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Hal took a sip of water and fished out an ice cube with his tongue to suck on it. Hadn't they had this conversation before? Maybe not. He couldn't remember. "Not working?" He quirked a grin before shaking his head. "I dunno. I guess when I get home from work, usually I go for a walk. Eat supper. Watch tv." He shrugged. "Every once in a while I might hang out with some of the others from work, but most of them are pretty busy. I like going to the lake. I like fishing."

He thought for a few moments. He didn't normally talk about himself, so it felt rather unnatural. Realizing he'd started staring at the table again, he forced his gaze back up to Sam. He could feel a slight bit of heat crawling up the back of his neck. She knew, didn't she? How uncomfortable he was? He knew it was stupid. After all, they worked together all day and had spent a couple evenings together too. The awkwardness should be gone. 

He cleared his throat again. "I'm sorry." The words slipped out before he could stop them. "I'm... well I mean..." He sighed. "I haven't made any new friends in a very long time and I'm not very good at it, especially when they're as smart and funny and pretty as you are." His eyes widened. Yep, he'd said it out loud. Resting his elbows on the table, he planted his face in his hands. "Can I hide under the table?" he mumbled. 


At Ryan's question, Miles looked at Leo, his eyes sparking with humor and he was just about to give her a slightly inappropriate reply, when Leo smacked him upside the head again. "Hey!" He rubbed hid head. "You used to be timid, you know that?"

"Yeah well... that changed." Thanks to Ryan, actually. Leo tossed her a grin. "Axel's out today and so is Jed. So we got a buttload to do but... I figure we can handle it." 

Miles smirked. "Well, Mister Positive, you can work twice as fast today then." He picked up a wrench. "Or! Tomorrow when Axel gets back, we just make him work on our cars too."

Leo threw him a warning glance. Axel's work was no joke...not anymore. Not when Axel wasn't hardly able to work on the engines anymore, due to his hand. 

Miles retreated and went to go start on the car he'd been working on the day before. 

Leo shook his head before looking back to Ryan. "I say you and I get our work and Axel's done for him so tomorrow he doesn't have to stress about it."


Dylan chuckled at Ashlee's excitement as they walked, and didn't mind when she linked arms with his. Truth be told, he'd hesitated after their conversation about spending less time together, but he hadn't wanted her to miss this. He knew she'd been looking forward to it.

Getting to the foaling barn, Dylan motioned down the right aisle and slowed his pace. A warm light was hanging on the stall wire, and the door was open. Sparky was kneeling in the thick straw bedding next to the mare who was lying on her side.

Hearing someone coming, Sparky glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "Hey," he greeted Ashlee quietly. "Pull up a seat." He nodded to the nearest corner of the large stall, which still gave Copper plenty of room. His hand gently stroked the mare's neck and he spoke to her softly.

Dylan slid down in the straw and leaned back against the wall, and motioned Ashlee to sit next to him. His job was to run and get his dad or Jim if anything went wrong, but so far things had been calm. "How's she doing?" he asked softly.

Sparky nodded slowly. "She got real restless but now that she's down, things seem to have slowed. Hopefully it won't be long now though."