The thunder roared outside, shaking the small trailer as Terrence Hope hovered in the back room and covered his ears. Fourteen and skinny as a rail, brown hair slicked over his head from getting pulled in from the rain. His arm still hurt where his father had grabbed him and he couldn’t keep the moans of fear from escaping as he rocked helplessly. Eyes shut tightly, praying for all he was worth, as the screaming almost drowned out the thunder.

“You’re just a good for nothing bum!” he could hear his mother screaming, drunk as usual. Something crashed, like glass breaking and he knew she’d thrown the liquor bottle at his father. The wind howled and rattled the windows. “I could’ve married money! Instead I get you and a good for nothing brat, and we live in this hovel!”

“I married you because the money you treasured so much wouldn’t! The kid’s not even mine but I treat him better than you do! Fucking, dirty whore!”

“Whore? Whore!” he could hear the rage in his mother voice, making it crack like a demon from hell. Tears fell from his grey eyes and he sobbed against his knees as the trailer started to pitch while they moved around. There was another crash and he whimpered, tucking himself into a tight ball.

“It’s almost over.” he whispered to himself. “They’ll fight now and it’ll be over.”

A loud bang filled the air.

Jerking his head up, he stared at the narrow sliding door that separated the bedroom from the rest of the trailer. His eyes wide and tears falling silently as he shook with fright, it slid open. His mother stood, blood splattered down the front of her robe and frazzled hair sticking up around her and stunned expression on her face.

“He attacked me.” she whispered, as if trying to convince herself. Her eyes fell on her son and she started to cry. “He attacked me, Terry, I swear he did.”

Terrence nodded, still terrified. Suddenly her sobs turned into screams of rage and she pointed a shaking gun barrel at him, her face twisted into an evil monster that haunted his dreams.

“He loved you more than me!” she roared, accusingly. “He never raised his hands to you! That good for nothing, son of a bitch, that I married!”

“Mama…”

“Don’t! Call me that.” she croaked, falling away. “Dear Lord, what have I done?”

Thunder echoed as he gently stood and watched as his mother looked down at his father. She began to cry as he stepped forward slowly, careful not to make any sound. She turned and looked at him, her grey eyes that were too much like his own filled with tears.

“I hate you, you’re nothing but a good for nothing loser like your father. You ruined my life.”

She lifted the gun and it barked again.

--- --- --- --- ---

Travis Greene had never seen anything like this before and it turned his stomach; he’d known Franklin Hope since high school. The phone call had come fifteen minutes ago and it took him that long just to reach his friends home, the rain coming down so hard that he couldn’t see. Now he watched as the paramedics wheeled his good friend out in a body bag, along with his wife.

Their son, Terrence, came next wrapped in a blanket and pale as the Lord’s ghost. Shaking his head, he walked up to the boy and put a hand on his shoulder. Grey eyes, surprisingly calm, came up and met his blue ones.

“I’m sorry son, this wasn’t your fault.”

“I ruined her life.”

Greene closed his eyes and cursed Valerie’s soul to hell, there was no reason to tell the boy that. Sure, she had once been a wealthy debutante out in Cherry Wood County but when she slept with a run down TV repairman to annoy mommy and daddy, she didn’t count on getting pregnant and being disowned. Franklin had never been happier then the day they married and treated that woman like a queen until she started drinking. He never hit her, he merely held her down while she’d froth at the mouth and scream in front of the boy.

Life was a bitch, but then so was she.

Kneeling in the mud, ignoring the stains it would leave on his State Trooper Uniform, he held the shaking boy by both shoulders and made him look at him.

“You didn’t ruin her life, son.” he said firmly. “Your mama did that when she took to the bottle. Your pa loved you more than anything else and he always did what he thought was best, you know that right?”

“Pa didn’t kill himself or ma.” stated Terrence flatly. “Ma killed pa, and then she killed herself. She said I ruined her life.”

“You didn’t ruin nothing.” repeated Travis, giving him a little shake so it would sink in. “Damn it, boy, you’re going to be just fine now. I promise you that you’ll get everything you ever needed. You’ll go to college and make something of yourself to make your daddy proud. Do you understand?”

Terrence nodded and let Officer Greene lead him away, not sparing a second glance at the little tin can that he’d called home for fourteen years.

--- --- --- --- ---

Thirteen years later…

“Hope! Get your hopeless ass out from in front of my store!”

Terrence swept a hand over his head, brushing his long brown hair back as he stood. Cigarette dangling from his mouth, plaid shirt hanging open, and one hand tucked in the pocket of his jeans as he moved away from out front Pillman’s Gas and Go.

He turned as he walked away, looking at the elderly gentlemen with a lopsided grin on his face.

“What? A man can’t sit for a minute and have a drag? I thought this was a free country?”

“Get lost! Go find a free country somewhere else and quit scaring away the paying customers!”

Walking along the dirt road towards home, he heard the bleep of a police siren being turned on and off to catch his attention. Stepping off to the side, he grinned as Travis Greene pulled his car over and the window rolled down.

“You wanna ride, son? I’m heading home as we speak.”

Terrence nodded and buttoned his shirt quickly, hiding the smooth skin and thick muscles beneath the cotton as he opened the door and dipped inside.

“You’re headed home awfully early.” he said lightly, leaning back against the seats as Officer Greene drove them home.

“And you are awfully late. Usually you beat me home. How’s work at the Donaldson place?”

Terrence shrugged and reached for another cigarette. Flipping one out of the pack, he brought it to his lips and searched for a lighter.

“It’s alright. I just pack fertilizer and hay, mostly manual labour.”

The older man shook his head as he produced a match.

“Five years of college and you’re packing around cow shit.”

Terrence shook the match out and exhaled as he grinned.

“Actually, it’s mostly sheep manure.”

Travis Greene frowned darkly at him.

“Shit is shit, it don’t matter which ass it comes from.”

He shrugged.

“I suppose.”

“So when are you going to use all those skills that you gained in college and quit letting everyone around here think you’re some kind of fool?”

A smooth laugh rolled from his lips.

“I don’t care what they think, Uncle Travis.” he said lightly, giving him a rogue smile. “It’s not gonna matter if I’m brilliant as Einstein, I’m still nothing but trailer trash in their eyes and that’s all I’ll ever be.”

“Look, son, we’re getting up there in years, Aunty Melanie and me, and well, we’re just hoping that you’ll go somewhere and meet a wonderful woman. Settle down, have some kids, we just wanna see you happy before we die.”

“But I am happy.” argued Terrence lightly, he smiled just to prove it. “See?”

“You’re a twenty seven year old drifter who never drifts.” grumbled Travis, his thick brows furrowed. “God knows I love you like a son, but sometimes I wanna kick you outta the nest.”

“If you really want me to leave, I will.” said Terrence softly, looking away to watch the scenery roll by. “I think there’s a place for rent in town.”

“That’s not what I meant and you damn well know it!” snapped Travis, pulling the car into their driveway and slamming on the brakes. He turned his large girth towards Terrence. “I don’t know what’s holding you grounded here, boy, but you need to break it and fly away before it drags you under. This is a dead end town and there’s lots of world out there.”

“I know, Uncle.” nodded Terrence. “But I like it here.”

“Do you now? Well that’s good.” sighed Travis, continuing towards the house. “Because you’re taking your Aunt to the high society picnic thing she’s got going on tomorrow at the country club. I’m busy.”

Terrence groaned.

“I really don’t think I should-”

“Either take her or pack your things.” growled his uncle, opening the car door. “Those are your choices.” he stood and slammed the door, waiting until Terrence could look at him over the roof of it. “By the way, your suit is back from the tailors and hanging in your closet. That’s a hint as to which one I think you should choose.”

He scowled darkly, his eyes a stormy grey.

“I’m not wearing no God damned monkey suit. If I’m taking her, I’ll dress however I damned want to. I’m not fifteen anymore.”

The man gave him a disgruntled look.

“Pity! Maybe you’ll meet a nice girl there and she’ll take you off my hands, little scourge that you are.”

Terrence laughed.

“I wouldn’t count on that!” he called, moving to the side door of the garage. He lived in the top of the garage in his little Eden that he designed himself. “Those girls are far too haughty to talk to a poor country boy like me!”

--- ---

Shutting the door, he looked down at the row of switches and hit two. The lights came on in his contemporary, yet modern space. The floor was beautiful hardwood and the furniture spotless and brand new. A drafting table sat in one corner, as well as everything required for it. Papers lined carefully built shelves and tubes filled with designs lined the others. Kitchen in one corner, little living room on the other end, it was a spacious and open floor plan.

Moving into his bathroom/bedroom, he changed into some fresh clothes and put on a backwards baseball cap to keep his hair out of his face. Grabbing a pair of glasses off the small kitchen table, he moved to the drafting table and slipped them on as he looked down at his present creation.

He afforded to fix up the garage however he wanted, because when he wanted money he sold blueprints. The designs were all his own and some companies had fell in love with his ability to mix old and new, contemporary and modern. He didn’t know why he didn’t move to the city and get a job at a contracting firm, he didn’t really want to.

Staying in his loft, watching TV into the night and then crawling out onto his balcony to watch the stars while he had a beer was his idea of heaven. He never drank to access, sometimes even the thought of drinking too much made him feel sick. And he hated thunderstorms.

If thunder rolled through the sky, his aunt and uncle knew to expect him banging on the door. At twenty seven years old, he still couldn’t help shaking like a baby when a little storm rolled through town. It disgusted him and he managed to keep it a secret from all the men at Donaldson’s farm. He called in sick if there was a chance of thunderstorms.

Sitting in his chair, he slipped the glasses on and picked up the pencil that was waiting for him. Casting a sideways glance, he spotted his suit hanging in the garment bag. He shouldn’t take her, those people didn’t like him and it was no secret, but he had to because it was his Aunt; the woman was the closest thing he’d ever had to a mother and he’d slap the devil in the face for her.

--- --- --- --- ---

“Emily, come on.” sighed Rose Delaney, leading the young woman towards the new country club. “You look fine, don’t worry so much.”

Emily’s family had just moved to Cherry Wood and she was not looking forward to meeting the locals. She hated the dresses, the catty talk, and the tittering about latest fashion. The only thing good about this place was the contributions to charities and the events held. Her mother understood that, but first impressions were important.

Walking into the club, she sighed heavily and straightened her shoulders. Giving one last glance to make sure her red hair was still arranged properly, she began to circulate with her mother. Fake smile plastered over her face and wishing that she was a million miles from where she was.

“Mother, why do I have to do this?” she asked around that smile. “I can already feel the knives embedding between my shoulder blades.”

“As long as they don’t ruin your posture then leave them alone.” replied her mother, used to Emily’s dry humour. “They’re just nervous because you’re new here.”

Emily shot a glance at the group of girls her age in the corner, shooting daggers her way; nervous her ass. A little brunette, a pixie of a thing, came whisking up with a genuine smile on her face.

“Hello.” she said, still smiling, her curly hair glistening under the lights. “You must be Emily, I’ve heard so much about you.”

“All of it good, I hope.”

She giggled.

“Yes, please come with me, I’ll show you around.”

