Notebook

Gazing into Katie's eyes, Hunter's gentle smile remains. He really had grown to care for and respect her over a short course of time. It felt a little strange at times. And at other times, it felt so natural, he wasn't sure what it was even like before he'd met her. His life had been okay. But it just felt as though Katie had found a missing piece that was slowly being put back into place.

Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, he shakes his head a little. "We're only gonna be apart a week maybe... two tops. And I expect to be getting texts from you during that time," he teases. "And who knows.... maybe your boss will tell you to take a few more weeks and we won't have to travel separately at all." He doubted it, but it was worth the hope...

...The rest of the day is pleasant. Hunter finds himself alone for a little while, but occupies himself with the orphan kitten in the barn. His conversation with Mick keeps coming back though, along with continuing thoughts of the river, the voice, and his own past. Every day the thoughts became a little more persistent, but he just wasn't sure yet what to do with them in order to resolve whatever issue was going on inside of him. At moments, he wished he could just open up and spill his heart, while at other moments, he was quite content remaining silent and keeping his mixed feelings to himself.

By suppertime, he was ready to just chill for a while and quit thinking so much. It felt a little strange to be going to Mick and Rosetta's house. Even though it was right there next to the main building, it was still their private home. He'd told Katie he would meet her there, so after showering and changing clothes, he makes his way over, still hobbling slowly on his crutches. He doesn't even have to knock though, when Mick is already at the door.

"Hey, Hunter." Mick smiles and opens the door wider for him. "Come on in. Last I heard, the lasagna would be done in just a little bit."

Hunter grins as he enters the house and the scrumptious aroma hits his nose. "Mmm... I don't know if I can wait that long." Seeing into the kitchen, he gives a little wave to Rosetta. In a way, it felt odd being in here without Katie, but... for some reason... it also felt... like home. There was a peace here - the same as what the entire ranch had, just... more intense here. He really didn't feel on edge at all like he'd expected.

"Here, you can come get off your feet," Mick offers, showing Hunter to the dining room table.

"Oh, thanks." Hunter sets his crutches aside before settling in at the table. Glancing around the room, he took in the homey simplicity of it. It wasn't luxurious, but not dingy. Not extravagant but not too simple. It was... tasteful. Warm. Seeing movement by the hall, he catches sight of BJ. "Yo, Beej man, what up, dude?"

Chuckling, Mick sees Hunter is just fine, and he quietly returns to the kitchen. Coming up behind Rosetta at the stove, he stares over her shoulder just to bug her. He loved their family nights. He liked spending time with everybody else, but just being home for supper, walking around in his socks and having special moments with his wife and son... that made these evenings worth having. "Is it done yet?" He teasingly prods Rosetta in the ribs, knowing she was ticklish. "You've got three starving men in the house, you know."

Filling another trash bag and pulling out some more junk, Alec was on the last corner of the shed. It was a good task to tackle today, while his mind was quite a ways away... across town to be more exact. He knew that he would receive no confirmation one way or the other if Ryan had gotten the flowers. She might like them. She might hate them. He just didn't know. But he'd done his best to thank her for her kindness. Because of her, he didn't have to walk everywhere anymore, and he still had his little bit of saved money.

Reaching down behind an old garbage can, Alec retrieves a spiral notebook. It didn't look like it had been here as long as some of the other items - as if it had been tossed in here fairly recently, or set somewhere only to fall down behind other things out of reach.

Blowing off some dust, Alec flips through a couple pages out of curiosity. What he saw though, surprised him. He... recognized this. He had seen it somewhere before but... how? 

Reading some of the handwritten words, his eyes scan several more pages until he finds the poem that he had once recited to Ryan as they'd fooled around in the lake. This was the notebook he had found in an old locker at one of the Agency locations. But how on earth...

Just taking a few minutes to read a few more of the passages, the poems and deeply romantic lines were quite moving, really. But why was this here? How had it gotten here? And why here, of all places? Then all of a sudden it dawns on him. He hadn't known before who had written these things - but now... now he recognized the handwriting. Carson had seriously written this? He had really penned such deep thoughts? Such romantic thoughts? It was very hard to believe. Yet Alec knew that this handwriting was indeed his brother's. He'd almost think that Carson had copied these passages, yet there were too many scribbles, crossed out places and eraser marks for that. No... it was obvious that these works were original. All these years, Alec had never known whose poetry he had memorized. To discover now it was Carson's was quite a surprise. But... how had the notebook ended up here again? That was a mystery. 

Turning towards the trash can, Alec aims, but something stops him. Looking at the notebook again, he thinks for a moment, then sets it aside. He wondered if Misty even knew about it. If she did, she probably wouldn't ever want to see it again after what Carson had done. And yet... maybe he just wanted to read a little more of it himself. 

"...and we can't handle it all!" Wyatt throws up his arms as he paces Reese's office. "Sapphire is great, but when you start putting her in the field with me instead of here to back us up with data, something's wrong." 

Reese sighs deeply and leans back in his chair, trying not to get as riled as his son. "I'm sorry, Wyatt. What do you want me to do? We're swamped. Rick hasn't given Jason the go-ahead yet for full-time field work and Katie's still out. That leaves us two agents down and I can't help it."

Wyatt sets his hands on his hips and takes a deep breath, calming himself. Today had not been a good day. It wasn't Sapphire's fault that a routine check across town had ended up in a foot-chase down by the railroad tracks. He'd ended up with a skinned knee and bruised shoulder, but they'd gotten the guy - not Agency, but a drug dealer at least, so they had something to haul him in for. At the same time though, it was frustrating not having someone who was used to that kind of work. They depended on Sapphire's knowhow back here - but Reese was right... being shorthanded was the problem. "When's Katie coming back?"

Reese shakes his head. "Not sure. I was hoping I'd hear from her by now. If I don't by tomorrow, I'll call her." 

Wyatt knew Katie had he reasons for leaving, but he was also anxious for her to return to work. "Yeah, okay. I just..."

"What?" 

"Oh, nothing."

Reese cocks his head. "What's on your mind?"

Wyatt sighs. "I guess it just seems like people around here let their personal lives interfere with their work a lot. I know it happens and I'm not trying to be mean, I just... I know Katie and Jason are two of your favorite agents - I get it and I'm okay with that. But it just seems like there are others here who work a whole lot harder than they do but get a far worse deal out of it." 

Reese understood what his son was saying, and he knew that there was a very fine line there that he had to find almost every day. "Well... then I guess I'm glad you don't have a whole heap of problems that keep you from your work. I'm sorry it feels unfair. Maybe it is. But Jason can't help his injury, and I already approved Katie's time off. I'll let you take some vacation days if you want some time off too." 

"No..." Wyatt shrugs. "I don't want to leave you in a bind. I suppose I'm just venting." 

"I know. We're all under a lot of stress right now. Hang in there... I'm hoping things will change soon."