Gavin Lucas (viciouscircle) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-01-31 16:15:00 |
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Entry tags: | #september 2017, charlie, charlie x gavin, gavin |
Who: Charlie & Gavin
What: Just a drink - or two
Where: The Back Porch Pub
When: Afternoon, 9/28
Status: Complete
The march of shitty days just kept steadily coming. The fog was gone and things seemed to be back to normal but normal wasn't always a happy thing for Gavin. He'd spent too long on the phone being ranted at by Ollie and while she was more sad than angry it wasn't exactly anyone's idea of a good time. It wasn't often that he wanted to bartend but Mila needed her break and he could use something to do that didn't involve being stuck in his own head while working in the back.
So that was where he was when Charlie walked in and he could have sworn he felt her before he saw her, like something changed in the room the moment the door opened. He'd texted her on Tuesday to warn her to stay inside since it seemed to have gotten really crazy out there but otherwise they hadn't really talked in a few days. Now she was here and as he wondered why he also felt that weird jolt in his stomach that was a weird mix of very bad and very good. At least his dad wasn't there, having fucked off to somewhere with 'real food' after bitching - yet again - at Gavin about how they should start serving food there. It was a small blessing as the old man would probably have spotted that subtle constipated look on Gavin's face before he steeled himself and managed a little smile and wave.
Charlie had kept herself busy over the past week, even as the fog kept her inside. She repainted her guest bathroom and put up some new light fixtures and shelves, proud of herself for being able to do it on her own, though a part of her had considered, for a second, leaving them so Gavin could come over and install them himself. It wasn't because she was lazy or didn't want to do the work herself, but house projects seemed to be the go-to excuse for Gavin to come by and Charlie was well aware of the fact that eventually there would be nothing left for him to do at her place, and she wasn't entirely sure he would come around if he didn't have a real reason to.
The fog had lifted the day before but it felt like the town was still dealing with the aftermath. People had been hurt, a couple of them killed. It was as if the entire town had suffered from a severe case of cabin fever and had lost their tempers, though Charlie knew that was very likely an understatement. She wasn't in any hurry to return home, even though she was still playing catch up after the school had lost two days due to the fog. Charlie figured she had all weekend to really get things back in order, so instead of driving straight home, she stopped by Gavin's bar for a drink. Really, the drink was a bonus if Gavin was there, but even if he wasn't, she would still enjoy a beer before heading home.
Gavin was behind the bar when she walked inside, and there were a few seats available at the bar top, so she returned his smile with one of her own and made her way over to sit. She hadn't been in the bar since that first night they reconnected, but she was decidedly more comfortable in his presence now. "It's nice to see this place is still standing," Charlie said with a small smile. "How are things going?"
It was uncanny how her smile always tugged at something inside of him, some puppet strings that made him feel a little goofy and weird. "Oh you know," he muttered. "Been a crazy week." She looked unharmed and unruffled by the whole thing so that was a relief but maybe she was just good at faking it. "What are you drinking?" he asked and while he remembered what she'd ordered the last time she'd come in he wasn't about to assume she always drank the same thing, yet he was halfway to grabbing a bottle for her before he caught himself.
"Sam Adams, please." It really had been a crazy week, more so for other people than her, but she still felt it. They all did. Charlie had almost forgotten what it was like to live in Point Pleasant but those days of fog and violence reminded her that nothing had changed. "How did things hold up for you? You look relatively unscathed, at least. Are you okay?" They hadn't spoken much beyond the text Gavin had sent her about staying inside. It had been sweet that he thought of her, but she wondered if he had followed his own advice.
"I had the good sense to stay indoors," Gavin replied and obviously Charlie had done the same and whether it was because he asked her to or not didn't really matter as long as she was safe. "We got a few battered and bleeding customers in here," he added as he placed her beer in front of her and rested his arms on the bar top. "They say they got angry for no reason out there." He furrowed his brows, not sure where he was going with this and he certainly had no answers as to why it had happened. "Good to see you're safe."
Charlie frowned and reached for her beer to slide it closer. "I heard the news about people getting hurt in the fog. Accidents, and fights breaking out. Irritability from prolonged cabin fever, maybe? I don't know what happened. There never seems to be any straight forward answers in this town. But I'm glad to see you're safe too. How are the dogs?" Charlie wasn't sure animals would have been affected in the same manner, but it probably wasn't fun for them if they weren't getting walked regularly because of the weather. That and Charlie just wanted to know how they were doing.
