Page 51 of Resisting Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings 3)

Josh was thanking God or the universe, or fate or whatever had caused Audrey’s tire to be flat. The thought of her coming out here, alone, scared the shit out of him. He followed the road they were on over a wooden bridge with a river running beneath it. They then continued climbing up the mountain for about another mile, the narrow road curved around large boulders and trees, before they finally entered a clearing and reached their destination.

Thor lifted his head as the truck came to a stop in front of a rustic cabin that Josh assumed had top of the line amenities from what Audrey had said the owner had boasted about to Viv.

They got out of the truck and made their way up the steps that led to the cabin. Thor stopped and relieved himself in the grass before clomping up the steps. The porch was oversized and had rocking chairs, heaters, and ceiling fans installed.

Josh opened the door and they walked inside and saw that the windows with lights they’d seen down on the road was an entire wall of floor to ceiling glass that overlooked the valley down below.

Both Audrey and Josh stood speechless by the door as Thor barreled inside between them.

“Wow. This is incredible.” Audrey walked inside and he followed behind her.

There was a kitchen in the right-hand corner of the cabin. It had a large island that had a waterfall marble countertop. The cabinets were black and there was a marble subway tile backsplash. The large steel refrigerator was a smart fridge with screens on the doors.

They continued walking through the cabin and found a large bedroom complete with a spa bathroom and fireplace. And two more bedrooms with en suite bathrooms. There were rose petals strewn over each of the white bedspreads. All of the finishes were top of line and every appliance had all the bells and whistles. The toilet was an automatic open and had heated controls for the seat.

“It looks like a honeymoon suite or something,” Audrey said as they made their way back to the front of the cabin where there was a large sitting area that faced the glass wall, a standalone fireplace, and farmhouse dining table with a wagon wheel chandelier hanging over it.

Her offhand comment had visions of him carrying her over the threshold in a white wedding dress. Nonna’s ring on her left hand. He shook his head trying to erase the image like an Etch A Sketch, but it didn’t work. It was seared into his memory bank.

Audrey’s phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her purse. When she read the message that had been sent to her, her forehead creased.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Jeremy, the owner. He said that the bridge we went over washed out and he can’t make it up here.”

“It washed out?” They’d just crossed over it like ten minutes earlier.

Audrey turned her phone around and showed Josh a picture of water rushing over the bridge.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” Audrey turned her phone around and started typing.

If the bridge was washed out and the owner couldn’t make it up here…that meant they couldn’t make it back to the main road. Which meant they would be stuck here. In this cabin. Overnight.

Audrey was still typing when her phone rang and she answered it. “Hello.”

“Yes, I got the photo.”

Thor hopped up on the oversized couch, making himself at home. He circled three times and then plopped down.

“Okay.” Audrey nodded. “Okay.”

“Are you sure that…” She was silent again. “Oh, okay.”

When she hung up the phone, he noticed that her chest was rising and falling in shallow breaths.

“What did he say?”

“He said that all the heavy rains we’ve been having overloaded the dam up the road and it broke causing the river to overflow. Road crews won’t be able to get out until tomorrow morning. He apologized profusely but said that the fridge and bar are both stocked, and we should be fine until then, but we’re basically stranded here overnight.” Audrey stared at him for a minute and then looked down at her phone. “I need to text Viv to stop by and feed Frank and Lucy. And make sure that Frank’s blanket is fluffed.”

Josh was torn between being thrilled and terrified at that news. So many emotions were rushing through him that he felt his anxiety begin to build. They were stuck here. Together. All night.

His chest constricted at the thought of what the ramifications would be if anything happened tonight. For so long he’d been adamant that nothing could happen between them and one of the main reasons was because he couldn’t have kids. Now that he knew that she didn’t want kids, it changed things.

Just like finding out she was a virgin and her asking him to be her first had changed things.

But for some reason, he was still scared. Mainly because he didn’t want to do something that couldn’t be undone. Once you cross that line of intimacy with someone there is no going back, and also because he wasn’t even sure he could do it if he wanted to.

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