by Sharan Daire
I never could have afforded SMU’s tuition, not in a million years. I’d settled for a community college, with the hope that maybe I’d transfer to SMU once I get a better job. Maybe earn some kind of work placement or scholarship. But then I’d gotten pregnant with Liam and dropped out. I had no regrets about my kids. Only their father. If they’d come a few years later, maybe I would’ve had a chance to figure out what I wanted to do with my life first. But I’d never make them feel like a burden, or leave them somewhere to live my life.
Not like my mother.
“I think we should do some shopping after we give you a tour of the larger cabins,” Derek said.
I groaned, rolling my eyes. “I hate to shop.”
“Maybe the shopping fairy can wave its wand for you, then.”
“That’d be heavenly. Along with the dishes and laundry fairies, please.” I smelled fresh coffee, which made my stomach grumble. “At least the breakfast fairy is hard at work.”
Sure enough, in the kitchen I found not just a full pot of coffee but also a giant tray of stuff for make-your-own breakfast biscuits. Eyes wide, I gave Kaleb a big hug. “Wow.”
“I’d love to take credit for it, but the food is compliments of Sally up at the lodge. Evidently Everett thought we’d be hungry this morning.”
I didn’t miss the we reference, or that Everett had known to send enough for me, the kids, and his two friends. My cheeks heated a little at the thought of the four men’s texts high-fiving each other about who was the first (and second) to get me in bed, but it also made me laugh too. Of course, Everett would want to know about how our relationships were progressing. Whether he had a shot or not.
I ate a quick bite and got Allie dressed in some of her new clothes. She insisted on wearing her unicorn skirt set despite the snow still on the ground, but I convinced her to wear sparkly rainbow leggings underneath to keep her legs warm. Liam was already outside, throwing a football with the guys with another huge smile on his face and a brand-new football jersey that I for sure hadn’t bought him.
“What’s wrong, Mommy?” Allie asked, tugging on my hand. “Don’t you like football?”
“I love it, baby. I just didn’t realize how much Bubby does too.”
“Let’s go cabin shopping!” Kaleb said, swooping Allie up in his arms. “Then we can swing by Derek’s cabin for some hot cocoa. Sound good?”
We walked back up to the lodge and then took the turn toward Derek’s cabin, down a gently sloped hill to a quaint little bridge over a creek. Tall pine and other trees I couldn’t identify made it feel like we were miles away from civilization, even though an ultra-luxurious lodge was just a few minutes behind us. Surely there were other cabins on this path too, though I’d forgotten to look at the signs to count how many were down this path.
A plank with “Holly Ridge” burned into it pointed down the left fork. “That’s my cabin,” Derek said with a nod of his head. “Just a few more minutes’ walk.”
“Does anyone else live down these paths?” I asked.
“Not at the moment. The only other cabin on this route is Robin’s Nest. We originally built it thinking that Angela might want to live here, but then she fell in love with the farm instead. It’s a three-bedroom cabin surrounded by woods, with lots of wildlife in the area. Deer, birds, maybe even a bobcat or lynx if you’re lucky, though Wally likes to patrol the grounds and keep most of the larger wildlife away.”
We rounded the curve, and the cabin came into view. Made of logs like the rest of the buildings, with a wide wraparound porch and a robin’s egg blue front door. A grassy meadow surrounded the cabin, and sure enough, three deer raised their heads as we approached, quickly turning to disappear into the trees. I couldn’t imagine living in a place where I could look out my window and see deer. Not after living in dingy, tiny basement apartments in the city.
We walked through the cabin, and it was certainly gorgeous. The kitchen was bigger and included every modern marvel that I’d only ever seen on HGTV, complete with a huge island and gas stove. The living room had giant windows and French doors to a private deck on the back of the cabin. The creek wound through the trees and back yard, adding a beautiful, peaceful tinkling of water to the serenity.
