meeting the family part 2! part one is here
aka: the rye family barbeque, the infamous runny mac n cheese, and jacob builds some shelves.
somewhat abrupt end, but ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (apologies to anyone on mobile, this is long)
Mary May was amazing at telling Alice when things were happening: for example, the bartender had known about the Rye family barbecue for weeks, but only told Alice the morning of, while Alice was eating breakfast after Pastor Jerome’s sermon.
Now, Alice was sitting in her truck at the end of the Rye’s driveway, trying to work up the nerve to actually go to the barbecue. She knew Mary May would be there, and Pastor Jerome, and, well, the Ryes, but… She still didn’t want to go and deal with all the ‘Oh what have you been doing’s and ‘Oh you’ve grown so much! How old are you now?’s from the people who knew her dad.
She almost turned to leave when a familiar car parked behind her. Sheriff Whitehorse climbed out, followed by who she thought was his daughter and her twins. With a sigh, she slid out of her truck and waved at him.
“Hey, Sheriff.”
“Alice!” The Sheriff smiled at her, and then grunted in surprise – one of the twins had run up to him, trying to drag him towards the barbeque, the other close behind. “I’ll… See you there.”
His daughter laughed, moving to walk next to Alice. “They’re excited. Nick said he’d take them up in Carmina.”
“Carmina..?”
“His plane. You’re new here, aren’t you?”
“Yes and no? I grew up here, it’s just… been a while. Forgot the Rye’s named their plane.”
The other woman nodded. “Oh, right, you’re… Alice, right? The new recruit. I’m Erin. I’m in the day shift.”
“Yup.” Alice nodded, listening to Erin ramble on about the department and the town, and then froze in place at the end of the driveway when she saw the full extent of the barbeque. It seemed like Nick had prepared for everyone in the county to be there, and most of them had actually shown up. People were streaming in and out of the hangar closest to the house, most carrying plates loaded with food, and Nick… Was nowhere to be seen. She could see Grace, though, and her dad, hugging the wall by Nick’s arcade machine, and the Fairgraves had assigned themselves to the food – Mary May and Drew watching the buffet line, their mom at the bar (only punch and beer it looked like, much to Alice’s disappointment), and their dad… Somewhere. Probably by the grill, critiquing whoever was cooking there, if he was anything like he used to be.
Erin tapped Alice’s shoulder, and pointed in the direction of the runway. “I’m gonna go find Nick, I’ll let him and Kim know you’re here!”
She sighed. There were so many people here. None of them peggies – or at least, the ones that wear the cult’s “uniform.” It was weird, really – pretty much everywhere she had gone since arriving back in Hope County, there had been a peggie or five or ten. The general store (buying, of all things, toilet paper – she had laughed at that, you would think the cult would go to Costco or something for that), the bar (demanding the Rye’s stop selling liquor), the gas stations… Everywhere. This was nice. Normal.
Logically, she knew she should go and mingle, but honestly? Being around this many people in Hope County was weird. Instead, she placed her bowl of mashed potatoes on the table next to Mary May, and slinked off to lean against the wall. She spotted who she thought was Nick, giving piggyback rides to one of Erin’s kids while being chased by the other, and laughed, before feeling a wet nose press against her knee. Looking down, she saw a grey and white dog looking up at her, tail wagging at what seemed like the speed of light.
“Hey! Sorry about Boomer, he’s a little excited today.” A blonde woman walked up to her, grabbing the dog’s collar. “Lots of kids spoiling him! I’m Rae-Rae.”
Alice bent down to pet Boomer, then looked up at Rae-Rae. “You own the pumpkin farm, right?”
The other woman nodded. “Yup. Been in my family for decades.”
“I loved going there when I was a kid!” She grinned, then laughed as Boomer plopped down, begging for a belly rub.
“You’re a local?”
“Yeah, grew up here. Just moved back.”
Rae-Rae smiled. “Hope to see you at the farm this fall!”
“You bet! I miss good old-fashioned pumpkin patches.” Alice nodded, laughing as Boomer darted off to say hello to someone else. She waved as Rae-Rae sighed, following the excited dog.
It didn’t take long for the Sheriff to come up to her, forcing her to introduce herself to the people of Hope County, those around her age in particular – there was Elizabeth, the self-proclaimed “Horse Girl,” Stella the lumberjack (who protested that name – she made a point to tell Alice if she wanted fresh eggs, her chickens laid the best in the county), a “proper” introduction to his daughter and grandkids, and so many more.
She liked people, yeah, but… There was no way she was going to remember 90% of the names. Or faces. Both of those together? Absolutely not.
