Page 106 of Close Quarters

“Agreed. But we’ve probably got a whole long day of explaining.”

“Ugh,” he said, shoulders slumping.

I peered up at the sky, seeing it was growing lighter. “C’mon. Let’s go up top.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Because I don’t want to spend more time with this asshole than I have to,” I said, looking for a spot to climb. “And I think we’ve earned a nice sunrise.”

“Near-death experiences making you a romantic there, Reno?”

“Shut up and climb, asshole.”

“That’s more like the man I know.”

I laughed as we finally climbed our way up. It was only about ten feet, but I still reached down and helped him climb the last bit. It was worth the ache in my shoulder to see him smile gratefully at the gesture before we found a spot to sit down and watch as the horizon grew bright, a line of yellow cresting horizontally.

Color began to grow, blossoming into soft oranges and brilliant yellows. Elliot made a point to sit between my legs, leaning back into me as we watched, the silent radio sitting in his lap.

After everything, I felt my heart swell, and I remembered what I’d thought in that desperate fight for our lives. He needed to know something now that the smoke had mostly cleared, and I wanted him to hear it before the cavalry rolled in to save us.

I caught his hand as it raised, radio in hand. “Wait.”

“What?” he asked, turning around to stare at me in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

I reached up, grabbing his chin so I could stare into his eyes. “I love you.”

His eyes widened and then brimmed with wetness once more. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, well…I love you too.”

“Oh…good.”

“Yes, good, asshole.”

“Idiot.”

He kissed me, and I was glad he didn’t ask if this was some post near death psychosis or something. Instead, he just leaned into me, holding onto my shoulder while I held on to him, and we savored the moment. It was absurd that our lives had brought us to this point, but here we were all the same.

“Let’s bring in the cavalry,” I told him. “I want to be alone, back at the ranch, as soon as possible.”

“Me too,” he said, pressing the button on the radio.

EPILOGUE

Five Years Later

I stood at the back, arms crossed, and leaned against the wall. A crowd of program guys, along with employees and even people from the town and other ranches, stood at the base of the stairs in the Big House’s foyer. The mentors were front and center as usual, and Leon was standing on the landing in between, where the stairs split in opposite directions.

But it was the man standing next to him that I was watching intently…and proudly. Reno looked embarrassed but tried not to be, making him look slightly constipated. It wasn’t helped that his face was getting increasingly darker shades of red as Leon continued to talk.

Well, it was more accurate to say he was singing Reno’s praises to everyone Reno had known for years. I had to admit, eight months ago, I had been more than a little embarrassed myself when Leon had done this very thing for me. The sentimental bastard had graduated from the program a year before I had, but he’d stayed as an employee and insisted on being the one to represent me at my graduation and was doing the same for Reno.

“Do you think Leon lives for this sort of thing?” I asked in a low voice, glancing at the three men to my right.

“Of fucking course,” Max grunted with a roll of his eyes.

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