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“Come here,” Coral said, circling an arm around her. They sat in silence, tears streaming from their eyes, until Coral drew back to hand Sadie a tissue. “You’re not going to accept his gift, are you?”
Sadie bit her lip and shook her head, her heart drawn to the idea, yet she didn’t want it to sink farther than it already had. “I can’t.”
Coral ran a hand through her hair and leaned forward. “I don’t know what I would do if I were in your shoes, but don’t decide until you’ve at least stepped inside the cabin, then make your choice. River told me over and over how much you loved that damn old cabin even though I wished he would’ve built a new one somewhere else, since we all know what happened in those woods.”
“Then it wouldn’t be the same.” Sadie lifted her head and smiled.
“That’s precisely what he said.” Coral laughed, opening the table drawer and producing a silver key. She placed the cool metal in Sadie’s palm, closing her fingers over it. “Happy Birthday, dear.”
Sadie sat in her truck for a moment, catching her breath in Coral’s driveway. Before coming here, she’d planned on selling the cabin, but after the discussion with Coral, she yearned to see it again since River had put so much thought into this. Not only that, she finally decided on where she would release his ashes. The woods were where they would go for walks, spend time together, the place where she used to write. Near the cabin, that didn’t belong to someone else as she’d thought, but to her.
She finally pulled out onto the road and stopped by her sister’s apartment to collect the silver urn of River’s ashes from the back of her closet, where they’d been hidden for far too long. It was time—she shouldn’t have selfishly held onto them for so long.
After resting the urn beside her in the truck, she drove toward the cabin. The last time she’d gone there was the day River had hung himself, when she’d been consumed by writing. This was what she should’ve done before, not left him tucked away in her closet. But if she couldn’t see the urn, then she could believe that he was out there somewhere still, that there was a chance she could run into him again.
Sadie’s heart raced, her blood burning through her veins like lava as she pulled up to the cabin. Her cabin. She lingered in the truck for a long moment, her hands tight on the steering wheel. With a shaky breath, she glanced at River’s urn. “We’re home,” she whispered. “You’re safe now. Free. But please, don’t leave my dreams when I sleep.”
Taking River’s ashes, she trudged past the cabin and into the woods. Birds chirped high in the trees, and a strong gust of cool wind carried a piney scent as it brushed past her, ruffling her hair. The sun shone down, its rays warming her slightly beneath her thin jacket.
Once she stumbled on the old oak that always gave her a wonderful alive feeling, its branches gnarled and twisted, the ideal tree for a gothic horror film, she halted in front of the trunk. Setting River’s urn before it, she took the pocket knife from her purse and carved her and River’s names into its bark. Her chest swelled as she etched in the last letter, then she pressed her hand over their names, wondering if there was a ghost of a heartbeat beneath her palm, and she just couldn’t feel it.
Sadie picked up the urn and surveyed the woods—less than half of the trees were still without their leaves, while most had never shed theirs. Removing the silver lid, she emptied the urn in front of the oak tree, allowing the wind to perform its duty and collect the ashes, spreading them around the woods.
“I love you, River.” She sighed once his ashes were no longer drifting through the air.
Sadie didn’t want to leave him, but she took the urn and trekked back toward the cabin. The house was still the way she’d always dreamed, with its dead garden and chipped paint on the outside. Nothing here would’ve ever made her guess that two murder-suicides had taken place in these woods years ago.
She stepped onto the porch, the planks groaning, and her stupid heart raced again. After she opened the door, she wished that River would magically appear alive and well, as he was meant to be. But she knew he wouldn’t—the ashes she’d set free were proof of that.
Releasing a slow breath, Sadie slid the key into the lock and turned it. She flipped the switch beside the door inside, and warm ceiling lights illuminated the empty living room. Coral had turned on the utilities, but Sadie would have them transferred to her, regardless if she decided to stay in the cabin or sell it.
The refurbished wooden floorboards creaked as she walked across them, the sound like a beautiful haunt to her ears. A musty smell didn’t linger inside—instead, a vanilla scent mixed with pine did. Her chest tightened—she knew Coral had been here recently, making sure the place would be clean if Sadie came to visit. Not if, when, because Coral had known Sadie would give into curiosity, temptation.
Rumor was that even though the deaths hadn’t occurred inside the cabin, it was still haunted. There wasn’t a hint that it could be, not a chill in the air, nor eerie sounds that could be her muse. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine a tinge of dark atmosphere calling to her, though.
She walked into the living room, peering at the wooden walls, the black-painted ceiling, the cozy kitchen at the back of the cabin. Biting her lip, she trailed a fingertip across the onyx mantel over the fireplace, and moths swarmed in her stomach. She didn’t know what on earth to do—she was falling in love with the cabin, these woods, all over again.
River had bought her this home because he believed in her, in them. And even if she failed at writing the perfect screenplay, even if that wasn’t what she was meant to do, she wanted to write one last story, for him, for her. Then maybe she would take another path if the writing didn’t pan out—she could work on more articles, become a teacher, do the mundane thing.
“Dammit, River, you knew I would never say no to this, didn’t you?” A small smile tugged at her lips as if he were looking down on her right then.
“I still don’t think it’s healthy for you to move out there,” Charlie said as they loaded the last of Sadie’s boxes into the bed of her truck. Over the past few days, she’d purchased new furniture and had started moving her belongings into the cabin.
“Is it any healthier for me to stay here?” Sadie cocked her head, thinking about how every day her sister got on her about not brushing her hair. “I want an escape, to work on writing.”
Charlie frowned. “You can do that here. You can do that anywhere. Maybe it’s time to use your degree and teach or do something else with it,” her sister said the last part gently.
“Who am I hurting, Charlie? I don’t need money. Whether you support me or not, I’m going to do this. I will finish this screenplay, and whatever happens after that, we’ll see.”
Charlie’s shoulders fell, her expression softening. “I believe in you, Sadie. I do. But I don’t like the idea of you alone in those woods. And what if the rumors are true about the cabin being haunted?”
“That’s what I’m hoping for.” Sadie grinned.
“You’re so odd sometimes.” Charlie rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around Sadie, pulling her into a tight hug. “But I wouldn’t take my little sister any other way.”
“Hmm, I think I would make you less overprotective. Only a fraction, though.” Sadie laughed, the first to step back. “I’ll text you later.”
“You better. I need to get to work now anyway. Patients to help save and all.” Charlie started to turn, then spun back around. “Oh, I still owe you a birthday gift. I’m taking you to that gothic haunted house you’ve been fantasizing over. I’ll get back to you on the day and time.”
