Shane grunted a bit as he heaved the last box onto Mayor Lewis' truck. Sweat dripped from his brow and he wiped at it with his forearm, looking up at the cloud doted sky. Wondering why not one could make it's way to relieve him of the sun for a second, he felt a strong old hand clap against his shoulder interrupting his pondering. Reflexively he jerked himself away from the touch and made to sneer at the offending person but only made an annoyed glance when he saw it was, in fact, Lewis. The old man had offered a lot of help, with the packing and with lending the truck. Plus, the fact that he was the mayor and pretty much dating Marnie always kept him from snapping at the guy.
"Whoa, Shane! Don't wanna frighten you, specially now. You've grown strong with the work Laura's been heaping on you." And he smiled, his teeth barely visible under the bristley mustache. It made his insides clench a little in disgust at the idea that his aunt kissed through all that... He shook his head slightly attempting to dispel the thought.
"Moving in with Laura, huh? She's a lot like her grandpa I gotta say. Strong and hard working. Surprising isn't it? She's got a lot of power in such a small body. How's it been between you two anyways? Sure does warm my heart to see a young couple ma-"
"We're not a couple." Shane interjected quickly, his lips coming together tightly as he looked intensely at Lewis. A lot went through his mind very suddenly and very quickly, almost bringing a flush to his face but his cheeks were already lightly sun burned so he wasn't too worried about looking like a bitch.
"Is that so? I and... well... the town could only guess that you were. Sure gave Harvey a fear, he'll be glad to know she's available." Lewis said, smiling and practically glowing with the new gossip. Behind pursed lips now came gritted teeth. For some reason he could feel a bit of anger and jealousy start to bubble up in the pit of his stomach. Teeth grinding a bit he fumed, and Lewis took notice quickly.
"Hey Shane, you doing okay? That's good news right? Then you'll get those rumors out of your hair." Lewis spoke.
"Yeah! Fucking great. I look forward to the happy fucking couple!" Shane spat out harshly, slamming the tail gate closed swiftly while his other fist balled up angrily.
"Uhg... ergh! Thanks for letting me borrow the truck, Mayor." he gritted out, and looked down as he started to walk to the front of the truck. "And sorry." Then Shane strode much quicker into the truck and sat down, quickly starting the old truck with a couple pops and bangs and sped off down the dirt road, tires spinning for a moment before kicking up dirt and dust as Shane left. He glanced into the rearview mirror for just a moment, long enough to see Marnie come out and stand next to Lewis, her arms folded across her chest, and could almost see a smirk cross her lips.
"Shit..." he murmured before refocusing on the road... if you could call it that. More of a trail Laura had carved through her land. His brow furrowed deeply and he continued on, cursing every now and then under his breath and trying to calm down before he finally got to Laura's. She and Jas were waiting for him there and he didn't want to show up angry on his first day moving into her home.
Marnie watched after Shane as he sped away, humor in her eyes. Her nephew was always a bit of a hot head when embarrassed. She turned to Lewis with that same smirk Shane had seen.
"You ask about it?" she inquired.
"In so many words, yes. He absolutely has feelings for her, I can tell. Just might not realize it yet. Probably a little difficult to sort out that type of emotion for a guy like him." Lewis reasoned, meeting Marnie's gaze. Beaming at him, Marnie reached out to hold his hand for a moment and squeezed it gently, relishing in the feeling as he squeezed back, her calloused hand wrapped in his.
"So... what we doing today? With an empty house?" he asked, eyebrows raising mischievously in question. Marnie blushed delicately and he smiled at her and took his hand to caress her cheek gently. She reached up to brush the back of her hand against his for a moment, closing her eyes, and then wrapped her hand around his once again and began pulling him inside, excitement and passion welling up between the both of them.
"Would you like another cracker?" Jas asked a table runner wrapped around her neck like a fancy scarf and a crown of dandelions adorning her head.
"Why yes, I would quite enjoy one, madam." Laura responded with a curt nod of the head, and embellishing a terribly forged British accent. Jas giggled, her hands coming to her mouth for a moment before reaching and picking up a faded magenta plate with an assortment of seed crackers, and handed them to her companion with as much grace as a child could muster.
"Thank you, Miss Jas, would you care for a bit more tea and- oh- out in the distance- your long lost Godfather has made his return home!" Laura called out, clapping her hands together in dramatic fashion and held them to her cheek as though swooning, and Jas copied her completely and announced her own excitement.
"My Godfather! So long it has been!" impressing Laura with her sophisticated wording. But as she turned to look she could already tell there was something a little off about Shane, as he drew closer the lines in his brow become more visible. Furrowed deeply in thought or anger she did not know, but guessed it was a mixture of both.
