Hunter's Chance

t h i r t y - f i v e

James POV (fjdslakfjdaslfjdsakldfjdsalkjfdsak)

SEPTEMBER

The house is exactly as I remember. A crisp white exterior with a tire swing hanging from the tall tree out front. Picture perfect for an imperfectly held household. This is how I remember feeling about her. Her bright white smile and perfectly wavy hair with pursed lips that held more attitude than a guy like me would know what to do with.

On the inside though, she wasn't any less perfect than I viewed her on the outside. She would argue me on that though. I mean sure, she is slightly blocked off, nailed down to her stubbornness and eager to push me away but she is also brave and smart and tirelessly everything I have ever needed. My girl who thinks that speeding through a yellow light is rebellious, and the same one who thinks fast and talks slow.

The love of my life.

My hands grip the steering wheel as my knuckles lighten at the grasp. I've been here before. As a matter of fact, I've stopped by every day this week in hopes of crossing her path but she hasn't been back and I have an inkling as to why, she's back in Flagstaff, she's staying away from me.

It's been two long months since I've seen her dark brown eyes and I know she's avoiding me just as I've been avoiding her. My excuse? This is my way of coping with the fear of saying all the wrong things. She pulled a fast one on me last week and I know I have to use that as my motivation.

I switch gears and after resisting my hesitation, I press on the gas. Because somehow I know that she's kept up in her tiny room with the wooden floors in that brick house on the same street I've become familiar with. I'm heading back to Flagstaff and it's all because of that damn letter.

-

A gust of wind picks up a scent that I recognize, sending chills up my spine and somehow I know that she's here. I search my surroundings as I walk towards the front of the house. If I know her like I think I do, then she's here to finish the job. She's going to wreck me, but my mind doesn't seem to care as I stalk around the building and come face to face with headlights.

But as quickly as I spot them, they're drifting further and further away from me. She's leaving. I pick up my feet as I follow her tire marks out but she's faster than me and by the time that I reach the end of the drive, she is gone.

It was her. I don't know how I know, I just do. It's been months... What could she have been doing? I pace the dirt road back towards the ranch, kicking at the rocks below my feet as I try to piece it all together. Could I have imagined it? Would she truly show up after all this time?

By the time I'm back at the front of the house, I notice Indy is sitting on the porch steps. Her eyes are down and she hasn't noticed me but maybe she knows something I think to myself as I pick up a light jog towards her. She had to have seen that, right?

"It was her, wasn't it? What did she say? Is she coming back?" My mind is in a whirlwind of emotions. I'm struck at the base of my reminiscing as I hone in on what little expression she is giving away. I look to her further for an answer when she turns to me and without a word, slides a white envelope into my hands. A letter? She quickly stands and I'm left alone with an envelope with what I'm sure will be my undoing. I'm eager, I'm nervous, and most of all I'm not ready.

But I toss my head back anyways, take a few breaths and then I begin lifting the flab. I pull the lined paper out of it's containment and reconsider what it could all mean. Is she going to tell me goodbye? Is she ending things for good? My eyes are on the words before another thought crosses my mind.