Chapter 29

     Shoot? How was she going to learn how to shoot without arousing suspicion? The idea had holes all in it.

“What are you talking about?” Bliss asked of Clint.

“If I can ride out here in the middle of Arizona on a whim, I can teach a woman how to shoot a gun,” Clint said.

“How are we going to keep this from my father?”

“We can’t. He’s gonna know all about it.”

Bliss chuckled. The man overestimated his abilities. “How are you gonna manage that one?”

“I can come up with a good enough reason that you need to learn how to use a gun to satisfy him. Leave your daddy to me. Does he have any extra guns lying around?” Clint asked.

Bliss thought a moment, doing a mental inventory of each room in the ranch house. “I think he may have one in his bedroom closet that he never uses.”

“Good. If you can get that and some ammunition, we’ll be well on our way to making you the finest gunslinger Arizona ever did see,” Clint smiled over at her.

She would have fallen off her horse if she hadn’t been so experienced. He had the most devastating, most handsome smile of anyone she had ever seen in her life. It was a pity he didn’t show it more often.

Recovering quickly, she smiled back at him.

“How’s your hand?” she asked.

Clint shrugged. “It’s still there. That’s about all I can say.”

“Maybe you should go have a doctor see it,” she suggested.

Clint shook his head nonchalantly. “Nah. It ain’t that bad.”

Bliss smirked. Typical of a man. Clint was probably the type that wouldn’t go to a doctor unless he was dying. At least he wasn’t a baby about it.

“I’m gonna go see Momma for a minute. Is that okay with you?” she asked him.

He nodded. “Whatever you wanna do.”

Soon enough, they pulled up beside her mother’s grave and Bliss dismounted.

“I’m gonna ride around this way. I’ll be back in a bit,” Clint told her as he turned his horse east.

Bliss nodded and turned toward her mother’s grave as he rode off.

She sat down on the ground and tenderly caressed the edge of the wooden cross with her fingertips. Her eyes clouded over with tears. Her heart ached, longing for the touch of her mother that was growing dimmer and dimmer by the day.

“How could I lose you, Momma? You never did anything to anyone. Who would have killed you? I have so… so many questions.” She stifled a sob as she spoke. “You deserve justice and I deserve closure, don’t I?”

A gentle yet cold breeze swept over her and she pulled her coat tighter around her. She wished God were there. If the most powerful thing in the universe could care about her and her problems, everything would be fixed my now. Momma had told her several times that God’s plan was worth living out. She had said that there would be trials and that they would bend, but God wouldn’t let them break into pieces. The thing was, she already felt like she was breaking into pieces.

“It’s good to see you again, Bliss,” A voice tore through her thoughts like a gunshot.

She froze.

She knew that voice the moment she heard it.

She jerked to her feet and whirled around to face its owner.

“Seth? What are you doing here?” she asked.

He stood there, leaned against the mesa wall, just as tall and as broad as she remembered. He had aged some, but nothing else about him had changed. He had that charming smile plastered to his face that had made her knees weak years before, but now it simply made her stomach turn. Who would have known that such a man could deceive her so easily without even flinching?

“You act like you don’t want to see me. Where’s that guardian angel of yours?” Seth asked.

Bliss looked around. How she wished he would come riding up at that moment and save her from this dreaded encounter.

“He’s around. He’ll be back soon. I’d get out of here if I were you,” Bliss tried to put a brave tone in her voice.

Seth grinned. “No, I’d like to meet him.”

“Why? Haven’t you had enough of this family for a lifetime? What else could you possibly want from me?” Bliss asked, her words suddenly laced with hatred.

Seth’s eyes turned soft. “It’s not what I want from you, it’s what I want of you.”

“What does that mean?”

“I still love you, Bliss. I never stopped.”

“You never loved me,” Bliss crossed her arms to try to stop the fast pace of her heart.

He couldn’t get her back. She wouldn’t fall for him again. She was beyond that now.

“Who are you to say that? You don’t know what I’ve went through without you. I can’t sleep at night. I can’t think of anything else besides you, honey. You’re everything I’ve ever needed,” Seth’s voice sounded pleading to Bliss’ ears, but she ignored it.

“I’m past you, Seth. You betrayed me and that is that. You lost your chance.”

