Page 1 of You Otter Know
Chapter
One
“Welcome to our lodge,” the guy behind the desk said with a big smile. “Checking in?”
God, he looked about twelve, with a sweet smile and a nervous air about him that told River that maybe the guy was relatively new.
“Yep. River Almeida. My confirmation says cabin thirteen.”
“Oh, lucky thirteen.” The guy let out a little laugh that might have also been a sob. He wasn’t sure, and maybe that was just his own vibe making the guy seem freaked out.
Goddess knew, when his mom realized he wasn’t showing up in Colorado for the big family shindig, there was going to be hell to pay. But he was so sick of the, “You’re the only one of the kids who isn’t married and popping out babies,” spiel. So he was going it alone this year.
“Yeah, that’s me. Lucky.Sortudo.”
“Oh.” The guy made a little heh-heh noise. “Here’s your vehicle information card to fill out, and then I just need you to sign in here.”
“Kinda analog, huh?” He’d made his reservation online, so they had to be a little tech savvy, but then again, that had been through a third-party booking. So maybe they were luddites here or something.
Not that it mattered. This was far from his folks, it had separate cabins so he only had to see people if he went to the little restaurant or lounge room where there were apparently cookies and stuff at night, and there was a really nice creek or tributary or whatever than ran behind the cabins, closest to number thirteen.
Running water was super important to him. Hewasa giant otter shifter, after all.
The guy nodded. “A little. But it works. Okay, Mr. Almeira. Here’s your key. Number thirteen is on the back of the loop road, closest to the stream. I hope you like the sound of rushing water.”
“I really do.”
“Excellent. Cookies, cocoa, and wine in the common room from six to nine. Supper in the restaurant starting at four. If you need anything in your cabin like extra towels or different pillows, just call me here at the desk.”
“Thanks.” He took the key and the little placard to put on the dash of his rented SUV. “Is there a parking space at my cabin?”
“Every cabin has two,” the guy chirped.
“Thanks, uh, Branson.” He read the guy’s name tag.
“You’re very welcome!” That nervous laugh sounded again, and he shook his head on the way back to his vehicle. “Merry Christmas Eve.”
Weird kid. But maybe one had to be to work at a cabin wilderness lodge in BF-nowhere in the Pacific Northwest. He was totally human, too, so maybe being around a shifter made him instinctively uncomfortable.
Some folks were that way. They could sense the predator in him. And yeah, otters were definitely predators.
He drove around to cabin thirteen, relieved to see it was neatly painted and in good repair. Inside, the place had two rooms. A sitting room with a wee kitchen cart and sink. No stove, but an induction burner and a microwave and, most importantly, a coffee pod thingee.
Coffee was of the gods.
The bed was huge. That was a lovely, lovely thing. He dropped his bag on the suitcase stand in the closet and moved to the bed to stroke the fluffy comforter. It smelled fresh and clean, and it looked like a cloud.
“Oh, this is so much better than the fold out couchde sua avá, of his grandma’s. He would wallow in the Christmas of quiet and serenity and aloneness… “I need to run into town and get a little tree, though.”
He went back to lock the cabin up before he stripped down and headed to the shower, leaving his clothes in a trail on the floor. He needed a shower after two flights and a long drive, and the bathroom had a walk-in shower that looked like heaven right now. River just hoped there was plenty of hot water.
In the shower, River scrubbed and rinsed and stood under the spray finally, letting it warm him, letting it work on all his sore muscles. The hot water situation was just right.
When he staggered out to grab a towel after stopping the water, he dried off, dropping his wet towel on the bathroom floor. He would clean up later, but he had until tomorrow morning before the maid came, right?
For the moment he could be a slob.
Shivering, he made for the bed, pulling back the comforter and thick blanket, then the sheet, sliding into the nest of covers with a moan.
