A/N - Sorry for the two week wait, better than a month though I guess. This chapter was going to cover the entire of Thursday (if you've not been counting the days, don't worry, I have) but unfortunately Eric got chatty and I couldn't shut him up, so this is half of the day, the rest is yet to come.

Thanks again to my wonderful beta, Northman Maille - super fast, super great! Thanks also to Jan_of_arc who, when my brain stops working, seems to know the right things to say to put the wheels in motion again - best bean feeder there ever was! Love you both! Couldn't keep writing without you xx

Disclaimer - These aren't my sheep, they are the property of Charlaine Harris, I'm just putting them out the pasture.


The Souvenir

Chapter 12

He had tried to sneak back, but I had been waiting. My open palm had slammed into the wood beside his head barring his access to the accommodation barn, the shock of the impact had done little to release my frustration.

"Bitch!" He'd said, placing his hand over his heart and fanning himself. "Don't scare a sister like that."

"How dare you! How FUCKING DARE YOU!" The words had squeezed through my teeth, the volume kept low, the emotions running high. "You know what Lorena is capable of! And yet you said NOTHING."

"And where was ch'oh ass? Ch'oo too busy playing Lancelot on yo' white ass horse!"

Fuck! He was right; I should have turned up earlier. I should never have relied on this queen to protect Sookie. To protect Sookie? I had known her less than five days and my instinct was to protect her? No, my instinct was for more than that. Damn him. Why had he brought her here?

"Well you can stop treating her like a toy, and start treating her like a friend." At which point I had left him, and skulked back to my cottage.

As I stood on the hill, watching her small frame leaning on the gate, bathed in the glorious Welsh morning sun, I wondered how fragile she was feeling, and whether she'd let me take her heart and warm it with my own. I looked down at Sam, his cornflower blue eyes met mine and I had this odd momentary sensation we were thinking the same thing. I laughed at myself and called him away to work. There was nothing I could do just yet, she needed time.

The cloud cover was so thick by the time I made it back to the farm for lunch that it felt more like six o'clock than one. Her rental car was still parked outside, so she hadn't fled the scene just yet. I reminded myself that so far there was nothing to regret if she left, she'd just be another pretty face to remember on cold, lonely nights. But I wanted to hold her so very close, stroke her hair as she laid her head against my chest, feel her skin against my skin.

I mentally bitch slapped myself for being so smitten so soon and went inside, but the possibility of seeing Sookie had put a slight bounce in my step I could not deny.

She wasn't there.

I dropped myself into one of the bentwood chairs that Sal was part way through renovating, my arms heavily found their way onto the table as I waited to be served. My actions could be taken as tired, but Lafayette is overly observant, something I both value and despise.

He practically threw my lunch in front of me with the inelegant manners of a hacked off short-order cook, and flicked the towel he'd used to protect his hand from the warm plate over his shoulder. "She not here."

No answer was deserved, I wasn't blind, but I grunted my acknowledgement.

"She not here." He drew out the last word, and added emphasis with a widening of his mascara'd eyes followed by a raising of his pencilled eyebrows.

I looked out the window. Shit. It wasn't raining, but it soon would be, and a strange inkling told me she was out there, alone, unprepared for the weather that was about to hit us. "Where did she go?" I asked, not looking up from my pie. I had to hand it to him, it was a good pie, but then I don't make a habit of hiring bad chefs.

Lafayette didn't turn around from the range where he was preparing some amazing feast or other and just shrugged. "Pam say she thinkin' o' leavin' though. Choo might wanna do some'it about that."

I finished up my lunch and gulped a glass of water. I headed for the door to fetch my waterproofs. My hand on the doorframe, I bowed my head hoping that what I was about to say wasn't going to jinx my plans.

"I'll need two packed lunches for tomorrow. We'll be leaving at 10."

.-oOEOo-.

My heart was racing as I closed the door to my cottage and leaned my back against it.

I had kissed Sookie.

I wondered if induced a smile on her face the way it did mine.

I was taking her out tomorrow. And I needed tickets for Friday.

I had kissed Sookie!

Breathing deeply I pulled myself together, found a pen and paper and wrote my instructions for Lafayette. Having no phone or internet was like a spoonful of cod liver oil: really unpleasant, apparently doing me good, but I'd yet to be convinced by the results.

Half way through writing the task list I looked up and into middle distance… Next time, she would kiss me back!

.-oOEOo-.

He eyed me with attitude, his pout contained more petulance than your average teenage girl. "Bitch, you does not want to know how much I hates Rocky Horror."

"Your right, I don't. Your eye liner's smudged." He whipped out a pocket mirror and kohl pencil; vanity is such a great handle to have on someone. "Just get Pam to sort it. Three tickets, front of house. And bitch?"

He looked up from the mirror and glared at me. "Hookah?"

