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"Are you ever going to tell me where we're going?" she demands, pouting.
I figure I've kept it secret long enough. I stride back into the bedroom and grab my phone and the plastic bag hidden under the mattress.
"Our reservation is pulled up in my email," I say, handing it to her.
"What's that?"
"Look at the reservation."
She unlocks my phone, her eyes growing wide as she reads the reservation email for the cabin I booked. I pull the map out of the bag while she's reading and hold it up.
"We're going back into the forest, Temptation," I say. "And I'm bringing a fucking map this time."
Bonus Epilogue
Gabbi
Five Years Later
"I can't believe this place is still out here," I whisper to Atlas, staring in shock at the cabin that nearly killed him five years ago. It looks nothing like the wreckage we left behind five years ago, that's for sure.
The shattered remnants of the old porch were hauled off, and a new one was built. The panes of glass in the windows are new. So is the front door. The entire thing looks like it's received a good scrub.
When Atlas told me yesterday that we were going back into the forest, I didn't think he meant we were coming all the way back out here. But I'm glad we did. We've put off coming back for a long time, mostly because I didn't want to see this place again.
My last glimpse of it was when I thought the man beside me was going to die. I was terrified and felt horrifically guilty. But this place doesn't hold just bad memories for the two of us. He made love to me for the first time inside that cabin. I slept in his arms for the first time inside that cabin. I realized that I couldn't live without him inside that cabin.
My whole life changed here, in ways I never would have thought possible. Those memories are worth revisiting.
"It's ours."
"What?"
"It's ours, Temptation." Atlas looks down at me, his expression somber. He isn't joking. "The property owner was selling it, so I bought it. It's ours now."
"You bought the cabin?" Like a lot of cabins and buildings in National Forests, the cabin is an inholding, built on private property. The Forest Service doesn't own it; a guy named Jim does. Did. I guess a hot former goalie named Atlas Jacks owns it now.
"And about twenty acres. It was in his family for generations, but he doesn't have anyone to pass it on to. He figured with our history here, we'd take care of it better than most."
"Wow," I whisper, staring at the cabin. "Did you do all of the work on it?"
I knew he'd talked to the sheriff out here five years ago about replacing the porch and anything else that was damaged when it collapsed, but this is a far cry from the treacherous place we sheltered in back then. It actually looks almost livable now.
"You think I'd risk bringing you out here again if it weren't safe, Temptation? We aren't having a repeat of that shitshow this time." He tugs me into his arms, nuzzling my neck. "I've got you all to myself for a few days. I'm not letting anything interrupt that. Especially not a fucking disaster."
"Thank God," I breathe, linking my arms together around his neck. "I didn't like hiking out of here the first time, Atlas. I thought something was going to eat me, and you were going to die. And I'm not even sure if we're allowed to have sex in heaven."
His body shakes against mine. "If I'm going there, we damn well better be allowed, Gabbi. I'm not spending an eternity forbidden from getting inside that delectable little body of yours."
"No? Well, you're sure spending an awful lot of time not in me right now," I point out, only to squeal with laughter when he immediately scoops me up into his arms and stomps toward the cabin.
Unlike last time, the porch doesn't wobble dangerously beneath our feet. It's solid. But I still hold my breath until we're over the threshold. And then I gape around us, shocked at how different the place is. It's not mostly empty now.
"You furnished it," I whisper, staring all around. Last time, the only things in here were an old bed, a dilapidated table, and a chair. Now, there's a gorgeous rustic bed made of reclaimed wood, a small sofa, a dining table, and two sturdy chairs. He's even added a small kitchenette with a single cooktop, a minifridge, and a sink.
The electricity even works this time.
You couldn't live out here, but you could definitely survive for a little while if you had to do it. It's a perfect little haven, far removed from the rest of the world.
