Michael hopped out of April's truck to get a better look around. Her home was beautiful. The two-story ranch-styled house was pure white, a clear sign that it had been recently painted. Its porch was the same length of the rest of it and under the cover of the roof was a chair swing.

"How can you afford such a place?" Michael questioned with wonder as April slammed her driver's side door shut.

"I inherited it from my grandparents," April explained. "It's all paid off; I just have to pay my taxes. I use my trust fund money for that."

Michael nodded and began walking around the house to see the land behind. April followed, curious to see where he was going.

When Michael could see everything he stopped to study the sight before him. To his right was a broken down barn, but ahead was acres and acres of rolling fenced-in pasture. The landscape was striking. He'd never expected any backyard to be so scenic.

"It's stunning, isn't it?" April sighed. "My grandparents used to raise Arabian horses here until they went under and had to sell them all several years back along with most of the land. They died a little over a year ago. I can't help but think that it was the horses that kept them going so long."

"This is the last place I'd think a hunter would live," Michael admitted.

April laughed. "Yeah, well I'm very grateful for it. It keeps my nightmares at bay."

Just then, a large tiger brindle colored dog with a white belly and facial markings, stepped out of the barn and stretched. At the sight of Michael he froze in his spot and started barking at him, on alert.

"That's Toby," April said.

Michael began moving towards the dog without any hesitance and April widened her eyes.

"Stop! He doesn't like…strangers," she trailed as Michael reached Toby and began scratching him behind an ear. She was shocked.

"You're a good dog," Michael murmured as he patted Toby on the head.

April shook her head.

Michael noticed. "What is it?"

"He's usually aggressive towards people he doesn't know," April told him. "I rescued him from a druggie in town. Toby was neglected. He weighed thirty pounds less than a normal male Akita when I convinced his owner to give him to me. For the first three years of his life he was tied up to a tree without any shelter or food in sight, and his water came from a dirty bowl."

"That's terrible," Michael said, running his hand through Toby's dense, short fur.

April nodded. "I got him just a month after my grandparents died, when I moved here. Toby's never tried to bite me before but he did bite my boyfriend once because he moved too fast towards him. Guess it probably looked like he was going to hit him. Didn't break the skin and that was when I'd just got him…but still, I was worried he might hurt you. Usually I have people wait until Toby approaches them instead of them approaching him."

Toby then rolled onto his back and Michael rubbed his stomach.

"Apparently, I didn't have to worry. At least not about you. Are you like, a dog whisperer or something?"

Michael chuckled at this. "No, I am not."

"I've never seen him take to someone so quickly before," April mused.

Toby stood back up and shook himself. Panting, with his long tongue hanging out the side of his mouth, he glanced at April, then bolted for the house.

"I think he's hungry," April said, grinning as she watched the dog run, then turned to Michael. "Let's go inside. I'm sure you must be anxious to get out of those clothes."

Glancing down, Michael agreed.

He let April lead him to and through the front door of her house, and when she kicked off her shoes, Michael followed suit.

The interior of April's house was no disappointment. The first floor was comprised of the living room, kitchen, dining room, and a bathroom. All were roomy and were decorated just like a lot the houses he'd seen in the early twentieth century. Michael was pretty sure most the decorations were from the time period too. Objects lasted long in a house.

April climbed the stairs to the second floor with Michael on her heels. She didn't stop until she was at the end of the hall, where her room was.

Michael waited outside the door as she rummaged through her closet. When she reappeared she was holding a grey t-shirt, jeans, socks, and underwear in her arms.

"I swear these have never been used before," April promised as she passed the clothing to him. "My boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, left all the stuff I bought him here when we broke up just after Christmas."

"I'm sorry," Michael apologized.

April smiled. "No need. He was a jerk. Took me some time to realize it but hey, at least I did."

"So where's..." Michael began.

April interrupted him. "The bathroom? It's the last room on the other side. I'll show you how to turn on the water. It's complicated."

Michael followed her to the second floor's bathroom and stood to watch as she turned on the shower head.

"You have to pull this, then twist this here, and turn that. You got that?"

Michael nodded, he was pretty sure. "Yes."

"I'll leave the water on," April decided. "Just hurry up and get in."

She quickly left the room, shutting the door behind her, and Michael stripped his dirty clothes off his body.

When he stepped underneath the hot water flowing from the shower head, he was instantly relieved.

As the warm water beat down on Michael's back and shoulders, the stiffness and tension he'd felt in his body left, disappearing along with the dirt the water washed down the drain.

He was with April. He could keep her safe now.

In that moment, Michael could almost feel his wings again.