Page 8 of Shielding Maya

"No." He struggled with a shaky breath. "I don't." He swallowed. "Not long now."

He lost the air from his lungs as if someone had just punched him square in the gut. He gave himself a moment to recover from the blow then he leaned in close to his father.

"You listen to me, Daddy. Killing Craig was the best thing you have ever done. He wasn't going to allow peace up here. Just look at Mama over there watching the wonder of fresh water coming right to her home. We have lights in here now and she's not straining to read her books at night. Or to sew or any other thing she wants to do. None of that would be possible if Craig were still in charge. His blind rage at losing control almost cost a woman in town her life. Thanks to you, she's still alive and I understand her and her husband rescue abused horses and bring them back to a normal life. That wouldn't be possible if it weren't for you. How in all that is holy can you just let yourself die because of one sorry son-of-a-bitch like Craig Howard?"

His mom hustled over to them. "Jasiah, don't yell at your father."

"I'm not yelling. I'm frustrated. He's a damned hero. Instead, he's just lying here wallowing in some self-damned-pity because of Craig."

"Jasiah! You don’t know everything."

"I don't care Mom. He may have been your brother, but he was insane with jealousy. He was out of his mind that he'd lose control. Daddy did us all a favor."

His mom's eyes watered and a single tear rolled slowly down her cheek.

He thrust himself off the side of the bed and paced to the kitchen. He turned at the door and saw his mom, lowering herself to sit near his father. His father's eyes met his across the room and he stared for a long time. Waiting for him to sit up. Acknowledge what he said in some way. Show some fucking emotion. Anything!

Nothing. Jasiah nodded ever so slightly to his dad as he reached back to turn the handle on the door. He pulled the door open, turned to step outside, the heaviness in his heart the largest burden he'd ever carried. Turning one last time toward his parents, he saw his father reach for his mother and she pulled him to a slightly sitting position. His father’s eyes met his once more and this time he saw a tear trickle down his father's wrinkled cheek.

Feeling the same tear trickle down his cheek, he angrily swiped it away with his fingers, nodded once at his father and stepped out the door.

On the front porch, he sucked in a deep breath. The fall air was crisp this morning, the exhale swirled in a gray mist before him. Winter would be here soon.

Tires crunched on the road coming up the mountain and he turned toward the sound and cleared his head to tackle the next task - whoever was venturing up here today.

6

Maya turned her Jeep toward the newly designated parking area in Hickory Hills. These cabins were built without driveways, as they only had two or three vehicles to use previously, and they were controlled by Craig. Also, the citizens didn't go down the mountain often, if at all. But, now as they secured jobs, they were buying vehicles and they needed a place to keep them, so a parking area was designated for this purpose.

She exited her Jeep and saw Jasiah watching her from the center of the common area. She waved to him, then reached into her Jeep for two hot coffees from Lara's Delights. She smiled at Jasiah as she neared, a bit nervous about this meeting for some reason.

"Good morning," she called out.

He nodded and grinned, though it didn't reach his eyes. Her tummy felt the flight of a thousand butterflies, and she focused on not dropping the coffee. His demeanor was different than yesterday, and she wondered if he'd had a terrible night's sleep because of the senator's assassination.

As soon as she was close enough, she held out one of the coffees. "Since it's early, I thought I'd bring you a coffee from Lara's. It's caramel and sea salt."

"Thank you." He grinned slightly and took the coffee from her hand. Their fingers touched and those danged butterflies took flight once more. She swallowed the enormous lump in her throat and occupied herself by taking a drink of her coffee.

He drank from his and his brows rose into his hair. After moving his cup, there was a bit of foam from the coffee on his mustache. She grinned and pointed to her lip. "A little coffee or cream on your mustache."

His tongue poked from his lips and swiped at the cream. "The coffee's good. Thank you. It's something I've recently learned about and had a couple of cups of. It's very welcome."

She cocked her head to the side. "What do you normally drink in the morning?"

He shrugged. "Tea. Usually. We make tea out of many things up here."

"I suppose you do. You'll have to get a coffee maker and make your own coffee. I don't know what I'd do without it in the morning. I need at least two cups to get me going."

Jasiah nodded. His eyes stared into hers and her heartbeat skipped. "I guess I do. Don't know if I'll ever be able to make it as good as this though."

"You can. Just buy the flavored coffee."

"Oh, is that how they do that?"

"Yeah." She shrugged, "Though, knowing Lara, she may have some super-secret recipe. That store of hers is popular and if folks could make it like this at home, she may not have the business she does."

She took another drink, scolded herself internally for acting like a teenager. She was thirty-four years old. She had more experience than most. She was a special operative for crying out loud. Talking to a handsome, smart, handsome, muscly, handsome man, shouldn't make her act like she couldn't carry a conversation.

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