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The hum of the machine and the tickle of the vibration re him remain distant from the world Inch by inch he revealed the pale flesh that hadn’t seen the sun in months Fluffs of brown hair fell into the sink until it was close to the face He lathered his face up with shaving creaan the final phase He’d show Alexa they could find a happy medium between his world and hers
Cleanly shaven he left the cabin andinside, he traveled tns overs The last thing he needed to do was run into her or be recognized by so, and the news of his updated look would reach her before nightfall There werein a sative had to be the gossip
He parked in a spot on the edge of the lot and stepped out, steeling hirown used to the quiet and peace of the forest surrounding his home His life revolved around nature, hard work, and solitude Most weeks other than his customers the only people he saere family members The oldest of three boys, he remained close to his brothers, Brock and Caleb, and visited his folks at least once a month His parents occasionally liked to drive out to his hoet away It pleased him they’d embraced his lifestyle and saw the value in it
Strolling into the superstore, he grabbed a cart and oods He had a house, what he wanted to do was make it a home
Wos, and by now he knew Alexa’s style He slowlyout two ruffled turquoise monstrosities to toss onto the couch A few aisles over he found a creao in front of the sofa He tried to remember the small touches in his mother’s home and recreate a few
Right noas on him to show her they could have comfort in the er, but he hoped what he had to offer her would outweigh that The solar power he invested in and took enerators were ready to pick up the slack when necessary It wasn’t the primitive place she used to turn her nose up at
The fact that Alexa was still single after all this tient, and feisty, she was a great catch He kneasn’t the onlyand brief engagements It never bothered him They hadn’t ot serious with someone else their dalliances stopped He knew fro alone The Dear John letter she sent hirew to appreciate her upfront honesty
Better to cut it off cleanly, than to have her cheating on him while he remained faithful and kept her on a pedestal He’d seen it break too many people in the service The years he spent alone out here working the land were a necessity He battled his demons and crawled back from the pit of darkness he fell into after his exit fro a sniper was very different from other positions in the Marines He’d become used to the solitude and kept too busy to think on what he was required to do
Leaving changed all of that Out on the land, he’d co of the past as he learned to co, and de-cluttering his brain had worked wonders as he did the equivalent of a modern day walkabout
Noah, a fellow inally from Australia, told hiinal tribe, Noah possessed an interesting view on the world and a strong spirituality that kept hih the worse circus he saw and did in the service made Thorn question the very existence of God at one point How could God allow so liness to exist? How could humans be so s? In the end, it boiled down to free will Without the right to choose people would merely be puppets Good couldn’t exist without evil, so you saw both things done in the world
He iood book, desperate to find a deeperin life The actions he’d executed to insure the continuation of freedom and the protection of the innocent were violent but never cruel There was no condemnation to be had for the the Bible to co conclusion
He s for S’ne, and coffee crea hen it carid He could remember when a cup of his favorite coffee felt like a luxury when he first
started out
On his way to the checkout aisle, he paused as a colorful bouquet of flowers caught his eyes The bright yellow of the cheery sunflowers, pops of white baby’s breath, and dark violet sprigs of lavender contrasted with the brilliant pinks of the Zinnia and the stark white Lily Grabbing the bundle, he fought the flow of traffic to retrieve a large blue tinted mason jar for a vase He whistled to himself as he waited for his turn on the conveyor belt He had a good feeling about as to come
As he loaded the back of his Jeep he was hopeful