Time flies

Jason’s grin spreads as he watches Katie. He was still so amazed with this room himself, and was more than happy to show it to his best friend.

Seeing her pause at one of the pictures, he makes a point not to draw attention to it. He saw that look in her eye…he recognized it, and had felt it himself.

Moving on, he comes up beside her as she stands, looking out the window. He cross his arms, and just scans the outdoors. “Yeah, it is pretty amazing, isn’t it? I just can’t believe that Wes and everybody else would do something like this for me.”

Glancing down, he waits to catch Katie’s eye. “Thanks for a good secret. It was worth it.”

As his eyes roam her face, a lump rises in his throat as a longing tugs at his heart. But like a parent might grab a youngster from running off, he takes hold of those feelings to pull them back inside.

Finally he pries his eyes away and clears his throat. “Well…I was thinking about coming back to the ranch…hang out…see Clint…see Austin.” He turns and heads for the door. “I’ll walk with you if you don’t mind.”


…Jason enters the back of the mess hall, setting his backpack down on the floor and glancing around. It was nearing lunchtime…he didn’t feel like leaving yet… the last two days had flown by. But the plane would be waiting, and so was home and work the next morning.

He’d enjoyed his visit more than he thought he would. Though he still didn’t feel as rejuvenated as he’d like…and though he could spend another week here just unwinding, it was better than nothing. He’d spent quality time with his mom…gotten to know Kaylee better…and Wes too. Time with Austin hadn’t been anything too special. Now that Jason was older, there was a strange tension there…but it hadn’t been all that bad. Seeing everyone else too had been a treat, and hanging out with Clint in the shop had actually been fun.

“Yo, Jase! You leaving us, man?”

Jason looks across the room to see Clint and Wendy as they waited for lunch. He ambles over and nods. “Yep…looks like it. Soon anyway. I’ll stick around for lunch, but then I gotta hightail it out of here.” He glances around. He hadn’t seen much of Katie the last couple days. Though he hadn’t been too surprised, it had felt just as little odd. “Seen Katie?”

“Not this morning.”