But it didn’t feel wrong.
It felt right.
It felt like everything she had ever been waiting for was right out that window.
It didn’t matter where she was. In Florida, Washington, or even here in West Virginia. Because it wasn’t about finding a location, it was about her heart finding where she belonged.
And she belonged with Mark.
She just wasn’t sure if he was on the same page anymore.
Don’t get her wrong. She knew what his feelings were. But for every step forward that she took, he seemed to hesitate. And she didn’t know if it was because he wasn’t trying to push her, or if he was hesitant about something else entirely.
Except in the bedroom.
That was the only place that he seemed like his old self. Taking both of them to heights that only the two of them existed in. It was exhilarating. It was hard to remember only a month ago she was a virgin. He had shown her things that she didn’t even know existed.
And she loved it.
He did too, if his reaction was anything to go by.
But that didn’t mean that outside the bedroom, he wasn’t struggling.
That was all without bringing in to the fact that he was without his family right now, and although he was trying to hide it, she knew that what had happened had cut him deep.
So she did the only thing she knew how to do.
Exactly what he had done for her.
She waited.
Never leaving, always there, and ready for when he was ready to talk to her.
And in the meantime, she was loving the adventure.
The door slammed and Branson walked in carrying a load of chopped wood.
“Mark said that y’all are heading to dinner in town tonight. Tryin out that BBQ place.”
“Yeah. I’m excited! I haven’t really had like true BBQ before. They smoke it there at the restaurant, so it should be yummy,” she called to him, finishing the last of the dishes before wiping down the counters.
“Well, y’all will be in for a treat then.” She smiled at him as he lumbered over to the dining room table and took a seat.
It had almost become a ritual for them. After the first few days she had come to realize that Branson was nothing more than what Mark had said.
A marshmallow.
He followed her and Mark around for the first few days, wearing her down, till she had no choice but to let him in.
Don’t get her wrong he was huge, and how he found clothes to fit his large frame she had no idea, but the man was so sweet.
He was funny too. Something that she kind of needed right now.
“Your man’s out there determined to find the answers to life in that stack of wood.”
“Hmm,” she murmured glancing out the window worriedly again. Even though the split pile was huge, way bigger than the pile of to be cut wood, he still kept chopping.
“At least he’s getting a workout.” Branson gave her a look that she couldn’t decipher, but she didn’t try and figure it out, just went to the fridge to pour some sweet tea for him.
