If the tension in the air--not the good kind, either--hadn't been so thick, the disheveled appearance of his hair after he ran his hand through it would have surely given her heart a hell of a jump start. As it was, she had very little time to appreciate the added ruggedness as he rose. She didn't like the frustration in his eyes...felt guilty for it, honestly. "Maybe. I'll do what I can, anyway. I just hope he's not keeping expectations I can't live up to." Hell, her lab was across the country...what could she really do here? She took her delicate bottom lip between her teeth as he moved away, mentally cursing this mess to hell and back for the billionth time within the past hour. She heard the fridge open, and he spoke again about the condition of the ones her brother called family. She couldn't imagine an existence like that and felt a wave of compassion for them, even if really, they'd brought it upon themselves. There were innocents involved here...wives and children affected. They surely didn't ask for this. "It's no way to live. Not for any of them." She murmured just loudly enough that she thought he'd hear. She was still thinking, absorbing the overwhelming amount of information she'd been passed. His following question drew a soft, resigned sigh from her. Here he was, hospitable as ever, even to a woman who surely was quite the thorn in his side at this point. "Anything with alcohol will do at this point, please." She couldn't remember a time in her life when she'd ever needed a drink more than she did now.
She cocked her head curiously when he spoke about a possible connection. "You think the ones that transferred you are linked?" Good lord, how deep did this go? She found herself rising from the comfort of the couch, unable to sit any longer. She didn't pace, however...badly as she'd have liked to. She gazed out the window on the practically unfamiliar street. She'd begun to feel a little irritated at the situation...she felt shaken, and it took a lot to do that. Also, she felt a degree of helplessness...an emotion she was even less comfortable with. She found the more she thought about things, the more she desperately wanted to help set them right. When he spoke again, she turned towards him, arms hugged around her lean middle. She could have sighed...was it possible for a man to be 'ruggedly beautiful'? The term seemed to fit him perfect as he leaned in the doorway.
The soft line of her jaw tightened some as he spoke of the family she'd barely known and the struggles they'd had. She'd been little more than a child during her last visit here, and could barely recall her niece's face, nor her sister-in-laws. It had broke her heart when her father had told her she wouldn't be coming back to the mountains...that it was dangerous. She'd been lead to believe they'd all been in trouble...and as she aged, time faded their memories until they resided in the far corner of her heart. She'd been a little bitter at Stanley, but had never paused to think that maybe her father had been over accentuating the negativity of the situation. She was willing to bet the old man had known the perfect truth about the situation and had stood idly by without offering a hand of help to Stanley's wife. That thought alone made her want to rage against him...even in death.
"I didn't know." It wasn't important, she supposed...but to her, it was vital that he knew that. "My father told me very little...but when I heard they'd gotten into trouble, he'd told me they all had." She was not cold hearted like her father...she would never have been able to stand by. She took a tentative step forward, letting her arms release the hold they had on her middle. His words made no sense...but yet, made perfect sense at the same time. In the city, you could be shot and bleeding in the street and people would pass you by until you got lucky enough to find a good Samaritan. Things were different here. People stood up for each other. People cared, even if they weren't obligated to.
She closed the distance between them, nearly toe to toe with him. Her topaz eyes sifted up at him as one slender hand reached to grasp his. "Thank you..so much. For caring about them." The sincerity in her voice and gaze was enormous. She held his hand only a beat longer before she gracefully rose to her tip toes, her creamy arms wrapping around his neck in an embrace. Though it was a stretch...it seemed like the right thing to do. "And for...making me see what they went through. I'd have never guessed." Even though she was already reeling from the close proximity, she risked one more movement...brushing her pale pink lips against the stubble of his cheek. She then released him, backing up a half a step, cheeks blooming with color. "Sorry..I... She frowned. "I guess I shouldn't have. I'm probably the last woman you want on your neck." She gave a humorless chuckle, running a hand through her hair. "I just wanted to tell you thanks. Because I mean it."
_______†______†______†________
It makes me wanna take a back road
Makes me wanna take the long way home
Put a little gravel in my travel
Unwind, unravel all night long
Makes me wanna grab my honey
Tear down some two-lane country
Who knows..
Get lost and get right with my soul
†2010 Dodge Challenger†
†Furious Fuchsia†
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