“Are you sure?” she asked, leaning to see the gauges.
“Babe, I'm tellin' ya it's fine,” I replied, touching her shoulder to gently push her back in place.
“I don't think we're going to make it,” she said, reaching for our cigarettes.
“Light me one, too,” I replied, inspecting the gauges myself. “There's gas at the cottage. We'll make it.”
“You keep saying that, but I'm just calling what I see,” she said, handing me a burning cigarette.
“It's not much farther,” I replied.
“We've been in the middle of nowhere for two hours now,” she sighed. “How long is this road?”
“I'm sorry,” I said. Any attitude that spewed from her mouth just didn't bother me. She was worth it.
“It's not too much farther. I promise.”
“I hope so,” she replied, adjusting around in her seat. “So...what made you want to do this?”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Well, we've only been together for two months, and it's like you've been hiding me from your friends until now,” she replied.
“I know. You mentioned that,” I said. “But it's not like that. I just really like you and most girls run from this.”
“I'll admit a guy with all girl friends is wierd,” she replied. “But I'm not most girls.”
“No...no yer not,” I smiled, rubbing her left thigh. “Some do have boyfriends that are there, though.”
“I know,” she said, gripping my hand. “I have guy friends, too. I know how girls are with guys they've known for a long time.”
“I know, that's why yer perfect,” I replied.
“Thanks, baby,” she smiled, putting out her cigarette in the ashtray.
“This is really important to me,” I said. “Yer the first girl in years that was willing to come up here.”
“Well, you've become too important to me to let a couple girls that might not like me get in the way,” she replied, caressing the back of my neck.
“Hey, babe...” I said, tightly gripping the steering wheel, wincing a bit. “I love you.” Her seat belt flew off, and I had to stop the car.
“I love you, too,” she repeated, kissing me over and over. I continued driving with her still holding onto me.
“Sorry for doin' that now,” I said, seeing the end, it turning into a wheeled-over, overgrown road, surrounded by weeds, tall-grass, and a small forest.
“Why?” she asked, her tone different, a smooth and calm array of notes.
“It's a long drive if you didn't say it back,” I replied. “And probably awkward.”
“Maybe a bit,” she giggled. “But, I really do love you.”
“I love you, too, babe,” I smiled.
“Are we here?” she asked, taking notice of us driving into shrubbery scraping the sides of the car.
“We are,” I replied, stopping the car in a small clearing.
“Where's the cottage?” she asked, looking around.
“It's a five minute walk down a path over there,” I replied.
“Okay,” she sighed, climbing out. I popped the trunk.
“I'll grab the bags,” I said, going around the side of the car. I picked up the one item I had brought with me for the weekend, everything else being inside the small cottage down the path. The smell echoing out of the gas can filled my nostrils, giving me a bit of a high. Mackenzie was staring straight up through the trees, waiting for me. She smiled, but it quickly faded.
“Mark, what are you doing with that knife?” she asked.