Page 54 of Jake

“I don’t carry it. I never have,” she lifted one shoulder and let it drop, “Its actually at Craig’s. I asked him to put it in his safe a while back and never thought about getting it back.”

“Have you ever carried?”

“As in a pistol? Not on a regular basis. I might wear my holster to go out shooting or to go into a situation I might need it for venomous snakes, but that’s all.” She shrugged, her shoulder bumping into his.

“Would you consider it?” he asked.

She was silent, as was Iceman on her other side. He glanced at her, trying to gauge her reaction, and found a crease between her brow, though she wasn’t frowning.

“Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“A lot. I’m not sure if I can put it all into words.”

“Can you try? Please?” Jake didn’t look at the other man. He wanted to forget he was with them at the moment.

She was staring straight ahead as she opened her mouth, then closed it again. This time she did frown. Then tilted her head and looked at him. She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush.

“I don’t know. I have nothing against it, but I’m not sure I can wrap my head around me doing it. Can you give me a few minutes to think about it?”

“I can. I can also give you reasons why I’d ask you to, if you want to hear them.”

“Not right now,” she said with a shake of her head. “I wasn’t expecting this, and I need a little time to get used to the idea.”

“Okay,” Jake said with a nod. Then, determined to give her the time she’d asked for, he turned his attention to Iceman. “You starting to get hungry? They should have food ready about the time we get back.”

“I could eat, then I should start gathering stuff up so I can head out this afternoon.”

“You have much to gather?”

“Not really, but I do need to pack up my bedding. I left it open in the back of the truck to get some sunshine and air.”

Jake nodded, realizing that Iceman was coming up with things that would keep him busy and give Jake a chance to talk Heather into carrying a weapon. They would both feel better knowing she was armed, just in case. But Jake was going to give her the time she asked for. How long, he wasn’t sure, but he could wait until at least after lunch.

40

Heatherhadknowntheshooting, the different targets, and different weapons was going somewhere, what she hadn’t been prepared for was for Aaron to ask her to carry. Could she? Yeah. Did she want to? Not really. Not all the time, long term at least. But now that she was thinking about it, it made sense. Even the whole different targets with each shot practice that Aaron had asked her to do made sense if she was looking at things from a protection point of view. Who knew how many people would come after her if they wanted the reward? And though she hadn’t asked, because she didn’t want to know, the reward had to be sizable enough Aaron and Matt thought people would try to take her back to Alabama to collect it.

She still didn’t want to think about that. But she had to. It was either that or actually go back and deal with the assholes in Alabama. She didn’t want to do that. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to go back at all anymore, at least not to stay. Sure, she’d go see her parents, but did she want to live down there? Especially now that she’d seen the beauty up here and found Aaron again?

Was she moving too fast in thinking Aaron wanted her around long term? What they had was good, but he hadn’t said anything about anything more long term than getting the jerks from Alabama off her trail. What if that was all he wanted? Did she want to establish a life up here, only to end up going separate ways then having to see him with someone else?

The truck pulled to a stop, making Heather look up she realized they were back to where they’d started out and Aaron had parked the truck where it had been when they’d gotten into it to go shooting. And she still hadn’t decided anything.

On either side of her, both men opened their doors and slid out. She sat for a moment, debating what to do, then mind still unmade she slid out Aaron’s side and got out. Why did everything seem so hard? Why couldn’t life be easier? She needed a few minutes to herself.

“Is lunch ready?” she asked, still thinking about how to get even a few minutes to herself.

“I don’t think so,” Jake said after a moment. “I’m not smelling anything, but we can go check, and if you’re not ready to eat yet, I’m sure it will hold. Is there something you’re wanting to do?”

“I was thinking about a short walk if I have time. I won’t go far, and I’ll stay on the road.”

“Sure, I’ll take you,” he said.

“No.” She set a hand on his chest. “I want a few minutes to myself. I promise I won’t go far.”

He took a deep breath and met her gaze for a moment.

“Go ahead, I’ll see you soon,” he said.

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