Page 14 of Believe in Caloosa Springs

I gathered my bags from the trunk as Henry began rummaging through the back seat.

“Which cabin do you want, Henry?”

“Oh, I don’t care,” he said, half-ignoring me as he began pulling things out and setting them on the ground.

“Well, the other one isn’t that far, but I still wouldn’t want to carry a bunch of stuff from here to there.”

“Yeah, that makes sense, Porter,” he agreed, pulling another backpack out of the car.

“So you’re going to take this one, then?”

Henry closed the car door and shrugged. “I told you, I don’t care.”

I shook my head and handed him the keychain with the number six written in marker on it and got back in the car to drive over to number seven, just two acres away.

When I parked the car in front of my cabin and got out, I was grateful to still have all my luggage—I had forgotten to close the trunk before driving away from Henry’s. It wasn’t far, by any means, but it wasn’t like I had been driving on pavement. Just another testament to my jangled nerves.

I slung my gym bag over my shoulder and decided to leave the rest until I got the door open.

The cabin had a tiny little porch, big enough for maybe a chair or two, and the planks creaked slightly under my weight. It smelled sweetly of fresh lumber and sawdust. Breathing it in, I tried to take a deep breath and quell the storm of emotions raging in my chest. This was the first place that had ever beenmine.I had privacy and space to be my own person… whoever that happened to be.

I put the key into the lock and opened the door. My first impression was that the cabin was cozy. Maybe 900 square feet, if I had to guess? Panels of light-stained wood lined the walls floor-to-ceiling, giving the space an open and bright feel. There was a queen-size bed in the far corner with a dark heather comforter that matched the large area rug in the center. Atop the rug was a small coffee table and love seat facing a mounted television screen above a small wood-burning fireplace. To my immediate left was a kitchenette with a small sink and a two-burner hotplate. Mounted above the sink to save space was a dish rack holding what looked like brand-new pearl-white dishes. In the corner sat a fridge that looked about ¾ the size of a normal household model. It was cute. In fact, the whole placewas. Light streamed in the open windows, along with a cool waft of fresh air.

Heaven.

A long dresser stretched from one side of the bed to the wall, its height perfect for desk space under a window overlooking a pasture where I could see several horses lazily grazing. It was a great view.

They had definitely designed the cabin for maximal storage while keeping things open, I thought. I hauled my suitcase up off the floor and onto the dresser. I wasn’t exactly sure what I had imagined my living quarters to be like, but a small slice of country paradise wasn’t it. I sent up a silent prayer of gratitude to God. It could have been on a cot in some damp basement or any other number of unscrupulous settings that had drifted through my mind in the weeks leading up to running.

I thought that Caloosa Springs was going to do just fine.

I had just gotten my few belongings situated and all my clothes put away when Henry knocked on my door.

“Did you get all unpacked?” I asked, turning around and leaving the door open for him to walk through. I made my way back over to the dresser and plugged my phone in. If it were up to me, I think I’d just rather not have one at all, but I knew that was highly impractical. Everything was done on your phone, nowadays. An app for this, an app for that.

“Yeah. There’s a lot of room,” Henry commented.

“It’s much better than I had been imagining.”

“Honestly, same.”

Henry began to speak again, but then hesitated.

“What?”

“Do you wanna just hangout in here today?” Henry asked, turning his face away from me as he mumbled.

I sighed, and took a few steps towards him, placing my hand on his shoulder. “We’re going to have to meet them eventually, Henry. We are going to be working, and for all intents and purposes,livingwith these people for the next year. I’m sure they are all very nice.”

“What if they are, like… crazy, or something? I mean, what kind of person wants to just uproot their entire life to come live and work on a weed farm? People whoaren’trunning away from their families?”

I laughed. “I don’t know what that has to do with anything. Seriously, though, it’s going to be fine. Besides, there’s no food in these cabins yet. If we stay in here, we’ll starve.”

Henry looked up at me. “Iamkinda hungry.”

I locked the door behind me after Henry followed me outside. I didn’t want to assume my belongings weren’t going to be safe, but I hadn’t met these people yet—and I was starting with very little as it was.

As we started following the gravel trail towards the barn, I could see the front door of one of the bigger cabins open and the shorter guy I had seen leaving the main house earlier along with an older woman walking out towards the barn. They were carrying large trays of food covered with tinfoil.

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