Page 8

"I'm good. Just grounding." That sounded right. I heard about that somewhere once.

"I think you're supposed to take your shoes off for that."

"I'm using my hands instead."

She laughed gently. "You're doing great."

Was I though? I had a panic attack at lunch that caused a very hot, very kind man to stop and help me. And now I was crumpled on the ground all over again while a very nice, very kind woman tried to help me.

"Everyone out here is super nice." Tears sprang up and I tried to blink them away.

"Oh honey. Are you okay? What can I do?"

And that was the second person to ask since I left home. Which was exactly two more than I'd had in months. Maybe I should have left sooner. "I think I just need some time to acclimate. What if I can't get back down to the road?"

"You will. Just do exactly what you did to get up here. Slow and steady."

"But if I can't? Will I die up here?"

She chuckled. "I won't let that happen. I promise."

I sniffled. "I'm really glad you get my weird humor." Joking about death was a coping mechanism I couldn't seem to shake.

She helped me to my feet. "I think you're going to fit in around here just fine. Let me help you with your bags."

It took us five minutes to unload my worldly possessions.

"Oh," she stopped on the way down the steps, "just so you know, where we turned? The road also goes off to the right and around the other side of the mountain. There's a workshop, barn-type thing down that way. Someone else is staying there. You will both use the same access road, but other than that you shouldn't see him. His name is Huk in case you run into each other."

I peered down the gravel path that led back to the road and saw that it did indeed branch off in the other direction. "But this is still pretty private and secluded, right? I could walk around naked and not have a creeper watching me?"

Mack laughed. "You're good to go. Be as naked as you want. Just watch out for bears."

I froze again. "Bears?"

"You're from the land of alligators and poisonous everything. You can't tell me you're afraid of bears!"

But I knew alligators and cottonmouths and panthers. I didnotknow bears. Not well anyway. There weren't a lot in my neck of the woods. "Are these like, giant grizzly things that will eat me in one go?"

"No. Just don't leave out food. If you see one, give it plenty of space. There's a pamphlet on the counter inside with more information and we can get you a can of bear spray if you'd like."

Bear spray sounded amazing. "And this other guy, what did you say his name is?" I wondered how many bears there were between my cabin and his workshop thingy. Hopefully none.

"Huk. He's fine. In fact, I doubt you'll even see him. Settle in and let me know if you need anything."

I watched as she trundled away before turning back to my new home for the summer. I picked this cabin because it had the amenities I wanted, but also because of the view. From the front door I could see straight out the back of the house thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows. It bathed the house in light, even as the sun disappeared behind the mountain behind me.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling my shoulders drop away from my ears. This, right here, was what I needed, what I traveled all this way to find. With a little time and patience, I would fix my problems and end this nightmare.

This was going to work.

The cabin was small but perfect. A nice living room, a massive kitchen with a whole butler pantry, laundry room thing going on. The bedroom and the bathroom were about the same size, which was my preferred bed-to-bath ratio. The shower and tub were two of the defining features that I wanted. There was also a loft upstairs, a second bedroom downstairs, and a small deck beneath that led out to the hot tub.

Then there was the wrap-around deck. It stretched across the wall of windows and around the side to where a couch and fireplace created a cozy little outdoor room. I planned to spend the vast majority of my time on that deck thinking, writing, and enjoying the fact that I wasn’t melting into a puddle of sweat.

It was a swanky cabin meant for far more than one over-stressed writer well past her deadline, but it was one of the few indulgences I'd given myself in many years, so I wasn't about to feel guilty about it.

I pulled my welcome charcuterie board out of the fridge along with a glass of white wine and settled in on the deck sofa to watch the light turn the mountains a perfect shade of gold.