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They shuffled back out into the cold, grabbed their bags and retreated to their cabins with Runa telling them not to disturb her. She had big plans for a hot bath and a nap. More information than Theo wanted, but he didn’t need to be told twice not to disturb her.
“What the hell are we going to do now?” he asked Fee as soon as the door closed behind them.
“Well, we already have it narrowed down to three possible cabins,” she said, sounding much perkier than he felt. “If she’s here, she must be in one of those.”
“And what are you going to do? Go knock on their doors?”
“Why not?”
Theo stopped. That was actually a good idea. They could knock on the other cabins’ doors, confirm Lena wasn’t here, and then get the hell out of here. Maybe they could even leave Runa behind, if he was lucky.
“Okay, great. Let’s go, then.”
Fee glanced around the space. “It’s so sweet in here,” she said, her nose crinkled in delight. “Don’t you want to warm up a bit first? Have a cup of tea?”
Do not look at her cute little face. Do not think about how happy she would be if you said yes. Be strong, Theo.
They did not have time to linger.
“Nope. Let’s go.”
She sighed but followed him back out the door anyway.
It was easy to spot the occupied cabins by the glow of their lights and the cars parked beside them. They climbed onto the first porch and knocked on the door. A middle-aged woman answered. Her hair was piled haphazardly on her head, held there with several pencils. She blinked at them like she was shocked that anyone else existed in the world.
“Hello,” Phoebe said. “We are looking for our friend…”
“Lena!” Theo shouted over the woman’s shoulder, who flinched at his volume. But no time for pleasantries. “You in there?”
“It’s just me,” the woman said, her surprised gaze roving over Theo’s hulking form. “Just me and this damn manuscript I can’t seem to finish.”
“Right,” Fee flashed her smile of apology. “Good luck with that! Sorry to interrupt!”
“Now if I could just find that pencil,” the woman muttered, closing the door behind her.
The next cabin contained an older couple wearing matching robes.
“Oh, hello there,” the man said. His salt-and-pepper chest hair sprang out of the deep V of his robe. Theo didn’t appreciate the way he was looking at Fee.
“Um … hi,” Fee said, brightly as ever. “Sorry if we’re uh … interrupting.”
“Not interrupting at all,” the woman said, her eyes raking over Theo and then Fee. “In fact, you’re welcome to come in and join us. We were just having a little cocktail.” She held Theo’s gaze as she said it.
“How nice!” Fee said.
“Thanks, but no, sorry,” Theo cut in. “We’re just looking for our friend. Lena. Have you seen her?”
“We haven’t, but—”
Theo grabbed Fee’s hand and tugged her away before the man could go on.
“Feel free to circle back later!” the woman called, still standing in the doorway. “We love to share!”
“Okay, thank you!” Fee called, waving over her shoulder. “Theo, why are you being so rude?” she asked as he pulled her along.
“They wanted us to join them,” he muttered.
“They were nice!”