The master bedroom was spacious with a gorgeous bathroom, though the tub wasn’t anywhere near as large as the one at our current cabin. The two bedrooms were on the opposite side of the house, giving some privacy and space away from the kids. It was beautiful and certainly more than anything I would have ever dreamed of, but it didn’t feel like us. Maybe it was all in my head, but it felt like it belonged to someone else, even if Angela hadn’t settled here.
“What do you think, kids?” Derek asked.
“It’s cool,” Liam said. “How close is it to your house?”
“About five minutes or so.”
“It’s certainly big and more than enough room,” I said. “What did you think, Allie? Could you see yourself in any of those rooms?”
She might only be four, but she didn’t hesitate. “No. None of these were my room, Mommy. Wally doesn’t like it either.”
“Okay, let’s go, then,” Derek said easily, not upset in the slightest, even though this place was close to his. “I’ll show you my house, and then we’ll walk to the other cabin.”
We started back down the path, Allie and Liam racing each other to see who could find Derek’s cabin first.
“What do you do with this place?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine building such a gorgeous house and then letting it sit empty.
“We rent it out all season,” Derek replied. “Last year, we even had a person stay all summer. It gets lots of love from the nature buffs who want to stay in the woods but also have all the amenities close at hand.”
“This other cabin is harder to get to,” Kaleb said. “It’s on the other side of the property and it’s pretty steep in places, but the view is incredible. It’s honestly easier to get to by driving past my place.”
“Do you rent it out too?”
“No.”
I looked from him to Derek and then back, but neither volunteered any information. “Why not?”
Derek captured my left hand and lifted my knuckles to his mouth. “You’ll see.”
I had no idea what that meant. I turned to Kaleb but he only grinned and shook his head.
Derek’s cabin was built like the others with a hunter-green door and a deep covered porch large enough for Adirondack chairs and an outdoor fireplace in the corner. Inside, the ceiling soared in a high vault with skylights and bare timbers. The fireplace mirrored the one outside with one whole wall of rock. The kitchen was small with just the necessities, more like an efficiency apartment that I was used to.
He set a kettle on the stove and got down five mismatched mugs, two kids’ versions with Disney characters. Maybe he’d gotten them for Taylen but I had the sneaking suspicion that he might have bought them in case my kids ever came over.
While we waited on the water to boil, he gave us a quick tour. A big-screen television and leather sectional dominated the living room. There was only one bedroom with an equally giant four-poster bed. The bathroom boasted a huge walk-in shower with dual rain shower heads, but no tub.
Everything was neat and put away. Even his closet was tidy with his work uniforms on one side and all his other clothes on the other. A small box low on the floor caught my eye. It took me a minute to realize it was a safe.
“I keep a spare service weapon here in case I ever need it. So far, I’ve never gotten it out of the safe.”
Back in the living room, I lingered over the pictures hung on the walls. Family pictures when he and Kaleb were kids with little Angela, maybe fix or six years old. Pictures of an older couple who I assumed were his parents. I could see the family resemblance. His senior picture with cap and gown. Some football pictures of their championship team holding a trophy. Chris’ magnetic gaze caught my attention immediately. Even as a young man, he’d had charisma and le
adership. His shoulder was in a sling and his face was gaunt, eyes shadowed. I could almost see the grief and guilt written in his face.
His father hadn’t loved him, no matter what he accomplished. Then he’d died, which must have been a relief in some ways. He’d escaped a very unhappy childhood, but then found himself alone in the world, except for his friends.
Everett had one arm around Chris’ shoulders and his other around Kaleb’s. The glue holding the friends together.
I moved to the next pictures and found Derek in military camo, looking absolutely droolworthy in his uniform. Another picture of him shaking hands, standing at a podium, with a certificate announcing him a graduate of police academy.
His whole life lay mapped out on this wall. It was so easy to see how the man he was had come to be.
He brought me a cup of cocoa. “I’d love to see a picture of you as a little girl.”
