Stock Ch. 01-18

"Yes, well, don't believe everything you hear about me. I'm still male, so you know I can't be that good." Susan chuckled. "Honestly, I have no idea what she's told you so I'm just going to have to try to impress you on my own."

Sean left it at that and picked up their luggage and trundled into the house. Amazing how much a woman can pack for a four-night stay. With the first step inside, Sean could feel the presence of a home here. Pictures hung on the walls, cheap but priceless knick-knacks sat on the mantel above the fireplace, and the smell of cleanliness of a well cared for house gave the presence of loving warmth. He left his own bags at the foot of the staircase and followed Elizabeth up the stairs to her room. She had white furniture and a definite feminine touch to her decorations and countless stuffed animals were everywhere. Sean took a look at the pile of animals on the bed. "Even if I were to stay with you here I'd have to take the floor," Sean commented. "There's certainly no room for me in your bed."

"I would have made room," Elizabeth said a bit obstinately. It was a bit out of character for Elizabeth to be so adamant about so simple a thing and he said as much. "I know, its just, I'm so used to waking up with you in the mornings now."

"I'm going to miss that, too, but I can tell there's more to it than that, ‘Liz."

"Well, this is my home, too, and I'm a grown woman now."

"You most definitely are but to them you're still their little girl. They will always see the girl that used to blow up pillows with her sister and millions of other little things that you've probably forgotten. Besides, they missed you. You coming home means a lot to them, especially after a divorce. They just want to make sure that you're better without the added distraction of another guy thrown in the mix."

"I know, I've missed them too," Elizabeth said. Sean wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. They held each other for a moment, relishing in the quiet. "Come on, let me show you your couch." She led them down the stairs and down a hallway to their right and into the office. It really was a cozy place and the masculine furnishings were much to his liking. The desk was large and devoid of decorations, family photos hung on the walls, and the couch was large and comfortable, and the walls were paneled wall to wall with stained wood. Sean dropped his bags when he noticed the violin case sitting in the far corner. He picked it up and set it on his lap almost reverentially as he sat on the couch.

"Oh, that," Elizabeth said. "My dad tried picking up on how to play the fiddle a long time ago. He was horrible, though." She smiled a little wistfully. "He grumbled for months when he finally admitted that he was no good at it. Said something about it probably being broken."

Sean opened the case. It was beautiful. Definitely not broken. The sound post was still standing where it should be under the bridge and the pegs were loose to prevent the strings from breaking. Sean immediately plucked and tuned it with an old familiarity. He tightened the bow and applied an appropriate amount of rosin. With buried memories, Sean played. The feel of the bow as it glided across the strings was almost too much for him to bear but he continued to play. Slowly, the bittersweet memories surfaced and his fingers became possessed with music. He soared to cloud tops and descended to abyssal plains as his fingers slid across the fingerboard. Faster and faster the tune progressed until the present faded away and he could almost imagine that his past didn't happen. The sorrow faded and the music shifted to bold strokes that made his heart race, the remembrances of a time long gone returning. But like any other song it ended, and the last sweet note hung in the air like a soft mote of dust in a sunbeam. Sean took a cleansing breath to squirrel those memories away and opened his eyes to find Elizabeth's whole family staring at him.

"Sean, I didn't know you played," Elizabeth said in wonderment. "That was beautiful."

"Thanks," Sean said quietly. "I'm a bit rusty, though. My fingers drag a bit. I haven't touched a violin since…well, not in years."

Elizabeth caught the lapse in his speech but decided not to press the matter. She saw the lost look in his eyes when he opened them. He would tell her when he was ready.

"See, Henry," Alice jibed. "It's not broken. You're just no good at it. Admit it. He practices on occasion when he doesn't think anyone can hear him," she commented conspiratorially. "But unfortunately for me, I hear everything." Everyone laughed at that and showered Sean with compliments much to his embarrassment. He didn't mean to show off, he just couldn't help himself when he saw the violin sitting there, like scratching an itch.

Everyone filed out of the office and into the kitchen for a light lunch of tuna sandwiches and soda. The family chatted amiably and got Elizabeth caught up on local gossip and news. Susan's husband, Frank, would be over later. He still had a few things to take care of at the publishing office where he worked. After he arrived the guys were thinking of going to play some football. At the sound of the word ‘football' Sean's head perked up.

