Four
An hour after they returned from June’s, Aelissm was in the spare bedroom of her cabin helping Pat unpack. When they finished, she headed toward her bedroom to change, but Pat’s voice stopped her. She turned around to find him standing beside the stairs. Beside her g*n.
“I’ve been meaning to ask about this, Aelissm,” Pat said. His long fingers toyed with the barrel of her rifle. “And don’t tell me it’s for bears because even this city boy knows it wouldn’t do more than piss a bear off.”
Aelissm eyed the g*n and cursed herself for not putting it away. Supposedly, she didn’t need it now, anyway. “It’s for gophers and badgers,” she replied and added in an exaggerated Western drawl, “You know, varmints.”
She tried to sound playful and nonchalant, but the lie was sour in the back of he
