"So what did you call to ask me eirlier?" I ask as we wander down the isles of the store.

I recall him saying that he wanted to ask me something when he called, also happening to save my life.

It smells like floor cleaner and old onions, but is pretty much the same as your local grocery.

Hunter pushes the cart without complaint as we walk side by side.

I go to get the laundry soap as he answers.

"To ask you on another... you know, date." He says, sounding as nervous as his tough guy facade will allow.

I smile to myself as I pick out the Tide that I usually use, and move down the isle look for a softener. I look over my shoulder at him, beckoning him over with the cart using my finger. "Do you think you deserve a date? "

"Well, I did save you after all." He says, bumping me in the butt with the cart purposefully.

I grin involuntary as I unscrew the cap of some Snuggle to smell it. Making a face, I put it back on the shelf.

I hear him walk over as I go to test another, and he captures my hand in his. I look down in surprise, as he gently takes the Tide from me.

"Laundry day?" He asks, whispering in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

I swallow, refusing to loose my cool. "Mmm-hmm. Here, smell this one." I say, lifting it for him to smell.

He chuckles and does as instructed. "Mmm... get that one, I like it."

I smile and put the cap back on, passing it on to him.

He puts both in the cart, and we keep moving. "What else?"

I tap my lip. "Umm... dishwasher detergent, butter, eggs, flour, vanilla and chocolate chips. I'd like to get seed for a bird feeder too."

He smiles as we round a corner of the deserted store. "You baking?"

I nod. "Cookies."

"Mmm. I love cookies. I didn't know you could cook. You'll have to make me something sometime. "

"Are you implying that I should invite you over?"

He laughs, making me look at him again, cocking my head. "You said it, not me, Barbie."

I punch his chest and grin without meaning to. "You idiot."

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"So, you never answered me."

I look up at Hunter as he drives. "Which question?"

He rolls his eyes, though he smiles. "Will you go on a date with me?" He repeats. "I won't stop asking until you say something."

I chew my lip in thought. "Hmm... where would you take me?"

"Anywhere." He says without hesitating at all.

I think for a minute, tapping the arm rest. I stare out my window, seeing that it had started to snow, big, fluffy flakes. "Where would you recommend?"

"Well, that would have to be a surprise, I can't just tell you." He says, flicking my arm.

"Hm. Well, I guess I can't turn down a good surprise then, can I?" I say, smiling.

He takes his free hand and lays it over mine, where it rests on my thigh, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
"You'll really go out with me?"

I look at him side long, trying not to smile back. "Well, what did I just say?"

He gently starts to rub a thumb over my knuckles, but I shift uncomfortably and put my hands in my pockets.

My phone vibrates as I do so, and I pull it out to answer the call, grateful for the distraction. At least now it will look less like I was uncomfortable and more like I felt my phone buzzing.

Hunter looks a little ashamed anyhow, before returning both hands to the wheel.

"Hey, dad. No, I'm okay, didn't get lost. I'm on my way home."

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Unknown POV

I watch as she walks through the snow, her destination seems to be the small, lone tree that stands in the middle of the back yard, dwarfed by the tall Evergreens that surround it.

It was planted there, some years ago by its size, because it's the only one of its kind on the spacious land. It stands out, but it is growing strong, even through its winter slumber.

She carries a plastic store bag in her hand, and scans the shadowed woods around her with enticing blue eyes.

Her step falters, seeming to hear some thing, and her head turns my way, making my heart skip a beat.

She couldn't have heard me, I've been laying still as the dead among the shadows that camouflage me from her eyes. Even if I had moved, there isn't any way she could have seen me behind the snow covered brush.

But no, her eyes rest somewhere a few inches from my left ear. To be safe, I lower myself even more without a sound, my belly resting atop the cool snow.

After a few beats, she continues walking, steps cautious, gaze fixed on the tree she heads for.

I listen to the snow crunching under her black muck boots, and I wonder briefly if they would keep her warm enough. Its only twelve degrees today, but I feel no bitterness of winters cold bite.

Despite the temperature, the sun is shining and vibrant, but does nothing to stay the hand of winters hate.

She doesn't look cold. Instead, she looks far away, like her mind is some were in an old memory.

Her blond hair cascades down her back like a golden waterfall, covering what I know is her last name, written in scarlet thread on the back of her black barn jacket.

I've seen the name of a stable, as I've looked it up, in Washington, also scrawled on the jackets front, above the breast.

I draw in a deep breath, the scent of the white dog that typically accompanies her is faint, coming from her clothes.

Good, that dog doesn't like me hanging around here, and I don't doubt that if given the chance, she'll attack me.

It isn't that I don't think that I could take her, so much as I don't want to hurt her. I know what she means to Kaden, and I won't hurt her like that.

The bag in my girl's hand rustles as she hangs it off of one of the tired trees branches, and starts to look through it.

She draws out the wire bird feeder, and rips the price tag off of its handle with her teeth.

Clutching it tightly in her bare hands, she cranes her neck back to survey which branch to hang it on.

If I'm not mistaken, her expression is one of pain. Not a physical pain, but more of an emotional toil that shows in her eyes that even I, yards away, can detect. She must let her walls down when she is alone.

My heart constricts at the thought of her sadness, and I let out an inaudible whimper.

She finally picks a branch, and hangs it on one of its naked fingers, brittle as an old woman's hands in the cold.

She then retrieves the last item in the bag, and takes the wrapper off with great care. She fits the seed, that was pressed into the block to fit the feeders shape, into it, and crumbles the wrapper in her hands. She takes both the bag, and the wrappers, and stuffs them into her pockets, along with her hands. She looks mournfully at her work, before smiling sadly, and trudging the way to the big white and blue barn.

Its been a full day since she'd gotten stuck in the snow near Emory Drive, and the memory causes me to look out passed my natural barricade at the woods across from me.

A shadow darts between trees near the house, and I feel my hackles rise. They shouldn't be here. This is unmarked territory and closer my my boarders than theirs. They were the cause of my worry in the first place, they are the reason that I come to watch her house so frequently.

I don't like them so close.

With that thought in mind, I look at my girls back as she disappears into the safety of her barn, greeted by a warm nicker, and I turn to run across the yard where she was trudging not long ago.

I'm going to put an end to this, while her scent is still pumping through my veins like life itself.

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A picture of Kaden.
:)