//
“So. You look as miserable as I feel.” Alice leaned against the wall next to the eldest Seed brother, carefully holding her bowl of food. “I mean, I like all the people here, it’s just… A lot. And I’m fu..freaking tired.” Jacob snorted. At her statement, or at her remembering she shouldn’t swear around toddlers, she wasn’t sure. “Well, at least someone brought mac n’ cheese. Everything’s better with mac n’ cheese.”
She looked at Jacob, and then out over the crowds, missing the momentary flash of worry that came over the man’s face. Nick was in a heated discussion (? hopefully.) with John about… Something, Joseph and Faith were sitting at a picnic table outside, eating and talking to Erin (she’d have to ask her about that later – she either had the patience of a saint or was genuinely interested in what the two were saying), Elizabeth and Stella were off playing fetch with Boomer while Rae-Rae ate, and… There were still a lot of people who she didn’t know. At least the Sheriff had stopped introducing her to people – he was a few beers in and telling stories to a group of kids that had gathered, with full sound effects and arm motions. Distracted, she took a bite of the mac n’ cheese.
“Oh, god.”
Jacob looked at her.
“This is horrible.” Alice blanched, setting the bowl down on the table beside her. “It’s an insult to mac n’ cheese everywhere. It’s like… Soup.”
“Is it that bad?”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you want to try it?”
“…No.”
“Yeah. It’s that bad. I almost want to find who brought it and teach them how to make proper mac n’ cheese.”
Jacob chuckled. “Are you really that insulted?”
“Yes!! I have a lot of feelings about mac n’ cheese. It’s not hard to make, you just — Oh god.” She gaped at Jacob. “You brought it, didn’t you. I mean, it wasn’t here when I got here, and you guys were the last ones – Shit.”
He laughed again – Alice took that as a sign that the man wasn’t insulted. Thank God.
The conversation was easy from then: talking to him was so easy, not something she would have guessed from his gruff appearance.
“Hey.” Alice looked over at Jacob. “Do you… Wanna get outta here or something? I mean, it looks like your brothers are pretty, uh, distracted right now –” She looked over to the airstrip, where Nick and John’s debates had turned into a full-on literal flying competition, “So we could go into town or something, not like…”
“Sure.”
Alice looked at him, startled. She didn’t think he would actually say yes, but then again, he seemed like the type that would like parties like this. “My car is here, or –”
“Let’s…” He looked around. “Let’s walk. Need some air.”
“Oh. Sure. Uh, I’ll just drop my keys with Mary May. She can bring it back for me.” He nodded, and Alice darted off to find Mary May.
Her friend was standing on the outskirts of the crowd, shaking her head at her brother’s enthusiastic cheering. It took her a moment to catch her attention – the noise from the planes overhead was so loud – and when she did, she dragged her to a nearby tree.
“What?” Mary May looked at her, raising her eyebrow when she saw Alice’s expression. “What did you do.”
“Uh, I haven’t done anything yet, but –” She took a deep breath. “I might be doing something stupid?”
Mary May rubbed her forehead, sighing. “How stupid?”
“Uhm, can you drive my car home?”
“Alice.”
“Please?”
“Why aren’t you taking your car?”
“Uh, I’m walking back?”
“By yourself?” Mary May frowned when Alice shook her head, “Who are you going with?”
“Uhm… Jacob?”
“Jacob….?”
“Seed?”
“Fucking hell, Alice.” Mary May grabbed her friend’s arm, turning them away from the crowd. “What the fuck are you thinking?”
Alice shrugged. “Uhm. I’m… He seems –”
“Don’t say it.”
“He’s not as horrible as John?” Alice winced. “I know, I know that’s bad but – I’ve been talking to him and –”
“You were – how long were you talking??”
She gulped. “Like, two hours? You were busy, and I don’t really know anyone, and we started talking before I really knew who he was and –”
“Alice. You –”
“We’re just going to walk back to town and, I dunno, I’ll give him a tour. Of town. I just don’t want to walk back.” Alice squirmed under Mary May’s gaze, “Look, I’m not going to do anything –”
“Alice!!!” Oops. “I wasn’t thinking you were going to – god, please don’t fuck him. Please.”
“I promise!! Can you please just bring my car back? Uh, and my bowl?” Mary May squinted at her, then gave her a slow, reluctant nod. Alice hugged her, shoving the key in her hands. “Thank youuuu. I can pick them up from your place or whatever, just let me know when you get home!”
Turning towards the driveway she parked on, Alice saw Jacob leaning against a tree.
Silently, they walked to the main road together.
This was a mistake.
This is a mistake.
Why do I feel safe?
I’ve heard the rumors, I’ve heard of what he can do – why do I feel safe?
They chattered aimlessly as they walked to town – it was a surprisingly long walk, just over an hour, with stops by the stream and to watch (too-friendly, too at ease around humans) deer.
