The Cabin

by Alice Ward

  “It sounds awful.”

  “In some ways it was worse than awful. We both knew that families were different than ours. Most ate dinner together, not alone with only each other as company. Most went on big, fun family vacations to the beach with bright, colorful sun umbrellas or camping in the mountains where they got mosquito bites and saw bears. We traveled to exotic locations and stayed with hotel staff while our parents gallivanted around. I was able to bear it just fine, I didn’t need to be with them, but it was taxing on Wenton.”

  “What happened?” I asked, hoping not to sound too eager, but his story was so compelling.

  “He was still sleeping in a crib at three years old. He should have gotten a toddler bed by then, but since my mom thought he was safer with the bars and bedding, she ordered that he stay in a crib. He was a very slight child and not very strong. One night, he tried to climb out of his crib. He reached for the pulley for the drapes to hoist himself up. His leg slipped on the railing, and he fell out of the crib, hitting his head hard on the floor. I ran and got the nanny, but by the time I was able to wake her and get her to our room, he was having seizures.”

  “Oh my god.”

  “The paramedics came and took him to the hospital. When he came home, he was different. The concussion injured his brain, which was already really delicate because of his condition. He was still smart, but he did things that were really dumb, like he just had no common sense. He almost drowned in the lake because he always stood on the bow of the boat. He grabbed knives by the pointy end and got cut. He just didn’t have any sense. He kissed a girl when he was thirteen, and he didn’t know what he was doing. She was scared, their family got involved, and it was a big deal. My family felt like Wenton was just becoming too much for them to handle, so when he had a heart attack that same year and went to the hospital, he never came home again.”

  “Why didn’t he come back?” I asked softly.

  “My mom didn’t want to deal with it anymore, I guess. Even though we had a live-in nurse at the time, she decided it was time for him to live in a place where he could get better care.”

  “What about your dad?”

  “He was never home. He left all the decisions regarding our care to her.” He was so melancholy, I could tell that there was a horrible sadness deeply rooted there.

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that, it sounds really awful.” I didn’t know what else to say.

  “Yeah. Well, we’re okay now. I’m really happy you accepted the offer to paint his portrait. I can already tell that you’re painting exactly what I hoped you would.”

  We pulled up to my house, and he turned off the engine. My heart fluttered. I sent a silent prayer that he not pressure me for a kiss or anything, because as I was getting to know him better, and I realized I wouldn’t be able to resist him. He was, especially with the way the moonlight danced on his features, the sexist person alive. I tried to breathe.

  “Do you mind doing me a favor?” he asked.

  He was being too genuine to be asking for a kiss, sex, or anything I had barred as off-limits.

  “What do you need?” For some reason, I felt trapped and nervous.

  “Can you not mention Wenton to your friends, and especially the people at the diner.”

  “Sure, but why?”

  “It’s um… well. I’m still KP. Kembrough Preston, Oscar award-winning producer…blah blah blah, so…”

  So, he was ashamed? I couldn’t read him, but I was horribly afraid I wouldn’t like what he said next.

  “If people, namely the media, found out about Wenton, it would be really bad,” he confessed.

  I bristled. “I don’t think Wenton comes off as bad as you think. He’s a great guy!”

  “No, it’s not that. I think he’s the greatest guy. He’s my best friend, but if the media were to find out about him, it could really hurt him.”

  I still didn’t understand. “Why? Wouldn’t it raise awareness for his disease?”

  “Maybe. But it would open him up to reporters and social media and internet trolls. He can’t take that. He lives in a bubble, and to him the world is a magical place. He’s on his computer all day playing games and living in a fantasy. He has tons of friends on social media, but his access is blocked to anything that would hurt him.”

  His scrubbed his hands down his face. “He and I agreed to use a code name when referring to me. We don’t need the publicity. The media is an evil monster, one Wenton can’t slay. He can’t take it. Specifically, his heart can’t take it. I hope you understand. He’s never met anyone in my world. I figured since you are mostly outside of it at the moment, we’re safe. You’re an incredible woman, Caitlyn. I knew you would love him. So, I’m just asking that you love him enough to keep him safe.”

