Brock and Reba drove away from their home for a long weekend together. She had just gotten off the phone with her Mama before they left, telling her to expect them in about six and a half hours. Jake would be staying with Barbra Jean, even though he wasn't exactly thrilled about it, but he smiled and pretended well enough for Reba to keep her questions to herself.
Jake had been acting very strangely since she and Brock had gotten back together. He had witnessed them fighting when she took Brock's pills away from him, and she wasn't sure her conversation with him afterwards really helped. He said he was worried about her getting hurt again, and he didn't like seeing his father acting so violent towards her when he grabbed her wrists. She assured him that wasn't the case, but nothing seemed to help him feel happy about their newly formed family. It was strange to her.
"Well, what's the first thing you want to do when we get there?" She broke her train of negative thought by asking a question. He obviously had some reason to go back to Oklahoma for the weekend, and she didn't believe him when he said it was just for a weekend vacation.
"I don't know. I figure after we leave your parents' house we could grab a bite to eat and drive out to the cabin. Where, of course, we will shed all of our clothes at the door and spend the rest of the weekend naked and all over each other." She chuckled as she responded to a text Barbra Jean had sent her, making sure they were okay on the road. She feared the blonde wasn't going to leave them alone all weekend.
"Well I like the food idea, but the naked thing is probably not going to happen…at first." He returned her laugh, placing a hand upon her knee.
"I'm glad to know you're at least going to consider it."
"Listen, I'm really curious. Why exactly did you choose to go back to Oklahoma?"
"I told you, honey. I thought it would be fun to go back to the place we spent most of our summers in college."
"You say that, but it sounds like you have some ulterior motive or something. Wait…you're not going to murder me or anything right?" She smiled when he gave her a shocked expression, showing him she was only joking.
"We're just going to have fun, okay. Just try to clear your mind and enjoy our time." She agreed, but was still suspicious. There was something odd about his demeanor, and she was determined to figure out what he was up to.
xxxxxxxxxx
Her parents were definitely shocked when they found out she was back with her ex-husband. However, they weren't as shocked as Brock was when he found out she still hadn't told them. Her sisters were excited, but her brother was pretty angry. He left at the beginning of their visit, but returned before they left to apologize for his actions.
After she broke the news of their relationship, and the shock wore off, her Daddy and Brock disappeared. Her Mama, her sisters and herself all stayed inside the house to talk and catch up on lost time, as well as going through photo albums. She became worried though. She vaguely wondered for a moment if her father had shot her lover. She wouldn't have put it past him.
Brock was fine, yet a bit shaken, as they left in silence. She drove to the cabin, and they made it there just before midnight. He wouldn't let her carry her bag, but she opened the door for him. He still hadn't spoken much to her, and she feared he was angry. There had been enough tension with her family that evening. She wanted him to open up and get over it before they went to bed.
"Please talk to me." She watched from the bed as he hung up a couple of nice shirts next to the clothes she had previously hung in the closet. He sighed before meeting her eyes.
"What do you want me to say, Reba?"
"I want you to tell me how you feel. Are you just tired or are you pissed off because I didn't tell my family about us?" He thought for a moment, obviously choosing his words carefully. She could tell he didn't want to argue, neither did she, but they both also knew that she had a very short fuse.
"I know you didn't tell them because you wanted to make sure we're going to make it first, but it makes me feel like you're embarrassed by me." She stood, walking towards him with her arms crossed over her chest. She was trying not to yell at him, for whatever reason, but it was getting increasingly difficult. They were both tired and irritable, and she just wanted him to get over it.
"I am not."
"How am I supposed to feel then?"
"If anything you're the one who is embarrassed by me. You introduce me to people as your 'friend.'" He rolled his eyes, taking a deep breath.
"That was once, and I thought we moved past that. I've told you how sorry I am about that."
"Yeah, well…" She shook her head, running a hand through her hair before meeting his eyes. "Look, we didn't come here to argue. I'm sorry if my not telling my family about us hurt your feelings, but I was trying to prevent them from freaking out. I mean, you saw how my brother reacted. I just didn't want to deal with all of that."
"I understand...I'm just tired. Sorry I snapped at you." She nodded, surprised that the argument hadn't escalated the way they usually did. It was odd that instead of pressing forward he walked over and pulled her into a hug. She would gladly admit that she liked it like that.
