My normal routine of getting an ice bath in the creek, coffee and then tucking myself away in the workshop was out of the question. Today was the day I was supposed to take her into town to inquire about her car. Was this also the day I lost Katrina to the outside world?
A couple of days ago, that was what I thought I wanted. Now, even the thought of her leaving left me twitchy and restless. I wanted her to stay. At least for a little while longer, but what if she didn’t want to stay? I knew nothing about her. She must have another life waiting for her outside this cabin. Like a proud fool I had rebuffed her efforts to tell me about herself or her life.
I needed time to think.
To make my plans.
I unthreaded my legs and arms from hers, gently smoothed her hair out of her face and pulled myself out of bed as quietly as possible. Just as I was descending the ladder, with our faces opposite each other she opened her eyes.
“Cade?”
All I wanted to do was get back into that bed, bury myself deep in her body, and tell her she was going nowhere without me. Play it cool, man.
“Hey. I’m putting some coffee on the stove. Want some?”
“Yeah. I never turn down coffee.”
“Ok.” I took another step down the ladder.
“Cade, wait …”
“What is it?”
“I just … want you to know that … I don’t know what I’m trying to say here. Um, the weather is good enough for me to get into the town, isn’t it?”
I kept my face expressionless. “Looks pretty good to me.”
“I guess I should get out of your hair, huh?”
I went down the steps and started the fire in the wood stove for coffee. I think I was stunned. She didn’t want to stay! It had to be karma. All my life women wanted to stay with me and I was the one kicking them out, pushing them away. And none too gently either. And now that I actually found one I wanted to stay with, she didn’t want to. It would be funny if it wasn’t so fucking painful.
“Hey!” Katrina stuck her head over the mezzanine. “Do they have any cute cafés in town?”
“I’m not sure about any cute cafés, but I sometimes get something to eat in Frank’s diner. They’ve got Formica tables and paper napkin dispensers if that’s what you mean by a cute café?”
“That’ll do me. You want to grab some breakfast in town with me before we call about my car? I’m buying.”
“Um, yeah. We can get some breakfast.”
“I could kill for some hash browns right now. How long will it take to dig your truck out of the snow?”
“Not long. We need to boil the kettle to pour over the windshield. She likes to be warmed up like that before she starts.”
She laughed. “Did you just refer to your truck as a female?”
“Yes.”
“Does she have a … name?”
“Yes, she does, but I will only tell you if you promise not to laugh at her. She’s … sensitive.”
To her credit she kept a straight face. “Go on. I promise. No laughing. I’m dying to hear this!”
“It’s Doris.”
“Doris! Oh, my God. You are the most ridiculous mountain man I’ve ever heard of.” Then she laughed that sexy, sexy laugh of hers and threw a pillow at my head. Of course, I got back up the ladder to my bed forgetting all about the coffee, or starting the fire under the stove.
Cade
Breakfast had moved into the realms of brunch by the time we were ready to leave. I dug snow out from around the truck tires while Katrina was still inside the cabin. She came out carrying some bags and stood next to the driver’s side.
“Hey. I was just wondering, you know … er … well … what the plan is? Am I going to come back here with you later while someone fixes my car? I mean, should I bring my stuff, or come back for it?”
I stopped digging and looked at her, committing the moment to memory. She was beautiful beyond words. Everything about her was perfect. The woolen beanie she had jammed on top of her hair, the silky strands that had escaped and lay around her pink cheeks. The way she was licking her lips nervously.
She swallowed. “You know, is this it? Do we finish here, or do we buy more condoms at the village? I mean, I guess I’d just like to know where you’re at with this, whatever this is between us. This is so embarrassing. I can’t even speak.”
“Do you want us to come back with more condoms?”
“Typical,” she huffed, throwing her hands up in the air. “He’s put it all on me! Surely, I haven’t been too cagey about how I feel.”
“Well, yes, actually you are being cagey. What are you saying?”
“I mean, didn’t we have fun last night? And this morning?”
I smiled slowly. “Yeah, we did.”
“Ugh. Men! Can’t you just read between the lines of what I’m saying?”
“No.”
“Do you want me to stay? Shall I just go now, or do you want me to stay with you out here for a while?”
“I want you to put your bags back inside the cabin and get more condoms in the town. Is that enough for right now?”
She beamed at me. “Yes.”
“Alright.”
“OK, fine.”
There was an awkward silence. I think we both wanted to be excited about the step we’d just taken, but because we’d gotten tetchy about it with each other it was embarrassing to then bounce around in giddy celebration.
After a few minutes into the journey down the mountain Katrina started to giggle.
“What? What are you laughing at?”
“Us. We’re so weird.”
“What makes you say that?”
“We just are. This is the most random situation. I mean imagine anyone asking us how we met. ‘Oh, you know I crashed my car and he rescued me from the freezing cold, and then we just … shacked up together. Like you do when you meet a hot mountain man. You’re like a smoking hot, artsy kind of lumberjack. Every woman’s dream!” she said throwing her head back and roaring with laughter.
She was right. We were totally weird.
“I’ve got to say, though,” she added. “I’ve got plenty of girlfriends who will boil over with jealousy when they hear my ‘love in a log cabin’ story”
Love in a log cabin? It sounded so cheesy and yet so wonderful. “You’re not really going to tell anyone, are you?”
She looked sideways at me. “Are you freaking embarrassed of me or something?”
“Ugh. No, would you please stop jumping to conclusions that are like three steps ahead of reason? Jeez, take it easy. I’ve been out here by myself for a long while now, you know. Suddenly, you’re here, and don’t get me wrong, I want you here. I like how it is with you around. Just … don’t rush me. I don’t want to think about shit like how we’ll explain to people how we met. For one, I don’t even like people.”
She pouted prettily.
“I like you. Can we just keep it at that for now? Let me adjust slowly?”
“Fine, I won’t tell anyone about us, okay. Sorry to hit a nerve.”
“You didn’t hit a nerve. I don’t care who you tell.”
We rode along in silence for a few moments until Katrina said, “You see, I told you we were weird.”
I laughed. That was the thing about her that blew me away. Beyond how beautiful and sexy she was she was tough and kind, full of sweetness, and absolutely hilarious. She made me laugh just from being herself, and that was so fun to be around.
Cade
Frank’s diner was more occupied than I’d have liked, but we found a booth towards the back. I sat facing the wall with Katrina facing out to the other patrons. Locals would assume she was just another skier tourist I had hooked up with. Very few people live here year round, so the inhabitants I see on my occasional trips to town have begun to recognize me and express casual pleasantries, much to my irritation.
“Hi folks, what can I get you?” Barbara, our waitress said. “Well, hi there, Cade. I didn’t reali
ze that was you!”