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,

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

know we will do our best to find something that will make us all happy." Mike promised. I'm sure there is somewhere close enough to 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

in whatever swimsuit you packed for this trip. Mike

even try to guess what I'm going to wear. I'm just glad I remembered to pack one, otherwise I would be out on the boat later with nothing on." I

faint roaring sound of 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

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

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 of the icy water and dried it

way too cold for this city girl" I went back to Mike, who was chuckling until I slid my freezing hand under his shirt. He 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