The rest of the night was relaxed

The rest of the night was relaxed. We ate pizza and watched movies. Kara jumped on to the bed and slept at my feet, ready to spring if I needed her to. Around nine o'clock, though, I began to get restless and I took Kara out for a walk.

The moon was full and the sky was clear. Thousands of bright stars glittered the in the sky. The moon gave off more light than the hotel did. It was a beautiful night and I soaked up the moonlight as Kara did her business.

Afterwards, we went upstairs. Sam was half asleep on the bed. I locked the door and then slid next to him. He wrapped his arm around me once more and I listened to his heart. It was slowing down as he was falling asleep. I relaxed and sunk into his chest. I was asleep in minutes.

The wolf dream returned. I was in the tree again and it was dark, but the moon gave off enough light to see the wolf better. It had sandy brown hair and the bright yellow eyes looked kind instead of menacing. I stuck my hand towards its head. He let me pet him, I wasn't sure why I thought it was a he, and then he licked my face. I pushed him off me. "Behave," I scolded. Then I gasped. "Sam."

I woke up trembling against Sam's chest. He was staring at me with his wide blue eyes. "You okay?"

I nodded, unable to speak. "What did you dream about? Was it your father?"

I shook my head and swallowed. "There was a wolf."

I watched his eyes. There was a flicker of worry and amusement before it went back to sleepy and curious. "That's it? A wolf?" he asked, teasingly. "You're trembling because of wolf?"

"It reminded me of you," I said in a barely audible whisper. "It had sandy brown hair, and tried to lick my face. It's eyes were kind…but yellow."

I didn't mistake the laughter and worry in his eyes this time. They were quite obvious. "What's so funny?!" I demanded. "I saw that little piece of laughter in your eyes!"

He looked at me seriously. "You are so not driving tomorrow. Go back to sleep, and don't be scared. I'm right here."

Normally, I wouldn't have let that stop my questions. But I was still so exhausted that I fell asleep immediately after he commanded me to.

True to his word, Sam didn't let me drive. He was up and had the car packed by nine am and we left at ten. I frowned the whole time but he just laughed, calling me cute every time he looked at me.

I didn't fight him once we were in the car though. We only had one night left. It was a depressing thought. I kissed him on the cheek when he got into the driver's seat, and smiled as brightly as I could, which wasn't much. But he obviously appreciated the effort for he kissed me gently on the mouth, pulling away with a slight smile.

"Okay," he said. "We're going to do something fun today. You need a good distraction. Omaha is only about two or three hours. When we get there we can see a movie and walk around. We can stay there for the night too. Although, technically, we could be in Woodward by four this afternoon if we wanted to."

"Yea, if we wanted to," I said. "But who would want to? The less time spent there, the better. And tomorrow, we can put off getting there by stopping and looking for a summer job, together. And no McDonald's."

He laughed. "Okay, okay. You up for a movie then?"

"What about Kara?"

She sat up in the back seat at the sound of her name. Who said dogs weren't smart? I petted her and said, "Good girl, Kara."

She licked my hand and lay back down. She was obviously bored with the third day of driving. I wondered to myself if she would like it if I let the back windows open up so she could stick her head out the window. "I can't leave her in the car. And I don’t know how wise it would be to leave her in a hotel room."

Sam pouted for a moment as he tried to think of a solution to our problem. He wouldn't be upset that I was worried for Kara's well being.

Kara was my baby girl. I'd had her since she was four years old, which is an adult dog, but she had still acted like a puppy. She had chased her tail a lot. Then, she had also been so very scared of my father, especially when he scolded her or wore gloves. She used to hide behind me a lot. I always felt bad for her.

The ride was quiet until I put in a CD with Beatles music on it. The Beatles didn't sing the songs, but they wrote them. Sam enjoyed the CD more than I did. I had given it to him for Christmas last year.

“Maybe,” he said. “We can find a place to walk her where there’s a restaurant or something.”

I felt bad. He really wanted to go out. But there wasn’t anything I could do with Kara. I had her pen in my car but I always hated penning her. I only brought it because my mom refused to allow her to come without it. Damn bitch…wish I could put her in a pen.

My mother and I didn’t get along. Something happened, and she started to get bitchier and bitchier with each passing day. She stuffed her beliefs down my throat and I coughed them back up, and threw them in her face. She would be fine and then all of the sudden, something inside her would snap and she would start screaming.

