Collision Course (21 page)

CHAPTER 23

G
abe knocked on the door lightly. The sky was just turning pink on the eastern horizon, and the air was crisp. A few seconds later, the door opened. Jane's face appeared behind the screen on the outer door, and she smiled at him.

“I wasn't expecting you so early,” she said as she swung out the screen door. “I haven't even started breakfast yet.” Before he could say anything, she was embracing him and stretching herself up for a kiss.

“Is Robby up yet?” he asked, standing stiffly.

“No, not yet. He stayed up pretty late last night reading the manual on the rifle. What's wrong?”

“We have to talk,” he said.

The look on her face changed, and her arms fell to her sides. She turned and walked to the couch and sat down. “What is it, Gabe?” she said, extending her hand toward the chair opposite where she was sitting. She already knew the answer.

“Well, um, I just think we need to cool it,” he said as he sat.

“And why do you think that?”

“I'm still in love with Hannah,” he said. “It's not right for me to be carrying on like some starstruck high school kid. I really want us to remain friends. I appreciate all the help you've given me over the past couple of weeks, but we just can't continue with the romantic stuff.”

Jane sat with a pensive look for a moment, clearly thinking hard about what she wanted to say. “You were very happy with Hannah, weren't you?”

“Yes.” He was glad to see that she wasn't upset.

“Was it love at first sight?”

Gabe chuckled. “Not at all. In fact, we had a big fight the first time we met.”

“But you grew to love each other and be happy together?”

“Yes,” Gabe said, wondering where this line of questioning was going.

“Do you think that Hannah would want you to be unhappy now that she's gone?”

“Well, no.”

“And have you been more happy or less happy the last few days?” Jane asked.

Gabe paused. “That's not a fair question.”

Jane opened her mouth but then closed it for a second. “Then let me ask you this. Would Hannah be happy with the way you've lived your life since she died?”

It was Gabe's turn to be silent. The color blanched from his face. It felt as if he'd been punched in the gut, but from the inside out. He hung his head and shook it slowly. He'd known this but had always pushed it to the back of his mind. Hearing it out loud made it seem so much worse. He wished Jane would say something else, but it took forever before he heard her voice again. It was soft and quiet.

“Listen, Gabriel, I'm not trying to run your life for you, but I think Hannah would want you to be happy, and I think you've been happier the last couple of days than you have been in quite a while. I know you love her. You'll always love her, no matter what happens. In some ways, I still love Robby's father, even as bad as he was to me. I know I could never live with him again, but it doesn't change some of the feelings I have for him.

“However,” she continued, “that doesn't mean I don't want a meaningful, healthy relationship with someone who can love me back. You are a caring, loving man, Gabriel Horne. You have drowned yourself in that whiskey since Hannah died. I think maybe you hoped it would kill you, but I've seen a change in you over the last couple of weeks. I'm not asking you to commit to anything, just to give our relationship a chance to grow, like you did with Hannah. Having a relationship with me doesn't diminish what the two of you had in any way. If anything, it shows that you value what you shared with her and that you want and need a companion—not to take her place, no one can do that, but to help you be happy like she did.

“We don't always understand the curves life throws at us, but sometimes good comes out of bad. Just consider that life has given you a second chance to be happy,” she finished.

Gabe continued to stare at the floor. Finally he nodded. “I hear what you're saying, and it all makes sense, but we're going to have to take things real slow. I need to think this through.”

* * *

The light streamed into DJ's room. He'd slept as long as he could since he knew he'd be riding most of the night. He got up and dressed, then pulled out his map. He was fifty or sixty miles from his original route. With a little luck, he could be back on it and well on his way to his retreat location by this time tomorrow. He found one of his camping spots about thirty-five miles from where he'd get back on track.
That should be an easy ride for the first night back in the saddle,
he thought.

He organized the gear in his room and made mental notes of the things he needed to do before he left. He'd decided he wouldn't tell Crystal until just before he left. No need to have her pissed all day. He'd just play it cool until dark.