"They're antsy," Gavin muttered and he appreciated that she asked, her love for dogs definitely a big bonus in his book. "They got the run of the yard whenever I'm not home but that fog... They don't like it either." Jasper had told him about how the two had acted and it only cemented his belief that something damn creepy was going on that had nothing to do with cabin fever. From being vicious while outside to small and afraid as soon as they got in, that didn't sound like his dogs at all but it did remind him of the behavior of a lot of people he'd seen that day. One of his regulars had ranted about it being a terrorist attack, some 'towelheads' trying to turn them all on each other and Gavin had kindly reminded him that they were living in a small town in Maine and he was sure terrorists would pick a better target than that. But what could you do, people tended to believe whatever they wanted to believe and rational thought didn't always play a part there.
"I think dogs are much more intuitive about people and the surrounding environment that we are." Charlie ran her thumb over the label of her beer, not bothering to add that if the dogs disliked the fog, then there was a reason for it. It seemed pretty obvious now that something strange had been going on. Normal fog like that didn't last for days at a time, and it certainly didn't make people fly off the deep end. It was just difficult to talk about without sounding crazy. She wrapped her fingers around the bottle, but didn't take a drink just yet. Charlie was focused on Gavin, who didn't seem terribly skittish by her presence at the moment, and she wanted to enjoy that while she could. Charlie's lips quirked into a small smile. "So between having to stay indoors because of the fog, and then coming in here to work, have you been feeling the urge to get out of the house and enjoy some fresh air at all?"
"Nah," Gavin said with a little smile and a shake of his head. During the fog that 'nah' was an understatement but now that it had finally left them he'd taken the dogs out for a couple of walks and gotten some of that restlessness out of his system. "I've been out some, you know," he muttered and only then realized she might mean something else, like a walk... With her. It was better not to assume that and make an ass of himself, he decided, though there was a little nervous flutter in his gut at the thought alone. Hanging out with Charlie without an actual reason was apparently a little scary and it had nothing to do with the gossip mongers in town. He cleared his throat a little and turned to get himself a beer because why not. "You gotta be glad school's back in session, got something to do and all."
Charlie wasn't necessarily talking about a walk, although those were always nice, especially when autumn settled in and the nights were crisp and breezy. She sipped her beer, not at all deterred by Gavin's answer. It wasn't like Charlie was being blatantly obvious about her intention. At least not yet. She set the beer bottle back down and smiled, shrugging softly at the mention of school. "I had plenty to do, it was just all inside my house. Some new light fixtures and paint. But I am glad school is back in session, yes. Every day we miss is just more work for us in the long run, trying to catch up." Charlie wrapped both hands around her bottle now, just to have something for them to do. "I was thinking about hitting up Oysterfest Saturday, if you wanted to come with me. I've missed it over the last several years, but it was always one of my favorite things to do at the marina."
If that wasn't a stark reminder of how Gavin should get Charlie out of his head then he didn't know what was. Oyster fest... She deserved to go with some dashing gentleman who'd wine and dine her and not just fumble around and make people talk. Saying no was hard though, if it was her favorite thing and she needed someone to go with and Gavin could feel that tightness of anxiety return as he considered it. "I don't know if I can," he said. "There's a lot going on right now, Jasper's moving in and the bar..." He probably had time but unlike Charlie he wasn't a big fan of Oysterfest, not that he ever really went there. It was competition and he wasn't allowed to bring his dogs so he usually stayed away making it just another thing that reminded him he was not one of Point Pleasant's more esteemed citizens. "I'll let you know though, yeah?"
While rejection wasn't something Charlie was used to experiencing, beyond her husband, anyway, she was still able to recognize it, even when it was disguised as something like being 'too busy'. The combination of disappointment and embarrassment tightened in her chest, but she nodded, proud of herself for not allowing the smile to slip even an inch. Hey, at least she had tried. Six months ago she would have felt too crippled by insecurities to even drop in like she had tonight, so that was something. "Sure, I understand." He wasn't going to let her know, and she sort of felt like they both knew it. The terrible thing was she couldn't even pay for her drink and leave, because the bottle was still full and that would somehow make her feel more stupid. Charlie took another drink, thinking the faster she emptied it, the faster she could head out and go home and maybe just open a bottle of wine and finish that off alone. "So, Jasper is moving in? How is that going?"
