~ 5 ~
PEYTON
The Vermont skies were featureless and gray; its tall forests silent in all the right ways. It was the perfect place to disappear. The kind of place you became immediately invisible, whether you liked it or not.
I liked it very much, actually. Especially now. Donovan hated places like this; all cold and quiet and plain as a factory reset. There were no red carpets. No velvet ropes, or sunny docks with tied-off yachts. It was the last place in the world he’d want to be, which is why I hoped it would be the last place he would look for me.
And if I was really lucky, maybe he wouldn’t look for me at all.
Yeah, right.
I smiled grimly as I turned the steering wheel one last time, guiding my beater up the private driveway of the lake house bungalow. A factory reset is exactly what I needed, and this place would do nicely. It was small and nondescript and set well back from the road. Best of all, its weathered surface blended in with the forest so magically that you almost couldn’tsee it unless you were looking right at it. I’d chosen the place for this very reason, and paid handsomely, months in advance.
That, however, was as far ahead as I’d managed to think. I located the hide-a-key easily enough, and the door swung open with a whimsical creak. But once my ass hit the quaint, threadbare couch, and my escape was complete?
Well, that was pretty much the sum total of my planning ahead.
It occurred to me, sitting there surrounded by old bookcases and pine paneling, that this was the first time in years I’d ever been truly alone. I’d gone from college roommates to a few shared apartments, and ultimately, into the arms of Donovan. It would be nice to light the blackened stone fireplace, and kick back. Curl up with the knitted afghan that rested nearby, and maybe read some of the books staring down at me.
But first…
I walked out back, and down to the lake. The dock looked much worse for wear than it did in the rental photos, but for some reason, the water looked more inviting. On a whim I stripped everything off, starting with the pearl combs still pinned into my hair, and ending with my bridal lingerie, which I’d worn not knowing whether it would end up here, or on the bedroom floor of our honeymoon suite. I’d imagined several times what Donovan’s reaction would be to the visually-stunning lacy white set. But now, I no longer had to.
“Your loss, baby doll.”
A loon’s cry echoed across the water, assuring me I’d made the right choice. Then, naked as the day I was born — and free from the last vestiges of my wedding day preparations — I dove upward and outward, plunging into the crystal clear pool of freedom.
AndGODit felt totally fucking amazing.
I kicked myself in a big circle, diving and swirling, washing away perfume, makeup, and all other aspects of my previous life. When I surfaced, the whole world looked different. I was grinning like a maniac. Laughing, as my frayed nerves smoothed themselves out. Beneath the cool glass surface of the water, my heart hammered out the last of my surging adrenaline. Taking its place, the calm of total serenity stole over me.
Twisting back in the direction of the house, my spirits were high. I wanted a hot shower. A warm fire. A long, satisfying nap.
The last thing I expected were the threeverylarge men at the end of the dock, arms crossed.
