jason wasn't just calling a stranger a jerk... he was calling his mother's son a jerk. And he couldn't say it to her face.

Not liking the way this was headed, Cindy opts to change the subject before her tears surfaced again. Coming around Jason's desk, she holds out her hands. "Come here."

Jason lets Kaylee slide from his lap and he stands up, offering an embrace to his mother. "I'm sorry," he apologizes. "It's really good to see you."

"Ditto." Cindy rests her head on his chest and sighs deeply. "Are you okay?"

"Me?" Jason grins a little and pulls her away to look at her face. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

Cindy laughs. "Two worrywarts we are." She nods. "I'm okay. Really. I'm... missing... a lot.... but I'm okay." 

"Up! Up!" Kaylee jumps up and down, begging Jason to pick her back up again.

Jason's grin widens and he shakes his head. "Okay... but only because I love you." Scooping her back up again, he holds her upside down as she shrieks.

"Noooo!"

"What's the matter?" Jason rights her again and holds her close. "Is this better?"

Kaylee scrunches her nose and pats his head. "Tank oo."

Jason chuckles and kisses her cheek. "You're welcome."