“I have some pictures of the kids when they were little, but nothing from my childhood, other than the pictures I took with Mom that day at the theater. Granny might have some of me, though. I’ll ask her.”
Silence stretched out a moment, with the brothers sharing a long, silent look. Sure, I was having a great time here, but I still needed to go see her. I’d called her. I told her I was coming, though I hadn’t given her a specific day. Maybe they thought I wouldn’t come back?
“Sure, I’d like that,” Derek finally said. Kaleb gave him a dirty look, but Derek shook his head slightly and changed the subject. “Who’s ready to climb a mountain?”
“Really?” Bubby asked, giving a look of concern at Allie.
“Oh, not really. We call it a mountain, but it’s more of a tall rocky hill than anything. There’s a bunch of stories about a cave somewhere up there where Jessie James and his gang hid out.”
“The robber? Cool!”
“Do you catch a lot of robbers?” Allie asked.
While Derek regaled them about some stories of local criminals—which I hoped were mostly made up because he sure had a lot of suspicious characters in the area—I moved closer to Kaleb. “I’d love to see your place too.”
“Sure, we’ll be close. I’ll warn you, though. I’m not as tidy as my saintly brother.”
“I don’t care. I’m the world’s worst housekeeper, mostly because I’m never home much but to sleep. Maybe I can take a look at Bessie and you can show me what all is wrong with her.”
His eyes flared and he gulped like I’d told him I wanted to shave his head.
“What? Is she that bad?”
He shook his head and muttered, “I’m going to kill him,” beneath his breath.
“What?” I repeated, bewildered. My mind immediately leaped to how much the repairs must be costing him. Everett had sworn that I shouldn’t pay for them, but maybe Kaleb didn’t know. I’d be mad, too, if I knew someone had twenty grand in the bank and didn’t pay for my work. “I’m happy to write you a check. I know it must have cost a lot.”
“No, no, not at all. Please, don’t worry about it, Shelby.”
“But you said the amount of work you needed to do outweighed her value.”
He raked a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I did. She did need a lot of work. But I don’t want you to worry a single second about it, okay? I’m taking good care of her.”
Derek tipped his cup, making a big show of drinking the last of his cocoa. “Hey, drink up, kiddos. Who’s going to race me to the top of Canyon Rock?”
KALEB
I really was going to have to kill him. He hadn’t told her. He hadn’t explained that her car was basically ready, even though he’d promised he would. Which put me in an uncomfortable situation. I didn’t know what he’d told her, and I didn’t want to contradict something he may have said.
I absolutely could not lie to her—but I didn’t want him to look like a liar, either.
We followed the kids back outside, Derek racing ahead of us with them, yelling and laughing like he was ten years old himself. Bastard. Leaving me behind to face the music, like always.
Shelby asked the dreaded question. “So how much work does Bessie need?”
I could literally feel a noose tightening around my neck. “Not much.”
“Oh. That’s great news!”
I forced a smile. “Yeah. Thank you for letting me work on her. She’s a grand old girl. I think you’ll get another five or ten years out of her, easy.”
“Really? That’d be awesome.”
Keep her talking, and not about the repairs. “Where’d you get her?”
“Mom’s boyfriend gave it to her, right before she passed away.”
Oh shit. “I’m so sorry, Shelby. I didn’t mean to bring up anything painful.”
She gave me a sad smile that twisted knives in my chest. “They were in his Camaro when they had the accident. Rob, my ex, saw the car at the junkyard and said it was folded up like a tin can. If they’d been in Bessie, they might have survived the head-on crash.”
I took her hand in mind, giving her an apologetic squeeze. “That was a totally shitty thing for him to say, but Bessie’s built like a tank. She’ll keep you and the kids safe on the road, that’s for sure.”
“I was afraid that she was too old to even find the parts. You didn’t have any issues?”
