I zipped up my moss-green bag. “No, thanks.”
The very last thing I wanted to do was play a game with a stranger. Or worse, someone I knew and loved.
The site agent who had been staying at the cabin in Disselweed was pleased to see me. Even if it was in the middle of the night.
“You could have come in the morning. The woods are far less creepy with the sun coming in.” He shifted around in his long johns and T-shirt.
“I’d like to get an early start on-site,” I said. “I’m sorry for disturbing you. Please go back to bed and feel free to go home in the morning if you’d like. I don’t plan on leaving for the next few days.”
His face lit up. “Are you sure?”
I nodded.
“I get to surprise my baby girl tomorrow morning, then. Thanks, Mr. Carden.”
I offered him another nod, and he disappeared into one of the two rooms. I walked into the other. The second bedroom wasexactly as I remembered it, despite my efforts to forget it and forget the feeling of being touched by Elizabeth on that large bed.
Did she already know who I was back then? Is that why she felt comfortable doing that?
Why didn’t she say anything in the many hours we spent together? Or online?
These questions would kill me.
I set my bag beside the tall closet and placed my work laptop on the desk, which had a small window overlooking the back area. I went outside and sat under the overhang, but I couldn’t see anything ahead of me because the forest was covered in mist. My eyelids dropped, and I focused on the rasp of the tree leaves being blown by a gentle wind. If ever there was a time I needed to master meditating, it was now.
My therapist had promised it would help my anxiety.
She didn’t say anything about healing a broken heart.
But time should.
I hoped.
34
ELIZABETH
[50 weeks ago]
@theanswerisno:
My therapist wants me
to try mindfulness
@pancakesareelite:
Don’t they know the goal is mindlessness
@theanswerisno:
You get me
@theanswerisno:
You might be the only person
in the world who gets me
