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Brennon noticed how anxious Katy clearly was for him to unlock the door. For that reason, he purposely moved as slow as possible with the key. Katy noticed, and picked up that he was doing it on purpose. She playfully slapped his shoulder then told him to hurry up.
When Brennon opened the door, Katy rushed inside. She left the suitcases in the doorway, blocking Brennon’s way, and hadn’t even realized it. He pushed everything to the side, into the kitchen area, then stood there and watched Katy as she walked around the entire house – the master bedroom and bathroom with a huge bathtub that they would inevitably wind up in; the cottage feel; the patio door with a barbecue pit and a bit of land reaching toward the base of a mountain; the pool table upstairs. And of course she looked out the side French doors at the Jacuzzi. When Katy finished looking around the cabin, she noticed Brennon’s silence. She looked over toward the front door. Brennon still stood there. Katy smiled, realizing how she might’ve looked rushing around the house.
Brennon and Katy rested for about thirty minutes and talked about what things they could do so they could get the most out of their few days up in the mountains. There was something about neither of their friends of families knowing what they’d done. It was so spontaneous – courageous, adventurous.
When they headed back out, their hunger led them down into Gatlinburg where they ate at a Shoney’s before walking the town’s long, major street. Katy went into at least a dozen stores just in the first three of four blocks of their stroll. There were times Brennon felt like a small boy being dragged by his mother up and down a street downtown, going into department stores and waiting outside of the women’s section.
Finally, when they came to a corner, Katy wanted to turn right and got the south. Brennon quickly spoke up. Unbeknownst to Katy, Brennon already had something else up his sleeve. “Katy, Katy, let’s slow down for a minute.”
Katy, with shopping bags in her hands, turned and looked confused. “Huh? What?”
Brennon pointed the other way down the street. “There’s this store down there I want to go into. Come on.”
“Oh, yeah?” Katy asked. She wondered how Brennon would even know about this store. “Sure, okay.”
Brennon led Katy down the street until they came to Chrissy’s Gifts, a store which sold trinkets as well as ceramic vases and figurines. He held the door open, allowing Katy to step inside. “Ooh, this looks nice,” she said, noticing a glass penguin in the front window. “I like stuff like this, Brennon.” She nodded. “Yeah, I like this. This is the kind of stuff I want in my house one day.”
Brennon chuckled. He pretended to be perusing with Katy, but kept his eyes on the counter. When the store attendant came back to the counter, Brennon led Katy over to the counter. Katy’s forehead scrunched up as she tried to figure out what was going on. “Brennon, what’s going on?”
“Excuse me, Mam,” Brennon said to the woman. “My name is Brennon Hicks and I have an order on hold here that I’d like to pick up.” He pulled his ID out and handed it to the woman. They then went to the back to get the order, saying she would be right back.
Katy looked up and Brennon and smiled. “So many surprises with you. Hmm, I’m really starting to wonder if maybe you do work for the CIA or FBI or something. Never know what’s up your sleeve.”
Brennon chuckled. “Yeah, that’s why I got that call from Washington. I was instructed to bring you up here and make you disappear in the mountains.”
Katy turned away, pretending to be offended. Brennon wrapped his arm around her shoulder then kissed the side of her head. The store attendant then came out from the back, verified some things with Brennon, then lowered the box down into a bag and handed it to Brennon. He thanked the woman then pulled curious Katy back outside onto the sidewalk.
“So, what was that?” Katy asked as they walked down the sidewalk.
“Don’t worry about it,” Brennon said. “You’ll know soon enough.”
“Why can’t I know now?” Katy asked.
Brennon shook his head. “Because if I told you know, I’ve been given orders to kill you.”
“Brennon, seriously,” Katy said. “Why won’t you show me whatever order you got? I should’ve known you were up to something. I thought something was up when you said that you wanted to go to a store down there, that we couldn’t see from the corner and hadn’t even passed yet. I am starting to wonder what else we’re here for.”
They walked Gatlinburg a bit more until they grew tired. The sun began it’s slow decent out of the sky. When they climbed back into the car then crawled with the tourist traffic up out of the town, Katy looked out the window once again in awe. She pulled her phone out and took a picture. She sent it to Eve, but purposely attached no message. Instead, she wanted her nosy friend to have to seat and wonder not only where that picture was taken, but also where Katy had run off to without telling her.
Brennon turned a different way at the end of the road then mentioned they should head up to this nature reserve of sorts. “The view of Gatlinburg and the mountains from up there...you’re really gong to like it.”
The road veered with a brooks and streams then up the side of a mountain. When they came to an opening, there was a small parking lot with a walkway and wood railing along the front. As they pulled in, Katy could tell it was some sort
of overlook with how there appeared to be nothing but open air on the other side of the railing.
Brennon grabbed the bag he got at the shop then hopped out of the car to help Katy out of her side. Katy looked at him with inquisitive eyes as he walked her over to a picnic table and bench. Katy stepped up to the wood railing. The view took her breath away, prompting Brennon to come to her side. The overlook looked out over a steep, wooded side of the mountain. Beyond it was the entire town of Gatlinburg. The view was so scenic – the mountains a smokey blue; the loud, bustling town looking completely silent from this far away. Katy snapped as selfie then got one of Brennon, who purposely kept his face emotionless while taking the picture.
Katy followed Brennon over to the picnic table. They sat down, Katy taking a deep breath as she looked around. “You think we’ll see a bear?” The tone in her voice was excited.
“God, I hope not,” Brennon said, lifting the bag up onto the table. “But I’ll tell you what I hope we see. Saw some that time we came up here as kids… Turtles...in the creek.”
“Oh, there’s a creek we can park at and maybe see some turtles?” Katy asked.
Brennon nodded, knowing very well that Katy’s favorite animal was the turtle. For that very reason, he knew she was going to be thrilled when she saw what was in the box he got at the shop down in Gatlinburg. “Yeah, there is… Gotta find it, but there is one. That’s on the list. But first, I thought I would get this for you.”
Brennon smiled then handed the bag across the table to Katy. She smiled graciously, accepting it then pulling it down to her bench and pulling the box out of the bag. Brennon watched her peel the tape off then get into the box. After pulling the box up and out of the bag, Katy’s fate lit up with excited. She lifted the ceramic turtle up out of the box and sat it down on the table. She looked at it like a small child looking at a fish tank for the first time. Brennon couldn’t help but to chuckle, but it was definitely nice to know that she liked it so much.
Katy rushed around to Brennon’s side of the table and hugged and kissed him. “Thank you, thank you. What a wonderful surprise. I love it.”
