Unlovable (42 page)

“
Maggie, a few rules first.
Never point a gun at anyone,” Seth instructed.

“
Doesn’t that defeat the
whole purpose?”

Booker laughed. He was really starting
to get on my nerves! I stuck my tongue out at him, he laughed even
harder.

Seth ignored us. “Maggie, it’s better
to err on the side of caution is all I’m saying. You should always
assume the gun is loaded. Even if you’ve removed the clip and have
checked to see if the chamber is empty,” he said, pointing to each
part. “Always keep the gun pointed down at the ground until you are
ready to use it.” He aimed the tip of the gun straight
down.

“
Gun points down, got
it.”

Seth and Booker took turns shooting at
the target first. The two of them and their macho egos battled it
out to see who could get the highest score. Men!

The target was set to mimic random
movement, making it harder to hit. After several loud rounds, Seth
pushed a small yellow button, and two battered targets slid forward
along separate wires. Booker won by ten points. “You have to wait
for the opportune moment, my friend.”

“
Yes, Captain Jack Sparrow,
or be darn lucky.” Seth said, begrudgingly. “Look, you missed the
target entirely here,” he said, pointing to a bullet hole an inch
below the target.

“
Even the best make a
mistake now and then,” Booker said, still gloating.

It was my turn next. “Face the target,
Maggie, and slowly raise the gun out in front of you, cupping it in
both hands.” Seth reached his arms around me and positioned my
hands properly on the gun. I stretched up, kissing his
cheek.

“
I doubt that will help,
Magpie.”

“
Doesn’t hurt.” Seth winked
down at me. I refocused on the target, holding the gun as he
instructed. “Good, now squeeze the trigger.” I closed my eyes and
pulled the trigger. The power of the shot threw me back into Seth’s
chest, and I completely missed the target. Booker laughed
again.

“
Can he leave?”

“
Book, please stop. You’re
not helping.”

Unfortunately, Booker’s lack of
teasing didn’t help either. I shot the gun a couple dozen times,
each time missing the dumb target.

“
I can’t do this, remember
the Winter Festival and the water gun game? I didn’t get one drop
of water in the cup.” This whole thing was quickly becoming
exasperating.

“
Maggie, it may help if you
keep your eyes open,” Seth whispered in my ears. My eyes flashed to
Booker, who had turned his back on us. His shoulders were jouncing
in laughter. I looked fiercely at the target, and forcing my eyes
to stay open, shot at the stupid thing one last time.

“
I hit it. Look!” I punched
the yellow button, and the target slid forward. There was a small
nick out of the corner of the paper. I smiled. Seth smiled. Booker
laughed.

“
I’ve never heard of anyone
dying from a flesh wound, but there’s always a first time.” The
smile left Seth’s face and was replaced by a look of
nausea.

“
I need
more practice, I’ll get better, promise.”
I certainly can't get any worse,
I thought, setting the gun down and backing away
from it cautiously.

“
We’re out of time, Seth,
we’d better clean up.” Booker patted him on the back. “Don’t worry.
We’ll make sure she’s with one of us at all times until these two
are caught. We’ll protect her with our lives, if need be.” Seth
nodded.

“
What’s wrong, Maggie?” Book
draped his arm around my shoulder, giving me a nudge. “Don’t let
this shooting thing bother you, and I’m sorry for
laughing.”

“
I’m never going to be able
to do this,” I bemoaned.

“
Sure you will. Just
remember two things. One, watch for the opportune moment.” He
stopped and smiled broadly.

I knew I was going to regret asking,
but I did it anyway. “And the second thing?”

“
Keep your eyes open.” He
grinned devilishly before leaving to tell whoever was in charge we
were done, taking the gun with him. Seth swept me into his arms and
planted his delicious mouth on mine.

“
I’d rather do this than
shoot a gun any day.”

“
Yes, except kissing me
won’t save your life.” I didn’t tell him how very wrong he was. He
took my hand, and we headed for the car. Booker was standing
outside waiting for us.

“
I don’t believe anyone’s
ever necked in the shooting range before.”

“
We need to find you a
woman, Book,” Seth said dryly.

“
Make sure she can handle a
gun, please.” I whacked him on the arm. “Hmm, did a butterfly just
land on me?” He glanced around pretending to look for some
nonexistent bug.

“
One of these days, Book,”
Seth said. Booker threw back his head in laughter.

31

“
Please don’t go?” I cinched
my arms around Seth as if there was enough strength in them to stop
him.

“
Maggie, I’ll be back in a
couple of days. You haven’t touched any of the homework that Mrs.
Gianchi sent over. Maybe without my distractions you’ll be able to
get it done.”

“
I like your distractions.”
I kissed him.

“
You should go visit Sam.
Booker has him under lock and key too.”

“
No thanks. I’m not in the
mood to deal with Book’s raillery” I smoothed out his brown tee
shirt where I’d wrinkled it kissing him. “Please hurry
back.”

“
I will. Remember, don’t
undo the code for anyone.” I nodded, it was only the thousandth
time he had said it today. After an all-too-speedy kiss goodbye, he
left.

I reluctantly gathered my stack of
homework and sat down at the table. Seth was right, without his
distractions the work was done quickly, though it wasn’t nearly as
much fun. Later, Booker took me to visit my mother, which only
depressed me more. After a bowl of chicken soup, I tried watching
some old movies, except it wasn’t the same without Seth.

The next day was just as monotonous,
and to make matters worse it was raining which didn’t help my
gloomy mood any. I puttered around determined to find something to
do. I cleaned out the refrigerator, dusted everything there was to
dust, and vacuumed every room in the house. I even cleaned the
bathrooms, proof positive the doldrums had taken possession of my
soul.

