It Was Always You

Ch. 23 Mission

Angela was deep into completing death certificates in her office when she heard a tap on the door pane. She looked up to see Piney standing there, oxygen tank hanging on his side. He looked tired, a sad look still shining in his eyes. It'd been a few days since Donna was buried, and Opie had disappeared on a soul run of some sort, leaving his kids behind to be passed between Piney and Mary. She didn't know why Piney was there now. He'd already helped Ope sign all the paperwork for Donna's service. She'd made sure to give them one hell of a discount, and the club had helped pay for the little that was left. "Hey Piney," she greeted, getting to her feet as a show of respect. "How can I help you?"

"How you doin', sweetheart? Mind if I sit?" he asked, nodding to the chair in front of her desk.

"Please," she answered, gesturing to it. "Can I get you anything? Coffee?"

Piney smirked at her, shaking his head. "I'm good, thanks," he said, waving away her offer. He waited for her to sit down before clearing his throat. "Got a question for ya. 's about the kids."

She had a feeling it was going to be. She'd offered to help with them before, but Gemma had indicated that her help wasn't needed. She'd backed off a bit after that knowing Piney or even the kids themselves would ask for help when they needed it. "Of course. How can I help?"

"Got a big ask for ya. You can say no, of course, but thought I'd give it a shot," he said, an amused glint in his eyes. "Ya see, Ken's got some California Mission report to write."

"Is it that time of year already?" Angela asked, remembering writing her own California Mission report when she was a kid. It wasn't an unusual ask for kids around Kenny's age.

Piney nodded his head, sighing heavily. "Ken's teacher is giving extra credit for visitn' the mission they picked in person. I love that boy, he's a smart kid in a lotta things, but he can use all the extra credit he can get right now."

Angela's teacher had done the same, and she'd chosen the mission over in San Francisco. She and Hap had made a day of it. He'd hated every second of being inside the church, but they'd had fun running around the city afterwards. It was one of her favorite memories with him. "Nice. Let me guess, he picked a far one?"

"San Diego."

She whistled, shaking her head as she laughed. " 'course he did."

"Now, I don't got the patience or the time to take him. It can be a day trip or weekend or whatever. Just need someone to take him down there to see the damn place. I'll foot the bill. Whatever you need as long as I don't gotta take 'im myself."

She mulled over the idea; honestly, she could us a little vacation. A minute to relax far away from Charming. The only thing that would make it better would be if Juice could tag along. They'd never taken a long trip together, and this sounded like as good of a time as any to try it out. "Think I can handle that. I can take Ellie too. That way they both can have an escape. Relax a bit. Can I steal Juice to come with us?"

"Sweetheart, I'll give you whatever you want at this point," he replied on a chuckle. "Got a buddy a mine that's got a beach house out there. That somethin' you can use?"

Angela grinned; a beach vacation with a free place to stay? She couldn't think of a better idea. "Sounds perfect. I'll talk to Skeet about dates and get back to you."

Piney smiled himself, nodding his head. "Sounds good," he said, his light eyes growing warm. "Thanks for this, Ang. The kids need somethin' to look forward to. Think gettin' away would do them some real good."

"Think it'll do all of us some good, to be honest. Things have been so tense around here."

He got up with a grunt, nodding again. "It'll pass. Always does."