Блейк Пирс - Once Bound

Riley felt a stab of regret. Liam had been teaching April the game, but somehow Riley had never gotten around to playing with him.

Now she felt that she’d never gotten around to too many things.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “We can play online. I mean, you are going to stay in touch, aren’t you? We all expect to hear from you. A lot. If we don’t, I’ll come out to Omaha. I don’t think you’ll want the FBI knocking on your door.”

Liam laughed.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll stay in touch. And we’ll play chess for sure.”

Then he added with an impish smile, “I’m really gonna kick your ass, you know.”

Riley laughed and hugged him.

“In your dreams,” she said.

But of course, she knew he was right. She was a pretty good chess player, but not nearly good enough to win against a brilliant kid like Liam.

Looking like he was on the verge of tears, Liam dashed out the door. He got into the car with Scott and Melinda, and they pulled out of the driveway and drove away.

As Riley stood watching, she heard Jilly and Gabriela cleaning up in the kitchen.

Then she felt someone squeeze her hand. She turned and saw that it was April, looking at her with concern.

“Are you OK, Mom?”

Riley could hardly believe that April was the one to show sympathy right now. After all, Liam had been her boyfriend when he’d moved it. But their romance had been put on hold since then. They’d had to be “hermanos solamente,” as Gabriela had put it – brother and sister only.

April had handled the change with grace and maturity.

“I’m OK,” Riley said. “How about you?”

April blinked a little, but she seemed remarkably in control of her emotions.

“I’m fine,” she said.

Riley remembered something April had planned to do with Liam when school was out.

She said, “Are you still planning to go to chess camp this summer?”

April shook her head.

“Without Liam, it just wouldn’t be the same.”

“I understand,” Riley said.

April squeezed Riley’s hand a little harder and said, “We did a really good thing, didn’t we? Helping Liam, I mean.”

“We sure did,” Riley said, squeezing April’s hand back.

Then she stood gazing at her daughter for a moment. She seemed so incredibly grown up right now, and Riley felt deeply proud of her.

Of course, like all mothers, she worried about April’s future.

She’d become especially concerned recently, when April announced to her that she wanted to be an FBI agent.

Was that the kind of life Riley wanted for her daughter?

She reminded herself yet again …

What I want doesn’t matter.

Her job as a parent was to do all she could to make her daughter’s dreams possible.

April was starting to look just a little restless under Riley’s intense, loving gaze.

“Um, is something wrong, Mom?” April asked.

Riley simply smiled. She’d been waiting for the right moment to bring up something special with April. And if this wasn’t the right moment, she couldn’t imagine when it would be.

“Come on upstairs,” Riley said to April. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

As Riley led April up the stairs, she found herself wondering if she had really made the right decision. But she could feel that April was excited about what the “surprise” would be.

She thought that April also seemed a little nervous.

No more nervous than I am, Riley realized. But she didn’t figure she could change her mind now.

They both went into Riley’s bedroom.

A glance at the expression on her daughter’s face convinced Riley not to make any advance explanations. She went to her closet, where a new little black safe was on the shelf. She punched numbers into the keypad, then took something out and laid it on the bed.

April’s eyes opened wide at what she saw.

“A gun!” she said. “Is it …?”

“Yours?” Riley replied. “Well, legally it’s still mine. Virginia law says you can’t own a handgun until you’re eighteen. But you can learn with this one until then. We’re going to work our way into this slowly, but if you’ve learned to handle it well, it’ll be yours.”

April’s mouth was hanging open.

“Do you want it?” Riley asked.

April didn’t seem to know what to say.

Was this a mistake? Riley wondered. Maybe April actually didn’t feel ready for this.

Riley said, “You said you wanted to become an FBI agent.”

April nodded eagerly.

Riley said, “So – I thought it might be a good idea to start you on some weapons training. Don’t you?”

“Yes – oh, yes,” April said. “This is wonderful. Really, really amazing. Thanks, Mom. I’m just kind of overwhelmed. I really hadn’t expected this.”

“I hadn’t either,” Riley said. “I mean, I hadn’t expected to do anything like this at this point. Owning a gun is a huge responsibility and one that a lot of adults can’t handle.”

Riley took the gun out of the case and showed it to April.

She said, “This is a Ruger SR22 – a .22 caliber semiautomatic handgun.”

“A .22?” April asked.

“Believe me, this is not a toy. I don’t want you training with a larger caliber yet. A .22 can be just as dangerous as any other gun – maybe more so. More people are killed by this caliber than any other. Treat it with care and respect. You’ll only be handling it for training purposes. I’ll keep it in my closet the rest of the time. It will be in a gun safe that can only be opened with a combination. For now, I’ll be the only one with that.”

“Of course,” April said. “I wouldn’t want to have it just lying around.”

Riley added, “And I’d rather you didn’t mention this to Jilly.”

“What about Gabriela?”

Riley knew it was a good question. As far as Jilly was concerned, it was simply a matter of maturity. She might get jealous and want a gun of her own, which was out of the question. As for Gabriela, Riley suspected that she might be alarmed at the idea of April learning to use a weapon.

“I might tell her,” Riley said. “Not just yet.”

Riley clicked out the empty cartridge and said, “Always know whether your weapon is loaded or not.”

She handed the unloaded gun to April, whose hands were shaking a little.

Riley almost joked …

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get one in pink.”

But she thought better of it. This was not a thing to joke about.

April said, “But what do I do with it? Where? When?”

“Right now,” Riley said. “Come on, let’s go.”

Riley put the gun back in its case and carried it with her as they went back down the stairs. Fortunately, Gabriela was working in the kitchen and Jilly was in the family room, so they didn’t have to discuss what was in the case.

April went to the kitchen and told Gabriela that she and Riley were going out for a while, then went to the family room and told Jilly the same. The younger girl seemed to be fascinated by something playing on the TV, and she just nodded.

Riley and April both went out the front door and got into the car. Riley drove them to a gun store called Smith Firearms, where she’d bought the gun a couple of days ago. When she and April went inside, they were surrounded by firearms of every type and size, hanging on the walls or in glass cases.

They were greeted by Brick Smith, the store owner. He was a large, bearded man wearing a plaid shirt and a wide, hearty smile.

“Hello there, Ms. Paige,” he said. “It’s good to see you again. What brings you around today?”

Riley said, “This is my daughter, April. We came by to try out the Ruger I bought here the other day.”