Chapter Text
David steered his family’s ancient black Lincoln Town Car carefully around a pothole pitting the minimally maintained roadway leading to the rental office. “I hope the cabins are a thousand times better maintained than this excuse of a road,” he snarked. If Stevie hadn’t had an about-to-expire Groupon, he’d never have considered going into the wilderness to get away from his family. Finding out his entire gallerist career was a sham and therefore bore no actual measure of his future success in starting a new business was beyond difficult to process without the added circumstances of having to share a motel room with his sister and an adjoining room with their parents. His confidence and self-worth were completely shaken, for sure, and he needed time to regroup.
David spied a log cabin style building at the end of a flat gravel lot which he assumed was the rental office. He maneuvered the ginormous car into a parking space alongside SUVs laden with various recreation equipment and let out a huff before removing his thick framed white sunglasses and checking himself in the rearview. As luck would have it, the Lincoln’s air conditioning didn’t work so he was compelled to manually crack his window which let in all kinds of airborne detritus. As he prodded a stubborn raven lock back into place and brushed dust from his black and white striped sweater, he found himself wishing for the hundredth time that he wasn’t alone. But it couldn’t be helped -- Stevie was needed at the motel and he wasn’t going to ask his sister to go with him. Or one of his parents: their deceit is the reason he needs an escape. In truth, he knows he needs to be alone. Being around others would only allow him to ignore the work he needs to do in order to move forward from this latest setback.
David hesitantly exited the car and looked around. He noticed several small cabins and a variety of tents nestled amongst the mature pine trees, the scent of their fallen needles strong from the warmth of the sun. The packed gravel path to the office was lined with blooming annuals, and beyond the office he glimpsed sunlight sparkling off the lake.
“This is actually really nice,” he whispered, taking deep breaths to center himself. It wasn’t so much that the drive was long, but thanks to Roland, his nerves were frayed from being constantly vigilant for wildlife. The very last thing he wanted to add to the upheaval of what he had come to call his “new” life was an unwanted encounter with a wild animal and Roland had flippantly warned him of the possibility of moose and bear in the area. That information alone was almost enough to halt the entire retreat. Now, though, he’s glad he mustered a bit of courage: this place was every bit as beautiful as his soul needed it to be.
Ready for the next step in getting settled, David refocused on the rental office as an old classic pickup truck pulled into the lot and was driven down a dirt driveway beyond a wooden “restricted area” sign. As soon as he stepped towards the office, a medium sized black and white dog woofed at him from the elevated porch, roused itself, and trotted down the steps towards him. David took a step back and pulled his hands up to his chest before freezing in place. Not having time to get back into the safety of the car, he pointed a ringed index finger at it and firmly stated “no.” The dog immediately stopped its approach and woofed again while assuming a sit. David hadn’t expected the dog to obey and waited anxiously for whatever it was going to do next.
The door to the office squeaked open and clapped closed as a group of people exited the building carrying horrendously ugly puffy vests and long sturdy sticks. A woman waved as they descended the steps. “Enjoy your paddle!” Ah, paddles, not sticks David corrected himself.
David continued to cautiously stare at the dog, though he allowed his gaze to flicker towards the woman who seemed to be in a position of some responsibility. He wildly gestured towards the now panting animal, “Can you call it off? I’m not having any of this.”
“Aw, now, she won’t hurt you,” she stated, pushing away David’s concerns with a wave of her hand. As she reopened the ancient screen door, she called out, “C’mon Huck, leave the fella alone.” The dog obediently trotted up the wooden steps and flopped back on her bed.
David harrumphed before shaking his head to clear the interaction from his mind. He gave the dog an extra wide berth as he climbed the steps for the office, but he needn’t have bothered as it was happily gnawing on a ball and showed zero interest in David. Keeping the dog in sight, he blindly reached for the door, found the handle, pulled it noisily open and entered a room that seemed to double as home to the front desk and to various adventure gear and sundries. The walls were lined with large topographical maps, boundaries and routes marked out neatly in red and black marker. David remembered Stevie saying she and Jake were going to use Groupon to get a deal on a guided three day wilderness outing, but that he could use the “or” part of the deal which offered a discounted rental rate on a cabin. At the time, he’d mocked her wilderness skills as being limited to the annual turkey shoot. So just a titch more skilled than himself.
Taking a quick picture of the maps, he opened his text thread with Stevie and captioned the photo: Is this what you had in mind for your romantic wilderness getaway with Jake? He added a wide eyed emoji for effect, smirked and tapped send.
It was noticeably quiet in the office and he looked up to discover he was alone with the woman from earlier. She looked at him with curious eyes. “Patrick has gone into town, but I expect him back any minute now.”