"It's been slow with the fog," Gavin replied, glad for the change of subject although he shouldn't be. If he had known she felt rejected he might have tried to reassure her but he was, for better or worse, oblivious. Of course his rejection wasn't of her as much as it was of Oysterfest but there wasn't any way for her to know that. "Should be done before next week. At least we don't have to paint or anything." Unless Jasper wanted to. Gavin sipped his own beer and while he was pretty obtuse at times he could feel a subtle shift in the atmosphere between them, like things just weren't quite as relaxed anymore. Not that he had the first clue what to do about it. He didn't even know what to talk about as everything noteworthy that had happened this week included other people's secrets so that didn't leave much for him to talk about. "That fog sure put a dent in a lot of plans," he muttered. "Never got around to check out your fence."
She wondered if a change of environment would help Jasper, and at least encourage him to attend school more often. Charlie didn't feel this was the right time or place to bring that up and she wasn't feeling much like shifting back into teacher mode at the moment. Still, she was glad for Gavin and his son, if they were happy with the arrangement, at least. Charlie waved her hand dismissively at the mention of her fence. She definitely didn't want to start thinking about her home projects, because she was feeling a bit silly now and Charlie did not need to start second guessing Gavin's reasons for coming by the house. Whether he felt sorry for her, or he just legitimately liked working with his hands... see, there she went. "Don't worry about it," she said with a small smile. "The fence is still standing and probably will be until after winter, so there's no rush. But I appreciate the help you and Aaron gave me with the porch. It looks really great. I wish you would let me compensate you for the work. You put a lot of time and effort into it."
"Yeah that really was no effort at all," Gavin said and he meant it. Sure it had been physical work but it hadn't been hard and he'd enjoyed being useful. He might really suck at talking to Charlie but he could help her out, damn it. In a way he realized he'd be happier doing just that. Sneaking around her house, fixing up things that needed fixing and not really talking to her as long as he got to see her smile and chatter on about something. As long as he didn't have to talk. "You going to the game on Friday?" he asked knowing that the bar would be busy as hell afterward. It was good for business but a little exhausting after the week they'd been having and he had a feeling there would be a lot of negativity unless the Wolves won. God, they needed a win with all those pent up emotions and jitters after the fog.
Given how much work Charlie had put into her home in the past few days, alone, she knew for a fact that Gavin had put in a lot of effort into her porch, and she truly did appreciate it. Even if the romantic interest wasn't there, she was glad to have him as a friend, if that's what they were becoming. No, he didn't talk much, but she liked it when he did. And she enjoyed his company, as quiet as it may be from time to time. Charlie didn't know when it happened but at some point she looked at her beer bottle and noted it was halfway gone. She nodded at his question. "I'll be there. They like the teachers to show up to sporting events whenever we can to support the school, which I get. Plus, I've been cooped up for way too long, and it'll be nice to get out and watch some of my students play."
For a second she thought about inviting him to join her, but Charlie was betting a Friday night at the bar would be a busy one and honestly, she didn't think she could handle being turned down twice in one night by the same person. "It's very different watching high school football games as a teacher instead of a student. Busting kids for smoking beneath the bleachers instead of being the one getting busted. It makes me feel old," she admitted with a laugh. "I feel for our old teachers though, knowing how they felt now."
That got a genuine chuckle out of Gavin. "Oh no," he murmured. "You've become the enemy." He gave her a pained look before laughing again then took another sip of his beer. "I felt old as soon as Jasper was born, all this shit you heard adults say and suddenly you're saying them too?" He shook his head and absolutely sympathized with her. "I can't imagine teaching though. I'd probably join those kids under the bleachers." He wouldn't and he realized it as soon as he said it but it was a silly thing to say and for some reason he didn't mind being a little silly with Charlie.
Charlie was sure Gavin felt old for completely different reasons. Having a baby at fifteen meant he had to grow up a hell of a lot faster than she did, and most of the kids they went to school with. Charlie was still smoking under the bleachers with some of her friends while Gavin was trying to raise a child. While Charlie didn't doubt Gavin's love for his kids, she felt bad that he missed out on that carefree experience. "I've considered it once or twice," she admitted with a small smile. "But I'm meant to set a good example, so I try not to smoke where I could get caught by a student. It's difficult because they seem to be everywhere with their phones these days."