When he walked into the living room, both Crystal and Nancy were reading.

“Hi, sleepyhead,” Crystal said cheerfully. “I thought you were going to sleep all day. Want some breakfast?”

“Yeah, that would be great,” he said.

She got up and walked to the kitchen. Even in the ratty old sweatpants she was wearing, the sway of her hips made his mouth water.

* * *

“Now just squeeze the trigger. Don't jerk it,” Gabe said.

Bang
.

“That was a lot better,” Gabe said. “Where were the sights when the rifle went off?”

“They were just a little to the right of the bull's-eye,” Robby said excitedly.

“All right, let's go look.”

Robby carefully set the rifle on the table, and then he and Gabe walked down to the homemade paper target that was pinned onto the fence at the back of Jane's property. There was a small hole just to the right and slightly below the black circle in the center of the paper.

“Not too bad,” Gabe said. “Let's go back and shoot three shots this time.”

They turned to walk back to the table they were using as a shooting bench. Gabe watched as the boy hurriedly walked back to Michael's rifle. Gabe felt a pang at the fact that it wasn't his son he was teaching to shoot. Michael would have been close to Robby's age if the accident hadn't happened. Gabe wondered if the boys would have been friends.

They probably would have. Maybe I would have taught Robby to shoot at the same time I taught Michael. Maybe this is the path my life is supposed to take now
.

They reached the table, and Robby loaded three rounds into the magazine and fired them at the target with Gabe coaching him. Then they'd examine the target and repeat the process again. With each group, Robby got closer to the center of the target.

As Gabe guided Robby along, he thought more about the things Jane had said. It was likely she was right. Maybe this was his second chance. He was going to do his best not to screw it up.

After a few more groups from the bench, Gabe had Robby shoot some from a standing position. The first group was all over the target, but with a little more instruction, even this improved dramatically. When they'd been at it for a little over two hours, Gabe felt it was time to take a break.

“Do we have to stop, Mr. Horne?” Robby asked.

“It's almost lunchtime, and we both have chores to do,” Gabe said. “Maybe we can shoot a little more this afternoon.”

“Can I just shoot one more group?”

“Okay, one more,” Gabe said, trying not to smile.

After lunch, Robby attacked his chores with a vigor his mother couldn't recall him ever having. He was waiting anxiously when Gabe drove up with several buckets of vegetables in the back of his truck. Robby helped him carry them into the house.

“Gabe, this is way more than we can eat before it goes bad,” Jane told him.

“Then I guess we better trade some off or can some of it. I have almost twice this much back at my place.”

“Canning it sounds like a good idea, but I don't know how. Do you?”

Gabe shook his head. “Hannah used to do it. I still have her pressure cooker and a bunch of jars at home, but I don't think there are any lids. We might be able to get some in town, and I think there's a book that tells how to can all kinds of things in her stuff. I hope there is, because I don't have a clue,” he said.

“We could go back to your place, and I could help you look for it,” Jane said.

Gabe saw the happy look on Robby's face melt. He decided to have some fun with the youngster.

“Well, I promised Robby we could shoot some more once all the chores were done.” The smile returned to the teen's face. “But I was also thinking we really shouldn't waste any more ammo on target practice.” The corners of the boy's mouth were starting to resemble a yo-yo. “So I guess we could go look for it. Or . . . Robby and I could go back to my place and try to get some squirrels for supper.”

Robby's mouth dropped open, and his eyes looked as if they might pop out. “Please, Mom, let me go hunting with Mr. Horne. I'll help you look for whatever you need later if you let us go. Please!” he said.

“Please!” Gabe added, tipping his head to one side and putting on a big smile and his best little beggar boy look.

“All right,” Jane said. “I can see that you boys would be useless anyway, but you'd better bring home some meat. I'm getting sick of chicken.”

“We will, Mom. You'll see. Thank you!”

“Get your rifle and a hat,” Gabe told Robby.

