Unspoken

Mick turns to Rosetta, slightly startled. “Oh, yeah…I’m about ready for my own bed after sacking out on this couch for the last couple weeks. Why don’t we go ahead and go back to the ranch tonight…Jason should be ready to come home tomorrow, and if Con and Austin stick around, he should have all the help he needs. Is Damien coming along with us?”


Jason thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. He’s not even sure he’s sorted through it all yet…how could he express it? He needed more time to think it through. “It’s nothing, never mind.”

A few minutes later, Con pokes his head into the room. “Hey, you two…Doc said you’d be able to leave tomorrow, Jase.”

Jason grins. “That’s a relief. I don’t think I could stand it here much longer than that.”

“Well you do have pretty good company,” Con teases, throwing a wink in Katie’s direction. “Listen, your mom and Wes are going to be heading back to the ranch, and so are Rosetta and Mick…I’m assuming Damien as well.”

“Okay.” Jason quirks an eyebrow. “What about you and Austin?”

“We’re going to stick around…no point in driving back then coming back here again tomorrow.” Con pauses, suddenly growing serious. “Hey, Jase, there’s something…” He bites his tongue and finally shrugs it off. “Forget it, I’ll tell you later. Katie, you going to go back to the ranch, or you wanna stay here?”

Jason frowns at Con’s tone, a bit concerned with whatever went unspoken. He tries to forget it, but it sticks with him. For some reason, his gut tells him it has something to do with TJY…Con rarely used that serious of tone with him if it didn’t have to do with the corporation. What was he not telling Jason?

Becky goes into the kitchen, putting several mugs into the sink after others had finished a round of hot chocolate. She grins at Jade who is by the oven. “Hey, hon, what are you up to this late in the evening?”

Jade grins and wipes her hands on an apron. “I’m making some chocolate chip, peanut butter cookies… I was told they were Jason’s favorite, so I thought maybe it would be a nice welcome-home treat.”

“What a good idea.” Becky smiles. “You better make a big batch, otherwise you might have a mob on your hands.”

Jade giggles. “I know. I doubled up the recipe.”


Clint yawns and stretches on the sofa as the movie in the living room adjoining the mess hall comes to an end. Sparky rubs his eyes wearily and stands, going to the window. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m going to stay up a while…Mick said they’d becoming back tonight, and I want to find out what’s going on.”

Clint nods and glances over to Wendy. “Ready for a late night, or are you hitting the hay?”

Luke is stretched out on the floor in front of the tv, groggy, but takes a deep breath and widens his eyes in an attempt to wake up. “I’m gonna stay up a while.”