The Fireproof Girl by Loretta Lost

Author:Loretta Lost [Lost, Loretta]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-10-01T22:00:00+00:00

Shields,

You will not find any guns in the trunk of the car that you didn’t steal.

-L

“That’s just my boss messing with me,” I explain to Zack. “She decided not to fire me after all, and she’s hooking me up with some gear to help out. She’s even throwing in a gun for you.”

“A gun?” Zack repeats, his eyes growing wide, like a puppy staring at a treat. “What kind? For me? When do I get it?”

“It’s probably there waiting now. Or at least, she’s sent it there, and she figures that by the time we can get there, it will have been delivered.”

“When can we go?” Zack asks. “Can we go now? Sophie, I haven’t held a gun in… months. It’s the only thing I’m good at. And I’m really, really good at it.”

My face softens, imagining what it must be like for Zack to be injured and out of work for so long. Having received an honorable discharge, he would be eligible to receive disability benefits from the VA if he applied, but he has been determined to find meaningful work and contribute to society. He doesn’t know that since we were set up on a blind date, by his old boss and Luciana, I kind of have been his job. They both thought it would be good for us. Zack wouldn’t leave the house at all after losing his leg, not even for physical therapy. Lucy didn’t think it was safe for me to live alone, considering my job and my history.

Maybe now that he knows, I can try to hook him up with a real job that gives him some satisfaction. Feeling a little guilty, I nod. “We’ll go first thing in the morning. I need to take a little nap.”

“Isn’t it better to move fast?” he asks. “I just wouldn’t be too happy if those guns got into the wrong hands.”

“Maybe,” I say, glancing at the French fries. A few hundred calories in the tank could keep me going for another few hours.

“Hey,” Zack says suddenly. “I got distracted by the guns, but I wanted to tell you something. I’m not upset about the marriage thing. I understand that you probably had your reasons for never telling me that you were married.”

Turning away from him, I look toward the wall. “The funeral is tomorrow, Zack. I should probably get some rest.”

“I know. I know how important Cole was to you, and… I’m so sorry I kept those letters, Sophie. I didn’t know what I was doing, and if I could go back in time…”

“That means a lot, Zack.”

“But it still hurts. I can’t help it. I just proposed to you this morning, and to learn that you’ve been married this whole time…”

“We—we got married for financial and legal reasons. It wasn’t like that. I was fifteen.”

“So, you never slept with him?” Zack asks.

I don’t respond. The silence is heavy in the room.

“Sorry, that’s none of my business,” Zack says. “But—why didn’t you ever get divorced?”

This question is even worse.

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