moment we step inside, I’m hit with the warmth of a fireplace burning in the center of the room. “Uhh, Colton?” I ask, taking in the rustic décor and worn, brown leather furniture.
“Chase was just here and got the fire started,” he answers my unspoken question. Setting the bags on the floor, he glances around the cabin before turning back to me. “This was my grandpa’s place. Chase and I grew up here, fishing and skipping rocks in the lake out back. When Grandpa passed, he left the cabin to Mom and Dad. I haven’t been here much lately, but Chase still uses it. In fact, this is where he and Gabby got married a few months ago.”
I’m already grinning, picturing a young Colton and Chase running through the tall grass I saw and jumping into the lake. “That must have been nice,” I tell him.
“But I don’t want to talk about that now,” he says, taking me in his arms and placing his lips against my forehead.
“No? What would you like to talk about?”
His eyes darken as a grin spreads across his face. “We have twenty-one hours together, all by ourselves, so I’m thinking there shouldn’t be much talking. At all.” He punctuates his statement with a little waggle of his eyebrows.
“I still can’t believe you talked your brother into watching Milo. On New Year’s Eve, no less.”
Colton blows out a huge puff of air. “Are you kidding? There was no talking him into anything. He actually called me and offered.”
“Really?”
He nods. “Yep. He was planning a pizza and Rocky movie party tonight.”
My eyebrows shoot skyward. “Really?”
He shrugs. “Well, that’s until Gabs gets a hold of the remote. Come on, let’s take a tour.”
Together, he shows me the open concept great room and kitchen combo. There are plenty of windows, and even though it’s dark out, I can picture the spectacular view of the lake. Down a short hallway to the right are three doors. The first one is a small laundry room with a stacked washer and dryer and a large utility sink. The second door is a bathroom with a four-foot shower unit and small vanity. It’s decorated with grizzly bears, and I can picture Colton’s mom searching for the perfect décor. The third door is a bedroom. It has a queen-sized bed in the middle of the room with light green bedding. There’s an older dresser and a pair of nightstands, and even a rocking chair by the window.
“Even though this is the smaller of the two rooms, Mom and Dad always used this bedroom because it had a door that locked.”
“It’s nice,” I tell him as he takes my hand and leads me back out to the great room.
With the bags in hand, we make our way up the simple wooden staircase with a rustic log handrailing. At the top, we step into the open loft with a slanted ceiling. The room is perfect. There’s another queen-sized bed, more aged furniture, and even a small closet. But what has my attention is the small sitting area. The benches look homemade, and the television is the smallest and probably the oldest I’ve ever seen, with rabbit-ear antennas sticking out of the top.
“Back when I was about nine, we begged our parents to get a TV out here for at night. Dad insisted we come down and sit by the fire, but Chase and I were too cool for that. So, they found that tiny piece of hardware at a yard sale, and when they brought it out on one of our trips, we were so excited to watch it. Little did we know, there was no cable or anything. For two years, that television sat right there on that shelf and mocked us.”
A bubble of laughter spills from my lips. “That’s funny.”
Colton shrugs. “We made do without one, honestly. We had bunk beds at the time, and usually, we’d sit around and tell ghost stories or build a blanket fort. When I was eleven, we brought an old Atari gaming system out here. I think that bad boy is still in the closet,” he says with a fond smile.
With a smirk, I look his way. “I had one too when I was little. I was kickass at Donkey Kong.”
Colton pulls me into his arms once more. “Really? I was the Tetris king.”
I slip my arms around his waist and press my chest against him. “Maybe someday we can play. Together.” Oh, there’s definitely a little innuendo