"Vicious little shits," Gavin chuckled and while he'd like to believe kids wouldn't 'out' a cool teacher who snuck out for smokes with them but, well, it took all sorts, didn't it. He found himself wondering if Charlie was a cool teacher in general. He knew for sure he wouldn't have had an easy time focusing on actually learning he'd had classes with someone like her back in the day but that wasn't saying much for someone who generally sucked at school. "You want another?" he asked as he glanced down at her beer, too close to empty for his liking.
"It's true," Charlie said with a grin. "Even the smart suck ups are vicious little shits, believe me." She said it with affection, because Charlie did like her job, and she did like most of her students. But teenagers in general were pains in the ass. She wouldn't necessarily call herself a cool teacher, but she tried to be as patient with them as she could. Charlie like to think she was still young enough to remember what it was like to be sixteen and hormonal and feeling like she was invincible. At Gavin's question, Charlie glanced down into her beer, her smile softening. "No, I better not, thanks. I actually just came by to see you and say hello." And ask you out. At least she had done all three of those things. "I'll probably just finish this up and head home. I've got an exciting night of grading papers ahead of me and I should probably do it sober."
Gavin felt a little pang of disappointment at that and it was just another sign of how he really needed to start watching his step here but it was hard to stay guarded when he felt this weird pull to her constantly. "I think you'd have more fun grading those papers while drunk," he said with a little smile and a tilt of his head. "Tipsy at least." He liked having her there and it was quiet at the moment though that probably wouldn't last. It was probably smarter for her to leave before it got busy again, while he still had time to hang around and chat, but Gavin wanted her to stay for entirely selfish reasons. "What do you say? It's on the house."
"Most things are more fun to do drunk," Charlie pointed out with a small smile. "But I don't think any amount of alcohol can make grading papers entertaining." He was encouraging her to stay, and offering it on the house meant he wasn't just trying to empty her wallet. Charlie felt torn for a moment or two before she shrugged and nodded. "One more," she agreed. "Who knows, maybe it will put me in a good enough mood that everyone will get As on their papers tonight."
"I'm not sure they deserve that," Gavin mused as he turned to get her another beer. "But I do want the experience to be nicer for you so we'll let that slide." He gave her a little grin as he returned and put the beer down in front of her, then resumed his reclining position with his arms resting on the bar top. "I don't know how you do it, dealing with those kids all day." He supposed it wasn't that much worse than dealing with the drunk patrons of the bar but at least he could go in the back and leave it to his staff to handle it and there within lay the difference.
No, not every student deserved an A. But she was more prone to give better grades to the students who showed up and tried every day. There weren't many of them, but enough to make Charlie aware she wasn't completely wasting her time. She finished off the first beer and pushed the empty bottle toward Gavin while simultaneously drawing the fresh one closer to her. "I have an infinite amount of patience," Charlie explained. "Almost too much, I think. It bites me in the ass sometimes. But I like teaching, even when they make it difficult for me. That's not to say I don't have days where I want to run from the school screaming, never to return, but... those days are far and few inbetween. What did you do before you bought the bar?"
Too much patience did sound like a flaw Gavin could imagine Charlie having so that was something and he wagged a finger at her. "Don't let them walk all over you," he murmured since that was really the only downside he could think of to having too much patience. He hummed at her question then. "Construction, started as soon as I dropped out, worked a while for a local company. Few years." He idly scratched at his chin with his thumb as he considered whether to tell her more, deciding 'why the fuck not'. "Got hurt on the job, that's how I could afford this place. Payout." He didn't want sympathy for that but in a way she needed to know he wasn't all that anymore.
It was good advice and Charlie could only wish she'd had someone give it to her last year when dealing with her husband. Things might have ended less painfully if she hadn't let herself be a doormat. Charlie saluted him a little with her beer before taking a sip. She could absolutely see him working construction, especially at that particular age. Glancing around, Charlie had to admit he had done well for himself, though obviously getting hurt, on the job or anywhere, was never ideal. At least he seemed to be rather healthy, otherwise. "Do you enjoy doing this?" Charlie asked, motioning briefly around them. "Do you ever wish you had decided on doing something different?"
Gavin shook his head. Sure he sometimes wondered if there was something out there that would actually make him happy but it was hard to imagine what that could be. "I like the hours and I can take time off pretty much any time," he said with a little shrug. "Unlike you," he added with some sympathy. He couldn't imagine how teaching could be enjoyable to anyone but apparently some people liked it. He supposed it was more meaningful than running a bar but that kind of thing didn't really resonate with him.
