her shower, Ursa told Jo about the fun things she’d done at the homestead, and sometimes Jo was a little jealous of how much Ursa loved being with Gabriel in Wonderland. That was when it felt like a divorce, though she barely knew Gabe.
The tension between the two “parents” became more real on the fifth night when Ursa said, “Guess what Gabe let me do today?”
“Did you milk the cow?”
“I already do that.”
“Ride a baby unicorn?”
“I wish! But shooting his guns was almost that fun.”
Jo set down her fork.
“I hit close to the middle of the target three times!”
Jo pushed out her chair. “Wait here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She grabbed her keys and slipped on sandals.
“Where are you going?”
“To talk to Gabe.”
“Why are you mad?”
“What gives you that idea?”
“Your eyes get like thunder.”
“I’m not mad at you. Stay here.”
Jo put Little Bear on the porch so he wouldn’t follow. She cursed Egg Man every time her mother’s precious Honda scraped bottom on his neglected road.
Gabe opened the door wearing a pink apron, and if she hadn’t been angry she might have laughed at the muscular bearded guy in Martha Stewart mode. “You should fix that Grand Canyon you call a road,” she said.
“You came over to tell me that?” he said.
“No.”
“Is Ursa okay?”
“She’s great,” Jo said, “and I’d like her to stay that way, so please keep your guns away from her from now on.”
“Who is it?” his mother called from inside the cabin.
“It’s Jo. She needs to borrow some sugar. Wait here,” he said to Jo. He returned in less than a minute, minus the apron, with a baggie of sugar in his hand. “You’re one of those gun-control militants?” he asked, grinning through his beard.
“I’m against putting a gun in the hands of a little girl who can’t possibly understand the danger of firearms.”
“She wore ear and eye protection, and I taught her every safety rule.”
“She’s a kid, and kids do unexpected things. Sometimes they sneak into their dad’s gun cabinet and shoot their baby brother.”
“She’s smarter than that. And who knows where she’ll end up? Some day she may need the skill.”
“To take out her pesky foster parents?”
“I believe in being prepared,” he said.
“Right, for the apocalypse.”
“Maybe.”
“You’re one of those? You’re a survivalist nut? How does a guy who reads Shakespeare dumb down his brain enough for that?”
“So all gun owners are dumb people who don’t read Shakespeare? Is that really going to be your position?”
“I’m too tired for this. Just keep the guns locked up and away from Ursa.” She started down the stairs but went back and plucked the sugar out of his hand. “I actually need this for my coffee. I’m out.”
Every doubt she’d had about letting Ursa stay with them resurfaced during her drive back to the cottage, especially her reservations about Egg Man. She truthfully knew nothing about the man.
Ursa was waiting for her return outside on the walkway. “Did you yell at Gabe?” she asked.
“Of course not,” Jo said.
“Will he still let me come over?”
She was more distressed by the discord than expected. Jo crouched in front of her and held her hands. “Everything is okay. I only had a little disagreement with Gabe.”
“About shooting the guns?” she asked.
“Yes. My parents raised me different than his did. I never saw guns as fun. I was taught that their only purpose is to kill.”
“We only shot targets.”
“And why do people use those targets? So they can learn how to aim the bullet at a heart or a brain. He was teaching you how to kill somebody.”
“I didn’t think of it like that.”
“Well, that’s what it’s all about, that or killing a deer, and I don’t see you doing that.”
“I would never kill a deer!”
“Good. No more guns, okay?”
“Okay.”
Jo rewarmed her plate of food in the microwave, but just as she started eating, Little Bear began barking on the porch. “Now what?” She went to the porch and watched Gabe’s truck squeak to a halt behind her car. “I don’t believe this,” she said. “You drove over here to continue the argument?”
“I wasn’t arguing,” he said.
“You defended what you did.”
“That’s not exactly arguing.”
“I’d like to finish my dinner.”
“You should,” he said, ambling up the walkway.
“Why are you here?”
“To make peace. Nothing like stars to show us our little arguments are meaningless. I brought my telescope.”
“The Pinwheel Galaxy!” Ursa said behind Jo. “He promised! He said one night he would show it to us!”
“And this is a perfect night,” Gabe