Chapter Text
A Changing Relationship
Chapter 1 - A New Start
“No Mrs. Patterson, I don’t think putting steel sheets on the roof would help with a strike.” Jack answered the elderly woman’s question with a sigh. “And that’s even if we could get the sheets in the proper size and get them mounted before tomorrow night.”
“Are you sure Jack? How will Robert and I be safe if we can’t count on the roof stopping an impact?” The white haired grandmother followed after him as he walked toward his truck where he could see his father was talking to Mr. Patterson.
“You will have to do like the rest of us. Hole up in the most central part of your basement and count on the odds. Two weeks of this so far and reports of meteorites hitting an occupied building have been rare outside the waves that hit cities.” He waved a hand to encompass the tiny town of Quarry Rock, Montana, population 800…. Ish.
“There’s a lot of empty space out there for the rocks to land on compared to your roof. And if one does hit your roof, me and the old man will be along to patch it up for you before you have to worry about rain.”
At hearing his son’s playful moniker for him, Donald Wright turned to face Jack.
A tall bear of a man just into his 50s with a gray spackled blond hair and beard, he was the type to always insist age didn’t matter if you still felt young. He cast a fake scowl as he turned to Jack.
“Old man! I’ll have you know I could still beat you from one end of the field to the other boy. Hell, I’ll even give you a handicap on account of your leg.”
Jack rolled his eyes at his father and jammed a thumb towards the granny following him with a small smile. “Whatever you say Dad. Maybe you could lose the fake growl and help me reassure Mrs. Patterson that their roof is sound and they just need to follow the safety measure put out by the Governor’s office and they’ll be fine.”
Turning to face the woman, Jack’s father flashed a big smile at her. “Deborah! You look as wonderful as ever. Not a day over thirty. Robert is lucky to have such a wondrous wife.”
“Oh lay off it you flirt.” She said, waving her hands at him in a shushing motion.
What would your mother say if she could see you flattering an eighty year old woman while her husband looks on. And in front of your son no less.”
“She would tell me I have good taste for sure. May God rest her soul.” The man shot back with a laugh.
“You may want to lay off Don before she brings out the photo albums. I’m sure she still has some old photos of you as a baby to embarrass you in front of your boy.” The elderly Robert Patterson spoke up with a dry chuckle. “It is good to see the two of you, even if it is just to check on the roof.”
“It’s no trouble Mr. Patterson, Mrs. Patterson.” Jack cut in. Happy to talk to the elderely couple for a time but knowing his father would carry on the conversation for another hour if he got the chance.
“It does get lonely here these days with the kids moving down south and the grandkids only stopping by during the holidays.” Deborah lamented before turning to Jack. “We thought we’d lost you to the military before you came back last year. You need to find yourself a nice girl and settle down. Raise some kids before everyone else runs off to the big cities.”
“Uh, I’ll take that under advisement.” Jack grabbed his father and drug him towards the truck. “Well we’d love to sit and chat but so much to do and only so much a day to do it in. Have a good one now.”
Jack breathed a sigh of relief as they pulled away from the house. His love life was in shambles enough without every busy body in town who knew his parents or grandparents or great grandparents trying to hook him up with their various granddaughters or nieces or what have you.
“You know she has a point there. You haven’t really set yourself out on the dating scene since Rachel divorced you.”
Jack stopped the truck at a stop sign and planted his forehead onto the steering wheel with a groan. “Really Dad? You too?”
“Well it’s just, your mother worries about you, you know. I mean I’m not complaining about having you back here to help with the business but we kind of expected you to settle down somewhere else. Then when we heard about the divorce, followed by the injury that got you drummed out of the mili-”
“I wasn’t drummed out Dad. I was medically seperated.”
“Yes that. But the thing is your mother worries and I’d like to have some grandkids of my own while I still have the energy to spoil them.”
Jack snorted through his nose and started driving again as the car behind them beeped their horn. “Angela has already given you and Mom two grandkids to spoil. I would think I’d be off the hook.”
