The Girl with the Gun

Chapter One

(This book is not edited yet. I will get to it when I have time. Forgive me for my sins of writing past) 🙏🏻

Sitting on the veranda of her beach front home, on one of the last of the summers mornings, Ambers arms were wrapped around a sleeping toddler, her mouth fallen open and the sweet sounds of little snores mixed with the waves that crash upon the shore were like a DJ remix, they made her smile with content. She would never tire of the mundane, because she had longed for this life for so long, Amber woke up each morning and rolled over to Sydney beside her, her dark locks thrown over her pillow and her limbs entwined with hers. Heaven about covered it. Their children were the icing on the cake. Clark was now six years old and in her first year of kindergarten, and Bea was two and a half. The girls hadn't taken long to adjust to Ambers presence in their lives, and Bea especially hadn't really known life without her. Clark kept Amber at a distance for slightly longer, until she felt she wouldn't leave, and then naturally one day she just began to call Amber, Mom, and they never looked back. Sydney was Momma, Amber was Mom and James was Daddy, the new girlfriend who became his now wife was still Megan, but they followed the girls lead with that one.

Amber looked out over the beach as the suns rays spilled from their slumber and pierced through the mornings darkness. The dawn lit up the speckled sand and bathed the landscape with light. Amber sighed and wiped Beas dark curls aside as she kissed her forehead. How she loved these babies and couldn't wait to make more. She could not wait to see Sydney pregnant and blooming, it was one of the things she had missed and longed to be a part of.

A sudden movement caught her eye and she returned her attention to the beach and the water. A figure stood to the left, almost camouflaged by the trees that followed the pathway to the road, beside the house. Ambers forehead wrinkled at the sight of the figure dressed all in black. She thought perhaps it was a jogger as they frequented the beach in the early morning, but no, this person wasn't moving, not a muscle, their focus seemed to be solely on Amber and Sydney's beach house, perhaps even Amber herself.

"What are you doing out here" came a voice breaking the silence.

Amber visibly jumped backward in her chair, causing Bea to fuss slightly as Amber held her to herself tighter. It was Sydney in the door way.

Amber took a deep breath and held her hand to her racing heart "you scared me to death" she whispered, looking away from Sydney and back out to the beach and the place she had set eyes upon the figure, but they had gone. Amber stood slightly, holding Bea in her arms, and she took one last visual sweep of the road and the beach beneath them.

"What are you looking at" Sydney asked, coming to stand beside her. She leaned over the railing and looked below "there's nothing there" she observed, perplexed.

She pushed herself into Ambers back in a loving embrace, her lips placing a kiss upon her cheek.

"I thought I saw something" Amber replied, "but I think perhaps my eyes are playing tricks on me" Amber added, leaning back into Sydney's arms. "Bea woke up an hour ago and she didn't feel too good so I stayed up with her"

"I wonder if she caught that cold that Clark brought home last week" Sydney muses, taking Ambers hand and walking her back inside. "Honestly they start school and then it's like a new plague every week"

"Let me just go put her down" Sydney suggests, slowly removing Bea from Ambers arms, limb by limb like a military operation.

"Slowly" Amber mouths, as Sydney tries not to laugh.

The moment she removes her successfully she backs out of the large master bedroom and heads down the hall to the girls room.

Amber lingers at the double doors, watching the beach with a concerned expression. The wind blew the curtains in and the motion made her think she was seeing movement on the beach again. "I imagined it" she finally whispered to herself. The mood was lifted with the sensation of hands slipping around her waist, making her smile as she turned her face to capture Sydney's lips, turning and placing Sydney's hands on her hips.