Sad Songs and Waltzes [Evan Buckley]

Chaper One: She's a Little Runaway

Hallie:

But you've no need to fear it, 'Cause no one will hear it, 'Cause sad songs and waltzes aren't selling this year.

Hallie smiled at the radio, turning the Willie Nelson song up as loud as her car radio would go. She rolled down all the windows in her shiny blue BMW SUV that Max had bought her. She let her brown eyes scan the gravel parking lot of the white Baptist church she and Max had chosen for their wedding. It was full of cars. It was a beautiful church as well, and a beautiful day.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky. The car speedometer read 91 degrees. Hallie laughed to herself; it was the perfect day for a wedding. She looked at herself in her rearview mirror. Her brown hair was in a beautiful updo. She had two loose brown curls that framed her small, round face. The freckles on her nose were covered by a layer of foundation. Her lips were extra cherry looking because the lip gloss her future sister-in-law put on them.

Hallie let her eyes trail down to her beautiful wedding dress. She had been with her own mother, sister, and mother-in-law when she picked it out. Everyone was in tears that day. It was a satin A-line gown that hugged every curve her small body had. It was strapless, showing the smallest bit of cleavage. It also puffed out at the bottom and had a long train.

"It's perfect for a church wedding." Her mother-in-law, Sandra had exclaimed. "Max will lose his mind when he sees you in it."

Now he never will, Hallie thought. She put the SUV in drive and punched the gas. She was hysterically laughing when she pulled from the church parking lot like a scalded dog, spinning gravel. She let her eyes look to the clock in the SUV. It was 12:50. In ten minutes her entire family, friends, and in laws would find out that she left Max at the altar.

Of course, she felt guilty not including her own mother in on the decision. Her mother, May, was in tears when she saw Hallie that morning in her dress. It was about ten minutes before Hallie decided she was going to crawl out of the basement window and make a break.

"You look beautiful, Hallie." Her mother had said, giving her a warm hug. "Max is so lucky."

Her mother's Appalachian accent hugged Hallie's ears every time she spoke. Her father, Ray, had decided to go find a seat in the chapel.

"He wants to be surprised when he sees you." Her mother had smiled.

He was in for a surprise, Hallie thought, taking a sharp turn in the SUV. Her parents are one of the many things that Max critiqued.

"Your family is trailer trash; you came from nothing Hallie." Max had spat at her a few weeks ago.

He wasn't wrong. Hallie was born and raised in a trailer park in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains in Eastern Kentucky. Her and her sister grew up as feral mountain kids. Her father was a coal miner, and her mother was a home maker. Hallie had a younger sister, Megan. Megan was three years her sister's junior.

Megan had come into the changing room right after their mother left. Megan and Hallie looked a lot alike. They were both short and petite with long brown hair and pale skin. Hallie had honey brown eyes like their mother. Megan had blue eyes like their father.

"You can't go out there." Megan pleaded, grabbing Hallie's hands.

Hallie had broken down the night before and told Megan the truth. She had never spoken a word about anything the entire three years she was with Max. However, two weeks ago something shifted in their relationship. It was the night she found the tracking device in her gym bag.