3-4
167 Words
THEY DO EVENTUALLY go back to the house, after Alex returns the equipment to its safe, locked place in the barn. Alex’s head is a mess of confusion and a strange, dark grief for a tragedy that only almost happened. He also has a simmering anger that the world cares way too much what he does, especially when he’s on vacation, about things that matter not at all. The timing of everything really is too awful.
Paul runs upstairs to check in on his email, and Alex finds Beth. She’s in the kitchen and looks up when he walks in.
“Hey, sweetie. How’d the shooting go?”
“Good.” He frowns at the absurdity of the day. He wonders if he should tell her about everything that’s going on in the wider world because her son’s boyfriend took his stress and introversion out on her g*n range. Maybe Paul will.
“He told me,” he says. “Just so you know. He hadn’t before.”
She meets Alex’s eyes and nods. “It’s about time,” she says before going back to the cooking. “We repainted the kitchen together after he got home.”
- Writer