“Yes, your younger sister did. But her and Carl are all the way in Texas these days. We want kids right next door to spoil. Are you going to destroy our retirement dreams?” Donald Wright put on a fake teary eyed expression as he looked at his son but the tugging at the corners of his mouth told the truth of his barely contained mirth.
“Besides there’s hardly a glut of single twenty something bachelorettes in a town this size for me to pick from.”
“What about little Eevee O’Rourke? You live right next to her and she used to have that crush on you before you joined the Army. I thought you had a thing for those darker red heads?”
“Dad Evelyn O’Rourke,” He said not using his sister's old nickname for her best friend. “Was twelve when I joined the Army. I would hardly call a girl’s first youthful infatuation something you could build a lasting relationship on. We’re merely good neighbors.”
“No, but it gets your foot in the door. I’m sure she’d be delighted if you asked her out for a cup of coffee. She seemed to imply as much the last time she was over checking on Barnaby.”
“And I’m sure me being single wasn’t brought up at all by Mom while you had the vet over for an unneeded house call for the completely healthy family dog. Just a completely organic thing. Right?”
“Well… there’s no telling what hidden ailments a dog like Barnaby could be suffering from and you know how much your mother loves her little furbaby.”
Jack rolled his eyes at his father’s deflection. “Alright. If it will get you two off my back I will talk to Evelyn about maybe getting a coffee sometime.” Raising a hand to cut his father off he continued. “But if nothing comes of it this is the last I expect to hear about relationships from either of you okay?”
Don smiled. “Okay okay. I get it. This will get your mother off my back about it as well so you won’t hear anything else from me about it. But I make no promises for your mother.”
Figuring that was the best he could expect Jack just shook his head and continued the drive to their next work stop for the day. Trying not to think about his own worries about trying to date again.
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Parking the truck in his garage, Jack waved good night to his father as he stepped onto the front porch of his small house.
He once again counted his blessings that the divorce with Racheal wasn’t as bad as some military divorces he had seen. Otherwise she might not have left him with enough money to buy the place. Even considering the lower property prices that came from living in the middle of bum fuck Montana.
Tossing his keys and tool belt down Jack turned on the television for some noise while he set about making dinner. The evening news settled onto the screen.
“-ere have been scattered reports of sickness coming in from Europe and New York where the last wave of meteorites resulted in multiple impacts near population centers. The European Health Organization, CDC, and WHO all say the likelihood of these reports having anything to do with the meteorite storms is minimal. They do, however, suggest people avoid any direct contact with meteorite strike material for the time being as an added precaution.”
“As for the projected timeline for how long these storms will last, NASA has upped their projections to at least the next two months. With the damage that the Hubble, James Webb, and other satellites have suffered from strikes in orbit, NASA officials stress it is difficult to come up with any meaningful timeline.”
“In other news, China has continued its aggressive military exercises on the coast of Taiwan despite President Johnson’s sanctions-'' Jack tuned out the news as he finished making himself a simple sandwich from leftover chicken. Taking a bite out of it as he thought of the last few months.
It had started with NASA reporting an unprecedented report of a meteor swarm passing through the solar system slightly off the galactic plane. Coming in from more above the Earth then to the side.
Experts had said none of the objects identified would be large enough to cause worry for an extinction level event but there was a good chance for some spectacular meteor showers and possible meteorite impacts but nothing to worry about really. Everyone from amatuer skywatchers to the average Joe looked forward to eventful nights of watching shooting stars on clear summer nights.
It was about a month ago when the message changed though. The size and density of the swarm had hidden some larger rocks from the initial observations. Still nothing big enough to ‘kill the dinosaurs’ as the news started saying but big enough that there might be some property damage.
Then three weeks ago micro meteorites at the front of the swarm that hadn’t been spotted started hitting satellites in orbit. A few even damaged the International Space Station, resulting in the astronauts on board having to use the Soyuz capsule as an escape pod.
