Chapter 10
BETH
T he next day I wake up with a better outlook. Maybe it’s the thought of hot food and soaking my body from head to toe. I'm not sure, but I get the feeling we're very close to Tennessee too. We eat a quick breakfast of jerky and some tuna, before we take care of our business and hit the road.
It's slow-going, even though we have a vehicle. Neither one of us wants to use unnecessary gas, and going too fast will do that. We pull off of the grass-covered road we're on, and I can tell that we're back on what once was the interstate.
"Look for signs," I tell him. "The way it opens up, up there." I point in front of us. "Makes me wonder if we aren't at some sort of interstate exchange."
He accelerates slightly, and that's when I see it in the distance. A weathered green sign reads Nashville, thirty-five miles, in lettering that’s starting to fade.
"Holy shit, we're close." He grips the steering wheel tighter. We'll be there tomorrow if all goes good. We were a lot closer than we thought."
Although I'm excited, there's a part of me that's scared too.
What happens if we get there, and we realize we want different things?
Even though we've only been together a few days, I've come to count on him.
Maybe that's a sign of the times we're in.
People build relationships more quickly because we know how fast they can end.
"We will. Now just if we're able to find people. "
"It'll be near the river," he says with all the confidence in the world. "There will be no other place for them to be. So we should see them almost as soon as we hit what was the city limits."
"What if this is our last night together?" I question as we pass a dented blue sign that welcomes us to Tennessee.
He swallows so hard I can see his Adam's apple move. "Then we make this one count. But Beth..."
"Yeah?" I whisper, worried that what he’s going to say next is going to be the end of all of this.
"I don't plan on letting you go unless you want me to. I've come to like having you sit in that passenger seat. Just knowing you're there makes things easier."
"I feel the same way."
A little while later, Knox pulls over on the side of the road, and pulls out one of the maps. With his finger, he traces what I imagine was our route down here.
"What are you looking for?"
He wraps his arm around my neck. "I believe I promised you water, fire, and a warm meal. Did I not? I’m scoping out the nearest pond or lake, so we can scrub up. It might not be the Hilton, but I don’t want to stink on our first date.”
I giggle. “Date?”
“Well yeah, we’re going to eat and wash up. After Eruption that’s almost like a fuckin’ marriage proposal.’
I roll my eyes and give him a smirk.It's not that I forgot about his promise, but I still don’t want to get my hopes up. "If it takes us too far out of the way, it's fine."
"Hey." His voice is so close to my ear I have to turn toward him and give him my full attention. "I promised you something, I'm not going to take it back."
We drive for another few minutes before Knox turns onto an overgrown forestry service access road that looks like it hasn’t been maintained since before Eruption.
The Jeep crawls along, branches scraping the sides, until the trees open up without warning and I hear it before I see it.
It's the sound of rushing water cutting through everything else.
He eases the Jeep to a stop and we both just sit there for a second, taking it in.
The scene in front of us is beautiful. There's a waterfall, maybe thirty feet high that cascades down over a shelf of dark rock and pools at the bottom into an inviting and clear swimming hole.
The late afternoon light catches the spray so that it shows the prism of a rainbow.
Some beauty in the midst of all this ugliness we've had to endure.
Beside it, tucked back against the hillside where the rock juts out, is what looks like the mouth of a shallow cave.
It's deep enough to provide cover, wide enough to sleep in comfortably.
We can have a fire inside, and I can't help but tilt my head back and give thanks to the sky.
It's like the world left it here just for us.
"This is where we're staying." Knox's voice is quiet, like he doesn't want to disturb the vibe of the space.
"This place is amazing. You've never been here before?"
"No, I've never been south of Kentucky, so all of this is new area to me. Had I known what it looked like, I might have made the trip down. It's definitely more interesting looking than I thought it would be."
I get out stretch my back, sighing when I feel the tightness loosen, and the bones crack.
We spend the next little while unloading what we need for the night, Knox gets a small fire going just inside the mouth of the cave where the smoke will be blocked by the top of the rock.
He stacks our bedrolls while I dig out the food we've set aside for tonight.
For the first time in years the routine of this feels less like survival and more like just a little bit of normalcy.
"You ready for that bath?" he asks, nodding toward the waterfall. "I’ll stand guard for you."
I've already got my small bag of toiletries in my hand. "I've been ready since you promised me this yesterday. I don't want you to stand guard. Instead, I want you to join me.” I say those words on a whisper.
He inhales deeply, a groan making it's way past his throat.
The water is cold when I step into the pool at the base of the falls, and I suck in a sharp breath, but it doesn't stop me.
I wade in up to my waist, tipping my head back under the edge of the cascading water and letting it run through my hair.
It's the best feeling I've had this year.
It's more than just washing off the dirt of the life we've been living, I feel like it's washing off the fear and stress of survival too.
When I turn around, Knox is already in the water, closer than I expected, droplets catch in his dark lashes, he's taken his hair down, and pushed it back from his face.
He looks different out here like this. Not so much the man who's always in charge of everything, but a man who wants a quick second with a woman.
Those eyes of his are throwing signals my direction.
Ones that could burn us up if we let it.
Neither of us are willing to move for a moment.
Then he closes the distance between us, his hands coming to my waist beneath the surface, and I let him pull me in.
The cold water and the warm press of him are such a contrast that I shiver for reasons that have nothing to do with the temperature, or the fact I'm naked.
His forehead comes down to rest against mine, his thumbs drawing slow circles against my sides.
"Beth." My name coming from his mouth sounds different than it has before.
"I know," I whisper back, because I do. I feel it too, whatever this is that keeps pulling us toward each other no matter how many reasons we have to keep our distance.
My hands find his chest, and I feel the steady beat of his heart beneath my palms, faster than it should be.
His eyes drop to my lips, and when he finally kisses me it's nothing like the quick, quiet kiss in the Jeep last night.
It's more like the one we shared in bed back at that house in Beaver Dam.
It's one that says once he gets started, he doesn't want to stop. This kiss carries the weight of everything between us behind it. His hands slide around to my back and draw me flush against him, and I stop thinking about Nashville, or the envelope tucked in the Jeep’s console we need to deliver, or what comes next.
For right now there is only the sound of the waterfall, and the warmth of his hands, and the way he kisses me like I'm the only other person who exists in his world.