Page 14 of Roughing It

Chapter5

Eden

We would have made it to the lodge an hour before, but Flor insisted on stopping for photos at a lookout. I’m pretty sure it’s some form of punishment because I wouldn’t agree to an intimate dinner with this Monty guy without meeting him first. She seems to think that a blind-date setup would be a better choice than an introduction, but I refuse to give in.

I’m a realist, and I know that if I happen to have my own love story, it won’t be like hers. My life has never, ever worked out that way.

And heck, she hadn’t been looking for love when she met Sage. In fact, she was trying to avoid men altogether, and the two of them had fought like crazy when they ran into each other while on vacation.

To this day, I don’tentirelyknow what happened or what changed between them, but since then, Sage has worshiped the ground she walks on, and honestly, she’s done the same thing for him. But it’s not everyone’s love story. I can say for damn sure it’s not going to be mine.

Flor’s always jumped in feet-first, but I’m too cautious for that.

As Sage starts to take the winding roads up toward the top of the mountain, Flor makes a quiet, distressed “Noooo.”

“What’s up, babe?” he asks.

“I guess the lodge fucked up Monty’s room, and they’re straight up refusing to fix it,” she says with a huff. “Seriously, how rude is that? He said they tried to offer him some breakfast coupon instead.” She sets the phone down on her knee. “What even is this place?”

“How bad was his room?” Sage asks.

“He didn’t say. Something to do with the bed,” she offers. “Oh my god, what if it has bed bugs? What if I chose the bed bug lodge?”

Sage shakes his head and gives her a small smile. “I highly doubt it has bed bugs. And I’m sure we can figure out how to fix it when we get there.”

Part of me is worried that this place really is some nightmare, but the other part of me thinks maybe Monty is being a snob. It’s entirely possible, considering the people Sage and Flor hang out with.

I don’t say any of this aloud because it seems unfair to judge him before I even meet him. Also, I know it’ll hurt Flor’s feelings unnecessarily because she really doesn’t see how shitty her taste is in people. Instead, I mess around with my phone and try not to pick at my cuticles as Sage takes the slow, bumpy drive up toward the lodge.

“God, these roads are horrible,” he says after about five minutes of dodging potholes. “It looks like they were recently washed out.”

“Ew. Is that athing?” Flor asks, leaning forward to see better out the windshield.

“I bet it is up here,” Sage answers with a shrug. “If the storm is bad enough.”

I tune them out after that. What the hell do I care about road maintenance? Instead, my gaze fixes on the endless line of trees and how it’s almost impossible to see more than just patches of blue sky. They’re pine trees, so there’s no real canopy, but I can’t help feeling a touch of claustrophobia with how thick the forest is. And it’s not like the city is wide-open fields or anything, but it’s strange to me that people choose to live in the middle of literal nowhere like this.

Don’t they miss…everything?

Just as I’m starting to worry we’re lost in some kind of maze, we come around a bend, and the horizon opens up. The first thing I see is a massive barn, and beyond that, a few horses grazing in a field. It’s the first real open stretch of land in miles, and it’s big enough for the horses to gallop around.

I can make out trails cutting through the trees, and I think about how Flor booked us on a riding tour and that I’m probably going to fall off the edge of a cliff.

I shudder and say a small prayer to Saint Whoever Is in Charge of Horseback Riding Accidents that I’m spared some tragic ending. I guess no one is technically too young to die, but damn if I don’t have stuff I want to do first. And besides, this is not how I want to go out.

I can just imagine what my tombstone will say: Here Lies Eden. A city girl who got taken out by a horse. RIP.

No, thanks.

I don’t have time to indulge my weird little morbid fantasy, though, because Sage rolls to a stop under a rickety awning and turns the car off. At first, I see no one. Usually, at the places Flor likes to stay, there’s a host of employees all making a fuss about bags and handing us drinks and warm towels for check-in.

Here, there’s just one lone stranger who definitely doesn’t look like he works at some mountain lodge by the state of his pressed trousers and sunglasses perched on his nose, even though he’s standing in the shade. He looks about Sage’s age, with maybe some extra Botox to help out the lines on his forehead. He’s got a high hairline, dirty-blond hair, and a nose that has definitely had a little work done.

In short, he’s exactly the man Flor would have zeroed in on. And at first glance, he’s not terrible-looking, but it’s obvious he also knows it. I can tell by the way he squares his shoulders and smirks instead of smiles as Sage and Flor get out.

Sage offers the guy a half wave, kind of disinterested, and I appreciate him for it, but Flor makes her little squealing noise and runs over to hug him. She’s also making a grabby hand at me, and I know if I get close to her, this guy’s gonna be all up in my personal space.

I stay back a few steps so Flor can’t get her claws in me, and I smile, which is the best I can do. Flor makes an annoyed scoff and reaches for me, but it’s in that moment Sage steps over and pulls her close, kissing her cheek.

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