Willow in the Woods: Guarding the Willow

Chapter 8

Willow

Somewhere between the Midol and the cooling eye wrap, Willow was feeling far more herself. The bumpy roads had turned to smooth black top, which Dorian said meant that they were out of Arkansas. It also meant they would be to the Lunar Ranch by nightfall. Willow was so happy to finally see an ending to this long, drawn out, freezing, joyride, that the fears of what might happen when she got there almost didn't matter anymore. Willow had collected little souvenirs from almost all the truck stops they had stopped at, but none more so than TY baby's and warm woven Mexican blankets in different bold, beautiful colors.

Willow lifted her head from the head rest and raised her seat up a bit taking the cooling eye pack and washcloth from her face and placing it in a little plastic bag, that now contained LOADS of sweet and salty treats, partially eaten truck stop burgers, hot dogs and 3 empty bottles of V8 splash, which she now found she had quite the fondness for.

To Andrew's displeasure, Dorian had changed the radio stations at some point before the road turned smooth. Since then, they had been listening to either country or old time rock and roll. It changed about every hour.

Currently it was on country and Dorian was tapping the wheel and bobbing his head to Trace Adkins booming deep voice.

"Hey Mr. Shepherd?" Willow tried to get his attention. Up until this point Willow hadn't really looked around. And she had never seen so many trees in her life. The last couple of days had been barren flat land but here nature was running rampant on either side of the winding, hilly roads.

"Please." He laughed while turning down the radio to hear her better. "It's Dorian, ma'am. We are going to be living on the same ranch for a while."

" Well in that case it's Willow, sir. " She said matter of factly.

Dorian chuckled. "Touchè"

"The sun is starting to set. Are we going to have to stop again for the night?" Willow had been ok sleeping in the same room as Sylvia but she wasn't sure how she felt about doing the same with Dorian. He seemed nice enough. He most certainly appeared to be a gentleman, and a blind man could tell that him and Sylvia had a thing going on. But she knew she would still be uncomfortable. "If we are I have the money I could pay for my own room."

"Nah. We've already past Memphis and Jackson. We aren't far out now. Maybe another hour and we will be in Cameron, then Rushing which is about 20 minutes as the crow flies.

Willow was still not hip to their Lingo but she nodded her head, as though she understood every word.

Willow was still looking around, taking in the beautiful woodland scenery and soft sunset when Dorian asked, "How are ya feeling now?"

"Oh. Much better. Thank you. And I'm sorry I questioned you about the Midol... As it turns out you were right." Willow didn't meet his gaze. She could feel the smirk, she didn't have to see it.

"Well I'm very glad to hear that.... If ya don't mind me asking... Why had you been crying?" Dorian asked.

" Oh I... I made a mistake." Willow felt it best to keep it short and simple. She didn't need to go into detail. Willow was also pretty sure Marcus and Dorian were close. They did live at the same ranch.

"Oh. Well.... Shit happens. Mistakes are how you learn. You ain't always gonna get it right the first time, and there ain't no shame in it. Just apologize and try to move on, and do better next time. If they can't accept that, then... Well... Excuse my language, but screw em."