“I’m just waiting on one piece.” That was true, but the part was a brand-new GPS system, nothing to do with the car itself. I didn’t want Shelby to get lost again, though I couldn’t complain one bit about the adventure that had brought her to our doorstep. “It should be in later today, I think. Maybe tomorrow.”
Back at the main trail hub behind the lodge, I noticed she scanned the signs pointing the way to each of the cabins. “I don’t see Canyon Rock.”
“No. It’s not available to the general public.” To anyone. Ever.
Unless… she wanted it.
“Why?”
I blew out a sigh. Chris had been very clear last night. We could show her the place, but we couldn’t persuade her one way or the other. “I’d rather you see it and decide for yourself.”
“Okay.”
I could tell by the slight tension in her eyes that she didn’t understand, but we walked in companionable silence. The trail ambled along the creek, and in a few minutes, we came to its source. A small waterfall tumbled down a rocky cliff into a shallow mostly frozen pool. Icicles hung down from the rocks, showing all the trickles of water as it made its way down the cliff.
“Wow.”
“It’s even prettier in the spring,” I replied. “The rocks are slick with moss and the trees bud into pink and white flowers. Sometimes we’ll set up chairs and have local musicians play. It’s popular enough that Everett’s running some numbers to see if it’s worth building a permanent outdoor stage and seating.”
“Music under the stars. That sounds incredible.”
We walked across the open area along the pool, then around behind some deliberate evergreen shrubbery that hid the private path up to Canyon Rock. Narrow and fairly steep, we had to concentrate on climbing. Most of the trail was clear, but some of the rocky steps were still slick. I followed behind her, so I could grab her if she started to fall, and Derek took care of the kids. Though they clambered up the trail like mountain goats.
“Whew.” She paused a moment, panting, and swiped hair off her forehead. “I can tell you now that I wouldn’t want to climb this every day.”
“It’s just a short cut,” I replied. “We can drive around to the other side of the property past my cabin for much easier access. But this is the only way to get there directly from the lodge without a car.”
The trail cut back across the slope, the last bit the steepest but widest part of the path. Concentrating on her footing, she didn’t see the house right away. She drew up short, breathing hard. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a good response or not. “Welcome to Canyon Rock.”
She gave me a narrowed look and continued toward De
rek, who stood waiting for us at the gate that kept any guests out who might have wandered up here accidentally. “What do you think?”
She looked back at me. “Is this some kind of joke?”
I tried not to respond, but everything inside me wilted. Chris would be absolutely devastated if she hated the place he’d basically built for her.
Before we ever knew her.
25
Shelby
This has to be a joke.
I’d thought the lodge was a ridiculous over-the-top mansion built by giants, but this place…
It was just as ostentatious though more elegant. If an ultra-sleek contemporary had a baby with a mountain cabin, built by a bazillionaire, it would look like this house. The exterior was dark gray concrete with exposed steel and giant dark wooden beams. Where the lodge was rustic with raw pine, this wood was polished and completely smooth. I wasn’t sure if the beams were painted or stained that dark, or if it was natural. Though I’d never seen black wood before.
“This is the side door.” Undeterred by my suspicion, Derek walked toward an all-glass door and opened it for me. “We’ll go around to the front later so you can see the driveaway that’s more approachable.”
There was nothing about this house that was approachable or casual. Even the glass door was strange, with black-tinted glass, though it was see-through from inside the house. The first room was some kind of mudroom, I supposed, though the grandest “dirty” room I’d ever seen. A tiled area in the corner confused me, complete with drain. Some kind of shower? On the opposite side was a washer and dryer that looked so new, shiny, and high-end that they could probably sort and fold the laundry too.
We passed through into a modern, dazzling-white kitchen. Huge. So many cabinets. Tons of workspace. Commercial stove with eight gas burners. A gigantic refrigerator with an electronic panel that of course my kids couldn’t resist.
Before I could stop him, Bubby was pushing buttons. The front panel of the fridge went transparent, showing the interior of the shelves. A see-through fridge?!