Page 103 of Liberating Bells
I slip my arms into the coat and secure the buttons around my middle, feeling very cozy. Ryan straightens the collar on my jacket and then pulls me into him, pressing a steamy kiss on my lips. I feel a surge of electricity run through me until it hits my toes, and I shiver. He pulls back, making me sigh in frustration at the distance now between us. Giving me an understanding purse of his lips, he opens the door for me.
He already has the car running, so I settle in the front seat while he situates our bags in the trunk. Once he slides into the car, he fiddles with the dash for a second, setting up his road trip music. I frown and look at him.
“How long of a drive is this?” Usually, to get up to the Smokies, it’s around an hour and a half to two hours, that’s doable.
“Not bad, about four hours,” he tells me. “We’re actually up in the mountains, so a lot of it is back roads. Don’t worry,I packed the Dramamine and ginger chews in case you start feeling gross.”
I smile at him affectionately. Ryan, always thinking ahead, hands the small pill bottle over, and I take one pill now preemptively, stashing the bag of ginger chews nearby just in case. Hopefully, this pill will keep me one step ahead of the motion sickness.
We drive, singing along to his playlist, and making mindless small talk. My life has been relatively quiet since I’m not working right now, so Ryan tells me more about some of the projects he and Josie are working on. A lot of what he says goes over my head, just like it always used to, but I still listen with a smile on my face. I could listen to Ryan talk for hours about absolutely nothing. He’s always so passionate about everything, and the deep timbre of his voice is soothing to my senses.
We stop twice for bathroom breaks, but then we hit the road right after that. I’m leaning my head against the window, watching the trees fly by when Ryan pulls off the main highway onto the back roads. I sit up with a questioning look.
“Are we almost there?” I ask him, hopeful.
He turns his head and winks at me. “Almost.”
I lean across the center console and rest my head against his shoulder. Ryan twists enough to press a side-kiss onto my forehead. The roads get windy, and I find myself sitting back up straight and closing my eyes, so I don’t have to see the car’s motion.
Ryan catches my hand across the console and gives me a reassuring squeeze. He tilts my hand and then straightens out my fingers. “That’s a pretty color. Did you just get them done?”
I peek one eye open to look at the fresh coat of nail polish. “Yes, I went with Jules last night. She practically dragged me out of the house to go with her. I guess she has a conference this weekend, so she wanted to go before then.”
“Hm, looks nice,” Ryan muses before turning his attention back to driving. He fiddles with my fingers for a while, and I close my eyes again, trying my best to not get nauseous. Thankfully, the Dramamine seems to be helping, but I unwrap a ginger chew and pop it into my mouth for added comfort. The spicy flavor overwhelms my senses but eases my stomach.
Finally, after another hour or so, Ryan slows the car down to a stop. I sit up, blinking my eyes back into focus, and look around. Immediately, I recognize where we are. My mouth drops open when I lock eyes on our destination just in front of the car.
“Wha—How?” I ask, flabbergasted.
Ryan smirks wryly, before getting out of the vehicle and jogging around to my side. He opens my door and offers me a hand, which I gratefully take. I can’t take my eyes off of the little cabin standing before me. It’s different, new, but still the same. It is unmistakablyourcabin.
My heart starts beating wildly in excitement as I turn to Ryan in shock and ask again, “How?”
“I bought it,” he says proudly, standing up straighter. “Mac passed away about a year and a half ago. I saw the ad for it online, and I jumped on it as quickly as I could. Josie helped me completely redesign the architecture.”
“But it looks the same,” I whisper as my eyes trace over the outline of the cabin that completely changed my life.
“From the outside,” Ryan teases. “But, the inside is suitable for occupancy now.”
I take a few steps towards the cabin, wanting to see more. I glance back at Ryan, and he motions me forward, a broad smile on his face.
The cabin is made of the same cherry-wood that the old one was. But where Mac’s cabin was barely standing, this new cabin looks sturdy. Like it was built to last. The windows aren’tshattered, and the door seems wholly attached to its hinges. I can see that Ryan expanded the cabin off the backside, hopefully giving it more than just one main room.
I take the few steps up to the porch and look around. The porch was extended to wrap around the front of the house. Underneath one of the front windows are two rocking chairs, and off to the other side is a pile of neatly stacked firewood.
I turn to Ryan, who has come to stand right next to me. He places his hand at the small of my back, letting me know of his presence. “What do you think?”
“Can we go inside?” I ask him. My blood is humming with anticipation to see the interior.
“Of course,” he says, stepping forward and pulling the screen door open to unlock the front door. He throws it wide open for me to go inside first.
I scurry inside and pause the minute I’m in the main room. The cabin definitely got a facelift. The integrity of the old one is still here, but this floor plan is so much more functional. The front door opens directly into the living room, where there’s a cozy-looking couch and a TV. My eyes land on the original wood-burning fireplace, cleaned and ready to use.
When I turn my head to the right, I see the kitchen, exactly where it was before but so much bigger, with a full-size refrigerator and a modern stove lining the far wall. The kitchen sink is massive, a window placed right above it to look outside while washing dishes.
“I can’t believe you did all this,” I breathe as I spin in a circle, taking it all in.
Ryan’s still standing by the front door, watching with amusement. “Do you want to go see the rest of the house?”