“You can’t stand here and say that you still have no feelings for me. I know you can’t. I see it in your eyes,” Seth told her.

“All you see behind my eyes is disappointment. You took more from me than my innocence that day, you know,” Bliss said.

Seth took a step toward her. “How many times do I have to apologize?”

“An apology can’t replace all you stole, Seth. Don’t you realize that you took a part of me that I can’t ever get back? Something that was supposed to be meant for someone who really loved me?”

“I do really love you, Bliss. So much.” Seth took another step toward her.

“Then explain why you cheated on me? Explain why you turned into a completely different person, Seth. You never loved me, you just think you did,” Bliss rolled her eyes.

“I was drunk. I didn’t know what I was doing,” Seth defended.

“Yet you kept getting drunk time after time. You knew that it wasn’t fair to me. You knew that you were destroying my life, yet you did nothing about it. I have nothing more to say to you.” Bliss walked toward her horse.

He ran after her and grabbed her arm before she mounted.

“Please don’t do this, Bliss. I can’t lose you again.”

Bliss scowled at him. “Let go of me.”

“It’s that whelp, isn’t it?” Seth still didn’t let her go. “I knew you and that kid had something going on. Are you two married now?”

Bliss jerked her arm free. She didn’t owe him any explanation about Colt. She mounted her horse and looked down at him.

“Leave me and my family alone for the rest of your life, Seth Ryder. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

With that, she turned Butterfly around and kicked her into a run in the direction that Clint went.

*****

Clint was on his way back to find Bliss when he saw her horse bearing down right toward him. He knew something was wrong the moment he saw her.

She pulled her horse to a stop right in front of him.

“What happened?” he asked.

She shook her head, but he knew that she was lying.

“Are you hurt?” he pressed.

She shook her head again and looked behind her before focusing her coffee brown eyes on him again. “Don’t leave me again. Please?” she pleaded.

Clint wasn’t one to pressure someone, so he chose to let her some to him when she felt ready. Whatever had happened, it had obviously shaken her up.

“I won’t,” he answered her.

“I’m ready to learn how to shoot now,” Bliss stated. “Whenever you’re ready.”

*****

Three days later, Bliss and Clint were out in the middle of a cactus patch with a gun and plenty of ammunition. Clint was more determined than ever to teach her to how to handle a gun.

“Okay, so you gotta make sure that you’re calm. The last thing you need when handling a gun is shaky fingers. Steady your hand for me,” he told her.

Bliss held the .22 pistol with both hands, aiming at a cactus about ten feet away. She took a deep breath and focused her eyes on her target.

“That’s good. Stay calm and pull off a shot so I can see where you are,” Clint ordered her.

She pulled the trigger, her hand jarring as the gun fired. The bullet barely scratched the side of the cactus. She frowned in disappointment.

“At least you hit the cactus, ya know?” Clint smiled as she put her sights back on the cactus.

Her hand began to shake again. He couldn’t help but broaden his smile.

“Steady now,” was all he said.

She took a deep breath and her hand steadied.

“Okay. Now make sure you squeeze the trigger. Don’t just pull it.”

Her grip tightened until the gun fired again. This time she actually hit the plant full on.

“Good. That’s good,” Clint said in satisfaction. “Take a few steps back for me, okay?”

She walked backward a few feet and turned back toward the cactus. “I can’t hit that.”

“Just try. You never know how good you are,” Clint told her.

She raised the gun and focused her sights on the cactus. She took yet another deep breath and steadied her hand. He grip slowly tightened and determination etched her face in hard lines. Her mind was only on hitting that plant.

It made Clint proud.

The gun fired, and Clint walked toward it until he could see where her bullet hit. He smiled.

“Come here, sunshine. Wait ’til you see this,” he looked back at her.

She walked up to the cactus and saw where she hit the cactus. Square in the middle and all the way through.

She giggled and clapped her hands. “I did it! I didn’t think I could do it, but I’m getting good at this thing!”

Clint laughed. “You sure are. Now let’s try it with a rifle.”

They walked back to their original position and Clint got a rifle from his saddle.

“Does it kick much?” Bliss asked.

Clint shook his head slightly. “Not too bad.”

