Safe Haven

Katie and the children take their showers and share a dinner of pasta before settling down to watch Finding Nemo. When the movie ends, Katie takes the children to their beds, cleans up their dinner dishes, and settles down to wait for Alex. As she drifts to sleep, she recalls the view from the Ferris wheel and a man “who’d been moving like a hunter through the brush” (295).

Kevin drinks as he watches the windows of the house, seeing Erin’s profile in the window. He imagines her inside with her lover and thinks of passages from the Bible that discuss infidelity. As he pumps gas into his car, he thinks of how fire always purifies in the Bible, and this gives him an idea.

Alex is driving back from Raleigh, anxious to see Katie. Meanwhile, Katie is in bed dreaming.

Kevin enters the store just before closing time, buys two gas cans, and pumps them full of gas. He hides the cans in the grass and drinks as he waits for the store to close.

Alex reaches Wilmington. His anticipation ramps up as he thinks of Katie waiting for him.

When the store is closed, Kevin retrieves the gas cans. He struggles with his vision, telling himself he isn’t drunk even though the signs are all there.