Unshaken

30

"How are you today, Florence?" Hosea smiled as he sat beside me at the small table.

"I'm just fine, Hosea." I returned his smile. "Feelin' like my old self again."

"That's good. I'm glad. I hated to see you hurting like that."

I nodded. "I'm still sad about it, but it just wasn't meant to be. We're definitely not in any position to be bringin' a child into the world now."

"That I can agree with."

"Although, the idea of Grandpa Hosea makes me feel a bit soft inside." I chuckled.

"Well, there's still plenty of time for that when we're safe." He patted me shoulder. "You're such a sweet strong girl, and I'm proud of who you are."

My smile widened. "Thank you. It's nice to hear somethin' like that from someone who isn't Arthur."

"Well, I truly mean it."

"I love you, Hosea."

"I love you too, dear girl." He reached over and pulled me into a hug. "Nothin' in this world is ever gonna change that." When he pulled back, he smiled brightly at me. "Are you gonna be alright?"

"Sure, I'll be fine. Hopefully, Arthur'll be back soon and I'll get the good news that Bronte's gone."

"Is he really worth all this anger?"

"And then some." I nodded.

"I understand being upset. You have every right to feel the way you do. But surely there's some peaceful way to bring this to an end."

"If there is, Hosea, I don't care. He set us up. He nearly got every one of us who went to the station killed. I got a lot of hate in my heart for that man, and it's never gonna go away as long as I know he's still breathin'."

He stood from his seat. "Say someone felt the same way about Arthur. Wouldn't you look for a peaceful solution?"

I looked up at him. "Angelo Bronte doesn't have a single kind bone in his body. Everything he does for anybody that isn't himself is for his own personal gain. Compared to him, Arthur is a damn saint. You won't sway me on this. I'm sorry."

Without another word, he smoothed the hair down my head before walking away. He was disappointed in my words, but in that moment, I didn't care. I wasn't going to lie to him about the way I felt.

Micah took a heavy seat in the chair Hosea had left. When I started to stand, his words stopped me.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah. Sit back down. We ain't talked in a while."

"And I was enjoying the peace." I crossed my arms.

"Why you gotta be so mean to me. What have I really done to you?"

"Oh, jeez, you're right, Micah! What have you done to me? Besides draggin' me into a firefight with an entire town, gettin' my best friend shot, callin' me a whore every chance you got, and causing me to feel like I'm not safe around camp? Not to mention gettin' me and Arthur caught and tortured by Colm."

"That O'Driscoll thing weren't all on me, and you know it."

"I hate you, Micah Bell, and if I could, I"d string you up in one of these trees and watch until your feet stopped kickin'."

"You better watch who you're talkin' to like that." Micah growled as he stood up from his seat so fast the chair fell backwards.

"I'm not afraid of you." I took to my feet as well. "You're no better than one of those gators out there in the swamp, lurkin' around and hopin' someone lets their guard down long enough for you to snap onto them."