Selena perched on the bonnet of Gail's blood red mustang and passed her friend her lit cigarette, when Gail took a deep drag without hesitation Selena let out an amused laugh. 'Buck life not doing it for you friend?' she asked sarcastically.
Gail savoured the taste of the cigarette and welcomed it's calming affect on her. If Lucas caught her smoking out here when he had a whole day of torture to endure at her hands, he would likely drag her into the depths of the river she was admiring so much right now and end them both.
Truth be told, Gail did not feel right after what task she had chosen to pick up earlier to free up Lucas's time for his torture and if having a cigarette was the only bad thing she partook in to distract herself from her ever dwindling morals, people should be happy. 'Buck life is just fine and dandy, in fact this little rest is only required due to the intensity of our Sheriff earlier who insisted on working me hard enough to limit my walking for the day' she responded coolly, smiling at the look of venom in Selena's eyes and handed her back the cigarette.
'I don't know how you get away with what you do Gail, if I pulled half the shit you've got planned for him today then he'd have buried me where no one would ever find me' Selena said seriously, truly perplexed at how the woman before her was still breathing.
'That wouldn't work to his benefit with me, can you imagine Lucas Buck being a full time stay at home dad of 3? He'd have them all buried in the backyard within 48 hours' Gail laughed and focussed on the river to calm her nerves. She was doing well to hide her concern for her husband, not envying what he was going to have to endure. Her saving grave was that her daughter was now old enough to be able to appreciate her birthday and was happy to take on the task of keeping her father in line on the special day they shared. 'Sometimes I wish my mother hadn't raised me so well at pleasing all classes of people...I supposed I could've tried to not perform the jobs so well for the sake of my husbands sanity' she sighed in contemplation of the surprises Lucas had in store today.
'And where would be the fun in that Mrs Buck?' Selena smiled wickedly, then passed the cigarette back to Gail for one last drag before her friend had to leave her hiding place to continue the tasks of the day.
Ben pulled up at the gas station and got out of the car without instruction. Lucas had been in a foul mood with all the interruptions from the townspeople with gifts for him, and Ben thought he would just ride it out in his office; however, Lucas insisted on following up the incident of the previous day here personally and dragged Ben along.
Usually their drives consisted of witty conversation and jokes, but today there was hardly a word said. It did not help that Lucas had kept the children with him and Ben could not bare the uncomfortable quiet any longer, causing him to take the lead without Lucas's usual instruction.
'You gonna let him do this?' Caleb asked in disbelief from the backseat, ignoring his brothers attempt to keep him quiet. It was not Caleb's fault that Gail had gone all out for his fathers birthday again, in fact he was surprised that his father had not prepared himself better for it and he for one refused to walk on egg shells when none of this was his fault.
'None?' Gail Jr asked accusingly, sensing her brothers touch all around this area.
'You got somethin' to say little girl?' Caleb responded sternly, feeling his darkness stirring now that he was back here.
Lucas slammed his hands down hard on the dashboard causing all of the children to jump and Luke placed his head in his hands, not believing his older brother could not behave and keep the attention off himself for just one day.
Caleb was about to challenge his father when he felt his sisters stuffed toy jam into his mouth, and he watched disapprovingly as she struggled out of her car seat to their fathers lap on the front passenger seat.
'You ok daddy?' Gail Jr asked concerned, resting her head instinctively on his chest sensing the agitation radiating off of him all morning.
'No Precious I'm not...the balloons are a little much don't you think?' Lucas said to no one in particular, staring down the street perplexed at the 'Happy Birthday Sheriff Buck' balloons which plagued most areas of the town that they had driven past. He cursed his wife for being so damn good at causing him misery when he had more important things like Caleb's recent activity to deal with.
'I didn't do nothin'' Caleb advised, refusing to allow his fathers anger to turn towards him.
'You burned it down!' Luke exclaimed at his brothers comment, staring out the window at the scorched remains of the gas station.
'Well at least I didn't hurt no-one with this, not like a boiling pan of fat explodin' in a teachers face in the cafeteria yesterday' Caleb retorted, happily willing to drag his brother down with him if he did not have his back.
Lucas had been amused when he got the call before he returned home last night about the incident at the gas station Hector worked at. Although he was looking forward to punishing Mandy for clearly choosing the wrong path, it had made him proud that Caleb had instinctively targeted Mandy's husbands place of work before he had a chance to. When Caleb outed Luke's actions so casually, Lucas's pride changed to agitation and he now understood why his wife was so frustrated. 'A teacher, seriously?' Lucas asked in disbelief, knowing the efforts Gail would have had to go to in cleaning that up before the gossip mill got hold of it.
'Not just that effort' Gail Jr advised and took hold of her fathers cheeks to turn them towards Ben.
Ben entered the drivers seat, then turned towards Lucas. 'Did you come by here earlier?' he asked confused.
'Not that I need to report my every move to you deputy but no, I came straight to the office after Gail left. Why?'
'It's nothin' I suppose, just Molly changed her story from last night and said the fire was all her fault' Ben responded, scratching his head baffled.
'Oh?' Lucas asked intrigued
'Yeah-' Ben continued, 'She said she-'
'-Dropped her ciggy in the grass' Gail Jr repeated her mothers words from earlier confidently, before Ben could finish.