  “Of course.” He seemed so earnest that I leaned over and hugged him. It felt like the right thing to do. “I never thought of it that way.”

  He wrapped his arms around me. “Thanks.” His eyes held mine for a beat.

  We both stayed there, suspended in time. I could feel him grappling with himself. He wanted to kiss me. I wanted to kiss him too. God, it was like all I wanted. As if we were pulled together by some unseen string, we leaned toward each other. Then he softly kissed my forehead. I smiled. This was what I had wanted. Friendship, nothing more. My matter how much my vagina was disagreeing.

  “You should get inside. I don’t want your grandma to worry.”

  I nodded and opened the door. “Okay.”

  “See you Saturday?” he asked, looking hopeful.

  “Definitely.” I smiled. “Safe drive home. Get some coffee or something.”

  Geesh, I sounded like his mother.

  “You bet.”

  I was falling for this guy. Despite everything, I was falling harder than should be possible. I got out of the car and watched him pull away. He was a billionaire and a famous movie producer, but to me, he was becoming nothing more than a big brother with a heart of gold. Slowly but surely, I was discovering a man I could love.

  I went to Gran’s room as soon as I walked in the door. Athena was there reading something on her tablet.

  “How’s she doing?” I asked, fearful that I had spent too much time away.

  She smiled up at me. “She’s fine. Sleeping peacefully.”

  “Thank you for staying with her.”

  I was seriously relieved to have the help. I knew nothing about taking care of someone medically, outside of reminding Gran to take her medicine when I remembered it myself.

  “She’s comfortable,” Athena added, “I’ll be back tomorrow morning.”

  “Do you want me to fix you dinner or anything?” I asked, unsure of what home nurses expected. I felt stupid after asking.

  “Someday, that would be nice, but I have to get home to my little girl,” she said kindly.

  “How old is she?” I asked, curious.

  “Two. She’s with her dad, but he works the night shift at the hospital so it’s my time with our princess. She always wants me to make stuff that looks like a rainbow or a unicorn. She keeps me hoppin’ in the kitchen.”

  “She sounds adorable.”

  “She is. See you tomorrow. Call me if you need anything at all. Also, all of the emergency numbers are on the fridge.”

  “See you tomorrow,” I waved as she left.

  I looked down at Gran, who was sleeping tranquilly. I didn’t want to wake her, but I didn’t want to leave her either. All that talk of the scares KP had with Wenton growing up made me think of what I would soon be facing. I didn’t want to say goodbye, and I didn’t want to let her go. I was still a little kid in my mind. I wasn’t ready to grow up and so many new and confusing things were happening to me. I needed her. I couldn’t imagine a time when I wouldn’t need her.

  Needing her warmth, I slipped into her bed like I had so many times before. It was plenty big enough, even with the IV and breathing stuff that the hospital had sent over, there was still lots of room for me
to cuddle next to her.

  I shifted in close and just listened to her heartbeat. I whispered quietly and told her about my day. Confessing about my changing feelings for KP, the wretched billionaire, I laughed. I could have sworn I saw her smile before I drifted off to sleep by her side.

  CHAPTER TEN

  KP

  The drive home from Connecticut was long and lonely. Somehow, having Caitlin meet Wenton made me feel sad when I should have been feeling joy. It went well, and Caitlyn saw in my brother all that I did. As an artist, I knew she would capture his true spirit and that her portrait of Wenton would express the real him, inside and out. That wasn’t the problem. What plagued me was Caitlyn herself.

  The more time I spent with this beautiful creature, the more I wanted to be with her. My insatiable desire to experience her body certainly wasn’t going away, but on top of it now was the need to share my life with her. I wanted to show her so many of the things I loved to do. I wanted to see her reactions to them and relive them through her eyes. I also wanted to try things I’d never allowed myself the opportunity to enjoy, like those crazy beach vacations I’d wanted as a kid or even a camping trip.

