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“I know, but I feel like I’ve abandoned you. Please call me as soon as you get to the cabin and figure out if it’s a viable option. If you don’t feel comfortable there, get out!”
“Got it. Stop worrying. We’ll talk after you meet with the security guy.”
“Sam Barrett. Please try to remember his name in case he calls you,” Gray sighed. “And don’t expect me to stop worrying. You’re my brother in every way that counts.”
“I know. You are to me, too.”
Chapter Thirteen
Grief overwhelmed Morgan as she sat in the SUV, staring at the dark wood log and rough-stone A-framed cabin. She had visited every summer since she was a child. Memories of happy times on the mountain flooded back to her. Hiking. Wading and fishing in the cool mountain streams. Exploring caves. Riding bikes through the winding roads. It was their own little piece of heaven and even felt like it too when the clouds hung so low, they covered the entire mountain-top in a billowy white she couldn’t quite grasp. She remembered asking Pops why she couldn’t get ahold of the clouds. He told her she couldn’t catch magic. It was the only impractical thing he had ever said to her.
Turning to Bash, she found him watching her with pity in his eyes. She flushed with embarrassment at being exposed at such a vulnerable moment.
“Don’t feel sorry for me. There are no bad memories here,” she said proudly.
“That wasn’t what I was feeling. I was wondering if I should go inside and give you some privacy.”
“Just give me a moment. I’ll be right back,” she said, opening the car door. She walked across the yard to a cluster of huge boulders sitting on the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley. Slipping off her jogging shoes, she climbed barefoot onto the smooth rocks to her favorite thinking spot. A place she could daydream.
“What a magnificent view,” Bash said, startling her out of her thoughts.
She brushed a tear from her cheek and met his eyes.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Did you think I might jump?” she asked with a trace of a smile.
He shrugged. “Not really, but now that you mention it, please don’t. I’d never find my way back out of here.” He playfully grabbed one of her bare feet. “Why did you take your shoes off? It’s got to be in the 50s up here.”
“I rarely wore shoes when I was a kid. Pops scolded me about it all the time. Said I was going to cut my foot open. It was easier to run and climb barefooted. My feet were completely calloused.”
He rubbed his thumb down the center of her foot, making her jerk at the sensation. “Not anymore,” he chuckled.
Shaking her head, she pulled her foot away and crawled down from the rock. It made her feel like she was 10 years old again.
“Time to unload those groceries and get the generators running.”
Instead of a glass front like many A-frames, this house had a stone front with a small round window just below the center eve. The heavy wooden front door was at least 4 inches thick.
The inside was one spacious room with a seating area in the middle, a kitchen on one side, and a laundry room and bathroom in the back. A faded brown leather sofa, tan recliner, and a whiskey barrel converted into a coffee table sat in front of a large flagstone fireplace with a wood-burning stove attached. A small metal winding staircase led to a loft.
Bash raised his eyebrow. “One bedroom upstairs?” he said, motioning upward.
“That is my room. Pops slept on a twin bed in the basement. If it was too cold, I’d sleep on the sofa near the wood stove. Even in the middle of summer, the evenings can get cool. Take a closer look around if you like.”
Bash climbed up the metal stairs.
“You are welcome to sleep up there.” He didn’t answer. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I need to turn on the electric generator and the propane for the stove,” she called, as she went outside.
When she came back in, Bash had his feet on the coffee table and a beer in his hand.
“Glad you made yourself at home.”
“It felt like a beer kind of moment. Where’s the basement? I want to see my alternative sleeping arrangements.”
Morgan pushed his feet off the coffee table and slid the barrel over a few feet. Then she flipped up one side of the area rug, exposing a trap door. When she pulled it open, Bash stood up and peered down.
“No shit. I did not see that coming. What’s down there?” he asked with wariness in his tone, then took a swig of beer as if to fortify his nerves.
