As We Are | Book 2

Breathless

Chapter Fifteen

Breathless

I park on the side of the road and Desirae sits up straight and examines our surroundings.

"Are we in Mystic Valley," she beams, her eyes already lighting up.

"Yeah, it's more like a forest but yes we are," I grin, unsurprised that she knows of this naturistic paradise.

I grab my rucksack out of the car and she grabs hers.

We walk along the dirt tracks, our footsteps crunching the leaves and pebble on the ground each step we take.

Birds chirp in the trees and the breeze blows through the leaves emitting a whooshing sound that is eerily similar to the sound of ocean waves crashing.

Desirae's head turns from place to place as the look of awe and amazement plastered all over her face.

My heart feels so warm. It should be humanly impossible to love someone this much.

We walk deeper into the woods as the trees get higher and the tracks get steeper.

We stop by a river for a little break, to take everything in and let everything out.

Desirae looks to the sky appreciatively and closes her bright eyes.

If she's this elated now, I can't wait to see her reaction when I tell her the good news.

"This place really is remarkable," she grins, her smile makes my heart weep tears of joy and her smile hypnotising my mind.

"I love seeing you so happy. You're in your element."

She grins at me and takes out her water bottle and gulps.

I take out a few sandwiches for the both of us, I offer her the Caesar wrap and she shakes her head.

"I've had a big breakfast," she smiles, "I feel like if I take a bite out of that sandwich of yours, I might throw up from excitement."

"More for me I guess," I tease childishly.

She picks up some pebbles and throws them gently into the nearby river as she watches them drift away.

"Benny was so excited to see Molly this morning," I say.

"I know. Molly was excited to see him too," she smiles sadly.

"Is everything okay?" I ask.

"Yeah. Molly just finds it hard to make friends with kids her age. She's too... mature. She may be young in years but she's got the mind-set of a 30-year-old. She loves playing with Benny because she loves looking after him. Sometimes I forget that she's only 8 years old."

"Is she happy?" I ask, afraid to receive any answer other than a 'yes.'

"I don't know. She wasn't brought up with a stable father figure. Her and I have gone through a lot and I'm afraid it's toughen her up... too much."

"You shouldn't blame yourself," I offer.

"Oh, I don't," she smiles, "of course she's curious about her father but she knows he has no interest in her."

I look to my knees sadly.

"I think she is... Happy? Mollani is happy. If she wasn't, I think I'd would know," she says.

"Do you know what Molly's father is doing now?"

"Last I heard, Jason has a new family now in Sydney. Two sons and a daughter."