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“I think we should really start looking,” Trevor stated.

“I think if we’re going to meet someone to share, then it will happen. I can’t see trying something as intense as this with just some random woman, Trevor. You heard what Garret and the guys said. It hit them all at once. They knew immediately that Gia was meant for them. They were each attracted to her and she was to them,” Dante said.

“What do you think, Charlie?” Trevor asked.

Charlie stared out at the darkness. If he could take a picture of what he felt was inside his heart and his soul, this would be it. Pure black, darkness.

“I told you before, Trevor, and I’ll tell you again. I’m not interested. I wouldn’t do my part and it wouldn’t be fair to the unsuspecting woman. You two have love to give. I don’t.” Charlie stood up, tossed his empty beer bottle into the recycling bin, then walked inside.

* * * *

“Aunt Lori, what’s Grandma like? Is she really old?” Ben asked as Lori drove the car and Maggie looked at the map.

Lori began to laugh. “No, she’s not old. Actually she’s rather young to be a grandma. She’s a great cook and baker and I’m sure she has lots and lots of plans for you. She told your mom and I that she has a surprise waiting for you when we arrive.”

“What kind of surprise?” Ben asked excitedly as he held a red Power Ranger figure in his hand. It was one of his favorite toys to play with besides dinosaurs.

“If I tell you it won’t be a surprise. Besides your mom and I have no idea either.”

“That’s right, Ben, we don’t know what the surprise could be,” added Maggie as she turned to smile at Ben.

“How long until we get there?” he asked impatiently.

“Not too long, maybe

thirty minutes or so.” Maggie told Lori which turn to take next.

Ben continued to play with his toys as Maggie and Lori spoke.

“How’s your wrist?” Maggie asked.

“It’s a little sore and itchy actually. I can’t wait until I can get this cast off. Eight weeks seems forever,” Lori said as she held the steering wheel with her good hand.

Maggie noticed Lori hadn’t been the same since the night Derrick broke into their home. She kind of closed up and wasn’t so willing to give her opinion. Maggie thought that perhaps Lori felt guilty for shooting Derrick. Even though it was the police officers who fired the two fatal shots, Derrick’s family placed the responsibility solely on Lori. They could care less that their son was a murderer, a batterer, a fugitive, and a drunk. Derrick’s father John even tried to get custody of Ben but he didn’t have a chance once he and his wife were charged with aiding and abetting a fugitive. They were finally free of Derrick Lawson and his family. Now Lori, Maggie, and Ben were headed to Texas, to live on a large private piece of property next to an enormous ranch. No more running scared and their new lives could begin.

“You can probably find a job teaching, Lori, and maybe I could find an office job somewhere in town. Mom said there are plenty of businesses around and a need for good school teachers,” Maggie told her sister as Lori made another turn.

“This looks like the street up ahead. There’s no sign though,” Lori added.

“Mom did say a long dirt road and that you could see the horse ranch,” stated Maggie as Lori continued to drive a little too fast up the road. She came to the top of the hill and suddenly had to slam on the breaks. A man on a large brown-and-white stallion came out of nowhere along with two other men on brown horses.

The first man looked angry as hell as he threw up his hands yelling at Lori.

“Sorry, guy. You came out of nowhere!” Lori yelled back at him out the window.

“This isn’t the goddamn highway, lady. Slow the hell down.” He continued to yell at Lori as he and the other men rode the horses to the side of the road.

“Screw you, you jerk!” Lori yelled back out the window then stepped on the gas speeding down the dirt road.

Ben and Maggie were laughing as Lori turned bright red and carried on about the man on the horse, as she looked in the rearview mirror.

* * * *

“Hot damn, Charlie, why did you carry on like that? It’s obvious they’re not from around here,” Jasper said out loud.

“No shit she wasn’t from around here, driving like some kind of lunatic. Probably from the city or something,” Charlie said in a huff as he continued to ride his horse.

“Not with a beat-up car like that. That thing sounded like the muffler was about to fall off,” Freddie added to the conversation.