Page 48 of Never Dance with the Devils
Quietly, she confesses, “That night made me feel like I could be the one with a story to tell. An experience to relive.” As though speaking those words emboldened her, she locks eyes with Maddox, then me. “I have felt happier in the last few weeks than I ever have in my life.”
The smile on my face feels strange, like the muscles have forgotten how to stretch that much since I don’t typically smile this wide. But I can’t help it. Kayla’s answer reflects my own feelings about the last few weeks. “So, what are we going to do about it?”
I’m okay. She’s okay. Maddox is okay. Well, as okay as he ever is considering he’s currently shimmying his shoulders with some impromptu song that amounts to ‘oh yeah, woohoo, uh-huh, she likes us’, which he’s intentionally singing very off-key.
And you know what? Maybe we’re not just okay. We’re happy.
“This is insane.You know that, right?” Kayla says from the backseat of Maddox’s SUV.
I glance behind me to see her sitting primly in the middle seat with her legs crossed and a leather weekender bag beside her. The smile on her face says her soul disagrees with her mind’s analytical evaluation of our actions of the last three hours.
“It was your idea,” Maddox throws over his shoulder.
“It kind of was, wasn’t it?” Her voice is breathy and bright, full of excitement.
Talk of living life turned into me reminding her that she enjoyed that weekend away, completely unplugged in a cabin in the woods. She’d been surprised that I remembered that but had blissfully agreed that was an experience she’d loved. When she dreamily suggested that maybe we could do that ‘sometime’, Maddox had started searching online. In minutes, he found an Airbnb available for the weekend, and with Kayla offering surprisingly little argument about the unplanned trip, we hit the road.
One Walmart stop for supplies including a change of clothes for Maddox and me, two bathroom breaks, and an ice cream cone from a drive-thru later, and we’re almost there. And Kayla already has at least five stories she can tell at her next family dinner… if she chooses to go.
“What’s the first thing you want to do?” I ask. She’s been looking at the pictures of the cabin on her phone so I know she has ideas.
“Stargaze.” The answer is quick and definitive, and a complete surprise.
“Are you an astrology girlie? I’m a Mercury setting, unicorn rising, retrograde tangerine. We’re compatible, right?” Maddox grins, though his eyes never leave the road.
“I barely know my sign and only know my birthstone because I was given a necklace for my sixteenth birthday with a sapphire pendant.” Kayla laughs. “So, to me, it sounds like we’re totally compatible.”
The road gets darker as the trees surround us, becoming a tunnel lit only by the SUV’s headlights. Weget watchful, looking for the signs the cabin owner told us we’d see.
“There. Turn right,” I tell Maddox, spotting the orange reflective heart on the tree. As he takes the turn, the long driveway—that’s what they’re calling this dirt road—stretches out before us. “Are we sure we’re not going out here to be murdered?”
“It’ll be fine,” Maddox assures me and Kayla, who’s leaning forward to stare out the front window. “I can outrun both of you.”
Kayla smacks his shoulder, muttering ‘asshole’, but she laughs as she does it.
Thankfully, the driveway opens up to a clearing and situated in the middle of it is a house. It’s not fancy, but it is cute, with a porch across the front and the warm glow of the interior lights making it feel welcoming.
“It’s perfect,” Kayla says with a happy sigh.
We barely look around, just setting our bags on the kitchen counter and grabbing a blanket before we’re out the back door. I spread the blanket out in a flat spot in the yard and Kayla takes her place, lying down in the center. Maddox and I lower ourselves on either side of her, and I take her hand in mine, weaving my fingers through hers.
We’re quiet, all staring at the blackened sky. Out here, away from the city’s lights, the stars are not only brighter, but there are also hundreds more of them. Maybe thousands more.
“I clocked the Big Dipper and Orion’s Belt, but that’s all I’ve got. Anyone else have star knowledge to offer?” Maddox whispers.
“That one is Cassiopeia,” I say, pointing toward a cluster of stars.
“Really?” Kayla leans into my shoulder to follow my line of sight into the sky.
I chuckle. “I have no fucking idea. I don’t even know where the Big Dipper is.”
“Holy shit, man. Was that a joke? Are you telling jokes now?” Maddox sits up in a rush, staring at me like some sort of alien body snatcher might’ve switched me out for a Riggs impersonator.
When Kayla laughs, I feel like things might work out. Like we can make this work. “This is going to be a great weekend,” she says, squeezing my hand.
“Yeah, it is.”
MADDOX
