just died?” I asked in partial disgust and partial intrigue.
She looked over her shoulder and up at me. “Yes. He cheated on me. With our best friend’s girlfriend nonetheless. It was, of course, an act of deep sorrow that his best friend and her boyfriend was dying…or so he says. He has to know that it’s coming. I didn’t even want him at the funeral, but Nathan didn’t want to make a big deal of it. So now we’re all going to the funeral, acting like we’re best friends, and we most definitely are not .”
The woman sure was chatty.
And my heart felt funny.
What she’d just told me really set my blood to burning, and I wanted to knock the boyfriend...ex-boyfriend, into next week with my steel-toed combat boot. What an asshat.
“I’m sorry to hear that, darlin’,” I said sorrowfully.
She smiled tightly at me and shrugged. “Not your fault, now is it?”
What the fucker was thinking to cheat on her was beyond me. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, even with the axe she had a death grip on and blood running down her cheek.
Most men would find the woman crazy. However, I wasn’t like most men.
“You want me to take you to the funeral?” I asked.
She smiled so bright at me that the anger I was feeling towards her shit of a boyfriend evaporated with just that one simple act.
“Would you mind? I have another shirt in my Jeep, could you go get it?” She pleaded.
I nodded. “Sure, be right back.”
I jogged towards her car quickly, spotting the shirt hanging up in her back seat.
I winced when I saw the state of the front, knowing that the beast was definitely totaled. Poor girl. (The Jeep, not the woman.) (Well, the girl, too. But not as much as the Jeep. ‘Cause there was no way the Jeep was going to make it out of this one alive.)
Reaching through the opened driver’s side window to the backseat, I grabbed the shirt and then spotted the purse that was dumped out on the passenger seat.
Walking around to the other side, I gathered her things up quickly and shoved them back into her purse, widening my eyes slightly when I saw the compartment where a small revolver hid conspicuously in between the two compartments.
Holy shit.
Out of curiosity, I opened her wallet and searched, finally finding what I was looking for in the very back slot. She was a concealed handgun holder. That was hot. As an Army Ranger, it always made me happy to see someone that was prepared and utilizing their right to bare arms.
Life was spontaneous and harsh. Preparation was needed. One never knew when something bad was going to happen. If you’re prepared for something, regardless of what that threat is, you’ll live. If not, you’ll die. It’s that simple.
Even the most innocent of things could be bad news.
Shoving the wallet back into her purse, I reached forward and took the keys, scanned the vehicle for anything else that she might need, and jogged back to the Jeep only to find it empty.
“Shit,” I said as I scanned the area.
A flash of white caught my attention and I turned towards the woods.
I found her not far away staring at the remains of the deer. She hadn’t made it far. Forty yards at most.
“You were supposed to wait in the car,” I chided her once I got close enough.
She glared at me. “I know. I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t out here suffering.”
I blinked, surprised by the act. “You were going to put her out of her misery if she was?” I asked in surprise.
No woman I knew would’ve done that.
“Yes,” she said as she turned. “I know what it’s like to suffer. Or, at least, see that they’re suffering. It’s not a fun way to go.”
Her best friend. I wondered what he’d died from. Cancer maybe?
“Are you ready to go, darlin’?” I asked. She nodded and turned her back on the dead deer.
“How’d you find the deer?” I asked conversationally.
She looked like her mind had taken her somewhere she didn’t want to be, and I didn’t want her
She looked over her shoulder and up at me. “Yes. He cheated on me. With our best friend’s girlfriend nonetheless. It was, of course, an act of deep sorrow that his best friend and her boyfriend was dying…or so he says. He has to know that it’s coming. I didn’t even want him at the funeral, but Nathan didn’t want to make a big deal of it. So now we’re all going to the funeral, acting like we’re best friends, and we most definitely are not .”
The woman sure was chatty.
And my heart felt funny.
What she’d just told me really set my blood to burning, and I wanted to knock the boyfriend...ex-boyfriend, into next week with my steel-toed combat boot. What an asshat.
“I’m sorry to hear that, darlin’,” I said sorrowfully.
She smiled tightly at me and shrugged. “Not your fault, now is it?”
What the fucker was thinking to cheat on her was beyond me. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, even with the axe she had a death grip on and blood running down her cheek.
Most men would find the woman crazy. However, I wasn’t like most men.
“You want me to take you to the funeral?” I asked.
She smiled so bright at me that the anger I was feeling towards her shit of a boyfriend evaporated with just that one simple act.
“Would you mind? I have another shirt in my Jeep, could you go get it?” She pleaded.
I nodded. “Sure, be right back.”
I jogged towards her car quickly, spotting the shirt hanging up in her back seat.
I winced when I saw the state of the front, knowing that the beast was definitely totaled. Poor girl. (The Jeep, not the woman.) (Well, the girl, too. But not as much as the Jeep. ‘Cause there was no way the Jeep was going to make it out of this one alive.)
Reaching through the opened driver’s side window to the backseat, I grabbed the shirt and then spotted the purse that was dumped out on the passenger seat.
Walking around to the other side, I gathered her things up quickly and shoved them back into her purse, widening my eyes slightly when I saw the compartment where a small revolver hid conspicuously in between the two compartments.
Holy shit.
Out of curiosity, I opened her wallet and searched, finally finding what I was looking for in the very back slot. She was a concealed handgun holder. That was hot. As an Army Ranger, it always made me happy to see someone that was prepared and utilizing their right to bare arms.
Life was spontaneous and harsh. Preparation was needed. One never knew when something bad was going to happen. If you’re prepared for something, regardless of what that threat is, you’ll live. If not, you’ll die. It’s that simple.
Even the most innocent of things could be bad news.
Shoving the wallet back into her purse, I reached forward and took the keys, scanned the vehicle for anything else that she might need, and jogged back to the Jeep only to find it empty.
“Shit,” I said as I scanned the area.
A flash of white caught my attention and I turned towards the woods.
I found her not far away staring at the remains of the deer. She hadn’t made it far. Forty yards at most.
“You were supposed to wait in the car,” I chided her once I got close enough.
She glared at me. “I know. I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t out here suffering.”
I blinked, surprised by the act. “You were going to put her out of her misery if she was?” I asked in surprise.
No woman I knew would’ve done that.
“Yes,” she said as she turned. “I know what it’s like to suffer. Or, at least, see that they’re suffering. It’s not a fun way to go.”
Her best friend. I wondered what he’d died from. Cancer maybe?
“Are you ready to go, darlin’?” I asked. She nodded and turned her back on the dead deer.
“How’d you find the deer?” I asked conversationally.
She looked like her mind had taken her somewhere she didn’t want to be, and I didn’t want her
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