On The Run: Part Two

Chapter Six - "Breaking Pattern"

“All of it. And I know you’d tell me what was up if it had nothing to do with Fitch. But you keep saying nothing, even though there is something. I worry about you; it’s my prerogative,” he said.

I smiled and took his face in my hands, staring him firmly in the eyes, “Fitch didn’t do anything. I’m just a little unhappy. It’s nothing, okay? Thank you for worrying.”

“Fine,” he replied.

I saw Kayla and Fitch coming closer, “Time to go,” I said, climbing back into the car.

“Here, go crazy,” Trey said, handing me his iPhone as he headed back to the driver’s side.

I grinned to myself. It was the perfect distraction – running through a broken temple structure, being chased by carnivorous monkeys. What could be more distracting?

When everyone was piled in – Ricky fast asleep in the front seat – we set off again.

“Want one?” Fitch asked quietly, holding out an open box of donuts. His gaze was pleading and apologetic, and for a second, all I wanted to do was climb into his seat with him and curl up into his chest, but instead, I gave him a small smile and shook my head, “I’m good.”

His gaze was distracting and unwavering, so I turned, because I simply couldn’t bear the confusion.

*

“We’re here!”

I sat up abruptly as I woke from a deep sleep. I was in a car after all; it was where I’d always had my best slumbers.

I popped my head out of the window as a cabin came in full view; the car came to a stop, and Trey hopped out, shaking Ricky awake with the slam of his door.

“Where are we?” I muttered to myself as I climbed out of the car. It was a massive two-story cabin seated right next to a vast lake that at that moment, was sparkling under the moon’s reflection.

“Come on guys,” Trey said excitedly, as he led the way to the house.

“Are we breaking in?” Ricky asked hesitantly, as Kayla trudged along behind, sleepily.

“Of course not,” Trey replied, pulling out a key and opening up the front door.

“Can’t blame me for asking,” Ricky muttered.

“Welcome to my getaway,” Trey said, throwing the inner door open with a flourish.

It was exactly what I’d always pictured when I thought of winter, and it was the kind of perfection I could never have imagined. In my opinion, at least – Kayla couldn’t stop staring at the moose’s head hanging on the wall.

“This is the great room,” Trey said, gesturing across the space filled with brown plush sofas, woven carpets and a wide fireplace that I could feel from where I stood by the door.

“Wow. This is great,” Fitch breathed, walking over to the window that overlooked the lake.

“Whose is it?” Ricky asked, still skeptical.

“Mine. Come on, I’ll give you a tour of the rest of the place,” Trey said.

“Why would you want that thing in your face?” Kayla muttered, staring back at the moose as we followed in Trey’s tracks.

There was a large red games room with a pool table, a darts board, a bar and a large flat screen TV; a dining room that seated about twelve people; six different bedrooms, all with a different kind of homey feel to them – quilts, window seats, lace curtains and all; a laundry room; a boat house, which had a lone boat sitting on stilts; a pergola on the landing at the back; a small beach behind and an actual dock. I found the latter particularly cool, for some reason.