Moving On

Chapter 19

Kate looked out of the window on the lone, single drive up to the cabin. Treasuring their privacy appeared to be a Hayes family trait.

The cabin stood right at the end of a long driveway, and all around was nothing but acres of trees. The deciduous forest was magnificent in autumn. Trees in myriad colors of honey-yellow, peach-red, green, and gold stood on both sides of the road.

At the mansion, the sun helped bring out the sweet and wistful sentiment of the trees. Here at the cabin, the trees seemed to speak of romance.

"This is so beautiful," she said and stepped out of the car, then walked toward the cabin as she watched the video recording she'd made while Tyler drove them up to the cabin.

"I knew you'd love it."

She cast a quick glance over at Tyler and grinned. "I still don't understand why we have to come a day earlier."

"To make sure everything is in order. I haven't been inside for a while. I've asked someone to clean up the place, but I'm sure you want to take a look too, right?"

With her eyes still on her phone, she laughed. "This isn't my house, so I don't have to worry about clean sheets and all. You could've just admitted that you wanted to spend some time alone with me."

"I want to spend some time alone with you."

"Just so happens, I don't mind spending more time with you." She leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"And the house is mine, so it'll be yours, too."

"Oh, now that you've done packing up the attic, have you thought about what you want to turn it into?"

Tyler took her hand and asked, "What do you want it to be?"

"Me? I think it'll be a great study or a library, or both I guess. You can build a platform to segregate it into a mini-library and study area. It's rather spacious."

"It could be a room for our kid."

She shook her head and chuckled. "You did the same thing when you were trying to get me here."

"You're here now, so I guess it worked," he said.

"What are we going to have for lunch?"

"I believe the fridge should be stocked. I'll cook."

"You know how to cook? You lived with Marianne your whole life. When would you ever need to cook?"

"When I pissed her off enough for her to ignore me for days."

Laughing, she nodded. She understood what he was saying. When Lydia bugged their grandmother about their parents' case, the same thing had happened. Though she wasn't the one who made her grandparents angry, she was made to suffer along with Lydia.

That was how she learned to cook as well, through the lack of choice and the need to feed a growling stomach. "I can't imagine it'll be any good, then."

He pulled her close, draping his arm over her shoulders. "Then I hope you can sleep well with an empty stomach."

She glowered at him and pushed him away, but his arm held firm, keeping her in place.

"I'm kidding. I won't starve you. We'll cook together. So if it's bad, you can't blame me."

"You know, I could be as good a chef as Marianne is."

"Like how you could be a martial arts expert?"

She would have retorted, but she finally took her eyes off him and saw the lake in front of the house. "Wow." She continued moving toward the wooden platform leading out to the lake. At the end of it, a wooden rowboat was tied to the platform's beam. "It's still floating."