It looked inviting with lights on inside. There wasn’t a light on in Russ’s cabin, but apparently that was because he was visiting a friend in Denver for the weekend. The old foreman was family just as everyone else here, including Wren. Which was why I was so fucking confused.
I went inside the little cabin that had clearly been cleaned. Everything smelled faintly of citrus over the wood scent all proper cabins had. I couldn’t help but smile at the view when I turned the lights on. There was a kitchenette, a little living room corner, and a bedroom in the back.
Mal had told me they’d taken down the separating wall that had been built when he and Payton originally moved in, so the back of the cabin felt roomier now. Apparently. To me, it was still small and quaint, but not in a derogatory way.
I unpacked quickly, since I never had much stuff with me, and then decided to take a shower before I’d have to call Wren. By the time I sat on the comfortable bed and got out my phone, I had just as few answers as I had on the walk to the cabins.
You up? Can I call?
It took Wren a few minutes, but he video-called me instead of answering the text.
He was sitting on the porch on the second floor of the cabin and smiled at me immediately.
“Hey, how’s it going in Colorado?”
I smiled back. “It’s good. They’re… a lot.”
Wren laughed and took a sip of what I knew to be a mug of honey lemon tea. He downed that stuff by gallons, it felt like. “They are. But they’re also the best.”
“That’s true.” Emery’s face flashed in my mind, and I bit back a smirk.
“Everything went well with the travel?”
I’d sent him a message while I waited for the rental so he already knew this. “Yeah. As usual. Everything okay there?”
The smile he gave me was exasperated and fond. “No, I’m being accosted by hordes of rabid fans and a few assassins.”
“Brat.”
He rolled his eyes. “What’s going on, Ville?”
Ah. He had picked up on my mood. I looked away from the screen and sighed. “Did you know that Bodhi is back?”
I looked at him in time to see his forehead scrunch with confusion. “Uh, for the wedding, already? It’s still weeks away. How did he get all that time off? He hasn’t said anything to me.” I winced, and Wren caught it. “What’s going on?”
“I genuinely don’t know, but Wren….” I took a deep breath, and then looked into the camera as I said, “Hon, he’s back. Has been since last year. He left the Marines.”
The expression that flitted across my best friend’s face hurt me physically. There was confusion and hurt and anger and more confusion.
“But… but why didn’t he tell me?” He sounded wounded, and I hated Bodhi for that.
“I don’t know.”
Even through his upset, he suddenly nailed me with his gaze and snapped out a firm, “Don’t talk to him about it. Don’tdoanything.”
“I’m not some loose cannon, Wren,” I said, groaning a little.
“No, but you’re protective as fuck and you get het up way too easily when it comes to people you love. So don’t.” Before I had time to answer, he added, “Promise me, Ville.”
Sighing, I nodded. “Okay. I’ll be civil. And not ask him why he’s being a wank stain.”
“What are you, a thirteen-year-old?” he teased me, trying to lighten the mood.
I went with it, sticking my tongue out at him as we changed the subject because I could see how badly Wren was trying not to spiral.
“Hey, call me at any time if you need me, okay?” I made him promise before we signed off fifteen minutes later.
“Yeah. I will. And you do the same.”
