I can’t believe I survived this for three nights already.And it wasn’t that bad actually.I hate to admit it, but the cabin grew on me.The scenery too.It became more than just trees.
There was beauty everywhere.And more than that, I loved thrashing them at chess at night, which we played after dinner.There was beauty there too...If they weren’t such ogres, that is, but ugh.
I love them.
But what does it matter?
My father sent me to teach me discipline.It worked somehow, quietly, behind the scenes.
I love these three men.I have loved them since I was six years old, but I have a family obligation, and I will marry the man my father has chosen for me.It’s what being a Carlson is.My mother, before she passed away, promised me I would love my husband, and I had to trust my father.
She was never wrong, but on this one, she is.
Oh crap.Did giving them my virginity make it worse for me?Oh yes, so fucking worse; my heart is broken in three.
I need to call my father.He needs to come and collect me as soon as possible.
Before I change my mind, I make the call.
“Dad,” I say into the phone.“I’m ready.Can you come and pick me up, please?"
My father will be here in a few hours because, unlike me, who had to drive here as part of my privileges being taken away, he can fly on his private jet.
It’s good because then I don’t have to see them.I won’t be able to say goodbye to them, not now when I know what they taste like and feel like inside my body.
I pack up my stuff and drag my bags to the mudroom for a prompt escape.I have no idea what I’m going to do about my car, but I’m just going to leave that to my father.It’s the least he can do since I’m marrying someone I don’t love for posterity.
Dressed in a pink pencil-tight skirt, a frilly blouse, and high heels, my hair held together in a tight ponytail, I wait for my father to arrive.
Any minute now.
“Going somewhere?"Samuel asks as the three of them enter the living room where I’m sitting near the window so I can see my father when he arrives.
Ugh, they used the back of the cabin again, and I didn’t even hear them arrive.
“Umm...yes, as a matter of fact.I’m going home.I’m all cured of my brattiness.And now I will marry the man I’m destined to marry.”Can I ramble on anymore?
“My father is on his way to pick me up.I’m not sure what he’s going to do about my car, but...oh, there he is,” I say, overly enthusiastically to cover up my heart breaking yet again.
I really didn’t want them to see my father.I was supposed to leave undetected, and now my clandestine escape is ruined.
They match my father’s exuberance as they greet each other and have a small catch-up while I stand there with my lip quivering and a dam of tears fighting to be released.
“Can we go now, Dad?"I say, cutting into one of the stories.
“All right,” my father says, but he has a smile on his face I don’t recognize.What is going on?“I guess now that you’re ready to get married, I would like to introduce you to your husbands,” he says and then rocks on his heels with that same boyish smile lighting up his face.
“Umm, what?”I say, incredulity oozing out of me.
I’m sure I misheard the man.But when I glance at the lumberjacks, they’re not as confused as I am.They are in fact also smiling.
“Dad?”I say slowly.
“Coral.These are the men who have been chosen to be your husbands since the day you were born, actually.It goes way back.”
“What?”
“These are the men—”