Jacob told her stories of his family – happy ones, silly ones, a story of John trying to teach Joseph to fly, of Jacob taking Faith hunting. Alice told him about trips around the Southwest with her brother, misadventures from college, all the weird pieces of Americana she saw on her drive back to Hope County.
He laughed when, after finally arriving at her house, he saw her tiny little mini cooper.
“Shut up!” Alice groaned. “Look, my brother drove with me, we took turns with the moving truck, it’s –”
“That thing won’t last the winter.”
“My dad’s old truck’s at the shop.” She nodded her head in the direction of the mechanic’s shop, shrugging. “I fucking hate driving it, but…”
“It’s proven?”
“Yeah. I guess. Mary May laughed at me too.”
“The bartender?”
She nodded. “Yeah. We’ve been friends for years. As long as I can remember. Her folks live – well, they all used to live next door. She told me they had issues with the house so they’re all above the bar now.”
Pausing at the front step, Alice turned to Jacob. “Uh. Do you want to come in? We could, like, uh… The creek’s nice to walk –” He shrugged. “Oh. Okay. Uh. I have two cats.”
“And?”
“Uh, I didn’t know if you’d have an issue with them. They like meeting new people.”
Another shrug. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. She could hear a soft pitter-patter from upstairs turn into a small stampede down the stairs, and she almost pulled Jacob inside before the cats could make a break for it.
He seemed amused.
That… Was a good sign? Possibly?
Her cats liked him, too – also a possible good sign. The little assholes loved to rub up to people, begging for pets and treats (she wasn’t kidding when she told Jane that Data thought he was a dog), then, after time had passed, they’d show their actual opinion of the new person.
Jacob did pet them – that was a good sign. Crookshanks was happy with her chin scratch, and Data wove himself between the man’s legs.
“Do you, uh, want something to drink? Or we could watch a movie or something – and fuck, sorry about the mess,” How did she forget about that? Boxes everywhere, piles of stuff that were half-unpacked…. “It’s been a busy few days, I was going to do some more yesterday, but my sister hijacked my plans and made me go to that thing out at the Teller’s, and uh…”
Was that a smile?
It was close, at least.
“Do you want help?”
Alice’s eyes widened. “Uh. I mean, if you want?”
Another shrug.
“…Do you want a drink? Only really have water right now but.. Uh…”
A nod, then a glance at the box next to the tv.
“Oh. Uh. If you want? They can go on the shelf right over there. Uh. I’m going to grab… Yeah.” Alice ducked into the kitchen, taking a deep breath as the door swung shut behind her. Fucking hell – this isn’t where she expected any of this to go.
She thought he’d leave after they got to town, chill at the cafe or something until his brothers or one of the peggies picked him up.
Helping her unpack? That wasn’t even on her list of possibilities.
Reaching into the fridge for her water pitcher, she spotted the beer her brother had bought – she thought Caleb had taken it with him, or taken it over to Staci’s house when he visited his old friend, but… Huh.
“Hey, do you want a beer?” She poked her head through the door, holding the bottle up for him to see. “I mean, I can’t guarantee that it’s good, but I might have some liquor in my food box if you want that too, I’d just have to dig…”
“Sure.”
“Beer?”
“Yeah.”
Silently, she handed him the bottle, smiling when she realized that he was alphabetizing the DVDs, then went back to the kitchen to make a drink.
It may have been insanely awkward – but honestly? This was going better than she expected.
Maybe she could talk him into helping put together a bookshelf upstairs? Worth a shot, at least.
–
He did.
The fucking bookshelf was done. Alice thought she would have bribe one of her brother’s old friends, or maybe Mary May or her brother, but… This was easier.
There were a few jabs at the lack of tools in her house – in her defence, it was just a quick jaunt over to her family’s shop, she didn’t really need to keep tools here too (he disagreed) – and at the amount of stuff she had stuffed into her brother’s old bedroom-turned-storage-room upstairs, the amount of cat toys that were already spread around the house… He was funnier than he looked. Dry humor, but still humor. It worked for him.
The two of them were sitting on her bed now, watching a movie that he’d chosen, both working on their drink of choice.
Her sister would be horrified.
Or not, she thought, if she is fucking John fucking Seed. Though she’d probably think it’s… Not proper or whatever.
She swears – her contempt for her sister had nothing to do with her leaning over and kissing Jacob.
It was a factor – but really? He’s cute.
She’ll never see him again.
No consequences, right?
Jacob kissing her back wasn’t something she really expected – it took a minute, he definitely wasn’t expecting this, but… He did respond.
It moved fast from there – his hand moved to her lower back, then slipped under her shirt –
She should stop him.
But she didn’t.
It wasn’t an emotional night, really, almost a stress-relief thing.
Him spending the night was… Definitely not expected.
Leaving without a word while she was in the shower, though? That was.
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