Though Jim did hear Angel, he didn't respond. He was too deep in
misery at the moment to let her words penetrate. He stayed in the
office, resting for a while, until one of the guys came and helped him
to the house where he would stay the rest of the day. He wouldn't be
seen at supper either - Becky explained he wasn't feeling well enough to
get up and come. She didn't express much feeling one way or the other
about what had happened, remaining fairly quiet. Everyone else tried to
just go on with the day, but it was hard not to think about the fight.
Seeing
Chad approach, Rosalyn got to her feet. She wanted to be excited. She
wanted to look forward to this evening. But after today, her spirits had
been dampened to the point where she wasn't sure if she'd even enjoy a
date. But it was better than staying here.
She couldn't
help a look of surprise at seeing Chad all dressed up. He looked
incredibly handsome, and it was quite obvious he'd made an effort to
clean himself up tonight. His suit was rather dashing and fit him well.
Would she ruin his evening since she wasn't in high spirits? Maybe she
shouldn't have let him come.
Managing a small smile,
she did her best to give him at least a halfway warm greeting. "Hi...
You look awfully good for picking up a girl out in the middle of
nowhere."
Being handed the bag, her brow furrowed in
confusion. Looking inside as he explained what it was, her eyes widened.
Blinking, she glanced back up at him, hardly able to believe he'd done
this for her. He'd...he'd bought her a dress? And a nice dress too. She
rarely got dressed up for anything, since dates were non-existent,
church was casual, and dances were usually cowboy-style. This was
something she'd never had before...let alone thought she was pretty
enough to wear.
She swallowed hard as her emotions
started to bubble. She couldn't accept such a gift from Chad - it
obviously wasn't cheap. But she also knew to refuse it, she would hurt
him more than she already had with this whole ordeal.
Still
not saying anything, she took the dress out of the bag and held it up
to herself. It was so pretty, and for a moment, she felt again like the
princess he always made her feel like. She didn't realize a tear had
escaped to trickle down her cheek. "Thank you," she whispered. "It's
beautiful..."
...She'd go back into the ranch to get
some shoes, but could borrow a pair from Jade so she didn't have to go
back to her house at least. After that, she'd agree to changing at
Chad's hotel room- she didn't want to stick around here any longer, and
changing in the jeep wouldn't be easy. She'd be quiet on the ride to
town. She didn't want to talk about the day, and she wasn't ready to
tell Chad yet what all had happened. Her hand would remain in his
though, as she tried to soak up any comfort she could find, in spite of
the dim look her eyes wore tonight...
...Looking at
herself in the bathroom mirror, Rosalyn took a deep breath. She wasn't
used to dressing like this. If she were Jade, she'd put her hair up in
some fancy way, but the most she could do was just let it be loose and
fall over her shoulders. She didn't have any fancy jewelry, and her
wrist was white where she usually wore a durable watch that wouldn't
match tonight. The necklace she wore didn't really match either - a
silver locket on a black cord. Most of the time, she wore it under her
t-shirt, but she couldn't hide it with this dress. She wasn't going to
take it off though - it was too special.
Though hibernating in his cubicle the rest of the afternoon, Gunner does eventually check his cell phone, finding a bazillion voicemails. Some from Reese. Some from Pete. Then one from Bree. It was unusual that they didn't already have plans. They hung out all the time before, then even more after being engaged. He'd been so preoccupied the last few days though, that he hadn't realized tonight they hadn't talked about doing anything.
Rather than calling Bree back though, Gunner sends her a text instead, letting her know he'd be there after work. Avoiding much more for the short time left of the day, Gunner
didn't get much done. But at least he wasn't getting yelled at anymore
either. Eventually he does head out, going first to the store, then over
to JT's. It really had become his second home. If he wasn't here with
JT and Bree, he was over at Bree's, or she was over at his place. It
felt nice to have a close friendship there, even with JT. Close enough
that he was allowed to walk in without knocking.
"Honey,
I'm home!" Entering the house, Gunner immediately smelled JT's "famous"
spaghetti sauce. That answered his question of what on earth Bree's
uncle would be cooking in such quantity. JT couldn't make his spaghetti
sauce in small portions.
He poked his head into the
kitchen and grinned a silly grin. "The army is here for supper," he
teased. "And... me, myself and I brought fixings for rootbeer floats
without the roots."
JT looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes. "You guys and your floats."
"Hey."
Gunner set the grocery sack down on the table and winked at Bree. "If
he doesn't want any, that just leaves more for us, right?" Without
waiting for an answer, he reached over and pulled her close for a quick
hug and kiss. "Mm, are you a sight for sore eyes. Don't ask me about my
day - it was incredibly dull."
JT shoots a new glance over
his shoulder. Having Reese call him twice to see if he knew where
Gunner was, implied more than a dull day, but somehow he sensed he
shouldn't ask about it.
Jared sighed and removed the CD from his portable player, only to
toss it into the waste basket beside his bed. It had already accumulated
at least ten other discs. Only one, so far, was set aside to keep.
After
putting in another CD and listening through his headphones, this time
it only took a couple seconds before he threw away that one too. He had
quite a collection from his car...but he didn't have anything better to do
this afternoon. He still liked the hard music, but...the lyrics weren't
exactly things he'd feel good about other people hearing. Not anymore.
Not someone like Grace. It wasn't like they spent much time in his car,
let alone listening to music, but he still didn't like having this stuff
around anymore. Perhaps in a way, he was trying to throw away a part of
himself that he no longer liked.
He'd been home from
the hospital for a couple days, and, thankfully, he'd had no more
unexpected mishaps so far. He was feeling better, despite his shoulder
being forced to stay in a sling - except for therapy sessions - for a
while now. Grace would help him with his shoulder now too, along with
his legs...after he'd told the doctor he'd changed his mind and still
wanted her to be his therapist.
"Jared? Would you like some soup for supper?"
He
looked up to see his mother in the doorway, and removed his headphones.
"Um..." He thought about how his stomach was feeling before he nodded.
"Yeah, I think I can eat a little."
Lydia smiled. At least he was willing to try. He'd lost so much weight lately that he was all but skin and bones. "Okay. I will make some for both of us then." She cocked her head. "You are still listening to music?"
"Yeah, well...it's not like I can go take a walk instead."
Lydia just gave him a smirk. "When does Grace come back?"
"Tomorrow.
I think." In truth, Jared wasn't a hundred percent sure. His days ran
together so easily anymore. After returning from the hospital, the days
just seemed to melt together in a mix of boredom and loneliness. It
couldn't be helped, but it didn't make it any more fun.
"Well, I will let you know when the soup is ready, okay?"
"Sounds
good." Jared waited until she was gone again before putting his
headphones back on. He knew he had it good here. He knew he was lucky to
have a mother who was so caring. Now if only he could get some kind of
life back. Until then, this afternoon and evening would be like all the
others...the same...as every other day.
