Coming Home
Chapter 3: Fireworks and Berry Pie
Jack finished harvesting a few days before the end of the season. As he reclined with his back against the shipping bin, he wondered when he'd ever worked harder in his life. After a few moments thought, he knew that he had never worked harder in his life. He didn't think he'd ever been as content, either. There was something to be said about working outside every day. Even though he usually worked himself to the point of exhaustion towards the end of the day, after a good night's sleep, he was just as full of energy as though the day before had never happened. There were other benefits too, he thought, grinning to himself. The hoe, hammer, ax and sickle he used every day were not the easiest, or the lightest, implements to use. His arms and shoulders were developing some nice muscle tone, all without him ever having to step into a gym.
Turning his thoughts back towards the farm, he let his gaze sweep over the now completely cleared field. He had patches of earth turned and ready for Summer crops near the shipping bin at the front, and Greta's chicken pen over by the chicken coop. The next thing to do would be to plant some grass, so he could buy some livestock. He probably ought to set up a larger pen next to Greta's, outside the barn, so that once he had some cows and sheep, he could let them out on sunny days.
Rising to his feet, he was just about to get to work, when a voice caught his attention. Turning, he saw Karen walking towards him, smiling.
"Hey, Jack, did you know the fireworks festival is the day after next? This town's got awesome fireworks. I always watch from the cliff behind the carpenter's cabin - you can climb the tree to get up there, and it's nice and private,"
"Sounds like fun," Jack agreed, grinning.
"Good! Maybe I'll see you," Karen replied with a smile. Of course, That was a complete lie. Jack didn't know that she really always watched the fireworks from the beach...That knowledge in his hands would spoil her plan, though. With a little wave, she turned and headed off the farm, and took the path that lead into the mountains in search of her other victim.
She found Cliff, fishing in the stream.
"Hey, Cliff!" she said as she came up behind him. He turned and smiled when he saw who it was.
"Hi, Karen!" pulling in his line, he carefully set his fishing rod aside and stood. "Do you like fish?" he asked, offering a heretofore unseen basket filled with three good-sized trout towards her.
She made a face, shuddering. Alarmed, he quickly removed the basket from her sight and apologized. He looked so contrite, she couldn't help but forgive him.
"It's okay, you didn't know," she assured him, smiling.
"So what's up?" "I just wanted to tell you the firework's festival is in two days. There's a good place to watch, right up there," she pointed, because the cliff and the tree were both in sight from where they were standing. "You can just climb the tree to get up there, and it's really private and nice,"
"Hmm...Cain doesn't really like fireworks," Cliff said, frowning. Karen frowned also. This might throw a wrench into her careful plan.
"It's really not something to miss," she insisted. "Tourists visit the town every year around this time just to see our fireworks," Come on she thought. Say you'll go!
"I'll definitely think about it," was what he said instead. Karen nodded. Not entirely a failure then, and I've still got two days to work on him,
"I hope you do," she smiled. "I'll leave you to your fishing now," waving, she started away.
"See you later," Cliff called back, picking up his rod and casting into the river. That...was kind of weird, Cliff thought as he watched his lure bob in the water. But it had been a while since he'd last seen fireworks...maybe he'd take Karen's suggestion and climb the tree to watch the show. He didn't have to bring Cain, after all. The hawk could (and no doubt would) find suitable shelter from the noise.
A faint tug on the lure distracted Cliff, and he turned his concentration back to fishing.
Karen like berries, right? So she probably likes berry pie, too, Jack thought to himself as he examined the shelves beneath the clear glass cover at the bakery. He'd been surprised that he'd actually had two other offers to watch the fireworks, but he'd politely declined both Popuri and Ann, explaining he'd already been asked by someone else. They'd both been understanding, though he thought Ann had seemed a trifle disappointed as well. He shrugged slightly, and asked Jeff for one of the pies. He paid for it, settled it carefully at the bottom of his backpack, and walked out of the bakery. It was still early yet, and the fireworks wouldn't start until eight that evening, so he returned to his farm.
He'd bought and planted some grass in preparation for his first livestock purchase, and figured he might as well plant some more, since there was time. Ann had said something about how Doug wouldn't sell livestock unless he knew the buyer had enough grass on hand, so Jack wanted to make sure he planted plenty. Rolling up his sleeves, he got to work.
As a result, it grew dark almost without his noticing, and by the time he realized how late it was, it was seven forty-five. Enough time to get to the place Karen had indicated...if he ran. Throwing down his tools, he hurried back to the cabin to grab the pie, then dashed out to the crossroads and into the mountains. He found the tree Karen had told him of, and climbed it rather more clumsily than he would have if he had been taking his time. He got to the top and leapt the short distance to the cliff, looking around for Karen, an apology on his lips at being so late.
It was not Karen he saw, however, but Cliff. He was sitting a ways back from the edge of the drop off, looking at Jack with a half-bemused, half-amused expression on his face.
"I uh..." Jack started to say, but was drowned out by the first shriek and explosion of the fireworks. Cliff gave him a "What can you do?" sort of look, and he shrugged and grinned, taking a seat beside the other man.
The fireworks were every bit as spectacular as Karen had pronounced them to be. Jack let out a breath and leaned back on his hands to stare up at the sky. From time to time, he couldn't help but steal curious glances at Cliff, who sat with his legs drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his knees, much as he had been sitting on the first day they had met.