She waved Emily to follow her and led her outside into the grand gardens where the picnic was to take place. They walked and talked about the club and she found herself enjoying this girl’s company. Her name was Debbie and she was different from all the others that she’d met at functions like this. She appeared normal and didn’t look down her nose at anyone.

Sitting on a little bench, Emily let her blue eyes wander the grounds while her new friend pointed out certain people and told her all about them. A lone figure standing on the edge of the party caught her eyes.

His suit jacket was open and his brown hair blowing gently in the breeze as he stood beneath a tree, smoking a cigarette. Emily interrupted Debbie.

“Who is that?”

The pixie girl followed her gaze and smiled sadly.

“That’s Terrence Hope.” she said softly, looking back at Emily. “He escorts his Aunt to these functions, but she’s not really his aunt. When he was fourteen, his mother killed his father before turning the gun on herself. He was there and the Greene’s took him in because Mr. Greene was close with his father.” she paused to frown. “He’s kind of, strange, actually. I’ve heard so many tales about him that it’s hard to decipher what’s true or not. Not very many people here are kind to him and that’s sad really.”

Emily frowned.

“Do you talk to him?”

Debbie blushed darkly.

“No. To tell you the truth, I’m scared of him. One of the stories I heard is that his temper is dangerous and he put a man in the hospital once for calling him trailer trash.”

“I should hope so.” quipped Emily, standing. “Such rudeness shouldn’t be tolerated.” she looked down at the frail girl. “I’m going over there, are you coming? Or are you going to let fear keep you from meeting, probably, the most sane person here?”

The girl frowned for a moment before standing and nodding her head firmly.

“I think I will accompany you. It’s time to put silly fears to bed, I’m thinking.”

Emily smiled warmly; this girl was a diamond amongst coal.

--- ---

Terrence exhaled and looked up to see a red-haired woman coming over to him, along with that girl Debbie. Debbie was a cute girl, sweet, but she was terrified of him and he knew it. He supposed he should blame his rugged good looks, but that probably wasn’t what fuelled her fear.

Just now, however, he didn’t feel like being cordial and affixed a flat scowl. The redhead smiled widely, undaunted, while Debbie began to blush darkly.

“Mr. Hope.” she said, nodding her head gently. “My name is Emily Delaney and I must say that it is a pleasure to meet you.”

“You haven’t met me yet and very few have found it a pleasure.” his gaze drifted down to Debbie. “I trust that little Debbie has told you all the gossip.”

Emily smiled widely.

“Perhaps it’s you that needs to meet more people. Debbie doesn’t gossip, she merely files all she hears away for reference. Now you’re obviously aware of the effect you have on the poor girl so if you wouldn’t mind smiling a little to put her at ease, I assure you we’re not going to rake you over the coals.”

“I don’t need you to come to my rescue, Emily.” stated Debbie flatly, an unusual flare of anger coming to her eyes. “I know how to handle an insult when I’m dealt with one.”

Terrence couldn’t help the small smile that came to his lips.

“I apologize.” he said lightly, flicking his cigarette and straightening from the tree. “Bad manners, or so I’m told. Now if you’ll excuse me, I find that I must flee before I embarrass both of you.”

She frowned.

“I beg your pardon?”

He leant forward, getting close enough to Emily that she could smell a faint whiff of his cologne.

“The rat pack is on their way over, no doubt to lay territory to you.”

She glanced behind her and spotted the three men coming over with purposeful strides. Turning back, she couldn’t hide her grin.

“I wouldn’t worry about that. I’m more than capable of defending myself against vermin.”

He shrugged and resumed his position against the tree.

“Whatever, lady, it’s completely up to you.”

The men came over and one, smiling like a serpent, put his hand possessively on Emily’s arm. His blond hair slicked black and blue eyes glittering coldly as he looked at Terrence.

“Terrence, managed to drag yourself from the gutter? You clean up very well, but I’m afraid no amount of soap will get the street stench from you. Come on, my dear, you don’t need to socialize with this man. He’s a guest here because of his aunt, not a member. The poor woman, how she became saddled with this beast is beyond any of us.”

Emily shook his hand off and smiled just as coolly.

“Apparently manners isn’t listed in the qualifications section of the application or you’d have surely been turned away. Now if you don’t mind, I was having a perfectly civil conversation with Mr. Hope before you came over and ruined it. Why don’t you run along now, before you embarrass yourself.”

He chuckled.

“My dear, you obviously don’t understand. Let me tell you a few things about-”

Her voice turned to steel.

“No, obviously you don’t understand.” she stated bluntly. “I don’t care what you have to say about Mr. Hope because in the short time I’ve spoken with you, it’s become crystal clear that you’re rude and I don’t tolerate rudeness. Anything about Mr. Hope that I need to know can be told to me by Mr. Hope without being twisted and embellished by busybodies who have nothing better to do than make up stories and tales about others.”

His grip tightened on her arm and she kept a grimace at bay, lifting her chin a notch.

“You better learn to curb your tongue.” he hissed darkly. “Nobody speaks to me like that.”

Emily lost her control. Jerking her arm free, she jabbed a finger in his chest angrily.

“Don’t you dare threaten me.” she warned. “I’m not scared of spineless little shits like you, hiding behind your mama’s skirts and daddy’s coattails. You think I haven’t seen it before? I’m not scared of you or your twittering little friends and it would do you best to heed my words when I say, I eat people like you for breakfast.” she pulled her finger back and smiled at him coolly. “Now you best run away, before I really loose my temper and knock you on your ass. Wouldn’t that be embarrassing? Although I’m sure you could come up with tales of bravado about saving small children from runaway buggies and damsels in distress. Or you could tell the truth and say that the crazy new girl has a temper and a punch to back it up.”

He sneered at her but turned his attention to Debbie.

“Come along, Debra, these people don’t belong here and to socialize with them would be suicide.”

Emily smiled as little Debbie lifted her chin slightly, face a picture of determination.

“I’m fine here, Ronald, but perhaps you should go.”

They watched silently as Ronald and his friends stalked away, waiting until they were beyond sight before Emily started laughing almost hysterically. She turned a wide smile on Terrence, who had both eyebrows lifted in surprise as he looked at her.

“I must say, Miss Delaney, you are a surprise.”

She bowed dramatically before looking at Terrence and Debbie.

“How about we blow this funeral dirge and go grab a burger somewhere?”

--- --- --- --- ---

Terrence waited patiently, perched on the hood of his classic convertible, while the girls changed from their dresses inside the massive house. His aunt had thought it was a splendid idea for him to go out with the two ladies, and insisted she could get a ride home later from one of the other members or he never would’ve left her.

Suit jacket tossed behind the seat, tie loosened off and sleeves rolled up, he must’ve looked good and rumpled. What the girls would come out wearing was beyond him. Debbie arrived first, wearing a pantsuit of black with white pinstripes, looking exactly how he thought they would dress. When Emily arrived, he couldn’t help the surprise that crossed his face.

Red hair spilling down everywhere in a riot of waves, tight jeans, and a loose t-shirt, she grinned widely and leapt over the door to land gently in the front seat.

“Come on, Jeeves! Are you driving Miss Daisy or what?”

Debbie looked down at herself.

“I think I’m slightly overdressed.”

Emily snorted.

“Just lose the jacket and rip the sleeves off your blouse, it’ll be fine.”

Terrence smirked slightly and pulled his tie off, tossing it in a pile into the backseat where the shirt quickly followed it. Tight white t-shirt stretched over his chest, he opened the door and climbed in behind the wheel.

Starting the car, he looked at the grinning redhead.

“You’re not what I expected.”

She chuckled.

“Most people aren’t.” he began to move away and she threw her arms in the air and let out a scream. “Let them horses run!”

Roaring down the road, stereo blasting, Terrence couldn’t believe that he was having fun. Emily turned out to have quite the wild streak in her, singing loudly and dancing in the seat with Debbie. Not exactly what he’d thought when she’d crossed the garden at the country club. He’d have to be careful or he might actually begin to like her.

Pulling it at Jiffy Burger, he cut the engine and climbed out, extending a hand to help Debbie as Emily stretched her back and looked around the little town.

“Wow.” she whistled. “This is definitely a one horse town.”

Terrence smirked and shut the car door.

“Actually, William Poe has four horses.”

She grinned widely at his joke.

“I apologize for my mistake.”

He shrugged and started towards the door, frowning when he spotted several of the hands from Donaldson’s farm coming out. Looking at him with smirks on their faces, they began to laugh.

“Hey, hopeless, did you rob a funeral home to get them fancy duds?”

Another elbowed one in the ribs.

“Just be happy he’s got his shirt on.”

They laughed heartily and Terrence resumed ignoring them, holding the door open for Debbie. Emily, didn’t come in. She stood facing the three men with her arms crossed over her chest and feet braced as if ready for a fight.

“Gentlemen.” she called, gaining their attention. “I’ll excuse this slovenly behaviour because it’s obvious that you know no better. Next time, however, I expect you all to be on your best behaviour.”

One of them turned and bowed mockingly.

“Of course, Miss Priss, I wouldn’t want to upset your delicate constitution.”

She smiled tightly.

“There’s nothing delicate about my constitution, I assure you. I was merely pointing out that hopeless, as you call him, has more manners than any of you because he’s holding the door open for a lady. What a shame, that the scourge you seem fit to ostracize is more the gentleman than any of you.”

Terrence frowned.

“Miss Delaney, I don’t need a knight in shining armour.”

She lifted a strawberry eyebrow at him.

“No, you seem fit to let everyone walk all over you.”

The hands laughed once more and one pointed at Terrence.

“You see, hopeless, even the ladies walk over you because you’ve got a stripe of yellow down your back longer that route 66! Just like your daddy did!”

Terrence groaned and released the door.

“Aw, hell.”

He charged into the men swinging.

--- --- --- --- ---

Emily came out of the Jiffy Burger packing an armload of ice with Debbie. The hands and Terrence were all perched tiredly on the picnic tables outside and she began passing out handfuls for black eyes and towels for bleeding noses.

“Well, this was certainly entertaining.” she quipped, handing a towel and some ice to Terrence. He had a cut above his left eye and a bruise on the same cheek. “Usually we lead with our fists and not our faces.”

He sighed heavily, putting the ice to his face.

“My face is the hardest thing I got.”

She snorted and moved on to the hand that had started it all.

“Are you quite satisfied with today’s little adventure?”

He nodded.

“Fuck, I never thought the boy had fists of steel. Pardon my language, of course.”

“Don’t worry about it, just try to extend the courtesy to me when I do the same.”

He chuckled.

“No problem, Miss Delaney. I must say, of all the things old hopeless has done, bringing you around is the best one.”

“He brings strangers around often, does he?”

The hand’s eyes widened.

“No, never. He’s always alone, never talks to no one just minds his own. Makes people nervous and gives room for speculation, probably where most of the rumours come from.”

“Only fools believe rumours and a wise man distinguishes between the truth and what fools listen to. Which are you?”

The hand chuckled.

