Now it was an A-frame structured cabin, with a slender metal roof slanting to the ground on both sides like a tent. The wall-to-wall privacy glass had cost a fortune, but it was worth every penny when I woke up in the morning to find the interior bathed in natural light and the view of the open field spread out before me.
“I love it,” she said softly, her eyes warming as she took in the building and the view behind it, which is where I wanted to bring her. “It looks so modern but warm. I love the black trim and the stained-wood exterior walls. I love the front deck. Maybe you could put a couple of rocking chairs there. What’s behind it?”
I parked the vehicle in front of the cabin. The porch lights flicked on, bathing the cabin in warm light.
I hadn’t answered her question yet when she asked another one. “Is this where you…went off to when you left?”
“Yeah,” I answered. “It’s where I thought of you. A lot.”
She became pensive.
“But it’s not what I brought you here to see.”
“Okay,” she said. “Show me.”
She got out of the vehicle before I’d even unbuckled my seat belt. I watched as she shivered her way to my side of the car, waiting for me. She wrapped her arms around her middle, rubbing her sides. The wind blew her hair, covering parts of her face.
My heart ached as I watched her.
She knocked on my window impatiently. I chuckled, grabbing the blanket I kept in the back seat before I stepped out of the truck.
She’d already started walking ahead of me.
“Kara,” I called out.
She looked over her shoulder, and I could tell she was feeling sad.
“Come here,” I said.
A small frown marred her brow. “Why?”
“Please.”
I hated saying please. But for her I didn’t mind.
It seemed to placate her somehow. She hesitated at first, but she stepped forward once, twice, until she was walking toward me, and stopped an arm’s length away.
I stepped forward. I saw her shift back, and I could see that her walls were up again.
Our truce was over. And she was expecting payback.
I wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. She let out a relieved sigh.
“Thanks,” she mumbled, tightening the blanket around her.
I nodded. She was always welcome.
“Come with me,” I said.
I was going to show her the maze. And what happened just beyond it that changed the course of my life.
Chapter 26
Cameron
“Come with me.” I wanted to ask for her hand, feel her fingers seeking mine once more, but I could tell from the way she held the blanket tight around her that she wouldn’t welcome my touch at this moment.
It made me anxious. If I told her what happened just beyond this maze, would she run away from me?