The beer was settling in quite nicely, though Charlie was realizing she probably should have had something to eat. It wasn't that she was a total lightweight, but she also wasn't a daily drinker and her lunch had been a salad and water, so she was feeling the alcohol a bit heavier than normal. "I get a pretty nice summer vacation," Charlie pointed out with a grin. "Unlike you." She took another drink and then eyed Gavin with a bit of humor. "So if you can take time off whenever you want, when are you going to take enough time off to take me out?" Given he had just turned down her invite to Oysterfest, and she had been ready to crawl home and drink a bottle of wine to deal with the rejection, Charlie had no idea why she would say such a thing. She only knew that it sort of slipped out and maybe she was a masochist. Or maybe she just wanted to see how Gavin would respond.
Gavin went a little wide-eyed and then he let out a nervous laughter because that had really come out of the left field. "I don't really go out much," he said slowly and he could feel how he was just a hair's width from stuttering the words. Good lord he was out of practice at talking to women, or had he ever been in practice? "But you know... I'll make an exception for you." There was a lot of noise in his head about how she should be keeping better company and how she deserved better but as tone deaf as he could be he wasn't about to let her down twice in one night, no matter if it was in her best interest. "Where do you wanna go?"
It was a bit amusing to see Gavin Lucas, he of so few words and expressions, flustered. She absolutely believed that he didn't go out much, at least not with women. It was then that Charlie felt a sliver of guilt eek into her otherwise decent mood, mostly because he was married, even if they had been separated for years, and here she was, seemingly dead set on asking him out. He might have turned down Oysterfest just for that reason alone, and she couldn't really blame him. Charlie would have felt odd about it too if the roles were reversed. It felt like she should let him off the hook, and maybe apologize for putting him in a bad spot, but then she figured maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they just spent some time together as friends. Would that be crossing a line?
"Maybe we can just keep it casual and grab dinner somewhere together," Charlie suggested after a moment of thought. "No pressure, no expectations. Just two friends enjoying an evening without power tools involved. Would that be okay?"
The power tool quip was a saving grace that made this a little funny instead of just painfully awkward because of course she wanted to go out as just friends. Gavin felt a little stupid for assuming otherwise but he smiled a little and nodded. "That would be good, yeah," he murmured, inwardly chiding himself for reading the situation so wrong. What was that thing everyone said about men and women being unable to be friends? Maybe it was true since he didn't really want to be just friends with Charlie but he liked spending time with her and he really was in no place to pursue anything romantic anyway so... It was not a disappointment, or so he tried telling himself. "Where do you want to go?"
The last thing Charlie wanted was to make this awkward in any capacity, and she felt like she had already done that earlier by inviting him to Oysterfest. She really had no clue how separations worked... at least not how separations worked that had lasted as long as Gavin and his wife's had. Did she date? Did Gavin? Did they still see each other casually? Charlie had no clue. She had filed for divorce shortly after finding Drew and his girlfriend together and that had been that. Charlie just wanted Gavin to be comfortable spending time with her, and maybe he would be if she didn't pressure him into anything. "I've been dying to go to Basi Italia since coming home," Charlie said, thinking of the little Italian place on the other side of town. "If you're not opposed to Italian food, why don't we go there? Any night you're not too busy with the bar."
Did just friends go to a nice Italian restaurant for a one on one? Gavin didn't know but hell if he was going to question it. If Charlie was dying to go to this place he'd gladly take her there. People might talk but people always talked and for they could go fuck themselves for all he cared. It wasn't like he was fucking around, unlike Ollie. "Sounds great," he said. "I hear it's a nice place and I like Italian so that all works out. Any preferences on a day? The weekend's a little swamped but... Any day next week would be good."
Charlie liked to believe that people would have more important things to do than gossip about her and Gavin having dinner together, but considering people were jabbering to her own mother about Gavin and Aaron fixing her front porch, she was sure things would be said. Not that she cared, if Gavin didn't. "What about next Thursday?" Charlie asked. The bar was no doubt busiest on the weekends for Gavin, and Charlie was attending the football game Friday night and then chaperoning the Homecoming dance, so the next weekend was pretty booked for her as well. "You could pick me up at seven?"
"Tuesday?" Gavin suggested in the hopes that she didn't mind going sooner. Thursday was a long way away for a guy who would for sure spend the time until then fretting about having agreed to a date, friends-only or not. If not, he'd make it work, maybe drop by her house and fix something to alleviate some of that stupid anxiety.
