My Husband Is My Savior (ON HOLD)

Chapter 8 (Memory Lane)

           

Chapter 8
Memory Lane

*Arabella*

            The tension hangs in the air as we finished setting up camp. I watch Derek looking for any telling signs that there may be some problem he's not telling me about. Sometimes I wish I could read minds so for once I'd know what's going on in his head. It stresses me out how secretive he can be.

            "Want to go for a quick hike before it gets dark?" Derek asks as he turns off the air pump for the blow-up mattress.

            "Okay." I nod. He grabs our backpack of emergency supplies and takes my hand as he leads us to the marked hiking path. I follow him quietly still trying to place this weird feeling that something is wrong. I know instead of focusing on this I should be spending this valuable time with Derek. But after hearing what Gavin had to say yesterday and Derek talking strange today, my gut is telling me Derek is in trouble somehow.

            "What's up with you?" Derek suddenly asks.

"What?" I ask, coming out of my thoughts.

"You've been really quiet for the past hour. And don't think I haven't noticed you spacing out. What's up?" I flush at being caught. I knew he'd notice eventually, but I'd hoped I'd figure out his problem before he did. I'm not nearly as good at hiding things as he is. "Arabella." The sound of my full name draws me out of my thoughts again. "Talk to me. You're making me worried. Did I do something again?"

"No, of course not." I finally reply. "It's just..." What can I tell him? I don't want to accuse him of lying, and I don't want to make him feel like I'm against him. But I want to know what's in his head and why he's been keeping things from me. "I'm worried about you." I finally say. "I ran into some of your friends."

"I don't have friends." He shakes his head. "Jackson?" He shrugs as he shakes his head. "Gavin?" He stops abruptly, and I bring my pace to a stop beside him. "That night you came home late, you were catching up with him, right? And I ran into your friend Jackson at the bar with Elliot and Johanna. Why would you say you don't have friends?"

"Right." He shakes his head as if just remembering. "I don't really think of them as friends. More like family, you know." He smiles. He starts walking again and I tentatively follow behind him. What's up with him? He's seen both Jackson and Gavin recently, but he still claims he has no friends. They may feel like family to him, but that doesn't mean they aren't his friends.

"Of course I knew about Gavin already, but why have you never mentioned Jackson? It was awkward that he knew who I was, but I didn't know him."

"I talk about you a lot." He shrugs. "I guess he feels like he knows you."

"Why haven't you mentioned him, or introduced me?"

"Because I want to keep you all to myself." He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me to his side before placing a kiss on top my head. "I've never been good at sharing and you're just so damn sexy I wouldn't be able to stop myself from hurting any guy who looked your way."

I release a small sigh of annoyance as he changes the subject. He can avoid the conversation all he wants, but I'm going to find out what he's hiding. Our relationship is slowly weakening, and I thought it was my fault, but part of the reason is this wall that's been between us from the start.

To avoid an argument I allow him to change the subject. I put the conversation to the side for later and try to forget as I intertwine our fingers.

*Derek*

            Arabella eventually intertwines her fingers with mine and leans against my arm. The nerves building in my stomach finally disappears as she drops the subject. I never expected her to mention Gavin or any of his shady men. She's supposed to be separate from this dark part of my life. Gavin knows that, so why would he approach Arabella? He knew she would say something to me, so he couldn't have tried to do it secretly. Did he want to send a message that he can easily get to Arabella, or does he have some other plan?