Spark in the Dark

Chapter 66

Piney called Shawn a few days later. He and Mary needed a break and apparently Ellie had been asking to spend some time with Shawn. Piney dropped the kids off at Shawn's place one night after she had gotten off work. Shawn made them grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner and then they played a few rounds of Go Fish. Shawn had known Ellie would want her to teach her how to braid hair, but Shawn hadn't really known what to do with Kenny during that time. Luckily, she had expressed this concern to Juice after talking to Piney and Juice lent her a small, hand held gaming system for Kenny to play on while Ellie got in some girl time.

Shawn had offered to keep the kids overnight. She wasn't sure who was more excited for the sleep over, the kids or their tired grandparents. Plus, it gave her an excuse to be away from Juice for a night. Ever since that morning at Juice's when Chibs showed up, he'd been acting differently. He wasn't cold towards her, but there was a distance she hadn't felt before. They hadn't spent the night together since then either. She still saw him everyday, but it was for a couple of hours each night and then he'd go back to his place to sleep. She had wanted to give him time to sort out whatever it was he had on his mind without interfering, but if this continued for much longer, she didn't know how she'd be able to stay out of it.

Piney arrived the next morning to pick up the kids early. Shawn answered the front door and offered for him to come in.

"The kids are still eating breakfast," she explained. "I made pancakes if you're interested."

"You make 'em the same way as Gemma?" Piney asked.

"Are you kidding? Mine are better."

"Well, then I think I will take a couple if you don't mind," Piney laughed.

"No problem. Right this way."

Shawn led him into the kitchen and made him a plate of food. Piney thanked her and carried his food into the dining room where the kids were eating. Shawn sat back down in her seat there to finish eating. When the kids finished their food and Piney told them to gather up their things to go.

"There's a big party tonight at the clubhouse. You're more than welcome to come," Piney told her.

"Oh, yeah?" Shawn asked. She was wondering why Piney was the one to tell her instead of Juice.

"Yup. Ope will be home today and Bobby is getting released. Might get a little crazy."

"Maybe I should sit this one out then."

"Suit yourself. Your dad would probably like it if you showed up for at least a little bit though. I know Opie would like to see you."

Shawn nodded. "Yeah, ok. I'll see if I can make it."

Piney and the kids left shortly after. Shawn made herself busy by cleaning up from breakfast and her guest room that the kids had slept in. She had just a couple off errands to run, drop off dry cleaning and grocery shop, but none of it was enough to keep her mind off of Juice. He hadn't texted her the night before like he had said he would. She hadn't heard from him yet today, even though he had to know the kids had been picked up by now. Something was definitely up with him and she was going to have to find out what.

* * *

After parking her car, Shawn made her way through the large crowd around the clubhouse. She spotted Opie talking to Piney and went over to say hi.

"Hey, darling. Glad you made it," Piney said.

"Thanks. Wish I had gotten here sooner, actually. I wouldn't have had to park practically a mile away."

Opie had stood and gave Shawn a hug. Piney excused himself to go back inside for a drink. Opie sat back down and she decided to join him.

"So, how you doing, Ope?" Shawn asked.

"Hanging in there," Opie said with a shrug. "Heard you had my kids last night."

"Yeah, we had fun. They're good kids. They were excited you were coming home, though. I think they missed you. I bet Kenny went nuts when he saw you."

"I haven't seen them, yet."

"Oh. What time did you get back?"

"Late this morning," Opie told.

"So like, what? Twelve hours ago? You didn't go see them?"

"Not sure if I should be around them right now."

Shawn nodded knowingly. It seemed like Opie's time away hadn't done as much to clear his head as Opie had hoped.

"It'll get better, Ope."

"Yeah? When?"

Before Shawn could think of a way to answer him, another car pulled into the lot. A car no one knew. Shawn wasn't interested in it, but Opie was watching the car intently as Clay and Tig walked over to it. Men got out of the car and approached Clay. One by one, the members of SAMCRO joined Clay to stand together. When Opie stood to walk over, Shawn also stood, but stayed in her place. Gemma joined her a moment later.

The men didn't talk long. The strangers turned to get back into their car. One almost ran right into Gemma and Shawn.

"Excuse me, ma'am," he said to Gemma. He looked at Shawn and gave her a wink. Shawn's nose wrinkled at the gesture.

The guys started to go back to the party. Tig saw Shawn and walked over to her. Juice saw her a moment later and did a double take. He hadn't expected to see her there that night.

"Hey, doll," Tig said and Shawn hugged him. "I didn't know you'd be here."

"Yeah," Shawn said. She glanced at Juice for a moment before looking back at her dad. "Piney invited me when he picked up the kids this morning."

Juice had caught her look. It looked innocent enough, but he could tell she was pissed he hadn't told her about the party. When she went inside to get herself a drink at the bar, Juice followed. She was leaning against the bar and Juice leaned in next to her.

"Meet me on the roof," Juice said.

"You really think that's a good idea?"

"Please, Shawn?"

Shawn caved and nodded. Juice walked passed her and then down the hall to the ladder to the roof. He looked around, but everyone was in the bar area, so no one was around to see him go up. Shawn drank her drink as quickly as she could and then followed Juice's lead. She hesitated at the bottom of the ladder. Working up her nerve, Shawn took a deep breath and climbed up.