"Jas, you know, it has been a while since the goats and pigs had a visit! Maybe you could go and see Ooma and them? That pesky cat is always in the rafters so be sure to look, but don't climb in there, your Aunt Marnie told me about your high climbing escapades." Laura said with a smile and unwrapped the table runner from around the little girl's neck fearing a choking hazard if her word went ignored.
"Okay! And then we'll all have dinner!" she cheered, and Laura smiled again and nodded, just as Shane began to pull up. He opened the door, jumped out, and slammed it behind him quickly.
"Hi Uncle Shane!" Jas called out, running to hug him quickly before making her way to the barn, and Laura was unsure if it was good or bad that Jas was so unphased by Shane's stormy demeanor.
She pushed herself up from her chair, leaving the canning jars filled with sweet tea, and seed crackers there on the table to approach Shane hesitantly who looked like he was bottling in a lot of frustration. He didn't even look at her and instead went straight to the back, where Laura knew, mainly Jas's belongings took up the bed. They'd moved the beds and dressers that morning so the rest was surely books and toys and maybe Shane's video games and TV.
"Hey, Shane- this the last of it?" she asked, giving him her most disarming smile and speaking sweet and soft.
Shane looked at her for a moment before looking away again and began pulling boxes out, stacking two and starting his way inside. Laura followed suit and came behind him before hearing his answer of just,
"Yes."
"Okay, good! You made great time, it's just barely 5! Maybe Jas can even set up a bit of her room."
"Hm." he grunted, fumbling clumsily for the door handle before grabbing it firmly, and angrily, and opening the door with a purpose. A purpose to get this done quickly and retreat into his own small world she thought. He walked past the kitchen and into the bedroom on the right to set Jas's stuff down before making his way to brush past Laura, his chest brushing against her shoulder for a moment causing an electricity to rush through her. And there he paused, making Laura got slightly stiffer and stared even hard straight ahead but she had stopped too now. It was only for a moment as Shane said,
"That's actually going into my room..." but instead of allowing her to turn around he simply grabbed hold of the boxes. "I'll take them." and she did nothing but comply as his reaching for them from her side had only brought them slightly closer. Not for long though, and she released them and he maneuvered away quickly and down the hall a bit into his own room to set them down while she started walking back out towards the truck. It wasn't until she got some distance that she considered his still deeply furrowed brow and stopped at the door, and turned around to see him walking towards her, she made a quick move she thought wasn't too obvious to get a bit more in front of the doorway.
"Shane, um... is everything okay? I, well... I wouldn't normally pry but I only ask incase the move may be something you're reconsidering...?" she asked, and watched as Shane screwed up his face slightly.
"No." he said simply and made to move past her, and she let him past.
"Well, if you'd like to talk about it, I'm happy to listen." and she followed after him reaching for a box.
"I got it. I can finish it on my own." Shane said strongly, and Laura complied by stopping, really not wanting to have a weird situation between them on his first evening there.
"Ah, okay... I might start on dinner then, after I check on Jas real quick." She quickly responded and began to walk away when she was stopped one more time.
"Hey... I'm sorry. I know I'm being rude. I just got... a lot on my mind." Shane spoke, looking over his shoulder and briefly look at her before turning back forward and walking out to door to grab more boxes.
She stared at him for a moment, before going to the barn, careful not to bump into Shane again while he grabbed boxes and peeked her head through the barn door, eyes scanning for Jas only a moment before she caught the deep purple hair on the child.
"Hey Jas- mind coming in to play? It's gonna get dark soon and Ooma probably wants to go in to." and judging by the cats expression, wanted out of Jas's child-strong grip. With her words, Jas dropped the cat who landed expertly on her feet and shook a moment, licking to unmat the hair that was ruffled up and slightly sticky from hands that were still lightly coated with sweet tea. Then she bolted out of the farm, and Jas went running after, grabbing on to Laura's hand.
At least one person moving in likes me... Laura thought.
"Is Uncle Shane feeling better?" Jas asked sweetly.
"I'm... well, I'm sure he just needs some space. But I don't need to tell you that. You're a Shane expert." Laura said, sing songing the last bit and grinning at the child who laughed as though she'd said the funniest thing ever.
"No one is an Uncle Shane expert! Aunt Marnie calls him Mystery Man!" and she planted her balled up fists against her waist and struck a super hero pose.
"His super power is being grumpy!" she went on, which had Laura laughing now. It was all light hearted, she knew Jas loved her Godfather. And she had to marvel, for a girl who was so incredibly quiet and mousey when she first met her, she had proven herself to be a very effervescent young girl!