World governments warned people that they could experience issues with communication and to stay inside at times a wave would be expected to pass over particular parts of the Earth.
All in all, other than the satellite and ISS damage, which was projected in the high billions or possibly even trillions of US dollars, the damage from actual strikes had been minor the first week. It wasn’t until last week, and the last few days in particular, with waves passing over New York and most of western Europe, that strikes in cities had led to any major damage.
That led to him working with his Dad’s general handyman business, checking roofs around town. Reassuring people as best he could about the storm they were expecting tomorrow night. It was boring work, but he was happy for it and the money, even if he didn’t think it was that big a deal. His medical retirement paid for most bills but things could be lean if he wasn’t careful.
His ruminations on the oddity of what he termed ‘space weather’ being responsible for an uptick on roof inspections were interrupted by an explosion of noise coming from the back yard. The sound of chickens clucking and the gekkering yip of a fox could be heard along with the yelling of a young woman.
Dropping his sandwich and storming out the back porch he spotted a young vixen running around the chicken wire of his small chicken coop and scaring the chickens while a young auburn haired girl of twenty odd years hun upside down from the fence separating their yards. Her foot stuck from her attempt to chase after the fox.
Fighting back a smile and a laugh at the young woman’s predicament he walked towards the fox and snatched the leash dragging behind the excited animal to pull it away from the chickens.
“You know Evelyn. Vixy here is hardly what I had in mind when the real estate agent said I’d be buying a house next to a single redhead who liked to visit the neighbors.” He glanced over at the woman trying to untangle her jeans from the chainlink fence and right herself. “And yet the fox is the one always seems to visit. Even if she’s only after the chickens.”
Turning to look at him upside down Evelyn smiled and laughed at her situation before sticking her tongue out at him. “Well if I’d known Angela’s brother was moving into the house next door I might have traded Vixy in for a cat instead. That way you could get that pussy you’re clearly in dire need for whenever she visits.”
Rolling his eyes Jack drug the fox over to Evelyn and dropped the leash into her hand before grabbing her stuck leg and lifting her free.
“Hey thanks for the hel- hey waaaiit!” Her initial thanks for his help quickly turned into a complaint as he unceremoniously dropped her to the ground after unhooking her leg.
“You’re welcome Evelyn.” He said with a slight smirk. Enjoying picking on his somewhat klutzy troublesome neighbor.
“Awwwww, thanks Onii-chan. You sure know how to treat a lady.” She replied sarcastically while laying on her back.Still looking up at him with her shit eating grin.
Rolling his eyes at her he extended a hand to help her up. “For the love of god Eevee. It was cringe when you and Angela started calling me that at eight and it’s even worse now.”
Laughing, she took his hand and pulled herself up to her short five foot four inch height. Her green eyes sparkling as she dusted the detritus she’d picked up off her shoulder blade length hair and clothes.
“You call it cringe but it got you to call me Eevee again.” She poked him in the chest with a finger.
“Lord save me from your anime and pokemon obsession. Though it explains why you and my sister always got along like a house on fire.”
Looking at the fence and noting no holes dug underneath it he turned back to Evelyn. “Mind explaining how the little egg thief got in the yard this time. I thought putting the chicken wire under the chain link had solved the digging problem. Though I don’t see any obvious holes.”
Evelyn scratched the back of her head embarrassed. “Ah that’s my fault I’m afraid. I picked her up to take her out to the back field for a walk but she got squirmy when she saw the chickens and managed to jump off my chest and over the fence.” She turned to look at where she had been stuck on the fence and chuckled. “Obviously you saw how well my attempt to follow her went.”
Jack smirked, “Well I suppose it's a good thing you’re a vet and not a real doctor, otherwise we might have to worry about you hurting someone other than yourself.”
“Hey!” She yelled indignantly and she started lightly hitting him on the shoulder. “You take that back you bully.”
