Chapter 18 – Home Again, Home Again

Jim woke slowly, feeling hands in his hair, pulling, rubbing his scalp. He sighed, half dreaming about the blond who had fallen asleep in his bed. She must have changed his mind about how she felt; he smiled, like they always do. He moved his head slightly, enjoying the feeling of her fingers, when suddenly his scalp shot with stabs of pain as if from sharp needles. He cringed and twisted away, looking around. He blinked as he saw Sophie standing on his pillow, her tiny claws embedded into the cotton pillowcase.

"Sophie", he growled, as the kitten stretched out a paw, claws extended, toward his hair. "Stop," he sighed, reaching a hand up to his head. He gathered the fuzzy creature and held her against his chest. He looked over to Lori, remembering his dream, and saw she was awake, watching him. "I thought it was you running fingers through my hair," he said, smiling to her.

The girl snorted, "only in your dreams, mister," she said, her eyes closing sleepily.

Jim watched her for another minute and took a deep breath, "look, maybe it's none of my business or too personal of a question," he said pausing before pushing on, "but do you not like men? In general? Some women don't so I don't want to be judgmental, I was just…"

"What?" Lori said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well," Jim said, "you and Christian seem pretty close and …"

"And so do you and Artie," she laughed. "Two unmarried men, thirties, living in a fancy train with a pet cat?"

"Hey," Jim growled, "that isn't funny, don't even hint at that." He shuddered. "We obviously like women, if you haven't heard or noticed. I'm not saying anything about how other people live, but no, not here."

"Well maybe you're switch hitters," Lori laughed, turning onto her side, leaning her head on a hand. "But yes, I have not only heard stories about you but seen the disasters you leave behind. Though I am sure it's not your fault with your perfect hair and blue eyes, mysterious job…" She paused as Jim turned on his side to face her, putting the kitten on the mattress between them. The bed sheet pulled off his shoulder to his waist, still pinned underneath her. "I can imagine your whole persona is too much for most women you meet."

"I don't usually get complaints until I arrest them," he grinned, patting Sophie's belly as the kitten rolled to her back. The four paws, claws extended, snagged the back of his hand and wrist. "So why are you so immune to my charms?" He winked and then laughed as she rolled her eyes. "Seriously, you could be nicer."

"Look," Lori said, meeting his gaze. "When I was asked to do this job, early on, I was not only warned about you by Colonel Richmond but I saw the insanity you cause in the secretaries' office. You know how they all work together in that little room downstairs, tapping on their typewriters, typing out the reports agents write?"

"Been there," Jim said slowly, looking worried, "I cause insanity?"

Lori leaned closer, rubbing a finger on Sophie's forehead, whispering, "The last time I was there, to file some paperwork with Herb, their boss, the ladies were crying and yelling. I asked one what was wrong," she paused, her eyebrows twisted as she was thinking, "I think it was Marlita, the nice lady from Montreal. Anyway, Laura and Malinda were having a terrible argument about you. Melinda was saying how she had been out with you the previous evening, dinner and dancing. But when Laura said she was going out with you that night, Marlita said you were leaving on the train that afternoon. I hadn't even met with Colonel Richmond yet and the office ladies knew the plans! Anyway, Laura started crying and yelling about how she never gets to see you." Jim squeezed his eyes shut and opened his mouth to speak, "oh, wait, it gets even better," she said, "Marlita told Laura to stop crying and said 'Besides, he told me he would give me a tour of the city and he never did'. So she was upset too." Jim turned his face into his pillow and groaned, as she continued, "and then Herb comes out of his office yelling about how he never wanted to hear your name spoken again unless it was work related." She giggled, "So, mister James West, I am not going to get in the middle of all this. You have dates backed up for a month or more."

Jim looked back to her, "I feel terrible. I did promise to take Marlita around town and I thought Laura would understand if I had to leave. I come and go all the time." He let out a long sigh, "but that doesn't change today, here and now? The craziness is over so let's relax, get to know each other…"

"No," Lori said, "let's just get breakfast. I smell coffee and something…"

"It's just porridge," Jim interrupted, "Artie is cooking for little Mary. I don't get up until I smell sausage or bacon or ham or something serious. And what do you mean No? We could pass the time in enjoyable ways. Like I said, I haven't gotten any complaints." He reached a hand out to her and froze at her look. "You're a cold fish," he sighed, moving his hand back.