He handed the gun to her. She raised it to her shoulder, her face revealing nervousness as she pulled the hammer back.

“Calm down now. It’s just a twelve gauge,” he told her.

“Twelve gauge! I’m gonna get blown away!” Bliss exclaimed.

“No, you’re not. You’ll be fine.”

Bliss raised the gun to her shoulder.

“You’re still nervous. Settle down,” Clint commanded.

She took a deep breath and put a finger on the trigger. She pulled it back off.

“I can’t do this,” she stated.

“Yes you can. Straighten up. You’re leaning back too far. Be confident,” he told her.

She sighed and straightened up. Once she was ready to shoot, she backed out again.

“No. I can’t do it. It’s gonna hurt,” she convinced herself.

Clint sighed. “Would you feel better if I stood behind you?”

She nodded.

He walked up behind her and put the shotgun on her shoulder. She took a deep, shaky breath but was still shaking.

“Steady now, Bliss,” he told her, using her first name and hoping that would calm her down.

She took a confident, less shaky breath and bent her head to set her sights on the cactus ten feet away from her.

“Whenever you’re ready, just pull the trigger,” he said.

Her grip tightened a little bit.

“I still don’t think I can do this, Clint,” she said.

Now it was Clint’s turn to fidget. His name sounded so good in her voice. He calmed himself put a hand on her shoulder. “You got this. Just do it.”

She took a deep breath in and squeezed the trigger. The gun fired, and it threw her against him. A little squeak came from her when the gun fired and echoed through the sky.

She straightened but Clint didn’t release her right away. Something made him hold on for a few extra seconds.

“You alright?” he asked her softly.

She nodded. “That was awesome, but I think my shoulder is going to vibrate off.”

He smiled. “You’ll get over it in a minute. Let’s go see how you did.”

They walked up to the cactus, peppered with tiny holes.

“Yep. If that was a man, you’d have killed him,” Clint told her.

Bliss pumped her fist. “Ha! Take that Seth Ryder. Better stay away from me now.”

Clint’s smile faded as he contemplated her words. Had she seen him recently? Was that who she was running from the other day?

“I’ve never seen you shoot. Why don’t you show me how good you are, Mr. Slade?” Bliss asked with a smile.

Clint inwardly groaned. She had gone back to calling him by his last name again.

“I guess I can do that,” he told her.

He walked back until he was around twenty-five feet away from the cactus he was going to hit. He checked the chamber in his gun and spun it around before putting it back in place. He pulled back the hammer and aimed at the cactus.

He squeezed the trigger and sent the bullet into the dead center of the plant.

Bliss walked up and examined the cactus, looked back at him, the looked back at it.

“You hit it in the center!” she called.

Clint nodded.

She smiled and looked around on the ground as if she was looking for something.

“What are you looking for?” he asked.

She held up a finger and continued looking.

He narrowed his eyes and she pulled something from the ground and began wiping away the dirt on it, revealing a bottle that still had a little liquid in the bottom of it.

“Shoot the cap off this thing,” she held up the bottle.

Clint shook his head. “Set it down, then.”

She placed the bottle upright on the ground and moved out of the way.

Clint raised his gun and aimed at the top of the bottle.

He shot for the second time.

Bliss ran up to the bottle and smiled. “I didn’t know you could do that!”

Clint smiled. Part of him wished that Sherman could have seen him do that, but another part was glad that it was only Bliss with him.

“That was amazing!” she walked toward him.

Clint shrugged and smiled.

“Don’t get cocky,” she teased.

“Reckon you better get some more practice in so we can get back to the ranch before your daddy starts getting suspicious,” Clint remarked.

“How did you convince him to let me do this?” Bliss asked.

“It took a little bit of convincing, but I finally got him to believe that this was for everyone’s better good. Ya know, since I’m not all I’m cracked up to be.”

Bliss huffed. “Daddy’s too hardheaded to see what he has right in front of his face. You’re worth a lot more than he’s giving you credit for.”

Clint smiled. “I wouldn’t go that far, but I’m honored that you think so.”

Now he knew for sure that at least one person at the Dottie Belle Ranch actually wanted him there.

Thank you guys so much for reading! I promise that things will start developing very soon! Hope you guys liked this chapter!