So glad I listened to the amazing Angelsdee327 and built up a bunch of chapters. It's been so hot lately I cannot even concentrate! Hell, I NEARLY forgot to update this at all!

Special thanks: Erica, NESSAANCALIME6913, and Lucy1029 for the lovely reviews last chapter!

Title from "My Old Kentucky Home" by Mr. Johnny Cash

"Hey, Doodlebug!" Mike McCallister's booming voice echoed into the still morning air from where he stood on the front porch. The front steps of the old farmhouse were wide and welcoming. There were a few lights on inside.

"Hi, Daddy." Evie waved and tried to take her own bag from Gavin's car, giggling as he swatted her hand and sent her on her way up the walk. "Didn't think you'd be up this early!"

"Ah, I don't sleep past 6. You know that." Wrapping his arms around her was easy, and he frowned a bit, as he always did on such occasions. "You eating enough?"

Evie snorted lightly. "I'm traveling with three huge wrestlers. Some days, that's all they seem to do!"

"That Roman Reigns kid looks like he could put some grub away. They all did pretty good at the Rumble, though."

Evie laughed at the thought of Joe being called anything resembling a child. "He can really eat when he's of a mind to, though he tries to keep things health. He eats a lot of sushi. Jon – Dean on TV – is more fun to eat with. Lots of waffles and bacon."

"Well, you always did love breakfast." Ushering them into the house, Mike motioned Gavin up the stairs with her bags. "Speaking of which, how 'bout we go and get everybody fed?"

Annette McCallister awoke on the morning before her 48th birthday to the smell of bacon and the sound of her three children and one grandchild laughing downstairs. Evie had put together most of the meal by the time Abigail and her daughter, Lilly, arrived. Gavin was helping Mike feed the cows and pigs, knowing that the family couldn't eat before the big livestock was taken care of. Evie would handle the chickens after breakfast.

"Hi, Mom!" Evie came over, wrapping her arms around the older woman and kissing her lightly on the cheek.

"Hi, baby." Annette had called her youngest that from the moment she had stepped through the front door, and would likely never stop. "Have a good flight? Any problems getting in?"

"The flight was good, and Gav was there with the car by the time I landed."

Gail and Lilly both said their hellos, and then the men were back inside and washing their hands. Evie helped get everything on the table and then sat at her place beside Gail, Lilly in her highchair between them so they could give her bits of pancakes and scrambled eggs. Family breakfasts and dinners were one of the few things Evie missed about living on the farm, and she soaked up as much of the calm and quiet as she could.

The rest of the day was spent as most days on the farm were: working.

Evie donned a pair of knee high, black rubber boots and slogged through the slushy snow and freezing rain to the old chicken coop. Though the hens weren't as inclined to lay in the dead of winter, with the long nights and gloomy days, the Rhode Island Reds and Wyandottes would have an egg or two each day that needed to be picked and gently wiped clean. Evie hissed as a few of the more aggressive birds pecked the back of her hands as she reached under their warm bodies for their contributions to farm life. Gail had always hated gathering eggs for this reason, and was more inclined to help with forking hay for the cattle.

The family held a party for Annette the next evening, and they were busy all day making sure the guest of honor didn't contribute more than her famous pecan pie to the festivities. Gail took her into town to get her hair styled and for a bit of light shopping while Evie made a cake – chocolate with chocolate fudge frosting – and prepared a glazed ham. The women from church had been invited and would all be bringing sides and desserts. Neighbors would also be making appearances, as well as a few of the school teachers with whom Annette had formed close relationships.

Her phone lit up with Joe's name just as she finished the base layer of chocolate fudge icing on the cake in preparation for decorating. Wiping her fingers, she answered with a smile. "Hello?"

"Hey, Evie," Joe's low voice held a hint of worry. "Sorry to call you when you're with family."

"Don't worry about it, hun. Was just spreading icing on the cake, and it needs to set for just a bit anyway. What's up?"

"It's Jon. He's still in Ohio, flipping out about something I can't even understand, and refusing to call you because it's your mom's birthday." He sighed and then hushed the little girl Evie could hear chattering in the background. "But, I'm about to go to the park and then dinner with my girls and don't know what else to do."

"I'll give him a call right away, Joe. Thanks for letting me know. You go on and enjoy your night with your family, and don't worry about Jon, okay?" Saying her goodbyes to the big Samoan and promising to call him if something were really wrong, she selected Jon from her contact list and waited.

