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Yeah, no signal here, either. I’d checked, too.
I nodded, and Lorenzo turned, pushing the door open a little further.
The hunting cabin was dusty and neglected, but sheet-covered furniture filled a living room, and through a narrow door was what had to be a bedroom.
“It has a fireplace,” I said.
“That’s something,” Lorenzo agreed. He walked through the narrow doorway. “And a bed.” He tugged off the sheet and coughed when dust made a cloud, but thanks to everything being covered, we could use it.
Thunder rumbled overhead, and rain started to fall. A moment ago, the sky had been clear.
“We found this place in the nick of time,” Lorenzo said. He walked to me, grabbed my cheeks and planted a kiss on my lips. “Your keen eye saved us tonight.”
I wrapped my arms around Lorenzo, and we stood, melded together in an embrace, drinking in each other’s warmth. We were still stranded in the forest but at least we had shelter against the rain, and with some luck, we could keep warm tonight without trying too hard.
Lightning cracked, lighting up the small cabin, and the rain darkened the world so that the cabin became gloomy, but it was safe—the storm couldn’t reach us too easily in here.
Lorenzo walked to the fireplace. A few logs were stacked inside, and Lorenzo touched one.
“This is dry. We should be able to use it.” He retrieved the matches from the backpack and worked at starting a fire. When the flames crackled, the bit of light from the fire filled the small front room, and although this was far from being the Ritz, I’d never been more grateful for shelter and warmth.
“All we need now is a nice three-course meal,” I said.
Lorenzo chuckled. “We’ll see what we can do in the morning.”
I shuddered at the idea of killing something, but I was getting hungrier and hungrier. Soon, I would eat anything.
Lorenzo handed me my bottle.
“Drink up, we have plenty of water with all this rain coming down, so we don’t have to be careful. At least that counts in our favor.”
I wasn’t sure I would have said that this water was ablessing. It tasted like shit. Still, I drank it. Staying hydrated was important if we wanted to keep moving and eventually get out of here.
We pulled the sheets off the furniture and found sleeper couches. The cushions were worn but it was better than sitting on the cold hard ground like we’d done until now.
We sat down, drank our water, and I stared into the fire.
“What if they don’t find us?” I asked.
“We’ll keep moving,” Lorenzo said. “Either they’ll find us or we’ll find civilization.”
I nodded. I hoped he was right.
“A search party will be out looking for us, so we just keep doing what we’re doing. They’ll look for structures like this one, too, so being here isn’t a bad thing.” Lightning cracked and lit up the cabin with a blue light that drove away the dim yellow light of the flames for a moment before it faded again. “Let’s hope the storm eases up. They can’t find us if it’s dangerous to fly, and they won’t fly at night, so we have to get to morning.”
I nodded again. All of that made sense. I just hated that we were here, stuck, lost. I was getting more and more worried.
“We’re doing fine, Celine,” Lorenzo said reassuringly. “It doesn’t seem like it now, but this cabin is a lifesaver. We’ll get a good night’s rest, and tomorrow we’ll keep moving. This won’t last forever.” He took my hand and squeezed it before he put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against him. His warmth was reassuring, and for the umpteenth time, I was glad I was here with him.
Of course, if I hadn’t agreed to come along on this stupid camping trip, I wouldn’t have been here in the first place, but that was beside the point.
I snuggled up against Lorenzo and listened to the way the logs crackled as the fire ate away at them, casting warmth and light into the small room. Tomorrow we would keep walking. I was sick of walking, but like Lorenzo kept reminding me, it wouldn’t last forever.
We just had to put one foot in front of the other until it was over.
One step at a time.
18