“I’m just a ranch hand, miss. We’re neither fools or wise men. But I’ll tell you this, hopeless is always alone and I’ve never seen the boy loose his cool like he did today. He knows what people say and doesn’t do a damn thing to make them think differently. Makes me sick to see him walking around and living in other peoples lies.”

Emily lifted an eyebrow.

“So you’re goading him to get an reaction?”

He shrugged.

“Anything’s better than nothing at all. Least the boy didn’t run off crying.”

She had to agree, he’d done nothing when the men at the country club had come over to accost him. His expression didn’t change, he was like an oil painting.

“I suppose, but perhaps you should resort to a different method in the future.”

“Amen.”

Terrence chose that moment to stand and toss his handful of melted ice away.

“I better be getting you two home before they think the worse and send the cops after me.” he stated, pulling the keys from his pocket. “I’ll see the rest of you at work on Monday.”

The hand laughed curtly.

“And you’ll be doing twice as much work to cover for the damage you’ve done here today.”

Terrence grinned.

“I look forward to it.”

--- --- --- --- ---

They dropped Debbie off first and soon the car came to a gentle stop outside Emily’s large home. She got out of the car and looked down at him with a large grin.

“I think I’m going to like it here.” she said lightly. “After all the excitement today.”

Terrence groaned.

“Don’t think it happens every day. Good night, Miss Delaney.”

“You can call me Emily, you know. It is my name.”

He shook his head and put the car into gear.

“No, I can’t.”

He roared from the yard, throwing gravel as the engine purred like thunder. Emily stood and watched him go as her mother came racing from the house, looking stricken.

“Thank God!” she cried, looking relieved. “You’re still alive.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’ve heard that boy. If I had known before you left, I wouldn’t have let you go.”

Emily frowned.

“What did you hear mother? Gossip? Please tell me you’re above that.”

“He’s a nobody, Emily Lynn. He works at some ranch outside town and has no future, he simply exists. I’ve heard about his parents and I feel truly sorry for what he must’ve went through as a child but that’s no excuse for what he’s doing now-”

“Which is what?” asked Emily flatly, giving her mother a stony look. “What does he do? He works, hard, and he escorts his aunt to country club gatherings. His uncle is a state trooper and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with him. He’s more a gentleman than those other snakes at that fancy club.”

Her mother gave her a frustrated look.

“I know that you don’t like the club, but promise me that you’ll stay away from that boy. It’s not appropriate for you to hang around with him, he’s not right for you.”
Emily rolled her eyes.

“I don’t plan on marrying him, mother, I find him interesting and different. I just want to be his friend and despite what you may think, we had fun today. Fun. Something I’d never have with any of those other people. I’m a big girl and you can’t tell me what to do, but I’ll lay your worries to rest and say that I have no intentions of having any kind of relationship with that man other than friendship. Does that lay your worries to rest?”

Her mother nodded.

“Yes, it does.”

Emily nodded.

“Good.”

--- --- --- --- ---

Terrence shut the garage door as his aunt came out of the house, looking at his face with a stunned expression.

“Terry, what happened?”

He smiled lightly.

“Nothing, just a little altercation at Jiffy Burger. It’s fine.”

His aunt’s face puckered cutely and he kept the chuckle he felt rising at bay.

“You’ve never fought before. What’s going on Terrence?”

“Nothing, it’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded firmly.

“Positive. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

She looked relieved and then worried again.

“There’s a storm coming in, it was on the news. That’s why we called it an early day at the club.”

Terrence glanced at the sky and saw the angry bank of clouds moving in from the west. A shiver passed through him, but he pushed it aside.

“I’ll be okay.” he said softly, eyes transfixed to the sky still. “Thank you for warning me.”

She wasn’t placated and put a hand on the front of his shirt.

“Terrence, I’d feel better if you came and stayed at the house tonight. I know that the thunder-”
“It’ll be okay.” he interrupted, looking down at her and forcing a smile. “I have to get over it sometime.”

“But-”

He kissed her on the cheek.

“I promise if it gets too much to handle, I’ll come right over.”

She couldn’t argue and he disappeared up the side of the garage, taking the stairs to his loft two at a time. Shaking her head, she moved back to the house to prepare for the long night ahead of them all. Travis wouldn’t sleep knowing he was out there alone and neither would she; they knew what happened when it thundered.

--- --- --- --- ---

He turned the stereo on loudly, as loud as it could go without cracking the speakers, and looked down at the paper as rain pelted against the window outside. Picking up the pencil, he started to draw a line but his hand was shaking so bad that it wiggled. Growling, he grabbed an eraser and rubbed it away to try again.

The garage shook slightly and he closed his eyes, swallowing heavily, as a tremor of fear spiralled through him.

“Don’t be stupid.” he muttered, rubbing his eyes beneath his glasses. “It’s just noise.”

He picked up the pencil and his ruler, trying one more time. It was going nicely until a loud shot of thunder rattled the windows of the loft and drowned out his stereo. The pencil took a jagged runaway before falling from his fingers and the power went out, silencing the stereo.

Standing up, he felt prickly sweat break out on his body and soon his shirt was soaked. Going to his room, he stretched out on the bed and put the pillow over his head to help drown it out. It didn’t work, so he opened his night stand and pulled out a pair of earplugs.

In the process of opening the little package, another roar shook his garage and he jumped. The earplugs went scattering and lightening lit the dark house. Moaning, he leapt from the bed and began crawling across the floor to find the errant plugs.

“Please, don’t do this now.” he groaned as fear began to swallow him. A lump formed in his throat and tried to choke him as he searched frantically. Looking through a pile of laundry in the corner, he nearly leapt from his skin as lightening lit the room once more, chased quickly by thunder.

Thrusting himself into the corner, he put his knees to his chest and covered his ears as he began to rock. It never seemed to end and soon, his house wasn’t his anymore.

“You’re a good for nothing bum!”

He swallowed heavily and pressed his hands tighter to his head.

“No, please go away.”

“Whore? Whore!”

More thunder filled his ears and his rocking intensified as the silent tears ran from his blank expression. A gunshot, mixed with thunder.

“No, mama.” he whispered, seeing his mother standing in the narrow doorway with the gun pointed at him. “Please, no.”

“You ruined my life!”

“No!” he shouted, watching as she lifted the gun to her temple and thunder echoed overhead. “No!”

Travis came in, soaked from rain and spotted his charge sitting in the corner and rocking violently. Pain twisted over his face, he looked like a little boy once again, reliving the horrors of his childhood like he did every time a storm passed through.

“Terrence.” he said, moving over. The man didn’t even look at him, was seeing things that didn’t exist. Sitting beside him, he wrapped his arms around the quivering man and pulled him into his chest. “It’ll be okay, son. God damn, it’ll be okay.”

“I ruined her life.”

“No, son.” replied Travis, feeling his own tears cloud his eyes. “You’ve ruined nobody’s life.”

--- ---

The storm passed a half hour later and Travis returned to the house where Melanie was pacing while she waited. One look at his face when he came in and she knew that it hadn’t went well. Tears filled her eyes and she clutched the neck of her robe tightly.

“Again?”

He nodded and removed his soaked coat.

“I got the boy to bed, he’s finally quieted down and it’ll be alright now. Damn it, Mel, you should’ve seen him. He looked fourteen years old again.”

“Maybe we should find him another doctor-”

“We’ve tried them all.” sighed Travis, moving to the coffee she had waiting on the kitchen table. Neither of them would sleep for a couple hours still, they never did. “He’s been to so many shrinks that I don’t think there’s one that hasn’t seen him. All they want to do is put him on pills and I know that cure is probably worse than the ailment.”

“He can’t keep doing this. What if we’re not home and he does something foolish? What if he-”

“He’s stronger than that!” he barked. “He knows that it wasn’t his fault! His mama was three sheets of crazy and so drunk that she probably had no clue what she was doing. So unless he moves somewhere they don’t have thunderstorms, he’ll have to figure out a way to face it.”

“Terrence has tried.” she argued, sitting at the kitchen table. “He’s tried and every time is the same.”

Travis frowned and sipped the black brew.

“Then we’ll just have to try something else or harder.”

--- --- --- --- ---

“Mom! I’m taking the Jeep!”

Rose Delaney looked out through the kitchen, frowning as she set her flower arrangement aside. Dusting her hands as she moved to the door, hips swaying after years of southern training.

“Emily, you know I hate it when you drive that scary vehicle. Your father-”

Her daughter gave her a wide grin as she slipped on a pair of ratty sneakers.

“Bought it for me because he knows that I love it. Would you relax. I’m just going for a drive to see some countryside and then I’ll be back tonight before dinner. We moved out here and now I’m going to get to know the area.”

“I thought you despised the idea of moving out here?”

Her grin widened as she straightened.

“I changed my mind, this is refreshing.”

She was gone before her mother could voice anymore objections, the door shutting loudly in the silence. Rose frowned and put her hands on her hips, worrying that her daughter might be biting off more than she could chew.

--- --- --- --- ---

Terrence lifted a square bale from the back of the wagon and hauled it over to the conveyor to put it in the loft. Pausing to wipe the sweat from his brow, the hand that he’d gotten into the scrap with outside Jiffy Burger came up grinning.

“Hopeless! You better be careful or we just might all fall in love with you.”

He frowned slightly.

“What’re you talking about Jeff?”

The man chuckled and fixed his lopsided cowboy hat as he leant on the wagon.

“Come on, shirt hanging open, rippling pectorals glistening with sweat, you’re cutting quite the profile.”

Terrence looked down at his shirt, scowling darkly; his buttons had come undone again.

“Not by any fault of my own.” he stated flatly, pulling it shut. “My shirts just tend to do that.”

Jeff chuckled.

“Whatever you say.”

Since the scrap, the lead hand Jeff and Terrence had gotten to know each other a little better. The tall, sinewy man, with jet black hair and brown eyes wasn’t as bad as everybody said he was. Always a joke on the end of his tongue and a grin on his face.

“Hey, a Jeep pulled up with a lovely looking redhead behind the wheel and pixie with chocolate hair. Wouldn’t happen to know them, would you?”

Terrence frowned.

“Miss Delaney is here?”

He nodded and pointed to where she was making her way over, tight jeans and t-shirt, hair pulled up in a pony tail. Debbie was with her, dressed the same and they didn’t look out of place. He shook his head and straightened away from the conveyor to get out of the way. Jeff chuckled.

“Hey, you calling dibs on anything here? Or is everything just kinda loosey goosy?”

“I’m not calling anything.”

Jeff grinned widely and slapped him on the back.

“Good, cause I got a thing for brunettes myself. Redheads are too temperamental for my tastes.”

He ignored the comment as Emily stepped up, looking proud of herself.

“Miss Delaney.” he said softly, giving her a nod. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

She grinned widely.

“Well, Deb and myself were out driving and we noticed how close it was to quitting time and wondered if you’d like a ride home. I know that you don’t take that car of yours to work because the people in town said that they see you walking home all the time.”

Jeff grinned widely.

“I can do you one better than simply driving home.” he said lightly. “The hands here, have the annual shindig going on tonight. Some good old fashioned BBQ and dancing, if you lovely ladies would be willing to escort us, of course.”

