Kate had been understandably avoiding him and more than wary after his manipulation of her feelings for Jack and mistrust of Ana Lucia a few weeks earlier. She wasn't aware that he timed his recent delivery of Jin's firewood to be slightly ahead of her fruit-drop off so she would witness his sensitive inquiry regarding Sun's recovery and status of her garden. Sawyer pretended not to see Kate approaching, but was able to sneak a glance at her out of the corner of his eye and saw her face soften during his sincere expression of concern for Sun's well-being. He left Sun's garden, making Kate believe that he hadn't seen her either, letting her watch him walk on down the beach to his tent with a knowing job-well-done smile on his face. "Now there's a sensitive man for ya…..got cha Freckles!" he chuckled to himself.
"Are you kidding me? To what should I trust this new-found helpfulness in you? What do you want…..never mind, DON'T answer that!" Kate laughed skeptically. She haltingly placed one foot in his cupped hands and with a hand on his shoulder to steady herself and a warning look in her eye, she accepted his offer. Despite his weakened shoulder, he firmly, but very gently and easily, boosted her high enough so she could reach the foothold on the tree trunk that would allow her to continue with her daily fruit-picking.
"Uh, Sawyer……I'm good, you can let go of my butt NOW!" she scolded him as it was obvious that he left his hand linger on her bottom longer than necessary, knowing he could have provided the needed support by bracing her leg instead.
"Just exercising some full-blown southern hospitality as requested, Sweetcheeks!" came his reply as he took a few step backwards to see her face directly. "Wouldn't want you falling down on top of me now, would we?" He caught her gaze searching her eyes and finding some recognition and acceptance of the apology offered in his.
"My backpack please?" she asked softly, returning his intense gaze while indicating its location on the ground nearby with a tilt of her head.
"Your wish is my…….dammit Freckles, this thing's too heavy to lug up there on your monkey-bars…..want me to dump some of it out first?"
"Nooooo, then it gets buggy…..and I have to pick more" she said curling one arm around the branch she was perched on to reach down for it.
Against his better judgment, he hefted the backpack up to her but didn't let go immediately and she saw the concern on his face.
"I'll be fine Sawyer, been doing this for awhile now, ya know. New skill I can put on my resume." she assured him.
He stood watching as she skillfully climbed up a few more branches in reach of her quest.
"I know you're watching me, Sawyer, now go on back to your woodpile, and don't leave the wet yicky wood at my tent today ok?" she yelled down to him.
Enjoying her stubborn spirit and aware of her skepticism towards him, he strolled back to his woodpile with a satisfied smirk on his face. He set about attacking the next log while pleasantly reliving their exchange, evaluating the next piece of his plan. "Atta girl, Freckles" he thought, "come to Papa!"
