Protection

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

     Shoot? How was she going to learn how to shoot without arousing suspicion? The idea had holes all in it.

“What are you talking about?” Bliss asked of Clint.

“If I can ride out here in the middle of Arizona on a whim, I can teach a woman how to shoot a gun,” Clint said.

“How are we going to keep this from my father?”

“We can’t. He’s gonna know all about it.”

Bliss chuckled. The man overestimated his abilities. “How are you gonna manage that one?”

“I can come up with a good enough reason that you need to learn how to use a gun to satisfy him. Leave your daddy to me. Does he have any extra guns lying around?” Clint asked.

Bliss thought a moment, doing a mental inventory of each room in the ranch house. “I think he may have one in his bedroom closet that he never uses.”

“Good. If you can get that and some ammunition, we’ll be well on our way to making you the finest gunslinger Arizona ever did see,” Clint smiled over at her.

She would have fallen off her horse if she hadn’t been so experienced. He had the most devastating, most handsome smile of anyone she had ever seen in her life. It was a pity he didn’t show it more often.

Recovering quickly, she smiled back at him.

“How’s your hand?” she asked.

Clint shrugged. “It’s still there. That’s about all I can say.”

“Maybe you should go have a doctor see it,” she suggested.

Clint shook his head nonchalantly. “Nah. It ain’t that bad.”

Bliss smirked. Typical of a man. Clint was probably the type that wouldn’t go to a doctor unless he was dying. At least he wasn’t a baby about it.

“I’m gonna go see Momma for a minute. Is that okay with you?” she asked him.

He nodded. “Whatever you wanna do.”

Soon enough, they pulled up beside her mother’s grave and Bliss dismounted.

“I’m gonna ride around this way. I’ll be back in a bit,” Clint told her as he turned his horse east.

Bliss nodded and turned toward her mother’s grave as he rode off.

She sat down on the ground and tenderly caressed the edge of the wooden cross with her fingertips. Her eyes clouded over with tears. Her heart ached, longing for the touch of her mother that was growing dimmer and dimmer by the day.

“How could I lose you, Momma? You never did anything to anyone. Who would have killed you? I have so… so many questions.” She stifled a sob as she spoke. “You deserve justice and I deserve closure, don’t I?”

A gentle yet cold breeze swept over her and she pulled her coat tighter around her. She wished God were there. If the most powerful thing in the universe could care about her and her problems, everything would be fixed my now. Momma had told her several times that God’s plan was worth living out. She had said that there would be trials and that they would bend, but God wouldn’t let them break into pieces. The thing was, she already felt like she was breaking into pieces.

“It’s good to see you again, Bliss,” A voice tore through her thoughts like a gunshot.

She froze.

She knew that voice the moment she heard it.

She jerked to her feet and whirled around to face its owner.