“We only open for tourists from mid-August through mid-October. Then, scram outsiders,” Noa offered.
“But if you move here, you’re fine? Automatically an insider? Everyone’s been so welcoming to me. Why do you keep it so... locked down?”
Noa’s only reply was, “It’s complicated.”
“The, uh, Town Council likes to keep things this way to preserve the plants and animals,” Olivia clarified, her eyes focused on the winding route. A few driveways, shaded by trees and easy to miss, lined the sides of the road.
Whatever. Fern wasn’t going to complain about peace and quiet. Hell, Liv’s car horn was the first one she’d heard since leaving the city. She used to be immune to them, but it made her jump. The slow life was precisely what she’d been missing.
“Who lives up here?” Fern asked as they crested another hillside.
“Past this point, no one,” Liv said.
“I need to visit the river soon. It’s gorgeous down there, and I haven’t even seen the waterfalls. Is there good swimming, too?”
“Yeah. You should kayak,” Noa suggested, before detailing the exact route Fern should take and encouraging her to ask Adam to borrow one.
“Oh, you should. I want to go, but I feel like Ben would flip out. He’s so overprotective with my pregnancy.” Fern caught Olivia’s eye roll in the mirror—and her smile.
“If Able has the gear, I’m going tomorrow. I have the day free, and I love kayaking.”
“Ask him at the pond,” Liv suggested.
Fern’s heart flipped. Leaning forward, she stuck her face between Olivia and Noa, eyes darting between them. “Who’s going to be there today? I thought this was agirls’ day. You bitches tricked me. I brought atinybikini. It’s a freaking thong!”
Noa cackled, and Olivia giggled before trying to placate her. “You’ll befine. Mine’s small too... because I’m getting bigger.”
“You’re not showing atallyet,” Noa retorted.
“No, but I’m eating more.” When Olivia wiggled her head, her two puffs danced over the top of the seat rest.
Exhaling through pursed lips, Fern tried not to sound too hopeful when she asked again, “Who’s going to be there?”
Noa chose that moment to crank the radio, and Olivia called out, “We’re here!”
The rocky road transitioned to a packed dirt driveway full of rising roots and falling potholes that made the final stretch to the cabin a bouncy ride. Ten seconds later, a two-story, octagonal house appeared through the thinning trees. Ben’s Jeep was parked out front, and a thin stream of smoke rose over the shingled roof, the air smelling like charcoal.
“Everyone,” Noa finally answered as they rolled to a stop.
To the right of the house, a pond sparkled. On the near side, dark water butted against smooth stone. The opposite shore sloped inward, reddish sand visible beneath the surface, reeds and grasses rising above. The natural swimming pool filled most of the clearing, a picturesque vignette set against the tree-covered mountains beyond.
Able appeared from around the far side of the house, shirt off and slung over his shoulder. The man washairy, with a thick coating of it over his chest and arms—she couldn’t say she cared to see where it led as it dipped beneath his waistband.
He waved at the three of them, tossed his shirt into the air, and took off toward the water to cannonball in. Even from a solid twenty feet away, the women jumped back to avoid the splash. He was a big guy.
“Come in! It’s fucking frigid!” Adam called, punctuating his yell with a cough. “Do you hear that? My balls are stuck in my throat.”
“Oh my god, dude,” Elliott’s low voice, laced with laughter, rumbled around the side of the building, sending a frisson of excitement snaking through Fern. He appeared with Ben by his side.
It was unwise to focus on the half-dressed Adonis who had no interest in her whatsoever, so she swung her attention to Ben.
He was too cute, lowering his chin in Liv’s direction and beckoning her over. “Let me see your little bikini,” he murmured, wrapping her in a hug.
Noa gave a half wave to Elliott while pulling off her shirt, then headed to the pond in her swim top and shorts, shooing Adam out of the way so she could leap in too.
“Hey,” Elliott greeted Fern, and she found him standing a few feetaway.
“Hey,” she replied, twisting the grass beneath her toe while forcing her gaze up past the tops of his broad, unclothed shoulders.
