A short for sharon

Sam sat on the hood of the car watching her. She stood on the side of the dirt road clutching a suitcase in one hand while pulling her dark, windblown hair from the corner of her mouth with the other. A gust of wind caught her skirt, and she reached down to yank a twist of it from her bare legs while a naked foot kicked up small swirls of dust beneath its graceful arch. Her defiance was an aphrodisiac.The beauty of her took his breath.
"Get in the car, Nadine," he said quietly.
"I'm not going back," she said. " I can't bear the silence."
"We love each other."
"No, Sam. You've change."
"War changes people," he replied.
"I don't know you anymore," she said looking at him. "The first time I saw you, you were standing next to that car," she said gesturing toward the 1959 pink Cadillac convertible, "caressing her like the body of a beautiful woman. My god, when you touch me.... you stopped touching me, Sam."

Sam pulled his wrangler low over his forehead. She knew that gesture. It was his way of avoiding anything uncomfortable. Most of the time he was a difficult man to figure because of his contradiction in character and movement: never in a hurry, but getting things done nonetheless. She was a whirlwind accomplishing chaos. His quietude calmed her. What would she do without him? A hawk circled overhead, and she shaded her eyes against the sun as she watched it glide through long sweeping movements with its talons poised, searching the desert floor for its breakfast. She was unaware of its intent to harm. To her the hawk represented freedom from the tyranny of silence. She was ending it today.

A truck the color of rust came over the hill, and Nadine flagged it down with a slight wave. It pulled up beside her, and she set the suitcase in the back.
"Take the car, Nadine," he said without looking at her, "she belongs to you."
"No, Sam. You keep her. You loved her first."
She opened the truck door, and climbed in.
"Take good care of our girl."
Nadine stole a last glance at the pink lady as the truck pulled away. Sam turned in time to see a cloud of dust, and the tail end of the pickup as it sped toward the interstate.