"I've had enough of men recently to last me a long while," she groaned, rolling onto her back. "You aren't the only handsome man I've been near in my life but beyond dinner, going to the theater," she shut her eyes, "it's just not happening. Not right now."

Jim leaned back to look at her, his eyes admiring the thick blond hair, looking down her wide forehead and slightly upturned nose, her red lips and curved throat. His eyes moved to the smooth skin of her chest and the rise of her breasts at the open neck of his blue shirt she wore. He suddenly cleared his throat and shifted under the thin sheet. "Well don't wait too long," he said softly. "But we do have a few days to get back." He ginned at her as she turned an angry look at him again. "How old are you, anyway?"

"What did you just ask me?" Lori snapped, leaning toward him again, her pale eyes snapping with anger, "how old I am? Maybe you would like to know how much I weigh too!" Sophie jumped to her feet and scrambled to hide under Jim's neck as he recoiled back from her. Lori rolled away, tossing blankets onto the bed as she rolled to her feet. "Forget it, just forget it!" She stormed from the room and slammed the door.

"Wowzer," Jim said, laughing. He sat up and looked down at Sophie as the kitten curled into a ball, her tiny black eyes looking worriedly at the closed door. "You females sure are a lot of trouble." He patted the kitten's head as a soft knock was heard at the door. "If this is my partner, you may enter." He grinned as Artie stepped quickly into the room.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Artie asked, looking around the small room.

Jim snorted, swinging his feet to the floor. "I asked one personal question too many."

"It's that investigative streak in you," Artie said, leaning his back against the now closed door. "How are you feeling? I thought I would put the medicine on your wounds and see if you need breakfast brought in."

"I don't need breakfast in bed," Jim said, twisting his back slowly. "It feels better than it did so it must be healing. Toss some of that mystery powder on me and lead me to food before Lori eats it all. Then I want to talk to this young guy we are transporting back to Washington." He paused, leaning forward as Artie slowly peeled the bandage off his back and started sprinkling the medicine on. "I wonder if Tim is worth money. We better keep him away from Lori."

"You'll have to control her," Artie said, "she scares me. Christian may be deadly but at least she's pleasant. Lori seems to have a streak of anger a mile wide." He placed another bandage on his back and shoved Jim's shoulder, pushing him over slowly. He pulled off the second bandage and dusted the powder on his side.

Jim snorted, "yes, Christian would stab you in the back while kissing you and batting her eyelashes." He winced as Artie suddenly snugged the bandage tighter. "Lori said she just had a bad experience with a man," Jim said softly. "Maybe we are just catching her at a bad time. And this trip must have been stressful."

"A bad experience, huh," Artie scoffed, "and what would that be? Shot the wrong guy? She was cheated out of money?" He wrapped another bandage around his partner's waist and tied the ends. Standing to stretch his back, he added, "and you should see the stack of money out on the table. She got paid for John, the head guy, and the two that were killed on the train."

"Business is good," Jim laughed, "she can buy another box of shotgun shells when she gets home. Toss me my pants, will ya? I need to get out there before those girls eat all our food." Artie helped Jim dress and they moved toward breakfast.

[

]

Tim stuck the pencil in his mouth, wetting the tip, and began to slowly write on the paper. His head bent low as he worked at the table. Jim's gaze moved over the young man to his partner. Artie sat across the room at the desk. Christian and Lori sat on either side, also writing quietly on notepads.

"I think this will be acceptable," Jim said to Tim, picking up other papers on the tablecloth. He formed a neat stack in front of him and looked again at the young man's work. "And you are willing to speak to the authorities, right? You're not going to disappear on me when we reach the city?"

"Oh, no, sir," Time muttered, sticking the pencil in his mouth again. "I wouldn't do that. But I am curious to see such a big city. Mr. Cobb has been telling me how big the train yard is and all the different kinds of trains. I just can't wait to see it all."

Jim grinned behind a hand, rolling his eyes at Artie across the room. "Yes, well the train yards are very popular with tourists. It will be full of people from all over the country." He winked as Artie grinned at him.

"Ok," Lori said, sitting up. "I have a message figured out." She held her paper up and stuck a pencil behind her ear. Looking at Artie, she reached across the desk to the telegraph key. Artie took a deep breath and nodded. She started to tap the key, short clicks with short and long pauses, as Artie scribbled his own notes.

