Nathan Jones - Determination

Matt gave him a helpless look. “Someone has to do it.”

“Someone does,” Lewis agreed. “But I think you’re looking at the wrong cousin.”

The two of them glanced over at Trev, who’d just finished returning Sam’s hug and was introducing her to the town’s new members. Although from the way he fidgeted it was obvious he was looking for an excuse to break away and see his family, and only his sense of responsibility for the escaped prisoners held him back.

“You don’t want it, but you’d fob it off on him,” Matt said flatly.

Lewis shrugged again. “Before the blockheads got here and turned everything on its head he was feeling a bit down. All the projects I’d started while he was gone were mine, and he didn’t really feel like a part of any of them. He jumped on the apiary as something he could call his own, but that’s not really enough for him. Maybe this will be a role he can settle into.”

Matt nodded slowly. “You have a point. And he would do a good job with it.” He nudged Lewis in the ribs. “He’s a lot more personable than you.”

He nudged his friend back. “Should we go give him the good news?”

“Nah. Let’s give him some time to enjoy his freedom first.” Matt’s grin widened slightly as he looked back that way. “Speaking of which, what’s the deal with him and that brunette sticking to him like glue? Are they… ?”

Lewis felt his smile fade. “No,” he replied. “Not right now. Maybe never, after what she went through.”

Realization dawned. “Ah.” His friend looked away. “I heard a bit about what the blockheads do to their prisoners. I wasn’t thinking.”

A brief, uncomfortable silence fell, until Lewis clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Come on. Back to the reunion.”

Trev had missed his family, but he hadn’t realized just how much until he saw them. It felt like a weight lifted off his chest more and more as he threw his arms around his mom, dad, Linda, and Jim in turn, then crashed Lewis and Jane’s reunion to give his aunt, uncle, and Mary crushing hugs as well.

He wasn’t ashamed to admit that he shed a few tears, and he was far from the only one.

Jim stayed glued to his side as everyone talked over each other, asking for news and details of the time they’d spent apart. It wasn’t a completely unfamiliar sensation after his time with Deb, and he didn’t even mind his little brother pestering him for details about the fighting.

After the first few chaotic minutes the reunion started drifting up the new dirt road towards the valley refuge, everyone talking over themselves to point out their houses, most of which families had built with their own hands, or projects they’d taken part in. Jim proudly announced that he’d been taking care of the bees while Trev was gone, and Trev ruffled his brother’s hair and gave him a one-armed hug as he complimented his work.

The celebration got even bigger when they reached the growing town and hundreds more Aspen Hill residents joined in. Trev reluctantly stepped away from his family’s reunion, just long enough to make sure the town’s new members were comfortable and were being introduced to everyone.

Mary, bless her heart, immediately took the three women in that group under her wing, and they gratefully stuck close to her as some sort of anchor in the confusion. Linda followed her cousin, but her interest was mostly on Deb. Trev overheard his sister asking casually probing questions about the brown-haired woman’s relationship with him, and in a flush of embarrassment contemplated gagging her with the headscarf she was wearing.

He was heading back to his family to ask Lucas about his leg when Matt collared him. “Give me a second,” his friend said, pulling him aside.

“Sure.” Trev followed him, then suddenly started as he remembered. “Oh, hey.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the sheriff’s badge. “Here. Vernon wanted this to go to Aspen Hill’s lawman.”

Matt didn’t reach for it. “Why don’t you keep it?” he said quietly.

Trev snorted. “Look, I know who it came from and I don’t blame you for not wanting any gifts from him. But a badge is a badge, right?” He waggled it.

His friend finally took it, but only to pin to Trev’s shirt. “No. I mean it belongs to you, if you want the job.”

For a moment Trev stood stunned. Matt had led the defenders almost from the beginning, aside from when he’d led the volunteers. “You’re quitting?”

“No,” his friend gave him a tense smile. “I’ve been promoted. Mayor.”

“Wow.” Trev clapped him on the shoulder. “Congratulations. You’ll do a great job.” Matt nodded, eyes still on him, and Trev fidgeted. “Seriously though, me? I could name a dozen people more qualified for the job off the top of my head.”

Matt snorted. “That’s what I said, too. And like everyone told me when I did, you’re the best person for the job.”

Trev fingered the badge. He wasn’t sure he really wanted that sort of responsibility, forget whether or not he was ready for it. But he wasn’t about to leave his friend hanging. “Okay. Although I’m thinking maybe we should switch things up. Go with far patrols to give early warning of any potential threat, with everyone in town going about their business but ready to grab their guns and defend the place if they have to.”

“Sounds good.” His friend looked amused.

Trev continued. “I mean, the way we were doing it before required a lot of manpower, way more than unnecessary most of the time, and depending on how things shake out with the blockheads gone we might not need to overexert ourselves. We could bring it up with Lewis.”

“We could. But you’re the one in charge now.” Matt clapped him on the back and turned to look at the celebration. “That’s an amazing sight, isn’t it? I wasn’t sure I’d ever see it when we were down with Davis.”

Trev nodded. “We did it.”

“Somehow,” Matt agreed, grinning. “Or more specifically, you managed to burn up a few enemies and buried the ones that stuck around for more in an landslide.” He abruptly stiffened. “Is that Rick and Alice making out? When did that happen?”

It was Trev’s turn to look amused. “No idea. She was leaning towards Pete before he took off, but sometime between then and now Rick must’ve won her over.”

His friend gave him a pained look at the mention of their vanished friend. “I wonder where he went. I keep asking Chauncey to look for news of him over the radio, and the defenders are all watching out in case he shows up. But so far he hasn’t.”

Trev nodded sadly. His friend’s disappearance hit him hard, but Matt had to blame himself even more after what happened. “Davis and Harmon never found anything either. It’s probably bad news.”

“Probably.” Matt sighed. “Part of me hopes he went deeper into the mountains and tried to join some other group of volunteers. Or I guess even if he tried to stage some sort of one man war against the blockheads, and has been causing them a bit of grief all this time, that would be fine. As long as he’s still okay. I just don’t like the thought that he might’ve gone off on some wild attack and it didn’t go so well for him.”

Trev shook his head. He hadn’t done much to help Pete, busy with his own duties, and he sort of wished he had. He wasn’t sure what sort of wisdom he could’ve offered the young man, or even if he could’ve helped rather than making things worse, but not trying would nag at him for as long as they went without news of their friend. That might be a long, long time depending on what had happened.

Maybe it had been the wrong decision to turn Pete away when Alice asked to let him join. He’d have to be better about taking care of his people if he was going to lead the defenders. Like Davis had warned him.