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“Wait, are you renting thegreencabin?”
“Thisisthe green cabin.”
Reid gives me a gentle smile then hitches a thumb over his shoulder. “This is thebluecabin.”
“What?”
I look again at the walls, certain he’s wrong and…sure enough, they’re blue.
At the realization that I reallywasbreaking into his home, I laugh. Probably a little too long and a little more loudly than is warranted, but I blame the exhaustion of the long day and the reality that I was apparently on the verge of a B&E.
“I’m so sorry, I…” I rub my face with my hands, my laugh fading away. “It’s just been a really long day.”
I let out a lengthy sigh, wishing for the umpteenth time I’d just swallowed my ego and stayed at my mom’s.
“Hey, you’re alright. No harm, no foul. It’s an easy mistake to make in the dark.” Reid takes another step forward, pointing past where I’m parked. “The green cabin is just on the other sideof that tree line. My aunt and uncle planted those a few years ago to give the cabins a bit more privacy. That’s probably why you didn’t see it.”
Or at least Ithinkthat’s what he said. His sudden proximity has me very aware of him, and I breathe in deeply, taking in the scent of him. It’s something clean and masculine I wish I could bottle up and spray on my pillow.
Clearing my throat and trying to push thatveryembarrassing thought aside, I take a step away and nod.
“Thanks. Sorry again.”
Reid gives me a soft smile. “Don’t worry about it. It happens.”
I roll my eyes. “People say ‘it happens’ a lot, but I really wish things would stop happening to me.” I wave my hands out wide. “If the universe could spreaditaround a little more, that would be great.”
He leans against the door jamb and crosses his arms, assessing me but not saying anything else.
Okay. Time to go.
“Alright well, I guess I’ll be seeing you around, neighbor.” I step down off of his porch. “Do me a favor will you? Maybe don’t share the fact that you caught me trying to pick your lock?”
His lips tilt up on the side. “I won’t tell a soul.”
“Thanks. Not sure my already stellar reputation would survive it.” I take a step back, knowing I need to head over to the correct cabin and get settled in. “Night, Reid.”
He nods his head. “Night, Busy.”
Giving him a small wave, I make quick work of hopping off his porch and heading over to my car. When I get settled back in the front seat and look in my rearview mirror, I see him still standing there, leaning against the door, his hands tucked into his front pockets.
I rest my forehead on the steering wheel, trying to let go of…all of that. He was far kinder than I deserved, far kinder thanIwould have been if I’d found someone picking the lock onmycabin door, whether I knew them or not.
God, Reid Cohen. Of all the people to be living next door to, it has to be him? The man who consumed my thoughts when I was a preteen noticing boys for the first time?
I shift my car into drive and roll down the gravel road until I spot the parking pad in front of thegreencabin and come to a stop. I guess it won’t be so bad to have Reid as a neighbor. Maybe we can be the types to exchange sugar and all that. My weary brain attempts to crack a joke about us maybe sharing more than one type of sugar, but I do my best to banish the thought. That is definitely not what I need right now.
This time, when I step up onto the porch, I find the key immediately and make quick work of getting inside and inspecting the place. It looks and feels almost exactly like I remember it from when Briar and Abby lived here a few years back. Same old hardwood floors and dated kitchen. Same slightly woody smell that surely comes from the cedar beams that cut across the length of the living room ceiling.
It’s a tiny spot—probably only 1,000 square feet in total—but it’s perfect for me and my rugrat. There’s a primary bedroom with a private bath and a second much smaller bedroom and another separate bathroom in the hallway. I glance into each of the bedrooms, finding them clean and empty with the same wooden floors. Thankfully, the ceiling fans are already on and the screened windows are open wide.
Most of the spots around town don’t have air conditioning, save for some of the newer builds or people who put in window units. I know the temps are just going to keep going up over the next few months until the summer heat finally breaks in September—Briar warned me about the heat in this cabin before I signed the lease—but I can’t afford anything more than what this place currently offers. So…ceiling fans and cool eveningshowers and sleeping mostly naked will surely be the remedy. Tonight, we should be just fine.
Junie stirs as I hoist her out of her car seat a while later, but it’s clear she’s still mostly asleep.
“Shhhh, it’s okay, baby,” I whisper.
She glances around, but her eyes are still heavy, and she rests her head on my shoulder. I carry her inside then get her settled on the air mattress I’ve gotten all set up for us in my room. She rolls right over, her mouth open, completely dead to the world.
