That one hit hard. They’d think the worst, of course. Allie had driven the car over a cliff or managed to get herself abducted by aliens—car and all. She hated for them to believe she’d failed, but it would be even worse to prove them right.
“It can’t be helped. Maybe the storm will pass quickly.”
But even as she said the words, she stared up into the gray abyss. The air was thick with the smell of rain, and the sky seemed like it might storm for about, oh, another year or two. It was already almost five, and they still had many driving hours left to go.
She sank to the cement pad and pulled out her phone to amuse herself withCandy Crush. A few minutes later Luke sat down and pulled out his own phone. The rain continued, Walter snoring nearby, the wind battering the shelter.
Allie checked her watch for the hundredth time. It felt like they’d been here forever. It was now going on seven o’clock—darned her late start—and it appeared the storm might go on all night. She glanced around the space, mostly taken up by the car, where they’d no doubt have to sleep, just her and Luke and Walter.
Her stomach wobbled uneasily. The tension between them was uncomfortable, and when she’d begged the favor, she sure hadn’t anticipated spending an entire night stuck in the mountains with him.
Her stomach gave a rumble, reminding her she hadn’t eaten since one, but the sound of it was covered by the deluge of rain.
“The storm’s not letting up,” Luke said.
“At this rate we might be here all night.”
“Maybe we should get settled.” He looked over at her. “I found a little cabin in the woods.”
She perked up. A crackling fire. Food. Bed.People.“And you’re just now mentioning this? Was anyone home?”
“Um, no, it’s empty. But there’s a key on the door ledge. Under the circumstances, I think we should help ourselves.”
If someone was stupid enough to leave a key, she wasn’t going to argue. At least she wouldn’t be trapped in the car all night with Luke Fletcher.
“Maybe there’s even a phone,” she said. “Or Wi-Fi.”
He started to say something, then, as if thinking better of it, he closed his mouth.
Whatever. Allie stood, pocketing her phone, visions of a crackling fire dancing in her head. “What are we waiting for? Let’s grab our stuff and go.”
At the edge of the woods, Allie stopped abruptly, her duffel bag thunking against her leg. The structure, perched on a mound of overgrown grass, was roughly the size of a shoebox. Its raw timber walls were crudely cut, and a piece of wavy tin stretched over the top. The wonder wasn’t that someone had left such easy access to a key, but that they’d bothered to lock the door at all.
She shook her head. “This is the ‘cabin’ you found?”
He lifted a shoulder that was loaded down with his backpack and sleeping bag. His other hand held Walter’s leash. “Better than the car.”
“Debatable,” she muttered, then hurried to catch up. “For the record, this is not a cabin—it’s a shack.”
“It’s a hunting cabin.”
Ahuntingshack.There would definitely be no call to her parents tonight. No roaring fire—and that was a real shame because it was a little chilly in the mountains, and now she was wet.
At the door Luke reached for the key, then twisted it in the lock.
“What if someone comes and catches us trespassing?”
The door squeaked as it swung open, and he edged inside, brushing at spiderwebs. “No one’s been here in a long time.”
She crept in behind him, scanning the room. He was probably right. Spiderwebs hung from the rafters in abundance. The cement floor was cleanish. A wooden bed—the kind you saw at summer camp—dominated the room. An upturned crate served as a nightstand. A broom made of—straw?—was propped in the corner. A hole in the far wall was, maybe, a fireplace. At least dry kindling was piled in the grate. She would have that fire after all.
Her tomboy years were in her distant past. These days she traveled with her own pillow, and her idea of camping involved at least electricity and plumbing—speaking of which... She glanced around. Nope. No bathroom.
Maybe it would stop raining soon.
Luke set his things on the dirty mattress. Well, she assumed it was dirty. It was hard to tell when there was only one small window. Walter sniffed a corner and deemed it appropriate for a nap.
“Well, at least we’ll be dry,” Luke said.
