I'll be there

I mull it over in my head for a while and tell her, "Yeah, I'll be there. I'm going to have to make sure that you aren't followed and you will be secure."

A relieved look passes over Sara's face, "Thank you so much! You have no idea how hard this has been for me." She wraps her arms around me in a huge hug. The scent of her hair, a mild strawberry, floats over me like a warm summer's breeze. I return her hug with a moment of ****, but soon find that I have a hard time letting her go. We both stay in the embrace a few moments too long and awkwardly let each other go.

Sara is blushing slightly and I have a hard time looking her in the eyes. "Um...well, thanks again," she says, "should I bring anything with me?"

I quickly respond, "No. If you take anything out of ordinary, lots of clothes, family pictures, anything like that, you'll tip your hand and Elric will probably figure out what you're doing. I almost wish you hadn't confronted him, but I can understand that you wanted to hear how he would respond."

The blush quickly leaves Sara's face and she says, "I guess I wanted him to give me an explanation, maybe tell me that it wasn't what it seemed. Stupid, huh?"

"No, it wasn't. I've seen far more of this sort of thing than I would like, and in most cases, people will give someone one last chance to make it better. Sometimes, those last chances go on and on, I'm glad to see you were smart and strong enough to know when it's over."

We say our goodbyes and I fall back into my chair. I could still feel her hug, her firm but gentle touch, and it was threatening to consume me. Once, a long time ago, I believed in romance, but over the years I thought that I had seen too much hate and pain to think that love was anything more than an illusion. I knew as soon as I saw Sara, I wanted her physically. After talking to her, I saw a deep sadness in her, and it was something that I understood too well. I wanted to help this woman more than I had ever wanted to do anything else.

I have some contacts make sure that Sara isn't followed on her way to the house and I drive up to met her.

I see the tiny two-story farmhouse as I wind my way down the long lonely driveway. I get out of the car and see Sara peek through the window, and then open the door to greet me.