"Did someone say football?"

"Oh, yesh," Henry said around a bite of tuna then swallowed. "Family tradition. There's going to be a few other guys from the neighborhood playing. I was worrying about the evenness of the teams but with you then everything's perfect."

"Tackle or touch?"

"Why tackle of course."

"Oh, dear," Alice grimaced. "Every year, there's always a sprained ankle or something," she sighed.

"That's part of the fun," Sean and Henry commented simultaneously and grinned.

"I'll go put some extra ice in the freezer."

Chapter 16

The November air was brisk and cold but it could have been worse if the trees surrounding the park didn't break the winds above to a gentle breeze. Susan's husband, Frank, met them at the park after calling from work and saying he would meet them there. He was a tall man at 6'3" with a steady gaze, chestnut hair, and soft hazel eyes. The other neighbors, mostly Elizabeth and Susan's old friends from high school were there. One of them that really got Sean's attention was Steve, Elizabeth's high school sweet heart. Elizabeth did whatever she could to keep those two apart for fear of the stories they might swap. He seemed like a nice guy with an easy smile and wavy blonde hair, he was the high school star quarter back and hadn't lost his touch to age. But there seemed to be something about him that left Sean on edge when they first greeted one another. Sean always trusted his instincts and would be wary around Steve.

The teams were chosen with Sean on one side with Elizabeth's family and Steve and his old high school football buddies on the other. Henry turned out to be a military history buff and football tactics were right up his alley. Sean was asked what positions he played, wide receiver or running back. They made him receiver and gave him a simple play to run.

The teams lined up at the scrimmage and Sean loped easily back and forth across the lines to see who was covering him. It was Steve, of course. The ball was snapped and Sean shot down the field like a racehorse out of the stocks. Steve didn't expect someone of Sean's height to be so fast and tried to catch up. Sean watched over his shoulder and watched the ball launched into the air in his direction. It was a perfect throw and Sean caught it with ease, he could hear Elizabeth cheering him on. Steve came out of nowhere, a burst of speed that caught Sean by surprise and was about to sack him. Sean's mind fired in the long practiced discipline of years of martial arts and he bounded straight up and beyond Steve's flying tackle. The leap became a forward somersault and left Steve eating grass and Sean continued to blaze down the field for a touch down. Sean spiked the ball and watched Elizabeth go wild with proud glee.

Sean walked back to Steve to help him up. The other man only looked at the proffered help and got up on his own efforts, leaving Sean standing there foolishly. "That couldn't have been legal, no score."

"What?" Sean's team exclaimed in surprise.

"No way are acrobatic flips legal. They aren't in the rule book."

He's going to be one of those, Sean thought. "Nor is there anything in the rules against it. My knees didn't touch turf, the touchdown should stand."

Steve sneered at him. "I played football, I know the rules. That isn't legal."

"We all know the rules, Steve," Henry argued. "The touchdown should count."

They argued for a few minutes until the women stepped in and judged the touchdown to be good; if anything, because it was an impressive feat. The men weren't going to argue the point against the women once they set their minds to it collectively, especially after they readied a frosty gaze that would have frozen the nearby trees. The game continued with Sean's team in the lead. All afternoon Steve hounded Sean when he was on the defensive and Sean made a point to leave him alone when he was on the offense. They called for one last play as the sun began its descent with the score tied at twenty-eight each. Sean's team had possession of the ball with only ten yards to go and one down left.

"Alright, Sean," Henry said as they huddled together and discussed tactics. "You've served us pretty well as a receiver, one short pass and we win this."

"No go, Henry," Sean said. "Steve's been eyeing me all game and knows we're going for a pass. Let me play quarterback." That got everyone's attention. "I told you I play running back and receiver. They don't know that. I can't throw for the life of me but they don't know that either. Let's bluff them. I fake a hand off to Frank here like we're going for a running play and then I make a sprint for the N-zone. They'll be too baffled by me not running for a pass to know what to do. Most likely Steve will stick to my butt like white on rice so Frank will play escort. I'll follow in his wake while the rest of you get behind for a lateral if it comes to that. What do you think?"

"It just might work," Henry said. "Alright, let's do it. Huu-ah!"

"HUU-AH!"