"Do it once more," Artie said quietly, keeping his eyes on his note pad. The key clacked again and he scribbled more notes.

"Well," Lori prompted, "can you understand what I was saying?" She smiled, her eyes darting from his face to his notes. "Should I do it again?"

Artie chuckled, tossing the paper on the desk. "I'm not sure this will work. I don't think we need to teach you the Morris code until we teach you how to spell. I have no idea what you are writing. This is based on letters spelling a word."

"Oh, it can't be that bad," Lori snapped, picking up his notes. Christian smiled from the other side of him, her own pencil hovering over a notepad. Artie leaned back, rubbing his hands over his face, as Lori squinted at his writing. "What did you write down? This isn't what I said at all."

"Yes, that's the problem," Artie said, with a long sigh. "That is what you said. It's like you spell in Frontier Gibberish. You have to learn to spell correctly. Did you even go to a school when you were a child? Didn't they have schools by this farm you lived on?"

Lori tossed the note pad back down, "yes, we have schools, mister city boy. But no one ever worried about how to only spell a word one way. There can be lots of ways to spell the same word." Artie moaned and dropped his forehead on his arms, leaning on the desk between the girls. "Oh, you are the worst overly dramatic person I have ever met. You're worse than my mother." She turned a pale gaze at Jim, "your partner should go back to the theater."

"Don't encourage him," Jim said, standing. He turned to the shelf behind him and picked up a thick, hard cover book. He walked across the room to Lori and dropped the book on the table by Artie's head. He leaned over to look Lori in the eye, fighting to keep from smiling, knowing his dimples were giving it away. "This is a dictionary," he said, in a low voice. "It has all the words you commonly use spelled out so you can look each word up before you send the next message. And stop tormenting Artie." He poked a finger onto his friend's shoulder, "Come on, partner, this was your idea. I know it's been a couple days but don't give up yet. She'll look up her words from now on."

Artie slowly pushed himself back up and ran fingers though his dark hair. "Why don't you work on that last message now that you have the dictionary? I should have thought of that yesterday so you could have been using it."

"Oh, I bet there are words I commonly use that aren't in this book," Lori growled, picking it up. She leaned over her work again as Artie turned to Christian.

"And how about you," he asked, "want to give it a try?" He winked at her as he pushed the telegraph key closer. The dark haired girl took a deep breath and reached out a long, slender finger to type delicately at the keys, her eyes glued to the paper in front of her. Artie looked up at Jim as they both listened intently. When she was done, Jim let out a long sigh, shaking his head. "I know," Artie said, "we only have one dictionary on board."

"Maybe we can trade that book on cloud structure for a second one," Jim laughed, turning back to the table to watch Tim for a moment. Seeing that he was still writing, he moved to the chairs along the windows and joined Mary as she watched outside. The sun was setting and the trees were tinted a soft pink color as the train raced along. "And how are you doing this evening?"

The girl turned her eyes to his, "is it true? Will I see my Mother tomorrow?"

Jim reached out to squeeze her small wrist, "you will. We'll just be a few more hours. We should arrive in the night." He nodded toward the window, "you can already see a lot more houses now, right? We are getting very close to the city now."

"Can we ride the train into town?" Mary asked excitedly. "The tracks run near my house and I could walk home!"

Jim grinned at her, "no, we are going to stop in the big train yards and park in our usual spot. Then we will have a fancy carriage come to take you home. I even bet your mother will come to the train to get you."

"Oh, that would be perfect," the girl squealed, hugging her self. "I could show her the train and Sophie too." The girl jumped from the chair and skipped to the couch, leaning over to peek underneath the back. "Sophie? Sophie!" She reached underneath and pulled out the grey kitten, hugging it to her chest. "I'm almost home, Sophie, aren't you happy for me?" The kitten wiggled out of the child's arms and hit the floor with a thud, landing on her feet. She scampered to Jim's feet, racing underneath his chair.

"Come here, fluffy," Jim said, reaching down to pick up the kitten. He patted her fur and held her to his chest as Mary stood watching.

"She really does like you best," the child said, her eyes watering. "I was going to ask you if I could take her home with me but she is yours. She would rather be with you."

"Oh," Jim said, smiling at the girl. "Well, she just get's scared when there's so many people around. She likes it better when it's quiet." He smoothed the soft fur, calming it. "But I'll tell you what. You can sleep in my big bed tonight with Sophie and when you wake up, your mother will be here. And you can show her Sophie. Deal?"

