Page 25 of Cabin Fever

She nodded and my heart sank. As many times as I rolled my eyes at her cheerful salute when I told her to do something, I was disappointed when she didn't do it this time.

I was already on the roof by the time she returned. I managed to push the branch off the roof and discovered the hole was smaller than it originally appeared. Most of the shingles were still usable, if only temporary until I could get a roofer to fix it.

"Do you want me to come up and help?"

"No, this area is too weak to support the both of us. I probably shouldn't be up here either, but I'm only doing a quick patch. Just wait inside."

Something I had said set her off. While I had been with several women intimately, I had never had any long-term or even short-term relationships. My father had warned me that women could become irrational for no reason, and now I finally understood what he meant.

"I know you want to get rid of me, but I'm not completely useless."

I stopped my hammering and glanced down to her. "I never said you were."

She was rubbing her face. "Men are such jerks."

"What? I have housed you for almost two weeks and now I'm a jerk?"

"Yes! Am I that hideous? Is there something in my personality that makes men think they can use me and then laugh behind my back?"

"I never laughed—"

Apparently, she wasn't done talking. "You never once asked why I showed up at your home in a wedding dress."

I nodded but quickly realized she might not be able to tell from down there. "Because it's none of my business."

"Just like anything about you is none of my business."

I sighed and set the hammer down. This was going to be one of her long talks, wasn't it?

"If you want my honest answer, yes. I don't owe you anything, Olivia. Not my name, though I decided you were trustworthy enough for that. Not my past and certainly not any more of my time."

She nodded for longer than felt normal and started to walk around in a circle. "Okay. Okay . . . I see your point. But not everyone is you, Carter. We aren't all anti-social hermits who bare our teeth at love and affection. A lot of people like to socialize and get to know others. It helps. Without it, humans would go mad. Maybe that's your problem, Carter . . . you're mad as a mother-fucking shit-eating hatter!"

I rubbed my face and did my best to calm down. "I'm the mad one? I'm not the one calling people names and using ugly language. I'm also not the one picking a fight for no reason. Let me fix the roof, and then you can curse me to your heart's content while I drive you back to The Lodge." I turned back to the roof and picked up the hammer.

"I ran away from my wedding. I caught my fiancé getting dirty with one of the guests. And the way he was talking, this wasn't their first encounter, either. The funny thing was, during my hours of trekking through the snow to get here, I realized I wasn't upset that he had cheated on me. I barely knew the guy. We were rarely alone together and when we were, he acted like he was doing me a favor. And you know the worst part? I believed him."

She was quiet for a moment and when I glanced down; she was crying. Even from up here, I knew what that looked like.

"What is it about me that makes men not want to be with me? You'll be rid of me soon. Just be honest."

I was a jerk.

Placing the hammer back on the tiles, I leaned against the roof but miscalculated where the beam was located and fell straight through. I felt something crack in my left arm when I landed. I rolled onto my back on the snow-covered loft floor and stared at the sky. Electric bolts of pain shot up my arm.

This was my punishment for being a fool.

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