Lots going on

The guys in the shop all look up as Ryan makes her exit. No one had expected her to leave early, but no one was all that surprised either.

"Yeah," Jed answers her. "We'll cover for ya. Get outta here." He waves her off. "See ya tomorrow. Good luck tonight."


"Seen Leo around?"

"Nah. Doubt you will. Not after he ain't with that chick driver no more."

"Oh?"

The two men talked off to the side as a small group of racers preparing for that night's course, at the familiar hangout on the edge of town. "Yeah didn't you hear? He dumped her for some blonde thing."

"I heard Ryan dumped him," a third guy chimes in.

The second laughs. "That'd be more like it. Leo's a lot of show and talk, but he don't got the brains to back any of it up."

"I'm surprised he kept Ryan around as long as he did."

"Don't let that fool ya either. I head it was all a bet. Never was serious to begin with."

"Poor guy."

"He was asking for it - the way he flirts with anything with two long legs? I bet it was a funny sight to see him when she broke the news."

All three crack up.

"Yeah. The fool prolly learned his lesson the hard way. We ought to hook him up with Sandy - now that would be funny!"

"Do they give out stupid rewards?!"

They crack up again at the expense of the one who wasn't even there to defend himself.


Receiving Katie's comment, Cindy bites her lip as the younger woman walks away. She hadn't even been thinking when she'd blurted all that out to Mick. Sighing deeply, she tries to forget about it. What was done was done.


Mick grimaces as he sees Katie leave. Great. He'd been wrong. She had overheard them. Before he can think too much about it though, Dan interrupts his thoughts.

"Jason is Katie's lifeline." Mick shakes his head. "Come on."

Waiting until they were outside and on their way to the barn, he explains further. "Jason's her boyfriend... they've been extremely close... closer than most people can understand. It's... hard to explain, so I'll just leave it at that, for now." He eyes Dan as they walk. "They're just going through a rough time right now. A lot is happening in both their lives."


Jason enters the little diner, his gaze finding Camryn sitting in the far booth. She didn't see him yet, giving him a moment to collect his thoughts. His heart gave a little jump. But he didn't like it, even if it felt good. It wasn't supposed to be there, and he knew it. That little jump belonged to someone else. Maybe he was still trying to sort through his mess of feelings but... a few things were starting to clear up.

Taking a deep breath, he moves forward, deciding to put off that topic until it was time to go...


"...You look tired."

Jason nods, his eyes showing his tiredness, even after the lunchtime meal. "Early morning to get back here at this time."

Camryn grins. "And let me guess... Reese won't let you have the afternoon off."

"You kidding? I didn't even want to ask. Getting two days off was bad enough. Though honestly, the look in his eye said 'don't let the door hit ya on the way out.'" Jason shrugs. "I'll do a few extra jobs and I'll get back on his good side again."

Camryn stirs her iced tea with her straw a few moments before looking back at him. "There's more on your mind than just work."

"That obvious?"

"Mm-hmm. You've been quiet since you got here."

Jason leans back in his chair and runs his hands through his hair. "Oh, I don't know. I guess... I guess the last few days I've just been thinking a lot... kinda hard for a man to admit he's been wrong, ya know?"

Camryn smiles a little. "Kinda hard for a woman, too. What was your epiphany about? Katie?"

"You're too smart for your own good."

"Oh, so I'm right."

Jason can't help his sheepish grin. "Maybe. I don't know. Just... hard sorting through it all. I keep getting bombarded with information and different angles and perspectives and I keep coming to the conclusion that there are a lot of those perspectives, not just mine. And I don't know... I guess maybe sometimes I think I've got the wrong one."
He wraps his fingers around his glass, his eyes falling to the floating ice cubes. "You know... if Katie were here... we wouldn't be... I mean..."

Camryn gives a little sigh, her smile fading. "Yeah, I know. Third time's the charm, right? If you're trying to say this is it, just say it quick."

Jason looks up again, his eyes apologizing. "I'm sorry. I hope we can still hang out or something later... find yourself a guy and maybe we can double-date. I just... I guess maybe thinking so much, I realized that seeing you... like this... it just opens up too many doors that I need to stay away from."

"You haven't done anything wrong. You-"

"I know. But I don't want to start, either." Jason shrugs lamely. "I've already betrayed Katie's trust enough."

"I understand." Though disappointed, Camryn did know he was right. "I'm sorry for putting you in this position. I probably should have kept my distance. I was just... glad to see a friend and... maybe was too enthusiastic."

"No... no, it's okay. Seeing you has... well... it's sort of reminded me of what I got. So don't be sorry."

"Alright. See you around then?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'll be around." Jason gives a little nod. "Thanks, Camryn."

She gives him as much of a smile as she can. "Katie's got a real winner in you. Try to work things out with her, eh? You two belong with each other."

"You think?"

"I know."

It's a short while later when Jason is back and TJY again. Lunch really hadn't gone as planned, and he was exhausted, but... at the same time, he could feel that finally, finally he was starting to work out a few things in his mind.

Back in his office, he's got several voice mails waiting from the last few days, and he's tempted to skip them, but eventually he decides he better listen to them. The last one catches him off guard, and hearing what Katie has to say, he can feel the heat in his face. He hadn't talked to her at all for several days, and now she knew he'd been in Texas, and Sapphire had spilled the beans about Camryn. Great, just great. He doesn't hesitate to pick up his cell phone and dial Katie back.

"Katie, it's me..." He leans back in his chair, running a hand through his hair as he tries to figure out what to say. "Look, whatever you're thinking just... just stop, alright? I've... well I've just had to sort out some things in my own mind and I'm sorry if it confused you."

He pauses, wondering how deep the damage went. "I love you too. And... and I miss you. Please don't assume anything about my trip or... or Camryn or anything, okay? 'Cause it's not important now. I just..." He sighs. This wasn't coming out at all like it should. "I can't explain over the phone," he finishes lamely.