Page 65 of When You Had Me Adapting

Logan pulls around a curve and our home for the weekend appears on the right. Wren’s car and Jace’s Jeep are already parked in the driveway. We would have been here earlier, but I had to work a half-day. Logan honks the horn and puts his truck in park.

“Holy shit, this house is stunning,” Poppy says, opening the passenger side door and climbing down.

She’s right. It’s breathtaking. The house before us is a large Craftsman with all the rustic charm you would expect from a lake house nestled in the North Georgia mountains. Large wooden beams, cedar shake siding, and stacked stone give it a cabin feel. The sage green paint of the siding contrasts perfectly against the warm wood and stone. Large pine and oak treestower above it. Although there are neighboring houses close by it feels like it could be the only house for miles. The sun is beginning to set and the sounds of crickets start to fill the warm night.

“If this is what the front looks like, I can’t wait to see the view of the lake,” Logan says.

“Fuck, I hope the mosquitos aren’t this bad the whole weekend,” Chris grumbles, slapping his leg and helping Logan pull our luggage from the bed of the truck.

I finish collecting my suitcase from where he set it on the driveway and make my way towards the front of the house. Jace swings the large double doors open causing me to freeze. He’s wearing a backwards hat, a T-shirt, and khaki shorts that hit above his knees showing off his toned thighs. A large smile erupts across his face when our eyes meet.

“Hey, pixie. Can I help you with that?” In three long strides he moves toward me and reaches for my bag.

“Toucan play that game,” I chuckle reading his tee. “I like your shirt.”

“So, where’s Chris?”

“Helping Logan unload the truck,” I point behind me.

The corners of his mouth fall and he turns with my suitcase in hand. I follow behind him up the stone steps and through the front door.

The interior of the cabin can only be described as cozy. The floor plan is open with a stunning kitchen complete with a large light-colored granite island and black cabinets. A wooden table that sits ten is in the center of a large dining room. It looks handmade. The wood is decorated with natural knots and imperfections. A deer antler chandelier hangs above it. On one of the walls an enormous stack stone fireplace reaches from floor to ceiling and two worn leather love seats frame the space. Theentire back wall of the house is glass and shows off the view of the lake.

I spin around at the sound of the front door shutting. Poppy, Logan, and Chris are all standing in the foyer.

“So, there are four bedrooms and a couple of pull out couches,” Tanner begins. “We figured Logan and Poppy could take the main suite down here. The rest of the bedrooms are upstairs. Lacey, do you and Chris mind sharing a bathroom with Donovan and Enzo when they get here tomorrow?”

“Fine with me. Chris?”

He nods.

“Awesome, and then Wren, you can take the fourth room. Jace and I will take the pullout couches in the rec room.”

The group disperses to claim their beds. Chris follows me up the staircase, holding both of our bags. Our room is one of the smaller spaces, but just as homey as the rest of the house. The bed is covered with a red plaid duvet and little black bears decorate every lamp and throw pillow.

“Is everything okay?” I ask once we’re behind the door and away from all of my friends.

“Yeah, I’m great. Looking forward to having the weekend off work,” Chris says.

“You sure?” I step toward him, reaching out to rub my hand down his arm. He takes a step back and I take a deep breath. “Look, this is going to be a really long weekend if you act like you’re mad at me the whole time. Is this still about Jace?” My voice is slightly raised.

“Let’s not be dramatic. I’m fine.”

“Dramatic? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re making something out of nothing. I’m fine. This weekend is going to be fun. Let’s go back downstairs before everyone starts wondering what’s keeping us up here.” He walksout of the room leaving me standing there wondering why I thought him coming was a good idea.

Wren meets me at the top of the stairs.

“You good?” she asks.

“I’ll be fine.” I roll my eyes. “Is your room decorated with black bears like ours?” I laugh.

“Moose,” she giggles. “Or is it meese?”

We make our way down the staircase. The boys are all on the back deck huddled around the grill and Poppy is sitting on one of the couches in front of the fireplace. She’s holding a paperback and I smile to myself when I realize it’s one of the recommendations I sent her.

“Are you finally going to read a book? I love that one.”

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