“Wow,” Joey breathed. “Dillon must have decided to live here with Oscar after the wedding. Although I could have sworn he said Oscar hated nature.”
“Maybe he changed his mind? Love will do that to a guy.”
“Maybe...but still. This is like Architectural Digest gorgeous now. I don’t even want to think about how much this cost.” She turned in a slow circle in the living room. All the yard sale furniture was gone and in its place she found a distressed cedar coffee table, a large rustic leather sofa, a vintage oak rocking chair with what looked like a hand-knitted burgundy throw blanket tossed over the back. Someone had polished the floors to a high shine. The small woodstove had been replaced by a large stone fireplace with a rough wood mantel. And the kitchen had new tile on the floor, a fresh coat of rustic red paint, new rugs, new appliances—nothing but the basics but they were all high quality. Under the sink she found a recycling bin with the to
aster box in it. It was that new.
“I wonder if they’re fixing it up to sell it.”
“House flipping?”
“Maybe. Still, nice of them to spruce it up before I came to stay in it.”
“Very nice.”
“Probably their way of making up for the fact that my lovely brother scheduled his wedding on my birthday.”
“Your fault for being born on Halloween. Perfect day for a Portland wedding.”
“Dillon and Oscar do love dressing up. It’s an ’80s movie theme. I have to pick a costume. Maybe I’ll go as Carrie.”
“Carrie?”
“You know—the girl with the blood and the prom and all the murdering—that Carrie.”
“You’re going as a mass murderer to your brother’s wedding?”
“It fits my mood.”
Except her mood was lifting a little. How could it not in this cabin, this beautiful cozy cabin in the woods? All the place was missing was a man to share it with. She and Ben would have had great sex in this cabin in the woods. They’d be in bed already. But that wasn’t going to happen. Not now or ever. Ben had committed an unforgivable sin. He’d lied to his wife. He’d lied to her. He’d betrayed her trust on the deepest level possible, and she would never take him back no matter how lonely she felt without him. And she did feel so terribly alone.
“This is a sex cabin, Kira.”
“Sounds like it.”
“I’m in a sex cabin, and I can’t have sex. This is depressing.”
“You can have sex. Go find someone to have sex with. Right now.”
“I’m in the middle of the woods. The next cabin is half a mile west.”
“Then start walking. Bigfoot’s probably out there. He’s probably well-hung.”
“And hairy.”
“I warned you about the beard rash thing.”
The floor creaked with the sound of footsteps.
But not hers. Joey hadn’t moved.
“Shit,” she whispered into the phone.
“What?” Kira whispered back, unnecessarily.
Joey looked up at the ceiling.
“Someone’s here. Stay on the line with me.”