Page 2 of Somewhere We Belong

“At the fork in the road take a left, please,” she said, putting her seat belt on, adjusting it so it sat below her belly. “I’m at the end of the road.”

We drove in silence; it didn’t bother me one bit. It gave me a chance to glance at her occasionally, looking for a ring on her finger that didn’t seem to be there. I was happy she was letting me drive her and the longer we drove the more I realized she was going to walk really far.

I itched to say something, but it wasn’t my place.

We arrived at a small cabin that looked run down, looking for another car that could be her partner’s. When no one appeared to be here, I had to fight the urge to tell her to come home with me. I put the truck in park, breathing through the urges to whisk her away and keep her safe.

Where the fuck were these caveman urges coming from??

“Stay there, I’ll help you,” I said, getting out and rounding the truck.

I opened the door to her wary gaze again as I held out my hand for her. She hesitantly took it, slowly getting out of the car.

“I got your bags. Go open your door and get inside,” I said, trying not to betoobossy.

She pursed her lips like she wanted to say something but nodded before waddling away.

I grabbed her bags and the bag that had the stuff I had bought in it. This worked out perfectly and this saved me the weird conversation of I saw you counting money and I wanted to help you out.

I walked onto the porch as she opened the door and rushed inside. It looked better than I expected, but I thought she deserved better, and it looked like no one else was here with her.

“Here are your bags, but can I give you my number? You know, just in case you need a ride or need some help,” I said quickly. “Like I said, we live on the ranch and it seems pretty close to here.”

“Look, I appreciate your help today, but I’m good,” she said. “Thank you though.”

I opened my mouth to say something, anything to get her to let me help her, but she held onto the door, and I think I saw fear in her eyes. That's the last thing I wanted her to feel.

“Ok, well I will be here for the next few days, but Colt and Theodore would be able to help you too,” I said, walking backwards. “It was lovely to meet you…”

I left it open so she would tell me her name.

“Thank you for your help. Have a good day,” she said, nodding before closing the door.

I fought the urge to knock on the door except I decided I would be patient. She would come if she needed help, let’s hope she wasn’t too stubborn.

1

nova

Present Day

“Didyou hear Marvin and Sue were caught having sex in his truck in the parking lot of the grocery store?” Blanche said, loudly enough that almost everyone in the salon heard her.

“I heard they got caught at that movie theatre in Monroe,” Betty, the woman next to us, said.

I shook my head as they discussed Marvin and Sue’s sex life, while I put in another roller into Blanche's hair. Another woman chimed in as I put the last roller in her hair, giving it an obnoxious amount of hair spray, because if I didn’t she would complain, because you know, the bigger the hair the closer to Jesus.

“Alright Blanche, time for the air dryer,” I said, helping her up and grabbing her purse.

“When I come back, we can talk about that boy that works at the ranch,” Blanche said to Betty, like she had the juiciest gossip in the world.

I bit my lip from saying something because these women always had something to say about the men who worked at theAurora Ranch. Most of the gossip was innocent, but sometimes they said things that made me want to take my clippers and buzz their hair for being so awful.

“Alright, is twenty minutes, ok?” I asked Blanche, because this woman thought she knew more about hair than I did.

I was a Master Colorist with a barber license from Denver, but working in the small town of Sterling Ridge, that was nothing to its residents and Tease Me Salon.

“I think today let’s shoot for thirty minutes,” she said, getting comfortable in the chair. “I think it was still damp when I left last time.”

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