He tried to act nonchalant. “So, are we going, then?”
Her eyes darted to her mate. “I haven’t decided yet, my love.” Then she sighed with what sounded to him like resignation. “But it would mean a lot to Alton if we did.”
“Oh,” he casually replied as he finished cooking the fish.
She leaned forward in her chair. “Has Alton called you or something?”
He looked up at her with surprise. “Called me? No, I was just curious. I just wasn’t sure whether to offer to teach this summer or not, that’s all. I figured I’d wait until I knew more about your plans for us.”
She settled back into her chair, gazing up at the evening sky. “I see.”
Silent moments passed as she pondered the prospect.
“Well, if I know Alton, we’ll probably end up going,” she finally conceded. “You wouldn’t mind, would you?”
He shook his head and offered an innocent expression, “Not at all. I’ve never been to Europe. So, any chance it’ll be near Romania?”
“You mean Transylvania, don’t you? Caleb Taylor, I should come over there and bite you in the neck.”
He playfully snickered as he carried the skillet towards the cabin. She growled under her breath, but rose from her chair and followed him inside.
Caleb made his way into the kitchen, where he popped open a container of pasta salad and dished some onto his plate beside the sizzling fish. She watched as he warmed a glass of blood for her in the small microwave and poured himself a Coke. Then he took his drink and plate to the dining table and returned to remove her glass from the microwave.
“Dinner is served,” he announced while placing the glass at the table setting next to his. Then he sat down to his meal.
“Thank you,” she offered as she sat next to him to sip from the glass of blood.
Yum, type A. My favorite. Caleb’s blood type, in fact.
He ate in relative silence as she contentedly watched him while finishing her own liquid meal. After cleaning up the dining room and kitchen, he took her by the hand, looked into her eyes, and asked, “It’s our last night here at the cabin. How about showing me more of the great outdoors?”
She was only too happy to oblige.
They spent most of the evening walking around the lake, appreciating each other’s company as much as the beautiful scenery. He was amazed by how alive the forest continued to be after dark. It was like living in another world, more ominous in some ways, and yet peaceful in others. But eventually, it was time to return to the cabin, and the night passed too soon.
On Sunday, Caleb fished some more, but released his catch. By evening, they loaded their SUV and made the long drive back to Atlanta. He dozed off mid-return and was still asleep by the time Katrina turned their vehicle into their estate driveway.
The estate was in the center of five acres of property, situated among similar acreage lots in an elite neighborhood addition in the small community of Mableton, just outside downtown Atlanta. The upscale Pine Valley addition sported heavily forested properties, of which Katrina’s lot bordered a scenic wooded park that sprawled throughout the addition.
The house itself was a two-story structure comprising over six thousand square feet of living space. Once parked in the cavernous multi-bay garage, Katrina gently roused Caleb, and he stretched with a wide-mouthed yawn as he exited the vehicle.
“I’ll unpack the SUV,” she offered. “You go get ready for bed. You have to teach in the morning, after all.”
There was no argument from him as he made his way through the garage and into the house. He felt exhausted, but thoroughly satisfied with their weekend getaway.
* * * *
Life returned to an unremarkable pace until Wednesday, when Caleb received a cryptic text message from Katrina during one of his history lectures at Robert Fulton Community College in downtown Atlanta where he was a faculty member.
Shipment from Alton arriving this afternoon. Can you come home early?
Fortunately, his last class that day was just prior to lunch.
The delivery service truck pulled into the driveway less than half an hour after he arrived home. The wooden crate removed from the back of the panel van by the two deliverymen was quite large, in excess of six feet long. Caleb watched closely, directing the men to place the crate in the middle of one of the two empty car bays in the garage.