*Author's Note*

Thanks for reading, faving, following, and reviewing.

And who's ready for their favorite Uncle Jim Vance? LOL!

Meeting Uncle Jim Vance

Cap POV:

"Hey, Jim." I greeted my uncle as I sat down at the table with him in the tavern.

"Boy, your pa's still pissed at ya." Jim chuckled, his yellow stained teeth peering out from his curled lip, before downing his drink. "Sure the girl's worth the rift 'tween you and Anse?"

"Yep, Uncle Jim, I'm sure." Jim just shook his head at me, pouring us some whiskey from the bottle he snatched from the middle of the table. I turned my head to look at the bar while telling the bartender, "Cog, we need another glass."

Jim gave me a questioning look, one of his brows furrowing. "Why? Just us here drinkin', playin' cards."

"I invited Nova to join us." I informed him while taking my cigar case from my pocket.

As I opened the cigar case and took one out my uncle asked, "Sam's Hill, when you do that boy?"

"This morning." I answered, plopping the case back into my pocket, while the bartender appeared at the table placing the extra glass down that I'd requested.

"Ah hell…" Jim rolled his eyes at me before asking, "Ya had her shacked up in your house last night?"

"Yep, but if I had my way she'd be shacked up in my house every night." I smirked, taking a long puff of my cigar.

"Cap, your pappy's not goin' to like this." Jim warned, pouring us some drinks. "How you expect to get his forgiveness and be brung back into the house if you're playin' house with the very girl he forbade ya to see?" He asked, his brow raised, as he slammed the bottle down on the table. I just shrugged my shoulders before grabbing the deck of cards and shuffling them between my hands. "Is she really worth all this trouble?"

"Yes." I simply spoke around the cigar I had perched on my lips.

"Well, looks like trouble just walked in the door." Jim pointed to the doorway with his glass.

I turned around and saw my girl standing, looking over the room for me. She looked good tonight, was in one of her shapelier work dresses. She ditched the blazer that went with it, so her arms were exposed. Overall, she looked sexy, she probably wasn't even aware of how she looked either.

Novella POV:

My nerves were on edge as I stood inside of the too small Mate Creek tavern near the door, eyes scanning the room trying to spot Cap. I felt anxiety course through my veins whenever my eyes landed on my target. He was sitting at a table a few paces away from the bar with a large man that fit every stereotype made about Appalachian people that I could think of. With a deep, grounding breath I walked over to the small square table Cap and who I knew to be his Uncle Jim Vance were occupying.

"I knew you'd come, baby." Cap smirked as I sat down in the chair next to him.

While reaching across the table to grab the bottle of whiskey set in the middle I remarked, "Yea, well, it's no fun drinking alone."

As I poured myself a drink I was asked by a deep sardonic voice, "So, you must be Cap's Miss Nova Landon?"

"No, I'm the Tooth Fairy. Of course, I'm Miss Nova Landon." I bit out, tilting my head, as I took in the appearance of Jim Vance. He was large and smelled of whiskey, badly might I add. It was like he took a bath in the stuff, that's how much it reeked and radiated off of him. His clothes were also outdated, it looked like he raided the closet of some poor farmer from over 150 years ago. "So, you're Cap's Uncle Jim Vance. Hmm, you look like Marty McFly picked you up from 1882." I told the man who's straggly beard was stained from tobacco spit and graying hair was messily falling out of the ponytail he had it pulled back in.

Jim's narrowed eyes twinkled as he let out a barking hoot of, "Ooo, I see why Cap loves ya. Mouthy with a spine made outta steel."

"Jim…" Cap sighed while I retorted back at Jim with, "And now I see where Cap gets his charming personality from."

"How was work? Wall called today, didn't he?" Cap asked as he finished divvying out the cards for a game of poker, 5 Draw from the looks of it.

I picked up my hand and nodded. "Yea, he called so I was stuck listening to my uncle bounce off theories all day."

"Ya know my nephew Ellison Hatfield was murdered by those McCoy boys. They're cryin' self-defense and you're representin' them, but do ya believe in their case?"

"You can stick a silk hat on a pig, but it'll still be a pig. Just like you can stick a self-defense plea on a murder, but it's still a murder." I remarked coolly as I waited my turn during the card game we were playing.

"Nova, baby, you mean you're admitting to representin' guilty men?" Cap asked, one of his brows arching, as he tossed down a card and flicked some cigar ashes into the tray on the table.

"Course she is, boy. This girl seems to got a sturdy head on her shoulders." Jim Vance scoffed while pointing his cards at me.

