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Taeli
The next morning, I tell Sara-Beth and Erin everything over coffee in the break room.
“You know, if you ever need your own space, you can tell me, and Ted and I will go out for the evening. You can soak in my tub and hang out at my house,” Erin offers.
“Thanks, but I’m not running you out of your home,” I tell her.
“I might have a solution,” Sara-Beth says.
Both of us look at her, and she grins.
“Would you like to take a look at the caretaker’s cabin? It’s unoccupied at the moment,” she asks.
“Caretaker’s cabin?”
“Yes. Our former manager used to live there before he met his wife. They bought their house after the wedding, and he moved out. It’s been empty ever since,” she explains.
“What does he do now?” I ask.
“He and his wife opened the organic pet supply store in town. The cabin has been sitting unused. Hilton intended to have Graham do an addition and update the place to add it to the available vacation rentals, but they haven’t gotten around to it yet,” she explains.
“Is it close by?” I ask.
“Yes. It’s about a half-mile from here. It’s on the river. And if you’re interested, we can let you use it as part of your salary. All you’d have to do is have utilities hooked up.”
“You don’t have to do that. Especially if Mr. Tuttle wants to use it for rental income.”
She waves me off. “He was married and moved out eight years ago. I don’t think Hilton is in any hurry. Besides, it’ll be good for you and Caleb to have your own place. Come on. Let’s go have a look.”
She grabs a set of keys from one of the desk drawers, picks up her purse, and walks to the door, and Erin and I follow. She turns the sign in the window to show that we’ll be back in thirty minutes, and the three of us climb into her car.
Ten minutes later, we pull up in front of a tiny post-and-beam cabin in the woods.
“Here we are. What do you think?” she asks as she turns off the ignition.
“It’s definitely conveniently located close to the office,” Erin encourages.
“Come on. Let’s take a look inside,” Sara-Beth encourages.
We exit the car and follow her up the three steps to the porch. It’s wide, and it stretches across the front and wraps around to a side door close to the parking space.
She takes a key from the pocket of her blazer, inserts it into the lock, and turns. The latch releases, and she pulls open the heavy green door. We walk inside, and she flips a switch on the wall before light fills the space.
Everything is made of wood. The walls. The ceiling. The floor.
That’s a lot of wood. Like, a whole lot of wood.
How many trees had to die for this?
“It’s small but charming. You just have to use your imagination,” Sara-Beth explains.
She walks over to a piece of furniture that is covered with a drop cloth. She takes a corner of the fabric and pulls. A cloud of dust surrounds us as she reveals a soft, well-worn brown leather couch.
“It comes fully furnished. I can’t say the furniture is nice, but it’s sturdy, and it will get you by until you have the chance to get your own. It has a bedroom and a bath down that hall. The washer and dryer are behind the accordion door. There is a second room and a half-bath off the kitchen. It was used as an office, but it’s a good size, and it would make a great room for Caleb.”
The kitchen and living room are open with an island separating them, and it has a rock fireplace. She’s right. It’s charming, and I can see the potential. Besides, it has to be better than sleeping on the twin bed in Mom’s sewing room.
“What do you think?” she asks.
I turn to her and smile. “I think it’s wonderful.”
“I can have the boys come down and get everything uncovered and swept up. It could be ready for you to move in by the end of next week. How does that sound?”
“It sounds like a lot of trouble for you to go through just for us to have a place to stay for another month.”
She waves me off. “It’s no trouble. We rent places by the day and week. What’s a month?” she assures me.
I take a look around.
“Caleb would love being able to walk outside to the river. He’s really taken to fly-fishing,” Erin says.
“He would,” I agree.
“Then, it’s settled,” Sara-Beth declares.
“Okay, but only if you let me uncover everything and clean it up myself,” I tell her.
It’s the least I can do, seeing as they are letting us stay for free.
“It’s been closed up for a while, and I want to have housekeeping from Rocky Pass come and give it a good scrub down before you bring your son here. Now, let’s go grab some lunch and get back to the office,” she says without giving me a chance to argue further.
She moves to walk past me and to the door, and I catch her arm. She stops and turns to me.
“Thank you,” I choke out, and she pats my hand that is still clutching her.
“You’re welcome, Taeli. We are very happy to have you as part of the Rocky Pass family. Even if it is temporary, but I have a sneaking suspicion you’re considering staying a bit longer, aren’t you?”
I haven’t said it out loud to anyone yet, but the more I think about packing up and leaving Balsam Ridge, Mom, my new job, the girls, and Graham to return to face Damon and my shredded life in Illinois, I get nauseous.
“I thought so,” she says, reading my thoughts.
“I don’t know what to do, Sara-Beth. It’s selfish of me to uproot Caleb because I don’t want to be there anymore. That makes me no better than Damon. Putting my own wants ahead of his,” I cry.
She embraces me.
“The best thing you can do for your son is to give him a happy mother. You need to sit him down and have a conversation with him. Let him be a part of the decision. You might find that he, too, has taken a liking to Balsam Ridge. He deserves to have a voice in it, and you two can decide together,” she advises.
