“Uh oh,” Brandon said.
Pierce sounded grim. “Neither of them made it. Martinez was commended for valor and given a full military funeral. They gave the flag to his parents, who he hadn’t spoken to in almost a decade. They were his legal next of kin.”
“What about his girlfriend?”
“What about her? There was no legal record of her status in his life. That meant no benefits from the military for her. They weren’t from a state that recognized their common law relationship as equivalent to marriage.”
“But, but what happened to her?”
“There was a guy on our team. Simon Ferguson. We called him Troll. He was huge, silent, absolutely the guy you wanted at your back. He appointed himself her guardian angel. Every time she needed something, she’d contact Simon and he’d pass the cup around, taking up a collection for her. It was a lot less than she deserved, and it wouldn’t have been Martinez’s choice, but he didn’t make preparations to anticipate the situation.” Pierce paused. “No one plans to die soon, Brandon, but sometimes they do.”
“I’m not going to war.”
“You just told me that you don’t feel safe when you walk home from work in Seattle.” There was a pause. “Maybe you need a different job, not a gun.”
To Jacquie’s surprise, Brandon seemed to be in agreement. “I’ve been thinking about that, actually. I always wanted to be a teacher. I thought I might be good at it.”
“Then?” Pierce invited.
“Then what?”
“Then do your research and make a plan, step-by-step, of how to get from here to there.”
“It’s a big change.”
“That doesn’t mean it isn’t the right one. If you want it, you can do it. You can do anything, if you want it enough.”
Jacquie smiled, appreciating Pierce’s expression of confidence. She liked that Brandon was listening to him.
“Mom always said that nothing worth having was easy.”
“Good advice.”
“You think we should get married,” Brandon said then.
“I think you should take care of the woman you love and your child, however you see fit. That might be marriage. That might be a life insurance policy. That might be a will.” Jacquie heard something click onto the counter. “But the last thing it should be is a gun.”
“Whoa,” Brandon said. “You did that fast.”
“After you clean a gun a couple of thousand times, it becomes habitual.”
“Practice,” Brandon said grimly.
“Practice,” Pierce agreed.
“I so suck at practice.”
“You can always improve that. Learn a new trick for the woman you love.”
There was another long silence and Jacquie wondered who was waiting on who.
Brandon cleared his throat. “So, I’m guessing you think my dad blew it in terms of taking care of my mom and all of us.”
Pierce was silent for a moment. “I never knew your dad. I don’t know what was in his mind. But if I had to guess, I might conclude that he felt he’d let you all down.”
“Mom told us the story about Mr. Abernethy.”
“I also think that your dad was probably wrong.”
“How so?”
“Your mom has a tremendous capacity to forgive. She might have been angry if he’d told her the truth—”
“She definitely would have been angry,” Brandon said with a laugh.
Pierce continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “But if he’d asked for her help, I bet they would have figured something out, something better than what he must have believed was his only option.”
“Something less final.”
“Exactly.”
Brandon cleared his throat. “I’m not sure Liz even wants to get married. Her folks never did.”
“I have to think that talking to her seems like a good plan.”
Jacquie heard her son chuckle. “Okay. That’s fair.” His tone brightened. “Are you going to marry Mom?”
“If she’ll have me.” There was a thread of amusement in Pierce’s voice when he continued and Elizabeth gave Jacquie a triumphant poke in the shoulder. “She’s kicked me out twice, so I want to be sure to choose my moment.”
Brandon laughed, oblivious to Jacquie peeking around the corner. Pierce was watching for her to appear, though, and his gaze locked immediately with hers. His eyes were twinkling and that smile was tugging at the corner of his mouth.
He’d known she was there all along.
Jacquie felt both relieved and fluttery, a surge of heat sliding through her veins just from meeting Pierce’s gaze. That sizzle showed no signs of diminishing. He’d challenged her assumptions and addressed her fears, he’d helped her kids get back home and he’d only asked her to meet him halfway. She was ready to do more than that. She smiled back at him, confident of what her answer would be whenever he did ask.
Brandon was handling the gun. “So, will you teach me?”
“Show me your stance,” Pierce invited and Brandon swiveled from the stool to his feet, holding the gun before himself with both hands like a gunslinger. “You watch too much television,” Pierce chided with a shake of his head, then moved to stand behind Brandon. “Face your target squarely. Straighten up.” He touched Brandon’s stomach fleetingly. “Fifty sit-ups a day should start to take care of that. You won’t hit anything with that posture.”
“I’m not fat...”
“You’re not fit either.”
“Harsh, Pierce. That’s harsh.” Brandon was grinning, though. “You and Mom are two of a kind for sure.”
“You asked.” Pierce tapped Brandon’s shoulders. “Drop your shoulders. Your right one is higher. Lower this elbow. The weapon isn’t something you happened to pick up—it’s an extension of your arm. Is there a full-length mirror so you can see yourself?”
“Mom’s closet door,” Brandon said and they turned as one.
Jacquie gestured to Elizabeth and they pretended they were just coming down the hall, for Brandon’s sake. Jacquie jumped a bit as if surprised when the two men turned into the corridor.
“Need your mirror, Mom.” Brandon waved the gun. “I brought this hoping Pierce would show me some moves. He’s right—I should have told you I had it.” He smiled at her. “Sorry.”
“It better not be loaded,” Jacquie said.
Pierce opened his hand, displaying the bullets. “Not anymore,” he said.
“I had the safety on!” Brandon protested.
“You
