“We were using the saw and—”
“Oh my god,” he interrupts, dragging his hands down his face. “You’re lucky you didn’t lose a finger or worse!”
“I mean, we did start a fire, so we didn’t get off that easy,” Stan grumbles, and Teller and I both turn to glare at him.
“Well, the wood kind of jerked and then the next thing I knew, the saw was starting to spark and we tried to unplug it but by then the curtain had caught fire and the sprinklers turned on and then you and the firefighters showed up.”
Teller just stares at the Mystery Cabin with a blank look on his face for a minute.
“Why were you making me a fortune cookie?” he finally asks.
“Because you love them. I was going to make you the cookie and then fill it with a bunch of apology notes and then one that said that I loved you and that we were meant to be so you should give me another chance. It was going to be really cute,” I tell him, wiping tears from my cheeks.
Teller’s lips twitch and I can see the amusement in his eyes.
“Can I see it?” he asks and I gingerly hand him the half-finished cookie.
“It’s... cute,” he lies and I can’t help it. I start to laugh.
“It looks like a pirate’s worst nightmare,” I say through my laughter and that earns me a bark of laughter from Stan.
“It’s not that bad,” Teller says, but I know that he’s lying to spare my feelings.
“Yes, it is. I’m sorry, I should have figured out something else. I should have just tried to talk to you again.”
Teller stares at the pieces of wood in his hands and I know that this is my chance to tell him how I feel.
“I’m sorry for ending things when I got scared. It was a really dumb thing to do. I wanted to do something to show you how sorry I am and I thought making you something would be a good idea. It was going to be a real bonding moment for us, but then all of this happened instead.”
Teller nods, turning the demented fortune cookie over in his hands.
“You really love me?” he asks finally and Stan throws up his hands.
“Oh my god, of course she does! Do you think we would have gone through all of this, almost burned down my house and place of business if she didn’t?” Stan asks exasperatedly.
“Uncle Stan,” I say, trying to get him to quiet down so I can hear what Teller has to say.
Stan grumbles, and I know without looking at him that he just rolled his eyes. Teller just smiles and it looks a lot like the easy going one that he used to give me.
“Yeah, I really, really love you,” I tell him, trying to get us back on track.
Stan makes another disgusted noise and walks off, giving the two of us some privacy, and Bandit follows hot on his heels. Teller and I both ignore him. I take a tentative step closer to him, my heart thundering in my ears.
“I’m sorry that I left, Teller. I’m sorry that I ran away when things got scary. I regretted it as soon as I left the hospital room, but I let the fear rule me. I’m done doing that,” I promise him.
He studies me and I bite my bottom lip.
“Will you give me a second chance?” I ask when he still doesn’t say anything.
He nods, that familiar easy smile tipping his lips up.
“Yeah. Anything for you, Sutton.”
I laugh, relief filling me, and I step into his arms.
He grins, pulling me into his body closer as our lips crash together.
Epilogue
Teller
Five Years Later…
I straighten my tool belt, smiling as my wife heads my way. Sutton and I got married four years ago in a small ceremony on the beach across from the Mystery Cabin. Sutton said that she wanted the cabin to be in the background of some of the shots and I would do anything to make my wife happy.
I ended up finishing the fortune cookie box that Stan and Sutton tried to make. Both of them aren’t allowed anywhere near my tools, or any type of machinery since they almost burned down the cabin.
The box is now sitting in our living room. Sutton and Stan started this tradition after it was made of adding slips of paper to it each new year. Each slip was something that they wanted to do that year. It was a fun way to keep the bucket list that Sutton’s mom made going. I know that it helps Sutton keep her mom’s memory alive and it helps her feel closer to her.
The fortune cookie was also how I proposed to Sutton. I’ll never forget the look on her face when she pulled out the slip of paper and read what I had wrote. Stan had been in on it and had just grinned as Sutton looked up at me with wide eyes. I had been down on one knee by then, holding the ring out to her and she had cried as she shook her head yes.
Stan and her have only grown closer over the last five years. He’s getting ready to retire soon, so she’s been taking over more and more of the business side of things in the last few months. He’s going to stay on for another year since we’re expecting our first baby together and he wants her to be able to focus on our son instead of worrying about the Cabin.
We’ve already started making some changes since she became the acting manager. The walls got repainted and the golf course got updated. We even added a playground next to the Pines Motel and Cabins property line so that tourists and guests had somewhere to let their kids play.
We have been working on changing her old room in the attic into a nursery and playroom so that we can bring our son to work with us once he’s a little older. I can already see my kid hanging up here, growing up here and maybe even taking over from us one day.
Stan has already told us that he left the Mystery Cabin and the Pines Motel and Cabins to us. He’ll still be living at the cabin because this place will always be his home, and we’re both more than okay with that.
Sutton moved in with me after six months of us dating. We wanted to spend as much as possible together and we were already spending every night together, so it just made sense.
I’ve been half in love with Sutton since her mom first showed me a picture of her. Getting to know her, seeing how brave and strong she is, how kind and smart she is, and her sense of humor had me falling the rest of the way in love with her.
She’s the best thing that has ever happened to me. Through her, I’ve got a family and a bright future.
“Hey,” I say, bending to drop a kiss on her lips as she comes to a stop next to me.
Bandit is at her heels, his tail wagging. He knows that it’s time for his walk. We go at the same time every day. The rest of the time, Bandit likes to hang out with Stan. They’ve grown closer over the last five years and eventually, Sutton started leaving Bandit at the Mystery Cabin every night so that Stan would have some company. She likes to joke that they co-parent the dog.
“Ready to go?” Sutton asks as she passes me Bandit’s leash and I take her hand, starting to head to the path around the property.
Sutton walks slower now that she’s almost eight months pregnant but I don’t mind. This is our quiet time before we head home and it’s just nice to get to be alone with her.
“Did you fix that railing on the zip line platform?” she asks as we make it back to the Mystery Cabin and I nod.
“Yeah, and I cleaned out the golf course river too.”