Caitlin didn't get much sleep that night. She drifted off around
5:30 in the morning. She had spent much of it crying into her red satin
pillow over the death of her mother. The drops from her tears had stained
it even darker than it already was.
Griffen had been the first one of the Lowe's to ever see the picture.
Caitlin didn't mind that he asked her who it was. She just wished that she
hadn't started to cry in front of him and she hoped that it was too dark
for him to see the tears that had formed in her eyes.
When she did awake from her 2 hours of sleep, she was full of
excitement. She couldn't wait until she could see Evan. She hoped that
Jim would invite her to go pick him up from the station.
Caitlin ran down the stairs. She was up even before Griffen today,
which was unusual for her. As she came to the bottom of the stairs she
stopped, 'Okay, calm down, if they know that you are this excited there is
no way they are going to let Evan stay here long. Just relax and play it
cool. It's no big deal.' But it was a big deal. It was a very big deal.
Caitlin rounded the corner and walked into the kitchen trying to act
normal. She was normally very good at acting, but today she couldn't hide
her smile for more than 10 seconds.
"Well, you seem very happy today," Dori said with a smile on her
face, noticing that this was the first time Caitlin seemed the least bit
happy in about 6 months. "Are you going to go down to the station with Jim
to get Evan?" she asked.
This surprised Caitlin. It was just what she had been hoping for,
but wasn't brave enough to ask for. She looked at Dori with a don't-kid-me-
this-way look and smiled. "If you want to go with him I'm sure he will let
you. All you have to do is ask," stated Dori.
This scared Caitlin though. So many times before she had asked
people to do things for her or allow her to go with them and they always
seemed to turn her down. "Can you ask him for me?" she asked Dori.
Dori knew how hard of a time Caitlin was having these last past months and
if anyone else had asked she would have said no in an instant, but it was
Caitlin who asked so she reluctantly responded with an, "Okay." Caitlin's
smile grew even bigger and Dori thought that she might blind the next
person that entered, the way it was gleaming through the room.
~/~@
Dori talked Jim into allowing Caitlin to join him for the ride to the station and picking up Evan. Jim was unwilling to at first, but Dori told him how excited she was to see her friend and that it wouldn't be right to not let her go. In the car Jim told Caitlin, "Look, I don't know when you last saw your friend, but he might look differently. It looks like he fell in with a bad crowd in the city and he still won't tell us why he has come here." This didn't surprise Caitlin like Jim thought it would. She had been in that bad crowd in the city. It was her family, but she would never tell anyone here about them. She couldn't. She couldn't endanger all their lives just so that she didn't have to keep secrets from people anymore. Jim continued to talk about all different things Caitlin should and shouldn't do, but they just went in one ear and out the other. She was too busy thinking of how she was going to make it look like this was the first time in 2 years that she had seen Evan. She was also trying to think of a signal that would let Evan know this, but she wasn't a good planner and decided that it would be better to just forget the planning and let things happen. Jim pulled the car into the parking lot and parked in his reserved spot like he did everyday. Caitlin put on her surprised face and got out of the car. Jim walked up to the door and motioned for Caitlin to follow him. She hated this place ever since Jim had charged her with auto-theft, but in order to see her love she had to go in. Caitlin followed Jim through the halls to his office, where he put down his coat and hat and then started to look over his paper work for the day. Caitlin was too anxious to just stand there waiting for him to be done. She had to see Evan and now. "Come on. What are you doing paper work for? Lets go let Evan out of that jail cell," she said and with that she grabbed the keys to the cell off his desk and ran into the back. "Caitlin! Caitlin! Wait! Not yet!" Jim called after her, but it was too late. She was already in the room and unlocking Evan's cell. Jim ran in and pushed the door shut just before Evan was able to fit out through the opening. "I said wait. Not yet. I still have some paper work that I need to fill out before I let him out," Jim said in a stern voice that shattered Caitlin's spirits and caused her to back away from him almost in fear. "Sorry, I didn't know," Caitlin responded and sulkily walked back out to his office. She sat down on one of the hard wooden chairs, while he finished his paper work. It was taking him a long time and Caitlin was getting impatient, but she knew that she had to wait. He was already mad at her for running back there once. "Jim?" Caitlin couldn't take the silence anymore. She had to see if she could do something other than wait for him to finish. "Yes, Caitlin?" he asked knowing that she wanted to ask him something. "Can I, um, can I, can I go and talk to Evan while I wait for you?" she asked him. He responded with a simple, "Yeah," and Caitlin's spirits were revived. She went into the back room. With the click of the door softly closing behind her Evan's eyes rose from the floor to look at her. "What are you doing here? I thought for sure that you would be sent home after the way that guy yelled at you." "That's just Jim. It's okay. I guess I wasn't supposed to let you out. He said that he had paper work." "Do you live with him? Isn't he the sheriff?" Evan's thoughts were running through his head. 'This might be okay after all. If I get to live with Caitlin this could be so much fun.' "Yeah, I live with him and yeah, he's the sheriff." Evan cut her off at that, responding with, "You mean I get to live with you?" he asked making sure he was following the information she was giving him correctly. A smile spread across Evan's face as Caitlin responded, "Yeah, you get to live with me, but listen, I gotta tell you something before anyone else comes." Slowly the smile started to fall away. Evan was fearful of what she was going to say. She continued with, "They don't know that we were out the other night. All they know is that I know you and nothing else. I sort of would like to keep it that way for a while too. The only one that might have an idea of what is going on is Griffen, but I don't think he will say anything. Not yet anyways. He will want to make sure it is true before he says anything." Relief spread throughout Evan's body as he realized that what she was saying wasn't too serious. As Caitlin spoke, Evan had moved closer and closer to the bars that separated them. He tried to reach through them to pull her in for a kiss, but his arms couldn't get through far enough and the more he tried to push them through the bars the farther Caitlin backed away from him. "What's wrong with you? No one is going to see us in here. It will be okay," he said noticing her motion and body language. He hadn't counted on her backing away even though she had just given him that little speech. He had just thought it was no big deal, but obviously it was. "Nothing, it's just that I don't want to get caught in here kissing you. I mean what if Jim comes in? He can't know about us," Caitlin said and just as she finished that statement they heard a slight click and in walked Jim. "Okay, I'm done. Lets get this guy outta here." Jim walked over to the cell and unlocked it. Evan walked out a little timid at first, but when Caitlin moved toward him and wrapped her arms around him he knew that everything would be all right. Evan decided that he would let her dictate the relationship while the Lowe's were around. He didn't want to mess up anything she had with them, whether it was their trust or anything else. He thought to himself as they walked out and away from the station in silence, 'This is gonna be great!'