  The closer I got to her, the more afraid of her judgment of my more obvious faults I became. I couldn’t fully subdue my lust. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t help but become aroused when I was with her. I kept it hidden well, but the need taunted me.

  I went home to my lonely penthouse and watched the New York skyline, but even such a huge city seemed empty and barren. To distract myself, I booted up my laptop but just stared at the hundreds of emails filling the screen. Some were urgent, shoving me back into the life I’d ignored all day.

  There was only one message on my phone that I felt was important enough to answer, so even though it was late, I returned the call.

  Wenton answered on the first ring. “Yay, you called me back!”

  “What are you doing up so late? You need to be in bed,” I chided.

  “Naw, nurse checked in an hour ago, and I pretended to be asleep.”

  He sounded okay, but I worried just the same. “What’s up, buddy?”

  “I forgot to give you this week’s hunt.” His voice was serious as usual.

  Shit. “Wow, I completely forgot too. Okay, hit me with it.”

  Usually his scavenger hunt requests were fun and something I actually looked forward to doing. Most were easy to accomplish, and they often took me places I never would have gone without his quests. Some were harder to manage and took more than a week to accomplish, but this was all part of Wenton’s master plan.

  “It’s gonna be a really hard one this time. I don’t know if you’ll be able to do it.”

  “Alright. Hit me with it. I’m ready.”

  “I want you to fall in love.”

  Boom, blood roared in my ears.

  If he’d grabbed my heart and ripped it right out of my chest, it wouldn’t have hurt more than what I needed to say next. “Sorry, buddy, I can’t do that.” I’d never told him no.

  He sighed. “It’s time, KP.”

  “No, it’s not,” I said, trying and failing to tease him. “I have a hundred more years before I have to think about settling down.”

  “You’re not allowed to refuse a quest, remember?” He didn’t sound angry. He sounded sad. “And you might have a hundred years, but I don’t. Come on now, don’t disappoint me.”

  Fuck, fuck, fuck, not now. He’s okay, I told myself. He’s fine. I’d pretended I didn’t even notice the graying tone of his skin or deep, dark circles around his eyes, which were starting to sag. His eyes had always been a little droopy and puffy — part of Williams Syndrome — but lately, those eyes were tired, world worn, and ebbing toward closure.

  I wouldn’t say my brother was dying, but he was. Deep down in my heart, I knew.

  He wasn’t supposed to live past the age of three, then ten, then fifteen. and he was twenty-nine. The doctors’ reports showed various ailments, all of which they were attending, but his liver and his heart were slowly failing. Bearing a transplant, they would both give out eventually. Transplants weren’t really an option for Wenton; they were too risky.

  I needed to shut this shit down, bring the lightness back. “Oh, shut up, drama king, you’re fine.”

  “You’re still gonna have to fall in love. That’s the next one.”

  “Wenton, how do I take a picture of that?” I was desperately trying to guide him toward seeing the ridiculousness of this hunt.

  “You have to send me a picture of flowers you buy her, carve her name in a tree, take her on a picnic. When she looks at you the way they do in the movies, take a picture.” He chuckled. “And the last thing you have to do is kiss her. Don’t worry, I’ll email you a list of these things.”

  My heart was beating hard. “You’re impossible. How about I get you the director’s cut of ‘Till Death Us Do Part,’ you’ll love it. The director’s cut is this sappy, horror love story. It won’t be in the theaters.”

  “Cool, send it over, but the task remains. Duhhh duhh duhhh duhhhh,” he warned in a menacing tone with his own brand of darkness.

  I laughed, knowing I had to figure out a way to make him happy. “Oh my god, you’re impossible.”

  “Yep, see you this weekend,” he laughed.

  “Go to bed,” I said, pretending to be stern.

  After we said goodnight, I poured myself a Scotch, turned on some mindless reality TV, and fell asleep on the couch.

  The rest of the week was pretty monotonous and Saturday seemed to take forever to come. When it finally arrived, I woke up early, excited to see Caitlyn again.

