Page 8 of Enraged

Jackpot! Dumbass fuckin’ fence.

Ignoring the fact that the train to my gown was hung up, I slammed my car in drive. The tires on my Chevy Tahoe screeched on the loose, mountain gravel.

The old log cabin looked beautiful, and I fucking hated it.

Fuck honeymoon destinations that wind up not being used as honeymoon destinations.

The large, three-story cabin truly was beautiful. Having been friends with Dakota since we were young, we’ve spent so many summers, winters, and all things in between up here. His daddy nicknamed Jace, Dakota, Cassie and myself The Foolish Four because we’ve been in trouble up here more times than I can count. There was the time when we accidentally flooded the family room after overfilling the hot tub and leaving the back, sliding glass door open. There was the time we broke the railing off the balcony upstairs because we all got drunk and decided we wanted to repel down the side of the house. There was the time we tried to go full on Kevin McCallister and sled down the banister, through the side door, and down the side of the mountain hill, only to rip half the banister off the wall.

It’s a wonder Big Jake didn’t ban us from the cabin.

The cabin had been in the Clayton family for four generations and was as classic as it could possibly be, with only small tidbits of modern living. We finally convinced Dakota’s daddy, known to most everyone as Big Jake, to add WiFi a few years ago because we are all adults now and loved escaping here to work. The Verizon router and the newly renovated kitchen and bathroom were the only real upgrades, everything else was put in and kept the same way that Great Grand Daddy Clayton had built it.

Fuck, please let there be firewood chopped already. I’m not in a calm enough mindset to be trusted with an ax, or an ex, right now.

As I stared at the cabin, fresh pain flooded my veins.

You not only fucked up my life, my wedding day, and my friendship with my best friend, Jace, you fucked up my happy place and every good memory I’ve had since I was a teenager.

I jumped out my SUV, the gravel penetrating my bunny slippers.

Fuck, I hadn’t even put on my damn high heels when I ran the fuck outta there.

I stomped to the front porch, my bunny ears bouncing with every step. A moment of panic washed over me as I remembered I didn’t have the keys. Dak was going to give them to us at the reception.

Fortunately, I knew where the hide-a-key was hidden. One twist of the old key and the front door swung open. The smell of time, familiarity, and cedar smacked me in the face.

The feeling of being at home was too much and my anger turned into ache.

Dakota

“Get the fuck outta my way!”

Apparently, everybody has somewhere to be at two fuckin’ thirty on the second Saturday in December.

The ride to the mountain house has never seemed so long. Everyone seemed to be out for a joy ride, none of them with the same urgency I’m feeling to get the fuck out of Creek’s Edge.

Cassie and Jace. Fucking.

I never saw the signs. There were no indicators.

How could there have been, Dakota? We were always with Jace and Jolene. It was easy for them to hide it because neither Lena nor I would have batted an eye about them talking.

Traffic finally thinned out enough that I could flirt a little harder with the other side of the speed limit.

God, if you’re feelin’ any sympathy for ya boy today, please don’t let there be one of those God’s Special People on top of that hill.

I guess He decided to throw me a bone because when I topped the hill at 85mph and there wasn’t a Georgia State Patrol in sight.

Grabbing my phone, I dialed Lena’s number. A moment later, her southern accent came on the line, pleasantly reminding me to leave a voicemail or text her because she hates to talk on the phone.

She cut her damn phone off.

As I sat mine back on the center console, it started to vibrate. A quick glance confirmed what I already knew before I looked down. It was Cassie for the umpteenth time, her contact photo from the day I proposed glaring up at me.

“Don’t give a fuck about anything you have to say, Cassie,” I spoke out loud to no one but myself.

The phone came to a silent rest, only to start dancing for me again a second later.

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