• Left off the highway down unpaved road
    Stands a small town with its familiar street
    Modest brick houses with lawns freshly mowed
    The place I took my first steps with baby feet

    Looking up to my big sister Chalaine
    With her long blond hair and a pretty face
    She smiled with nothing to lose and the world to gain
    Every move she made shimmered with grace

    Mommy was always loving, warm, gracious and wise
    Daddy took us outside, taught us how to play ball
    Felt like they won the lotto and we were the prize
    We learned the meaning of love when we were quite small

    I was nine years old when I met Shayle
    His father bought the house right next to mine
    He had bright, bold blue eyes and skin so pale
    He was a sparkle that made life shine

    By thirteen, I already knew enough
    Everything about him made me see
    I’d fallen head over heels right into love
    I needed him, he was fourteen and he loved me

    We took a walk down the railroad tracks
    In a moment too perfect to ever end
    Holding hands as moonbeams danced on our backs
    The only one I could ever need, my best friend

    Just a boy and a girl in a small town
    Whose trust in each other would never cease
    His spirit picked me up when I fell down
    My world was a puzzle, he was the missing piece

    A few years later Dad learned about Shayle and me
    Our love blissful with youthful innocence
    And his grin grew wide enough to stretch from sea to sea
    When he gave his blessing for our happiness

    That same day I found a scary surprise
    Shayle’s door was unlocked and I let myself in
    Right on time to see the wrath in his father’s eyes
    And an ugly bruise tainting his mother’s skin

    I unveiled the pain he held for so many years
    Every day was a secret that he tried to keep
    He never complained about restraining his tears
    I wanted to heal the scars that cut him so deep

    Escape was the plan that we had to make
    When he turned eighteen we left town that very day
    Bringing a bank card and all the clothes we could take
    Jumped into his Chevy truck and we drove away

    I left a note by my sister’s bedside
    Explaining why we drove away in his truck
    That I couldn’t live without him even if I tried
    We’d run out of road before we’d run out of luck

    He turned twenty when I was just nineteen
    We turned off the road on the side of a street
    He pulled out a ring as he dropped to one knee
    I wanted to marry him, life was complete

    Two months later now we’re back in this town
    Shayle’s dad is gone and locked away
    Dressed in a black tux and a wedding gown,
    Home for our wedding and we’re home to stay