Page 23

Chapter 22

Ainsley

W e pull up to Soph’s place and see Bouch standing outside with a duffle over his shoulder. He has on faded jeans, a dark black tee that is probably a little too tight, a hat on backwards, and a simple silver chain with a rose pendant on it. I hop out and step up to the sidewalk, giving him a squeeze around his side.

“Hey Bouch. How ya doing?”

“Good.”

He throws a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the building behind him.

“She said she didn’t want to come down until you were here.”

“Got it. Well, just throw your stuff in the back of the car. Luna and Blaze are in their crates, but they are passed out.”

“Cool cool.” He walks towards Shawn as I ring the buzzer outside of the building.

“That better be Lee buzzing up!” Cuts over the intercom.

“Yes, bitch! It’s me. Let’s go.”

“Hell yes! I’ll be right down.”

I head back to the car as I see Soph come down with a small suitcase. Without asking, Bouch gets out and takes it from her to load it in the back of the car. She slides into the backseat and rolls her eyes.

“This guy acting like Christ himself, taking my bags and loading them, like it doesn’t weigh less than ten kilos.”

Bouch gets on the other side of the car.

“Oh honey, just wait. You’ll be calling me your Savior in no time.”

He opens up a container of Nanaimo bars and passes them around as Shawn and I laugh. We roll out, leaving the city and heading towards Muskoka. It’s at least two hours from Soph’s place, so I put on Break from Toronto, and we make our way out of the city.

* * *

W e pull up to the cottage shortly after 6pm, and I instantly feel calm as I close my eyes and smell my surroundings. The blooming flowers, the crisp water, the hint of leather. I peek one eye open to glance at Shawn next to me.

He looks over at me. “Glad to be back, baby?”

“So much. I feel relieved, as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Just getting away from the city for a bit to be more in nature.”

My smile must be from ear to ear.

He nods as we get our bags out of the car. The sound of the door opening has us spinning around as Liam and Millie come running out of the house.

“Now the party is here!” Liam yells, giving the boys hugs and taking some suitcases from them.

“Welcome home!” Millie pulls me into a hug.

“You, okay? Liam still groveling for the shit he pulled at the concert?”

She giggles and mutters. “He wouldn’t let me buy a thing at the store and even got me some new gardening gloves.”

“That’s it!?” Soph cuts in with an unimpressed look on her face.

“It’s fine. Honestly, I don’t want this to be a big deal. It’s Liam. He always does stuff like this, and I don’t want to ruin a fun weekend with my girls.” Millie dismisses.

I shake my head at how apathetic Millie can be with her own feelings, just to keep things even-keeled.

Millie and Soph head towards the house as Liam and Bouch follow with the bags.

“Soph and Bouch, follow me in, and I’ll show y’all your rooms.”

I look back at Shawn, who is already getting our bags together.

“You grab our bags, and I’ll get Luna and Blaze and take them out.”

“Thanks, Sunshine.” He leans down and kisses my cheek.

I unlatch the crates and get Luna and Blaze on their leashes as Shawn follows me to the open yard with our suitcases in tow. After a quick lap around the yard, I take Shawn to the guest house next to the garden. The guest house was where Mimi stayed when we first moved up here. She was so kind as to take a separate space in her own home and give my parents the master suite and my siblings and me the extra rooms inside the cottage. She moved back into the house once my parents and older sister returned to Texas.

The small house seems like something one could take right out of Thumbelina. Tiny limestone blocks and vines cover the entire outside. The windows have boxes on the sill full of flowers. Mimi must have put them in recently because the soil is still fresh.

I walk in, and it immediately smells like Mimi. Gosh, I needed this. You know when a certain smell or feeling hits, you and your body involuntarily react to the memory that you previously had with it. That’s what this place does to me. From the second I stepped in the door as a 10-year-old girl, with tears in my eyes, she pulled me in and held me, surrounded by her rosy smell.

I’m so excited about the weekend, but I really wish Mimi was here to spend time with us and meet Shawn. Shawn comes up behind me, taking the space in. There is a small kitchen and dining area right when you walk in. It’s decorated with simple modern touches, but hints of green. It’s refreshing and inviting. Just past the kitchen is a living room space in which the dogs have made themselves comfortable. In the back is a master suite that is twice the size of the living room space with a giant king-size bed, a hunter green duvet cover, and shelves of terra-cotta pots filled with different plants on the walls. Shawn puts our suitcases down next to each other and walks over to the double French doors towards the back of the bedroom. Looking out to see the giant bundles of hydrangeas lining the back of the house and the fire pit that sits down closer to the dock. Next to the start of the dock is a small red shed with water toys and gardening tools.

“This place is incredible,” Shawn says as he soaks it all in.

“It really is. I have always loved it here and miss coming out more often now that I’m in the city. This place, Mimi, really helped me become who I am today.”

He walks over and pulls me into his chest.

“Let’s go see what the others are up to. I’m sure between Liam and Bouch, they’ve already opened a bottle or two.”

I laugh. “Oh, one hundred percent.”