Page 24 of Saving Scarlett
Moving to stand by my side, she huffed a laugh as she slid her hand into mine again. “In that case, we should probably get some beer. You can’t fish without beer.”
Fifteen minutes later, we emerged from the store, fully stocked with the food items we needed, stuff to make s’mores, and lots of beer. To my relief, everything had gone without any issues. The cashier had seemed more interested in her cellphone than watching the store, and the second vehicle, an older model truck, belonged to an elderly man who was buying milk. It went so smoothly it almost felt like we were really shopping for a fishing trip, but I couldn’t fool myself. That was why, instead of going straight back to the cottage when we left the store, I turned in the opposite direction. If anyone was watching us—following us—I intended to weed them out.
Chapter 22
The Survivor
Although Bane was confident we were safe entering the rural market to buy a few things, I wasn’t surprised when he didn’t go straight back to the cottage upon leaving the parking lot. Every decision he made showed me how significant my safety was to him, and I appreciated it more than he knew. As I sat beside him on the bench seat of the old Chevy pickup truck, I couldn’t help but glance at him in his tattered red baseball cap with a college football logo on the front and see him as a regular guy. From the way he was with me and how he treated me, I couldn’t imagine him as a killer. Deep down, I hoped that would never change.
When we got a few miles down the road, he took another look in the rearview mirror and then pulled into the gravel parking lot of a church. He drove the truck around the back of the building and parked it. The view behind the structure took my breath away. The river that flowed behind the church, running parallel to the road, was stunning, and the opposite bank was lined with dense forest just like the forest surrounding Bane’s property.
“I think we’re in the clear, but I figured we could sit here for a moment, just to make sure no one was following us,” he said, turning the engine off and twisting in the seat to look at me, his sky blue eyes drawing me in. “Plus, I wanted to show you the river.”
For a moment, all I could do was look at his face. I forgot for that moment how fucked up my life was, and how much danger I was truly in.
Eventually, he broke my stare, clearing his throat and reaching out to open the door. “Would you like to take a closer look?”
After another scan out the front windshield, I nodded. “Absolutely. It’s beautiful here.”
Bane opened the door, sliding out and then helping me to hop out beside him. The truck was much higher off the ground than I was used to.
Walking around the front of the truck, we stopped at a patch of grass on the edge of the riverbank. With the cool breeze, gentle flow of the water, and the fresh aroma of pine, I found myself in a state of tranquility I knew would never last.
“This river looks a lot cleaner than the Mississippi.”
He chuckled, nodding his head as he crouched to pick up a few stones scattered across the grass.
“The Tennessee River is more than six hundred miles long, but some parts are dirtier than others.”
I leaned forward, watching how the river snaked through the trees and mountains in both directions as far as I could see and all I wanted was to get into the water and explore. “You know something I’ve never done…” My train of thought trailed off as I watched Bane toss one of the stones into the water. It jumped three times before sinking beneath the surface.
“What have you never done?” he asked, crouching again to pick up a few more stones and then giving one to me. I tossed it, but without any of his skill, my stone sank immediately, sending the water around it rippling in gentle waves.
“I’ve never kayaked, but this looks like the perfect place to do it. It’s so peaceful.”
Handing me another stone, he moved closer to me. His scent, and the warmth of his body, sent shivers down my spine, settling right between my thighs. It was a dangerous feeling but one I didn’t want to go away. If anything, I just really needed to masturbate. I needed the release.
“This part of the river is perfect for kayaking. When you’re in a small craft, there are so many beautiful places to discover. Maybe one day, when this is all over, it’ll be something you can experience.”
The image his words painted for me made me smile. I only wished he would have offered to bring me himself. However, something told me that as soon as my circumstances improved, he would disappear from my life and I would never see him again. The thought twisted my gut, but I tried not to let it show on my face.
“Hopefully, I can start to enjoy my life. Maybe I can do all the living, laughing, and loving that I see printed on wall decor.”
He chuckled again, launching another stone toward the water where it skipped multiple times before disappearing beneath the surface.
Looking at the stone still in my hand, I had no idea how he was getting it to do that. I turned to look at him. “Can you teach me how to make it jump like yours?”
Without hesitation, as though he was waiting for an invite, he moved even closer to me, wrapping his hand around mine. “That was exactly what I was about to do. Maybe learning to skip rocks and make s’mores can be the first step in your goal to live, laugh, love… Whatever that means.”
Returning to the cottage an hour later, everything appeared to be as we’d left it, but Bane still wanted me to stay safely inside the locked truck as he checked the home for intruders.
Once he was sure it was secure, he returned to the truck and parked it back inside the barn where it could remain hidden. With all the forested land surrounding the property, there was still a prickle of unease on the back of my neck, telling me there could have been someone watching us, but I tried not to think about it. Even though our days thus far had been admittedly pleasant, especially considering the night we’d had before, I knew I wasn’t on a getaway of any sort. I wasn’t naïve, but the brief moments when I could let my guard down helped me handle all those moments when I couldn’t.
Taking the grocery bags from the truck, I followed him back inside the cottage where we put everything away so we could prepare for our evening. He and Phantom had planned a news broadcast for that night that was sure to upset me just as much as the other had the night before. Until then, however, we intended to grill steaks and make s’mores over the bonfire outside. I didn’t know how much longer we were going to be at the cottage, but before we left the beautiful mountain retreat, I wanted to have at least one real camping experience.
Watching Bane prepare the meat, I was glad he was a good cook, because my husband never bothered. He seemed to know his way around ingredients and how to combine them into tasty dishes. It was one more thing about him that made him such a paradox—one more thing about him that disarmed me and made me see him as someone I wanted in my life.
The hiss of a bottle being opened met my ears just moments before Bane held out a beer out in front of me. “I assume since you asked for them that you wanted one, or do you want to wait until after dinner?”