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One dance, then I’d head on out of here… alone.
I owed Natalie and myself that much.
THE POUNDING ON my cabin door startled me awake, and for a moment, I didn’t know where the hell I was. Crazy when that happens. Like your mind didn’t catch up to your last move.
“I know you’re in there!” I heard Natalie yell. “So, you might as well come on out and let’s get this thing settled right now!”
More pounding.
I slipped out of bed, wearing gray shorts and a dark-gray tank top, my usual sleeping outfit. It wasn’t the type of outfit to be answering a door, but the usual oversized flannel shirt I wore as a robe wasn’t around.
More pounding and yelling. “Open the fucking door, Emily. I know you’re in there!”
I reached the door and swung it wide open. “Of course, I’m in here. It’s my cabin! What the hell, Natalie? You’re going to wake up everybody for miles. It’s the middle of the night. Shouldn’t you be at Tammy’s? Getting your beauty sleep for your big day?”
She pushed right past me. Her normally perfect makeup was anything but. She had big racoon eyes from her smeared mascara and never mind her hair… a complete mess. She’d obviously been crying and drinking. The expensive designer dress she’d worn to dinner was now stained and brushed with blotches of dirt. Not only did she act like a crazed woman, but she looked the part as well.
“Is that what you wore to seduce him?” she raged. “To lure him into your cave? Your love nest? Your bordello? I knew you’d ruin this for me, but I hired you anyway. It’s all my fault for trusting you. Where is he?” She strutted towards the back bedroom, while I followed close behind her.
The cabins were all fairly small, with either one or two bedrooms, a living room, small dining room, and an efficiency kitchen stocked with everything anyone might need to make a full breakfast for four or a pasta dinner, including the pasta, bottled tomato sauce, and several bottles of wine. Tammy liked to keep her guests happy.
“No one else is here,” I told her, but she was having none of it. “My bordello? What century are you living in?”
She pulled open the closet doors, then looked under the bed. “Where are you hiding him? Or did he already slip out of a window? The bathroom window?”
She marched to the bathroom, pulled the door open, and slid the shower door back with a bang. Of course, no one was there. Then she stomped off to the other bedroom, turned on the light, and proceeded to check in the empty closet and under that bed as well.
When she didn’t find anyone, she stood there checking out the room, as if he was hiding in the walls. Her gaze slipped to the windows.
The cabins were decorated in rustic contemporary. Nothing fancy, but the bed was comfy, and the pillows were malleable.
“That’s it, isn’t it? He slipped out of a window… your bedroom window.”
“Natalie, stop this,” I said, stepping in front of her. “Cody is not here! He’s in his own cabin. Not that it’s any of your damn business if he were here. This thing you have about us getting together is ridiculous. We’re all grown up now. Who I date or he dates has no impact on our friendship.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked as she marched off to the bedroom windows and tried to open them… which she couldn’t.
“Cody, your brother. He’s not here. Has never been here and hasn’t even looked at this cabin, thanks to your irrational rules.”
She turned to me for a moment, her eyes bloodshot and wild. I’d never seen Natalie so out of control. One of her best qualities was to remain relatively calm until she knew all the facts.
Apparently not this time.
“Is this some sort of delay tactic? Do you think you’re going to toss me off course by talking about Cody?”
She continued to fiddle with the windows, as she plastered her face against one of them, trying to see into the total darkness of our surroundings. Mostly, everything that was out there was greenery of some sort with a forest only steps away.
“Off course? Wait. Who are you looking for?”
“You know damn well who I’m looking for.”
Someone rapped at my front door, and I went to answer it as I spoke to her. “No. I don’t think I do.”
Natalie and I had had our differences in the past, along with several completely stupid arguments due to misunderstandings. I had a feeling this was shaping up to be one of those times.
She turned back to me. Face red with anger. If she didn’t calm down soon, I was afraid she’d pass out or something worse. “Don’t play coy with me, you homewrecker… you wedding crasher… you hussy!”
“Hussy? Really? I don’t think I even know what that word means.”