“Um, okay,” he looked at her in confusion.
“I’m just filling in, but I can try to help you.” She moved behind the reception desk.
“Oh. Um, I’m David Rose. I have a reservation for a cabin.”
“I’m Marcy Brewer, David. Nice to meet you. Now, let’s see what I can do about getting you sorted out.” She tapped a few keys and peered at a screen before saying, “We have three cabins available at the moment.” She motioned for David to take a look at a map she pulled from underneath the desk.
“Okay,” David stepped hesitantly forward.
“Go ahead, you pick!” Marcy chirped, beaming at him. “They were all freshly changed over this morning.” The skin around Marcy’s warm brown eyes crinkled as she smiled and her calm demeanor helped David to relax ever so slightly.
“Oh! Well, isn’t that nice.” The screen door squeaked open behind him followed by the unmistakable patter of dog feet approaching ahead of a human’s before the door banged shut. He gave the map a cursory glance. “You know what? I have zero experience in choosing cabins, so any of them will be fine.”
He twisted one of the chunky silver bands he wore on the fingers of his left hand as he noticed a man about his age wearing khaki cargo pants and well worn mountaineering shoes -- both very incorrect -- set a box down alongside the T-shirt display. “Which --” David faltered, momentarily thrown by the appearance of both the dog and the man, “which do you recommend?” he defaulted to Marcy.
The ruggedly dressed man had rounded the desk and joined Marcy. He was a few inches shorter than David and bore a strong resemblance around the eyes to Marcy. His light blue flannel shirt was rolled at the sleeves and hanging open over a just-tight-enough white V-neck undershirt. He had carelessly styled auburn curls which were partially hidden away by a navy blue hat bearing the resort’s logo. Based on the noticeable tan lines between what the collar of a crew neck shirt would cover and a V-neck shows off, David knew the man didn’t take the necessary precautions to fully protect his pale skin from the harmful rays he undoubtedly insisted on spending his time under. David felt heat rise in his cheeks as his eyes traveled along the man’s compact, muscular body to settle on his handsome face. If his downturned, almost bashful grin was any indication, the man had watched David check him out. His soft brown eyes twinkled with humor and he dug his hands deeper into his pockets.
David shook his head to steady himself and gave his attention back to Marcy. “So, whatever you think is best will be fine,” he managed to stutter out.
Unfortunately, Marcy didn’t miss the exchange. With a wide grin she quickly introduced the two, “David Rose, this is my son, Patrick Brewer.”
David didn’t miss the muscles in Patrick’s forearm ripple as he smiled and stepped forward to offer his hand, “It’s nice to meet you, David Rose.”
As their hands joined together, David lost himself in the wild sensations zinging through him and causing his stomach to swoop. He felt like he’d just stumbled off of an electrified roller coaster ride. How can I feel so smitten after a handshake? He managed to return an embarrassingly breathless, “Likewise” before realizing he should probably let the man have his hand back.
Huck woofed softly and looked between the two. David raised a finger in her direction without breaking eye contact with Patrick. The dog groaned and lay down, resting her head on her front paws.
“I guess Huck knows who’s boss,” Patrick chuckled. “Hi, Mom,” he leaned in to kiss Marcy’s cheek. “Thanks for watching the desk; I can take over now. I put the groceries in the house for you.” Marcy petted his cheek in return and told him she’d check in with him later.
“Enjoy your stay, David,” she said with a surreptitious wink before exiting through a doorway behind the desk area. And that was something. That happened.
Patrick took Marcy’s place behind the desk and indicated the map. “So, I’d take the Sunrise Cabin -- it gets the best morning light and I’m a morning person.”
Of course he is. David struggled to hold in a grimace at the very idea of being awake to see a sunrise.
“But, if you’re not an early riser,” Patrick continued, correctly interpreting David's facial journey, “I recommend Sunset Cabin because it’ll give you the best views of the sunset.”
David snorted lightly at the self-explanatory names.
“If you’re looking for more of a solitary experience,” Patrick continued, unfazed by David’s amusement, “you might like Serenity Cabin. It’s the only cabin we have that doesn’t have any neighbors.”
“Oh,” David brightened. “Um. How, how is that possible though?”
“It’s on an island,” Patrick stated matter of factly. He glanced at David while indicating the cabin’s location on the map.
“Hmm. Having no neighbors is certainly appealing, I mean, I am trying very hard not to connect with people right now…. Is there like a bridge or a ferry or…?”
Because he was still scouring the map for construction connecting the land he stood on with the island, David didn’t see the amusement on Patrick’s face as he said, “Nope, no bridge or ferry. But there is a “shuttle” of sorts.”