Debbie beat Emily to accepting.

“Offer accepted.”

He slapped his hands together.

“Perfect!” he turned to the rest of the hands. “Call it a day boys! Go get yourselves gussied up!”

They cheered happily and made off for the bunkhouse to do just that while Jeff offered a sweaty arm to Debbie.

“My lady, if you would kindly escort me to the carriage.”

She smiled shyly but accepted his arm as they sauntered back towards the Jeep. Emily watched them go and turned to Terrence, surprised when she saw the slight frown on his face.

“What?”

His eyes narrowed on her.

“Just what are you trying to do, Miss Delaney?”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

“I beg your pardon? I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t.” he snorted, moving away. “Showing up out here when I’ve made it perfectly clear that going for burgers and fistfights was the end of our endeavours together. I will be rejecting your offer for a ride and I will not be attending tonight’s shindig.”

She fell into step beside him.

“Why?”

He sputtered for a moment.

“Why? Why? Because I don’t do shindigs, I don’t dance, and I do not take members of high society to barn burners. I’ve already got a bad enough reputation in this town that I don’t need to add bad influence to it.”

Emily snorted.

“For your information, I’m the bad influence and all you have to do is ask my parents to get that clarified. I hate going to the country club and can’t stand the people there, with the exception of Debbie. And if you’re thinking that I’m stalking you because you’re a sexy single man, then you’ve got another thing coming, because I also do not date farm hands.”

“Then what the hell do you want?”

She grinned widely.

“Why, Mr. Hope, is it not clear?” he shook his head and she chuckled. “Nothing but your pleasant company.”

He smiled.

“Then I hate to disappoint you, but I still decline. I can’t go to the party tonight because the smell and sight of alcohol makes me sick.”

“Why?”

“Because my mother was an alcoholic and drank constantly. Our home smelt of it relentlessly for fourteen years until she went too far one night and killed my father before turning the gun on herself.” he paused and his smile turned bitter. “And before you can ask, yes I was there and saw the whole thing. Now before you begin to pity me, your friends are waiting.”

She surprised him.

“I knew that before I talked to you at the country club and pity is the furthest thing from my mind.”

Debbie, he should’ve known.

“I thought Debbie didn’t gossip?”

She frowned.

“That’s hardly gossip because you just confirmed it to be true. I’m sorry if it hurts you that she told me, and this might seem callous but I don’t care. What happened in your past isn’t important to me and quite frankly, none of my business. You obviously don’t want to socialize and that’s fine, but at least allow me to drive you home so you don’t have to walk.”

He paused, thinking about it for a moment before nodding curtly.

“Alright, a ride home sounds good.”

She smiled widely.

“Maybe you’ll change your mind about coming tonight.”

He shook his head.

“Won’t happen, besides, I’ve got dinner with Uncle Travis and Aunt Melanie tonight. I promised to go because I’ve been a recluse the last couple days.”

“Why?”

He shook his head again.

“Not important.”

--- --- --- --- ---

Terrence swirled his peas around on the plate, head rested on one hand and staring down. His uncle noticed and cleared his throat loudly.

“I assure you they’re dead.” he grumbled. “You don’t need to stalk ‘em and kill ‘em.”

He looked up and blushed slightly.

“Sorry, if I seem preoccupied.” he apologized, sitting up. “I was just thinking.”

“About?” asked his aunt, wiping her mouth delicately with a napkin.

He smiled slightly.

“The annual shindig is tonight and I was just thinking about going but I can’t.”

His uncle frowned.

“Why the Hell not? It’d do you some good to get out there.”

He shook his head.

“There’ll be too much booze floating around and I can’t stand the smell. I tried to take a whiff from your snifter but all I did was regurgitate my lunch.”

Melanie chuckled and reached out to pat his hand sympathetically.

“Honey, that’s different. You might as well stick your head in a vat. This is an outside party, you won’t be able to smell it that strongly. If you get too close to someone who has indulged a little too much, then it might be stronger but not that strong. I’m sure you’d be fine.”

“You really think so?” he asked, looking hopeful.

Travis cleared his throat in an irritated fashion.

“Are you telling me that four years in college and you never went to a bar or a frat party?”

Terrence shook his head.

“No. Why do you think I got such good grades?”

His uncle blustered, face turning red.

“Damn it, boy! Go get changed and get your ass out there. Live a little for Christ’s sake and quit worrying about what might happen if you do.”

He needed no further prompting and leapt to his feet. Kissing his aunt on the cheek quickly, he hurried out of the house, leaving the slap of the screen door to echo like a gunshot. His uncle was shaking his head in disbelief.

“Foolish boy, I swear, sometimes…”

--- ---

The party was in full swing by the time he got there. Somebody had found some Christmas lights and draped them around to light the area while a makeshift stage was constructed from plywood, planks, and square bales that hadn’t made it up the conveyor yet. The smell of roasting food wafted over the air with laughter and music.

Several couples moved around what appeared to be a dance floor and suddenly Terrence didn’t feel quite so bad about wearing his cowboy hat; several were floating around down there already. Fixing it and moving towards the group of people, he smiled widely with excitement.

Jeff met him on the outskirts and grinned widely, holding up a beer.

“Hey! Look who decided to grace up with his presence! And looking spiffy too, I might add.”

“Thanks, I haven’t dressed up in a while.”

“Thank the Lord or you’d make us all look like paupers!” chortled Jeff, throwing an arm around his shoulder. He smelt like beer, but it didn’t cause the reaction that Terrence thought it would. Excitement spiralled through him as the sights and smells of the party began to get to him.

“Is Miss Delaney here?” he asked loudly, to be heard of the music.

Jeff nodded and began to look around.

“Yeah, she’s here with Pixie.”

He frowned.

“Pixie?”

“Debbie.”

Of course, how foolish of him not to put those two together. He spotted a flash of red hair and spotted Emily moving around the dance floor with Debbie, dancing together. They had both changed into little summer dresses and he shook his head; they were going to get eaten by mosquitoes.

Moving through the crowd, he stepped onto the edge of the dance floor and grinned widely as both girls stopped to stare at him. He tipped his hat slightly, putting on a thick western front.

“Ma’am.”

She grinned widely.

“I thought you were against shindigs? Something about alcohol?”

He shrugged.

“I’ll survive.”

“And dancing?”

“I don’t have to.”

“How about hanging out with members of high society? Something about a bad influence?”

He grinned widely.

“I’ll defend you from all those slanderous rumours.”

Jeff heard the last part as he came up and slapped him on the back.

“Come on hopeless! We all know you couldn’t defend yourself from the Girl Scouts of America, let alone the split tongue of high society!”

--- ---

The night went by and before long the sun was starting to rise. Terrence felt good, very good, and it showed as he pulled his last cigarette and lit it while steering the Jeep on a leisurely course for Emily’s home. She was curled up on the front seat, wearing a jean jacket that she’d borrowed from someone when it got too cold out. Debbie and Jeff were further behind them, driving Terrence’s car.

He pulled into the Delaney drive and stiffened when he saw the police car sitting out front. Reaching over and shaking Emily awake, she sat up sleepily but quickly came awake.

“Oh shit.”

He looked at her seriously.

“My thoughts exactly. Did your parents know where you were tonight?” she shook her head and he swore softly, tossing his cigarette out the side before pulling the Jeep to a stop. “Why does that not surprise me? Just shut up and let me do the talking.”

She nodded, too tired to argue. They got out of the car and Jeff pulled up behind in Terrence’s, sitting back to watch.

An officer walked up to Terrence and began the process of cuffing him without preamble.

“Could I ask why I’m under arrest?” he asked flatly.

“Kidnapping.”

“Do lots of kidnappers bring their stolen articles back? Does that count for anything?”

“The Delaney’s are pressing charges.”

He rolled his eyes as a monster of a man came out of the house. Red hair threaded with white, there was no question it was Emily’s father.

“Mr. Delaney, if you’ll let me explain-”

“No explanations. How many people’s daughters do you make off with? This is the last one. You’ll think twice before-”

“Daddy!” shouted Emily, looking furious. “Terrence didn’t kidnap me. I went to a BBQ and he offered to drive me home. Ask Jeff!” she pointed at the him lounging behind the steering wheel of Terrence’s car, grinning like a fool.

“You don’t have to lie, Emily, he’s in custody and not going to hurt you.”

She stomped her foot, bringing a snort from Terrence as he was led to the cruiser.

“I’m not lying! If you want to arrest someone, it should be me! I made him come out and then made him drive me home.”

“Miss Delaney.” stated Terrence seriously. “It’s okay.”

She shook her head.

“No, it’s not! This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“Phillip.” Rose stepped from the house, looking serious. “I told you that she went out. She’s telling the truth and you’re overreacting. Let that boy go and apologize to him for this. If anything you should be grateful that he brought her home safe and sound.”

“How much do you want to bet that it’s because of him that she went out in the first place?” demanded her father loudly. “Rose, don’t-”

“Oh, get off it!” shouted her mother. “You know your daughter, quit trying to blame somebody else for her rashness.”

Grudgingly, the big man finally nodded.

“Let the boy go.”

Terrence was released, but the officer was giving him the serious eye as he did so, offering a silent warning. Rubbing his wrists, he nodded.

“Thank you, Mr. Delaney.”

“Stay away from my daughter.”

Emily glowered at him.

“I’m not a little girl, daddy. I’ll hang around with whoever I damn well please.”

“Get in the house.”

“No.”

His blue eyes widened in shock.

“No? No? Don’t talk back to me and get in the damned house before I ground you for a year!”

“Dad.” growled Emily. “I’m twenty two, you can’t ground me!”

“Fine! Then I’ll disown you!”

You ruined my life.

Terrence groaned and put a hand to his temple as a shard of pain shot through it.

“I have to go, Miss Delaney, maybe you should just listen to your father.”

Phillip waved a hand.

“The boy is the only one making any sense!”

She whirled on him, eyes flashing with anger.

“I told you to quit calling me that!” her anger fled quickly when she saw how pale he was. “Terrence, are you okay?”

He shook his head and moved towards the car slowly.

“I have to go, listen to your father. It’s for the best if we don’t hang around anymore.”

“How could you say that? You’re not okay, you’re gonna fall off your feet.” she gasped, looking at the officer. “Get him a chair from the veranda.”

The officer hurried off to do that and her mother ran into the house to get a glass of water. Terrence made it to the car and jerked the door open roughly.

“No, I’ve gotta go.”

Phillip Delaney frowned.

“Son, what’s wrong? You look paler than the ghost of Christmas past.”

“Little headache, I’m tired, it’ll go away. Good bye.” he fell into the car and Jeff threw it into drive, peeling away before they could be stopped. Emily watched them go and turned a murderous look on her father.

“How could you do that?” she demanded, tears shinning in her eyes. “Terrence is my best friend in this place and you’ve just forbidden me from seeing him!”

Her father was watching the car go with a frown on his face.

“Honey, I want you to tell me everything you know about that boy and everything you’ve observed in the last little while.”

She frowned.

“Why?”

He shrugged.

“No reason, curiosity I suppose.”