"Tuesday?" Charlie arched a brow in mild surprise. She had suggested Thursday in hopes that Gavin might be more comfortable with the idea of it by then, but she supposed maybe it was a good sign that he wanted to see her earlier. Or, maybe he just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible, she didn't really know. "Tuesday works." She lifted her beer and gestured at Gavin with it before smirking. "Aren't you glad you offered me another drink to stay?" She was teasing him, of course, but this probably wouldn't have happened if Charlie had just paid for her drink and taken off. Hopefully neither of them would come to regret it, but Charlie had a feeling Gavin could actually enjoy himself if he just let go and let it happen.
"I am," Gavin said earnestly and gave her a warm little smile. He might go into panic mode about the whole thing when she was gone but having her there was muffling the anxiety for now. It was kind of funny considering she was also causing it. Feelings were complicated. He didn't think for a minute Charlie was questioning things too, as far as he was concerned she had no reason to be insecure about anything so this whole thing felt a bit like painting a giant bullseye on his chest. "I'd recommend stopping by the bar after Oysterfest but uh, it gets really busy."
Gavin probably would have been surprised, and maybe put off, by how insecure Charlie could be. Gavin was the first man she had asked out since her divorce, and it wasn't entirely smooth going, not that she really expected it to be. It was full of complications and uncertainties, but something kept pushing her to try anyway. She wasn't sure if it would blow up in her face or not, but there was no use in trying to predict the future. She drank more of her beer and glanced around the bar itself. It was busy enough at the moment. Busier than it had been the first night she walked inside. "I'll play it by ear," she told him. "I wouldn't want to come in and distract you, like I am now." There would probably be plenty to do and see at Oysterfest to keep her busy anyway. "But maybe I'll see you at church on Sunday?"
"You're fine," Gavin said with some amusement. They had a few customers in there but it wasn't too crowded so he wasn't that busy. Everyone had a drink in hand and Mila would be back from her break soon. "But yeah, you can come sit with us again if you want." He could see why sitting with her mother might get tiresome but then his relationship with his parents wasn't the healthiest. He hadn't been to church for over a week now, held back by the fog and the crazy events of the weekend but as far as he knew he had no plans to ditch out this Sunday.
Charlie didn't mind sitting with her mom during service. The two of them got along and were close. Sure, she could do without the constant motherly prying into Charlie's personal business, but Charlie knew that on some level, her mother was just trying to protect her. Even so, Poppy Harris had plenty of friends to spend time with, and sit with, in church, so Charlie didn't feel terribly guilty about sitting with Gavin and his family. "That would be nice, if your family doesn't mind it," Charlie said with a smile. She noticed that her second beer was nearly gone, though she didn't remember much of drinking it. Distraction from things around her seemed quite easy when she was talking to Gavin Lucas. Charlie reached for her bag to pull out her wallet to pay for the first drink, at least. "I really should be going," she told him. "Otherwise I'll be up all night trying to make sense of these papers, although I think the two drinks you gave me should make grading them a bit more bearable."
It was probably better that she leave before he got busy and had to ditch her to take orders again but Gavin still felt a little disappointed. It was weird and foolish but there it was. "It was good seeing you, Charlie," he murmured with a little nod, then a shake of his head as he handwaved her money away. He thought about walking her to the car, considering all the events of the past few days but it was still daylight out and he was probably being a little paranoid so he held back on that.
If she could, she probably would have sat there through closing, just to talk to Gavin, but he was working and she would feel bad if she kept distracting him from what he had to do. But, they could talk again on Sunday, and Tuesday, when they could go out for dinner without house projects or work getting in the way. She sighed when he waved away the cash she was pulling out of her wallet, and Charlie slipped it back into her purse, deciding not to argue this time. She smiled at Gavin as she stood. "I'll talk to you soon. Be safe, okay?" Sure, the fog had cleared and things seemed to be settled again, but in this town, who knew when that would change. And frankly, Charlie was going to be pretty pissed off if some strange stuff rolled into town next week and screwed things up again.
"Yeah, you too, Charlie," Gavin said and God he appreciated that smile. It was probably stupid but that one smile might just keep him going for the next day or two. He did consider getting her a hex bag somehow, something small that might protect her but he wasn't sure how to do that without coming off as crazy so the gesture was on backburner for now. He just hoped he wouldn't have a reason to regret that.