"Deal," the girl said, nodding. She yawned and stepped to his knee, reaching out to pat her. "I have a big dog at my house that would probably chase her anyway." She yawned again and Christian rose quietly and moved to her side.

"Time to get you cleaned up," she said. "Sophie can join you when you are in bed, ok?" Mary nodded and they walked out of the room, making their way to the bathrooms.

"Well, Sophie," Jim said, hugging the kitten as he walked back to the table. "I guess you can keep living here with us." He nodded to Tim as the young man rose from his chair. "Let's meet in the morning. We will want to have you speak to our Colonel first thing." Tim nodded and moved to the swinging doors. Jim followed him down the hallway as to the back door. "Tell Cob we'll all meet outside as soon as he parks in the yards." He smacked the young man on the back as he left the varnish car. Jim shut the door and locked it. Turning, he braced himself as Mary, now in her long nightdress, ran down the hall to him.

"I will miss you and Sophie," she said, hugging his thigh, "and Artie too."

Jim leaned over to pat her head and hug her awkwardly. "You will be so excited to see your Mother, you won't miss us." The girl stepped back, wiping her eyes. "Besides, I bet I will see you again in the city. I work there, you know." He bent on one knee, still holding the kitten. "And you can come visit Sophie too, ok?" The girl nodded and walked slowly into his room with Christian. "Good night," he said, standing in the doorway to watch her climb into bed. "Would you like Sophie to stay with you now?" The girl held her arms out and he stepped forward, handing the kitten to her. "Stay in here, Sophie."

"You can sleep with me one last time," Mary said, kissing the kitten's face. Sophie meowed and then crawled underneath the blankets. Christian leaned down to tuck the girl into the bed as Jim moved back to the hallway.

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[

Early morning…

]

The distant lights of the city moved past slowly as the train rolled behind closed businesses and dark homes. The warm breeze blew Jim's hair as he relaxed on the back of the train, on the outside platform. His back rested on the closed formal door and his legs stretched out in front of him with his boots hooked onto the bottom edge of the ornate frame railing. "I knew I could get you to spend the night with me before this was over." He turned to wink at the blond sitting next to him.

"You're a twit," Lori whispered, grinning. She was leaning back against the back wall of the car, next to him, with her eyes closed, only half awake. "And don't even think of saying that to anyone at headquarters." She opened her eyes to glare at him and then turned to watch the view.

"I don't kiss and tell," Jim laughed, watching her. "Or make up stories about women. What happens on the train, stays on the train, even when nothing happens." He looked out at the passing buildings. "Your first case outside of the city was successful but your death rate is higher than mine."

"What?" She said, turning again to glare at him. "My death rate?"

"You killed the leader of the gang on your first case," Jim said, hands out, feigning surprise. "One case, one death; sounds like a 100 % death rate to me. That's even higher than mine." He tsked tsked at her, "and, come to think of it, so does Christian. Terrible," he groaned. "I didn't kill a single person on this entire trip." Lori's eyes narrowed in anger. "Well you'll probably be too depressed to continue with this line of work anyway. Maybe there is a nice job in the office you would rather do, maybe work with Melinda and the other ladies. Something safe but you can still feel involved."

"Actually," Lori said, holding his stare, "I was thinking of doing some teaching."

"Now that's a good career for a young woman," Jim nodded, "a teacher of small children and …"

"I was thinking of teaching young women self-defense," Lori interrupted. "I saw an unused room in the basement of the headquarters building, near the men's gymnasium," she paused, tipping her head to one side, "which, of course, needs to be a gym all agents can use, not just the men, but that's another day. Anyway," she continued, as Jim started to protest, "I could have classes in this room, teach hand to hand combat, to keep women safe on dates with over excited men. Maybe even teach married women to fight off abusive husbands. Don't you think that would be important work?"

Jim stared at her for a moment, "sure, why not," he said, his mouth a firm line, "As long as you don't keep pretending to be an agent or bounty hunter."

"Oh, I think I can find time to do all three activities," she smiled. "Think of the money I would make. I may rent a larger place in the city."

Jim took a deep breath, "so it sounds like I will be seeing you around when I come to Washington, at least at headquarters." He tipped his head toward the door, "and it looks like your partner will be hanging around my partner."

