Waiting for Katie, Hunter sips his
beer slowly. His concern was increasing and he really wanted to know
what had happened today. He knew well enough that she wouldn't want to
come have drinks out of the blue - it just wasn't like her. Though he'd
only known her a short while, he'd learned a lot about her and this was
not normal.
When she finally arrives, he offers her a smile. "Hey, you." A rough night? That was it? There had to be more to it than that.
As
she admits she doesn't know what to order, a new grin surfaces. He
wasn't making fun of her in the least - he just found her standing there
like that rather cute. "Well, hop on up here." He gestures to the
barstool next to him. "They don't have the best variety here, but it's
not the worst." He turns in his seat and studies Katie for a long
moment. "Although I might have a hard time recommending something until I
know what it is you want to accomplish."
He
holds up his beer. "Me, I'm just thirsty and want something cold that
has more kick to it than water. They got a couple different kinds of
beer... I like the taste of the German brands. Budweiser tastes like..."
He stops and grins again, not finishing his sentence. "If I wanted to
relax, I might get a glass of red wine. And..." He looks her in the eye
as all of a sudden he feels just a twinge of guilt. Not for being here,
but for what he doing - recommending beverages Katie wouldn't have
touched yesterday. Not that he thought drinking itself was bad - he
certainly did enough of it. Katie though... she was different. And
having her here with him right now felt just a bit out of place. But,
who was he to stop her? She obviously wanted to try something new, and
the least he could do was help her out. "If I was trying to forget about
something and just wanted to feel it burn, I'd order a double bourbon
straight up... at least once."
He
cocks his head. "But that's just me. I'm not too adventurous and the
fruity foo foo stuff doesn't do anything but make me silly." He shrugs.
"Take your pick. And since you had a rough night... I'm buying."
Carson
returns Misty's kiss rather gently for someone in his state, and he
doesn't ask for more. Her question sends his eyes to the floor and he
picks at his fingernails.
"I
j'st... met some'n there fer j'st one drink was all... honest..." His
eyes remain down, his shoulders slouching. "And then we... well I... I
guess I had more'n I thought y'know? And all'f a sudden it was late an'
I's s'posed to be home an' I didn't want ya mad at me."
He
nods at the floor, concluding his reasoning. Shifting a little on the
couch, he lies down on his side, putting his head in Misty's lap and
bringing his feet up, curling almost into a ball. "Thank you... fer not
bein' mad." He lets out a long sigh, his eyes falling shut as he pulls
himself in even tighter. "Hold me?" His question was almost a whimper as
if begging for comfort.
"Oh,
Victoria." Cassandra cradles her check with a hand as a tear glistens
in her own eye. "Sometimes love means letting go. But I won't argue with
you. You may stay - but if I suspect that anybody believes you are here
for any other reason besides being my daughter, I will have you leave."
Walking slowly from the
balcony, she enters her room through the open doors and sits on the edge
of her bed. "Come..." She pats next to her. "Let's talk of when you
were a little girl. I like remembering those times."
It was a quiet time between
mother and daughter that followed. Stories, quiet laughter and an
occasional tear. Eventually though, weariness overtook Cassandra and she
knew she must sleep, no matter what tomorrow was going to look like.
Before drifting off though, she took one last look at her daughter,
knowing that in the morning, she would be gone.
Tal grins up at Ryan and then
finally laughs. "I think there's a pile of papers by the fridge in the
kitchen. Somewhere in there is a number for a Gary Harrison. He's the
guy I gotta call about the pups."
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