--- --- --- --- ---

Terrence let his pencil glide over the paper, his vision of a beautiful small family home coming to light on paper. Yard sculpted for kids, family friendly, and affordable. Usually he stuck to grander scale homes, but this one was by far his best creation. It dripped with class, yet still held the charm that a family would want a home to be. Homes were meant to be lived in, not around.

Setting the pencil aside, he sat up and worked a crick out of his neck. Sliding his glasses up his nose, he changed the song on the CD player and stood to grab a drink. Freezing when he spotted Emily standing in his front door.

“Hi.” she said weakly, waving a hand lightly.

“What are you doing here?”

She shrugged and came inside, looking around.

“It’s been two weeks, I thought the coast was clear to make an impromptu visit. Jeff said you quit working at the ranch and I was just checking to make sure you were doing all right.”

He nodded and grabbed a cloth to toss it over his drawing.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’ve got a little something going on.”

“Can I see?”

“I, uh, it’s nothing really-”

She snorted.

“Don’t be silly, just let me see it. What am I gonna do? Laugh?”

He groaned.

“You might.” he turned around and she hurried over as he pulled the cloth back and showed her the sketch. “It’s not done yet.” he muttered, looking over his work with a critical eye. “There’s still lots-”

“It’s wonderful. I didn’t know you were an architect.”

He shrugged.

“I did go to college for four years. I’m not quite as dense as everyone believes.”

“Nobody thinks you’re dense.”

Terrence rolled his eyes.

“Of course they do. Good old hopeless with no future, can’t do nothing right except stack hay bales. Nobody knows that I graduated top of my class or I have about fifteen job offers come in the mail, nobody cares.”

Emily frowned.

“Why are you still here then?”

“I like it here.”

She didn’t believe that for a second.

“You like it here? Where the people treat you like shit and the only ones who are decent are your aunt and uncle? Why would you ever want to stay in a place like this? There’s lots of world and the people are different-”

“No, they’re not.” he growled, moving to the fridge and pulling out a soda. He cracked the top and set it on the counter as he grabbed a cigarette from his pocket. “Trust me when I say that people are the same everywhere.”

“Terrence-”

“Why are you here, Miss Delaney?”

She bristled.

“Because I missed your stupid ass. Happy now? You’re such a prude that I missed you. I defied my father and snuck over here to see your stiff frown.”

He shook his head as it hung.

“Go home.”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

“What?”

Looking up seriously, his grey eyes showed an emotion that he’d never voice.

“Go home, Emily. I’m not the right guy to hang around with. I’m not going anywhere or seeing the world, I’m always going to be right here.”

She marched up and stood within inches of him, glaring up with stormy blue eyes.

“Because you’re tying yourself down. That sketch is brilliant and you know it! You could be out in New York designing sky scrapers, not sitting in butt fuck Cherry Wood chucking hay bales for a living.”

He ground his cigarette out in an ashtray angrily.

“What would you know about it? I bet you’ve never worked a day in your life, Miss Delaney. You come from family money and you’ll never know what it’s like to have nothing to call your own.”

“You may be right.” she nodded. “I may not have worked, but I know the value of hard work and when that hard work should pay off. Dear God, come down off whatever cross you’ve nailed yourself to and realize that you’re talented and need to do something with that. Not let it rot in this loft because you’re afraid.”

“I’m not afraid.” he snapped. “I’m not afraid to pitch my designs and I’m not afraid of success. How do you think I paid for that car? Or this loft? All of this is mine because I worked my ass off to get it.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

He closed his eyes.

“It’s complicated.”

“Is this about your parents?”

His eyes opened, glittering with anger.

“Don’t.” he growled, instantly turning dangerous. “Don’t come in here and think you know everything because of the stories that you’ve heard. You weren’t there and don’t know what I seen.”

She felt the tears fill her eyes.

“Then tell me!”

He turned away and braced his arms on the counter.

“You know where the door is, Miss Delaney, good bye and please don’t come back.”

She grabbed his arm and pushed him away from the counter so he had to face her. Without warning, she kissed him angrily. Hands framing his face, his hands came up and grabbed her wrists but didn’t pry them away.

When she finished, she stepped back.

“Good bye, Mr. Hope. When you realize what you’re turning away, hopefully it won’t be too late.”

“I’m saving you, Emily.” he said softly as she left. “I’m saving me.”

--- ---

Emily only got as far as the Jeep before turning around and marching back up to Terrence’s loft. Flinging the door open, she stepped inside and found him staring out a window out over the sky. He turned around as she crossed the floor.

“I thought you-”
He didn’t get a chance to finish as she kissed him again. This kiss was different from the first one, it wasn’t angry, it was urgent. Wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly, she pressed up against him.

“Please.” she whispered, biting her lip when they finished. “Don’t make me beg, Terrence.”

“Emily, I-”

“I don’t care who you are or where you’re going.” she interrupted. “All that matters is right now, you’re a man and I’m a woman. All I’m asking is for this moment and nothing more. Can you give me that?”

“It wouldn’t be fair-”
“I don’t care about fair.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded and started working at the buttons on his shirt.

“Positive.”

--- --- --- --- ---

Travis and Melanie stood from their bench on the veranda as Terrence’s car pulled into the driveway. It stopped and he leapt out, grinning widely as his tie blew in the wind. He ran up and hugged his aunt, lifting her off the ground and swinging her around.

“They loved it!” he roared, setting her back down. “They’re going to feature it!”

She laughed happily as a few tears of joy ran down her weathered cheeks.

“That’s wonderful, Terry!”

He was grinning like a fool and he knew it, but he didn’t care. The sale of his sketch was enough to keep them comfortable for a while.

“I’m gonna buy you a new car.” he declared. “The next time we go to the city.”

She chuckled and put a hand against his cheek.

“I’m so proud of you.”

He was too, damn it. He’d marched into that office building and made those suits see the reasoning behind his affordable little home and they’d seen it, every one of them; it was a unanimous decision. By this time next year, his little house would be rising in residential areas all over the city.

His uncle cleared his throat loudly and pointed to the garage.

“There’s someone waiting for you.”

Terrence frowned.

“Who?”

His aunt Melanie was wearing a worried expression.

“Miss Delaney.”

Frowning, he moved to the garage in a hurry and took the stairs three at a time. When he flung his door open, he found her sitting in his drafting chair. Curled up, she looked up at him through a black eye.

“Good Lord.” he gasped, stepping inside and letting the door slam behind him. “Who did that to you?”

She smiled weakly.

“It’s not as bad as it looks.”

“The hell it is! Who did that?”

Her smile cracked.

“Ronald from the country club!” she wailed, sobs racking her body. “He found out about what…happened between us and tried to blackmail me. He said that I was to go out with and eventually marry him or he’d tell everyone.”

“You told him no?”

She looked up, surprised.

“Of course I told him no!” she shouted. “What was I going to tell him? I don’t love him, Terrence! I love you!”

He took a stunned step back.

“Emily, I thought, you said-”

“I know what I said!” she cried, tears falling even harder. “But it’s too late for that now! He started telling everyone yesterday and now my father is having a fit, threatening to have you killed. My mother locked herself in the upstairs bedroom and the whole town is talking about it!”

Terrence felt a pang of hurt roll through him.

“You’re embarrassed by me?”

“No!” she gasped, eyes wide as tears rolled down her cheeks. “Never! I just didn’t want it to be like this.”

That made him feel better a little.

“You’ll just have to go back.” he said quickly. “You’ll have to go back and deny it, they’ll never know.”

She laughed bitterly.

“They will eventually.”

He frowned.

“What?”

“I’m pregnant.”

Two words and Terrence’s whole world came cascading down around him. Pregnant? They had said that it was only that one time, but one time turned into two and then three. For a month, she’d been sneaking out to see him. But they’d been so careful, they didn’t want this to happen.

“How?”

She gave him an exasperated look through her tears.

“Well, when a man and a woman-”

He shook his head quickly.

“I know how, but we were so careful.”

“I don’t know!” she cried, wiping at her face. “I’m sorry, Terrence.”

“This isn’t your fault.”

“I shouldn’t have stayed that night, I should have just walked away.” she paused to hiccup. “Now we have to get married.”

He froze and ice ran through his veins. Married? Definitely not.

“No.”

Her mouth fell open.

“What?”

He was shaking his head and backing away like she had plague.

“No, I’m sorry but no. I can’t marry you, I won’t marry you. Go back to your parents and tell them, they’ll take care of you and if they won’t then I’ll give you whatever you want but we can’t get married. Blame me, tell them I skipped town and ran off. Tell them that I promised to marry you and then tucked tail and ran but I can’t marry you.”

“I can’t do this by myself, Terrence.”

“I can’t do it with you.” he said quickly. “I’ll build you house, dear God, I’ll keep you wanting for nothing but I can’t…please don’t ask me to do this.”

She stood up, the anger rolling from her unmistakable.

“Mr. Hope, are there any specific names that you’d request for your son or daughter?” he shook his head and she marched past him out the door, leaving and probably for good. Moving to his bedroom, he collapsed on the bed and wrapped his pillow around his head as thunder rumbled in the distance.

--- ---

Travis watched as the girl moved to her Jeep, parked in the back forty, not missing the thick tears that fell.

“What’s the matter, honey?”

She froze when she saw him and tried to smile but it didn’t work.

“Nothing, I’m just happy.”

He shook his head.

“I’ve lived with my wife too long not to know the difference between happy tears and sad ones. Happy ones tend to come in ones or twos, sad tears come with a bus load of friends.” he patted to the lawn chair beside the one he’d parked his frame in. “Come sit. I have a feeling I know what you argued about.”

She moved over and sat beside him.

“I’m pregnant.” she blurted. “And now I have to go tell my parents and they’re going to probably disown me.”

“And Terrence won’t marry you.”

She nodded and frowned at him.

“How do you-”

Travis cleared his throat.

“It’s time I tell you the whole story, seeing the boy is too stubborn to. His mother, Valerie, was a member of the same circles you run in. When she was young, probably your age, she slept with a TV repair man named Franklin Hope. Franklin fell in love with the girl instantly, but she had her eyes on bigger prizes. When she got pregnant, however, life changed drastically for her.

Her parents found out and disowned her and Franklin did the honourable thing until she confessed that the child wasn’t really his. Turns out she was sleeping with two different men at the time, the doctor she was diddling refused anything to do with her. Frankie still married her and he raised little Terrence to the best of his ability.

When Terrence was four, things got tough and they ended up living in a little trailer park outside town. She started drinking, heavily, and it went on for another ten years until one night the unthinkable happened. She got all liquored up and it was thundering like a bastard, worse storm we had in years, the boy was huddled in the back of the little home while she screamed and railed at his father. It didn’t take long for things to escalate and she pulled a gun, shooting Frankie in the chest. He died and she turned that gun on Terrence.

She couldn’t shoot him, but screamed at him. Told him that he’d ruined her life and it was all his fault, he’d never amount to anything like his father. Then she turned the gun on herself and splattered her brains all over the inside of that home while he stood there and watched her. Mighty traumatic for a young boy. We took him in, but he hasn’t been the same since that day and I can’t blame him.”

