Chapter 10

Gemma

I knew about this cabin, tucked away in the woods, that the owners rented out to wealthy clients looking to escape the big city life. Luke drove us there, down a narrow woodland path and parked at the entrance. I was quick to get out of the car, more curious now than I had been before. Marked strictly as private property and under twenty-four-hour surveillance, this cabin had been a source of curiosity and amazement to all the town locals for decades. Very few had actually stepped foot in this place, and now I was here as a guest!

The house had been designed as an elaborate tree house, three-floors tall, and the property around it seemed to spread over several acres. The cabin itself was nestled between trees and surrounded by its own gently flowing creek, like a moat around a castle. The only sounds I could hear were of birds chirping and a soft rustle of leaves in the after-shower breeze.

“This is beautiful,” I whispered, more to myself than to him.

Luke looked up at the cabin appreciatively. “When I found this place, I knew I had to stay here.”

“Where are your colleagues?” I asked, turning to him with bright excited eyes.

“I’ve rented out hotel rooms for them; I wanted to be by myself here,” he told me and placed a hand on my waist. An electric shock went down my spine, from just the touch of his hand. I tucked a few strands of my wild curly hair behind my ears out of nervousness. I was anxious and afraid to go into a place like this. I was in awe and self-conscious of what I was wearing and how I looked. I felt like I wasn’t dressed for the occasion.

“Do you want to go in?” he asked, looking down at me, and I was suddenly reminded of how tall he was. I nodded nervously. It was too late to back out now.

He led me into the cabin, walking over a narrow bridge that connected the driveway to the cabin over the creek. I was still looking around me with amazement. I had heard stories about how lovely this cabin was, but I could never have imagined the reality.

“It’s so peaceful out here, I can’t get enough of it,” he said, pushing open the front door.

I was very conscious of my muddy shoes and unfashionable clothes as I walked into the cabin. It was larger inside than I had expected. and I was immediately blown away by how cozy it looked.

The walls and floors were all wood, of course, and covered with comfy-looking fluffy rugs. A fireplace was already burning in the living room, and rich luxurious leather couches were arranged in a circle around it.

“I know there’s a housekeeper for the cabin. I always find food in the kitchen, someone lights the fire, cleans up the place… but I’ve never seen him or her,” Luke said, turning to look at me as he stood beside the fireplace.

My brows furrowed in surprise. What was that supposed to even mean?

“That is strange,” I said, breathing in the lovely pine scent that the cabin was swathed in.

“The owners have a strict privacy policy. They are very particular about providing their guests with complete privacy and a getaway-experience,” Luke said with a laugh, and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

He looked tall and big in the room with its low wooden ceiling. His dark eyes danced like lava in a volcano, as they caught the light of the flames from the fireplace. In his plaid shirt, Luke looked casual and comfortable. He could have been a lumberjack or a hunter, if I didn’t know any better. But the reality loomed in my mind at all times, that Luke was, in all probability, a multi-millionaire. That he would despise me the moment he found out where I lived.

“Make yourself comfortable. I’ll arrange for some coffee and cookies,” he said with a smile, jerking me out of my nervous thoughts.

“Will you have to make it yourself? Since you can’t get in touch with your housekeeper?” I asked with a laugh.

“I can make coffee, Gemma. I have some basic kitchen skills, if you’re in doubt,” he said before disappearing into another room.

It was warm in the room with the burning fire, and I pulled the sweater off over my head. Folding it neatly, I placed it on the arm of one of the couches, then stood looking at the art on the walls. Everything looked neat and polished and in its place. I couldn’t even imagine going back to my trailer now, where it was difficult to find a single piece of clothing that wasn’t crumpled into a ball.

This was like a fairytale, like a dream that I was going to wake up from very soon. Luke was a figment of my imagination, I kept telling myself. I’d wake up any time to find myself still working in the diner and living in my trailer.

My mind drifted back and forth between feelings of guilt and desire. Was I deceiving Luke? Should I confess to him that I had never seen wealth like this before? I gulped as I thought about my parents in the trailer, sitting on their plastic chairs watching TV. What would Luke think of them?

“Here we are,” he said, approaching with two mugs of steaming coffee in his hands, and a wide smile on his face. I melted into a puddle again.

“I couldn’t find the cookies,” he said and placed the mugs on the coffee table.