'Gas' Lucas corrected her knowingly, and a small devilish smile formed on his lips when he sensed Gail's influence with the female gas attendant when his attention had been on their children.
Ben stared at them both suspiciously, wondering how they could have known what Molly had said.
'She's a chain smoker Ben, before you came back I told my little angels that it's no wonder an accident like this never happened before when someone so foolishly lights up around a gas pump' Lucas sighed, glancing at Caleb knowingly in the mirror when he spotted his boy's eyes go wide at the accurate description of his crime.
'Damn it all to hell' Caleb cursed to himself under his breath, realising the line from his sister was Gail's way of showing him she had figured out that he had been smoking and caused the fire. He now stood no chance of avoiding a punishment.
'Yep, that sounds about right' Lucas smirked, impressed at his wife's willingness to take this task off of his plate and decided that he would not interfere when she inevitably collared Caleb, welcoming someone else being made to suffer like he was today.
Mandy paced nervously outside of the Trinity Guardian Headquarters, still reeling from the incident at her husbands place of work which he nearly got caught in. She had known she should not have denied the Sheriff's request, it had been a simple one really considering how much he had done to help her out of the mess she got in with best girl friend in college and for all she knew he would not have been aware that serving Andy a pecan pie instead of his usual dessert pie would have caused a bad reaction. She had clearly offended him; however, it just did not feel right doing what he had wanted and now she was worried about the consequences of denying his request. Mandy had heard from the grapevine that the Sheriff's wife was open to assisting women should they be in need, and she had no idea where else she may be lucky enough to catch the woman so she continued to wait patiently.
Gail exited her place of work with Selena after checking everything was running smoothly in her absence today, and she had been pleasantly surprised when her staff appeared to be working efficiently without her intervention. As she walked down the steps, she spotted Joshua standing across the road and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.
'Well what little bird do we have here?' Selena asked curiously, looking the familiar waitress up and down amused as she had the audacity to so blatantly block their path.
Gail was brought back to her present company when the scent of the perfume she had smelt on her husband the previous night invaded her senses and she heard Selena's question, then felt knot in her stomach when she sensed the young woman's unease and ignored Joshua's attempt to regain her attention.
Selena spotted the subtle look of anger her friend was trying to hide under her welcoming façade, then stood in front of Gail when the woman went to speak. 'Mandy isn't it? I'm sure you're aware what day this is, considering how much effort the lovely Mrs Buck has gone to publicising it all over town' she said bluntly.
Gail let out a small laugh at Selena pushing her back, she would usually protest to any attempt to shield her; however, she was curious at her friends play when Selena had never hid her desire to see her inconvenienced.
'Yes I do and it is Mandy...I just want a minute of Mrs Buck's time-' Mandy started nervously.
'Mrs Buck doesn't have a minute, she has her hands full with me today' Selena interrupted and smirked, then linked Gail's arm in hers and began dragging her away from the woman, suspecting no good was going to come out of this type of unexpected interjection into their space.
Gail regarded Selena suspiciously for a moment, never would she have predicted this woman would openly try to protect her in the past. 'My hands are full with you are they?' she whispered confused.
'Well, they will be when I drag you to Jimmy's Bar for a little dutch courage before you have to face our unimpressed Sheriff later' Selena responded, initially hoping to keep Gail longer than she should so the punishment she received from Lucas would be more severe.
Gail sensed her thoughts and shook her head in mock disapproval, then felt a small hand grip her wrist and she turned towards the woman who had invaded her personal space. 'You're braver than you look Mandy' she said flatly, staring down unimpressed at the woman's hand.
'You need to help me, I don't know what else to do...They said you're the one to come to you-' Mandy started desperately in her defence.
Gail sensed the desperation radiating off of the woman and rolled her eyes in frustration when she spotted Joshua shaking his head in warning of her getting involved from across the street. Why did trouble always find her? She had been good these past few months and was really trying to be better for her children. If Joshua was here and was not pressuring her to take advantage of a potential deal, that meant this interaction was something to do with her family and her curiosity was screaming at her to delve into this; however, it was her husbands and daughters birthday today, meaning she was required to push down her own desires for the sake of them.
'Look-' Gail interrupted sternly, instantly silencing the woman. '-I understand the gossiping biddies have labelled me as some kind of asset for women, and I'd never be able to turn my back on a women truly in need. That said, when someone has the audacity to demand my assistance after previously propositioning my husband and the father of my 3 children, I'm sure I'd be forgiven for taking a pass on this occasion' she advised sweetly, then sauntered casually towards her car leaving the woman with Selena to deal with.
Selena watched Gail blatantly disregard Mandy's desperate plea, then grabbed Mandy's arm when she went to follow her friend to protest. 'Speaking from experience, Mrs Buck doesn't take well to any tries to temp her husband. If I was you little bird, I'd be eternally thankful that you managed to get out of this meeting unscathed...You run along now before she changes her mind, I assure you there's worse things in this town than Lucas Buck' she warned and let out a small laugh when Mandy ran away, clearly heeding her warning, then Selena started to head back towards Gail suspecting she was now not so against a trip to Jimmy's Bar.
-To be continued-