Feeling all eyes on me I nodded and took a deep breath before confessing, "I feel that 26 stab wounds and a gunshot at point blank range is overkill and powered by rage, not survival and self-defense." Cap nodded and grabbed his drink, sipping on it, while Jim just took his drink while looking at me with a raised brow. "If my uncle would've told me all the details on the case before I came here I wouldn't have quit my job, broke my lease, and came running to a place I haven't stepped foot into for a decade."

"Perry Cline's always been a bamboozlin' lyin' little weasel. No surprise he tricked ya on this here case." Jim spat venomously as he tossed a card down

Cap took a pack of Reds out of his pocket and slid them over to me on the table. As I grabbed the pack and took out a cigarette he told me, "Baby, anytime the case get's too much for ya just quit. I can get you a job."

While Cap handed me over his lighter Jim smacked the table and let out a howling sarcastic chuckle of, "Oh, Perrry'd love that. His niece workin' for the enemy to stick them McCoy bastards on death row."

"Yea, he'd be doing backflips of joy." I sarcastically scoffed as I lit up my cigarette. "Anyways, I'm done talking about work." I sighed, letting the smoke flow out of my lungs.

"Amen to that." Jim blurted out in a chuckle as he poured himself another drink.

"So, Cap says you flip houses." I told Jim as I tossed a card down on the discard pile.

"That's a side business. I work at my nephew Devil Anse's saw mill doin' security." I can just imagine what kind of security guard he is. Most likely shoot first, ask questions later type. It seems like everyone in the family worked work Devil Anse, except for Cap and Wall. As I drank some of my Wild Turkey Jim pointed between me and his nephew while saying, "Your boy Cap used to work wit' me til he got shipped to my mama."

My brow quirked as I turned my head to look at him. "Security? Weren't you a bit young for that?"

Cap smoked on his cigar and examined his hand of cards while explaining, "Well, ya see babe, after a tree fell wrong and I got a splinter caught in my eye the only job for me to do was security with Jim."

He had a logging accident. I've read that those are usually deadly. Without thinking my emotions took over my brain and I shrieked, "Oh my god, you never told me you got a piece of wood impaled in your eye. You just said you had an accident as a kid, but Cap that was more then a simple accident. You could've been killed."

"But I wasn't, babe. Don't worry bout somethin' that happened 13-years ago, Nova." Cap told me, a small smile etched across his lips, in a way to assure me that his accident wasn't as bad as I felt it was.

Jim Vance rolled his hard-set eyes while groaning, "Knock it off ya two lovebirds. I don't wanna throw up my drink from all your sap and mush."

"Shut up, Jim." Cap ordered as he tossed a card down before taking a puff off his cigar.

Jim Vance was a brash, ornery, blunt bastard of a man, but from watching him with Cap I picked up that they were close. Lordy I could see bits of Jim's ways in Cap, proving that the younger man was shaped by the older one growing up. Surprisingly I was enjoying the drinks, cards, and conversation going on between me, Cap, and Jim Vance.

Never in my wildest dreams would I ever think I'd have a nice time in the company of Jim Vance. A man that I was told by Nancy over and over again murdered her pap. A man that Tolbert swore was a fat crazy coward that murdered his uncle and spat out insults to everyone named McCoy. Jim didn't seem crazy to me, but he did seem agitated and on edge. He had one of those tell it how it is personalities, he was also hardened. He didn't seem too bad to me, in fact the back hills mountain man seemed to like me or at least that's how it came off to me as.

"Cog, we give us 'nother bottle!' Cap shouted at the bartender, who was busy cleaning classes, since our bottle of whiskey was getting low. Low due to Jim Vance drinking like a fish. Man was still as sober as a judge too, the fuck. When the bartender showed no signs of doing as he was told Cap left the table, hastily going over to the bar.

"You're the first girl to look Cap right in the eye." Jim informed me, his finger tapping his eye that was the same eye that Cap had milky white on his face. "It don't bother ya."

"No, it doesn't." I confirmed, taking a drag off my cigarette.

Jim gave me a soul shattering stare while coarsely spitting out, "Ya know that boy's throwin' his entire family away to be with you."

My eyes dropped and I shook my head. He shouldn't. I told him not too, but he won't listen." I snubbed my smoke into the ash tray and sighed, "He's hard headed."

Jim continued to stare right through me as he inquired, "Why'd ya tell him to choose us and not you? And tell the truth, girl."