I finally decided to take a bubble
bath to kill time; Seth would be proud. Naturally, as I settled
into the tub, my cell phone rang.

“
Hi, I miss you,” I said,
surrounded by a sea of bubbles.

“
I miss you too. What have
you been doing without me?”

I briefly narrated my boring morning
to him. “I also finished all my homework, and currently I’m sitting
in a tub of bubbles wishing you were here. How much longer before
you come home?”

“
Tomorrow. I’ll try and
catch the 10:00 A.M. flight.” I sighed. “Maggie, call Booker. Sam
would love to see you again.”

“
Maybe I will.” Wow, I was
desperate enough to put up with Booker’s teasing. Quite sad,
really.

“
I’ll see you tomorrow. Love
you.” He hung up before I could say it back. I set the phone back
down on the side of the tub and sank deep into the bubbles. Within
seconds, it rang again.

“
I love you.”

“
I love you too, but sorry,
Jailbait, you’re much too young.”

“
Funny, Booker. How are
you?” I scooped up a handful of bubbles, blowing them into the
air.

“
Actually, Sam’s not doing
so well today, and I have to go into work. I’m hoping you could
spend the night here.”

“
Sure. What’s wrong with
him?”

“
I don’t know. For the past
couple days he’s been unusually tired and listless. I tried to get
him to go see Cole, but he insists he’s 92, and 92 year-old people
have been known to get tired. In any case, he shouldn’t be here
alone.”

“
I’ll be right
over.”

“
NO! I’ll pick you
up.”

“
You don’t want to leave Sam
alone. Besides, I know there’s an agent outside.”

“
Not for long. The storms
wreaking havoc, and he's being called away to help with the growing
number of accidents. Maggie, do not leave the house until I get
there, understand? I’ll be over in ten minutes.”

“
Fine, good bye.” I jumped
out of the tub, quickly dressed, and shoved a few things into a
bag, finishing as Booker’s car pulled into the driveway.

I punched in the code and opened the
front door while Booker shook off the rain droplets from his
umbrella. He was in his full uniform, including a blue MET raincoat
and large chunky rain boots.

“
Why did you open the
door?”

“
Because it’s rude to leave
an MET agent standing on the doorstep in the rain. They shrink in
water, you know.”

“
What?”

“
I opened the door to let
you in. You did want to come in, right?”

“
You were
told not to open the door for anyone. I know Seth’s code, I can
punch it in myself.” He was
not
in a good mood.

“
Sorry, I didn’t
think—”

“
Exactly, you didn’t think.
Get your things.”

“
Wait a minute. Seth also
told me not to leave the house. How do I know this isn’t some kind
of test, Puss ’n Boots?”

His jawed tightened. “Listen, funny
girl, if you don’t grab your stuff and get in the car, I’m going to
arrest you for being a pain in the—” he cleared his throat, “neck.”
He stormed across the room, yanked my bag off the counter, and
walked me out to the car.

I was glad to see the torrential rains
had eased into a small thunderstorm. I sat soberly with my window
cracked, smelling the rain. “What’s wrong?” Booker
asked.

“
Nothing.”

He let out a growl, a real live
growl.

“
Okay, fine, I miss Seth.
Happy now?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m sure it’s
been a rough 24 hours for you.”

It’s been 30 hours,
actually.

He pulled into his driveway and turned
toward me. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper, Maggie. Sam’s not
doing well, and it’s got me on edge. I just can’t lose him.” His
eyes filled with pain as he spoke.

“
Don’t worry about it.” I
gave him a quick hug.

We walked in and found Sam stretched
out on the recliner next to the couch. He didn’t look well at
all.

“
Grandfather, are you
alright?” Booker rushed over to him.

“
You worry too much, I’m
fine. Old men do have a tendency to sit down you know.”

“
9-1-1’s backed up about an
hour because of the weather, so if you need–”

“
Have a
nice day, sonny,” Sam glared. Booker rattled off the
rules
again
to both of us, set the alarm, including the electric zapping
one as he left.

“
Thank heavens he’s gone.
It’s time to party!” Sam rubbed his hands together playfully. “Are
you hungry?”

“
I’ll get it, Sam. What do
you want?”

“
Not you too? I’m just
tired. Now, what do you want to eat?” he demanded.

I tried to think of something easy.
“How about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?” He frowned, but
said nothing as he struggled out of the recliner and waddled slowly
to the kitchen, mumbling under his breath about my choice of lunch.
He made the sandwich and set it on a plate when he’d
finished.

“
If you’ll excuse me, I’m
exhausted from making such a labor intensive meal. I need a nap.”
His sarcasm reminded me of Booker, and I almost laughed.

I attempted to draw him into some
small talk, but he more or less grumbled his replies. After lunch,
I suggested we play a card game.

“
Do you know how to play
Phase Ten?”

“
Are you sure my old heart
can take the excitement?”

“
I had hoped you would fall
asleep in the middle of the game so I’d win by default.” Finally, a
smile.

He won the first two rounds, but
during the third, he became restless, and the game dragged on
forever. When Booker called for the fourth time, Sam spent the
phone conversation lecturing Booker about being over-protective
until Book’s cell phone finally died.

“
Good. Maybe we’ll finally
have some peace.” After the card game was over, Sam suggested we
take a break before playing another. He slowly rose and walked over
to the couch, collapsing onto the end.

“
Do you feel like taking a
little drive to the hospital? I do believe I’m having a heart
attack.” He said it so calmly you’d think he was asking me to go on
a simple drive through the country.

“
No, we can’t leave, Sam!
I’m calling Booker.”