Jason and Kellie's house
After the kids were in bed, Kellie came downstairs to find Jason sitting in the backyard having a beer.
"You were exceptionally quiet tonight, even for you," Kellie said, sitting on Jason's lap, "What happened today?"
"I just have a lot to think about," Jason said.
"Like what?" Kellie said, taking Jason's beer and having a sip.
Jason shook his head, taking his beer back from Kellie.
"I know something's bothering you," Kellie said, "I'm here if you want to talk."
"It's nothing," Jason said.
"Are you sure?" Kellie asked, "I'm pretty sure it's not business related or at least not normal business related. This isn't that kind of quiet."
"It's nothing I want you to worry about," Jason said.
Kellie looked at Jason assessing him.
"Or did my father ask you to be the go-between again," Kellie said, "It's not like I haven't been expecting that at some point."
"Sonny did stop by," Jason said, "And yes, he asked me to help him to talk to you. I told him that pushing you wouldn't help you and just give it time. But he didn't want to hear it."
"No surprise," Kellie said, "but something about this time bothered you, maybe?"
"I don't know," Jason said, "It's not like it was the first time Sonny screamed that I'm dead to him at me. But something about it about it just hit different this time."
"Jason, I'm sorry," Kellie said, causing Jason to set his beer down.
"Hey, none of this is your fault," Jason said, taking Kellie's hand, "I still could have ended up pushing Sonny out of the business if you and I weren't together."
"I know, it's just you wouldn't have him putting you in the middle," Kellie said.
"I don't want you to worry about it," Jason said, "I can handle it."
"I wish I could figure out how to make things better with my father," Kellie said, "But I just don't know how."
"I know," Jason said, "The last thing I want is you trying to make things work with him when it might not be in a way that is actually good for you. I think once things settle down, Sonny will get distracted by something else. Until Spencer was kidnapped, he had mostly been leaving you alone."
"True," Kellie said, leaning her head on Jason's shoulder, "I still don't think you're telling me everything though."
"I can't put anything past you can I," Jason said, "Charles came by to have the conversation you mentioned he wanted to have with me."
"Oh," Kellie said, "How did that go?"
"It was fine," Jason said, "Charles said what he needed to say. He did give me some things to think about."
"Like what?" Kellie asked.
"Maybe more like reminders really," Jason said, "Of how much I could have lost, how much I almost did because I wanted to believe Sonny would pull it together. How much I could lose if I forget that."
Kellie waited for Jason to continue speaking.
"I need to ask you something," Jason said, "I don't know why didn't think to ask this before. But what do you know about Pikeman?"
"They're a WSB affliated military contractor," Kellie said, "wIth a lot of rumors, whispers, and who knows what else going on. Does this have something to do with my father supposedly working for them?"
"I wanted to warn you to be careful," Jason said, "And make sure you hadn't been approached to ship anything for them."
"No, they haven't," Kellie said, "Sonny and Brick are transporting outside of what I do. I wouldn't do business with them anyway. Granted my company will ship a lot, no questions asked. But there are a few companies, we will stay away from."
"If that changes, let me know," Jason said.
"I will," Kellie said.
"Is Lorenzo familiar with Pikeman?" Jason asked.
"He's aware of them as far as I know," Kellie said.
"Any discussion in the context of your shipping company?" Jason asked, "And before you dodge the question, let me say this, you know that I know Lorenzo is your business partner. I get that part of you buying into the company with him meant you shielded him from being known as the other owner. It's understandable. But between you and me, can we please drop the pretense? You know I'm not going to tell anyone. I'm relieved he has an interest in the company because I know he can help you out if things get dicey."
"Fine," Kellie relented, "And yes when I first heard about Pikeman being in the area, I asked Uncle Lo if they had ever been a client. He said they never have. He wouldn't do business with them if they asked. Granted it is possible, they could have shipped things through an intermediary and we wouldn't necessarily know it."
"I really don't like this," Jason said.
"Neither do I," Kellie said, "but as long as they don't approach us directly to ship for them or who we know they're doing it through like say my father or Brick, we should be okay. But I have to admit that is assuming an awful lot."
"Agreed," Jason said, "But all we can really do for now is keep an eye on the situation and hope for the best. I mean it, if they approach you, tell me right away. I don't want anything to happen to you."
"I don't want anything to happen to you either," Kellie said, running her fingers through Jason's hair, "Is that everything bothering you?"
"I think we covered it," Jason said, setting his beer down.
"Are you feeling better about any of it?" Kellie asked.
"Almost," Jason said before kissing Kellie and pulling her tighter against him.