Page 51 of Charlie and Her Sweet Escape
“Makes complete sense. Walking blackouts.” He sucked in air through his teeth, humor glinting in his expression. “I’m glad the sight of my butt could pull you through that difficult time. For the record?” He lowered his voice. “Totally touchable.”
I grabbed a handful of moss and chucked it at his chest. “Tell me about the cabin.”
His swagger was insufferable as he continued to lead us through the dense forest. I forced myself to look at our feet and not anywhere else. Except the occasional glimpse of those safe-to-ogle calves.
“A long time ago,” he began, “a family moved to this island from the East Coast. The father was on the hunt for freedom and adventure—and cheap land. What they hadn’t expected was the harsh living conditions. The father left one night to go findfood for his family. A storm made it impossible for him to get back for several months, and when he finally did, his family was nowhere to be found. He searched for them everywhere, but they’d disappeared. He never stopped searching, and even now, you can see the glow of his lantern on foggy nights as he searches the island for his family.”
I shivered. “Have you seen the light?”
“Rosie claims she has. And after Jules had surgery on his knee and was all loopy coming out of anesthesia, he confessed he’d seen it one time—though he denies it now.” He stopped walking so abruptly, I ran into his back. “Here it is.”
I peeked around him and took in the dilapidated structure. The roof was falling in at the middle, and the surrounding land had grown around the porch and walls, like it was trying to reclaim the space the cabin sat on.
“It’s not much, but its impact makes up for its lack of size.”
“It could be straight out of a fairy tale,” I whispered, my mind spinning with all the stories I’d read as a child. It wouldn’t surprise me to see an enchanted witch step out of the doorway and beckon us toward our deaths with promises of sweets. I ran my hands down the goose bumps on my arms.
“Want to go inside?” Bennett bounded up the questionable porch steps and held his hand out for me to take.
“Can we?”
“Just watch your step. More than one person’s been impaled by these thorns.”
I slid my hand into his, and it took him almost no effort to tug me onto the porch next to him. I brought my free hand to his chest to steady myself. Yep, just as firm as I’d imagined it would be. I curled my fingers into his T-shirt as I looked up at him.
Heat flared in his eyes before he stepped back. “Ready to explore—” He cleared his throat. “—buddy?”
Buddy?What was I? An elf? His four-year-old neighbor?
“Sure thing …partner,” I said, my eyebrows drawn low. Were we doing pet names now? These were terrible ones, if so.
I shook the weirdness off as I followed him inside, and we entered an enchanted world. Vines and leaves grew on the inside walls and wound around the posts. The blackened fireplace had fresh wood stacked next to it.
“We haven’t done much to the cabin since we bought the island. We mostly want to keep everything the same as it is. But we do stock fresh wood here now, and Haydn filled the cupboard with survival supplies just in case.”
I opened it up to see a flare, a couple of thermal blankets, a first aid kit, a hand crank radio, batteries, and a flashlight. “Smart.”
I explored every corner, which didn’t take long, since the cabin was so small. It was hard to imagine an entire family living here.
I sat on the floor in front of the empty fireplace. “Do you ever think how weird it is that we’re going on a show about surviving in the wild for other people’s entertainment, but that was actually the way people lived for so long?”
“I guess it is strange.” He sat beside me, a generous couple feet between us.
“You know what else is strange?”
He tilted his head toward me.
“We’re married.”
“I don’t think I’ve fully processed it yet,” Bennett said.
“Me neither.” I scooted toward him, and he edged away in tandem. “Why are you doing that?”
“Doing what?”
I moved a little closer to test it, and he moved away again, almost touching the wall this time. “That!” I accused.
“I’m not doing anything.” He sounded genuinely confused. Did he really not notice that every time I got a little close tohim, he sprang away from me like I carried a plague? This was so unlike Bennett, who always loved to be casually touching, I didn’t know if I should be worried or offended.
