Kidnapped Bride

Chapter 18

I stared at the door for a while, part of me wanting him back, part of me wanting never to see him again. I didn't know whether I should feel angry, or proud. Maybe he wasn't sticking up for his first almost-wife, but he was staying with his second wife. That took a lot of guts, and I had to respect him for that. Yet in my heart, I felt betrayed. I always thought that he was looking for me and when he'd find me, we'd reunite and get married and forget all about Jesse. Obviously that wasn't going to happen.

You can't change the past, Belle. Focus on the present and your daughters waiting for you, I told myself.

I walked towards the closed door and entered the room. I was slightly surprised about what I found. Scarlett and Bonnie had found a dollhouse and some dolls. Scarlett was playing with a doll and surprisingly Bonnie was playing with a doll too . . . and with a smile on her face. My heart swelled with happiness. My little Bonnie was smiling, a real genuine smile. Not a smile that was forced because of our circumstances, but a real smile. Like a regular happy six-year-old girl.

"Mommy! You wanna play dollies with us?" Scarlett exclaimed as I shut the door.

"Sure, baby."

Scarlett handed me a doll and we played around with them until Scarlett said she was hungry. I went into the kitchen and made her some cereal. There was still some left from earlier.

We continued to play with the dolls and I surprised myself by smiling and laughing. It felt good.

I fell asleep that night happy. I didn't have nightmares like I was starting to have. I felt good, no great, for the first time in over seven years.

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A couple of days passed in a similar fashion. I introduced Bonnie and Scarlett to television, and they were fascinated by it. Scarlett went up and touched the TV, and once she confirmed that the people were inside the screen she came back and sat on my lap.

We watched TV for a little while before Bonnie said she was hungry and Scarlett agreed.

"Then let's get some food, babies."

I went into the cupboard where the rest of the food was. We were running dangerously low on food, only half a box of cereal left.

We finished that off and I put our bowls into the sink.

"Okay babies, we have to go to the store."

"What's the store?" Scarlett asked. 

"It's a place where we get food. It's called a grocery store."

"Oh."

"We have to get our outside clothes on so we can go to the store. C'mon let's get dressed."

I ushered my babies into our room and changed them into some jeans and a t-shirt. It was warm outside, so I didn't give them a jacket. 

I grabbed some of the money that James had left me. He'd left me close to $500 and a credit card. He'd dropped it off the next day after he walked out on me.

I picked up Bonnie and settled her on my hip and took Scarlett's hand. 

"C'mon babies, let's go." I walked out of the door, locking it behind me. Bonnie was already tense.

We walked out of the building. I knew there was a small grocery store a short distance from the apartment building. Bonnie was tense, and Scarlett was tensing up as well. There were so many people around that I was getting nervous as well. 

Ten minutes later we reached the grocery store. Bonnie wasn't whimpering, but she was nervous. I thought she'd be whimpering by now. Maybe she was getting better. Scarlett, on the other hand was almost excited. She was fearful, a little, but the excitement outweighed it, just a little bit.

We went inside and I grabbed a cart. I set Bonnie down and let the two of them walk alongside me as I went down the aisles, grabbing some canned food and cereal. Bonnie had a hand on my thigh the whole time, but Scarlett wasn't holding on to me at all. I felt a surge of pride for my youngest daughter.

Once I had enough food in the cart to last us two weeks I went towards the check-out lane. God, there were a lot of people. It was enough to send shivers up my spine.

 We went through the check-out lane quickly and exited the store.

"You were good girls, very very good girls." I said, handing them each a light bag to carry. I took the other bags and walked out of the store, an eye on each of my daughters.

I felt someone bump against me and I fell down.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you." I blabbed on, murmuring my apologies.

"It's no problem, don't worry about it." A male voice said. "Here, let me help you with your groceries."

A hand helped me up, and Bonnie gasped.

"It's okay. I just fell down." I told my daughters.

I know it must have looked like the man pushed me and then pulled me back up against my will.

I looked up at the man and almost gasped myself. He was gorgeous. He had dark brown locks and tanned skin. He was muscular, but not too muscular.

"Thanks." I uttered.

"No problem." He said, bending down to help pick up my spilled groceries.

"You don't have to do that." I said hastily, bending down to help him.

"Hey, I bumped into you." He picked up the last of the groceries and set them in my hand. "Your daughters are adorable."

"Thanks. They're a little shy."

The man bent down in front of Scarlett, and she shied away a little.

"Do you like flowers?" he asked her. Scarlett just stared at him. Her eyes lit up when he pulled two flowers out of nowhere. He extended one flower to both of my daughters.

Scarlett took hers with a look of amazement on her face, while Bonnie took hers tentatively, after she looked up at me for approval. She smiled too, which filled me up with happiness.

"I'm sorry, they won't say anything, but they like it." I said, because I knew he'd expect a thank you.

"No thanks needed. It's just a smile I'm looking for." he said.

"Well, I better go." I said awkwardly. 

"Wait, what's your name?"

"Belle, and this is Bonnie and Scarlett. What's yours?"

"Tyler. I hope we can run into each other again."

"Me too." I said genuinely. I already liked this guy. If he had managed to make Bonnie crack a smile, he could do anything.

We said good-bye and departed. And I was left with a very, very happy feeling.

Guys, I'm thinking of quitting this story. No one votes or comments anymore. Is it not good? Should I quit? I have no idea. I need some feedback from you. Should I quit this or do you want me to keep writing it?