"Oh, thank God." Jon's voice shook nearly as hard as his hands on the steering wheel. "Where are you?"

"What? I'm at my parents' house in Kentucky. What's wrong, Jon? "

Jon chomped his gum so hard he wondered if he would chip a tooth. "I know that. Where?"

"Outside Bowling Green." Stepping out onto the back porch to get away from the chatter of her aunts and father in the front room, Evie frowned out over the snow blanketing the barns and fields. "What is going on?!"

Jon growled and jerked the rental he was driving into a rest stop before throwing himself out of the car and pacing as he lit up. "I thought I'd go to Cinci for a few days. See some old friends, you know? Shouldn't have gone back there feeling like I was.

"Ended up running into some people and getting in a fight. Just need to be around someone I like, you know?"

"Well, damn." Evie sighed. "Are you okay? Do you need me to come get you?"

Jon could hear his heart thudding in his ears, his hands were throbbing from hitting someone who he once considered a close friend, and every muscle felt loose and strangely wobbly. "I don't know. . . Maybe? What about your mom's birthday?"

"Well, let me worry about that. Where are you? Do you know?"

"Last sign I saw was for Hopewell, and then you called. I just got in the car and started driving south from Cincinnati."

"I know right where you are." Checking her watch, Evie sighed. "It's 2:00 now. If you don't mind hanging with a bunch of rednecks, farmers, and housewives for a birthday, you're more than welcome here with us."

Jon stopped moving. Besides Joe, no one had ever really invited him to hang out with their family like that. He had to swallow thickly before he responded. "You sure, Princess?"

"Of course!" Evie went back through the door, jogging up the stairs to pull on her boots and collect her coat. "My aunt Angela will finish icing the cake, and the rest will almost take care of itself. We should be back just in time for dinner."

"Um, okay." Jon nodded, much more calm now that there was a plan.

After they confirmed what rest stop he was currently at, she directed him to a local Walmart where it would be easier to find him without circling around on the highway and went to talk with her father.

"Daddy?" Evie grinned as she watched him playing with her niece while kicked back in his chair. "I'm gonna have to go for a little bit."

"Why?" Bracing the baby on his lap, he sat the recliner upright to focus on Evie's face. "What's goin' on, Doodlebug?"

"Jon was in Cincinnati and had some troubles. He's up by Hopewell, lost and a bit upset."

Mike nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. "Best bring him here, then. Use my truck. Tires are new. Want me to come with?"

"No daddy, I've got it." Evie got her aunt to finish up the cake and took the truck keys from the hook by the door. "The ham should be fine until dinner. We'll be back by around 6."

Angela smiled while Susan shooed her out. "We'll be fine, dear. Now, go get your friend."

O:O:O:O:O:

Jon was leaned against the car, puffing his way through a pack of Marlboros and watching the cars stop and go at the traffic light on the corner in between inspecting his abraded knuckles. He had braved going into the small gas station across the road just after hanging up with Evie to buy two more packs of smokes and a bottle of Coke, but then alternated between sitting in the car to warm up and leaning or pacing outside in order to smoke. After storming out of his friend's house, he had simply driven south out of instinct, eventually calling Joe after his second close call with the Kentucky highway patrol.

He should have just flown home from Cleveland like Colby or gone home with Joe like the Samoan had suggested, but there were people he wanted to visit in Cincinnati. He had taken the not-quite-three hour flight and bunked down at the house of his friend, Josh, for the night. Josh had been a childhood friend, one of the few with whom he still spoke, and they had had a good time playing cards and having a few beers while Josh's two young sons clambered around the living room demanding to be put in headlocks and tossed on the couch while his wife simply shook her head and let them know that she didn't want to hear any crying from them when they got hurt.

Wednesday morning, he woke and went for a run through the city, seeing what had changed or remained the same before taking a shower and repacking his bags. Shoving them in the trunk of the rental, he traveled across the city and climbed the rickety stairs to Dave's apartment. There were a few beer cans sitting on the steps, those closer to the top having been used as ashtrays.

Dave and their other friend, Caleb, greeted him warmly with big hugs and slaps on the back, and invited him in for a drink. Dave had always been one for a party, and pulled out a blunt almost immediately. Caleb shook his head and pointed out that Jon couldn't be around that sort of thing. The WWE was notorious for its wellness policy and how offenders were handled.

