This is round two for this chapter. I don' t know what happened. However, we will try again. Life has been a little hectic around here. Okay, Really hectic. Extra work for Wolf and very little time to write for me. Sigh... Hope you enjoy this next chapter. Sheriffs, and Bars and Cowboys, oh my...Please comment and vote.
Jaisen
*
Kate and Eric went for a hike the day after the skunking. He showed her where the pack hunted as well as were he and Henry had startled the skunk. When they reached the peak of a nearby mountain, they sat in the lee of the summit and ate lunch.
"Oh Eric, it is so beautiful up here. I don't know if I will want to go home." Kate sighed and leaned against Eric.
"I feel the same way. So quiet after the chaos of the last week. I'm still trying to take it all in."
"Last week or the scenery?" she asked with a smile playing across her face.
Eric chuckled. "Both if you must know." He wrapped an arm around Kate. "Last week was so stuffed full of tension and pain. I feel like I lived a whole year in six days. Now I'm just trying to grasp it all and heal as well."
"You still have some bruises and cuts that are rather red. I still marvel at how fast you do heal. Most men would still be in hospital with nurses and doctors fussing over them."
Eric nodded. Turning to face Kate, he brought her face nearer to his. "And how are you doing? We haven't had much of a chance to talk about how you are doing with all that happened," he inquired softly.
Kate looked down for a moment at the grass and lichens near her and then back up at Eric. "When it all happened, I didn't have time to think. Just act. When the police got to the house, I still didn't have much time to think about it because they were asking all those questions, the dogs were barking, and there were dead bodies all over my dining room. It wasn't until Zach came and they all went looking for you that I had a chance to think instead of react. "
"What went through your head?"
"Fear. Fear of loosing you. Fear of being alone. Fear of having to explain to Jamie and Mark what had happened to you. Fear of that creature coming back for me and you not being there to defend me. All I could do is cry. I know I was in shock, but that doesn't help matters. The deputies were trying to comfort me, and all I wanted was you. I crawled into the bed and just held your pillow because it smelled of you. Oh gods! I was afraid I had lost you forever and I didn't want to go down that path ever again. I did it when David died and I swore then that I'd never get attached to anyone that much again in my life besides my children. Then you came along with Jamie and Mark and I couldn't help myself but to fall in love with you." Kate buried her face in Eric's shirt. The tears streaming down her face soaked the material.
Eric wrapped his arms around Kate and held her tight. He knew that she had been bottling up all the emotion from the last few days. Knew that he had to wait for her to let it out. He'd gone through things like this before and knew what to expect. Eric had done some of his catharsis under the midnight sky the first night they were here. He knew that neither one of them was finished either.
"W-w-waiting for Zach or James to call and say that they had found you was worse than hearing that David was dead. There wasn't any waiting in terror with him. Just poof and he was gone. But I had to wait for what seemed like forever until the phone rang. Even then I didn't know what the news would be. To hear your voice on the phone, Oh Eric. I, I wanted to cry and scream and yell all at the same time. I couldn't get to you fast enough. Poor car, I think I drove it in third gear all the way. Once I got there and saw you... My heart stopped. I swear it did. I didn't realize until much later that some of the pain I had been feeling was yours. You were so hurt and I just couldn't do enough. The paramedics were moving too slow and too fast all at the same time. I know that sounds stupid, but it is how it felt." Kate stopped to blow her nose on a hankie Eric handed her.
"We all get that time distortion when things like that happen. I had it happen in combat more than once. Things are so confusing and so clear all at the same time." Eric remembered incidents that he had tried hard to forget. He pulled Kate closer to him, so that she was almost in his lap. "What else Kate?"
" I felt helpless. While the medics were cleaning you up, I kept replaying the whole event in my head. I kept thinking that I should have been able to do better. That if I had, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. No matter how I replayed it, I wasn't good enough. You still got hurt."