They fanned out across the field and Sean watched the look of bafflement spread amongst Steve's ranks as Sean took the quarterback position. Sean spouted some nonsense calls and then called the hike. The ball snapped right into Sean's hands and he immediately faked a pass to Frank who barreled across the field, Sean close on his heels. Almost everyone fell for the ruse, except for Steve of course. Sean was expecting as much as he called out the feint to his team. Both teams converged on Sean, Steve at the forefront. Everyone was too tight for a lateral as Sean watched Steve plow towards him, his weight shifted higher in case Sean tried flipping out of the way again. Again, Sean's reflexes moved in rapid-fire mode and without a second thought he reversed direction towards the stampede, spun, and sidestepped around Steve. Sean reversed again in the right direction and rolled over Steve's back. The move slowed him and Steve enough for the remaining crowd to catch up and tackle them both.

There was huge dog pile of groaning men as the women rushed from the sidelines, shrieking with worry. Everyone was intent on pulling men off of one another and rescuing the two at the bottom. When the pile was cleared up Steve was found to have left a crater in the soft earth. He was dizzy with the impact but he was okay. Sean was nowhere to be found.

"Hey guys," came a voice from the N-zone. "Looking for something?"

Everyone looked up in surprise. There stood Sean as he bounced the football back and forth between his hands. Instead of simply rolling sideways over Steve's back, Sean rolled over and forward, running Steve into the dirt and at the same time giving Sean the extra foot he needed to complete the play as well as clear the dog pile. Everyone stood dumbfounded in silence.

All at once pandemonium broke out as Elizabeth's family cheered and Steve's team cursed. Then it got really chaotic when Steve broke through the crowd and tried to lay a right cross to Sean's jaw. Sean leaned back and watched as the fist breezed by him. Sean's own hand flashed out and caught Steve's wrist an inch before it would have hit Elizabeth squarely in the nose. Everyone gasped as the two stood there like gladiatorial statues. Elizabeth's face blanched at the hovering fist and nearly feinted. Sean's anger flared and he lost control of his temper and planted a solid springing sidekick to Steve's ribs, sending him sailing several feet back into the crowd. Sean scooped Elizabeth up in his arms and made headway for the benches. The women and Elizabeth's family trailed after him like a flock of geese, squawking at Steve's poor behavior and frantically getting in each other's way as they tried to help. Sean ignored all of them and calmly swept the table clear of snacks with a swift kick. The clatter quieted all of them as Sean grabbed a handful of paper towels and doused them in water before applying them to her forehead. "You okay?" Sean asked with single-minded worry. He helped a bottle of water to her lips and she took a sip as she nodded.

"I'm okay, Sean," she answered as she sat up. "A little shaken, but okay."

"I'm so sorry, ‘Liz," Sean pleaded. "I should have seen that coming…"

"No apologies," Elizabeth said, the color returning to her face.

Sean lost control of himself and kissed her until he was sure that all the color returned to her face and then some, forgetting the crowd. Elizabeth's family watched with fascination, welcoming the public display of affection as confirmation of how the two felt for one another. It was Brian's gagging noises that brought the two out of the embrace, a smile of embarrassment on both their faces.

"Come on you two," Henry said. "Let's go home and have ourselves a victory dinner."

Elizabeth's family hustled home and were abuzz of Sean's performance at the game and ribbed the two mercilessly about the kiss. Brian made a colorful display about how sickened he was at the sight but quieted down when Sean came back from the office with a few Lego sets for the eight year old.

"So Sean," Henry asked, "Where did you learn to play like that?"

"Oh, I've never played on a real team before, just friendly get togethers is all. I love the sport though. Something about the primal nature of it I find exhilarating."

"Well you're certainly welcome to play next year, I got tired of losing to Steve years ago."

"Not a graceful loser is he?"

"No, not at all," Elizabeth's father agreed. "I have to apologize for his actions. You are our guest after all."

"Elizabeth and I have a rule," Sean said. "No apologies. Besides the fault was his, not yours. I trust that if you knew something like that would have happened you would have warned me. By the way, Mrs. Richards. This is an excellent pot roast and I love the country potatoes."

"Why, thank you Sean. Sean," Alice said. "I was wondering. Why did you pick those flowers? I mean they're lovely but…"

"You read into the meaning, I take it?"