~/~@
Dori talked Jim into allowing Caitlin to join him for the ride to the station and picking up Evan. Jim was unwilling to at first, but Dori told him how excited she was to see her friend and that it wouldn't be right to not let her go. In the car Jim told Caitlin, "Look, I don't know when you last saw your friend, but he might look differently. It looks like he fell in with a bad crowd in the city and he still won't tell us why he has come here." This didn't surprise Caitlin like Jim thought it would. She had been in that bad crowd in the city. It was her family, but she would never tell anyone here about them. She couldn't. She couldn't endanger all their lives just so that she didn't have to keep secrets from people anymore. Jim continued to talk about all different things Caitlin should and shouldn't do, but they just went in one ear and out the other. She was too busy thinking of how she was going to make it look like this was the first time in 2 years that she had seen Evan. She was also trying to think of a signal that would let Evan know this, but she wasn't a good planner and decided that it would be better to just forget the planning and let things happen. Jim pulled the car into the parking lot and parked in his reserved spot like he did everyday. Caitlin put on her surprised face and got out of the car. Jim walked up to the door and motioned for Caitlin to follow him. She hated this place ever since Jim had charged her with auto-theft, but in order to see her love she had to go in. Caitlin followed Jim through the halls to his office, where he put down his coat and hat and then started to look over his paper work for the day. Caitlin was too anxious to just stand there waiting for him to be done. She had to see Evan and now. "Come on. What are you doing paper work for? Lets go let Evan out of that jail cell," she said and with that she grabbed the keys to the cell off his desk and ran into the back. "Caitlin! Caitlin! Wait! Not yet!" Jim called after her, but it was too late. She was already in the room and unlocking Evan's cell. Jim ran in and pushed the door shut just before Evan was able to fit out through the opening. "I said wait. Not yet. I still have some paper work that I need to fill out before I let him out," Jim said in a stern voice that shattered Caitlin's spirits and caused her to back away from him almost in fear. "Sorry, I didn't know," Caitlin responded and sulkily walked back out to his office. She sat down on one of the hard wooden chairs, while he finished his paper work. It was taking him a long time and Caitlin was getting impatient, but she knew that she had to wait. He was already mad at her for running back there once. "Jim?" Caitlin couldn't take the silence anymore. She had to see if she could do something other than wait for him to finish. "Yes, Caitlin?" he asked knowing that she wanted to ask him something. "Can I, um, can I, can I go and talk to Evan while I wait for you?" she asked him. He responded with a simple, "Yeah," and Caitlin's spirits were revived. She went into the back room. With the click of the door softly closing behind her Evan's eyes rose from the floor to look at her. "What are you doing here? I thought for sure that you would be sent home after the way that guy yelled at you." "That's just Jim. It's okay. I guess I wasn't supposed to let you out. He said that he had paper work." "Do you live with him? Isn't he the sheriff?" Evan's thoughts were running through his head. 'This might be okay after all. If I get to live with Caitlin this could be so much fun.' "Yeah, I live with him and yeah, he's the sheriff." Evan cut her off at that, responding with, "You mean I get to live with you?" he asked making sure he was following the information she was giving him correctly. A smile spread across Evan's face as Caitlin responded, "Yeah, you get to live with me, but listen, I gotta tell you something before anyone else comes." Slowly the smile started to fall away. Evan was fearful of what she was going to say. She continued with, "They don't know that we were out the other night. All they know is that I know you and nothing else. I sort of would like to keep it that way for a while too. The only one that might have an idea of what is going on is Griffen, but I don't think he will say anything. Not yet anyways. He will want to make sure it is true before he says anything." Relief spread throughout Evan's body as he realized that what she was saying wasn't too serious. As Caitlin spoke, Evan had moved closer and closer to the bars that separated them. He tried to reach through them to pull her in for a kiss, but his arms couldn't get through far enough and the more he tried to push them through the bars the farther Caitlin backed away from him. "What's wrong with you? No one is going to see us in here. It will be okay," he said noticing her motion and body language. He hadn't counted on her backing away even though she had just given him that little speech. He had just thought it was no big deal, but obviously it was. "Nothing, it's just that I don't want to get caught in here kissing you. I mean what if Jim comes in? He can't know about us," Caitlin said and just as she finished that statement they heard a slight click and in walked Jim. "Okay, I'm done. Lets get this guy outta here." Jim walked over to the cell and unlocked it. Evan walked out a little timid at first, but when Caitlin moved toward him and wrapped her arms around him he knew that everything would be all right. Evan decided that he would let her dictate the relationship while the Lowe's were around. He didn't want to mess up anything she had with them, whether it was their trust or anything else. He thought to himself as they walked out and away from the station in silence, 'This is gonna be great!'
