Free Suicide Note by Teresa Mummert

into park and I looked around.
    “L.L. Bean?”
    “Come on. They have some good coats.”
    I hopped out of the car and blew out a deep breath as the cold consumed me, but I did not show my discomfort. I rounded the car and pulled open the driver-side door for her.
    “Thanks.”
    “Thank you .” I followed behind her toward the store, running my hand over my hair.
    I pulled open the door and stepped aside for Jenn to enter. My eyes darted around the store before I stepped inside. Checking my surroundings was engrained into my subconscious.
    “That looks nice.” She motioned with her chin to a rack in front of her with heavy coats in different earthy tones.
    “Yeah,” I grabbed the sleeve of the coat and felt the thickness. All of this was nice. Some random girl that I wanted to make feel better was worrying about me . I grabbed an extra-large and pulled it from the rack, making my way to the register.
    “You’re not going to try it on?”
    “Nah, if you say it looks good, then I trust your judgment.”
    “You wouldn’t say that if you knew the bad decisions I made in the past.” She laughed. I stopped and turned to face her.
    “Your mistakes don’t define who you are.”
    “Tell that to my father.” She rolled her eyes as she took the coat from my hands and laid it on the counter at the register.
    “Let me guess.” I pulled out my wallet and held out my credit card to the woman behind the register. “You went and found yourself a man who was the spitting image of your father, who you despise, with this notion that you could somehow change him and make him love you the way you felt your father never did. Am I close?”
    She took a step back in complete shock.
    “You’re out of line.”
    “You are if you think that any of those people are right about you.”
    “You don’t even know me.”
    “I know we could be out doing anything you wanted for your birthday and your first thought was to take care of me, a complete stranger.” I took my card back from the woman at the register and slipped the coat over my shoulders.
    “That’s just common courtesy.”
    “Trust me, sweetheart, it ain’t that common.” I placed my hand on the small of her back and guided her from the store.
    She wasn’t used to such brutal honesty, especially from someone she barely knew, but it was something she needed to hear. I wouldn’t be around long and from the way she talked, I knew no one else would be pulling her off the bridge next time. As we reached the car, I held out my hand.
    “Keys.”
    “You don’t want me to drive anymore?” She pulled the keys from her pocket and placed them in my palm.
    “If you do we will only end up doing something else unrelated to your birthday and we have a cake to eat.” I smiled as I pulled open the passenger-side door for her.
    As I settled into the driver’s seat, I couldn’t help but notice the grin on her face.
    “What?”
    “I just didn’t get the impression from you that you were so…nice. You come off very intimidating.”
    “Nice, huh? That is not something most people would describe me as.” I laughed and started the car before pulling out of the parking lot.
    “Why is that?” She asked as she secured her seatbelt and reached for the radio. To my surprise, she turned the volume down.
    “Not part of the job description,” I replied dryly.
    “Well, your secret is safe with me.”
    I reached for the radio and turned up the music. Jenn stared out of the window as we made our way back onto the highway. I cursed myself for rudely ending our conversation right after she had told me she thought I was nice. Most people only saw the bitter and angry side of me. Maybe I was afraid of her realizing who I really was after she saw something more in me.
    “Where are we going?”
    “We are going to have a picnic.”
    She crinkled her nose as she smiled, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I took the next exit and drove until we were surrounded by farmland. I pulled off on the