Wild West - Chapter 2 - Part 12 - 5 minute freewrite challenge

James looked back at the house he had built for himself in the middle of nowhere and his smile dissipated from his face. “So many years.” He took the bottle of whiskey from Tom and drank two mouthfuls of whiskey. “I’ll miss this place, but I know we’ll build a better one for the two of us. Six of us,” James recalled his time with Rosanne. “A family under one roof. No running away. No Wesley left behind,” he took another big sip from the bottle.

Tom first wanted to joke about how sentimental James got all of a sudden, but then reassessed the situation and replied on a much more serious note. “I miss little James. And her. I miss having a family,” their eyes met, “I missed having a father. I couldn’t be happier to have found you.”

It was the perfect moment for a hug, but none of them commenced. They both wanted it to happen, but for some reason felt it was awkward still. Instead, they gazed at each other’s eyes for about five seconds before Tom broke the silence with a question.

“What are you going to do with it? Grind herbs and fumigate it of bad spirits?” Tom ruined the sentimental atmosphere with a joke.