False Security by Angie Martin

laugh.
“What do you propose we do instead of seeing a movie?”
    “Come here.” He led her back
onto the lush grass behind the small parking lot and pulled her down with him.
She sat in between his legs and relaxed against him. He waved his hand at the
sky. “I say we sit here and watch this movie,” he said.
    “What kind of movie is that?”
    “I’m pretty sure it’s a chick
flick.”
    “Then this must be the part of
the movie where you identify all the constellations,” she said.
    He paused. “I think that happens
in the sequel.”
    She laughed. “What if I don’t
like the movie?”
    “Oh, but ma’am, satisfaction is
guaranteed in this theater.”
    “And what if I’m not satisfied?”
she asked.
    “Well, then I’d have to find a
way to make it up to you. Like maybe a candlelight dinner or a midnight stroll
through the park.” He brushed her hair back and kissed her face, lingering at
the top of her neck. “Or maybe I’ll pick you up some Saturday morning and we
can take a little road trip, find a hideaway for the weekend.”
    She bit her bottom lip and tried
to ignore the sensations he created with both his mouth and his words. “Hmm,
those all sound great, but there’s one problem. I like this movie.”
    “That’s okay. We can still do
all those other things.”
    “Promise?” Rachel asked.
    “I promise,” Mark whispered.
    Rachel smiled. Everything he
said sounded so perfect that tonight, just for tonight, she would pretend all
of it could happen for them. Later, when she sat alone with her paranoia and
her gun on her back porch, she could return to the reality that they would not
be together for much longer. Rachel closed her eyes and tuned out her thoughts,
imagining a world where she could stay with him forever.

  Chapter Fifteen
    Spending an hour
sitting in Mark’s arms behind the bookstore had been therapeutic, despite the
weather cutting their time short. Interrupted by the cracking of thunder,
Rachel bowed out of going somewhere else and Mark drove her home. The calming
smell of rain followed them on the short drive to her house. Sparks of
lightning outlined dark clouds, confirming the radio’s warnings of
thunderstorms arriving soon in their county.
    In her driveway, Mark brought up
the subject of dinner Sunday night at Greg’s house. Rachel said she would go,
but only because she couldn’t think of a good excuse to get out of the
commitment.
    She wanted to have a normal
life, to do the meet-the-family things that came with a relationship, however,
with dinner would come the dreaded questions. Even though asked with routine
curiosity, the questions would seem threatening, suspicious, angry. Most
questions would elicit a reluctant lie, something Rachel did only when
necessary.
    Rachel thought Mark sensed her
hesitation regarding the invitation to dinner. To avoid raising too many
suspicions, she widened her smile and did her best to convince him that dinner
with his family would be enjoyable. Sunday was still several days away. By
then, she would find an excuse not to go.
    After kissing him goodnight, she
entered her house and tossed her keys on the couch on her way to the kitchen.
Rain tapped out a beat on the roof that only nature could compose, and the
sound comforted Rachel. She poured a tall glass of skim milk and put the carton
back in the refrigerator. She turned around and faced the table, letting the
cool liquid refreshed her throat. The sight of the roses drew her to the table.
She reached out to touch one of the silky red petals.
    Creak.
    Rachel’s head snapped around and
she froze, her ears alert, unsure if she had heard the noise. Her deliberate
breathing echoed in her ears, and she crept toward the living room, toward the
sound. When she reached the doorway of the kitchen, thunder rattled the
windows, and she jumped back. She stood still and waited for another sound, but
the house remained quiet.
    Relief forced her lips into a
sheepish grin. Either she was hearing