I Will Not Run Read Online Free PDF Page A

secret signals that all meant the same thing: Pretend we’ve never met.
    “Hi, honey,” I said, forcing myself to kiss Bruno’s cheek. I hate the feel of his crepey hanging skin.
    “Winter, this is Dominic. He’s here to teach you to shoot.”
    Really? Really, truly? Good things like this don’t happen. I don’t even hope for them anymore. Maybe that’s why I’m so overwhelmed when something does go my way. I wanted to jump up and down and clap but I forced myself to simmer down. The mention of guns and shooting helped. I held the sides of my face down. Then, straining even harder, I pulled my lips into a tight smile and fidgeted, nervously pinching the flesh on my palm. Bruno would be watching and listening, for sure.
    Here was a new man, a younger man, a much better man standing on his turf. I’d better keep any hint of excitement out of my voice. Dom, thank-the-lord, seemed to understand the game and be playing along. When he said hello, he barely looked my way. He was being polite but off-hand. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was bored. Maybe he was.
    Anyway, he offered his hand and I shook it, formally, like he was a stranger. I pulled my palm away quickly though because I was all sweaty and I didn’t want him to notice.
    Dom was the cleverest kid in high school so it wasn’t a surprise that he was acting cleverly now.
    I snatched his hand then dropped it. “Nice to meet you, Dominic,” I said, trying to match his slightly pissed-off look.
    Bruno glared at me and then he glared at him, then back at me again, mesmerised, like we were two garden gnomes that had suddenly sprung to life.
    “Nice to meet you too, Winter. Is that it? Did I get your name right?”
    I nodded. Good. Got that established. We just met. Wow, he’s darker and taller than I remembered, way more handsome too. He used to be skinny like a runner but not anymore. He looked edible in those dark jeans and that tight tee. I could almost smell his confidence. Funny, I could tell from the way he held himself, that he wasn’t one bit scared of Bruno. Doesn’t he know who my husband is?
    I got so caught up in looking at him that I almost forgot my lines. “But, honey,” I whined just in time, turning back to face Bruno, “you know I hate guns.”
    It was important I got the whine just right. I had to make a fuss but not too much of one. The last thing I needed was for Dom to turn around and drive off out of my life. I’d cope with my gun-issue later, somehow. My phobia is no small thing but my loneliness and misery . . . those emotions are eating me up. Some days I feel like I’ve already lost myself.
    Dom piped up. “Target practice, that’s all we’re talking about here. Relax, Winter. You might even enjoy yourself. Everyone gets a kick out of shooting at a target.”
    Bruno scoffed. “Yep, but then everyone else has more pluck than my wife.”
    Screw you, Bruno. Hate you, hate you, hate you.
    Dominic’s eyes, suddenly dark and panther-like, flashed at Bruno. Wow, so much for being off-hand and cool! Where did that come from? I don’t remember Dom being so ready to fight.
    After an uncomfortable second, that felt more like a minute, he turned back to me. “Winter, I hear you’re afraid of guns.” Even I could tell that he was forcing that patient schoolteacher smile.
    “Don’t like to talk about it, really.”
    Bruno swung around, showing his teeth. “Well that’s tough, hon,” he said, coming across all sickly sweet, “because you are going to talk about it. You’re going to do a whole lot more than talk.”
    Then he smirked, like he was about to play his trump card and couldn’t hold his excitement in. “Not only is Dominic here a licensed gun instructor but, guess what, he’s a shrink too. You need him in more ways than one, don’t you, darling?”
    “A psychiatrist,” Dom corrected. “I’m a forensic psychiatrist.”
    My eyes stretched wide. I was impressed even if Bruno wasn’t.
    “Yeah, whatever.