Emily was crying, but for Terrence.

“That’s horrible.”

Travis nodded solemnly.

“It is.” thunder rumbled overhead. “It’s going to storm, not good.”

“Why?”

“Because every time he hears thunder, the boy turns into a bowl of jelly. He relives that night through the storm and nothing we can do helps him through it. It hurts to have to sit back and watch him but we’ve tried so many doctors and all they want to do is shove pills down his throat. My wife is scared that one of these days he won’t be able to take it and do the same as his mother, I think he’s stronger then that but sometimes I don’t think he thinks so.”

Emily sat up quickly.

“My dad.” she blurted. At Travis’s confused look, she smiled widely. “My dad can help him! He’s a psychologist that majors in repressed memories, which is what this is. He can help him Mr. Greene, I know he can.”

“But will he want to?”

Emily stood and started running to the Jeep.

“He won’t have any choice!”

--- --- --- --- ---

Emily burst into her home, soaking wet, and searching frantically. Running to the study, she burst through the doors and found her father sitting at his desk, looking at her over a pair of glasses.

“My dear, we seriously need to-”

“I’m pregnant, daddy.” she said quickly, moving forward. “I know that you’re going to be very upset because it’s Terrence’s, but I love him so much that it doesn’t matter to me.”

To her surprise, her father nodded slowly.

“I thought as much.”

She frowned.

“I thought you’d be a little angrier.”

He shrugged.

“Your mother figured it all out and that’s why she’d locked herself in her room. She told me and I got angry, but she convinced me that this was meant to be. I give my blessing if this is what you want. And we will press charges against Ronald for giving you that black eye, he’s being arrested as we speak.”

She was going to burst with joy, but now wasn’t the time.

“Daddy, I need your help or rather Terrence needs your help.”

He sat forward, growing serious.

“Tell me.”

She explained everything that Mr. Greene had told her and as thunder echoed over the house she finished as quick as she could.

“So now he relives it every time he hears thunder and they can’t do anything to stop it.”

Her father stood quickly and took his glasses off as he grabbed the keys to his car.

“Go write a note for your mother while I gather some things. Tell her where we’re going and that we’ll be back as soon as the storm is over. We’ll take my car because I don’t feel like getting soaking wet.”

--- ---

The car pulled into the driveway and Mrs. Greene was waiting in a raincoat and umbrella. She had tears running down her cheeks and was pointing frantically up the stairs to the loft.

“Please hurry!” she cried. “It’s bad!”

Phillip Delaney nodded and moved to the stairs.

“Emily, take Mrs. Greene into the house so she doesn’t catch her death out here.”

She nodded and went to do so but Melanie shook her head.

“Go with your father, he might need your help. I can find my way to the house easily enough.”

Emily nodded and ran up the stairs.

--- ---

Terrence was sitting in the corner of his room, hands over his ears and far off look in his wide grey eyes as he repeatedly kept chanting, no. One word, over and over as he rocked hard and the thunder rumbled.

Delaney sat on the bed, looking him over as he pulled his glasses.

“Terrence.” he said firmly. “Terrence, look at me.”

The young man ignored him and continued to rock as his uncle paced feverishly.

“I can’t get through to him either.” he grumbled. “He’s like a God damned zombie.”

Phillip had to agree with the analogy, he was useless unless someone could bring him back a little. Emily chose that moment to appear in the doorway, looking stricken. She stood frozen to the spot and Terrence’s eyes actually saw her.

“No.” he cried, tears rolling down his face. “Mama, please…”

“Terrence.”

He turned his head and looked at the doctor, who was frowning.

“Terrence, your mother is gone. You didn’t kill her, she killed herself. It was her choice.”

“I ruined her life.”

Emily stepped forward.

“You didn’t!” she cried, tears falling down her cheeks. “Terrence, you didn’t ruin her life. You were the best thing that ever happened to her, to me. Please, stop blaming yourself and let it go.”

Phillip watched as Terrence came back a little more. He was still distraught and far from being cured but it was better than nothing; his rocking had stilled a little as he sagged helplessly against the wall.

“Terrence, why are you blaming yourself for the mistakes your mother made?”

He choked.

“I should’ve stopped her.” he whispered, sounding like a little boy. “Daddy, I should’ve helped him.”

“You were a boy, Terrence, there was nothing you could do.”

“I could have.” he whispered, closing his eyes. “I hid in the corner like a coward.”

“Terrence, if you had done anything but what you did, you’d be dead as well.”

“But daddy-”

“Terrence, there was nothing you could do.” a sob racked his body and he curled a little tighter. “Stop blaming yourself. You were a young man, and nothing that happened could’ve been prevented. Your mother was ill and needed help and your father did everything he could for her but she didn’t want help. She blamed you for mistakes she made and nobody can be blamed for that. Sometimes life is cruel, but you still have to live or it just makes it worse.”

“I’m sorry…”

Emily moved forward and wrapped her arms around him.

“Terrence, you have nothing to apologize for, it was your mother.”

“I was talking to you.” he whispered. “I’m sorry, but I can’t…what if…I can’t, Emily.”

Her heart ripped in two but she understood.

“This isn’t your fault either, Terrence. I’m just as much to blame as you and if you can’t, then that’s okay. I’ll be alright and so will you.”

He leant into her and relaxed as thunder rippled overhead. Sitting there, in the dark room, she held him as the storm got worse and then blew over. When he opened his eyes in the morning, Emily was gone and only her father sat on the bed, looking at him.

“How do you feel, son?”

Terrence rubbed his eyes as he straightened.

“Tired? Like I’ve been through a war.”

“That’s to be expected, you did very good.” replied Delaney, standing slowly. “Two days from now, I’ll come over and we’ll have another session. The next one will be less traumatic and we’ll continue to do that until you get this licked.”

Closing his eyes, he swallowed heavily.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Delaney-”

“Don’t be, son. I think you need to stop worrying about what others think and apologizing for it. Look at your life, see what you want, and for once take it. Emily is a smart girl and she understands why you can’t give her what she wants. But I look at you and I know you can, just not yet. One day, but not yet.”

“I do love her.”

Phillip Delaney smiled as he turned to leave.

“I know you do or the fear that you have would have never crossed your mind, and you’d have never apologized for it.”

--- --- --- --- ---

Terrence stood on the edge of the country club garden, beneath the tree he always smoked under. His uncle came to stand next to him, his cigar sending thick plumes of smoke into the air. Since his three sessions with Mr. Delaney, it felt like a great blanket had been lifted off him. For once, he was living because he wanted to and not because he was supposed to.

“Oh my.” gasped his uncle, eyes widening.

Terrence looked up and saw Ronald step from the garden doors of the country club, smiling widely and greeting people as if he hadn’t been arrested and charged for hitting Emily. Anger spiralled through him and he pushed himself away from the tree, striding forward purposefully.

Phillip came to stand next to Travis, a smug smile on his face.

“Should we stop him?” asked Travis, lifting an eyebrow.

Delaney shook his head.

“Not at all, this is part of the therapy.”

“Yours or his?”

He chuckled.

“Perhaps a little bit of both.”

Both men stood by silently and watched as, without warning, Terrence lifted Ronald off his feet with a reeling blow. The man went down like a sack of potatoes and didn’t move for a moment before groaning. Walking up, they watched as Terrence grabbed him by the collar and lifted him to his face.

“Go near her again, you slippery snake, I’ll break both your legs and dump you in the woods for bears. You go that?”

“Get your hands off me, trailer park.” hissed Ronald angrily. “Before I call the police.”

“Oh my.” said Delaney loudly. “Poor Ronald tripped and fell, are you alright son?”

Travis stepped up beside him.

“Terrence, help the poor boy to his feet.”

Delaney smiled coldly.

“Heaven forbid he should trip again.”

Jeff chose that moment to come up, smiling coldly with Debbie on his arm. Her smile was downright evil as she looked at Ronald.

“Honey, maybe you should take poor Ronald to the washroom and help him get cleaned up.”

“I’d love to, Pixie.” he replied, grabbing the down man by the collar and lifting him to his feet. “Come on, lets go.”

“I’ll be-” started Ronald but Jeff cut him off with a cold stare.

“I insist.”

Ronald didn’t come back and judging by Jeff’s grin, he wouldn’t be for a while. Moving to stand with Terrence under the tree, he pulled a cigarette from his pocket.

“You know, I could get used to this high society stuff.” he said lightly, slapping himself as he looked for a lighter. Terrence offered his with a chuckle.

“I could too.”

“I heard about that article in that fancy magazine.” stated Jeff, lighting his cigarette and handing the lighter back. “And here I thought all this time you had shit for brains.”

“It’s nothing.” he replied with a shrug. “I just had a good idea.”

They fell into silence and Jeff broke it awkwardly.

“Pixie told me that Emily’s doing pretty good, but she misses you and wonders how you’re doing. She’s worried about your mental health.”

“After today, she’ll hear I’m just as insane as I was before.”

He grimaced.

“Come on, if you love her you shouldn’t put yourselves through this-”

“Let it go, Jeff.” cut in Terrence. “I’m getting better, but I’m not ready.”

“Are you going to be ready before or after the kid is born?” he asked flatly, not deterred. “I’m not worried about you punching me in the beak because I can best you any day at fisticuffs.”

“Like that day outside Jiffy Burger?”

His friend winced.

“I was taking it easy on you.”

“I bet you were.”

--- --- --- --- ---

Walking into Pillman’s Gas and Go, Terrence took the tube out from under his arm and met the manager with a big grin.

“Never thought I’d see the day you’d let me linger in here.”

The man chuckled and blushed.

“Sorry about all that, I was being a bastard.”

He shrugged.

“No big deal.” he pulled a paper from the tube and spread it on the counter. “I looked over the old prints from the building and this is what I’ve come up with. If you blow this wall out and extend the floor, it’ll give you another five hundred square feet. With that, you can put in some new washrooms and maybe turn the old ones into an office. Put up some new shelves, maybe get a hot food counter going. Or, if you wanna really get crazy, I’ve got this one.” he pulled out another paper and spread it over top. “It’ll cost more, but I think it would be better for economy. We’ll knock out two walls and go for big expansion, put in a little coffee shop. Nothing too fancy, because Paul over at Jiffy Burger will get pissed, but maybe some pies or cakes or something.”

The man nodded and listened while Terrence went over the plans in detail, listing estimated costs and building times. When the bell for the pumps rang, he picked up the plans and moved to the chip shelf, spreading them overtop to get out of the way. Silence engulfed the gas station and he looked up, breath catching in his throat.

Emily, standing in the doorway, slightly swollen around her middle and looking radiant. She smiled widely at him and moved closer.

“Hey stranger, fancy meeting you here.”

His mouth moved but nothing would come out.

“I was just, uh, helping Carl with some expansion plans. He’s been bugging me for a while, but between running between here and the city I-” he stopped abruptly and blushed. “I’m babbling.”

She chuckled softly and moved down the candy isle.

“That’s okay, it’s good to hear you babble.”

He abandoned the plans and followed her timidly.

“How are…how are you doing?”

