“You were probably preoccupied with other things. Y’all were still dating back then.”
“True.” It had been romantic stealing away to the mountains with Jeremy. Like living in a storybook.
“It was definitely love, because this cabin was kind of a dive the first time he brought you here. It’s why he was determined to fix it up. He loved you so much. I’d never known him to be so happy.”
“I felt the same way. It was the real deal.” Her heart pounded just thinking of him. She’d never lost that feeling. It lived in her heart with every beat. “We loved each other… so much.”
“Sorry for your loss. Not sure if I said that. Everyone in this town hurt when we got the news.”
She didn’t really want to get into all that with him. “I’m kind of backward, so where did the old road come in?”
“You would have come in over there.” He pointed across the way.
Just beyond a big stand of trees, the edge of a structure rose above the wildflowers.
“Don’t tell me that’s the cabin.” The words hung in her throat. The vast timbers were impressive, but it looked more like a picnic shelter at a park.No walls?
“Ha. No. The cabin is over this way. You would have come in on the backside of that building.”
She breathed a sigh of relief.
They walked down a wide path to another clearing where a red pole gate hung from an old tree. A locked padlock dangled from a chain that Tucker simply lifted over the pole. “It’s just for looks. Keeps people from nosing around, but no one ever comes up here.” He opened the gate, and she walked through.
A lock she had a key to would be the first thing on her list.
Her hopes lifted when she saw the cabin ahead. It was much bigger than she remembered, and it was rustic, no question about it, but it had walls and didn’t look half bad from here.
Chapter Fourteen
NATALIE STOODthere taking it all in. She was so grateful the cabin was at least a sturdy building with four walls.
“Are you okay?” Tucker asked.
She swept her hair behind her ear. “Yes. I… I’d forgotten what it looked like.”
“Disappointed?”
“No. Quite the opposite. It’s charming. Rustic, but really inviting. Did the deck always come out that far?”
“No. That’s where the firepit used to be.”
“Right. We roasted marshmallows.” She laughed, remembering how few they ate. “Mostly, we had a marshmallow fight, but a couple ended up on long sticks over the fire that night.”
“When we widened the path the way we came in, we repurposed the bigger trees into lumber. One of our buddies has a sawmill. We used the rough-cut wood for the bridge and the deck. All of the stumps are in a circle around the back for seating. That’s where the firepit is now.”
“Neat.”
“Folks ’round here don’t much like letting things go to waste. The guys have shared a lot of stories around that firepit.”
Natalie felt a bit like an intruder, but she needed this place.She lifted her feet above the tall grass, praying there weren’t any snakes. The live-edge boards on the cabin ran horizontally on the side of the house, stacked one atop the other like you’d expect on a log cabin. Over the front porch, the boards ran vertically to the tall peak, adding some interest. On each end of the porch, logs as big as a hug supported the porch structure.
“I do remember these big log posts.” She walked to the backside of the one at the far-right end of the porch. “It’s still there.” Her fingers grazed the indentations where Jeremy had carved their initials and “TLA.”True Love Always.
“Huh. All the time I’ve spent here, and I never noticed that.”
“We had no idea on the day he carved this that forever wouldn’t be that long.”You were taken too soon, Jeremy.“I’d pictured us old and gray, stooped over and slow, rocking in chairs here someday.” She chased the chill with her hands along her arms at the thought of being here without him on this perfect blue-sky day.
I miss you still every day, Jeremy.