“Yes, sir.”

After Robby left the kitchen, Gabe said, “That's a good boy you've got there, Jane.”

“You just make sure you teach him to be safe, and I'm serious about the meat.” She gave him a peck on the cheek.

“I will, and I know you are,” Gabe said with a wink.

Gabe and Robby were soon walking into the woods that made up the back of Gabe's acreage. Gabe reminded the boy of the safety rules and told him it was important not to let the excitement of the hunt cause a lapse in the adherence to those rules. He showed the young man how to move slowly and quietly and how to watch for squirrels. Before long, they spotted one, and a few minutes later, it was in the bag. Gabe encouraged Robby only to take head shots, so none of the meat would be wasted. He also explained that it was best to take fully grown animals and only to kill what they needed.

It didn't take long for them to have six bushy-tails. They walked back up to Gabe's house and cleaned them; Gabe first showed the young man the process, then had him do it. As they drove back to the Walker place, it was hard for Robby to contain his enthusiasm about the hunt. They pulled up in front of the house, and the boy was out of the truck and running for the front door with the squirrels before Gabe could bring the vehicle to a complete stop.

Gabe smiled as he walked into the house with the rifle case Robby had forgotten.

“It was so cool, Mom. We got six squirrels. See? I got four of them. I only missed the head on the first one. Mr. Horne showed me the tricks of how to get them. It's pretty easy if there are two of you. One of us just has to go to the other side of the tree, and the squirrel will come to the other side, but if you're by yourself, you have to be really patient. The squirrels are curious, and if you wait real quiet, they'll stick their head up to look at you. Like Mr. Horne said, he didn't know if curiosity killed the cat, but it sure has done in a bunch of squirrels.”

“I see,” Jane said. “So I guess you had a good time.”

“It was great! Mr. Horne said I did really well! He said maybe we could go hog hunting one night, if it's okay with you, of course.”

“We'll talk about it,” she said. “I'm sure we can work something out. Now I need you to go get the eggs before it gets completely dark.”

“Okay, Mom. Thanks,” Robby said as he ran out the back door.

Jane looked at Gabe with a big smile on her face. “I can't remember the last time he was this excited about something, but what do you expect me to do with these tree rats?”

“We men killed and cleaned the ferocious beasts; all you have to do is cook 'em, woman,” Gabe said with a sarcastic smile on his face. A split second later, he was ducking to dodge the wet sponge Jane hurled at him.

By the time he stood back up straight, she had closed in to put her arms around him and had pressed her lips to his.

* * *

It was almost dark. DJ had tried to sleep, to no avail. His mind kept racing about getting ready to go. He really had gotten comfortable here and hated to leave, but he couldn't chance being caught for killing the two quad thieves. He got up, went outside, and cut a section of garden hose from one hanging in the shed. Crystal was in the kitchen cooking and hardly noticed him go outside. He siphoned all the gas he could get out of her car into one of his jerry cans. He was only able to get a little over three gallons, so he figured there should be enough for Crystal to get back to town for more. If there wasn't, she could always borrow another gallon from the neighbor. Going around back, he filled the tank of his quad with the last of the fuel he'd brought with him. There was a little left in the can, and he poured it in with the gas from Crystal's car. He turned the key on the big machine, and it fired immediately. He inspected it quickly and determined that it was ready to go, so he turned it off. All he had to do was load his stuff.

“What are you doing?” Crystal said as he walked into the house.

“Nothing, just checking on my quad,” he replied.

“Well, dinner's almost ready. Why don't you get washed up?”

“All right.”

He was sad that this would probably be his last home-cooked meal for a long time. Crystal wasn't just nice to look at; she was a hell of a cook.

Dinner was quiet. Crystal and Nancy talked some, but DJ was detached as he thought about getting everything ready to go. After the table was cleaned off, Crystal sent Nancy to her room to play.

“What's the matter, DJ?” she said as she started washing the dishes.