High grass waved in a summer’s breeze, its sweet smell permeating the warm air. The western sky still held a touch of orange. In the disappearing late summer light, everything was cast in a light purple hue. Fireflies floated and swirled low across the hill, surrounding them in gold bursts of light.

Nic didn’t walk anywhere but into his arms. They stood and swayed on the sloped field. Her arms draped over his shoulders as they slow danced to nature’s symphony. With her head pressed against his chest, his strong heartbeat reached for her.

“I need to show you something,” he whispered, breathing against her ear. She pulled back, and even in the cascading shadows, her brown eyes melted through him. “It’s my secret, and I need to share it.”

His hands slowly ran up and down her back, as if his fingertips were on a mission to scan and memorize. A breeze whispered by, and their hands found one another, fingers entwining. “C’mere, sweet girl.”

He led her to the back of his Rubicon, popped the hatch open, and stared at Miss Betty’s case. For years, that gun had gone almost everywhere with him.

“Your secret is your rifle?” Nic teased and leaned into him, kissing his bicep. “It’s not a secret. I know what you do.”

He didn’t say anything, just stared at the gun case, searching for the right words.

She stepped closer, two fingers grazing over his cheekbones. Her fingers drifted across his skin, leaving a trail of heat, and stopped over his lips. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Cash kissed her fingers and turned them both toward the case, clicking it open. He pulled the rifle out, cradling it as he had a thousand times. “Have you ever heard the Rifleman’s Creed?”

She shrugged. “Probably. I’m not sure.”

“This is my gun. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life… That’s how it starts. The whole Creed isn’t important, but its symbolism is.” He took a breath, turning to her. “Before you left, I wanted to marry you, but life changed in ways we couldn’t control, and my rifle became my world.”

“You’re a sniper. I understand how important your weapon is to you.”

He stepped closer to her, needing to press against her. “I still had your ring, and you were my best friend. You were my life, my whole world. I graduated college, and before I knew it, I had a rifle that kept me alive. That I chanted about day in, day out. My best friend. My life.”