Page 7 of Hot Summer Nights

“See you!” Sutton and Lyla call back as they take me over to a Jeep parked behind Madelyn’s car in the driveway.

“Madelyn says that you like to paint,” Sutton says as Lyla starts the car and reverses out of the drive.

“Yeah, I love it. I was actually coming up here to see if I could sell my art at the farmers’ markets or they have this big craft sale in Sault Ste. Marie for like the month of July,” I say as we head down Main Street.

Maybe I should add that I also picked it because it’s a solitary habit and I don’t have to worry about hurting or cursing anyone while I do it, but I leave that part out.

“That’s so cool! We’ll have to go check it out,” Lyla says as she stops at a red light.

“They’re opening a new ceramics place in Lilac Harbor soon too. We could check that out too. Have you ever gone to a place like that?” Sutton asks, twisting in her seat to face me more.

“I’ve only done ceramics a few times, but it was cool.”

“So as long as it’s paint, you love it then?” Lyla asks with an infectious grin and I laugh.

“Pretty much.”

“Oh, there’s Hudson!” Lyla says, waving at a dark-haired man outside of some restaurant. “That’s my boyfriend.”

He waves back, blowing her a kiss, and I smile. I’ve always dreamed about finding my soulmate but it hasn’t happened. With the curse, I’m not sure that I would risk getting close to anyone.

“When did Madelyn and Flynn finally get together?” I ask and Sutton and Lyla both groan and roll their eyes.

“Like a month ago.”

“It took ages,” Lyla groans and I grin at her dramatics.

“Yeah, I kept waiting for one of them to say it in college, but they never did.”

“Oh yeah! I keep forgetting that you knew them when they first met. Was it love at first sight?” Sutton asks.

“Absolutely. They were both hooked but too chicken to say anything to the other. I thought for sure when we graduated that they would be forced to say it, but instead, Flynn just said that he was going to start his own company and Madelyn offered to have him move back here with her.”

“And then eighteen months later, they finally get together,” Sutton says as we head out of the downtown area and farther along the coast.

“How did they finally admit it?” I ask.

“Flynn got a job in Los Angeles and was going to take it. She admitted that she loved him before he could,” Sutton says.

“I’m surprised that he was going to leave her.”

“Well, actually they slept together, and she freaked out and said it was a mistake and then he was going to leave, so she told him.”

“Ah, yeah, that makes more sense.”

Sutton and Lyla laugh as we slow and turn into a gravel parking lot. The place looks like an old cabin. It’s an A-frame with a bright red door and a sign on the side that proclaims that we’ve reached the world-famous Mystery Cabin.

“You work here?” I ask as we park and climb out.

“Yeah. My great uncle owns it. We’re in the gift shop,” Sutton says, leading me to the back door.

They enter first and I look around as I follow them. There’s a mini putt-putt golf course off to the side and a sign leading to a zip line farther back. I don’t know what I was expecting from a place called the Mystery Cabin, but it wasn’t this.

We head inside and I look around the gift shop. The place screams tourist trap, but I still love it.

“Welcome to the Mystery Cabin!” an old man in a suit says, waving his arms out wide to encompass the glory that is the gift shop.

“She’s with us, Stan,” Lyla says and the man’s smile dims and falls in an instant.

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