“I can leave her at the hotel for a short while, I guess,” I said. “As long as I walk her before we leave, so she doesn’t have an accident.”

Sam’s face lit up into a smile. “Alright! We’ll find a hotel in Omaha and then we’ll go see a movie.”

I smiled before putting my seat down and closing my eyes. I was still kind of tired despite sleeping most of the night. My nap was short, but nice. When I woke up we were in Omaha.

I walked Kara as Sam got the key to our hotel room. I still didn’t feel comfortable with leaving Kara at the hotel but Sam really wanted to hang out and I did too. Kara would be fine.

We went to lunch and then found a movie theater. I made Sam decide on the movie, because it was his idea to do anything to begin with. He picked a chick flick, but I didn’t mind. I was just enjoying his company.

The movie was definitely not the best, but it wasn’t the worst either. We went back to the hotel afterwards. I took a shower and then so did Sam. Kara was fine. She curled up at the foot of our bed again.

When Sam got into bed, I put my head on his chest and sighed contently. Sam’s arms wrapped around me and he breathed in the scent of my hair. “I love you,” I mumbled, already on my way to sleep.

He squeezed me tighter but didn’t say anything. A few moments later, when he thought I was asleep, he breathed into my ear, “Brianna Kall, I will love you until the day I die.”

I drifted off to sleep, with a small but pleasant smile. No nightmares haunted me that night.

In the morning, I stayed in Sam’s arm for a few extra moments, enjoying the feeling that I would rarely have after getting into Iowa later that day. We just sat in silence, until he asked me what I was thinking.

“I don’t want to go there…” I said softly, staring at a spot on the wall. If I concentrated hard enough, I could keep from crying. “It’s going to be horrible with my mom there. And her new husband. He’ll be a riot I’m sure. Trying to get me to like him or trying to be a father. It’s going to suck…”

He tightened his grip around me waist. “I’ll be there with you.”

“For three months…what I am going to do when you leave?”

“Focus on school and work,” he said, his mouth pressed against my head. “ I’m coming for Thanksgiving. And when Christmas comes, you’ll be back in Eagle with me. And you’ll be staying there. It’ll be okay. You’re strong.”

I sighed. “I don’t care about me not being strong enough…but what about Emmett? And you? Will you two be okay?”

He laughed. “You know, he and I managed to live without you for a few years. I think we’ll be okay for a few months. You shouldn’t worry so much.”

“Well what else am I supposed to do with my free time?”

He laughed again and kissed the top of my head. “Study. Get good grades. Take care of Kara. Stay out of your mom’s way. I’ll call you and email you everyday. Things will be okay.”

I sighed again and snuggled in closer to him. His grip tightened and he rubbed my shoulders. “I love you,” he whispered into my ear, sending shivers down my spine. “I will love you until the day I die. I will always be there for you.”

I smiled. “I love you too,” I sat up slightly in order to reach his mouth.

He leaned in for the kiss and then rolled on top of me. My hands found his face and made their to his hair where they entangled. We kissed for a moment then he pulled away, a small grin on his face. I was about to ask when he started tickling my mid-section and I started to laugh and twist, trying to avoid his hands.

I tried to push him off but he grabbed my hands. Then he kissed me once more on the mouth, and got up. I sat up and threw a pillow at him.

“So not cool,” I pouted.

He laughed. “Have I told you recently that you’re cute?”

I threw another pillow at him and got up. “What?” he feigned hurt. “It’s true! You are cute.”

I rolled my eyes as I grabbed my clothes to change into. “Whatever.”

“I win.”

I rolled my eyes again and went into the bathroom to change. When I got out, Sam was dressed, packing up Kara’s stuff. I grabbed her leash and took her outside for a walk, but not before punching Sam. He poked me back and smiled again. He was in a good mood…it was starting to annoy me.

We left after eating a free breakfast at the hotel. I wasn’t exactly thrilled that we would be at my mother’s house in only a few hours…but it was hard to keep a straight face with Sam trying to make me smile every few minutes. As much as it annoyed me, I loved him for trying to make the last few hours enjoyable.

We made it to Des Moines around noon. I drove around and looked for places that were hiring. We grabbed a handful of applications and then found a restaurant to eat lunch at. We filled out the applications while we waited for our food. I hoped that we would get to work together, but I doubted it.

After lunch, we handed the completed applications in…and then headed for Woodward. Woodward is about forty miles outside of Des Moines. It could take up to an hour depending on which road you took. But on a good day, it was only a thirty minute drive.