Buried Anger

Eric chuckled and slid his arms around Stacy to give her a hug and kiss the top of her head. “Mm…I missed you too.”

Drawing back, he offered her a smile. “At least we got a couple days here before I leave again, eh?” He turned, keeping one arm around her shoulders, and picked his bag back up again. Continuing his route to the bunkhouse, he kept her by his side. “So…anything exciting going on? Wait, don’t tell me. I don’t wanna know if I missed anything.”


Jim stood at the window of the dining hall, a hot cup of tea in hand. Supper would be soon, but he knew his stomach wouldn’t tolerate very much, and tea seemed to help. Or maybe it just helped soothe his nerves, which was the whole cause for his stomach issues recently anyway. Not that he’d admit it. Becky kept wanting him to go see Angel, but he refused, already knowing he didn’t feel well because of his own stress.

“Was that Eric’s truck I saw?” Becky comes up behind her husband and laid a hand on his arm.

“Mm-hmm.” Jim took a sip of his tea.

“Oh good. I’m glad he got back alright. I’ll have Rosalyn set an extra place.”

“She working tonight?”

“Of course.”

“Mm.”

Becky’s eyebrows rose slightly at Jim’s odd tone. “Why wouldn’t she be?”

Jim shrugged. “I could think of plenty reasons.”

A sigh was Becky’s only response. Studying Jim’s face, her concern only grew. He looked so very tired. Thin. His eyes were dark, and he still showed lingering signs from his brawl with Mick. He never talked about it though, always refusing to speak of it. And his relationship with Rosalyn was no nearer mending than it had been with Chad here.

Jim glanced over his shoulder as his wife walked away. There was a part of him that felt sad and broken. But it was that part he didn’t let surface. All he allowed to be seen was the bitterness. If his family didn’t want to respect him any more, then he didn’t owe them any more effort.

Looking back out the window, he scrunched his eyes shut and opened them again before squinting, then rubbing them with the heel of his hand. That was something else he wasn’t talking about either.

In the kitchen, Rosalyn worked quietly…more quietly than normal. Jade had the night off, which was fine. Keeping busy was the only thing Rosalyn had lately to keep her mind off that which would just make her sad anyway.

“Rosalyn? Set an extra place. Eric just got home and I’m assuming he’ll be in for supper and will probably be hungry.”

“Huh? Oh. Yeah. Okay.” Rosalyn wiped her hands on her apron and moved to retrieve another plate, glass and set of silverware. Others were filing in, and she took a moment to observe as she set the extra place. It was a normal evening. As normal as it could be, anyway. Her father was back to socializing…or rather, back to being present. Socializing was a different matter altogether. Since his fight with Mick, he’d remained withdrawn. Rosalyn theorized that he felt embarrassed and guilty, but Jim, of course, had never opened the subject.

Going back to the kitchen, she checked the beef and potatoes in the oven, deciding to give it a few more minutes. Leaning back against the counter, she felt the cell phone in her pocket. She pulled it out and scrolled through recent text messages, none of which were from Chad. She didn’t expect anything else though. She hadn’t contacted him since he’d left. He was probably waiting for her to make the first move, and she just hadn’t yet. Not while her feelings were still so messed up. But the longer she waited, the more she missed him.

“Ros’lyn!”

She turned quickly to see Kaylee bounding into the kitchen. Rosalyn smiled and pocketed her phone before she scooped the little girl up in her arms. “Hey, Pumpkin… Hungry?”

“Uh-huh.” Kaylee nodded emphatically, making her pigtails bounce.

“Where’s mommy and daddy, hmm?”

“Ou’ dere.” Kaylee pointed to the dining room.

Rosalyn looked back out into the other room and spotted Cindy and Wes. She smiled and gave Kaylee an extra hug. It was so nice to see the little family all together again. She hoped her observation was true – that Wes was settling in well and starting to get used to being back here again. The only thing she didn’t understand was Clint’s behavior. She knew he was upset with Jim, but it seemed her brother was overall more withdrawn since Wes had returned. As close as they’d been before, it really was rather puzzling.

The timer on the oven broke Rosalyn’s thoughts and she gave Kaylee a kiss on the cheek before setting her down. “Better get back out there before you’re missed.”

“Otay!” Kaylee trotted back into the dining room to make her rounds to her favorite people, as was her habit.

