Chapter 5

PRESENT DAY

 

Noah’s cabin isn’t as small as I feared it would be. I expected some tiny little hut wedged between two trees where we’d all be forced to share one giant bed, but this cabin is more like a single-story house, with a large patio containing a porch swing and a rocking chair. I catch a glimpse of the back porch, which seems to have a barbeque grill, as well as a table and chairs set up. There’s a chimney, as well as a paved path leading to the front door. It looks large enough that we’ll probably all be sleeping in at least two giant beds.

True to form, the urge to use the bathroom has completely left Lily by the time Noah pulls up in front of the cabin. I’m not sure of the mechanism behind how all the pee vanishes from her bladder the second we actually find a toilet. Maybe Noah the Doctor could explain it to me.

Noah doesn’t even offer to take my bags this time. I heave them out of his trunk and he waves a hand to lead us inside. There are two small steps to get up to the patio, and I watch him hold onto the railing as he carefully climbs the steps.

Thank God, it looks like this cabin has all the comforts of home—there’s a fully stocked kitchen, a sofa, a loveseat, and at least one indoor bathroom. I had been seriously worried I might be squatting in an outhouse. I think I can deal with being here for a week.

“Gwen!” Dad calls as the woman I recognize as Noah’s mother comes out from a room in the back. She looks mostly as I remember her, although slightly older. The lines on her face are deeper, but she still has the same strawberry blond hair pulled into a messy bun.

“Hi, Lenny.” Gwen’s face breaks into a smile. “How was the trip in?”

“Long,” Dad admits.

Gwen bends down next to Lily. “And you must be Lily!”

Lily nods shyly.

“I’m so glad to meet you,” Gwen says. “I got you a little present, if that’s okay.”

Lily nods more eagerly this time. Is it okay? When has being given a present not been okay with a six-year-old? What planet does she think this is?

Gwen straightens up and comes eye to eye with me. She has blue eyes—Noah’s eyes. None of the warmth that was in her voice when she spoke to my daughter is in her expression anymore.

“Hello, Bailey,” she says stiffly. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Yes,” I murmur. “Good to see you too.”

Gwen glances at Noah’s grim expression, then back at me. “It was quite a surprise to realize who you were, but…” She shrugs helplessly. “It will have to be water under the bridge, I suppose.”

“Yes,” I say again. “Water under the bridge.”

Ha.

“Come on, Bailey,” Noah says to me. “I’ll show you your room.”

I follow him down a short hallway to a set of closed doors. He indicates the first door, “That’s the bathroom. We’ve got one and a half bathrooms, so we’re all going to be sharing a shower for the week.”

That’s fine. Lily can go a shower-free week without blinking an eye—actually, it would be her preference.

He opens the second door to reveal a room with a small queen-sized bed and a cot on the floor next to it. There’s a small dresser and a window that gives us a great view of the woods.

“This is great,” I say as I drop the duffel bags on the floor. “Perfect.”

Noah doesn’t say anything for a minute. He leans over and shuts the door to the bedroom, closing the two of us inside. I suck in a breath, staring at those blue eyes, terrified of what he’s about to say to me. Preemptively, I say, “I’m sorry.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Oh, are you?”

I take a deep breath. “If… if it helps, I’ve spent every moment since then regretting it.”

“It doesn’t help.” His blue eyes flash and I cringe. “You think I give a shit that you feel a little bad about the whole thing? Are you aware what you did to me? You have no fucking clue, do you?”

I squeeze my fists together. “Why did you invite us here? To berate me for a week?”

Noah snorts. “Please, Bailey. Don’t flatter yourself. I invited you here for my mother’s sake.”

“Why? Does she want to berate me for a week?”

“No, but she wants to marry your father.” He shakes his head. “Despite the fact that I told her it would be a huge mistake to get involved with anyone from the Chapin family. But she doesn’t want to listen to me. She’s in love. So you and I need to get along.”

“Right,” I mumble.

He frowns at me. “I’ll be cordial, okay? For her sake, I’ll pretend that…”

He doesn’t complete his sentence, and for that, I’m glad.

“But let’s get one thing straight,” he says in a low growl. “I don’t forgive you. I will never forgive you. We will never be friends.”

I bite my lip. “You really hate me, don’t you?”

Noah is quiet again, as if really thinking about his answer. “‘Hate’ doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about you,” he finally says.

I wince. Somehow in the time since I’d last seen Noah, I’d thought he… well, maybe not forgave me, but at least didn’t think back on me with feelings of loathing. I figured he’d moved on—got married, had a couple of kids, etc. But that’s obviously not the case.

“I’m sorry,” I say again.

He shrugs, like he couldn’t care less about my apology. Which I guess is true.

If Noah Walsh murdered me, I don’t think he’d go to jail. There would be a trial, of course, because there would have to be. But if the judge and jury heard the entire story, I think they’d let him off scot-free. They’d decide he did the world a favor by getting rid of me.