  I pulled up to her house to see a small elderly woman sitting in a chair on the front porch, Caitlyn next to her. As soon as the driver stopped, the woman I assumed was Caitlyn’s grandmother pulled out a huge pair of binoculars and seemed to be looking right into my soul. Caitlyn laughed and took them from her, saying something I couldn’t hear. From their body language and smiles, it was clear they loved each other and got along well.

  I tried to not let that make me feel uncomfortable, but it did. A woman joined them on the porch with a wheelchair and Caitlyn grabbed her bag before kissing her grandma goodbye. The woman raised an ancient-looking hand and waved. I waved back as I was exiting the car to open the door for Caitlyn.

  She looked as beautiful as ever, but this time wearing a sundress and a happy expression. I didn’t remember ever seeing a carefree look on her face before, it really brightened up everything around us.

  “That was your grandma, right?” I asked as we slid into the back seat of the car.

  “Yeah, she was feeling well enough to get a little sunshine today.”

  I laughed. “And well enough to do a little espionage too.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Sorry for the surveillance gear, but it’s official, you’re “hotter than a chuckwalla in the sun.”

  I had no idea if that was good or not. “A chuckawhat?”

  If it was possible, Caitlyn brightened even more. “It’s a Southwestern desert lizard. Gran likes horror movies and the odd Western.”

  “She sounds like quite a character.”

  “Oh, you have no idea.”

  “Is she feeling better?” I asked, genuinely concerned.

  She sighed, the brightness fading a little. “She is today.”

  “That’s good.” After seeing her grandmother and the fragile condition she seemed to be in, I understood what Caitlyn must have been up against.

  Death, life, illness, it was all-consuming. I knew how much the threat of death colored one’s life. Good days were a miracle.

  “Do you want to stay with her? Wenton would understand. We can reschedule if you’d like.” I didn’t want her to say yes, but I need to ask.

  “It’s fine. She actually booted me out. We ate a whole cheesecake yesterday and watched seven and a half hours of eighties horror flicks. I wiped her out. She just wants to chill on the porch today.”
>
  “If you’re sure, then Wenton says he has something planned for us when we get there, so consider yourself warned.” I gave her a foreboding look that was genuine because Wenton could really pull out the stops if he wanted.

  Since love was on his agenda, any amount of awkwardness was possible.

  “I’m cool with whatever Wenton brings on. I can take the heat.” She eyed the radio. “Also… since I’m a millionaire-ish now,” she gave me a sassy look, “I have a new iPhone. It’s my turn to crank up the tunes, but I don’t know how to work it.”

  I took it. “Nice, but it’s a six, didn’t you want the latest?” I didn’t really mean to question her choice in phones, but if you had the money, get the best.

  “No, six is good for me. It was on sale, but I’m pathetic, I can barely turn it on.” She bobbed her eyebrows. “I have tunes though.”

  Her eyes were wide and beautiful, like a child with a new bike.

  “Alright Miss I-got-tunes, let’s see what you’ve got.” I was glad I wasn’t driving this time, so I could kick back and enjoy just being with her.

  After connecting her phone to my system, we listened to her playlist, which was quite eclectic. There were some old favorites, some new stuff, and a lot of alternative rock. It was fun exploring the music she’d collected. It was like listening to the soundtrack of her brain. I learned about some new artists, heard some incredible covers of classic songs, and elevated my cool quotient by at least six notches.

  I was exposed to music through our productions as we’re often trying to secure rights to songs for our movies, but she was able to find a few gems that were new. When we arrived at Wenton’s, we were both feeling rather musically inclined. That was good because as soon as we met him we discovered what his surprise for us was.

  He had set up a very elaborate Karaoke stage in the multipurpose room of the main building. The stage had a big screen, Karaoke music machine, and three microphones. There was beer, snacks, juice, fruit, drums, maracas, and costumes with all the accessories you’d want to dress up as just about anything you chose with authenticity, including hair in every color of the rainbow. I hadn’t purchased these items for Wenton, so I looked at him curiously.