Page 59 of The Love You Fight For
I nod.
“Head to where?” she asks, but I make a show of checking my watch again.
“Go on. I’ll wait while you pack.”
She steps closer, puts her hands on her hips, and studies me, something almost sad flickering over her features.
“I can’t be what you want me to be.”
I can’t help the way my lips curl up on the side. It should feel like a brush off. Like a rejection. But somehow, it doesn’t.
“Presumptuous of you to think I want you to be anything other than what you are,” I say honestly, holding her eye contact. “Now, are we ready to head out?”
She sighs and rolls her eyes.
“Head towhere, Christopher?”
I give her a small smile, then reach up and run a strand of her soft hair through my fingers. She doesn’t bat me away.
“Want to see heaven, princess?”
It’s almostnoon when we pull up to my grandfather’s cabin.
It’s a perfect day. The early summer weather is not too hot, and the breeze off the lake is gentle and refreshing. The forest is a vibrant green, and the birds are singing in the trees. I can tell from the way Sam’s taking it all in that she’s going to love it here.
I saw the way she’d looked at my tattoo, the way she acted when I mentioned the cabin that night in my living room. Something’s been eating away at her, and I’ve always found that the best medicine comes in the form of lake water and mountain views. Itook a gamble, but we’ve only been here three minutes and I’m already sure it will pay off.
We stopped on the way to get groceries, so I grab those bags out of my truck and tell her I’ll come back out for her LV suitcase and my duffle.
“I’ll give you a tour,” I say, then she follows me up the stairs and into the house.
I drop the groceries in the kitchen, taking a minute to put away the things that need to be refrigerated, then I lead Sam through the cabin and point out all the important things. She walks slowly, surveying everything. She runs her fingers over the spines of the books on the living room bookshelf, then reads the names on the boxes of board games. I watch her eyes widen when she sees the clawfoot tub in the bathroom. I show her the office and tell her she’s free to use it to get her work done, and she comments on how nice the natural light is in the room. Her eyes bounce between the final two doors in the hallway, and I grin.
“This will be where Macon and Lennon will stay when they get here.” I push the first door open to show the small guest bedroom. Then I move to the door across the hall and open it. “And this will be where you will stay.”
It’s not much larger than the guest bedroom, but we’ve always treated it as the primary bedroom. Sam raises an eyebrow.
“And you?”
“The couch is a sleeper sofa.” I wink, and she gives me a curt nod. “C’mon. There’s more.”
The moment we step out the back door, she gasps at the view. It’s beautiful. The cabin is at a higher elevation than the lake, so you can see it clearly from the back, and the mountains make for an absolutely breathtaking backdrop.
“Nice, right? This area used to be all trees and pine straw—no real yard, just two rocking chairs on the back porch. But when I renovated it, I wanted to make this more of a gathering space.”
Sam laughs to herself, shaking her head lightly as she takes in the stone pavers, firepit, and patio furniture.
“You renovated this place, too?”
“Me and my dad, yeah. Didn’t do much except update it a little. Make it a little more energy efficient and modern.”
It’s an understatement. We did a complete kitchen remodel and knocked the wall down that used to separate the kitchen and living room. We replaced all the windows, light fixtures, and plumbing, and restored the original hardwoods. This whole place used to be outfitted with a hideous brown shag carpet. I don’t brag, though. I just let the appearance speak for itself.
“Dock’s this way.”
Sam follows me quietly down the trail to the lake, and we stop next to the small, private boat shed and dock. There are already boats and jet skis on the lake, but since it’s a Thursday, it’s not as busy as usual. On Saturday, the place will be a party.
“Wow,” she says. “This is beautiful. How big is this lake?”
