Serendipity's Choice

- Chapter 7 -

Day two dawned cold and windy.

After a sleepless night, Serri quietly crawled out of her bunk, still fully clothed. She wasted no time getting outside to rekindle the fire and make a pot of extra strong coffee. As she held her cold hands over the fire, Noah appeared behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, roughly pulling her against his body. Startled, Serri looked down to see she was completely encased in a thick wool blanket and Noah's even thicker arms.

Serri let out a sigh as she contemplated her next move. She could jump forward into the fire or fall backward on top of Noah. Instead, she opted to stay still until he made his intentions clear.

Maybe he was just being kind. Deducing that she was cold, he was thoughtfully wrapping her in a warm blanket. After which he'd offer to make her breakfast. Then they'd enjoy a day of storytelling and camaraderie as they continued to St. Louis.

No such luck. His arms tightened around her as he bent forward and breathed heavily into the crook of her neck.

"There you go, all safe and warm. Now it's your turn to finally be nice. How about warming me up in my bunk?" Noah panted as he planted a wet kiss on her neck. Serri closed her eyes and tensed her muscles.

When his tongue started probing her ear, she'd had enough. She burst out of the blanket and jumped over the fire, knocking the coffee pot onto the ground.

"What's wrong with you?" Noah screamed as he threw the blanket on the ground and tried to salvage whatever coffee was left in the pot.

"I don't like to be touched. Especially when it's uninvited."

"Fine. Tell you what. You can walk to St. Louis."

With that, Noah began cursing and violently kicking dirt onto the fire. He threw the coffee pot as far as he could and kicked the blanket into the smoldering ashes. He glared at Serri, then stormed over to the wagon and heaved her possessions out.

He obviously wasn't accustomed to being told no.

As Serri watched in disbelief, Noah angrily hitched up the horses and, after a loud slap of the reins, they cantered toward the road. The wagon swayed and heaved as it bounced out of the field and onto the dirt road. Once on the flat surface, they picked up speed and soon disappeared around a bend.

Serri looked around and hurriedly bent to save the blanket from the embers. She gave it a good shake then went into the field to find the coffee pot. Walking over to the pile of supplies, she spread the blanket out next to them. She carefully wrapped her clothes, gear, and the dented coffee pot inside.

Once done, she slung the blanket over her shoulder and headed for the woods. She felt safe there. She knew Noah might cool down and decide to come back for her. He would, no doubt, hope she'd be eternally grateful and feel the need to immediately jump into his bed. She was having none of that.

Sure enough, after getting far enough into the trees to not be spotted, she heard a wagon on the road. She hid behind the biggest tree she could find and watched as Noah pulled the wagon to a stop near the field and jumped off. He hollered her name a couple of times then let out another string of curse words.

"I will find you. This ain't over," he screamed as he jumped onto the wagon and angrily slapped the reins against the poor horses.

Serri let out a sigh and watched the wagon disappear for a second time. Then she started walking toward the Mississippi.

Another day, another step closer to the life she was dreaming of.