Page 43 of The Cabin

Sympathy plays across his features. “I’m sorry, Sol. I wasn’t trying to bring up anything traumatic. I should've –”

“No, no. It’s fine. I’ve never told anyone that either. It sucks to have to do, but I think it’s good.”

“Then thank you for telling me.”

I roll my shoulders back a few times. “Okay, let’s switch it up. What is the happiest thing that’s ever happened to you?”

His eyes light up and it’s magical. “Besides signing my divorce papers, when I was in college, freshman year, we took our first two intro engineering classes. One was calledEngineering Practiceand it was all about problem solving and project planning. The professor ran a competition. He gave us a bunch of different scenarios to solve, and whoever was most clever and efficient got to shadow him on one of his current projects.”

“You won?”

Big Grayson smile. “I won. And when I was on the job, I came up with a solution they had been trying to solve for weeks.”

“Brains and brawn!”

I earn a small chuckle. “It wasn’t about proving I was smart enough or anything. It was the feeling I had in that moment. That I had found a real passion. That I was where I was supposed to be.”

“I love that. I’m not sure I’ve experienced that.”

His eyebrows furrow. “What about teaching?”

“I love teaching. And I’m really good at it. I have a lot of fun, and there are times when everything lines up and I think, ‘Man, this is pretty cool.’ But, I don’t think it’s quite the same as what you found in your career. It’s fulfilling, it’s an important part of my life, it’s the only thing that got me through my divorce, but I’m pretty sure my big passions lie outside of my career.”

“Like what?”

“Books, for one. Yes, I read them, but I’d also like to write one. And I feel really drawn to bodies of water. I’d like to travel the world to see more of them. I haven’t had the chance with the way my twenties have gone, but it’s something I think about a lot. Especially with the way my mom talks about how living in Spain changed her life. I crave that feeling. Teaching hasn’t changed my life like that.”

“Sort of whimsical.”

I consider this. “Yeah, an attraction to the whimsical aspects of life.”

“I hope you get out there some day, lollipop.”

A hopeful grin. “Me too.”

He studies me a moment. I get a sense of, I don’t know, pride? Approval? Inspiration?

“Alright, what’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done?”

A flat look swipes over my face in an instant. “Marry Brian.”

He barks a laugh. “Sorry, that was stupid.” His eyes narrow, considering. “What was your guys’ deal, anyway?”

I blow out a very large, long breath. “Um. So, Brian would come into the bar I worked at through college a lot. His parents own a huge business in Philadelphia and the bar was right across the street. He’s older than me and had already started working for them. The plan was for him to take everything over when his parents retired.” I throw my hands up and shake my head. “Long story short, he was flirty in the beginning. I hadn’t really ever had someone give me that kind of attention, and my parents had a love that I was jealous of. That I thought I’d never get to experience because I was already twenty and hadn’t even dated yet. So when it was dangled in front of me, I lunged for it.

“As soon as we got together, things faded pretty quickly. I was shocked he proposed, and I was so terrified of being alone that I accepted. I convinced myself that things would be different when we were married. Turns out, his parents had been pressuring him to tie the knot. They couldn’t give the company over to an, ‘unreliable bachelor who didn’t take life seriously.’ Someone who hadn’t settled down yet. So, cue the most desperate girl he could find who would do anything just to feel loved. Made things easy. He didn’t have to work hard to persuade me to make things official. He didn’t have to waste time and energy courting me because I was willing to accept the bare minimum.”

“I can’t get over what a waste of space he is.”

“It’s still hard hearing that. Logically, I know better. But as soon as you said it I wanted to blame myself instead.”

“I say we TP his house.”

This makes me snicker, which I’m very appreciative of. “We could put glitter in his air vents in his car. That prank would literally never end.”

He smacks the table and points at me. “YES. That is brilliant. I love that.”

“I may have looked some things up while wine drunk a couple of times.”

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