Born 2 Be Wild-A Merle Dixon love story

Chapter 18

***Jess's P.O.V.***
Daryl turned onto a gravel road and drove all the way to the end. There was a beautiful blue and white farm house sitting at the end of it. It had a pasture wrapping all the way around the back (fenced off of course) along with sheds and stables. I think I just might like it here. When Daryl cut the engine I heard a screen door squeak open. I got out and looked around for a moment. Drinking in the scenery. This place looks a hell of a lot nicer than that run down shack I called home. A man that had the same nose and face shape as Will walked out onto the porch. There was one huge difference between this man and Will, he was smiling. Well and he didn't seem heavily intoxicated. I went around the truck to grab my bag but Daryl beat me to it. I walked a few steps behind him as we headed towards the smiling man on the porch. Which I assume is Mark. When I got up to him he stuck his hand out for me to shake. I lightly shook his hand and waited on him to speak.

Mark-Hey there little lady. I'm Mark Dixon, but I reckon you already knew that. Don't believe anything Daryl said about me. Unless it was good anyway.
Me-I'm Jess but I guess you knew that as well. Don't worry I've heard all good things.
Mark-Well good. I'll stop jabbering now and let ya'll get settled. Need any help finding the guest rooms?
Daryl-Naw, I got it Mark thank you though. We'll be down to talk real soon.
Mark-I look forward to it. I'll be in the living room. When ya'll get situated just come on down.

I smiled at him before we started up the staircase near the front door. The house wasn't huge but it wasn't tiny either. There seemed to be at the most 4 bedrooms. The doors to the 2 at the end of the hallway were standing open.

Daryl-I call the one without the flowerdy wallpaper!
Me-Fine by me. As long as I can sleep in a bed I don't care what the room looks like.

I went inside the first door and looked around at the room. There was a dresser with a big mirror, a twin sized iron framed bed, and a nightstand. There were 2 windows in the room, which was fine by me. There were also two doors. The first one I opened was nice sized closet, the second was a small bathroom. I have never had my own bathroom. That definitely put a smile on my face. I ran out into the hall and into Daryl's room, excited to tell him about my room. His was set up about the same as mine but without the bathroom.

Daryl-I see you found your bathroom.
Me-Yes, it's great. The whole room is great. The whole house is great.
Daryl-Well I'm glad you like it. Tomorrow we can go into town and get bathroom supplies.
Me-I would love to take a shower.
Daryl-I might see if Mark has some spare stuff later. Go ahead and unpack, I'll do the same here. I'll meet you in the hallway?
Me-Sounds great.

I left his room and went back into mine. Taking the few things I had out of my suitcase. I hung what clothes I had in the closet. Anything else I sat down on the dresser. It was nothing much just a picture of my mom, a porcelain figurine she had left, and a couple packs of cigarettes. When I was done I went out to the hallway in between our rooms and sat in the floor. When Daryl came out we headed down the stairs to talk to his uncle. Mark was sitting in an overstuffed easy chair beside the fire place. He had a mug of what smelled like coffee in his hand, watching the stairway. He perked up when he saw us and sat up straight.

Mark-Ya'll take a seat. You want some coffee? I just made a pot. Go help yourself.

I smiled and got up to get a cup of coffee. I'm not usually that fond of it, but the caffeine may keep me from nodding off during this talk. I poured a cup and fixed it the way I like it, then joined the guys in the living room. I sat down beside Daryl on the couch and then nodded for his uncle to go ahead.

Mark-Alrighty then. Roughly 30 minutes before ya'll got here I got a phone call from Merle. He said to tell the two of you that he talked to Will. Jessica, your father left town. Now there's no way of knowing where he may have went. So there is absolutely no reason to panic. None at all. I don't think Will would tell him where I lived as a place to check. He isn't awful. So chances are, he's just running around looking for ya'll. I doubt he'll be able to find you here. But even so, if ya'll go into town tomorrow you need to keep an eye out. He may go see Merle to see if he can bully anything out of him. I met your father once Jessica. He was the rudest man I've ever met. I'm sorry you had to deal with that. But we can't choose our parents. Anything you two need to tell me?
Daryl-If you think we ran off because Jess is pregnant, I'm just gonna go ahead and tell you that you're wrong Uncle. I'll let her decide if she wants to tell you about it.
Jess-Not right now please. Some other time. I don't really want to retell it again.
Mark-Alright. That is kind of what I had on my mind. i'm glad to know that's not true. I guess I'll leave you two alone and head on to bed. There's some food in the refrigerator if ya'll wanna heat it up in the oven. Oh and there's some soap in the bathrooms upstairs if ya'll want to shower.

We both thanked him and then went to the kitchen to check the fridge out. There was nothing much that I was interested in so I told Daryl goodnight and went up the stairs. I showered, put on some clean clothes, and crawled into bed. I didn't sleep much that night. Every time I started to drift off I could feel my father's breath on my neck and his weight on the bed.