Page 4 of Wrong Cabin, Right Time
There’s only one option.
Spinning back around, I lift my arm and rap my knuckles over the wood. Not even a second later, the door is yanked open, and I shriek in surprise, shocked by Travis’s quick response. Hold on, was he waiting by the door? Did he want me to knock again?
A smile spreads across my face at the thought.
“Why are you still here?” Travis asks, his voice even but laced with annoyance.
Okay, maybe he didn’t want me to knock again. Regardless, I force my smile to remain intact. “I have no signal here,” I explain, holding up my phone to show him.
He doesn’t look at the screen. His icy gaze remains locked on mine. I swallow, awfully aware that no spit is left in my mouth. Why is his stare so intense? All he’s doing is looking at me, but all my senses are going haywire.
“We’re in the mountains, Miss Featherstone. No one has a signal up here,” he explains, like I should have already known that. He’s right. I’ve traveled enough to know that not everyone has a signal in rural areas like this.
“Could you tell me how to get to Ryan’s cabin?” I ask, giving him my sweetest smile as I attempt to bat my lashes.
I must suck at flirting, because he completely ignores my advances.
“Go back the way you came in, take the first road on the left, and keep going until you see the cabin on the right. It’s a half-a-mile walk.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I walk a lot anyway, when I’m hitchhiking—”
“You hitchhike?” he asks, shocked. “Do you know how dangerous that is? What the statistics are for the likelihood of a female falling victim to a crime while hitchhiking?” His voice is raised now, and he’s shaking his head like he’s disappointed in my life choices.
Oh my god, he’s totally worrying about me.
I can’t hold in my giddiness toward his reaction. I really think he likes me but is too shy to flirt back.
“Thank you for the directions.” I grin at him. “I’ll see you around.”
“We’ll see,” he says ominously before closing the door again.
We’ll see, indeed.
I can’t help but giggle as I turn, pick up my backpack, and walk away from his door. There’s an extra pep in my step as I make my way down his driveway. I just can’t stop thinking about Travis. I don’t know what it is about him: his good looks or that he just doesn’t try. He doesn’t care about pleasantries when around people; he’s honest and says what he thinks. I like his bluntness.
I notice his mailbox at the end of his driveway and immediately get excited. Maybe his name is displayed on there. I speed walk to the black box on the other side of the driveway. Excitement fills my veins with each step. Only to go to hell when I get close enough to see that only numbers are displayed.
Still, there’s a little hope left in me. I walk up to the box, open the hatch, and look inside.
Bingo.
I grin widely at the piece of junk mail lying inside. I snatch it up quickly and flip it over:Travis Blacksburg.
“Mr. and Mrs. Blacksburg,” I say out loud, loving how fancy it sounds. Okay, I know I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. But damn, we would make a cute couple.
I briefly clasp the junk mail to my chest, holding it close to my heart like it’s a freaking love letter to me. I give it a little kiss, then come to my senses and frantically wipe off the lip gloss with my possible DNA on it. Snooping through someone’s mail is a crime, no matter if it’s your future husband.
Nope nope nope, I am not ready for prison. Especially not in leggings.
Only when I’m sure it’s clean do I stuff the thin paper back into the mailbox.
I look around as I close the hatch to see whether someone could have seen me. I should have done that before I committed a crime. Luckily, I see nothing but an empty road surrounded by a million trees.
Satisfied with myself, I follow Travis’s directions and make my way to Ryan’s cabin. It takes me less than thirty minutes to finally spot the large cabin to my right, just like Travis said.
This cabin is just as magnificent as Travis’s—built on the side of the mountain, surrounded by trees, and overlooking the lake.
I walk up the driveway and knock on the door. A few moments later it opens, and a middle-aged man appears on the other side.