Alice nodded. "The whole bouquet seemed out of place. I looked up the arrangement and…"

"Irises for wisdom, white chrysanthemums for truth, and pink roses for happiness. Yes, I knew what I was giving you." Elizabeth looked at Sean questioningly. "What, you didn't suppose I'd give any old flowers to your parents did you? Thank God I avoided that bouquet with the pot marigolds. You've got a sharp eye there, Mrs. Richards."

"Yeah, makes it really hard to hide presents from her, too," commented Elizabeth's father. The evening continued in companionable conversation and everyone decided to call it a night. "Oh, and Sean?"

Sean turned around as he headed for the office.

"You'll find your bags are in Elizabeth's room. Good night."

"Good night, sir. And thank you."

Chapter 17

Thanksgiving morning started at six in the morning for the Richards household. Elizabeth nuzzled Sean awake slowly and to a hot cup of tea. "Wakey-wakey sleepy-head. You've got a busy day ahead of you."

Sean pulled the covers back over his head. "But I don't want to go to school today, mommy."

Elizabeth giggled and pulled the sheets back down. "I'll have none of that, young man," she countered in a mock motherly tone. "Up and at-em."

Sean accepted the offered mug of Earl Grey and took a careful sip. He gave a grunt of appreciation then pecked a good morning kiss on her cheek. "Love you."

"You'd better."

Sean rummaged through his suitcase to find his bathroom kit then bumbled to the bathroom to take care of his morning routine. He looked out the window and confirmed that it was indeed raining outside. He always slept heavier on rainy days. Finishing up in the bathroom, Sean went back to Elizabeth's room and gave her a proper good morning kiss that almost landed them back in bed.

"Well, good morning to you, too!" Elizabeth chirped as she finished getting dressed in jeans and a sweater. Even dressed down Sean found her irresistibly attractive and said as much. "Thank you, Sean. But complimenting me until you're blue in the face isn't going to get you out of helping the boys downstairs chop some firewood. Family tradition and all that."

Sean smiled at her. He gave her another quick peck on the cheek and walked down with Elizabeth to the kitchen where breakfast was already waiting. Sean planned on eating light so he would have room for dinner but the heap of food eggs, bacon, toast, and sausage just sitting there tempted him from abandoning that. Luckily the rest of the household came awake and Henry and Frank soon dragged him out into the backyard and into a tool shed where cords of wood waited to be split.

"Ever done this before?" Henry asked as he pulled an axe off the wall.

"Not with an axe, no," Sean answered. "My dad was a contractor so we did it with a saw." Henry and Frank laughed at that. Sean saw the humor in it and laughed with them. "Took forever, too."

"Damn straight," Frank answered.

They moved an old stump into the center of the floor and stood a cord on end atop it. Henry handed Sean the axe. "Not much too it, Sean. Just make sure no one's in the way of your swing and not to chop your own leg off."

Sean nodded and hefted the axe, testing the balance. He put his back into it as he swung and split the cord cleanly in two. "That wasn't so bad."

Frank and Henry laughed then pulled a canvas aside to expose a large pile of wood waiting to be split and Sean's smile wilted. "To keep us menfolk busy while the women bustle around in the kitchen." The day passed quickly as the men took turns splitting the wood into a manageable size for the fireplace while sharing stories and Sean facing another light questioning about who was dating Henry's daughter. Lunch, too was a light affair, a jug of apple juice and smoked ham sandwiches. They attacked the pile with a revitalized fury for a few more hours and had finished it, split and stacked neatly, by three in the afternoon.

"Whew," Henry said. "And in record time I might add. Thanks for the hand, Sean."

"My pleasure," Sean said. "Had fun doing it."

"Good! Let's say we head for showers and see how much sampling we can get away with before the women drive us out."

Frank and Sean were all for that and they all hustled through the rain and into the house. Lightning split the sky and made Sean stop in his tracks. He looked up as the rain poured down and the thunder growled across the heavens. He loved the rain; it was clean, simple, and magical. Sean closed his eyes and let the sensations bring a smile to his face. Sean opened his eyes and wiped aside the hair plastered to his face. He turned towards the house to find Elizabeth standing beneath the back porch awning, that special smile on her lips as she looked at him with wonderment and love. Sean made his way to the back porch where Elizabeth had a warm towel waiting for him.