Chapter 37
Chapter 37
“H ey, Boss . . .”
Camp’s voice echoed over me. Only then did I notice the half inch of snow covering my body. “You’ve been staring through that thing for over an hour and it’s getting cold out here. You okay?”
While I had lost all track of time, Gunner had burrowed into a ball next to me and snored quietly. Did he say an hour? I straightened my finger and pulled the safety to the on position. “Yeah.”
Camp knelt, laying his pack alongside him. “You see the news?”
I nodded.
Camp rolled out his shooter’s mat, lay beside me, and stared through Swarovski range-finding binoculars in the same direction of my barrel. Took him a few seconds to find it. “You sure you don’t want to get a little closer? You’re gonna have a tough time hitting that mountainside, much less an eight-inch piece of steel.”
“I’m good.”
Doubtful, he studied me. “What’re you doing up here staring through that thing?”
“Sometimes I see more clearly through it.”
“I don’t doubt that, but isn’t the point to pull the trigger?”
“Not always. Sometimes I just need help seeing through the fog.”
He studied me. “You okay? You want to sit this one out?”
I turned my head slightly.
“Permission to speak freely?”
“Yes, but you don’t need to ask. You can just go ahead.”
“If you’re distracted, not a hundred percent, you’re a hindrance. A liability. Worse, a danger to us and those girls.”
“I know that.”
“So do you make the call... or do I?”
“I’m in pain. So I’m up here staring through this thing, processing it. Trying to make sense of what doesn’t make sense. You’re catching me in the middle of that. So how about maybe you cut me a little slack while I stumble through being human.”
“Wow. That was really well said. I’m gonna write that down. ‘Stumble through’—did you say ‘being human’?”
I turned my head even more and raised an eyebrow.
He stared back through his binoculars. “Well, since I got you talking and you obviously have doubt about your ability to hit that target, can I ask you something?”
“Well, since you just hiked uphill over two thousand feet of elevation through the snow, I’d feel disappointed if you didn’t.”
“Yeah, about that... what is it with you and impossible hikes in treacherous situations?”
I considered this. “Bones.”
“He was one tough dude.”
The weight and pain of the word was did not escape me. “That he was.”
Camp paused. Looked like he was remembering something he’d rehearsed. “Murph...”
I waited. When he didn’t speak again, I said, “Yes?”
“Um . . . well, you see . . .”
“Is this about the money thing again?”
He shook his head, “No. Just let me get this out.” Then he spoke almost as if to himself. “Why can’t I put together a coherent question when it comes to this?”
I turned completely and stared at him. “What’s ‘this’?”
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then opened them and locked on to me. “I want to ask your permission to marry Casey.”
The words rattled around my brain, finally settling somewhere in the middle. I said the words out loud to myself. “Marry Casey.”
He nodded. “Yes.” A pause. “I’ve been trying to ask you, but...”
The question caught me out of left field. “Marry?”
“Check.”
“As in walk down the aisle, ‘I do,’ ‘I do’?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to ask you.”
“When?”
“DC. When we ran the mall.”
“Why’re you asking me?”
“You’re her dad.”
“Yeah, but she’s a grown—”
“Doesn’t matter. You hold that place in her heart. And rightly so, but to get to her, I’ve got to go through you, and I don’t want a marriage with you in the middle of it.”
This guy was much smarter than I gave him credit for. I sat up, leaned against a boulder, took my hat off, and shook the snow off my face. It was time I taught this young whippersnapper a lesson. I pressed him. “Only been a couple months. Sure you’re not moving a little fast?”
“I agree.” He nodded. “I didn’t see this coming either, and I wasn’t looking for it. But it was obviously looking for us and here we are.”
Needing more to be convinced, I decided to figure out if he was really serious. “How’s she like her ice cream?”
“Two scoops chocolate, two scoops raspberry sorbet, gummy bears sprinkled on top. Sometimes chocolate sprinkles. Whipped cream always.”
“What about Fridays?”
“Break a Kit Kat bar and sprinkle it on top. Add chocolate syrup.”
“Man, you’re good.”
“I’ve been paying attention.”
My head was spinning. “I’d always hoped a guy would come along for her. She deserves someone to— ”
“I love her.”
More confusion. “You do?”
“Yes.”
“When did this happen?”
“The moment I first laid eyes on her.”
“Really?”
He nodded.
His assurance made me wonder what planet I’d been living on. “Well, have you taken her out on a date?”
He laughed. “Yes.”
My voice rose. “When?”
“Lots.”
“What’s her favorite movie?”
“ Wizard of Oz . The Judy Garland one.”
“What size shoe does she wear?”
“Nine. Sometimes eight and a half. Depends on the shoe.”
“What’s she allergic to?”
“Needles.”
“Favorite color?”
“Moonlight.”
This guy was good. “What’s she afraid of?”
“Being alone. And Gremlins.”
“Which leg is shorter?”
“No idea.”
I didn’t either, but he didn’t know that. “You know, marriage is a big deal, not to be taken lightly.” Listening to myself, even I thought I sounded strange.
Another smile. “I’ve commanded men in combat in more than twenty countries around the world while receiving heavy incoming fire. I don’t take life lightly. And certainly not this.”