Breaking Bismark

By Olivia Marie

Nothing can hold Bismark back.

A free spirit with a touch of trouble, she lives to see it all.

When she meets up with a man whose past is dark and twisted, Bismark makes it her job to save him and together they hit the road.

Can Bismark save Damon or will he be what finally breaks her?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Crazy Ink
• Release date: Feb 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393267508

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Iwas never the girl that wanted to settle down and do the whole marriage and wife thing. I watched how that worked out for my parents and was determined to never be in that situation.

For the past twenty-six years, I had managed to escape any threat of the ball and chain. I was happy with my life and where I was headed. I was in control of me and I had all I needed.

Nothing would threaten my peaceful living...or so I thought.

CHAPTER ONE

Iwas sick of this little town. Being here for the past six months was longer than I had stayed anywhere. It was time to pack up and find a new hangout. The town had gotten stale and I ran out of things to do.

The job at the small truck stop allowed me to save enough to move again. I bought a small 2001 Toyota Camry and was ready to hit the open road.

Hey Bis, Ashley said when I walked into the diner for my last shift. Are you really leaving?

I have to. I don’t know how you can stay in one spot your whole life.

I don’t know how you can always move. I would hate that. At least here I know the people and what to expect.

She wouldn’t get it. Born and raised in this middle of nowhere town, she married her boyfriend since middle school right out of high school. I stood there and watched her rub her swollen belly that held her first child, and my stomach sank for her.

At only twenty, she committed herself to this life of wife, mother, and permanent waitress in this dumpy little town. That would be the highlight of her whole existence.

It wasn’t for me. The thought of being tied down to one spot, one person, one future made me sick. Looking at her standing there made all that even clearer.

I know you do, but there isn’t anything here for you. This will be your normal day, every day for the rest of your life. Doesn’t that make you feel like you are being choked?

No, she said firmly and looked me straight in the eyes. It makes me feel safe, loved, and like I will matter to someone. Who do you have, Bismark?

Me and that is all I need. I have tables to take care of.

I walked away from her before she had a chance to open her perfectly pouty lips one more time and tell me what I was doing wrong with my life. It was clear we would never agree on what the other should be doing.

Did I hear right? You are leaving us? Tom, one of our older regulars asked as I brought him his coffee.

It is.

That’s a shame, but I saw this coming. You weren’t made to sit in one spot for too long.

Squinting my eyes at him, I wondered how he could see what others didn’t. He was in here every morning for his coffee and bagel with low-fat cream cheese, but we never had a real conversation other than how the weather was or how he was that day.

Well, that makes one of you, I said to him.

They see it, but they don’t want to acknowledge it. They see you doing what they wish they could. It is jealousy because they locked themselves in the life they are stuck in and you are free to do what you want.

How do you know all of this, Tom? I will miss seeing you, Sir. You don’t say much, but you get it

I know this because I was you. I went my whole life thinking I didn’t need anyone. And I didn’t. Not until I met her.

Her? I didn’t know you were married.

I’m not anymore. I met her late in life, well into my sixties. She was ten years younger than me and a complete spitfire. The day I saw her was the day I really began to live.

Then what happened? I have never heard you talk about her.

I lost her five short years after we met. But, those were the best five years of my life.

He hung his head and drifted from the diner to a memory. I saw the tears form on his bottom eyelid.

I know you are wild and feel like a relationship is a curse, but promise me, if it happens to you, you will stay open to it.

I would have laughed at him for suggesting that, but the sadness I saw in his eyes told me to listen and nod.

Good girl. Now can I have my breakfast? I am an old man and need to eat.

I will go grab it for you now, I said and turned to walk back to the kitchen. He reached out his hand and tapped the top of mine. It was the first time he had ever done that and for a second, I felt sad to be leaving him.

THAT NIGHT AS I FINISHED packing up the few items I would take with me, I thought about what Tom said. It never bothered me to be alone, and I thought it was his age that made him choose to slow down. He was easily in his mid-seventies and facing the last part of his journey. I was in my prime and still had no intentions on ever settling in one spot or with one guy.

Life was about going out there, having fun, exploring and being you. The second people even thought about settling down, they started to change. I would never be that one who let another person say how they should think or feel.

My mother did that with my dad and it eventually led him to hating her and her leaving us when I was eleven.

My mom was Ashley. Completely content in the domestic ins and outs of life. She wanted the big family, house, and white picket fence. My mom loved to tell me the story of how she met my dad and how she knew he was the one before they even talked.

My dad’s version was a lot different than hers.

He was me. Never wanting to settle down or have a family, he felt trapped into it. My parents met at a bar and he went along for his nightly hookup; she thought she found her prince.

My mom gave him anything and everything she had, and he gladly took it. It was like this for a few months and one day, my mom met him at his place with the news they were expecting me.

My dad told me all the time that he loved me, but the second Mom said those words to him, he felt the noose pull tight around his neck. She started picking out china patterns and he went