Thank Goodness

Feeling the kick to his butt, Eli swats behind himself but isn't quick enough. Throwing Ryan a smirk, he shakes his finger at her as a warning he'd be getting back at her. 

Pulled into a hug, Tal wraps his arms around Ryan warmly. Something felt... off. He wasn't sure what or why, but something was just different and it only served to increase his concern. Why hadn't Ryan said what happened at the store? Why was she avoiding it and acting like everything was fine? After seeing her reaction to that idiotic phone message, Tal knew if she'd seen Alec today, that she wouldn't be able to brush it off just like that. Yet she wasn't leaving any openings for questions. Maybe though... maybe it was just her way of dealing with it, and he would have to let it go. Even if he wanted to talk about it, maybe she didn't, and he'd just have to respect that. She'd never said a word to him about that phone message either. Way deep down though in the pit of his heart, something warned him to tread with caution. 

Back to reality, he has to let Ryan pull away, and he gives her a smile. "You call this stalling?" He quirks an eyebrow. "I guess maybe I could just stall all day then." 

"You have been stalling," Eli responds. Grabbing his toolbox which he'd brought in earlier, he heads for the back door. Although it looked like he'd done nothing on the project, he really had thought the whole thing through and knew exactly how to tackle it. But he didn't mind getting razzed by his sister - at least she was in a good mood... on the surface. He was dying to ask her if it really was Alec she'd seen at the store, but it was pretty obvious that she didn't want to talk about it. Which... in itself confirmed that it had been Alec. Which also bothered Eli to no end.

Still with an arm around Ryan, Tal doesn't let her go completely yet, even when they follow after Eli. For some reason, he just wanted her... close. "We could always just go make out and leave your brother to do the door," he suggests.

"Hey, hey, hey now." Eli was already kneeling at the door. "This is our project, remember? What you guys can do is go get the skill saw from the back room."

Accepting the cup of coffee, Hunter smiles up at Katie. "Thanks. I'm just being lazy this morning." Taking a small sip, he sighs with content. Still wasn't a strong enough drink for what he really wanted, but whoever made the coffee around here did do a good job. 

Katie's question brings a shrug. "Eh, I'm feeling alright. Knee hurts like a..." He stops himself and gives her a sheepish grin. "It hurts," he concludes. "Not sure what I'm supposed to do with myself at the moment, but... I guess there's not much I can do about that." 

Staring off past the bunkhouses to one of the pastures, for several moments he's lost in thought. His soul writhed with questions and confusion. His heart burned to find answers. But nothing made sense to him. It was all one black abyss... just like the river.

Forgetting Katie was even there, the quietness lingers. 

Reese wondered if Angelica even knew how good her words made him feel. For a man who thought love would not come again, this... this was a blessing he'd never take for granted. Tightening his arm around Angelica, he chuckles. "I'd have to agree with you on that one. Although I'm sure we could think of something to do..." 

Grinning, he leans his head down and gives a teasing growl before laughing and giving her lips a kiss. Sighing with content, he rests his forehead against hers. "Of course... cheesecake would be good too," he muses. "Although I don't know if I could choose which I'd rather have..." He grins. "Thank goodness I don't have to choose. I have you and cheesecake... if could pry myself up from this couch, that is."