A Little Learning by Margot Early Page B

don’t get it, either, Rory thought. Had Seamus ever learned that Lauren’s mother had given her shooting lessons? “She must have been through an assault or something herself,” she mused aloud.
    “If she had been, she never told me. Janine was convinced this one client’s ex-husband was insane and was going to kill her. I mean, he did threaten her, in pretty disgusting terms, and she had a restraining order against him. He was a scary guy.”
    Rory wondered if Seamus had been frightened for his wife. Or had he discounted her fear. Had the accident with the gun been an accident?
    She bit back the thought as soon as it occurred. She’d never been assaulted, but growing up in Sultan and keeping her eyes open, working sometimes in lines of work traditionally reserved for men, she’d become streetwise—or, well, at least she wasn’t totally naive. “How did she shoot herself?” Rory asked.
    “It wasn’t entirely certain, but the forensic evidence definitely pointed to an accident—and a fairly typical accident. It was nasty for Seamus for a while, because people knew they hadn’t been getting along so well.”
    “They weren’t getting along?”
    “Well, the gun, at least, was an issue between them. He’d told her, ‘Either the gun goes, or the children and I go.’ I have no idea if he meant it. Gun-control people loved the outcome, of course.”
    Someone dying? Rory reflected. But she knew what Samantha meant. People interested in gun control could certainly point to the accident as proof that handgun ownership was dangerous.
    The following morning, Rory told Beau that instead of going to the ski factory that day he would be joining his father in the afternoon for telemark lessons. In the morning, he and Lauren would be taking a tour of a local mine reclamation project.
    “I don’t want to telemark,” he said.
    “You wrote on your questionnaire that you do,” Rory replied, frowning and wondering if she’d mixed up the family’s answers.
    “Well, I don’t anymore. I’ll snowboard.”
    They stood in the living room of the Lees’ house. Rory had arrived to pick up Belle and Caleb for their morning ski lesson and to let the others know the plans for the day.
    “Come on,” Seamus said, downing his coffee. “It will be fun.”
    Caleb opened the front door and came in with the puppy on a leash.
    Rory’s heart constricted a little at the sight of Seuss. It was going to take a while to get over Gandalf’s death. She wasn’t sure whether the presence of a German shepherd puppy in her life would prove a hindrance or a help. She still hadn’t spoken privately to Seamus about this dog.
    It’s not your job to talk to him about Seuss, she told herself again.
    And, again, she concluded that she would say it, anyhow. I’m going to say it even if it costs me this job. There was no reason it should cost her the job, of course. And she had no idea how her father would feel about the situation.
    Right now, however, she must focus on a different parent-child relationship. She wondered if Beau’s relationship with his father was behind his sudden resistance to telemark lessons.
    Beau said again, “I just want to snowboard.”
    Rory gave a small shake of her head and threw Beau a look she hoped was compassionate, but she held her ground. He was going to have a telemark lesson today.
    The twelve-year-old acquiesced with a shrug.
    Rory continued to explain the schedule for the day, then made sure the younger children had everything for their ski lesson. The SMS van arrived to take Beau and Lauren on the mine tour, and then Rory loaded Belle and Caleb in the backseat of her own car to drive them to the ski area. Seamus would walk to his avalanche class.
    Fastening his seat belt, Caleb said, “Beau doesn’t want to telemark because Dad never wants to take him.”
    Rory looked at him. Caleb had a sprinkle of freckles across his nose. His hair was as dark as his father’s and overly long, and his eyes were a pale