Page 5 of Cabin Fever

“You were never this serious, and you only used to wear⁠—”

“Oookay.” I drop back to the pillow, making a show of pulling the covers up to my forehead. You were never this serious? How was he going to stand there and pretend he knows anything about me after the age of sixteen? I was pretty damn serious when my dad was put in the back of a police car. Pretty serious for the next two years when my mom could barely get out of bed.

Finn sighs. “Night, Perr⁠—”

“Stop calling me Perry. You know I hate it. If you’re going to assault my eyeballs, at least give me that.”

He’s still for a moment. “Got it. Night, Harper.” Then there’s the sound of his steps, and the bathroom door clicks closed.

Chapter Three

I set my alarm for just before 7 AM. I’m not trying to be a jerk, but Finn was in the bathroom for a thousand years last night, and I was somehow able to fall asleep before I could give him a heads-up. Miracle of miracles.

The room is pitch black when it goes off, and I’m sweating like a pig despite the fact that I did kick off my sweatpants at some point. They’re balled up at my feet, and when I drag them up, I can’t figure out which hole is which.

I give up and pull them up over my hips as-is, then tiptoe to the bathroom door. I’m starting to slide it open when I freeze. Is that water running?

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I lean closer, and yes. That is most definitely the shower. How did Finn beat me to it? It’s not like he has a wedding to run. Shouldn’t he be sleeping in or⁠—

“Morning!” Finn calls, cheerful. “Went for a run and picked up coffee. It's on the desk.”

I fumble along the wall for the light switch. There is, in fact, coffee on the desk. Two travel cups. One with a letter “H” scrawled on it with blue hotel pen.

“How long have you been up?” I shout at the door.

“I'm a contractor. I've been up since five for ten years. My body doesn't know how to be on vacation,” he says with what sounds like water running over his face.

I’m embarrassed that I already knew that about him. I know that he runs his own business in Denver, that he’s a licensed carpenter now, and that he makes more money doing that than using his software engineering degree. I know he dated a woman he met in some hiking club for most of 2024 and that since then he’s been ‘too busy to date.’ Whatever that means. For a guy like Finn, I can only imagine it equals a revolving bedroom door.

After a good night’s sleep, my brain pieces together other tidbits from months ago. One of which is what Dahlia told me. After she and Theo set a wedding date, Theo surprised Finn with the news when they were out in Denver, and he didn’t take it well. Kind of ruined the trip.

Thanks to my sister, I’ve had a steady stream of Finn updates over the past five years, whether I wanted them or not. It’s only right now that the potential for the opposite to be true occurs to me. Information may have been passing both ways.

My heart constricts. Had Dahlia and Theo kept Finn updated about me? Did they tell him about my breakup last summer? My job changes, or my breast lump removal?

“You can come in. The glass is frosted. Mostly,” Finn calls out.

I scoff. “I’d rather be launched off the top deck.”

Finn laughs. “Can I watch?”

I mutter to myself, then draw a deep breath and reach for my coffee. Which I can successfully do without moving my feet because this room is so damn small.

I should unpack my things while I wait for him to get out, but instead I retrieve my laptop and plop down at the desk. My sweatpants are inside out. Excellent.

I pull up the itinerary for the week and go through it like an OCD mantra. Seven days total. Two days at sea to start. The welcome dinner tonight, then the rehearsal tomorrow.

I never used to be this serious? What did Finn even mean by that? It’s not like I was a bundle of fun growing up. That was Dahlia’s job. Theo used to give her crap about it. Tell her she was always living in the clouds.

Come to think of it, that’s absolutely why he fell in love with her. He was always trying to study, and she could somehow get him to leave his books and come out for the night. They balance each other. Her, a ball of sunshine, and Theo, the voice of reason.

She’s a great sister. Always has been.

After everything went down with me and Finn, Dahlia and Theo didn’t hang out as much, even though I insisted I didn’t care. As adults, she waited three months before telling me that she, Finn, and Theo met up for breakfast when she was back home helping Mom prep the house before they sold it. Even though it had been years, and I was obviously over it.

Obviously.

Focus, Harp. Wedding. Plans. No time for slogging through my childhood.