With the man's hard gaze on me it was impossible to lie. Jim Vance's eyes were like a natural lie detector. Look into them and shit's going to tumble right out of your mouth before a lie can even be thought up. "I don't want him to lose his family, especially his parents. He has parents that love him…I never had that…I don't want to be the reason his daddy won't let him into the house."

"You're somethin' else, Miss Landon." I quirked my brow at the man, not quite getting where his remark was coming from. Jim shook his head before sniggering, "Ya two are in love and can't even admit it. That's a kicker."

I nearly choked on my drink before quickly mumbling, "Oh…um…we haven't been together that long, Jim."

"Been 'gether long 'nough to poke tho." He winked at me as he alluded to me and Cap's sex life. Dear lord, dirty old mountain man.

"Oh god, do you have to be so crude?" I asked, rolling my eyes at Jim, while grabbing my drink.

"Hey, what's goin' on? How're ya being crude, Jim?" Cap asked as he appeared at the table, bottle in his hand. Clearly, he had heard my last remark to his uncle.

"I ain't done nothin'." Jim quickly spay out, snatching the whisky bottle out of Cap's hand.

As Cap sat down next to me I told him, "He remarked that we've been together long enough to poke whenever I told him we haven't been together that long."

"Jesus, Jim, you can't just say that kinda shit to my-" Cap began to lecture his uncle before I cut with off with a firm look and the low flowing remark of, "Don't you dare say girlfriend, Cap. We agreed to no labels until after the trial, if that word comes out of your mouth I'll never call you Will again."

Cap's eyes grew wide and his mouth clamped shut, his face going white with sheer fear. Sheer fear of having to use his hand to take care of his needs. Cap wouldn't push me, he didn't know if I was bluffing or not and I knew he didn't want to find out. That's why he remained silent and never let the term girlfriend slip from his tongue.

"Damnit, she's got ya by the shorthairs of your balls now." The large, smelly, mountain man deeply chuckled. Clearly, he was amused by the situation. I take it nobody's ever threatened to cut Cap off before.

"Jim, shut up and drink." Cap told his uncle, his rough waving voice laced with a tone of embarrassment, as he grabbed the cards off the table and began to shuffle them.

Cap POV:

"It's getting late. I better get going." Nova announced, placing her cards down on the table.

I placed my hand on hers while offering, "You can stay with me if ya want. So, you don't have to drive all the way back to Kentucky."

Uncle Jim was biting his lip, holding back a scoff, as he looked between me and Nova. She pulled her hand out from under mine while rambling, "I have to get back to Pikeville, besides I don't have anything to wear and I can't show up to work tomorrow in what I wore today."

"There's a 24-hr Super Walmart right down the road, babe. You can get clothes, ain't no problem there." I cleverly told her with a smirk, tearing down her excuse for going back to Kentucky tonight.

"Cap, I can't just not go home." She sure could. Nova's a grown ass woman, she's 28 not 8 so can stay wherever she likes. She don't have to report to Perry Cline like he's her warden. "It's getting late."

Uncle Jim looked between us, an unreadable look on his face, while I reasonably told her, "Yea, it is and Pikeville's 40 minutes away. My place's closer and you know it."

She chewed on her lip, light blue eyes narrowing a tad bit, as she glared at me. She knew I was right, I could tell by the look in her eyes that my words were ringing a bell in her. "Smartass cocky bastard." Nova seethed before quickly rising from the table and storming off.

"She's a nice girl." Jim smirked, downing his whiskey. Pointing his empty glass at me he remarked, "Got more backbone then that whiny McCoy whore ever did."

Cutting him an unamused look I asked, "Jim, are you going to back my decision of choosing her or not?"

After a long moment of silence Jim nodded his head. "Yea, boy, I'll back your decision."

"Thanks, Uncle Jim." I told him before finishing off my drink.

Jim's eyes twinkled as he poured himself another drink and chortled loudly, "That girl's in love with ya too, ya know that."

"Jim…" I sighed, not wanting to talk about the topic he was trying to stir up.

"What? It's true." Jim chuckled, quickly downing his drink.

Rising from the table I announced, "Night Jim, I gotta go home."

"She'll show up, don't worry son." Uncle Jim called out to me as I was walking away.

I hoped Jim was right 'bout that. I wanted Nova with me tonight. After spendin' time with her tonight I just didn't want it to end. I didn't want to let her go, send her back to Cline and the McCoys so soon. I wanted more time with her cause I knew as soon as she left I might not be seein' her again for a while, unless in court.

AN:

So wasn't that a lovely time meeting Uncle Jim. LOL! So, question is will Novella go to Cap's or will she make the drive back home to her Uncle Perry's in Pikeville?