Page 5 of Passion in Bloom

The city boy backed up, off to the side. Hands up, anger mixed with a healthy dose of fear, he shook his head and tried to sound like he was the boss. “You can’t carry that here like that and threaten—”

Todd walked closer, not stalling for a second. “Threaten?” He scoffed, glancing at me before looking back at the man. “Trust me, pretty boy. You’ll know when I’m threatenin’ you.”

Reaching us in front of Heather’s open door, he dragged his gaze up and down the blond man in the suit.

“You can’t come here armed and—”

Todd laughed, the sound dry and coarse with his age. “You own this property?”

“No, but—”

“You renting any a these cabins?”

“No, but—”

“Then I suggest you mind ya own damn bizness,” Todd said in his old drawling dialect, “before I demonstrate what happens ’round here when someone comes trespassin’ on the Grand River property.”

“You can’t—”

Todd moved his hands, holding the rifle up higher. “Says who?”

“Dammit, fuck. Stop.”

“Last I checked, I’m the supervisor ’round these cabins, boy. Not you. You wanna repeat the mistake of tellin’ me what I can and can’t do?” He lifted the rifle up and racked the weapon to load a round into the chamber.

“Hey!” The guy stumbled, backing up to retreat. He fell toward the ground, smacking one hand on the crushed leaves over the dormant grass. “Stop!” On his feet and backpedaling, he held his hands up. “Don’t shoot.”

“Shoot? You?” Todd turned slightly, pretending to aim the rifle elsewhere. “I ain’t shooting nothing but vermin lurking ’round these cabins.” He narrowed his eyes on the sights, letting the rifle point in the man’s direction. “Then again, I see a rodent awfully close to one now.”

“I’m going. I’m going!” He pivoted so quickly that he skidded again. As soon as he was on his feet steadily, he ran toward a cabin in the distance, where a sedan was parked under the shade of an oak that hadn’t lost its leaves yet. Three times, he glanced over his shoulder. And three times, he nearly faceplanted because of how clumsily he ran.

“Don’t plan on coming back,” I yelled before he got in his car.

“Yeah. You ain’t welcome ’round here,” Todd hollered.

“Fuck you.” He sneered, pausing at the car with the door open. “We’ll see what the cops—”

Todd stepped away from me and Heather, aiming the rifle at him. “Oh, lookie. I see that vermin again.”

The car door slammed. Brake lights shone bright as the man threw the car into gear and sped out. Dust flew up in his wake, and with a few clumsy corrections with his too-fast maneuvering on the bumping dirt road, he was out of there.

As if a switch was flipped, Heather exhaled a long, loud breath. “Oh, thank goodness.”

I hated how shaky her voice was. That pale complexion didn’t look great either. The woman was shaken, terrified, and nearly dropping to lean against the exterior wall.

She staggered toward the chair, and I hurried to drag it closer to her so she wouldn’t miss and drop to the ground.

“You—” She licked her lips and strained to swallow, coming out of her shock and terror. “You weren’t really going to...” Turning her eyes to Todd, she blinked but didn’t lose that heightened alarm.

“Nah.” Todd pointed the rifle at the trees and pulled the trigger. Nothing but a clicking sound. “It ain’t even loaded.”

I frowned, watching as Heather’s shoulders slumped. In relief or fear, I couldn’t tell.

“I jus’ keep it handy in case I do see a feral critter or whatnot.”

She nodded vaguely, looking at the ground now.

“But the way it looked, hunny, it seemed that man was giving y’all trouble here.”