Even when I offered to let him do it to me in my backdoor, he just smiled at me and opened up his ever present Bible.That was when I knew it was reall...y over for good.That was the reason why I was walking along the river's edge looking for a deep place to slide in and never come back up ever again.I was almost to the railroad bridge over the Chattahoochee when I heard footsteps behind me. I looked over my shoulder and almost jumped the black, fast moving current right then and there. This guy. Ha, it's just been quite a, ah, long trip. Please, ah, d-do come in," he ushered her toward the living room, closing the door behind her. It was difficult not to cast a wary look around, so used to hiding as he had become. He imagined his anxiety and paranoia would be high for some time. "Can I, uhm, get you some tea or some- actually, no. I don't think I... have anything here, yet. So. Uh. Oh dear." He ran a hand through his hair, bewildered for a moment. He was put off with having her near. Tom, I’m listening, but it would have to be earth shattering to make me give up on you. I love you. ‘ ‘It’s like this, Mary, my first wife left me when I came back from Iraq. She said that I wasn’t the man that she had married anymore. She couldn’t look at me when I was naked. She left me five years ago. Are you with me so far?’ ‘Yes, darling, but what you have said wouldn’t drive me away.’ ‘Well, I haven’t hit the difficult stuff yet. If you don’t reject me, I want to ask you to marry me. But. I sent out a thought message to her as I did this: “You are so beautiful!”In a while, the music changed to a more mellow sound and I pulled Linda's arm and declared, “I'll let you dance with me only if you promise to behave!”Linda stood immediately and Mike grinned at my comments. “I've told her to behave, so you're going to be safe!” He joked.I walked with my prize to the dance floor as it filled with other couples, as if we had all been waiting for a slow track. I nudged a way between the.