U-turn

A dirty shirt flies across the bunkhouse room along with Clint’s off-key, mumbled singing. Grabbing the nearest shirt from the closet that looks decent, he throws it on, preceding his good black jeans. After buttoning up the black shirt and tucking it in, he slaps on some cologne, runs a comb through his wet hair and heads out the door, skipping down the steps, a borrowed set of keys jingling in his hands.

Jumping up onto Angel’s porch, he knocks on the door.


The six make their way out of TJY and take Con’s and Nate’s cars, heading for the ice cream place at the edge of town. Arriving, there aren’t too many other people, so it’s quick to order and find a round table with six chairs outside to sit and gab. Talk is kept light, and laughter is frequent. Con sits between Jamie and Katie, teasing them both in turn to bring more laughter.

Taking a lick of his cone, Con elbows Jamie, bumping her arm that holds her ice cream just as she’s trying to take a bite. He looks to Laura with innocence, and she rolls her eyes, though can’t help her giggle.


Reese emerges from his office and scans the main floor, his eyes widening. “Where on earth…”

“Playing hooky,” Wyatt informs dryly as he looks at some papers. A grin tweaks his mouth. “I believe Con was the ringleader, so there’s not a whole lot you can do.”

Reese throws his arms up in the air. “How can I run a place with no staff?”

Wyatt chuckles. “Well I’m here…and Scott… Sapphire… Trish… Hal… Rick… what more do you want?”

Reese rolls his eyes. “Nobody cares what I think. Why do I even need to be here? Everybody just does what they want!” He turns around and goes back into his office.

Wyatt just laughs and shakes his head.


Carson ambles down the sidewalk, heading for the car dealership that’s only about ten blocks away. He takes a deep breath of the outside air, noticing for the first time that his lungs seem to be clearer now…maybe he could resume his morning jogging routine.

Reaching the dealership, it isn’t too hard to find what he’s looking for…there wasn’t much that was in his price range. Within an hour, he’s driving out of the lot in a small two-seat, gray pickup. It had a few miles on it, and it had a lived-in look, but the engine was in good shape, and it would serve its purpose.

Carson heads for his apartment, parking on the curb, but keeps the motor running. For some reason, he doesn’t shut it off. He just sits contemplating…his mind was going a million directions at once, landing on nothing. Why did he keep thinking about the group from TJY? Something pulled him…something was like a magnet, drawing him back. But surely they’d all be dispersed by now…

Disgusted at his own indecision, Carson puts the pickup in gear and pulls back out, doing a U-turn and heading to the edge of town. He was crazy…but ever since he’d met Misty, that seemed the norm.

In minutes, he’s pulling into the gravel lot at the ice cream place. Parking, he shuts off the motor and sighs deeply. It was bad enough he’d been asked to go with the group, if they were still here, he’d be making an entrance – which was worse?

Getting out, he shuts the door and scans the outside tables, unsure if anyone is even still there.