Reluctant Compliance

Con raises his eyebrows as Jamie mentions him helping out. “Ohhh, I get it,” he teases. “Now I know why you chose me to mention this to.” He shrugs. “If you can convince Reese to give me the time off, I might be able to come down and help out.” He offers only a wry grin at her statement of him being sweet, then shakes his head. “If you told me you were doing something exciting, I’d ask which town you were going to other than this one.” He sighs and looks to the door. “Guess I’ll head out myself. See you tomorrow, I suppose.”


Clint does as Katie tells him to, not really sure what’s going to happen.

Jason’s head still rests on his arms at the table, and his eyes are half-closed, but he raises his eyebrows at the familiar voice. “What the…” He finally brings the phone into focus, hearing Katie talking to him. He rolls his eyes, the sugar low affecting his mood. “Oh, great, now I’ve got two mothers. Jason do this, Jason do that…why can’t anyone just leave me alone?!”

Clint cringes. He knows that Jason isn’t acting himself, though he feels a bit sorry for Katie.

Jason retaliates against the instructions. “Yeah, well I do feel like crap, and no matter how much orange juice is pumped into me, I’m still gonna feel like crap. Ya wanna know why? Because I’m an idiot, that’s why! I haven’t done a dang thing right since the day I was born.”

Clint sighs in disgust. “Well then start by drinking the stupid juice before you say anything more you’ll regret.”

Growling a curse, Jason snatches up the juice and downs it quickly, letting the glass clank back down on the table. His head falls back to his arms, his voice muffled. “Just hang up the phone.”

Clint picks the phone back up, turning the speakerphone off. “Well he’s not happy, but he drank it. I’d give him about five minutes and he should start perking up again. Thanks, Katie.”


Jen settles down on the blanket on the small strip of sand along the lakeshore. Phil and Mike go to the edge of the water to see how cold it is, and Kyle heads slowly back to the truck, his hands in his pockets. He takes his time, seeing Katie still on the phone. Something was wrong somewhere…maybe it had to do with Wyatt. Or maybe the breakup was why she’d seemed upset the day before. At any rate, he hoped the phone call didn’t ruin her day. She’d been so excited.


Cindy hears the knock at the door and finishes putting up her hair in front of the mirror. “Just a minute,” she calls. The task done, she goes to the door, a smile spreading as she sees Wes. “Hey, Handsome. Can I help you?”