"The Man"
Junior just proposes to Kris and just as she is about to answer him, a forgotten but familiar face appears.
Kris stood in awe. Of course she knew she loved Junior and that if they got married, her life would be complete. But when something seemed too good to be true in her life, it usually was.
Still on his knee, Junior looked a little anxious but optimistic as the same time. He had given up everything for Kris and gladly would do it again. Calling off his wedding with Laura did cause problems, and he felt bad for what he did to Laura, but it did it for love. He loved Kris from the first instant that he saw her at Raintree and he knew now that that feeling would never go away. Marrying would have been a huge mistake.
As Kris opened her mouth to answer with a slight smile forming on her lips, she squinted her eyes to look off into the distance when she saw a distorted figure walking towards them. Seeing that Kris looked puzzled, Junior turned his head to see what she was looking at. "Oh…my…god!" Kris murmured as the distorted image came into view.
Junior heard a tone in her voice that he never heard before and it brought him to his feet. He stood next to Kris as the tall and lean man approached. Looking nervous, Kris grasped Junior's hand tightly which made Junior realize that something was wrong. "Kris?" Junior murmured under his breath. "Do you know this guy?" he asked, peering over to his love.
The man stopped about three feet away from the couple. He was wearing riding boots, blue denim jeans, a striped button-up shirt and a black cowboy's hat. Junior sensed this man had an eerie way of him. "Hello, Kris," the man said in a slow, deep voice.
"What are you doing here?" Kris snapped, cold as ice.
"What? No hello? No introduction?" the man said sarcastically. "I asked you a question, Mack," Kris snapped with a bitter tone. She suddenly felt a slight nudge on her shoulder and glanced to her side. Disregarding Junior's attempt to find out who the man was, Kris stared straight ahead.
"Come on, Kris," the man said. "Can't we let bygones be bygones?" he asked with a slight chuckle.
"Go to hell," Kris shouted. She tugged on Junior's hand and guided him far away from her past nightmare. Perplexed, Junior waited for Kris to begin explaining.
Once they got far out of sight of the man, Kris stopped. "Listen Junior, I am real sorry about what happened back there."
Still confused, he walked in a tight circle before saying, "Would you care to explain what happened back there?"
Knowing she would have to explain, Kris stepped back from Junior and said, "First, you know I have a past. And a not-so-great-one at that," she paused, collecting her thoughts. "That was Mack Parding. Before going to jail, we kinda had a thing going on. One top of a lot of trouble he got me into, he was one of the reasons I went to jail."
"It sounds like there was more tension than just that," Junior assessed.
Kris' eyes wondered around and Junior knew that he was right. She inhaled as said, "My past is behind me, at least I hope. And I don't like to talk about it much."
The two sat in an awkward silence for quite some time before Junior said, "Oh, about what I asked you-"
Before being able to finish his sentence, Kris interrupted him by saying, "I have to go check on Flame," and she darted away just as quickly as she said that.
"Kris!" Junior called out after her with no return of his love. His heart was poured on the table and now she made it bleed.
As Kris fled from Junior's side, she knew she made a huge mistake that would be hard to solve. As much as she loved Junior, she never ever thought of getting married. With her past, she didn't want to end up ruining Junior's life. She loved him too much to get him mixed up in her past. But still, not answering his question complicated things in worse ways then she had hoped for.