Cliff stared up at the sky with a small smile on his face. As Jack thought about it, this was perhaps the first time he had ever seen the other man look so open and peaceful. Granted, they'd only known each other for a handful of weeks, but during that time, Jack had formed the impression the Cliff wasn't happy too often. Sneaking another glance at him, Jack wondered why that was. The vision of Cliff's gently smiling face illuminated by the fireworks caused a burst of warmth to bloom in his chest, and he found himself wishing he could see that face more often.
After about twenty minutes, the fireworks wound down, leaving trails of quickly diminishing smoke hanging in the sky like wispy ghosts.
"Pretty good, huh?" Jack was the first to break the silence, turning towards Cliff with a grin. Cliff smiled back, and Jack noted it was a different smile than the one he'd worn while watching the fireworks. This one was more careful, guarded. Jack wanted to frown in puzzlement, but instead, he pulled his rucksack over from where he'd dropped it and removed the pie he'd intended to share with Karen. She wasn't here, but Cliff was, so it was her loss. He'd tell her about it later, to see how she reacted.
"Do you like pie?" he asked, pulling the protective cellophane off the pastry.
"Yeah, I like it," Cliff answered in a strangled voice. Jack glanced at him curiously, and he loudly cleared his throat. He was grateful it was so dark, so that Jack wouldn't see the flush he felt creeping along his cheeks. Jack pulled a butter knife from the bag, and proceeded to cut into the pie. "Sorry I don't have any forks," he said cheerfully as he carefully maneuvered a slice into Cliff's outstretched hands.
"It's better this way," Cliff told him, relieved that his voice had returned to normal.
"You think so too, huh?" Jack smiled again, and cut a piece for himself. "Well, cheers!" he toasted with his slice of pie, then bit eagerly into the crust. Dark berry filling oozed out the sides and into his hand. Cliff smiled to himself and followed suit.
The pie was delicious, and they finished it off quickly between the two of them. better this way, Jack mused, smiling. If he'd shared it with Karen, he sensed there was probably a highly likely possibility that there would have been leftovers. Not that he would have minded, but leftovers tended to require refrigeration, and he was not yet in possession of a fridge.
"Delicious," Cliff commented, licking the last of the spilled filling off of his hands enthusiastically.
"Mmm hmmm," Jack agreed, cleaning his own hands in similar fashion. All in all, despite Karen's conspicuous absence, this had been a wonderful evening. Somehow, he felt more comfortable when he was around Cliff than he did when he was with the Vineyard girl, though he considered her a friend.
"Damn...I'd better get home and into my bed," Jack said a short while later, breaking yet another companionable silence. "I've got to get the tomatoes and corn into the ground tomorrow." he winced slightly as he remembered. He was so tired of planting, after getting all that grass seed into the ground. Ah, well.
"Hey, you still haven't come by to see my chicken yet," he said abruptly as he remembered. Cliff looked startled.
"You're right, I haven't!"
"Come by tomorrow," Jack told him. "I've got a chick on the way too...it may very well arrive tomorrow." It was too dark to see now, but there was a smile in Jack's voice. Cliff felt his own mouth lifting into a smile.
"I will," he said.
"Good!" Gathering up the now-empty pie tin and the knife, Jack stuffed them back into his rucksack and stood. "See you tomorrow, then!" With that farewell, he walked over to the side of the cliff and slid down the side, raising a cloud of dust as he did so. Then, safely at the bottom, he took off for home.
Cliff remained where he was for some time, staring up at the stars and thinking.
There's probably no way he'll ever like me like that, he told himself sadly, watching the three bright stars of Orion's belt twinkle and glitter in the velvet sky. He was expecting to meet someone else up here, I think, But who? Not that it mattered, really. Except he wondered who in this town would be rude enough to invite Jack to meet with them, and then stand him up. Thinking about it wouldn't help much, not with the small amount of information he had. Which was basically nothing. Shrugging, he put the matter aside. It wouldn't do him any good to think about it. It probably wouldn't do to think about the evening they had just spent together, either. It would just end up sending him back into his spiraling depression, which had been set off by his unceremonious dismissal from a different man's arms.
I'll just have to be content to be friends with him, Cliff decided. I think I can be happy if I can just see him...
Karen watched from the shadows as Jack made his way down the path and onto his property. He seemed to be in good spirits despite her absence. He also seemed to be carrying an empty pie tin. Which meant (she hoped) that there had been someone waiting on the cliff to share with. She'd interrogate him when she saw him next, after apologizing for flaking out on him. She did feel bad that she hadn't shown up, but it was all for the greater good, so she'd take a hit for the team, and hopefully, he wouldn't be mad at her.
To be continued
Author's Notes: Whee, another chapter down. Jack sure is slow, ain't he? He'll pick up though. Karen's going to have to give him some serious prodding, but he will get there. This amuses me, because I normally don't like Karen all that much...But she really seemed like the best choice to moderate this budding relationship. Ann's got a conflict of interest, Maria's rather shy, and both Popuri and Elli...well, I dunno. I picked Karen. I'll probably come out liking her better for it in the long run, so it's like...a win-win situation.
I like comments almost as much as I like critical feedback. Which is a lot. See you in chapter 4.