Chapter One-Hundred and Eighteen

John counted up his drawer, keeping an eye on Chad while he closed out the big bills, seeing him slip a few hundreds from the pile and stuff them in his pocket. He turned back to his job, wondering what that phone call had really been about…

Chad stuffed the rest of the bills into a deposit bag, before he clocked out and let John follow him out. "You need a ride home?" He asked, jumping when a black Toyota pulled up.

John shook his head, grinning as a little redheaded girl climbed out of the car. "Sweets!"

Claire crossed her arms over her chest, biting her lower lip as she saw how excited John was to see her. "Hey, Sugar." She chuckled, giving him a kiss when he wrapped her in a hug. "How was your day?" She asked, opening her eyes to see his loving gaze.

John kissed her nose, tracing his fingers over her freckled cheeks and into her fiery hair. "Good."

Chad smiled at the pair, able to see how even though John was exhausted from his day of work and school, that he perked right up like he'd had hours of sleep and six cups of coffee. "You must be Claire." He held his hand out to Claire, shaking it in greeting. "I'm Chad, Lee and Bridget's kid."

Claire nodded, letting John peek into the backseat of her car. "Nice to meet you." She heard John shush her, knowing that he'd seen Amelia sleeping in the backseat. "He was well behaved today, right?"

Chad laughed, watching as John opened the back of Claire's car and lifted a half-asleep child into his arms, seeing how the little girl clutched his shirt in a little fist. "He was great." He saw John yawn as the kid rested her head on his chest. "I'd say he needs a rest though."

Claire nodded, fully aware that John's battery had probably run out of juice a few hours ago if not sooner. "Yeah… he usually takes a nap after school, so I'll bet he's gonna pass out soon as he sits down."

Chad remembered John's short nap while they were testing out how he'd done fixing up the old Chevy pickup. "I'll bet we can work something out so he doesn't get too tired out. We don't want him to get sick or something."

Claire turned as John gave a quiet cough, knowing that it was only from the fall breeze blowing in from the ocean and that the salty air was kind of hard on his throat. "Yeah… don't make him sick. He has a hard-enough time getting out of bed somedays as it is." She remembered how hard it had been for him to crawl out of bed that morning, how he'd had to down two Advil and about four cups of coffee before he was even able to even able to leave the house. "I don't like to see him like that."

Chad agreed, seeing how John seemed to be nodding off as he leaned against the car. "I wouldn't either…"

Claire took John's arm, helping him into the passenger seat and letting Amelia climb into the back. "Let's get you sleepy-head's home." She smiled at Chad, waving to him as he walked over to another man in the parking lot. "Thanks Chad."

He chuckled, watching as the kid's left the lot and started toward their home. "Good kids." He turned to the other man in the parking lot, handing him the hundred-dollar-bills he'd taken from the register that night. "Bet it all for me… but keep it on the down low so that my old man doesn't find out."

The man nodded, taking the cash and handing him a paper that had the odds for his gamble on it. "You got it man. Just make sure you're at the track on Saturday to see the dogs."