[[ wheelsy, south carolina // saturday night, henenlotter's saddle lounge ]]

[justdidntseeit]

[ "we can't cancel, can we?" ]

She threads her fingers with Bill's as she takes his proffered hand.

(Convincing him had been easy; a simple, "It's your last weekend as a free man -- let's go out on Saturday" had gotten an immediate smile and a nod of agreement. The hard part was assuring him they should stay in town instead of driving to Columbia for a night out.)

Gravel crunches beneath her heels as she slides from the cab of the truck.

"S'pretty crowded tonight," he says with a glance around the parking lot.

"Let's hope there's not another rodeo on," she teases, squeezing his hand. She ignores the tight feeling in the pit of her stomach and doesn't let herself double-check for June's car as they cross the gravel lot.

Bill holds the door for her and she ducks inside; the four-piece band stops warming up and the lodge buzzes with the hushed hum of nearly a hundred people.

When Bill steps in beside her, the house lights flash.

"SURPRISE!"

Resisting the urge to bite the inside of her cheek (and stifling a laugh at the hand-painted Welcome Back Sherr Sheriff!! banner), Kate turns to give him a hopeful smile.

Comments

[justdidntseeit]

"I am lucky," she agrees, shooting a smile at his retreating figure before pulling a pair of striped pajama pants and a cotton camisole from the dresser.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

He makes a mess in the bathroom, then tries to clean it up.

Before leaving he switches his towel out for Kate's, hers being covered in toothpaste and stained blue from mouthwash.

Returning to the bed he flops down again, proud (and completely innocent) smile on.

[justdidntseeit]

She heads for the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.

She's flipping on the light when her heel slips on the tile, and her hand slaps the counter to steady herself.

"What the -- "

There's a curious blue pool under her foot, and the heel of her hand is covered in Crest Fresh Mint.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Kate's taking awhile in the bathroom so Bill pads down the hallway to the kitchen for a bottle of water.

And a snack.

He makes a bologna sandwich, with an ungodly amount of mustard on it, then sits at the kitchen table to eat.

In his boxer shorts.

Fridge door wide open behind him.

[justdidntseeit]

Once the floor's dry, the counter is free of the last stubborn vestiges of toothpaste, Kate's teeth are brushed and her face is washed, she pads back to the bedroom.

The empty bedroom.

The kitchen is the next logical stop.

"Bill -- "











That's definitely mustard squishing between her toes.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Bill looks up and smiles at her, mouth full.

"'ey, u 'anna 'amich?"

He holds out what's left of his own to her in offering, a glop of mustard falling from between the pieces of bread to the tabletop.

[justdidntseeit]

She counts to five, silent and slow, before hopping on one foot to snag a paper towel from the roll on the counter.

(She shuts the fridge along the way.)

Brightly, "No, I'm good."

Her mouth twists a little as she cleans the condiment from her toes; a minute later, the floor's mustard-free.

"I just want you to finish up so you can get some sleep."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

He watches her, smiling because, well, she looks funny.

"Okay, Kate."

He takes another bite and nods as he chews.

When the sandwich is gone he spots the spots of mustard he's left on the table and reaches for a dish towel to wipe them up.

[justdidntseeit]

She takes the cloth from his hand before he can start cleaning with it -- the white-and-blue pattern is somehow smeared with what looks like half a bottle of mustard -- and hands over another paper towel, instead.

The dish towel goes in the laundry room, and Kate washes her hands at the sink.

(She has a feeling she'll be smelling phantom mustard for at least a couple of days.)

"All set?"

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Bill does what he can to clean up the mustard, mostly just smearing it around, then joins her at the sink to wash his own hands.

Drying them on his shorts he nods.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

A beat and he stops in his tracks.

"Wait, I guess I outta brush my teeth again."

[justdidntseeit]

Her hands freeze on the twist-tie she's twirling to close the bread bag.

"I'm coming with you."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"You gonna miss me that much if I go alone?"

He grins and heads to the bathroom for (assisted) teeth brushing.

[justdidntseeit]

With a laugh, she fits herself against his back and rests her palms on his stomach when he reaches the sink.

"No, I'm going to save half a tube of toothpaste from you."

And she does.

(No mouthwash sloshes this time, either.)

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"I think I like this way of brushin' my teeth," He says, smiling at her in the mirror.

It certainly leads to less mess.

When he's done he turns and presses a kiss to her cheek, then takes her hand and heads back to the bedroom (hopefully for the last time tonight).

Flopping down on the bed he stretches out on his back and scratches an itch near the scarring on his side idly.

"Boy, m'tired."

[justdidntseeit]

She joins him, on her stomach and propped on her elbows.

Thoughtfully, "Well, I guess you're allowed to be."

She adjusts one of the straps on her camisole.

"You were the life of the party and everything."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"Been awhile since I had a party thrown for me," He muses, blinking slowly up at the ceiling.

"Can I tell you somethin'?"

He glances at her then looks back up.

"I think I was kinda worried that after bein' gone so long folks would've stopped missin' me. If felt good to see all them people happy that I'm comin' back."

[justdidntseeit]

Her expression softens.

(She knows she made the right decision now, listening to Sarah -- even with that gut-twisting conversation with June, she'd do it again, knowing Bill feels this way.)

"Of course they've missed you."

She dips her head to drop a kiss on his shoulder, her lips brushing scar tissue.

"This is your town, and anyone can see how much you care about what happens here."

And why I can't ask you to give up any of it.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

He looks at her again and smiles, reaching a hand down to lightly play a fingertip along her forearm.

"I'm really lookin' forward to Monday."

He yawns then, and laughs.

"Tomorrow, though, outta be good, too. We should sleep in. A lot."

[justdidntseeit]

She returns the smile, studying his features in the soft light of the lamp on the nightstand.

(She can count on one hand the number of times she's seen him this relaxed -- this happy -- since the shooting in August.)

"Yeah."

She inches closer and leans in, resting her forehead against his.

"We should."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

He stares at her a minute, into her pretty blue eyes, then tilts his head and kisses her, light and warm.

"I love you, Kate."

[justdidntseeit]

"I know you do, sheriff."

One hand slides up his torso to cradle his cheek, and she shifts to press a kiss to his forehead.

"Love you, too."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

His face turns the slightest bit pink and he settles back on the pillows.

"Real good day, today."

He pulls in a slow, deep breath and his eyes close as he starts to relax.

"Thank you... Kate."

[justdidntseeit]

"Shh, no thanking."

She pulls back and strokes his hair, a small smile still curving her lips as she takes in the contentment on his face.

"I'm glad you liked the surprise."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

He smiles at that and as hard as it was to get him here, now that he's finally laying down sleep comes swiftly.

He doesn't even finish mumbling 'goodnight' before his head turns sideways and he relaxes completely.

[justdidntseeit]

Watching him fall fast asleep, her fingers still a few minutes later.

She eases the sheet and comforter higher on his torso, her eyes carefully avoiding the scarring on his side -- it's been a good day (a great day), and she doesn't want to think about what happened inside that gas station last summer.

Clicking off the light, she settles beside him and listens to his deep, even breathing; it's not long before she slips into sleep.