Page 40 of The Outpost (Jamison Valley 4)
I nodded. “Me too, but I’m glad Silas didn’t wait for me.”
Silas had sent a note along with Beau on one of his visits, telling me his plan to propose and asking if he should wait for me to be there. I’d told him no, not wanting to delay something that would make Felicity blissfully happy. I had already inconvenienced them enough. I didn’t want their lives to be on hold because of me.
“Will you take another letter to Felicity?” I asked even though I knew the answer. Beau had become my own personal courier.
“You bet.”
With a heavy heart, I was going to write Felicity and tell her to plan her wedding without me. I didn’t want her to delay her special day on my account. Not with how uncertain things were. Missing her wedding would be brutal but I couldn’t risk going. If the Federovs were smart, which they were, they’d likely be watching my best friend’s wedding to see if I made an appearance.
With my phone tasks complete, Beau drove us down the opposite side of the ridge. The descent was far less treacherous than the journey up, though it took twice as long. By the time we got back to the outpost, it was early evening and I figured he’d be setting off for Prescott.
“Do you want any dinner before you go?” I asked.
“I’m staying tonight.”
“Oh, okay.” A swell of nervous energy bubbled up in my chest. Beau hadn’t stayed in over a month, and the last time, we’d had that amazing connection. The one that had caused him to pull away. Was tonight going to be miserably awkward? Or would we fall back into that place where we had been?
I hoped for the latter as I opened the truck door.
Before I could hop down, Beau declared, “Before it gets dark, we’re going to do some shooting.”
I froze. “What was that?” I had no desire to be anywhere near a gun. I hoped he meant shooting slingshots.
“Shooting. You know, with a gun.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” I hated guns. It was one of the reasons why I had pushed so hard to take down the Federovs, and after what had happened to my high-school friend Janessa, I had every right.
“It is.” Beau got out of the truck, completely ignoring me, and shut his truck door.
“Hey!” I jumped out after him and rounded the hood. “You don’t get to dictate what I do.”
He kept ignoring me as he opened the back door
and pulled out a small, black handgun from under the driver’s seat followed by a box of ammunition that had been resting on the floor.
“Let’s go,” he called, walking toward the meadow with Boone happily bouncing along at his feet.
“No.” I fisted my hands and marched into the outpost.
Who did he think he was? He didn’t get to summon me. To force me to do something I didn’t want to do. He’d have to drag me into that meadow.
I paced the outpost, waiting for him to come in on my heels. Sure enough, he marched right inside too. His footsteps pounded in the dirt as he came back toward the outpost, and my heart started thundering as I prepared for the face-off.
“I said, let’s go.” He wasn’t yelling, but he wasn’t happy. “I want you to have plenty of time to practice before it gets dark.”
“I’m not going to learn how to use a gun.” So. There.
“Why?” His patience was fading.
“ ‘Why?’ Because I don’t want to! I hate guns. And I really hate being ordered around. That doesn’t work for me.”
“Look, I understand you’re scared,” he said more calmly. “Most people are until they know how to use a gun correctly but it will be perfectly safe.”
“That’s not my reason.” Though guns did scare the crap out of me. “I just don’t want to use one. Okay?”
“Why?” he repeated, cocking his head to the side, sounding less irritated and more curious.
“I don’t want to get into my reasons so I’d appreciate it if you’d just respect my decision. No guns.”
