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“Good. You still working here?” I asked.
He laughed. “Still here. Your dad in town?”
I shook my head. “Just me.”
“Just you? That sister of yours not with you?”
“Nope! Avery just had a baby. I’m kinda on a forced vacation,” I admitted with a grimace.
“Let me put your order in. Then you can tell me about that last part.”
“Can I get the local IPA and the crab cakes?”
“You got it!”
I leaned back in my chair and waited for him to put my order in. He came back a couple minutes later and handed me the beer.
I took a sip and felt myself get blasted by hops. I liked a hoppy beer, but this was too much. Nolan’s IPAs were so much better.
“So forced vacation? You in the doghouse?” Ron joked.
I laughed. “My boss wants me to accept a promotion, but I don’t want it. He made me go on vacation to think about it.”
“You still at the brewery?”
I nodded. “Yup. Oh, and my sister married the brewmaster.”
“No, shit?”
I pulled out my phone and found a picture of Avery, Nolan, and the baby and showed it to him.
“Good for her. So what’s the promotion?”
“Nolan’s younger brother does the business side, sales and marketing, and he wants me to become the marketing director.”
“That’s good, right?”
I sighed. “Too much pressure! I love being a bartender.”
Ron nodded. “I understand that. You’ll figure it out.”
I took a sip of my beer and thought about it. Everyone seemed so confident in my abilities, but I wasn’t so sure.
I drank my beer while I waited for my food and tried to enjoy the atmosphere. Families were pouring in for the dinner rush while I sat at the bar thinking about my life. When Ron brought my crab cakes, I ate them like an animal. I had been pretty hungry.
I didn’t want to stick around at the bar since I needed to shower away the dirt and grime from my hike. I could tell the guy beside me was eyeing me up, but I wasn’t interested. He was too preppy and clean-cut. Not my type. I finished my beer and left Ron a hefty tip before heading out.
I drove back to the cabin in good spirits, but I felt them drop when I pulled up into the driveway and saw an unfamiliar car. I parked next to it in confusion. Maybe Mason was here. Did he get a new car? It had PA plates, so it had to be someone we knew. Unless a renter got lost looking for their cabin.
I felt unease spread through me as I got out of my car and went inside. I heard the shower on upstairs, and it sounded like it was coming from the attached bath in the primary bedroom. Was it Mason? Dad? Uncle Bill? It would explain the case of beer in the fridge. Why didn’t Dad say anything when I got my fishing poles?
A sketchbook on the kitchen table caught my eye, and that struck me as odd. No one in my family was artistic except for me. Nobody else was on the family calendar, but it was clear I wasn’t alone at the cabin.
I cautiously walked up the steps and checked the third bedroom, but there was no sign of anyone else. I gingerly opened the door to the primary bedroom. A suitcase was open on the bed, and a pile of dirty clothes was on the floor, but that didn’t tell me anything. I walked into the room and searched for clues. On the bedside table, a watch caught my eye. It looked familiar to me, but my mind was blank.
Who was at the cabin with me?
I jumped at the sound of the bathroom door opening, and someone walked out. My breath caught in my throat as Felix Jameson walked into the bedroom wearing nothing but a towel.