"Oh, those two are adorable," Lori said, "don't make it negative or weird."

Jim laughed as the train slowed. Metal clanked ahead of the engine and men's voices were shouting. The train started again, moving off to the right at a wide angle. "Well, here we are, home again, home again." He stood and held his hand down to her. Lori grasped his wrist as his fingers tightened on hers and allowed him to pull her up.

A man swinging a large lantern walked to the back of the train. "Welcome back, West," a loud voice boomed out. "Your spot is empty but we need to move some equipment out of the way. You'll be parked soon." Jim nodded and the man walked off into the darkness.

"You really live out here in the train yard?" Lori asked, leaning to the side to look down the tracks ahead. Men moved behind the train, moving the switch back in place. "Looks busy and noisy."

"It's a happening place," Jim said, his eyes closely watching the switchmen. "Safe most of the time, with all these people around working all night. And it's quieter where we finally stop, farther in the back of the yard. There is even a field for the horses to graze." He grinned at her, "we call it home." He nodded toward the door again, "Can I make you a cup of coffee? I think the love birds are still on the couch but if we're noisy we can wake them and get Artie to cook us breakfast."

"Maybe I'll cook breakfast while you make coffee," Lori said, standing back to let Jim open the door.

"That combination should make him happy," Jim chuckled under his breath. As they entered, Jim looked toward the couch. Artemus was leaning back into the cushions with Christian sitting against him resting her head against his chest. "Rise and shine you two, we're home," he said, smacking his partner's shoulder. Artie jumped in surprise, his eyes popping open. Christian let out a low groan and didn't move.

"Oh, thanks, Jim," Artie said, setting back again, his arms wrapping around the girl's slim waist. "Now go away until the sun shines. I'm not cooking yet."

Jim grinned and walked past, "don't worry, Lori and I are cooking breakfast this morning."

"Oh, joy," Artie muttered, leaning down to put his face in the black curls of hair. "Good morning," he whispered. "I can't say I'm happy about seeing this morning arrive. But I imagine you want to go home."

"You probably want your train back," Christian whispered. "Jim certainly does."

"I will get to see you again, wont I?" He leaned over to look her in the eyes. "dinner tonight?"

She stifled a yawn and giggled, "dinner tomorrow night. I think I will need to catch up on my beauty sleep."

"I will only agree to your terms if you tell me where you live so I don't have to spend an entire day searching for you," he said, looking down into her blue eyes.

"Maybe," she smiled. She pulled his face down to hers, kissing him.

]

[

The End

Epilogue….or is the start of the next story?

]

[

"Damn, Jim," Steve yelped, as he stood in the doorway of the varnish car. Artie was pushing past him through the swinging doors into the main room, carrying a pot of coffee and a handful of mugs. Steve had a large bowl of fried potatoes and sausages in both hands, an elbow holding the door out of his way. He laughed again as Jim turned to face him. "Are you trying to impress us? It's not working!"

"Very funny," Jim snapped, his voice muffled by the towel over his head. His hands rubbed his hair with the towel as he stood in the hallway, stark naked. "Something you need to ask about?"

Artie looked over his shoulder and shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Ignore him, Steve, it just makes him worse." He walked into the varnish car and put the pot on the table. Steve followed close behind with the bowl. "He's just celebrating the train being free of women."

"Damn right I am," Jim said stepping through the doors into the main room. He stood on the carpet wiping water off his chest and arms, pausing to shake his wet hair, throwing water onto the wall near his shoulder.

"Hey, put some clothes on and stop throwing water on my barometer," Artie said, laughing at his partner. "We don't need to see everything at breakfast."

"It's my train and I can eat butt naked if I want to," Jim grinned, punching Steve in his shoulder as he walked past him. "And it's a relief to finally have our train to ourselves again. God, I hope it's a while before they come back here, even for just a romantic date." He wrapped the bath towel around his waist and sat down in a chair. Reaching for a cup, he waited for Artie to pour coffee into it. Turning to his other side, he looked at Jeremy sitting at his elbow. "Jer, you're quiet this morning."

"Just enjoying the relaxed comraderie," the older agent said, sipping at his cup, "and waiting to hear the details of this latest trip. Did you catch and/or kill all the bad guys?"

"To hell with the bad guys," Steve said, leaning closer to Jim, "tell us about the two women you were assigned to work with. Are they really agents? Did they look like women?"