"We're dressing up, so make an effort – and help Sookie find something." I waved the wicker hamper at him. "And thanks for this Lafayette."

I left him adjusting his makeup.

.-oOEOo-.

I leaned over and pushed open the door to the four by four. She climbed on board.

"Got your boots?"

She waved a tote bag at me, and I took the gesture to mean 'I'm blonde, but I'm not stupid', although after getting caught in that rain the day before I could have argued the toss.

"No Sam today?" she asked looking round. Sam normally made himself comfortable on the dirty old blankets on the back seat, and not only was his absence obvious, so were the fresh clean blankets.

"I'm not the only one having a break. Besides, Car won't let his kids have a dog, so they like the chance to dog-sit, and Sam enjoys chasing a ball as much as chasing the sheep." I could see Morgan's reasoning on not having a dog, neither he nor his wife were at home during the day, and the children were not in want of dog contact, what with all the other dogs in the village, but there's nothing quite like having your own loyal companion. But far be it from me to try to change a Welshman's mind once it's made up, they're almost as bad as Yorkshire men.

Sookie seemed contented with my answer, even if a little saddened not to be able to throw a ball for Sam herself. I love my dog more than I tend to admit, but start a game of fetch with a collie and it never ends; I wanted to spend my time with Sookie to be as undisturbed as possible.

"So where are you taking me today?" Her sweet southern accent hinted of sunshine with every harmonic. I could bask in her words for hours, just lying there, listening to her chatter away while I leisurely stroked her hair or naked tanned shoulder...

Mind on the road, Eric! I reminded myself. "I thought I'd show you a wonder of nature. It's big, it's very big, and powerful, you'll be very impressed with how powerful it is. But it has a gracious beauty to it... I don't want to spoil the surprise for you though." I chuckled lightly to myself. "So, enough about me, tell me about you. What's brought you to Wales?"

The innuendo seemed to slip silently over her blonde locks. "Lafayette." She smiled at me, her lips full of pure natural delights such as buttercups and forget-me-nots; oh, if nature would make a man of me yet...

"You've known him long?" I asked, trying to focus.

"Only since the flight over, we were seat buddies. I hadn't planned what I was going to do on my trip, so when he offered to be a short term tour guide I figured why the heck not, let's have an adventure. I think it might be time to move on from here now though." There was a bounce to the meter of her words, but also a hint of sadness, and that pained me. "This vacation was a present from people who can't afford me to not enjoy it, so I'm just going to get on with enjoying it."

In that moment I wanted to fall to my knees and beg her not to move on, but begging's not on my business, there are other ways.

"Where do you think you'll go next? Have you any thoughts?"

With no hesitation: "Stratford. I was talking to Pam about it yesterday, just before that awful storm, and I think Stratford."

"Pam?" Nonchalance was key.

"Oh, she's someone I met in London, Lafayette and I stayed at her flat on our first night. She was... well I guess she was sweet. She seemed a little, odd. I put it down to her being English, y' know?" It was her turn to chuckle.

Oh yes, I knew Pam. Brusque was a good way to describe her, down-right rude was another, but she had a heart of gold, and if Sookie found her 'sweet' then Pam obviously liked her quite a bit. "Yes, I know how some English can be, but they're no different to any other nation, not really. You have the nice ones, the rude ones, the kind ones, the selfish ones... " I trailed off. "So, Stratford huh?"

"Yes, I know what you're thinking, American tourist does Stratford, how clichéd, but I want to see it. I love the theatre. I want to see if I can take in a show while I'm there. It'd be so great to see one of Shakespeare's plays at the Globe theatre!" Her enthusiasm for this next part of her trip was too infectious and delectable to want to squash, but I was going to, I could feel it. I wanted to keep her for myself, I wanted her here.

"Sorry to break it to you, but the Globe's in London. I've been told the theatres in Stratford are new, or in the process of being developed, I'm not sure, I've not been there for a very long time." This was a white lie, or at least, it depended on your definition of 'very long'. I certainly hadn't been for a few years, which might seem like no time at all if you'd never been, but if you go every other month, then several years is an age. But let's not get into semantics.

"Oh. I thought, oh never mind... I'm sure there'll be something I can watch." She was upbeat, and it sounded genuine, this was a good start.

Our conversation continued, and I learnt about her family back home, her line of work and her love of dreadful romance novels. She told me all about the area she grew up, how she'd moved away after college and how much she really wanted to move back. The camaraderie she'd developed with the locals in just a few short nights down at Y Gafr's reminded her very much of the bar she used to work in during her college vacations, and there was something seductive about her innocent desire to return to that. I guess a lot of us crave that sense of familiarity, that sense of belonging; it was something I'd been happy to live without, until she showed up, and suddenly I wanted to be part of her world, even if it meant breaking my unsociable habits.


A/N Ooooh! Where have they gone? What's he going to show her? Tune in next time for more exciting sheepy adventures!