Rosalyn shook her head in amusement before returning to the oven. As she was letting the meal cool a little though, her thoughts returned to where they’d been before.

Although hesitant, she finally took her phone back out of her pocket.

From: Rosalyn
To: Chad
Just had a free moment. Wanted to say
hi. Hope all is well with u.

She paused. What else could she say? She’d ignored him since he’d left. If he had any  brains at all, he probably thought she’d backed out completely by now. That notion was still a possibility in her mind, but she hadn’t chosen it…yet. The question was, would she? If she could convince Chad she really didn’t want to see him ever again, there would be far less stress on her end.

I’m doing fine.

She swallowed hard. That was pretty close to a lie.

Are you somewhere exciting on the
job? Send pix.

[send]

Out in the garage, the activity of the ranch was drowned out by loud rock music blaring from the radio. Clint knew what time it was. He knew supper would be in just a few minutes. But that had no bearing on his current activity. No one would miss him. He’d told Wendy he had to get the ranch tractor fixed, so she knew he probably wouldn’t be eating until later. And more than likely, no one else would notice his absence. No matter the case, his current task was not going well.

As another problem was found, Clint growled in frustration. Moving to step down from the tractor, his foot slipped, which sent him to the concrete floor much more quickly than planned. Stumbling and twisting his ankle, he winced in pain. That was it. That was just…it.

With his temper getting the best of him, the next sound was a toolbox being sent across the workbench at high speed to crash into a shelf then onto the floor, sending tools everywhere. The radio had barely been missed, continuing to blare despite the tantrum.

Clint leaned on the workbench and glared at the tools. He hated this. All of this. The work, the stress, everything. Nothing was going right, he was stuck in the same place day after day, and nothing he did would ever change it. He hated the ranch, and he hated this shop.


Jason kept his arms around Misty and grinned. “You kidding? I wouldn’t want to get in the middle of that for anything. Those two would gang up on me, and I wouldn’t have the slightest chance of survival.”

Only after giving her a little squeeze did he move to the side to take over the noodles. “So I was thinking… Alec said he’s gonna work late at Mom and Pop’s tomorrow night and Mackenzie won’t be here, so…” He shrugged, his eyes remaining focused on the stove. “I thought maybe it could just be you and me for supper or something.” Truth be told, his stomach had just formed a little knot. It wasn’t just supper he was aiming at, and he knew it. But he didn’t want to worry Misty by telling her they needed to talk, and he still had yet to decide just how he was going to say what he needed to.

A light laugh surfaced at Bree’s comment about kicking someone in the shin, and Gunner’s dark cloud passed for the moment. He yawned and reached up to ruffle her hair. “I’m not sure how good I am at convincing myself of anything…but I’m glad you think so highly of me.”

He moved to place a tender kiss on her cheek. “I do love you…and I just wanna get out of this mess.” Without much warning, he stood, picking Bree up in his arms. While much of his mind was confused and depressed, there was still a part of him that appreciated Bree, loved her, and knew that somehow, some way, he had to make it through this – if not for himself, then for her.

It wasn’t until they were back in the house that he set her down again. “Thanks for looking after me,” he mentioned softly. “I think I’ll be okay now. I got something to help me sleep…just hoped I wouldn’t need it, but I guess I do. Just, um…wake me up when you leave in the morning if I’m not up."


As Hope touched Scott, his eyes drifted down to their hands, but he didn’t pull away. He’d forgotten how caring her touch was…how warm she was…how much he missed her.

His gaze rose again as he listened, and he searched her eyes. He could see everything he did before. Her hope. Her love. No matter how much he’d fought it, he knew without a doubt that she still loved him and wished for the return of a relationship. But tonight…tonight, instead of it upsetting him, he found it strangely comforting. Perhaps it was just knowing that even though he felt as though he’d spun out of control, there was still one solid place to land that hadn’t changed. It was still there. Still safe.

“I guess I never thought of it as me understanding you,” he responded wryly. “Always seemed to me that I was the one leaning on you.” He didn’t mean to put himself down – it just truly was the way he’d seen things.

After picking up his cup once more, it was then that he discovered he’d finished his coffee, and a new grin creased his lips. “Huh…guess that’s that.” He sighed and checked his watch, unsure how to end their time here, and feeling awkward again. “I, um…suppose I better get going before Domino disowns me…”

He looked back up at Hope and cocked his head a little. “Maybe…we can do lunch sometime…or something…since I’m working more now.”