intellectas

After leaving the orchard for the day, Luke was exhausted but still not ready to head home for the night, where he knew he’d shower, eat, and then probably pass out by seven-thirty. His old truck trotted along the street and as he came up on Hayley’s place, he figured he’d stop by for just a minute. He had a spare key and even though her car wasn’t there, he knew she didn’t mind if he made himself at home. Walking in the front door, he shed his jacket and hung it up. Not expecting anyone to be home he was startled by the voice he heard as he headed into the living room. “Oh shi--,” he muttered, stopping himself before seeing a small figure running at him. His attention went to Heather and he greeted her with a wide grin and open arms, catching her when she flung into him and picking her up in a big bear hug. “Hey babygirl,” he said, kissing her cheek as she began to go on and on about what she and Carl were doing. “That’s great, monkey,” he set her back down on her feet before glancing up at Carl, swallowing. “Hey... uh didn’t expect anyone to be home.” 

Sarah felt by now that she was more company than a teacher when it came to giving Isla lessons. She’d mastered the basics enough to go out riding on her own, but Sarah still accompanied her, only occasionally giving instruction while they were out on the trails. It was wide enough to ride side-by-side and they were only moseying along the dirt path, not straining their animals at all when Isla broke the comfortable silence. Sarah’s brow lifted slightly as she glanced over at the blonde. “Justin?” she asked before she had to hide her little smile. “What about him?” There was usually only one reason a girl asked about an attractive man, but Sarah would let Isla give herself away all on her own. 

Sarah glanced from Dean to the tree in question and she reached out to feel the branches, almost instinctively even though she had no idea how that would help her with her own decision. “It’s a little small...” she noted with a shrug. “Unless that’s what you were going for.” Looking past him, she nodded to a few in a grove behind him. “Those are a little taller, but not so much taller that you’ll have to get a step stool to decorate the top. What about those?” 

She smiled at his comment. It was always nice to hear something like moms are awesome, especially when she felt so defeated sometimes. And when he winked, she let out a laugh, shaking her head. And soon they were discussing the tree she’d pointed out. Noah had a point though. Though it was slightly lopsided, that didn’t bother her as much. It did look a little sad. “What? You’ve never seen Charlie Brown Christmas?” she asked with a slight brow raise. “Anything is better than that tree. But you’re right. We can keep looking.” She just felt like an idiot for now knowing exactly how to pick out the right tree. “Nothing too big. It won’t fit on the top of my car.” 

Jocelyn honestly wasn’t aware that she was lost in her own thoughts. She’d been standing at the edge of the waves for... how long now? She wasn’t sure anymore. Waves lapped at her toes and her feet sunk into the wet sand, but still she stood, arms crossed over her chest and red hair flapping all around her head as the wind blew. It took her a moment to realize someone was speaking to her before glancing over at Winnie. “Oh... yeah, no I’m good.” She brushed her head back out of her face, holding it in place so she could actually see Winnie. “I wasn’t like trying to be anti-social or anything. Just got lost in my head. But I’m good. What’s up?” 

Ellie slipped from her arms and ran over to plop on the couch next to Ferah. “Sorry I’m late... again,” she sighed. “I guess I’ll start telling you to stay until 9 instead of 8:30 because these things never seem to end on time.” Sarah walked over to where Parker was engulfed in his video game, kissing the top of his head. “Speaking of 9, both of you need to brush your teeth and hop in bed. Say goodnight to Ferah.” There was protesting from both sides but eventually the video game turned off and both hugged Ferah before heading upstairs to begrudgingly brush their teeth and get ready for bed. “Sorry again,” Sarah sighed, glancing over at her babysitter. “How was everything?” 

“Really? That sounds amazing. I’ll have one with extra cracker jack crisp... wow, I haven’t had cracker jack since... I can’t remember the last time I had cracker jack.” She checked her phone for the fourth time and then finally set it face up on the bar. “Running a business is hard work. But I don’t need to tell you that, do I?” 

“Been there before too, huh?” she asked with a smirk and brow raise. She was sure many people had done it once or twice before. “That’d probably suck even more for you because you’re serving it to potentially drunk people who are loud and annoying. So it’s a double whammy for you.” Jaz looked down at her now half-gone drink and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll finish this one and then slow down a little bit. Don’t wanna get sloppy just yet.” She smiled and winked across the bar, hopefully showing the woman she was just joking--she didn’t want her to have to worry about a sloppy drunk sitting at her bar. 

Beau thought about it for a moment, scratching his chin. “Uhh... prob’ly best to have somebody show ya.” He assumed she’d probably ask him next and it wasn’t like he was a particularly busy guy. “I can show ya if you want.” He gave a noncommittal sort of shrug. “I’m usually off the water by three in the afternoon most days and I don’t go out on Sundays at all. Just gotta be at dinner by six on Sundays. But yeah, pick a day and I’ll bring some wish and some water.” He nodded at the bait and tackle store behind them. “See if Ambrosia’s got a kid’s fishing pole. They’re pretty cheap, and I’ll come over and teach all y’all how to do it. But you gotta promise me one thing... otherwise I can’t do it...” he paused a moment before he smirked. “Promise me ya won’t freak out when I show ya how to take the hook out. You gotta at least try. Deal?” 

“Maybe I dreamt it or something,” she sighed, waving it off. Well now she was definitely at a loss, but like she’d said--someone was bound to help them. That’s what the workers were here for right? Maybe? Sarah glanced over at Noah, raising a brow. “Yeah, you maybe. You’re cute and charming. I’m the scary mom with bedhead...” she ran a hand through her hair, having giving herself secondhand insecurity from her own comment. “Oh! That one looks nice,” she said, approaching the first tree she saw and reaching out to feel the branches, as if she knew what she was doing. “Whatcha think?” Maybe she wouldn’t even browse. A tree was better than no tree, no matter what shape it was in.