Looking up at him, there was no doubt in her mind why she loved him. Beautiful grey eyes, filled with concern, his hair was cut shorter and looked more business but still shining like it used to. His suit was freshly pressed and he looked wonderful.

“I’m fine.” she replied with a soft smile before turning back to examine the candy. “I’m having a craving of some sort that I can’t put my finger on.”

“Pickles?”

She looked up at him with a confused frown and started laughing.

“Pickles?”

He nodded and shrugged.

“I’ve heard that expectant mothers often crave pickles.”

“Well, I’m not craving pickles but thank you for trying to be helpful.” she reached out and grabbed a bag of liquorice. “I think this’ll do.”

He fidgeted for a moment.

“Um, your dad told me that you’re going looking for nursery stuff right away.”

She nodded and moved to the counter.

“Next weekend.”

“You don’t have to do that, I can pick all that up the next time I go to the city.”

Shaking her head, she pulled some money from her pocket.

“That’s okay, it’ll be nice to take a little trip while I still can. My mom is all excited anyway.” she took her change and candy as she looked at him. “You could come if you want.”

He immediately started shaking his head.

“No, that’s okay. I don’t want to disrupt and I wouldn’t really know-”

“You just offered to do it all yourself.”

Blushing he nodded slowly.

“Yes, I did, but I could’ve brought my aunt with me and she knows.”

“Tell her we’re going.” suggested Emily, pulling out a piece and biting into it quickly. “She could come with us.”

He nodded again.

“I will, I’ll get her to call you.”

Emily nodded and started out the door, leaving him behind. He took a step and stopped, waving lightly to her.

“I’ll see you around.”

She turned and smiled at him.

“I’m sure you will, I’ll be hard to miss.”

She left the store and he slumped against the counter. It moved slightly because it was on wheels and he leapt to his feet, looking at the manager seriously.

“In the plans, I’ve also bolted the counter down…”

--- --- --- --- ---

Jeff threw a dart and watched as it barely hit the edge of the board. With a frown on his face, he looked around to see if anyone was watching and moved it closer to the center before letting out a whoop of triumph.

“Ha! Did you see that shot?”

Terrence frowned at him from the glass his soda was in.

“The initial one? Or the aftermath?”

Rolling his eyes, Jeff went and sat.

“What happened to you today? And I must say, you’re doing pretty well considering you’re surrounded by all this liquor.”

He shrugged.

“It doesn’t bother me anymore. I haven’t tried to drink any yet, Mr. Delaney didn’t recommend it. He said that I should take it slow and that if I never drink, that’s fine too.”

“I’m glad to hear that he’s helping you out.” Jeff took a long pull on his beer and grinned. “Besides, alcohol is a terrible vice.”

Terrence snorted.

“So I’ve heard.”

“So you didn’t answer my question. What bug crawled up your crack and decided to call it home?”

“I saw Emily today at Pillman’s.”

Jeff nearly spewed the sip of beer he took all over the table. Choking, he recovered nicely.

“And? What happened?”

He shrugged.

“Nothing. We talked, she left.” he grimaced. “She’s doing fine without me.”

“And if you believe that then I was wrong and you do have shit for brains.” Terrence gave him an exasperated look and he held his hands up in surrender. “Alright, serious. Of course she’s going to say that to you. She doesn’t want to add any more pressure than you’re probably already feeling. Recovering from something like this doesn’t happen overnight. Slow and steady wins the race.”

Terrence had to agree, he didn’t want to risk having a relapse.

“You’re right.”

“Damn right, I’m right.” he went to take another drink from his beer bottle and stopped abruptly. “Oh, I saw our buddy Ronald today. He was slinking around outside Pillman’s.”

Stiffening, a cold vibe ran through Terrence.

“When?”

“Just after noon. He was sitting in the parking lot, glaring.”

“Was Emily there?”

Jeff frowned, trying to think. His eyes widened suddenly.

“She was! I remember seeing the Jeep! That’s why I was headed over that way, to say hello. She left though and that’s when I spotted Ronald’s Mercedes.”

“Did he follow her?” when Jeff didn’t say anything for a moment, Terrence lost his temper. Slamming his glass on the tabletop, he sat forward. “Damn it, Jeff! Did he follow her?”

“Yes! He followed her out past Donaldson’s on her way home.”

Terrence threw some bills on the table and jumped to his feet as he hurried from the bar. Stepping outside, he spotted Jeff’s truck and jumped behind the wheel. Gravel flew from his tires as he roared from the parking lot of The Watering Hole. Thunder rumbled overhead.

--- --- --- --- ---

The rain turned the road to shit and the truck swerved from the speed that Terrence was using to make sure that Emily had made it home alright. He’d realized too late that common sense said he should’ve just called, but he wasn’t calm when Emily was concerned. Fear like he’d never felt before clawed at him.

Turning a corner, he spotted the taillights in the ditch and almost threw up. The thunder roared overhead and lightening chased it, but he wasn’t thinking about the thunder or what it did to him. Jumping from the truck and into the rain, he pulled his cell phone as he went.

It was Ronald’s Mercedes.

Moving to the driver’s side, Ronald was behind the wheel. His face was beyond recognizable and he had no seat belt on, obviously he’d been thrown around before hitting the large tree that had caved most of his hood in.

Dialling for an ambulance, he scanned the rest of the road and spotted Emily’s Jeep. It was tucked neatly between two trees, still running. The operator picked up and he started talking to her while he slid down the muddy embankment towards the Jeep, praying the whole way.

She was sitting behind the wheel, head back and eyes closed. Seat belt on, the Jeep appeared to be fine.

“Emily?” he asked weakly, touching her face.

Her eyes opened and she looked at him through a rain soaked face.

“Terrence? Thank God.” she moaned, sitting up. “I can’t get out.”

“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

She shook her head.

“I’m fine. Ronald tried to run me off the road so I took the Jeep down and stopped myself. I didn’t hit anything, it was just a bumpy ride but I can’t get my seatbelt undone.”

“Are you sure?” he repeated, climbing into the backseat to get a look at the seatbelt. The release was caught between a thick book that had jammed itself against the consol during the ride. Shutting his phone, the ambulance was on its way, he pulled his pocket knife and began cutting at the seatbelt slowly.

She laughed while he did so.

“And my mother didn’t like this Jeep.” she reached out and stroked the steering wheel tenderly. “I’ll be back for you baby, you’ve served me well.”

He snorted.

“You are still the strangest girl I’ve ever met, you know that right?” the belt undid and he pulled it free. “Alright, come with me real easy. If anything hurts, stop and we’ll wait for the ambulance.”

“I’m fine.” she chuckled, standing on the seat slowly and letting him help her from the trapped Jeep. Standing on solid ground, she looked up the hill and groaned. “Now I just gotta walk up that.”

“I’ll fucking carry you if I have to.” he growled, taking his jacket off and wrapping her in it. “Don’t you own a cell phone? All that money and you don’t have a cell phone.”

She frowned at him.

“I do have a cell phone, but I lost it somewhere in the ride. And if you carry me up that hill, we’re never going to make it safely. I’ll manage fine, but we’ll go slow.”

Nodding he took her by the hands and they picked a safe route up the side of the road, reaching the top with no further mishaps. Getting her in the truck, he cranked the heater and hoped that Jeff had fixed it since it cratered the winter before.

“I’ll get you all warmed up.” he said, urging the heater to work. “Oh, and I’m pretty sure Ronald is dead.”

She looked at him blankly.

“You’re pretty sure?”

He nodded.

“The man’s got no face.”

“I can’t feel sorry for him.”

“I don’t.”

She fell silent before the first sob escaped. He turned and looked at her, stricken.

“What’s wrong? You’re not crying for him, are you?”

“No!” she wailed. “I’m just glad to be out of that Jeep. I was so scared, I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

He reached across the truck and pulled her into him, holding her tightly.

“It’s okay, honey, you’re safe now.”

She let him hold her until the sound of thunder rocked the vehicle and lightening lit it up. Pushing him away, she stared at him in wonder.

“It’s thundering out.”

He frowned.

“It tends to do that during a storm.”

“You’re not…I mean, you’re-”

“Not shaking like a leaf or crying like a baby?” he offered lightly. Shrugging he turned to look out the windshield. “I haven’t done that for the last two storms, but I wasn’t really thinking about it today when I found out that Ronald was following you.”

She fell silent and looked away. She wanted to tell him that she loved him and wanted him to be with her, that she wanted to be Mrs. Hope and have their child take his last name and live happily ever after; actually telling him was another thing.

Terrence wanted to hold her. He wanted to take her in his arms and never let her go. He wanted to design a beautiful little family home just for them and make it theirs. He wanted her to be Mrs. Hope because without her he didn’t have any hope at all.

“Emily.” he turned to her and the red light of the ambulance filled the cab. “The ambulance is here.” he finished weakly.

She couldn’t hide her disappointment, but he wasn’t there to see it. He was out flagging it down and within moments the paramedics were helping her from the truck and onto a stretcher. Terrence disappeared in the chaos that followed and she couldn’t find him.

It made her cry, and the paramedics rushed to assure her that if nothing had happened yet then the baby was probably fine and they were just going to make sure. She didn’t correct them as to why she was crying.

--- --- --- --- ---

Travis frowned as he sipped his coffee on the veranda and looked at the garage, the lights were on but the boy hadn’t come out for nearly a week. Shaking his head, he turned to Melanie.

“Should we go in there and see what he’s doing? He makes me nervous when he disappears like that.”

She snorted.

“I’m sure he’s fine. Maybe he has a new idea and wants to get it all down before it’s gone. Give him some space, dear.”

“I still don’t-”

The door to the loft flew open and Terrence came running out, plan gripped tightly in his hand while he tried to slide a suit jacket on. He ran up to the veranda, face alit with a wide grin.

“Are they still asking a hundred thousand for the old Johnson place?”

His uncle frowned and nodded slowly.

“Yeah, I believe so, but that place is needs a lot of-”

“It’s perfect!” he cried, kissing his aunt quickly before running to the car. “I’m moving out in three months!”

The car roared to life and fled the yard quickly, leaving the elderly couple looking confused.

“I swear.” grumbled Travis, shaking his head. “That boy gets stranger and stranger as the days pass.”

--- --- --- --- ---

Jeff frowned darkly as he looked at the rundown four bedroom shack before him. Terrence was grinning like a madman as he put the sold sticker on it. Even the picket fence needed some serious work.

“You’re kidding me, right? This is a joke?”

He shook his head as he came over.

“Nope, no joke at all.” he pulled the plan from the backseat of the car and unrolled it on the hood. “The contractors are going to be here in two hours. While it looks shoddy, the frame is still fine and even the floors are level. All it needs is a face lift a couple touches here and there.” his finger flew over the plan and he turned to look at the house. “We’re going to paint it baby blue, with white trim and red storm shutters. The roof will also be red, but tin that looks like the old slate roofs. It’s going to be perfect.”

Jeff rolled his eyes.

“And just who is going to buy this once you’re done? Out here? In the middle of nowhere?”

Terrence frowned.

“No one, I’m moving in here.”

His eyebrows shot up.

