I would give anything for the moments that happened then. That one peaceful week that seemed to make even a paradise seem like a wild and dangerous storm. Each morning of this week, I awoke to a close-to gourmet breakfast and then went off to school where we had no homework due to the conference week. When I returned home, I found something in the house to be cleaned or fixed. Then each night I would look over the video one last time to find any more clues that I came up blank.
The barn was being redone and painted on the Thursday I came home. This was the end of my perfect week. I brought Nick some lemonade as I had done before as he was placing the finishing touches on the barn doors. We looked back and admired how it looked brand new. He showed me inside and it was more of a house than a barn. One bed on each floor, desks made from scratch, bookshelves, even outlets that ran underground and connected to the house. It was gorgeous.
"I can't believe you did this all in a week!"
"I don't sleep well when I think about stuff..." He said as he then pulled on the door to make sure it was stable.
"What kind of stuff?"
"Just my family...my brother more specifically..."
"Can I ask?"
He nodded.
"Why aren't you with your family? I mean how did you end up in this town?"
"Well...there was an incident when I was younger-I prefer to keep it at that. My brother was sent away a long time ago and I never saw my parents again. I found I wanted a fresh start and this town seemed perfect. If it wasn't for the storm I would have ended up in a hotel. But then I wouldn't have met you..." He said as he gave me a warm smile.
"You probably would have been better off."
He hit his hand hard on the door, causing it to break loose from one of its hinges.
"Don't ever say that again!"
Leaving the door destroyed on the floor, he exited the barn and made his way into the house-I could hear the door slam from where I was located in the barn. The entire reaction replayed in my head until the curiosity grew the best of me and I followed him. As I entered the house, I heard the upstairs shower to be active and made my way up the stairs to apologize.
As I made it to the top step, I was able to see into the bathroom and saw how he was shirtless. His muscles tightened as he held himself over the sink. He ran his fingers through his hair before he removed the remainder of his clothing and entered the shower. I had turned away as he removed his clothing so I was unaware he entered the shower completely. Yelling over the running water, I tried to make amends.
"I'm sorry!" I said, my voice cracking.
"It's fine. You need to understand something...." He began, his soothing voice echoing through the house. "I have not met anyone like you before. You are not like most girls who crave the next fashion craze or makeup tutorial. You actually live...or at least want to."
I then heard as he exited the shower. I had not realized how long I was standing out in the hall-ten minutes had already passed! When he emerged from the bathroom, there was a towel hanging low on his hips and I could see is sculpted body beautifully before me.
"I want to give you that adventure as I want a fresh start. We both know nothing about one another...But I want to know you."
"Why?"
"Because you aren't like them...You are interesting."
"How so?"
"You are intriguing to me. I want to know your every thought. I want to know your every battle because I feel as if we are the same person at times..." He said, his gaze now fixated on mine.
He towered over me without effort as I stood confident before him.
"So what do you say we go have some fun?"