AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I couldn’t blame him. I knew how my mom was. Especially when she had company. She cared nothing about keeping a clean home. The only thing she cared about was having a good time.
I waited around for a while to see if she would show up, but there was no sign of her. Nick had gone off with his friends and left me in the pig's den alone. When I got tired of waiting, I headed over to the Five Points hotel for a room, and there I ran into old Uncle Joe.
“Is that my girl, Mia?” His hefty voice was full of joy and excitement. “Well, I'll be! That is her! How the heck are you?”
Uncle Joe rushed over to me. His large arms wrapped me in a tight bear hug and lifted me off my feet at the same time.
“Hey Uncle Joe,” I laughed and hugged him back. “What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here? The better question is what are you doing here? I haven’t seen you in years, girl!”
“Oh, I’m just here for a visit. I got some time off from work, so I thought I'd come home and make amends with this place.”
Uncle Joe was Brayden’s uncle, but everyone in town called him Uncle Joe. He owned every five-star hotel in the town and was an elite, to say the least. He was well respected in his line of work, and also feared. Before he became a big time CEO, Uncle Joe was into some illegal things with some well-known mobsters.
“How long are you here for?” he asked.
“I haven’t decided,” I said. “At least a while.”
“A while, huh?” He looked back toward the check-in desk and made a funny face at the clerk. “Well, if you’re here for a room, I hate to tell you that you’re out of luck. We're all booked up for the summer. And so is every other stay-able hotel in the area.”
I was immediately bummed out. I didn’t want to stay at my mom’s place, nor did I want to travel out of the way or stay at some Rinky dink motel for the summer. I didn’t even think about it being summer and everything being booked. I forgot how much of a tourist trap Big Bear could be.
“Aw man,” I huffed. “Do you have anything at all available? I don’t mind going to another location.”
“I’m sorry sweet pea. Nothing at all,” he said. “I’ll tell you what though, my cabin is free for the summer. I normally rent it out to the tourists during the summertime, but I kept it open this time around. You're more than welcome to stay there if you’d like. It's a little bit of a drive into the mountains, but it’s well worth it. You remember.”
Uncle Joe’s cabin was the best. I spent some of the best days of my life there. Me, Trent, Brayden, we’d all pile up there with our friends and have a ball over summer vacation. I missed it almost as much as I missed Trent.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I don’t want to intrude at the last minute.”
“Nonsense,” he waved me off. “You’re no intruder, you're family. You know just because you and Brayden are on bad terms, doesn’t mean you and I have to be.” I smiled and thanked Uncle Joe for his hospitality. He was always good to me and my family. I thought him and my mom would end up together at some point, but Uncle Joe was a man of standards, and he was true to his word. He wanted someone of the same caliber as him and since mom couldn’t get her act together, he moved on.
“I know, Uncle Joe,” I nodded. “You and I will always be family.”
“Have you two spoken at all since you've been gone?”
“No,” I shook my head. “We haven't talked since the night Trent went away. We’ve been too angry with each other to speak our peace. To be honest, I think it's better that we don’t.”
The damage between Brayden and I was extensive, it didn’t all stem from Trent. It stemmed from him not being mature enough for a real relationship. I wanted more than what he was capable of giving me. It was partly my fault for accepting what little he did give, but mostly his for swindling me into accepting it.
“Maybe you two can work something out while you're here. If not for a relationship, at least the friendship. Remember, you were friends before anything. And I know he misses you. My nephew is a tough old dog, but he’s got a soft heart underneath it all.”
“I won’t hold my breath on that,” I chuckled. “At this point in my life, I need someone who already knows how to be gentle and express their emotions effortlessly. I don’t want any more tough old dogs. I want a soft life with my one true love.”
He handed me the key to the cabin and told me to stay for as long as I liked. At first glance my vacation home looked sort of promising. There was still a lot to settle into with my mom and my brother, Brayden too. However, as long as I got to stay at the cabin tucked into the mountains where it was peaceful and quiet, I thought it was a good deal.
Chapter Three ~ Brayden
After three days of lying in a hard, uncomfortable hospital bed, I was cleared to go home. I was still in loads of pain and needed an at home nurse to help with physical therapy and wound care, but that was alright with me as long as I was out of that goddamn hospital.
Uncle Joe already had everything set up for me at the cabin. He had my bags packed, he’d already chosen the best home-care nurses and physical therapy doctors, the place was stocked with food and beer. Everything I needed was there. The only thing that wasn’t there already was me.
I told myself that I would enjoy my three months' leave. I had no choice but to. I was bed bound, pretty much fired from my job, and would be spending the entire three months couped up in the mountains. I couldn’t do anything but make the best of it.
“You ready for some solitude, kid?” Uncle Joe asked as the hospital staff wheeled me through the lobby like luggage.
“What other choice do I have?” I grumbled.
