She hadn’t thought of her grandmother in some time. It was almost like the last year had been a bubble protecting her. But her grandmother’s long ago words came to her. Giving her the courage that she needed to open up just a little.
“I’m scared,” she whispered, hardly believing that she had actually whispered anything at all. Mark had come to mean something important to her, and not just because he was there helping her heal.
The thought of him not being there anymore was like a physical pain.
She rubbed lightly at her chest as he studied her.
“Little bird, look at me.”
She turned her head fully to him to see his beautiful ocean blue eyes staring back at her.
“I’m not going anywhere. Not till you tell me to.”
She nodded, hoping that he would drop the subject, she wasn’t ready to do this. Turning back to the steering wheel and the front, he gave her what she wanted.
He always did.
“So what’s for dinner?” he asked, letting the previous conversation slide away.
“I don’t know. What sounds good?” she asked gratefully.
After coming to the cabin with him, she hadn’t been sure whether eating was going to get her in trouble or punished.
But he never wavered.
Always shoving food at her, and eventually she came to realize that he wasn’t going to change.
He was just Mark.
Loyal, caring, and protective.
Maybe more?
So they had started a tradition, any time they went in to town, they went and got food. Each time something different. Even before Ernesto, her family hadn’t eaten out much at all. Some of them she liked and some of them she didn’t. Mark of course pretty much stuck to the same meat and potatoes meal.
Different variations maybe, but the man was a sucker for a steak.
“Do you want to go to the steak house?” she asked.
“You just want to go there because I like it.”
“That’s not true, I like the cheese sticks.” Her stomach rumbled just thinking about them.
All gooey and melty. They were awesome!
“I guess the steak house it is.” He chuckled, turning the truck around.
The hostess knew them from their previous visits and sat them quickly in a back booth.
“So other than cheese sticks, what new thing are we trying?” he said picking up a menu and handing it to her. She practically had the thing memorized by now, but luckily there were still a few things that she hadn’t tried.
“I was thinking a salad. I haven’t tried that cob salad thing you were talking about the other day.
“I promise it’s good. The way I figure the more things in a salad, the less lettuce, the better it is. Besides it comes with bacon.” She smiled.
He knew that her favorite food next to fried cheese sticks, was bacon.
The waitress slid up to their table and her smile fell from her face. The overly made-up blond-haired waitress’s smile grew bigger, and it was directed right at Mark.
