“She’s good. Randy thinks so too,” Sully replied, taking a seat on a barstool at the counter. He tugged Charley between his knees and kissed her. “I missed you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and admitted, “I missed you too.”
“Good.” He grinned as she slid onto a barstool next to him.
They drank their coffee, and as they talked, he told her there was a nip in the October air. So, when they’d finished their coffee, she donned a red leather jacket over her sweater. Placing their coffee cups in the sink, she followed the handsome man out of his house to the garage. With his own key to the Jeep, Sully unlocked the driver’s door, and opened it for her. She climbed into the Jeep, moved the seat forward, and adjusted the mirror.
“I’m all set,” she said.
“Follow me.”
Sully shut her door and got into his truck. Like his truck, the Jeep was a late model, automatic, and easy to drive. Charley eagerly followed him away from the house and onto the highway. A few miles down the road, Sully made a right turn and a signreading Ranchers Gun Club and Shooting Range came into view. A bit farther was the gun club building and the outdoor shooting range beyond it. Charley knew from their Harley ride that this was all on Sully’s land. He pulled into one of thirty parking spaces, and she stopped the Jeep beside him. Hopping out of the Jeep as Sully walked to her, they entered his gun club. It was a large, open area with several big windows and a two-story ceiling.
“How nice,” Charley said. “It’s welcoming.”
“Upstairs,” he nodded at the staircase straight ahead, “we present classes on gun safety, and we can sign off on concealed weapon training. My dad donates his one day a week here to teach a class or two. Over to the right is the soundproof indoor shooting range.” He indicated a heavy, closed door. “Beyond the outdoor range, we also have skeet shooting.”
“Hey, boss man,” a man said in greeting to Sully as soon as they walked closer to several glass counters displaying a large variety of weapons to be sold.
“Roy Custis, this is Charley Cooper,” Sully said in introduction. “She’s a cousin to Chase, Chloe, and Cash Cooper.”
“Nice to meet you, Roy.”
“Same here, Charley. All the Coopers are members here, and so are Derek and Chloe Brevard,” Roy said politely and then looked back at Sully. “Some guy was just in here wanting to know where the owner was.”
“Who was it?”
“He didn’t give his name. He was medium-height and stocky.”
“What did he want?”
“He wanted to know if the gun he showed me was known for not always shooting. I said yes, and then he asked if I’d take his gun in on a trade.”
“Vaughn,” Sully said with a glance at Charley.
“Sounds like it,” she said, resenting Rod Vaughn more than ever. Intruding into her work world was bad enough. Intruding into Sully’s was unforgivable as far as she was concerned. “I’m so sorry he’s making such a pest of himself.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sully replied. “What did you tell him about a trade, Roy?”
“Hell no,” Roy said with a shake of his head and then corrected himself. “Well, just no.”
“That’s exactly what I would have said.”
“When I also told him we only do trades with club members, he got an instant bad attitude,” Roy told them. “He said as a gun shop, we should take his gun in on trade no matter what. I told him to take it back to the place he bought it and ask them to trade or for a refund.”
“Good answer. What did he say?” Sully asked.
“Nothing I could understand,” Roy replied with a shrug. “Then he grabbed up his gun and cussed me all the way out of the shop.”
“Sounds like the run-ins Charley and I have had with him,” Sully said.
“His name is Rod Vaughn,” Charley added. “Rude is always Rod’s go-to behavior when he doesn’t get his way. Again, I’m sorry he’s causing trouble.”
“I handled it,” Roy assured them. “I just wanted you to know, Sully.”
“Thanks,” Sully said. “Don’t do any business with him if he comes back when I’m not here. In case he asks, tell him we aren’t accepting new club members right now. Tell him there’s a hold on sales and send him to Whispering Pines or one of the other gun clubs in the Springs.”
“Will do.”
