My bedroom door opened, and Addie stuck her head into my room. "Oh, you're home! I didn't know you had come back from the firehouse already."
Yep, it is definitely time for me to find my own place, I thought to myself. I'd been living with my sister for the past year and a half, ever since Laura had died. I'd never even returned to our home. Addie along with her boyfriend, Phil, and Kristy, had done everything to get the house on the market, while I spent my time battling my own inner demons. I was ready to move on with my life and get over everything that had happened.
"Yep, I'm here, all six foot two, two hundred and thirty pounds of me," I murmured and then put my head back down on the pillow, covering my eyes with my arm.
"How was your day? You look spent."
"It was a day, Addie, that’s all, and yes, I am tired."
"Isn't this your weekend off? You got any plans for this weekend?" she asked, plopping herself down on the end of my bed.
I stared up at the ceiling. "It is my weekend off, yes, and you have no need to worry. I won't bother you in the slightest. I plan on sleeping my entire weekend away. Besides, you aren't even going to be here, so I don't see how I will be any bother to you at all. Isn't this the weekend that you and Phil are heading up to the cottage?" I asked, silently praying that I was for sure going to have the house to myself.
Addie leaned against the wall and shook her head. "No. Unfortunately, Phil’s rotation was changed, and now he is on call at the hospital, so we have to stay here."
"I see. Well, I promise you won't even know I am here." I closed my eyes and placed my arm back over them, blocking out the light to try and rid myself of the horrible headache I had.
"Austin."
I blew out a deep breath. "Yeah?"
"I hate to ask, but would it be okay if you were to head to the cottage this weekend? I mean, you could use the quiet. You say you need the rest."
"Addie, please, I am good right here." It was clear that getting some rest right now wasn't going to happen, so I propped a pillow up behind my head and looked at my sister.
"I know. It’s just… I thought maybe you could use some time in nature. It may help you reset."
"It may, but seriously, I am good here. I have food, a TV, there are a few movie marathons on this weekend. So, I'm going to nurse this headache, and then I'm just gonna chill."
Addie sat there looking at me as if she didn't want to say what was on her mind. She was up to something. I just wished she would come out and say it instead of dancing around the subject.
"Why are you trying to get rid of me?" I questioned.
"Well, I told Phil he could stay here for the weekend. It's closer to the hospital than his place. We had been planning a romantic weekend together, and it’s been ruined, so I figured I'd just bring it here. I guess I just didn't think you would want to be here when..."
"All right," I said, holding my hands up for her to stop. "No need to continue. I'll get out," I said, sitting up and winking at my sister. I certainly didn't want to be here to listen to the goings on of their bedroom life, which led me again to start thinking that it was time I got my own place. There'd be no way in hell I would be able to bring a girl here, not with her bedroom butting up against mine.
The phone rang, and Addie tore off down the hall, while I got up and grabbed a duffel bag from the closet and began to pack my clothes. Forty-five minutes later, I emerged from my bedroom freshly showered, dressed in jeans and a button-down white flannel shirt. It would probably take me a good hour to get there with the weather outside, and I wanted to get on the road.
I walked into the kitchen and found Addie placing the last of the food into a cooler. "What's all this?" I opened the cupboard where we kept the first-aid kit and shook two headache tablets into my hand, popped them in my mouth, and downed a glass of water.
"I made you a care package. Figured since I am the one kicking you out, the least I could do was make sure you had food for the weekend. You've got everything you are going to need. Dinner tonight, breakfast items, stuff for lunch. I even put your favorite beer in there," she said, grinning at me. "Oh and a bottle of this." She held up a bottle.
"Thanks, but you didn't need to go to any trouble. I could just eat down at the main lodge, or better yet go to that little breakfast place in that little town that I used to love," I mumbled as I pulled out the bottle she had packed and read the name. Cupcake Vineyards Moscato.
"Oh, the one Laura never wanted to go to?" Addie said nonchalantly.
I frowned, not saying anything as I put the bottle back into the box.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Nothing. Nothing at all." I'd asked Addie numerous times to never to mention Laura to me. I knew it had been a slip of the tongue, and I didn't want to make her feel bad, so I just let the comment slide.
"Well, here you go," she said, pushing the box towards me. "Just drive careful, and I will see you on Monday."
"Yep." I grabbed the cooler and box of food, threw my duffel bag over my shoulder, and walked down the back porch to my car.
3
Kristy
Music blared over the radio as I drove up the road to the entrance of Serenity Lake. I still couldn't believe that Addie had just offered me the entire weekend up at the cottage. I knew she and Phil had been planning this weekend for a while. It was their anniversary, and part of me felt guilty for accepting it, even though I knew she couldn't attend.
I slowed down as I approached the entrance to a newly built hotel on Serenity Lake. My stomach flipped with excitement. The place had changed a lot since I had been there last. I pulled the car in front of the hotel and cut the engine. I looked up at the stone building. I remembered coming up here to the cottage with Addie's family when we were younger, long before this hotel was built. I remembered seeing all the Christmas lights that each cottage owner had strung around their properties, some adjoining them together through the trees and around the lake. I looked around and the same feeling presented itself. I glanced off to the left where a huge bonfire was burning. People were scattered around the fire, relaxing on Adirondack chairs.
I climbed out of the car, locked the doors, and approached the front door to the main lodge. There was a long line of people waiting to be checked in at the front desk. I glanced around. Not only was it beautiful in here but cozy too. Couples sat in large, over-sized leather chairs around a huge stone fireplace. It would be a perfect place to read the book I brought, I thought to myself.
I glanced at my watch. I knew Addie had booked me an appointment at the spa, and if I waited in this line to check in for my appointment, I would be late. I glanced around the lobby and spotted the sign for Serenity Cove and headed in that direction.
I was welcomed at the desk with a glass of cucumber water and led to the changing room where I slipped into a plush white bathrobe, monogrammed with SC on the pocket. I was then directed to go and relax in a beautiful solarium with a view of the lake. I had barely sat down in the reclining chair when I was brought a hot chamomile tea. The view of the snow-covered landscape combined with the music and warm tea had me fully relaxed from my drive by the time Shawn had come to get me. Addie had been right. He was extremely easy on the eyes, I thought as I followed him down the hall to his treatment room.