Shattered Girl (Emmy)

Chapter 60

I was so excited, that I jumped out of my seat the moment Mike slowed to turn into a parking space.

"Careful, honey. Let me

e get the truck turned off before you start jumping around, Mike admonished. Blushing, I sat down. When Mike had turned off the truck, he turned to me, smiling. Now you can get out. If I had brought you back hurt because you jumped out of a moving vehicle, we would both be in a lot of trouble," he joked.

I nodded in understanding. 'I'm sorry, I know that wasn't safe; I will be more careful, I promise," I told Mike before letting myself out of the truck. I met Mike at the back of the truck, He pulled out my pack first, handing it to me so I could get it adjusted properly.

A few minutes later, we were heading toward the trailhead, and Mike began telling me about the area, pointing out and telling me the names of trees and flowers as we passed. "It's beautiful out here; 1 love it; look at all the flowers I laughed. I love flowers, they were so bright and beautiful, and always lifted my mood. Living with my father, though, I never had any money to buy any, and if I had tried to plant any seeds, my father would have surely killed them or pulled them out when he was mad at me,

this, he promised that when we found our forever home, He would get me any flowers I wanted to plant. I grinned excitedly, "Do you think we can find someplace like this to live? I love it

the city for Patrick but still secluded enough for you, honey." Mike reached for my hand, pulled me toward him, and gave me a deep. I smiled up at Mike as we continued walking, but I stayed close, keeping our fingers intertwined. After several minutes of walking I noticed a creek appear off to one side of the path. That looks so refreshing, I'm

you in whatever swimsuit you packed for this trip. Mike grinned wickedly, wiggling his eyebrows at me. I

to wear. I'm just glad I remembered to pack one, otherwise I

fast-moving water. Mike led me around a bend in the trail, and there, as the trail branched off in a different direction, was a beautiful waterfall I froze in the middle

up behind me, resting his hands on my hips and the side of my neck. "I thought you would like it." He murmured. Taking my hand, we set off to a smaller trail that led closer to the falls. As we got closer, I began to feel misty drops of water brushing my face, and as if by magic, the waterfall appeared. There was a small clearing at the base of a cliff, and the waterfall fell into a pool of water that led off toward the creek we had been walking beside. As Mike led

scene. "Can we come

back and swim here?" I asked

a lot colder than the lake." Curious now, I walked toward the edge of the pool, knelt down, and ran my hand through the water. Shit, it was freezing: I quickly pulled my hand out

yelped, trying to wiggle away from my freezing fingers. Once he escaped my icy attack, he took my cold hand and tucked it into the crook of his arm while he led me further along the edge of the pool. There was a small outcropping of rocks off