After the first few chaotic minutes the reunion started drifting up the new dirt road towards the valley refuge, everyone talking over themselves to point out their houses, most of which families had built with their own hands, or projects they’d taken part in. Jim proudly announced that he’d been taking care of the bees while Trev was gone, and Trev ruffled his brother’s hair and gave him a one-armed hug as he complimented his work.
The celebration got even bigger when they reached the growing town and hundreds more Aspen Hill residents joined in. Trev reluctantly stepped away from his family’s reunion, just long enough to make sure the town’s new members were comfortable and were being introduced to everyone.
Mary, bless her heart, immediately took the three women in that group under her wing, and they gratefully stuck close to her as some sort of anchor in the confusion. Linda followed her cousin, but her interest was mostly on Deb. Trev overheard his sister asking casually probing questions about the brown-haired woman’s relationship with him, and in a flush of embarrassment contemplated gagging her with the headscarf she was wearing.
He was heading back to his family to ask Lucas about his leg when Matt collared him. “Give me a second,” his friend said, pulling him aside.
“Sure.” Trev followed him, then suddenly started as he remembered. “Oh, hey.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the sheriff’s badge. “Here. Vernon wanted this to go to Aspen Hill’s lawman.”
Matt didn’t reach for it. “Why don’t you keep it?” he said quietly.
Trev snorted. “Look, I know who it came from and I don’t blame you for not wanting any gifts from him. But a badge is a badge, right?” He waggled it.
His friend finally took it, but only to pin to Trev’s shirt. “No. I mean it belongs to you, if you want the job.”
For a moment Trev stood stunned. Matt had led the defenders almost from the beginning, aside from when he’d led the volunteers. “You’re quitting?”
“No,” his friend gave him a tense smile. “I’ve been promoted. Mayor.”
“Wow.” Trev clapped him on the shoulder. “Congratulations. You’ll do a great job.” Matt nodded, eyes still on him, and Trev fidgeted. “Seriously though, me? I could name a dozen people more qualified for the job off the top of my head.”
Matt snorted. “That’s what I said, too. And like everyone told me when I did, you’re the best person for the job.”
Trev fingered the badge. He wasn’t sure he really wanted that sort of responsibility, forget whether or not he was ready for it. But he wasn’t about to leave his friend hanging. “Okay. Although I’m thinking maybe we should switch things up. Go with far patrols to give early warning of any potential threat, with everyone in town going about their business but ready to grab their guns and defend the place if they have to.”
“Sounds good.” His friend looked amused.
Trev continued. “I mean, the way we were doing it before required a lot of manpower, way more than unnecessary most of the time, and depending on how things shake out with the blockheads gone we might not need to overexert ourselves. We could bring it up with Lewis.”
“We could. But you’re the one in charge now.” Matt clapped him on the back and turned to look at the celebration. “That’s an amazing sight, isn’t it? I wasn’t sure I’d ever see it when we were down with Davis.”
Trev nodded. “We did it.”
“Somehow,” Matt agreed, grinning. “Or more specifically, you managed to burn up a few enemies and buried the ones that stuck around for more in an landslide.” He abruptly stiffened. “Is that Rick and Alice making out? When did that happen?”
It was Trev’s turn to look amused. “No idea. She was leaning towards Pete before he took off, but sometime between then and now Rick must’ve won her over.”
His friend gave him a pained look at the mention of their vanished friend. “I wonder where he went. I keep asking Chauncey to look for news of him over the radio, and the defenders are all watching out in case he shows up. But so far he hasn’t.”
Trev nodded sadly. His friend’s disappearance hit him hard, but Matt had to blame himself even more after what happened. “Davis and Harmon never found anything either. It’s probably bad news.”
“Probably.” Matt sighed. “Part of me hopes he went deeper into the mountains and tried to join some other group of volunteers. Or I guess even if he tried to stage some sort of one man war against the blockheads, and has been causing them a bit of grief all this time, that would be fine. As long as he’s still okay. I just don’t like the thought that he might’ve gone off on some wild attack and it didn’t go so well for him.”
Trev shook his head. He hadn’t done much to help Pete, busy with his own duties, and he sort of wished he had. He wasn’t sure what sort of wisdom he could’ve offered the young man, or even if he could’ve helped rather than making things worse, but not trying would nag at him for as long as they went without news of their friend. That might be a long, long time depending on what had happened.
Maybe it had been the wrong decision to turn Pete away when Alice asked to let him join. He’d have to be better about taking care of his people if he was going to lead the defenders. Like Davis had warned him.
“You did your best with him,” he said for Matt’s benefit. “Pete made his own decisions, and I suppose they were his to make. Hopefully he found a situation that’s working better for him, and he’s had a chance to get whatever healing he needs from everything he’s been through.”
“I hope so.” Matt abruptly turned to nudge him lightly on the shoulder. “You know what, I’m sick of just watching this party. Let’s get back to it.”
Trev grinned. “Sounds good to me.”
Lewis met them as they rejoined the others, looking at the badge on Trev’s chest. “We have a new Sheriff in town?”
“I guess so. You’ll give me a hand though, right?”
“Two, when I’ve got the time.”
“Hey, don’t go volunteering all your time away,” Lucas said with mock sternness from the fence around the goat pen where he was sitting, favoring his leg. “We’ve still got nuclear winter to survive.”
Lewis gave his dad a lopsided smile. “Piece of cake. As bad as this winter is going to be, down here in the valley it might not be any worse than me and Trev spending last winter up in the mountains. We managed to survive through that well enough, with nothing worse to show for it than a bit of cabin fever, and a deadened sense of smell from a small space rank with B.O.”
Trev did his best to smile back. Things weren’t the same at all, not when they had their family and the rest of the shelter group to worry about as well. Not to mention the town in general. He’d done his best to gather up cloth and canvas for winter clothing and extra blankets, but as it stood people would have to share winter gear; not everyone would be set up to head out into the cold all at once if they needed to. And people would be doing plenty of snuggling together for body heat, even if they didn’t burn through their entire supply of firewood before the weather turned warm again.
And he’d definitely have to worry more about firewood and warm clothing than most, since he didn’t have anyone to snuggle with.
Without thinking he shot a quick glance at Deb, standing with the women and children from Jane’s group. The brown-haired woman was looking back at him, green eyes striking in direct sunlight. She smiled tentatively, and he felt his face flush as he smiled back and hastily looked away. She had lovely eyes, something he’d known for a while without realizing.
Those thoughts must’ve been around somewhere in the back of his mind, but until now he hadn’t even entertained the possibility of anything romantic with her. Assuming that was even what she wanted. It would have to be Deb’s decision when she was ready, if she ever was, and if it happened it would be a difficult path to travel together.