He's startled awake in the dead of night, and the couch just isn't as comfortable as he'd hoped it would be.
Raylan breathes hard and rubs his neck, looking around Winona's dark living room at the shadows cast by the streetlamp outside.
He's not getting back to sleep, and he knows it.
He shifts to his feet and paces for a moment before snagging his jeans, and tugging them on, along with socks and boots. He snags his old hat from the coffee table and slips out into the darkness.
He makes it to Harlan in record time, and finds himself standing in front of his destroyed tombstone with the same pickax Shelley used.
Might as well finish the job.
"Raylan."
The voice, for a second, a very brief second, sounds like his mother's voice, but it's Helen's. She's shuffling down the front porch in a dressing gown and slippers.
"The damn thing's already ruined," Helen says. "Shelley made sure of-"
"It shoulda been me," he interrupts her. He's surprised to have said the words out loud. "I shoulda done this thirty years ago, and I was too chicken shit to get it done."
"Our children are always better than we are, Raylan," Helen tells him. "You been a father thirteen years, you shoulda figured that out by now."
He lowers the pickax and stares at her.
"Your mama said that to me once," Helen says. "'Our babies always do the things we can't.'"
Raylan shakes his head.
"Come have a drink."
"Arlo-"
"Isn't here," Helen waves her hand. "He's off beggin' Boyd's forgiveness."
"For what?"
"What he done to Shelley," Helen shrugs as she leads him up the front porch. "Shelley called Josh, Josh told his daddy, and Boyd's mad as hell."
Raylan gives a mighty snort.
"Boyd adores Shelley like one of his own," Helen snaps. "Just like you and Winona love the hell outta Josh and Bella."
"Bella ain't easy to love," Raylan mutters.
"Bella Crowder is her granddaddy reincarnated," Helen says as she pours a drink from the bottle on the porch. They don't go inside. She knows he won't set foot inside if he doesn't have to. "And Josh is everything good and sweet that Ava and Boyd ever were. Just like Shelley's everything strong and stubborn that you an' Winona ever were."
Raylan grins just a little.
"How is she?"
"Strong and stubborn," Raylan says. "She's healin' up good. Still hurts her when she laughs or coughs, though."
"How's it been livin in Winona's house?" Helen asks.
He just stares down at the glass she hands him. "Fine. Like gettin' more time with my daughter."
"And Winona."
"You, too, huh?" Raylan grins. "Shelley wants us to get married again."
"You're her parents," Helen says. "Course she does."
They stand in silence for a long moment, each drinking from their glasses, and when Raylan finishes his, he hands it back to her.
"I'm gonna get going."
Helen sighs and watches him walk back down the porch. "Give Shelley a kiss from me."
Raylan nods. "I will."
"You ever gonna let her come back down here?" Helen asks.
Raylan turns to her and squints a little. "You think we should?"
"I think we're her family," Helen says, lifting her chin. "And family's important."
Raylan shakes his head at her. "Once upon a time you handed me a wad of cash and told me to get the hell outta Harlan and not to look back, and now, you're beggin' me an' mine to visit. Which is it, Helen?"
She says nothing.
He sighs. "It's gonna be a while before Winona's ready for Shelley coming back to Harlan. Hell, it might be a while before Shelley's ready to come back. You're always welcome up in Lexington."
Helen nods slowly. "G'night, Raylan."
Raylan nods back and heads to his car.
It's nearly four-thirty when he walks back into Winona's house, and there she is, sitting on the couch he was sleeping on.
She gets to her feet, the look in her eyes is wary and a little mad and a little worried.
"Where did you go?" she asks.
He shrugs and takes off his hat, setting it down. "Arlo's."
Winona narrows her eyes. "To do what?"
He walks over to her, standing close. "I don't know. I just…had to finish what Shelley started. Talked to Helen a little…"
Winona sighs. "I was worried when I came down for a snack and you weren't here," she admits. "You didn't leave a note."
Raylan nods. "I'm sorry. Thought I'd be back before you got up…forgot about the snack thing."
She snorts and crosses her arms. "Gary always hated that."
He grins and steps a little closer. "Well, I thought it was cute…reminded me of a little field mouse in the middle of the night, nibbling on crackers or whatever."
Winona huffs and gives him a playful shove on the chest, but he hardly moves, resting his hand over hers. She looks up at him, her smile fading.
"Raylan…"
He bends his head, his lips lingering close to hers. "Hm?"
"Shelley is right upstairs."
"Dead to the world," Raylan says. "She'll sleep well into the morning, knowin' her. And if that's your only excuse…"
Winona gazes at him. "Not the only excuse…just the only one I can think of right now." With that, she tugs him down for a long, slow kiss.
Shelley walks slowly down the stairs in the morning to find the couch her daddy's been sleeping on for the last few nights rumpled, but empty. His hat's by the door, and there's socks on the floor, and a shirt, but he's nowhere in sight.
She frowns a little and turns when she hears someone else coming down the stairs.
There he is, wearing his jeans and nothing else.
They stare at each other for a long, long moment, before Shelley giggles loudly, holding her middle.
Her daddy rubs his face. "Shit."