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“One of these days you’re gonna understand thatnothingis boring,” Levi said, his eyes still on me. “Not where you’re involved.”
“Oh, I know a cabin there!” Isra said with a bright smile. “I can reserve it for you.”
“You all have done so much.” I shook my head. “And you want to do more.”
“Moreis one of my favorite words. And you’lllovethis cabin. Trust me.”
Chapter Thirteen
Days later,we were headed to the mountains. Levi had ordered a debit card to his bank account with my name on it, and he’d been with me nearly every day except when he was at work.
I hadn’t quite accepted my new roommate, but I couldn’t complain, considering he was helping me pick up from the last-second wedding.
For once, my house was clean when I left it, and I was finding that I didn’t mind the company. As time passed and we didn’t find anything petty to argue over, I realized that we meshed well together. I read, he read. And instead of constantly asking for my attention, we were able to sit in the same room and do our own thing.
And the fact that I had the honeymoon to look forward to helped as well.
I got excited at the first sight of the vast forest and tall mountains. The moment the car started climbing in elevation, I was home.
It was late winter, nearing spring. This wasn’t the best time to come, yet the Appalachians were still gorgeous, even when the trees were bare. They stood tall in the distance, making me feel surrounded in the safest way.
We pulled onto the Gatlinburg exit but continued heading up the mountain. We passed the tourist traps and all of the eateries I’d known since I was a kid. We’d spend some time in downtown, but not much. I wasn’t here to shop; I was here to enjoy the mountains.
It probably wasn’t the most romantic thing I could do, but after years of walking the same neighborhood and being too broke to see anything new, I was in the mood for adventure.
Isra had insisted on taking care of everything for the cabin, and I was too busy worrying about making my dwindling migraine medicine stretch to think too hard about where we would be staying.
But as we pulled up, I realized I should have given it more thought. This was a cabin, but it was an A-frame with one room.
“That . . . is small,” I said.
“It could be bigger on the inside.”
“I think that’s reserved for sci-fi shows,” I said. “We should have booked this ourselves.”
I got out of the car, grabbed my suitcase, and stared at the tiny cottage with concern. Levi went first and entered the code Isra had given him. When we walked in, my jaw clenched when I saw only one bed, a bathroom, and a kitchenette.
“So ... no privacy,” I said.
“Nope.”
“At least there’s a door for the bathroom.”
“I should have seen this coming,” Levi muttered. “But she usually goes overboard and gets places way too big.”
“Levi, she thinks we’re married.”
“She always got six-bedroom cabins anywhere we went. Since she said she knew this place, I thought ...”
My eyes trailed to the bed and widened. “Oh, shedidgo overboard.”
But in a very different way.
There were roses everywhere, along with a stack of porn DVDs and condoms.
“I’m gonna kill her.”
“On one hand, I’m glad your stepmom is sex positive, but on the other, this is my nightmare.”