Page 13 of Long Hard Road

“Oh. Is that why this cabin was available to rent? Her dad died?” I looked around the cozy cabin and felt a wave of sadness. The décor was undeniably masculine, but it was a comforting aesthetic. I had felt at home instantly. It was weird to think of the cabin as being someone else’s home.

“Last year. After he died, Maggie’s brother decided to pack up an RV and drive around the country. Maggie has been renting both cabins for the last few months. We get decent tourists in the winter. People looking for cheaper accommodations than if they stay up on the mountain resorts.” Nate went right to work on the fire.

I took a seat on the sofa and broke off a piece of chocolate croissant to savor while I enjoyed the view. Nate crouched in front of the fireplace, strategically arranging the logs. He started to explain what he was doing and why, something I found charming. He wasn’t just showing off – he wanted me to know how to start a fire so I wouldn’t need someone to do it for me in the future.

“And then just tuck the kindling in here,” he said, shoving a ball of old newspaper into the teepee he’d formed. “That’s about it. There are a couple of other techniques that work, but this one is the easiest.” A few touches of flame and the kindling began to burn, bright embers beginning on the logs. “I’ll bring more firewood tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to… do all this.” I gestured to the fire. “It’s not your job to take care of me, Nate.”

“I don’t mind. Harper calls me every other day for help with something. It’s nice to feel needed sometimes.” He sat back on his heels and regarded me with open curiosity. “You’re used to taking care of yourself?”

“Not exactly.” In some ways, yes. My lack of parental guidance when I was a kid had forced me to learn the basics of raising myself. I woke myself up every morning to get ready for school and walked six blocks to the bus stop. I made my own meals, did my own laundry. All of that before I was even eight years old. But once I got my first legitimate acting gig at fourteen, I’d been able to pay someone to do those things for me. Except for school. I switched to doing that online and got my high school diploma at sixteen.

“You don’t like to talk about yourself,” Nate observed.

“I don’t.” No reason to lie to him. “I have good reasons for keeping my personal life to myself.”

“I suppose you do.” When he stood, his tall frame loomed over me. “I should go.”

“I still owe you a drink.” I hadn’t expected to hear myself fighting for him to stay. “Unless you have to get to work?”

He shook his head. “I’m keeping the bar closed. The weather is getting too dangerous for people to be out driving around and serving alcohol on top of that would be reckless.”

“Okay, so you can stay.” I jumped up, anxious to bring my eye-line higher than his crotch. “I would offer to make you something to eat, but I’m not sure heating up a can of soup counts as cooking.”

“Probably not.” He clapped his hands. “Actually, I’ve got a better idea. I need to run home quickly. You pour the drinks and I will be right back.”

“Are you sure? You don’t have to come back.” I was worried that I had forced him into spending time with me when he had other things he would rather do.

Nate chuckled. “I’m coming back, Madison. Having dinner and drinks with you is the best offer I’ve gotten in a long time.”

“Okay.” I wished I was one of those women who could play it cool when a guy said something like that to her but instead, I smiled like a dork. “Your life must be kind of pathetic.”

“Thanks?” He laughed loudly. “You really don’t have a filter, do you?”

“I’ve been told it keeps things interesting.”

Nate held my gaze for a moment, his expression unreadable before he smiled faintly. “I think interesting is a good word to describe you, Madison.”

“That’s boring.”

“I didn’t day it was the word I would use to describe you.” He reached over and caught a thick strand of my hand, tugging it gently.

“What word would you use?” I asked in an embarrassingly breathless voice.

“Charming.” He tugged the hair again. “Funny. Smart. And at the moment– the most prominent word in my head– sexy.”

It was clear that Nate’s thoughts had gone somewhere flirty and I reacted in the most typical Madison way ever. “You have terrible taste in women if you think I’m sexy.”

“Forget I said anything.” Nate rolled his eyes and headed toward the door where he shoved his feet into his boots. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

I wasn’t sure why he’d reacted so angrily to my stupid comment, but I felt guilty anyway. Nate had done nothing but be nice to me and I couldn’t stop myself from reacting to him in the worst possible way. When I prepared our drinks, I poured mine first and swallowed it down in one gulp before refilling it. It didn’t burn as much on the way down as I expected. I thought about chugging a second drink and just barely decided against it. Being drunk around Nate wasn’t going to lead me anywhere good.

5

NATE

There was already a fresh new dusting of snow covering my tracks to Madison’s cabin. I had a feeling we were going to get hit with more than six inches given how swiftly the snow was accumulating. It had probably been a poor choice to leave my coat behind, but my cabin was only several yards away.