Donno sighs, shaking water off of his hands as he comes out of the bathroom and wanders towards his bed, dropping his watch and wallet on the bedside table. Tugging out a drawer, he checks his favorite knife before collapsing onto the bed with a grunt. Brushing his hair impatiently over his shoulder, he drops back against his pillows and adjusts his shirt, fingers tapping against his leg as he stares at the ceiling.

After a few quiet minutes spent listening to the house settling around him and the faint sound of nature outside of his window, Donno glances over when his phone chirps. "Finally," he grumbles, shifting to sit up as he taps at it impatiently until it lights up and quiets the chiming.

Ren's face fills the screen and Donno's lips twitch. "Donno!" she exclaims. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," he says, searching what of her face he can see through the phone's shaky pixels for anything untoward. "How are you?"

"Oh, you know," she chuckles a little, glancing away for a moment, before peering back at him, quirking an eyebrow. "It's taking a little more than I expected to get everything stabilized. My father made such a mess of things. But I'm making progress. And my brother is being less of a nuance. So that's good."

"I'm glad to hear it," he says, never much for words, but still feeling something deep inside settle as he listens to Ren describe her day as much as she dares to over the phone.

Her words drift after awhile and she sighs, sipping from a glass of wine. "So, now you," she says with some of the command that he's used to. "How's the restaurant? How's Tonya?"

He ignores the teasing lilt to her voice and shrugs the shoulder not attached to his phone. "Restaurant's good," he says. "Cassie came by earlier."

"Oh?" Ren says, some tension bleeding back into her voice. "What'd she want?"

"To buy the ranch from Tonya."

Ren sits with that for a moment, staring at something beyond the phone. She exhales slowly and hums. "Is it weird that that makes me feel... envious? I liked that place. It was... oddly, it was starting to feel like home, I guess. Somewhere I thought would always be available for me if I needed it."

Donno understands, perhaps more than Ren will ever realize. "I'm still here," he offers. Awkward, uncertain.

Softness bleeds into Ren's eyes and she smiles into her glass. "I know you are," she says quietly.

They say nothing for awhile, until finally Donno clears his throat, not ready for the call to end just yet. "Strawberry rhubarb pie was on the menu today," he says.

Ren looks up at him. "Your grandmother's recipe?" she asks.

"Yes."

"It's sad what happened to her," Ren says with a small quirk of her lips.

"It was," he agrees.

"She definitely had a way with baked goods though," Ren muses.

"She did," Donno says. "I'll make extra the next time I see you."

"Good man," she says with a faint laugh. "Same time next week?"

"Same time next week," Donno agrees.

The call ends a few moments later and Donno exhales, sliding his phone onto the bedside table before dropping back against his pillows and rolling over, sleep claiming him almost immediately.