Laughing and covering his face he backed away from the assault. “Alright alright, I’m sorry. Why are you red heads always so violent?”
She puffed herself up before waving a fist at him. “Ah it’s ‘cause us eyir’rish wammen nee’ ta’ be tuff ta put up wif the eyir’rish drunks we be wed ta.” She finished it up with a smile and a wink.
“Alright there She-Ra. Why don’t you use the back gate there to take your walking disaster of a pet out to the field like you were planning before it gets too dark and you step on a snake or something.” He walked with her to the back gate to his property.
“Awwwww. You mean you wouldn’t come to my rescue and suck the venom out if I did?” She pouted.
“You know that’s not how you treat a snake bite Evelyn.” He deadpanned back.
“But I’d come rescue you and suck the venom out for you no matter where you got bit.” She fluttered her eyes at him with a smirk. Her smile shifted to something more resembling the Cheshire cat as she shot a quick glance down to his belt where he had his thumbs looped to rest his hands.
Following her gaze Jack let out an exaggerated gasp. “Jesus Christ woman. Have you no shame? At least take a man out to dinner once or twice before you jump straight to hand holding.”
Skipping a foot away she put on an innocent look. “Oh was that what I was implying? You can hardly blame a girl when her first crush runs off to join the Army before she is old enough and confident enough to properly tease them about….. Hand. Holding.”
Chuckling Jack opened the gate and let Evelyn and the fox out, the woman turning to look at him a moment expectantly.
Feeling the silence stretch Jack was uncertain despite what he promised his Dad.
The divorce with his ex still rubbed him the wrong way but he had to admit to himself that Evelyn had matured into an attractive young woman while he was away. He even enjoyed their odd talks as neighbors. Her more outgoing personality, while tiresome at times, was a good balance to his more introverted tendencies and she did always seem to get more conversation out of him than he thought possible.
They got along fairly well too and he considered her one of the few friends he’d made, or remade since he returned to his hometown.
“Well, good evening I guess.” His internal thoughts were interrupted as Evelyn waved half heartedly before beginning to turn away.
“Uh.. yeah…” She started walking away and had made it a few steps before he made a decision.
“Coffee!”
She turned back to look at him. “Huh?”
“Would you like to get some coffee tomorrow. You know. To chat. Hangout…. uh….” He trailed off unsure what else to say. Internally cursing himself for his rusty dating game.
Evelyn’s smile returned in full force. “I’d love to. Say noon at Jerry’s Cafe downtown?”
“Yeah, noon, Jerry’s. I’ll be there.” Plans set, he smiled and waved goodbye as she walked off, a bit of a skip in her step and humming quietly.
He watched after her for a moment, wondering if he could actually be comfortable in a relationship again.
Finally shaking his head, he turned to check the chicken coop and make sure the birds were fine from their scare before heading inside for the night.
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If there was one thing Jack both appreciated and hated about his time in the military, it was waking up at the ass crack of dawn.
Even now, over a year later of him being out he had trouble sleeping in late. So with a thermos full of coffee he walked across the street and let himself into his parents place to kiss his mom on the cheek and have breakfast with the two of them and the family dog.
“So I ran into Evelyn last night while I was walking Barnaby and she said the two of you were going to meet up for lunch today.” Mary Wright started as she sat down at the table.
“Coffee Mom.” Jack corrected.
“Oh like you won’t offer to buy her lunch. I raised you better than that.” She pushed.
“Yes Mom.” Jack conceded as he stuffed scrambled eggs into his mouth.
“Oh let him be Mary. He has enough to think about without you needling into his private life. He asked her out like you were hoping so let the young be young.” Donald stepped in to bail him out.
Nodding in thanks to his Dad Jack changed the subject.
“So I know me and Dad have been checking roofs the last week practically non stop but are the two of you going to be okay for tonight’s storm?”
“You don’t need to worry about us Jack. Your father setup the guest bed in the sub basement and we’ll be sleeping down there just to be safe.”
