I stared at the message on my phone. I forwarded it to Saul with a note asking what the studio planned to do for
My phone rang.
“Beth, I was just thinking of you,” I lied.
“Uh huh, I bet you were. I decided that I would take the bull by the horns and ask you out since you seemed to forget about me.”
“It wasn’t like that. I’ve been busy,” I tried.
“With Tracy, Pam, Zoe, Brook, and Cassidy, I believe.”
Tami! Damn her and her network of spies.
“And tonight I set aside for you,” I tried again.
“I tell you I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you, and then you skip the country. When you come back after a month, you conveniently forget about me.”
I don’t think laughing was the right move, but she was laying it on awfully thick, and I simply couldn’t help it.
“David!”
“Oh, please. You’ve known I was home for the same amount of time.”
“Fine, be that way. What time are you picking me up?” she asked.
“How about we do a late dinner? I promised Cassidy I’d take her shopping. Why don’t I pick you up at 8:00?”
“Tell Caryn I want to go somewhere nice,” she teased.
“Why don’t you just tell her where you want to go and cut out the middleman?” I suggested.
“Fine.”
“Fine,” I shot back and hung up on her.
She sent me a text with a smiley face on it.
◊◊◊
After baseball practice, Paul, who had just made it back, took Coach Hope, Cassidy, Brook, and me to Dave’s Firearms. His store looked like a red barn. On our way there, Coach Hope told us about the man we were going to meet.
“Gunnery Sergeant Hartman was a drill instructor for fifteen years. Drill Instructor duty is considered one of the most honored and valuable positions a Marine can hold; the DI is critical in making young men and women into Marines. He has retired from the Corps and is now a professor at State.
“I want you to show Gunnery Sergeant Hartman the respect that he deserves for his service to this country. He has taken time out of his life to be here tonight to help you. Any questions?” Coach Hope asked.
I just kept my eyes straight ahead. When my mom got this way, it was best to simply shut up and listen.
“Gunny’s a big teddy bear, Daddy,” Cassidy said, ruining everything her father had just told us.
Brook and I got the giggles because he’d been so serious.
“Get that out of your system before we get there,” he warned me.
“Yes, sir,” I said.
Gunny ended up being one of the nicest men I’d ever met. He apparently knew Dave, the owner, and they were talking when we came in.
“Gunny!” Cassidy called out and then leaped into his outstretched arms.
“Hey, Short Stuff, I hear your dad’s getting you a weapon.”
Cassidy introduced us, and he got down to business.
“What’s your need?” he asked.
Cassidy and Paul told him about them working security. Then they walked out to the car, and he looked at the guns in the center console. I’d brought my Range Sports pistol at Coach Hope’s direction; it was in a gun safe in the back.
“Is this what you usually carry?” Gunny asked.
“In LA, we also have tactical shotguns with beanbag rounds,” Paul said.
“Do you carry, other than what you have in the car?” Gunny asked Paul.
“No, but after this week, with what happened in Orlando, we plan to,” Paul admitted.
It sounded like Fritz was going to make some changes. We walked back inside and joined Brook, Coach Hope, and Dave at the counter so Gunny could talk to all of us.
“The mission should dictate the tools, but beyond that, selecting a firearm is a matter of preference. However, you should consider a few variables. The first is reliability. You need a weapon that will stand up to continuous training. You don’t need a gun that will fail after repeated use.
“The second consideration is accuracy. Almost any weapon will shoot a tight grouping from a gun vise. Accuracy is not about the weapon, but about the operator. Most weapons shoot more accurately than you can hold them, so you should select one you can aim and hold steady.
