Tim knew she was lying but wasn’t sure if he should call her out on it. Sabrina told him that she and Eric had broken up. He figured she was upset because of her breakup with Eric but he hoped she was upset because she still had feelings for him.
The last thing he wanted was for Tasha to be hurt in any way. But, there was a big part of him that was glad she was available. “Tasha, I hope we can get past this awkwardness. We were friends once. I hope you know you can still talk to me about anything.”
Tasha continued to look out the window. She wouldn’t look him in the eye. He didn’t need to know that being around him was still as powerful and painful as the last time they’d been together. She was licking her wounds but they weren’t over Eric.
“Is Eric going to meet us at the cabin tomorrow?”
Why was he pushing? It was obvious with her short answers she didn’t want to talk. When she turned to look at him, it was plain as day that he knew.
“Sabrina told you.”
“There was a time when you would have told me. We were once friends. I miss that.”
“A lot has happened since then.”
He understood, “Yeah, can’t argue with you there. But, does that mean we won’t ever be friends again?” Now he was lying to himself because he wanted much more than friendship. All he wanted to do was pull the car over and kiss her senseless.
Tasha whispered, “How? How do you propose we do that?”
Tim sounded frustrated, “I don’t know. Couldn’t we just start off by talking?”
He turned his eyes back to the narrow little road. They were a couple of hours into their four hour drive, the clear sky started to change…turning an ominous shade of gray.
Tasha remained silent.
“So, I’ll ask my first question again? You okay?”
Tasha wasn’t but she was going to be fine. And, it was probably best to let him think her mood was because of her breakup. “I’ll be fine. He was just smart enough to end things before we continued to make some really big mistakes.”
They drove a while longer in silence. As evening approached, the purplish orange sky had already been ominous but now it was downright evil looking. Tasha was just glad that old broken down looking bridge didn’t fall into the river when they crossed it.
“This weather is scary.”
“Yeah…it’s a good thing the cabin is right around the bend.”
Just as the winds started to pick up and it started to rain, Tim’s Range Rover pulled up in front of the cabin. He got out of the car and ran over to Tasha’s side. After helping her out of the truck, the sky completely opened and they were met with a down pour of freezing rain.
They got soaked as they ran from the car to the cabin. Once inside, the winds picked up so fiercely that tree branches were flying through the air. A couple even knocked up against the cabin.
Once inside, it was cold and dark. Tasha’s clothes were sticking to her skin and it was making her tremble. Nowhere did she read of an upcoming storm before they left. As a matter of fact, she’d checked the weather forecast all week and it never mentioned anything about a storm brewing.
Tim rubbed his hands together, “It’s cold in here. Let me get a fire going. I’ll go back out to the truck and get our bags in a few minutes. Can you check and see if there is any power?”
Tasha felt around in the dark for a light switch and flipped it on. The power worked.
She was so relieved, “Oh thank god. We have power.” However, the lights flickered on and off. “The way this storm is raging we might not have it for long. We should probably eat something just in case it goes out…otherwise we might be having s’mores for dinner.”
Tasha went over to the kitchenette area. The chill between them was starting to thaw…even if only just a little. “I had the refrigerator stocked before we came up. There’s stuff in there for sandwiches and I’m not sure what else.”
Smiling to herself as she thought about the soup and sandwiches he made for her after the accident. Tasha went into the kitchen to make something to eat while he started the fire. The tiny little flame quickly grew into a nice burning blaze.
Once the flames were strong and hot, he decided he’d better get their bags. A strong gust of wind and rain blew inside when he opened the door.
Tasha was so focused on making something to eat she hadn’t noticed Tim go out into that storm. He was nuts. There was no way she would have gone out there in that.
As she finished making up the sandwiches, he came back inside. He was soaked through and through.
“Wow…it’s crazy out there.”
“Yeah and so are you for going out there in it. My goodness Tim! You’re leaving puddles everywhere.”
He looked down at the mess he was making, “I’ll clean it up. I only went out because we both need to put on some dry clothes before we catch pneumonia.”
The lights flickered on and off again. “Tim, is the hot water tied to the electricity?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m chilled to the bone. I think I want to go take a hot shower just in case it goes out.”
While taking off his shoes he pointed towards her room, “Your room is down this hallway, the room on your right. I only have one bathroom, so we’ll have to share it.”
Tasha put the plate on the kitchen counter, “That’s fine.
