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Emerson:Chayse, will you just fucking drop it? I had a pretty shitty day. I spend 9, sometimes 10+ hours at the shop five or six days a week, and while I love it, Sundays are MY days.
Chayse: Okay, I get that, Half-pint. I just don’t understand why you won’t tell me who it was that you were helping.
Spencer:Chayse, let it go. Besides, I need your feedback. So you both like Maverick, but did you get any weird vibes?
Chayse:Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise already?
Spencer:Not really trouble, I think I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop. He didn’t want a relationship, but he really didn’t want to get married or have kids. Last night I assumed we would be going back to his place together, but he had Em take me home. And today he didn’t text me all day. He said he forgot his phone at home, but I wonder if we were too much to handle.
Spencer:And he was off last night. He kept up, but he was more quiet and reserved than he usually is and then not talking to me today… I just wonder if he’s getting cold feet.
Spencer:I just don’t want to waste another seven years on a guy to have it blow up in my face like it did last time.
Chayse:Whoa sis, that’s a lot to unpack. I didn’t notice him acting differently, but then you know him a lot better than we do. And in his defense, when we all get together, we can be a bit much. Add Penny and Patrick into the mix, and there was a lot going on last night. And forgetting his phone at home can happen to anyone. I think it’s just a coincidence after you were getting weird vibes last night. Has he been texting you since then?
Spencer:We texted for a little bit, but I haven’t heard from him in a while.
Emerson:I’d try not to worry about it, Sis. You two seemed like a really great match last night. They way you two move around each other is like a coordinated dance that I’ve only ever seen in couples that have been together for years. When you were watching, his eyes were glued to you. I understand why you are anxious, but please don’t push him away.
Spencer:Okay, I hear you both. I’ll try to not let my insecurities get in the way and just calm down. Thanks for talking me off the ledge.
We all say goodnight and I try to see things from my sisters’ perspectives, but I’m still all up in my head. Deciding I’m not going to get anything figure out today. I make sure everything is locked up before getting into bed and trying to get some sleep. Hopefully I can wake in the morning with a clearer head.
MAVERICK
I can’t be sure, but something feels off with Spencer. I know I panicked Saturday night, but I swear I wasn’t trying to avoid her Sunday. I spent most of the night tossing and turning because I knew I overreacted, but I wasn’t sure what to do about my fear of fully committing to someone. By the time I woke up, I only had a few minutes to get out the door so I wouldn’t be late to meet Gage at The Tavern to spend the morning working on our beers that we were currently brewing.
I purposely don’t open the bar until 4:00pm on Sundays so that we have time to tinker and brew without any interruptions. Sure, I help him out during the week when I can, but if I’m around and there’s any kind of issue, inevitably I get pulled away from whatever I am working on to take care of it.
I barely had a chance to talk to Spencer when I got home because I was so fucking tired that after I ate and showered, I laid down to read a book and passed the fuck out. I had a missed text telling me good night, and I felt like the biggest dick the next morning when I woke up and saw it.
And sure, that doesn’t look great on it’s own, but my week has been fucking chaos and I have barely had time to talk to my Sweets, let alone see her. It’s hard to tell with text messages, but I feel like she’s not as connected as we were.
With school being back in session, the first round of illnesses are starting to go around. Well, at least that’s what I’ve heard from my staff. It’s hard to tell since Olive works in the ER and who knows what kind of germs she comes into contact with on a daily basis. Maybe it’s a double whammy, but however it happened, half of my staff’s kids have gone down for the count at some point this week.
I’ve been trying to pick up and cover shifts where I can. Hell, even Gage has bartended two nights this week because we were desperate. He’s actually a great bartender and reads people well, but he’s still hiding himself from the world, so I try not to make it worse on him by having him out on the floor. I found out the hard way that he’s got pretty bad anxiety and gets very agitated the longer he has to be behind the bar.
It’s Friday before I have a free day, but even that is taken away from me. Unfortunately, I got a call from the school letting me know that Pat was the latest victim only an hour into the morning. Olive had to work the first shift which meant that I was on little man duty. I hate seeing him sick and have no issues with taking care of him when he is, but I could really use a fucking break so I can actually see my girl. Thankfully, it seems to be a 24 hour bug and then you’re good.
I make my way to the school and am so relieved that Aileen isn’t hanging around the office when I enter, and that the secretary takes me right to the nurses off. When I get there, my little man looks so pathetic. He’s laying on an exam table passed out with his head in Spencer’s lap. It stops me in my tracks as I listen to her sing softly to him and run her fingers through his hair.
It isn’t until the door shuts behind me that she notices I’m standing there. She looks concerned, but shares a small smile with me before sliding Patrick’s head off her lap to rest on the table.
“Thank you for taking such good care of him.” I take a few steps towards her before I pull her into my arms and relax for the first time in days. She’s still stiff, but gives me a tentative smile.
“No thanks needed. I love my kiddos but hate seeing them like this.”
“If you’re down here with Pat, who is watching your class.” At my question, she lets out a little chuckle.
“Oh, you know, the best assistant principal stepped up to do story time with my kiddos.”
“Really? I don’t get the volunteer vibe from her.”
“Oh, you’re not wrong there, but it’s funny because she didn’t volunteer, but more like got voluntold by our principal to go cover my room since Patrick is more familiar to me and the nurse isn’t in today. So, I was the lucky one to get some Pat snuggles and make him feel as good as I could until you or Olive got here to get him.”
“Well even if you don’t feel like I need to thank you, I really do appreciate you caring for him so well. Do you have any plans for tonight?”
“Um, not that I can think of.”