“Are you planning what I think you’re planning?” at his nod, he grinned widely. “Good Lord in Heaven it’s about time! Where to we start? We don’t need to wait for contractors.”

“I thought you’d agree.” he glanced down the road. “The old Parson place is just around the bend, I hear it’s cheap and I happen to know for a fact that the foundation is solid. It’s only two bedrooms and with a little work-”

Jeff chuckled.

“Lets work one miracle at a time, hopeless. One miracle at a time.”

--- --- --- --- ---

Fear.

Emily had never felt such fear as when the first contraction ripped through her. Gritting her teeth, she tried to focus on what was going around but all she could think about was Terrence. Where was he? She hadn’t seen him since that day he’d pulled her from the Jeep, nobody had. Did he leave? Maybe he left? What if he left her, what would she do?

“Emily, focus.”

Her mother.

“Mama, where’s Terrence?”

“Don’t worry about him child.” she said softly, holding her hand. “You’ve business to attend to right now and when it’s all said and done with, then we’ll worry about that man.”

“I thought you approved-”

“I do, honey, I do. But right now, you need to focus on what needs to be done.”

Fourteen hours of labour and Emily Delaney gave birth to a screaming baby boy. No one could find Terrence Hope, he’d vanished from the face of the earth.

--- ---

Terrence crept into the hospital, flowers tucked under one arm and a teddy bear under the other. It was late, way past visiting hours, but that couldn’t be helped. He’d been rushing the last two weeks to finish his project on time and now he was so tired he could barely stand, happy, but very tired.

The nurses station had someone there and he stepped up, looking ragged in his wrinkled dress shirt with the sleeves rolled sloppily to the elbows and a days worth of whiskers on his face.

“Excuse me.” he said softly. “I was wondering if you could do me a favour?”

The nurse looked up at him.

“What?”

“These are for Emily Delaney, I know that it’s way past visiting hours and I don’t want to disturb her. So, is it possible that you could give them to her in the morning or something?”

“I could do that.” nodded the nurse, taking the flowers and the bear. “Who are they from?”

“Terrence.”

The nurse looked up quickly.

“Are you the husband?”

He shook his head, wincing slightly.

“I’m the baby’s father, but I’m not her husband. I heard it was fourteen hours and she needs her rest and I can’t disturb her.”

The nurse nodded.

“That’s very thoughtful of you.”

“I try.” he said weakly. “Um, if it’s okay, could I see him? Not like hold him or anything, but isn’t there like a fishbowl kinda thing I can look through?”

The nurse smiled warmly and stood.

“Follow me.”

She led him down the hallway and motioned for him to wait in a little room. Pacing nervously, he jumped when she returned, holding a bundle of blue cloth.

“Oh, no.” he said quickly, backing away. “I can’t, I don’t know-”

“Sit in that chair.” she ordered softly.

He did as she said and before he knew it, his son was nestled in his arms. Little blue toque on his head, he didn’t even open his eyes at the disturbance just sucked his thumb loudly.

“Should he be doing that?” he asked in a hushed whisper.

The nurse nodded.

“It’s normal. He’s a very handsome boy, when the light is on his hair is a deep red and he has pale blue eyes.”

Terrence never felt such pride flow through him as he did then, but he didn’t want to wake him. Standing slowly, he held him out to the nurse.

“Here, before he wakes up.” he said softly.

Taking the baby, she disappeared for a moment before coming back and leading him back to the nurses station. He thanked her profusely and went to leave, but he came back quickly.

“Did she name him?” he asked.

The nurse smiled.

“His name is Franklin Phillip Hope.”

--- ---

Jeff straightened behind the wheel and grinned widely at his friend.

“Did you see him?” he asked.

Terrence nodded as he sank into the car.

“My God, he’s beautiful.” he whispered in awe. “I’ve never loved anything so much after only seeing it once.”

“All parents think their kids are beautiful, even if they’re butt ugly.” at Terrence’s exasperated look, he started the car. “It’s true! I’ve seen some cute babies in my time, but then I’ve seen some ugly ones too. Let me tell you, ugly.”

He chuckled tiredly and sagged against the seat.

“Thank you, Jeff, for helping me do this.”

His friend laughed and pulled a cigar from his pocket, handing it to him.

“Never mind that. Congratulations! It’s a boy!”

Terrence took the cigar and lit it.

“Take me home, Jeeves.” he said happily. “I still have a shit load of stuff to do before they get home.”

--- --- --- --- ---

Emily had never felt so crushed and overjoyed at once in her whole life. Her son was beautiful, healthy, and they could take him home today. Terrence had sent flowers and a bear, but hadn’t come to see him. It was almost like he didn’t care. It was like a coach giving a pitcher a pat on the ass after a good inning, cold and indifferent.

“Don’t worry, honey.” said her mother firmly, packing up her things. “I’m sure he has a reasonable explanation for everything.”

Emily frowned at her.

“When did you become a mind reader?”

She chuckled softly.

“I recognize that frown. Your father has a surprise for you when we get back, I’m to take you straight to it.”

“A surprise that I have to brought to?” she asked in shock. “What the hell did he get me?”

Her mother just shrugged as she checked to make sure that Franklin was covered properly in the car seat.

“I don’t know.”

--- --- --- --- ---

They drove past the house and Emily frowned, confused as to where they were going. When her mother pulled the car over and produced a blindfold, the confusion doubled. She put it on without complaining too much and it was a short time later before the car stopped once more.

Her door opened and someone helped her out and steered her up a walkway before stopping her. The blindfold was removed gently and it took her a moment to realize what she was looking at. The house was beautiful.

Baby blue outside, white trim, red shutters and roof, the picket fence was white and encompassed a yard that had a tiny plastic jungle gym in it. Flowers lined the windows in boxes. Looking around she spotted her father and the tears couldn’t be stopped.

“Oh, daddy it’s wonderful!”

He chuckled.

“I’d like to take credit, but I can’t. Go on inside and take a look around, your mother can bring my grandson in.” She hurried up the front as fast as she could and opened the door to look inside.

Hardwood floors that glistened, beautiful furniture, it was so quaint and perfect that it could have only been pulled from her dreams. She took the stairs and found that one bedroom had Franklin’s name in block lettering on it.

Opening it slowly, she looked inside and felt the tears fall even more. All the baby furniture they’d bought had been moved there and it fit beautifully in the sky blue room with white fluffy clouds painted all over the walls. A large sun shined in one corner and the beams came down like real sunshine.

The window had white curtains with teddy bears on them and the room was filled with so much love that she could feel it. Her mother came in with the baby and went to lay him in the crib.

“Keep going, don’t stop here.”

She nodded and moved to the rest of the house. Every room was more beautiful than the last and when she finally reached the master bedroom, she could barely stand. Sobbing uncontrollably, her father came in chuckling.

“Now, I hope those are happy tears.”

“It’s so beautiful!” she wailed, feeling foolish. “Thank you so much! I know we’ll both be very happy here.”

He chuckled a little more and hugged her tightly.

“I already told you, I did nothing but move the furniture here. Terrence has been working himself to the bone to get this ready for you and Franklin, he’s the one you should thank.”

“Terrence?” she asked weakly, not sure she heard right. “The man who couldn’t be bothered to go to the hospital to see his son?”

“He was there, honey.” argued his father. “He came to see me the next morning and I’d never seen a man float on a cloud until I saw him that morning. He only arrived late because he was finishing the house and didn’t want to wake you. I’m sure he’ll be by soon.”

“Why isn’t he here now?”

Her father shrugged.

“I’m not sure. I have to be going but your mother is going to stay for as long as you need her to and help you get settled. Is that okay?”

She nodded and smiled.

“Thank you, daddy, I love you so much.”

He kissed her on the forehead.

“I love you too.”

--- --- --- --- ---

“Honey! I’m going up to Pillman’s, do you need anything?”

Emily turned the swing back on and stepped away as the lullaby began to play again. Sticking her head into the hall, she replied.

“No, mom! I’m good!”

“Alright, I’ll be back in a bit!”

The door shut and Emily cast a glance in the nursery. Franklin’s eyes were shut and he was sucking on the pacifier furiously. Smiling tenderly, she shut the door a little and moved to go downstairs, being sure to take the baby monitor with her.

Coming down the stairs, she froze when she spotted Terrence standing in the kitchen. His shirt was rumpled and his hair mussed as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Sleeves rolled up, he cast her a sheepish look.

“Sorry, I’m a mess. This was all I had with me and I didn’t expect it to take so long.”

She frowned.

“That’s alright, I suppose. If you want to see Franklin, he’s sleeping now.”

He shook his head.

“No, I’m not here to see Franklin. Not yet anyway.”

“Then why are you here.”

He pointed to a box on the table.

“To give you that.”

Moving over to the box, she frowned at him suspiciously before pulling the bow off and removing the lid. Lovely cursive writing on a large card greeted her and she read it out loud.

“I’m sorry…” she removed it to expose the next one, setting it aside. “That it took me so long…to see what you seen…but now that I have…I love you…and will you…marry me?” she removed the last card and a beautiful ring sat in a little case on the bottom of the box, glittering up at her.

The diamond in the center was surrounded by tiny rubies that sat in a silver setting. Lifting it gently, tears filled her eyes as she looked at him. He was leaning against the kitchen counter, looking at her with so much love in his grey eyes that she wanted to melt. Looking rumpled and sexy as ever.

“Do you mean it?” she asked softly, fingering the ring timidly. “Are you ready? I don’t want to rush you.”

“You’ve waited too long for me.” he replied with a chuckle. “Emily, I love you so much and it would be my great honour and privilege to be your husband if you’ll have me. Without you, I’m just hopeless.”

She ran across the room, ring clutched tightly in her hand as she flew at him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she cried against his shirt.

“I was so scared that you’d never ask. I thought you’d leave and would never be ready, especially when I didn’t see you at the hospital.”

He held her tightly.

“I know and I’m sorry.”

“No, you don’t need to be.” she said adamantly, looking up at him through tear-filled blue eyes. “I should have had more faith in you than I did. I was impatient.”

He chuckled and took the ring from her, sliding it on her finger.

“You were more than patient enough.” he kissed her gently. “Thank you, for everything Emily. I love you so much it hurts. I’ll brave thunder, car crashes, and yes, even high society for you.” he grinned suddenly. “And if you need me to, I’ll even drink.”

She laughed, wiping at her tears.

“That’s alright, hopeless, I wouldn’t want to push you.”

He looked relieved.

“Thank God, because I hate the taste.”

Her eyes rounded.

“You drank?”

He nodded.

“When we finished the house. Jeff and I had a toast and I had a sip, I didn’t like it.”

She smirked slightly.

“I’m sure that Jeff can drink enough for both of you and is more than willing to pick up the slack.”

Terrence’s eyes rounded with surprise.

“Jeff quit drinking, you didn’t know that? Pixie told him that he drank too much and he quit.”

“Is smoking going to follow that?” she asked, poking at the pack in his breast pocket.

He chuckled and held her tightly, his wonderful fiancé in their wonderful home while their child slept upstairs.

“One miracle at a time, Mrs. Hopeless, one miracle at a time.”