“That’s okay, I’m not hungry,” I said, walking over to pick up one of the mugs. I really did need some caffeine in my veins. He watched me as I sipped ferociously from the mug and licked my lips. I hadn’t expected the coffee to taste that bitter or be so smooth. The caffeine went straight to my head and made my neck feel even warmer.

“It’s a fine Columbian ground. I don’t travel anywhere without it,” Luke informed me, settling down into one of the armchairs. I had no clue what he was talking about. The only kind of coffee I had ever tasted was instant and milky. This mug barely had any sugar in it and just a splash of milk. Not that it tasted bad and it definitely performed its job well. I felt fired up immediately after the first sip.

I nodded like I knew what he meant and took one of the other armchairs across from him.

“I didn’t think that coffee could be this important to someone,” I said.

“You should meet my cousin, Martin. He carries bars of this particular Swiss dark chocolate with him everywhere he goes. He has to have one square with a glass of wine every night after dinner.” Luke laughed and took a huge gulp of his coffee.

I smiled, and when he saw my face, we both laughed.

“I’m sure this sounds ridiculous to you. My family is strange,” Luke said when we both stopped laughing.

“Not ridiculous, just funny. Tell me more,” I said, finally relaxing a little. Luke’s laugh had that effect on me, it could put me at ease in an instant.

“Let me think,” he said, drumming his fingers on the mug. “My mother has a fur coat that she has owned since she was fourteen years old. And nobody else knows this, but I’ve seen her cuddling up to it in bed at night,” he said and we both burst out laughing together.

“Are you serious?” I said, my coffee nearly spilling out of my hands. “And what about your father? What does he think of the fur coat in their bed?”

Luke’s smile became slightly weaker, although he still tried to portray a look of nonchalance. “I don’t think my parents have slept in the same bed since I was born,” he said and took a quick gulp of his coffee.

My laughter died immediately, and I looked away from him. I hadn’t meant to pry, and I detected a soft nerve there. But why was he telling me this? I didn’t need to know that intimate detail about his family. I could sense Luke’s eyes on me.

“I suppose your parents are happily married?” he asked and I met his eyes again. He looked genuinely curious; he wasn’t being sarcastic.

“Yes, very happily married,” I replied, nodding my head. “Married for over thirty years and can’t spend one waking moment without each other.”

I hadn’t necessarily thought about it like this before, but I had probably never felt the need to leave home because of how happy the three of us were as a family when I was growing up. Before Dad got sick and had to quit his job at the bar. Before Mom spent all her days worrying about his health. Before it became my responsibility to take care of them, a duty I would never be able to give up.

“That’s good to hear; you don’t see much of that these days. My parents would probably have been happier if they divorced. But they wouldn’t do such a thing to the family wealth,” Luke said, passing me a sarcastic wink. I could see that this was difficult for him to talk about, and I hadn’t really asked him about all this either. It was confusing that he was telling me this about his family, when I knew so little about anything else. We had just met.

I could feel my hands twitching with discomfort; my limbs were freezing up again. What did he expect me to say? I didn’t know how to comfort people. So, I looked away from him.

“Is that glass?” I asked, pointing to a figurine on the mantelpiece. I knew that was a silly thing to say but I wanted desperately to change the subject, before he started to ask me anything else.

“Crystal,” he replied, in a heavy voice. When our eyes met, I could see that he was confused by what I had said. He wasn’t quite sure why I decided to change the subject so suddenly. I felt even more ashamed by his answer. I couldn’t even tell the difference between glass and crystal. I could sense his deep piercing eyes on me, and I stood up.

“Can I use the toilet?” I said, losing even more of my composure with each passing second.

“The restroom is at the end of the hall there,” he said, pointing at a hallway. Toilet, restroom, glass, crystal… I felt humiliated, and I could sense my face turning a bright red. What had I gotten myself into? Why did I assume that I could pull off being natural in a place like this? What was Luke thinking of me?

I made a dash for it down the hall. I saw the open door of the toilet and ran toward it. But instead of going in, I caught sight of a different door to the side. Through the glass pane on top, I could see that it led outside. I just needed to catch a breath. I just needed some fresh air. As noiselessly as possible, I got the door open and I stepped out. And the moment the fresh air hit my face, I felt free. Like being in that cabin with Luke, trying to pretend to be someone I was not, had imprisoned me.