"We still have reservations about the agent part," Jim growled, setting his cup down, "but what was the last question? Did they look like women?" He raised an eyebrow at Artie.

"Ya," Steve said, "you know." He moved his hands through the air making the shape of an hour glass. "You know, did they look like women? Or were they big like men? I have seen some women bigger than me and with mustaches and huge muscles…"he paused as Artie choked on coffee. "Well, no one has seen them at headquarters except Malinda and the gang of office girls, so no one knows what they look like. And you know it's impossible to get information from them."

"Melinda is pretty tight with secrets," Jim growled," since its part of her work to type all the confidential handwritten reports into files." He looked at Artie, who was wiping tears from his eyes, still coughing his hot drink into a napkin. "But I thought they looked like women. Artie got a lot closer look than I did though." He grinned at his partner, "what do you think? Did they look like women?" Everyone laughed as Artie nodded.

"Yes, I thought they looked like women," Artie finally said, still clearing his throat, "Both of them, though I did see one much more closely. They didn't act like any women I have ever known before. I thought they were fascinating. Crazy. Full of surprises."

"So if I saw them at headquarters, what do they look like?" Steve said.

"They both wear pants," Jim said, pausing to rub his chin in thought. "But Lori said she had been to the office to see Herb. She couldn't have been wearing pants that day or I would have heard about it. Someone would have said something. She must have been wearing a dress that day."

"They wore pants the entire trip?" Steve asked, shocked.

Artie grinned, "I got one in a dress since we went into a town. It's illegal to dress out of your gender in many small towns and cities, even here in Washington." He winked at Jim, "I have to be careful about such laws with my disguises, you know."

"If you ever get arrested for being caught dressed out of your gender," Jim growled over the rim of his cup, "I am not bailing you out. In fact, I would probably leave you in jail for a long time."

"I'll keep that in mind," Artie laughed, picking up the bowl of sausages. "So, tell us what we missed while we were gone. What's everyone doing? Are you two on a case?"

Jeremy sipped his coffee, winking across the table at his young partner, "Steve and I have been hanging around the docks trying to find out information on a sailing ship that just arrived. We think it's been dropping off foreigners in other ports. Not sure why yet. It just arrived last night and we thought we might sneak on board."

"Need any help?" Jim asked. "I could use some time off this train, have an evening out with some pleasant barmaids. Maybe we can work separate establishments, do some listening for you."

"Another set of ears would be good, Jim," Jeremy said, setting his mug down. "You might not want to ask Colonel Richmond. Just act like you are relaxing for a night on the town."

"For a change," Artie said, "we don't ever sit still very long. Unless," he said, leaning closer, his dark eyes twinkling with an idea. When he had everyone's attention, he said, "if we tell Colonel we are having the train cleaned, which it needs after the dead bodies have been stacked up around here," Jeremy and Steve exchanged a look, "anyway, it would give us a few days. We usually stay at the Capitol hotel."

"That would work," Jim said, "and I bet Cobb would like to work on the engine. I think our case is wrapped up now. We brought Tim in this morning to meet with Richmond and he left him there. Cobb is upset but I am sure the young man will be released soon and reappear. It didn't sound like he did anything too serious and he seems to want to help." He took a long breath, "he was busy deciphering the ledger book. The old man is still on the run but someone will collect him soon. Colonel Richmond didn't seem to have anything pressing for us to do so I think we are free for a few days, at least."

"So shall we meet tonight?" Jeremy set his cup down and winked at Jim, "I was going to suggest you dress for the occasion, James, but you might get more questions answered if you go in your towel."

The group laughed as Jim chuckled, "I might forget what I went there for once the barmaids come running." He held out a plate toward Artie, "let's eat and then you can fill us in on the details." He grinned as his partner, "aren't you glad she said no to a date tonight? You get to hang out in a bar with me instead. Maybe we'll even get into a good fight."

Artie plopped a spoonful of sausage and potatoes on Jim's plate. "Oh, ya, that's what I was hoping for. Getting socked in the mouth, beer spilled on me, hanging out with you…again…instead of being with her." He snorted as Jim laughed. "But it's only for tonight. She and I have a date for tomorrow night and I'm not missing it for anything." He waved the sticky spoon at his friend. "Remember that. Not. For. Anything."

"And I need to take Marlita and Laura out too," Jim held his hands out, "besides what could happen?" Artie groaned.

tbc