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“I don’t like it,” Anthony said for the third time in the last hour. He was driving us to the cabin in his truck, the engine annoyingly loud. The sky was bright and empty of clouds, although the forecast promised heavy rain tonight. It was usually a beautiful drive up to the lake, but the tall trees were now bare and eerie.
“Ant, chill. Everything will be fine.”
Anthony shook his head. “We don’t even know what Jay’s planning, so how can you say it will be fine?”
He had me there. I hated seeing him so nervous. He had seemed fine after we last spoke, but the last couple of days must have taken their toll.
“I promised you I’d make sure nothing would go too far,” I said.“Besides, maybe what will end up happening is not what Jay’s expecting.”
He glanced at me. “What do you mean?”
I shouldn’t have said that. There was no point revealing how I was secretly hoping to use Jay’s plan for a plan of my own. That cabin held some of our best memories, and I was sure that once Jay and Anthony got the chance to confront Chris directly, some sort of truce would be achieved in the end. The road to that point was sure to be rough, but the possibility of success was worth it.
“Ethan?”
“What?”
“You spaced out.”
“Sorry. What were we talking about?”
“I’ll give you three guesses.”
“Ha ha.” We passed the sign to the lake. “We’re close.”
“We can still turn back.”
“Nah, we can’t. Let’s see this through.”
We arrived at the cabin shortly after. By then the sky was already decorated with gray clouds and the air was turning even more chilly. It was easy to see the lake because the trees were bare and barely blocking the view. The smell of nature was sweet and inviting, and the quiet around peaceful and rare. I really should have gotten out of the city more often. New York had a way of pulling you in and making you feel it was the only place on earth.
There were no other cabins in close proximity, and it was easy to get lost if you didn’t keep track of your steps while hiking around.
Anthony and I grabbed our things from the car and stepped into the cabin. My heart beat a little faster with the rush of memories. The first time we came here was to celebrate Chris’s acceptance into law school.
“It’s sure been a while,” I said as I placed my things on the kitchen table. The place looked as I remembered, although the wide crimson couch might have been new. The living room was spacious and homey, the kind of place that made you feel welcomed the moment you set foot through the door. There were two bedrooms, and in the past, Chris and I used to share one while Anthony and Jay shared the other.
I took a deep breath and exhaled. “I missed the smell of wood.”
“I don’t smell it,” Anthony said.
“Well, you’re working with wood, so you must be immune, or maybe you’re just too grumpy to notice any smells.”
“I’m not grumpy,” he said in a grumpy tone.
I hid a smile and asked, “Want to open one of these bad boys?” I gestured my head toward the vodka bottles.
“Shouldn’t we wait for the others?”
“There’s plenty, and you need to chill.” I opened one of the bottles and poured shots for Anthony and myself. He took his and said, “What should we toast to?”
I almost said “Friendship”, but instead went for, “Let’s toast to making things right.”
He pondered on that for a few seconds before nodding. “Fine. Here’s to making things right.”
Our glasses touched and we drank the vodka, making a disgusted face because this stuff was nasty and neither of us was a heavy drinker.
