The Cabin (The Cabin Novellas (Book One)) Read Online Free PDF Page B

hadn’t been at home much as a child, I knew they found it difficult to have me living back at home with them. I knew I got under their feet. They didn’t say as much – they never said anything – but when Nathan and I had announced our engagement, both their eyes had lit up. I could see through their smiles and I knew what they were both thinking – Nathan would take me away from them. I would become a wife, have children, and perhaps even learn how to be happy again – blah, blah, blah!
    I suspected that Nathan’s parents felt the same about him. Like me, Nathan still lived at home. He had left the bookstore where he once worked and took up the position of assistant manager at the local railway station. Even with our combined wages, neither of us could afford to pay for a deposit on our own home. So as a wedding present, both our parents had clubbed together and given us enough money to, at last, get our own house and finally leave theirs’.
    “So what’s this place like?” Nathan asked as he headed towards the motorway which would lead us to Cumbria.
    “What, the cabin you mean?” I asked, leaving thoughts of my mother and father behind me.
    “I didn’t really get to read the brochure,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road ahead. It was cold for mid-March, and there were some patches of ice on the road. The sun was shining brightly , though, but it gave off little warmth.
    Pulling open the glove compartment, I fished out the brochure and opened it across my lap. “It’s described as an authentic log cabin, in a forty-two acre mountain paradise. It has a stone wood-burning fireplace – whatever one of them is,” I frowned. “Comfortable furnishings and a veranda with mountain views. We can go hiking, fishing and whitewater rafting – if you like that sort of thing.” What I left out was the fact it had, what was described as, a romantic Jacuzzi tub for two and a romantic master suite.  
    “Sounds wonderful,” Nathan said, glancing sideways at me.
    “Sure does,” I said thoughtfully, folding the brochure in half and tucking it into my coat pocket. A silence fell between us. It was like something needed to be said, but neither of us knew how to start. I wanted to apologise about what had happened last night, but was there any point? It wouldn’t change anything now. I got the feeling that Nathan wanted to talk about us. I think we both felt a certain amount of pressure about what would happen when we reached the cabin. For once we were there, we were alone – miles from anywhere – just the two of us. There could be no more excuses, no more lies. The cabin would be my confessional. 
    With the silence becoming painful, I switched on the car radio. The song, The Truth About Love by Pink whispered through the speakers. Despite being on my honeymoon, I didn’t want to listen to anything slow – anything romantic. So quickly turning the dial, I tuned into another radio station, hunting down another song for us to listen to. Hall of Fame by The Script started to play. That was better. I settled back in my seat and watched the world race past on the other side of the window.
     
    We reached the village of Lufton just after lunch. The roads up Cross Fell Mountain, where the cabin waited for us, were far too narrow to drive. We had arranged to leave our car in the car park behind a small pub, which was a mile or two from the foot of the mountain. Lufton was really pretty. An avenue of lime trees led down the centre of the village towards the village green. The houses were old and dated back to the 17 th Century. It was surrounded by rich moorland and green valleys, where the River Eden snaked through them.
    Nathan went to the boot of the car and pulled our rucksacks out. He handed mine to me. Each of us had packed enough clothes for the few days we were going to spend in the cabin on the side of the mountain. We had dressed in jeans, warm jumpers, coats, and sturdy boots for the climb ahead.
    “I