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Chapter 1
January
“Everyone thinks we’re crazy. No one goes to the cabin in the middle of winter.” January shuddered just thinking about it, even though her heat was blasting in the car. But when her sister invited her to the cabin in the mountains just a few hours from Seattle, she’d agreed because what else was she going to do? Stay home and brood?
It wasn’t like she could even get out of the house—she worked from home. Why her sister had picked up and accepted a job in Washington when Arizona was a perfectly good state, January would never truly understand. But she had, and then she’d met Greg, and now she had a life and a family there.
“Well, I’m already here and I’ve been here for hours. Crazy or not, I have the fire going and I can make you tea when you get your frozen ass through the front door. That’s why Greg leaves a huge pile of wood. So we can use the place in winter. It’s why we have a functional outhouse and not just one for décor. Sure, there might not be running water, but who needs that? We’re only here for a couple days. Surely we can rough it.”
“Ugh. Is it too late to say I miss the city already? Is it too late to say that I miss Phoenix?”
“You’ve had one hell of a road trip to get here. It’s only, what, half an hour longer? You can do it. I believe in you. Besides, we barely see each other anymore. This is our week away from civilization. It’s our time to recharge the old creative batteries.”
By creative batteries, January knew her sister was crazy worried about her. She couldn’t be doing fine six months post divorce. She just couldn’t. First, her family hadn’t understood what she’d seen in Jotham, then they couldn’t figure out why she’d ever want to marry him, but she had, and they’d all come around. In the end, Jotham was one of the family. And he was loved. Probably more than she was at certain times. To her family, he was the perfect husband, the doting partner, the funny one, the outgoing one, the one who would always be there in times of trouble.
Her mom still called him weekly. Which was fine. He’d been a part of the family for over fifteen years. January didn’t expect her parents or siblings to just drop him. That would have been harsh. She would never have done anything to turn her family against him. Really, it wasn’t a him or her choice. But when they asked her to explain to them what happened, she just couldn’t.
“I think it’s more that you want to put your feet up and drink wine and not have to change diapers or make meals or clean the house for a week.” January said, smiling to herself. She knew her sister well.
“Yeah, okay, it’s a break from my life too.” June’s voice was unabashedly unapologetic over the car’s speakers.
At least the phone reception was still good. That was a plus about the cabin, or at least June promised it would be. Cell reception, internet, the whole deal. January wouldn’t have to miss one freaking heartbeat when it came to her work, which was good, because people weren’t so easy going when it came to having to wait for their floor plans and any changes they might want. She had clients from all over the world. The pre-designed floor plans she sold were the easiest because she just made them, put them online, and forgot about them. They earned her constant, perpetual money. The custom plans were another story. She might make more on them than anything else, but goodness. No one told her when she was going to school to be an architectural technologist that it would be that hardto please people.
“It’ll be fun. We’ll watch terrible TV and read books, drink wine, do nothing at all. Explore the woods. Cross-country ski. Be sisters.”
“We’re always sisters, even if you’re out here and I’m in Phoenix with the rest of the family.”
“Hey. I know I didn’t have to come out here and I didn’t have to stay, but I love it. Give it a chance. You might fall in love with it too.”
“Heck no. I’m not signing up for snow and winter, even if it is milder than other places. Rain isn’t fun either.”
“It has its charms. You’ll love it, Jan.”
“Ugh, don’t you dare call me that. You know how much I hate it.”
June laughed. “I know. You’re going to break out Juney soon because you know I hate that. Admit it, neither name is as bad as August. He gets the worst of it, poor guy. He hates being called Augie.”
“All my friends constantly asked me why our parents named us all after months of the year. And then they asked me if my good-looking older brother was single. It was so gross. I hated when they’d make hot older brother jokes.”
“I know, right? Nasty. He was only two years older than your friends, but five years older than mine.”
“Extra nast—”
Blam!
The wheels spun faster than January could correct them and she veered into the other lane before she managed to pull over on the shoulder.
“Oh my god, what’s happening? January?”
She hadn’t realized that she’d screamed or how tightly she was gripping the wheel, how hard and fast her heart was beating, or how she’d broken into a cold, clammy sweat until she was safely pulled over.
“I think I got a flat. Hold on while I go and check.” She opened the car door, unbuckled herself, and stepped out.
She’d spent the night in Seattle and had left around noon, so it was lucky it was daytime and not the dead of night. The cold wasn’t horrible or anything, but coming from the desert, it still made her shiver even in her thick winter coat. She’d had to buy the thing just for her trips out to see her sister.
The driver’s side tire wasn’t just flat. It was completely shredded. January let out a squeak and slipped back into the car. “Oh my god! It exploded.”
“What?” June’s voice sounded distorted, her shriek was so bad. “How could it just explode?”