Laying the cigar wrapped weed down beside the ashtray, Dave grinned widely. "Man, you're looking good!"

"Thanks. Working hard, but it's finally starting to really pay off." Accepting a beer from Caleb, Jon nodded his thanks. "Things are about to pick up even more, too!"

Dave's brows waggled. "Yeah, I saw the pics of that little blonde bitch. You paying her, or did she come with the new digs?"

Jon frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"The little whore they had waiting on you backstage when you needed stitches last week!" Pulling out his phone, he tapped a few things and got the WWE mobile site up.

There, staring back at Jon in high contrast black and white, was a still image of Evie pressing a towel to his bloody chin. The shirt she had worn that evening had risen up as she raised her arms, showing a slice of her delicate skin and what looked like the top of a tattoo along her waist. The heels on her feet added to her height and had straps that made her ankles look delicate and nearly obscenely feminine while the tight skirt showcased her ass perfectly. It was the look in her eyes as she gazed up at him, lips parted on a now silent question, which had his breath catching and then speeding in his chest.

She looked worried and a bit angry.

"She's just a friend." Even as the words left his lips, he wanted to grab them and shove them back down his throat. He hadn't known her for long, but he knew those words to be a lie. "And no one's banging her."

"Why the fuck not?!" Dave sounded scandalized. "I'd tear that bitch up!"

Jon frowned, slamming his beer down on the little coffee table. "She's not a bitch, and don't talk about her like that!"

"What? I'm not sayin' anything other men aren't thinking! Can you imagine just bending her over one of those production cases? Hell, I'd fuck her in front of every person I could just to put her on display. Damn, man, those heels make her ass –"

Jon's fist connected with Dave's jaw before he could finish speaking, and the rest of him soon followed. Taking him down to the floor was easy, and Jon straddled his waist in order to continue punching the asshole until he was yanked away. Caleb had gotten between the two combatants, pushing Jon away and telling Dave to keep his big mouth shut.

Spitting on the floor beside his former friend's head, Jon spun on his heel and flew from the rat hole of an apartment. His cowboy boots thundered on the creaky wooden stairs, a few of the planks cracking under the heavy weight of his footfalls. He was behind the wheel, already cranking the car to life, before Caleb came out to see him. Spinning the rental around, he picked a random highway south and just started driving.

Now, Jon stood waiting on his personal assistant and sort-of friend, his knuckles scratched and a little bloody and hurting in the blowing wind and light snow. As he watched, an old red pickup truck lumbered around the corner and into the Walmart parking lot. A moment later, he caught sight of the driver and stood away from the car with a wide grin. He had known that her family lived on a farm, but the thought of Evie driving a truck had never occurred to him.

Evie saw a tall man in a dark coat and hat straighten from where he had been slumped against the door of a midsize sedan. Seeing that he was also smoking, she headed in his direction and sighed, relieved, when she saw that it was Jon. Shifting into park, she hopped down from the cab, her brown boots splashing lightly in the slush, and went to help him with his bags.

"Hey hun. You doin' okay?"

Nodding, Jon sighed. "Yeah. Just so pissed at someone who I thought was my friend."

"Well," Evie shrugged. "Sometimes people aren't who we think they are. And sometimes, when one friend starts to be happy or successful, another friend isn't able to handle it."

"And sometimes people are just assholes." Looking down at her in her thick soled winter boots, Jon was struck with just how beautiful she looked with her lack of makeup and her hair twirling in the breeze. "Thanks for coming to get me."

"No problem, hon." Grasping the smaller of his three bags after he took the heavier two, she placed them in the back seat of the crew cab. "Climb in and buckle up. This snow sucks."

Jon chuckled and followed orders before relaxing back against the seat. "So, do we need to stop for a present?"

"Mom will just be happy to have another mouth to feed. Trust me, you don't need to bring anything other than your appetite." Gesturing to the nearly full ashtray and the radio, Evie shifted into gear and began the return trip home. "Feel free to have a smoke or play with the radio. It's country, classic rock, or Christian preaching out here."

Jon chuckled and found a classic country station on the presets while Evie stopped for gas – which he insisted on paying for – and then drove through a Starbucks for some much needed caffeine.

So: A bit of family time for Evie! What do you think Jon will make of them? How do you feel about his response to his 'friend'? Feed me, people! (lol!)