“Okay, Mark.”
She had time.
Time to convince him otherwise.
She didn’t have family. And she didn’t want him to ever be like that.
***
“That was a cute little town,” she murmured as they pulled off on another dirt road getting farther and farther from everything.
“It’s not too bad. I’ve only been there a few times. The diner has some good food though.”
“Maybe we can go down there one day?” she suggested.
Some of the shops had looked cute. Their little window displays showing that the people of Savage Valley took pride in living there.
She didn’t have any money, but she would have loved to just walk along the street looking at the place.
Mark scrunched up his face. “Shopping huh.”
She giggled.
“I didn’t think you liked that kinda stuff.”
“Just because I haven’t done a lot of it, doesn’t mean that I don’t want to. I’ve never really been before. My mom and dad were never really big shopping people. Unless you considered going for groceries shopping. Then after. Well you know.” Her mind shifted just a bit, the memories threatening to push forward, but Mark slid his hand over hers squeezing, keeping her grounded.
“Then we will have to go.”
She smiled at him and his gesture, but she didn’t think he would ever really like it. Maybe she could make some time to go down by herself.
She would have to think on it.
They kept driving up the hill, the light from the sun set guiding their way over dirt roads that twisted, more than she could keep up with.
It was beautiful.
The whole trip had been beautiful.
As they had driven, the scenery had changed from low shrubs and flat lands to slow rolling hills. Now they were in steeper hills, with towering trees filled with leaves.
She almost hoped that they got to stay till fall, so she could see the changing leaves.
It wasn’t long before they broke off into a clearing. A big log cabin sitting back away from a large gravel circle drive, right in front of them. The front had a big porch with chairs and a swing.
It was something that she imagined you would see on the front of a magazine.
But what drew her attention the most, was the huge man standing on the porch steps.
“Oh my God.” Her mouth fell open in shock, the words slipping out before she could stop them.
The guy was so large that as he stood, he had to take a step down as to not hit his head. His shoulders filling the frame of the porch entrance, to the point that she knew he would have to step sideways to get in the door.
He was huge.
Instantly she was thrown back to a time where she wasn’t safe.
Where Mark wasn’t with her.
