Fear - 48

Later that night, after a good meal and slow walk back to Max's place, Shawn, Gene, Max, and Linda sat on the front porch enjoying the cool, starry evening.

They chatted about the weather, which would soon turn much colder with winter approaching, and about which neighbors would take off for warmer climes as a result, or spend most of their free time going over the Divide to the ski resorts.

Shawn listened raptly, though he barely knew most of the people they were talking about unless they were customers at the garage.

Linda apparently caught his puzzled expressions and told him, "Give it time and you'll know everyone in town. In fact"—she tapped her lip—"I just had a thought." She grinned almost evilly at Gene. "Someone has a birthday coming up. I think we're going to throw a big party to celebrate. That way Shawn can meet everyone all at once."

Gene visibly gulped. "Come on, Linda. You know I hate things like that."

"But you'll let us do it anyway, for Shawn's sake."

"I'm not big on parties either," Shawn protested, wanting to back Gene up, even though he really liked the idea.

Gene sighed in relief. "See, two against one."

"Nope, two against two," Max said with a grin. "And somehow I think Shawn just said that because he thought he should for your sake."

Gene frowned as he turned to look at Shawn. "If that's true, don't," he said softly. "And you know why."

"I really don't like parties, or, well… oh hell." He looked away, out across the yard, rather than face Gene's look of disappointment.

"What?"

"I've only been to two of them. One when I was seven and a kid in my class invited me to his birthday party. That one was fun." He paused, realizing he was opening up to all three of them, not just Gene.

"And the other one?" Linda asked, reaching over to pat his arm. "You can tell us, even if it isn't a good memory. You should know that by now."

"It was for Jared. For his birthday. Things seemed to be going good between us, for once, and I thought I'd surprise him and throw one and invited the guys he worked with and some other people we knew. That was when he was still working in the city." Shawn's expression turned dour. "Like I said, it was a surprise party so he couldn't do anything about it except behave and pretend he was having a good time. And drink. But after everyone left…"