Eric took her face in his hands and looked straight into her eyes. "Kate, you did the right thing. There was no other way for things to work out. If you hadn't done exactly what you did, I'd be a very lonely man and your sons would be without their mom. That beast didn't care which one of us he killed. He was going for you because you were nearer and I couldn't shoot. That you got out of the way is a miracle. In the back of my mind as I chased that wolf, I hoped that you were unhurt. I didn't know. I didn't know until the morning after. I woke up and sniffed you all over while you slept. That you have whimpered in your sleep told me that your hurts were mental and not physical. Things like this have a way of burrowing into our brains and instead of letting them scab over, you have to talk about them."
"You, you've been through this type of thing before." Kate was hiccuping as she tried to stop crying.
"Yes. More times than I want to admit. It isn't easy, but talking about it helps. Kate, you did the right thing. So did Zach. So did I. Bad shit just happens some times and we can't do anything except deal with it. I am so sorry that my past endangered our family. I am sorry I hurt you. I love you so much Kate." Eric wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. Kate's arms came up around him as well. The two of them sat there for a long time. Kate cried until she had no tears left. Eric felt tears roll down his face as well.
Kate was the first one to break the embrace. They had been holding each other long enough for her leg to fall asleep. As she moved it, it was full of the pins and needles sensation. "Eric, I need a drink."
Eric reached into his pack and got out his water bottle. Kate took it and drank half. She handed it back to him and he finished it off.
"Thank you. I feel better now." Kate smiled through the tear streaks on her face. "Better in a way I haven't felt in a week. I didn't realize just how much I was bottling up inside. I kept telling myself that everything would be alright and that I was handling it okay."
"You've done a good job of keeping everything together. Most women would have been in hysterics for the last week. Then again, you have surprised me time and again over the way you handle odd situations."
"Yeah, well it isn't every day that you find yourself in love with a werewolf who has more spy-guy connections than a James Bond movie." She smiled. "Besides, the boys always did say I was 'Super-Mom', the tree hugging, dirt worshiping goddess of the kitchen." Kate started giggling and both of them laughed until they could barely breathe.
*
The sun was setting just below the trees as they came within sight of the hotel. Henry was standing on the porch with a pair of binoculars. Eric waved at him and Henry waved back. Nice to know that they'd been missed.
"Beginning to wonder where you were. Josie was getting anxious."
Eric knew that it was Henry that had been anxious, but didn't say anything. "We climbed that peak over there and got lost in conversation for a few hours." He pointed back over his shoulders.
"Ah. Well, supper is in about thirty minutes. There's time for a shower if you hurry."
"That sounds good." said Kate. "I'll go get started and you can join me as soon as you tell Henry all about the big horn sheep we saw." She smiled as she walked away.
"Sheep? You two saw sheep?" Henry asked with curiosity.
"Yeah. Half a mountain away, but we saw them. Kate first to be honest."
"Cool." Henry watched Kate enter their room from the deck and turned back to Eric. "How did the rest of your hike go?" Henry's tone was more serious.
"Good. We had a long talk up on the mountain. It was like Josie figured. Holding in a lot of pain and too afraid to share it. I'm just glad that Josie noticed she was whimpering in her sleep. I certainly hadn't noticed. Should have but didn't." Eric was still a bit miffed with himself for not seeing it as clearly as Josie had that Kate was hurting. Then again, he knew that he was still dealing with all the emotional stuff as well as physical aches and pains.
"Josie said to tell you not to be too hard on yourself. You two have been through a lot more than most lately. You're bound to miss a few things. And to be honest, Kate is a very strong little lady. Not surprised that she kept things buried where you didn't see them," Henry finished and then put his hand on Eric's shoulder. "Now go get cleaned up before dinner."
*
Dinner was roast venison, potatoes and green beans. Eric ate more than he should have, but didn't care. He was happy, full and sleepy. He woke up to the sound of laughter at one point and realized that he had fallen asleep mid-sentence.
"Eric, I think it's time for Kate to haul you off to bed," Josie said with a smile.
"But what about dessert?" Eric remembered that Josie had made a berry pie.
"It'll be in the kitchen if you wake up in the night. I don't think you could stay awake long enough to eat it."