"I think you may be right about that, Jas. Maybe he's a superhero the world doesn't know they need." and smiled at the girl as they left the barn. They spotted Shane as he grabbed the last of the last boxes, and made his way inside. They followed in after him.
After he had set down the couple boxes in Jas's room, he turned to Laura and then looked at Jas.
"Time to read me my book?" she asked, clapping her hands together. But Shane shook his head.
"You're gross right now. You need a bath first. I looked, it's the same as home so go clean up." he ordered, and they both looked at Laura. She wasn't sure why until she realized- they were asking for her approval.
Like mind readers... she thought, wondering how they both knew to look at her.
"Oh, of course! This is your home now- go on ahead." she stated, nodding and smiling kindly, and Jas took off to the bathroom, calling over her shoulder.
"And after, we're reading The Wild Swans!"
"After, you're eating dinner." he responded and shook his head a little when she groaned, but she shut the door and turned the water on anyways.
Now it was just the two of them and she felt her nerves get to her a bit, but she sucked it up and pretended to be unaffected by his close proximity. Every interaction was just so... foreign and too exciting for now. It was everything to keep blushing at bay.
"I have to say, Shane- you're a great father to her." and it was already out of her mouth before she realized her wording.
"I'm not her dad." he said, looking hard at her as though to really drill in his words. "Her dad went away a long time ago. I'm her Uncle." He looked away after that.
"And... Godfather. I'm sorry about how I said it but... your... um..."
"My sister."
"Oh, sorry, yes. A perfect choice made by your sister. She must have known you'd take good care of her." but she knew his bad mood had turned even more foul. It was a big improvement, she knew. Shane a couple years ago would have bit her head off for these comments. But Shane a couple years ago would never have even agreed to move in. Now, he was just quiet and obviously stewing a little in the frustration. She'd had her assumptions, that it was a death that had brought Shane to Jas, and the both of them to Marnie. But even finding out that Jas was the daughter of his sister was as far as Laura wanted to push him. To her surprise, he offered more on his own.
"Look, Laura... I don't wanna apologize a lot. Cause I don't wanna be a total asshole all the time. I've been doing pretty good with not drinking. I've relapsed a couple times but... it's been six months solid of no beer at all and I dunno. I don't crave the alcohol. I crave the escape. And I need to learn not to be such a dick and just deal with life. Without the escape." he stated, a look of shame overcoming his features but his face softened. "I know Marnie spoke to you. And I can't make all sorts of promises, I've disappointed my family on to many occasions. But I want to make living her work. I want to be a better father figure to Jas. I... I appreciate you saying I'm a good dad. I'll never replace her mom, but I know I'm better than her piece of shit biological father. Anyone is." he said, the last part softer than the rest to avoid Jas catching what he said. But he now looked again at Laura, and her breath almost audibly hitched a little with his softened expression looking at her. Usually it was the sun or the sweat, or the cold, or the anger that screwed up his features. This was one of the few times she saw him simply relaxed and almost on the verge of content and meaning his words.
"Thank you, Laura." she responded with only nods, and knew her face was absolutely reddened.
"Do you need any help in the kitchen?" he seemed earnest but she was quick to refuse his offer.
"No, no! I'm good, please relax! I'll call you both when dinner is finished. Won't be too long... um... thank you, Shane. I... er... I appreciate your candor." and just as she kicked herself at her slightly odd word choice, she reached out almost unable to stop- and embraced him for a moment, arms going around his neck, and just as her body was about to wretch backwards and begin apologizing, she felt his arms hesitantly come to wrap around her waist in a loose embrace. It felt like both an eternity and a split second. HIs beard and breath brushing lightly against her shoulder, his strong arms holding her and she only wished they'd pull her in closer and tighter against him. But, it was over before she knew it. He pulled away from her, awkwardly nodded at her and said,
"I'm... uh, gonna go keep unpacking. Tell me if you need something." and with that he left for his room and shut the door leaving her feeling euphoric and at the same time numb in the hallway. The water shutting off was her cue, and she moved into the kitchen, reflecting and prepping.
It would take some getting used to, she thought as she folded tiny creases into chicken gyoza and put them on the frying pan to cook and sizzle contently as she chopped up green and red peppers, and broccoli into florets. Maybe, with time, he'd open up more to her even more. Even though they worked together it wasn't all that often that they worked side by side except for things like baling hay.
And maybe even more embraces. she thought quietly to herself, and scrapped veggies from her cutting board into an oiled pan, smiling a tiny, happy smile.