Tate jams her phone into her back pocket. “The cabins require more than a one-night stay. The inn is fine.”
“And that storm is fixin’ to be here soon.”
“We don’t have a car to get out to the cabins anyway. The inn is perfectly fine.”
“The storm’s going to be a doozy,” Daryl says as thunder booms in the distance, shaking the ground. “We’ll be lucky to keep power around these parts. Not the type of night you’d want to be in a secluded cabin away from civilization. Best part, I can drop you at the inn before I drop your girl off.” He pats the hood on the Scout, looking at her with so much love in his eyes.
“Thanks, Daryl. It sounds great,” Tate tells him.
She’s really good with everyone. I’ve never seen her treat someone poorly, which is something I really like about her.
On the way to the inn, Daryl tells us everything about the small town not far from the highway. He tells us about all the things to do, which isn’t much to us, but to him, it’s everything. It’s the place he’s called home since he drew his first breath.
There’s a family-owned restaurant that closes at eight and serves the best pancakes in a fifty-mile radius, based on his experience. There’s a shop with anything we may need for our brief stay and a sports shop where we can get gear if we want to do any fishing or other outdoor activities.
I almost chuckle when he tells us the last bit. There’s nothing about Tate and me that screams outdoorsy. We don’t even look like the type that would hike up a mountain—or, when talking about Indiana…all the flat land.
“Thanks, Daryl. You’d been really helpful,” I tell him as he pulls in front of the inn, which is really a bed-and-breakfast in what looks like the oldest house I’d ever seen.
“Tell Elizabeth I sent you. She’ll treat you real good.” He gives us a toothy smile. “I’ll give Marvin all your details, and he’ll be in touch about the ol’ girl.”
“Thanks again,” I tell him as I shake his hand, and Tate shimmies her way out of the front seat.
“You kids have fun, but not too much,” he says with a wink.
I imagine this is the type of town where most sexual activity besides missionary is illegal. Sex is for baby-making and not fun. Total snoozefest. I thank my lucky stars every day I wasn’t born in a place like this. I would’ve been miserable and probably drunk myself to death to dull the monotony.
“Well,” Tate says as I walk up next to her. She tips her head back, glimpsing up at the old building painted a shade of gray that’s almost as dark as the sky. “It’s no cabin, but I think this’ll do.”
“It’ll be whatever we make it,” I tell her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close to me as a flash of lightning causes both of us to flinch.
“Fuck. We better get inside before we get drenched,” she says, tugging me forward with her. “Or struck by lightning.”
I follow her, not putting up a fight because there’s no person I’d rather be stranded with than Tate. We’ve spent a lot of time together, but there’s been a time limit because the girls are always around when they aren’t at my mother’s or at school. This is going to be our first real test of alone time without any interruptions.
No family. No kids. No nothing. Just us.
A woman is in the hallway as soon as we walk through the front door, the lightning outside sending shadows across the space as well as her face.
“Welcome to the Saybrook. I’m Elizabeth,” she says with a warm smile. She looks like a grandma with big-rimmed glasses, an oversized flowery dress, and her short gray hair curled tightly around the crown of her head. “Do you two need a room?”
“Please,” Tate says sweetly. “We’d love to stay the night if you have a room or two.”
I almost choke on the word two and work quickly to correct the statement. “We only need one.”
Elizabeth gives us a devilish smile as she laughs softly. “Of course. You’re in luck because we only have one left. It’s a queen bed. Is that okay?”
Thunder sounds in the distance as the windows rattle from the rain.
“It’ll do perfectly,” I tell her. I wouldn’t care if we had a twin as long as we have a dry and warm place to spend the night alone. Sleeping won’t be in the cards tonight if I have my way either.
“Excellent,” Elizabeth says, moving to a small desk near the stairway. “It has a private bath and a very large tub.” The last statement, she says with a wink pointed in our direction.
“I could use a good soak,” Tate tells her, reaching into her purse.
I push her hand down before reaching for my wallet. “I got this.”
“Dinner’s in an hour, or I can bring it up to your room and leave it outside your door.”