“Guestbed? You mean that ratty pullout couch?” Jack asked.
“Yes, the guest bed.” Donald looked deadpan at his son.
“Dad, that couch is at least 30 years old. No wonder Angela doesn’t visit as often as you would like if that’s what you’ve been making her and Carl sleep on when they come up with the kids.”
“I’ll have you know that couch is in prime condition and very comfortable. And the kids sleep on it when they visit. Carl and Angela sleep in the actual guest bedroom upstairs. Besides, it's only for one night.”
“If you say so Dad. Just don’t be surprised if Mom makes you sleep on it all week if it isn’t as comfy as you say it is.” Jack laughed at his father’s rolling eyes while his mom poked him.
“Be nice young man. Besides, if I made your father sleep on the couch alone he’d just snuggle up to Barnaby instead of me and I’d have to get dog hair out of the sheets.” She admonished Jack while giving a piece of bacon to the excited husky at her feet.
“You spoil him too much Mom.”
“Who? The dog or your father?” She smirked while patting the dog.
“Both, obviously. You’d tan my hide if I gave bacon to any of the dogs we had growing up at the breakfast table.”
“Well maybe if my grandkids were around more often for me to spoil I wouldn’t have to spoil my little fur baby here. Isn’t that right Barnaby.” Saying that she gripped the dog's head and gave him a big smooch on the top between his ears.
Jack stood up from the table. “Anyways, thanks for breakfast Mom. I’m gonna go take care of the chickens before running into town. Do you want any of the eggs if they’ve laid any?”
“We’re good Jack. Run along while I find some chores for your father to keep him busy and out of my hair.” Mary said with a smile.
Donald Wright put on the air of every suffering husband in history. “Damn it woman. Can’t a man enjoy his day off without you acting as a slave master?”
Laughing at her husband Mary Wright hugged Jack before showing him to the door. Jack just shook his head at his parents' behavior. Never ones to fight in front of him or his sister as they grew up they had always enjoyed their fake arguments once he and Angela were old enough to know they weren’t serious.
Crossing the street back to his own house he went about making sure the chickens were fed and the coop cleaned out before giving his own house exterior a quick rundown for any issues. His morning chores handled he decided he might as well get cleaned up for his coffee date not-date with Evelyn.
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“Jack! Jack over here.”
Looking towards the sound of the voice Jack noticed Evelyn had already found them a table outside the small cafe.
Weaving through the small throng of afternoon diners Jack dropped himself in the chair opposite the red head with a small smile.
“Hey Evelyn. Hope your morning has been okay. That rodent you call a pet is not giving you any trouble?”
Evelyn just rolled her eyes at Jack’s question. “No Jack, Vixy is perfectly behaved for me. You’re the one who won’t let her serve herself at the chicken egg distributor you call a coop. Oh I already ordered you a drink.” She said as he picked up the menu. “It won’t be as black and dark as your poor soul but what can you expect from mere coffee.” She added the last with a twinkle in her eyes as she watched Jack peruse the available food options.
“Well you know us former military types Evelyn. Need the dark humor to offset the pain from being fucked by Uncle Sam all day long. Otherwise we’d all be gloomy on top of walking funny.” Jack quirked his eyebrow at her as he decided on lunch.
“Oh yep. That’s you. Mr. Sunshine and optimistic. Never a gloomy thought in your head. Unlike more grounded people like me.” She tried and failed to pull a serious face, her ever present smile leaking into the corners of her mouth.
“Uh huh, and have you decided what you were going to eat Miss Grounded?”
“Considering we’re about to be super cereal business. I figured I’d do the typical girlfriend thing and order a salad, then eat half your meal once I get tired of pretending to like rabbit food.” She gave him an overdrawn wink leading him to roll his eyes at her antics.
“I miss the twelve year old Eevee that clammed up whenever I walked through the room already.” Jack deadpanned after the waitress came and took their orders.
