“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said.
I started to walk away.
“No, it’s fine,” Mason said. He opened up a compartment on the door and quickly dialed in a combination. I looked away to intentionally not see what it was, but he dialed it in so quickly I don’t think it would have mattered at all.
When the door opened up I was stunned by what I saw as I stepped into it.
There was the largest collection of guns I’d ever seen. There were rifles, pistols, and a variety of semiautomatic weapons, the likes of which I’d never seen before. It was what I imagined a gun shop might actually look like, but I’d always been too scared to go into one.
However, since I was thinking about learning to shoot, I was probably gonna have to get over that fear.
“Wow,” I said. “Where did you get all these?”
“I bought most of them from shops around the country. I do travel a lot. I have people who pick them up for me, and there are a lot of private gun shows I go to.”
“Why do you need them all?”
“Well, I don’t,” Mason said. “I’ve just always liked them. Since I was a kid, I’ve just been fascinated by how they work. Do you own any guns?”
“No,” I said quickly. “Guns scare me.”
“Good. They should,” I said. “Guns scare me, too. That’s why I liked to know as much about them as I can.”
I looked down at my feet, and then nervously back up at him again. “I’ve been thinking about learning how to shoot.”
“For protection? Against the Scarluccis?”
“Um, yeah,” I said.
“That’s not a bad idea, but you need to keep in mind that if you have any option to run from a gunfight at all, then you run. That is the first rule of having a gun. It is for the absolute last resort.”
“Right,” I said. “I don’t know if I’d be any good at shooting.”
“Well, it’s just like anything else. No one is good right away.”
“Can you show me?” I asked.
“Of course,” Mason replied. “My father was a big time hunter, especially big game. I never got into that. Most people see this and they think that I love guns. I don’t exactly. But I do respect them. And I do value their protection.”
“I see,” I replied. It did make me feel a bit better knowing that Mason was going to show me how to shoot.
I wasn’t sure why, but I was so scared of the idea. I was afraid I would suck at it, but I think I was more afraid that I’d be good at it. And I was more afraid still that I would actually have to use it one day.
We left the gun room and went back upstairs for lunch. Toby was still wiped out on the couch in front of the television. Esmerelda had gone home for the day, so Mason fixed us both a couple of huge sub sandwiches. Mine was delicious. It may have been the best sandwich that I’d ever had.
“You see; the secret is that you have to use mayonnaise that is already mixed with mustard before it goes on the sandwich. Some people put them on individually and that is where they mess up,” Mason explained.
I couldn’t stop laughing at how much he knew about such mundane things. He was actually hilarious.
“What do you want to do the rest of the day?” I asked after we finished lunch.
“Well, I’ve got some more work to do, but if you want me to take you out to the gun range we can definitely do that.”
“Won’t Toby wake up?” I asked.
“That is the risk we run on that, but knowing that kid, he will sleep for hours. This means he will be up late tonight, though. So, when that happens I might send him to your room so you can calm him down.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound fair,” I teased.
“That’s life,” Mason said.
I laughed and hit him on the arm playfully. The guy was full of sweet humor.
CHAPTER 17
Mason
“Are you nervous?” I asked.
Libby was standing in front of me trying to get into a solid stance, but she kept shuffling her feet back and forth as if trying to determine which way felt the best. I could see her hands shaking a little bit and it made me rather nervous that she had a gun in her hand. But it was natural, so I tried not to pay it much attention.
Libby smiled at me. “Yeah, can you tell?”
“Why are you so nervous? We are just here in the range shooting at nothing. There isn’t anyone else here and we don’t have to worry about making mistakes or about impressing anybody.”
“You’re right,” Libby said. “Like I said before, guns make me nervous.”
But you look so cute holding one.
I did not let this thought out into the world, but it was true. Watching Libby hold the gun made me want to just submit to anything in the world she might have asked me to do.