Page 9 of Gideon

“Fuck, I feel bad that I’ve never thought much about foster kids. This has opened my eyes.”

“We were going to start taking in foster kids when Gavin was killed. Maybe I can still do that if I get away from Jonah.”

My mind couldn’t stop thinking about that poor kid. So many kids had fucked up lives, not by any fault of theirs. I thought back and thanked God for letting my grandpa have me. If I had stayed with my mother, there would have been no telling where my life would have taken me.

“Thank you for helping us. I don’t have money to pay you, but I’ll get some as soon as I return to work.”

“Where do you work?”

“I’m a fisherwoman. I get paid by the big Bass Pro Shop guys—boats and anything to do with fishing. They set me up with the truck and boat because a beautiful Bass boat has to be pulled by a gorgeous truck.”

“And Haley, does she enjoy fishing?”

“Not as much as I do. But she loves the water. She’ll fish for a while, and then she wants to jump in,” she said, with a faraway look in her eyes.

“What about Gavin? Did he enjoy fishing?”

“He said he couldn’t understand how anyone could sit for hours trying to catch the big one. He could sit for hours watching sports, but he didn’t fish. I loved my husband. He was a good guy; I wish he would have told me about his father. I could have been prepared when that devil showed up at my house.”

“He won’t get near you and Haley again. I have a house on the beach. You can use my pole and fish right off the beach,” I said, glancing over at her.

“Can you catch fish that way?”

“Sure you can. I fish off the beach. My friend Gage fishes off the beach, too. I can see him from my house. We live in a community with a gated fence and a private beach. You don’t have to worry about someone seeing you.”

“What kind of fish do you catch?”

“I mostly catch rock cod. I don’t try to fish for anything bigger than me,” I laughed, recalling Gage pulling that monster fish in; all he wanted to do was set it free, and he was trying to get the hook out when River and I walked over and helped him.

“What are you laughing about?” She asked, smiling.

“Gage once caught this massive fish. He was trying to save him. All he wanted to do was get the hook out, and he was wrestling with the damn thing. River and I had to help him before the fish killed him.

“Gage, isn’t he the one who is a good cook?”

“Yeah, that’s Gage. Five of our Special Forces team members live in that area. It’s very convenient for us. We even bought a building near there as our headquarters.”

“Tell me about growing up with your grandpa.”

“I was nine months old when I went to Pop, so living with him was the only life I knew. I stayed all my life at the lake cabin. That’s where Pop lived. He built another bedroom onto the back of the cabin for me when I was six. He said a man needed his own bedroom. Before that, I slept on a cot in the front room.”

“He sounds like a good man,” Laney said, watching me.

“He was the best. He was strict. He said he learned a lot when he raised my mother—not to let a child have their way all the time. He made sure I did all my schoolwork; when I was a teenager, he knew all my friends. If I went out, he knew where I was. I made him proud when I joined the Army Special Forces. That is what I wanted more than anything. I wanted my grandfather to be proud of me.”

“It probably made him live longer having you. I notice that with old people, sometimes when you get old, your family drifts away from you. They are all too busy to visit their older family member. If they only knew that their elderly family had so many stories to tell them. One visit a week would do wonders for them.”

“I never thought about it that way. I guess you’re right. Everyone gets so busy. I tried to visit Pops as often as I could. I remember he was always so excited to see me when I did show up. I lived with him full-time for the last year of his life. I knew he didn’t have much longer, so I stayed with him when I left the service.”

I have never talked so much to a woman, but Laney was easy to talk to. She was herself and didn’t try to be someone she wasn’t. I’m not bragging, but I had many lady friends and never lacked female company. But I’ve never talked to them like I did with Laney.

When it got quiet again, I glanced at her, and she was sleeping. This was new for me, too; I’d never had a woman fall asleep when she was with me. I saw Bear lick her cheek as she lay there. Damn, I had one intelligent dog.

5

Laney

When I opened my eyes,Gideon was still driving. I turned and looked at the clock; I slept for three hours.

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