Chapter 83: Not Without My Gunslinger

The fight, though inevitable she realizes later, began innocuously enough. Emily did warn her, warned them both, Solomon and his returned granddaughter, that she was her mother's child.

Didi's relaxed state and feeling of kinship with her grandparents lent her too much lip, a bit of cheek and a whole lot more self-confidence than perhaps was smart considering she'd been a homeless waif only a short time ago. But she is who she is and when she wants something, Didi gets it.

Unlike Petal, she realizes, without years of her mother's frustration built up against him, she's willing to sit still and absorb her grandfather's anger at her request to retrieve the gunslinger.

"You can have as many mechs as you like." Solomon's temper fires in the red points of his enhanced eyes. "What's so special about this one?" More grumpy than angry, actually.