Handing me the phone and telling me to keep it pointed at the ashes, Van took an iron poker and pushed some ashes from the side of the fireplace. The charred glass reflected the flashlight’s beam.
“What is it?”
“I think our decorations.” He fluffed the ashes, revealing the remaining inches of a strand of beads.
“Who would burn our tree and our decorations?”
Van stood, put the poker back in its holder, and reached for my hand. “Come on. Now we’re leaving.”
“Our wedding?” I said, letting his hand encase mine.
“I’ll have Jonathon bring Michael and Albert here tomorrow. Let them figure out how to secure the cabin.”
“Shouldn’t we call the police? I mean there’s DNA on the cup and spoon, right?”
“It could have been a hunter who got lost. Nothing appears stolen.”
“Our tree and the decorations were burned,” I reminded him, my volume increasing. “What if this was Phillip?”
“I told you, he’s in Chicago and has been for a couple of days.”
On the nights we’d stayed in the cabin, the burning fire had gone out while we slept. That meant that whoever built this fire tended to it in the last few hours. “I’m scared.”
Van’s arms encircled me, pulling me against him. “We’re going home where I promise to take your mind off everything.”
Closing my eyes, I let my forehead fall to his wide chest. “This is our special place.” My words were muffled by the bulk of his coat.
“Anyplace with you is special.”
When I looked up, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Turning, I stared at the windowpanes. “I think I saw something or someone.”
Taking my hand, Van walked to the window and stared.
“I don’t see anything or anyone.”
“What about tracks in the snow?” I tried to look beyond the glass. With no light within, we had an unobstructed albeit muted view of trees and snow. “Maybe I’m going crazy.”
“No, beautiful. The only thing crazy about you is how crazy in love I am with you.”
Despite my clothes and coat, a chill scattered over my flesh, causing me to shiver. “Let’s go home.”
Outside, the wind howled as Van pulled the door to the cabin shut.
“Aren’t you going to lock it?”
“The single lock can be engaged only from the inside.” He placed his hand in the small of my back. “I’ll have Jonathon change that tomorrow.”
As we walked to the truck, I scanned as far as I could see as I also listened for noises in the distance. Once we were both back in the truck and the warm air was flowing, Van reached for my hand. “I’m sorry, Julia. It could be a transient person who just happened onto the cabin. It’s been very cold and maybe they needed a place to stay.”
“Do you really believe that? Has it happened before?”
“I don’t know,” he said as he turned the truck around and headed toward the lane. “I don’t come out here as much in the winter. It could have happened before without me being aware.”
“We didn’t check the outhouse,” I said as we drove farther from the cabin.
We rode in silence down the lane until we made it to the main road. A few miles more and we came to the newly closed gate. After entering the code, the gate allowed us entry. My attention was out into the trees as the truck’s headlights illuminated the wilderness.
The golden hue of the house subdued the forest. In our driveway were two vehicles.