Page 155 of Like A Moth To A Flame

“I don’t know…” I said, sighing. “I kind of wanted to get horses again, and maybe some goats. I’d need either livestock guardian dogs or some herders. Malinois are a lot of work.”

“Anything you want,” Tommy said. When I looked up at him, there was an expression on his face that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It was determination as much as it was pleading. “And he can be my dog if that’s what it takes, but I need someone here to help when I’m not.”

I sighed again, looking down at Duke. He seemed to be a very sweet dog, and maybe Tommy was right—maybe it would be good to have a little peace of mind when he wasn’t home.

“Come out back,” Tommy said, popping the front door open. “I’ve got something else to show you.”

Duke waited patiently at my side as I stepped into my boots and grabbed my coat from the hook beside the door. His brown eyes watched with interest as I shrugged it on and struggled to button it in front of me. When I was done, he calmly stepped out the door with me. He didn’t pull at the leash or tug impatiently when it took me a little longer than him to get out the door.

He underwent extensive training, and I don’t know why I expected any different.

Tommy held out a hand and helped me down the stairs, the frigid wind whipping through his dark hair. The world around us was a sea of white snow and ice. Reaching down, Tommy gently took the leash from me so I could shove my hands into my coat pockets, and reached down, unclipping Duke. I expected him to explode, bounding ahead and running through the snow like my childhood dog always had, but again, he pleasantly surprised me.

We trudged through the winter wonderland, our footsteps crunching in the freshly fallen snow. Everything around us was silent, and almost unnervingly so. Duke walked ahead of us but stayed close enough that he could turn around and quickly answer any command we gave, his paws leaving imprints on the pristine white canvas.

Tommy and I followed closely behind, our breath catching in the frosty air. The cold seemed to seep into every crevice, chilling me to the bone. Duke, with his thick fur coat, seemed unaffected.

As we made our way through the frozen landscape, the surrounding stillness was broken only by the sound of our footsteps and the occasional gust of wind. The world had transformed into a serene and ethereal thing, with icicles glistening on the branches of trees and snowflakes gently descending from the sky.

Duke’s brown eyes sparkled with excitement, his tail wagging in anticipation. He seemed to revel in the beauty of nature, finding joy in the simplest of things.

Close to the barn, Tommy found the covered-over stump of a long cut-down tree and reached down, swiping a gloved hand across it to clear the snow.

“Here. Sit. I’ve gotta show you something.”

Even if I wasn’t quite thrilled about parking my butt on a cold, wet stump, I did as he asked, folding my arms over my chest and turtling my neck down into the collar of my jacket.

“It’s cold,” I complained, and Tommy smiled down at me.

Reaching into his jacket, he pulled something from the inner pocket, and the minute I saw it, I almost jumped out of my skin.

My dad’s service pistol.

“So that’s where it went,” I said, feigning confusion. As if I didn’t know.

“Very funny,” he grumbled, sniffling against the cold as he popped the clip to check the bullets.

“Weren’t you scared I was gonna shoot you?” I asked, watching his expression. It stayed unchanging. He shrugged.

“Not really,” he said, popping the clip back into place. “My dad always used to say I wasn’t smart enough to be afraid of anything.”

“That’s terrible,” I said, frowning.

“Don’t worry about it. My dad was a drunk, and a woman beater. Didn’t ever teach me anything anyway,” he said, turning. Duke sat at his feet, looking up at him with a happy smile, his tongue lolling out one side of his mouth. “Watch this. This dog is gun-proof.”

Turning, he raised the gun in his hand and fired off into the distance. It went off with a heart-stopping bang, and I jumped, but in the snow, Duke didn’t even react. He didn’t even seem to notice. He simply turned his head in the direction Tommy had shot, and while I knew it was miles and miles of empty pasture, I couldn’t help but worry someone would get hurt.

“Wild,” I said, watching as Duke wagged his tail lazily, creating his own personal style of snow angel.

Turning back to me, Tommy flipped the safety and handed the gun to me

“What’s that for?” I asked, taking it. It was heavy with more than just weight alone. I had the power to kill dangling between my fingertips.

“To keep me out of prison,” he says.

“Prison?”

He nods.

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