“Aww Jack. If I spoke up when you walked through the living room when we were kids I wouldn’t have gotten to enjoy seeing you go.” She snarked right back at him then put a finger to her cheek in thought. “That and I would have had to put up with your sister making gagging noises at me for the next half hour.”
“Clearly she was the level headed one of the two of you. I’m honestly surprised you didn’t follow her to Texas to try to do your veterinary work there.”
“Oh you know how it is.” She answered, waving a forkful of her salad around as she talked. “I would be stuck taking care of nothing but poodles and house cats if I moved to Dallas. Here I get to take care of big farm animals for better pay. And I definitely wouldn’t be able to have a rescued fox kit as a pet in the middle of the metro.”
“Good enough point.''Jack conceded as he worked on half his BLT and was already eyeing Evelyn's hand snatching some of his fries. “Speaking of, how has work been for you. Any outlandish stories to entertain or grose out friends and family?”
“Oh well I helped inseminate one of the Brawnson’s heifers last week.” She said before continuing after a slight pause. “Nothing like making you question your life choices like being elbow deep in a cow's snatch.”
Jack hacked and coughed as some of his coffee went down the wrong pipe. The smirk on Evelyn’s face telling him she had timed the last statement on purpose.
Recovering, Jack looked around at the tables nearby to see if her statement had put anyone off their meals. “Jesus Eevee.”
“What?” She exclaimed. “You’re the one that asked. Maybe you should come along next time. I’m sure Bessy would prefer your thick forearm to my dainty one when she next needs to be knocked up.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “Besides, it seems the only time I can get you to call me Eevee is when I fluster you.”
“God you are so weird.” Jack practically groaned out while swatting her hand away from the untouched half of his sandwich.
“But I’m the good kind of weird. You know you love me.” She countered, leaning across the table in an attempt to get the sandwich off his plate which he had picked up and was now holding out of her reach.
“You mean I tolerate you out of pity.” He shifted the plate above his head while a giggling Evelyn stretched fully across the table in an attempt to abscond with the bacon-y goodness.
The sound of her chair crashing to the floor and the frowns of the waitstaff made the both of them once again aware they were in public. Coughing in embarrassment Jack handed the plate to Evelyn where she took the sandwich half with a subdued, “Thank you.” Though her smile was quick to return as the embarrassment passed.
Shaking his head with a small chuckle he let her finish up the sandwich while he mulled his own thoughts in his head.
There was no denying him and Evelyn got along great when he wasn’t overthinking things. Hell he’d say they got along better than he and his ex-wife ever did. But everytime he thought of being in a relationship again the old hurt from the divorce would rear its head.
His eureka moment came to him though when he realized he didn’t want to hurt Evelyn more than he worried about himself being hurt if they pursued a real relationship. Not something he would have thought of years ago before he left to join the Army.
He and Evelyn barely interacted back then. Considering her as one of his little sister’s slightly annoying friends. He certainly hadn’t had the same feeling for her now compared to when he was eighteen and she was twelve.
But he had to admit, a little over a decade later and getting to know her as a neighbor since he returned to his hometown…. he enjoyed hanging out with her. Even if she was still his little sister’s annoying friend.
“What’s the smile for Mr. Sunshine?”
Her question brought him out of his thoughts. “Oh nothing. What say we wrap this up.” Waving the waitress over he passed off his credit card for the meals.
“Aw you didn’t have to pay for me.”
“It’s fine. Besides, how could I suggest we do this again if I didn’t pay for it.” He said with a smile.
“Again? I’d love to!” Evelyn hopped up and gave him a big hug before holding him at arm's length. “So does this mean we’re officially dating now?”
“Yes Eevee, as long as you want to continue going out.” He answered.
She nodded happily and hugged him again. “We’ll chat later though, I still have a few appointments at the clinic I got to take care of before my day is over.”
Waving goodbye the two parted ways. Each with a smile on their face.