The Imperfections

“These are gorgeous,” she says, running her hand across the surfaces. “What are they?”

“Coasters.” I walk over closer and look down at her.

“I love the way they look,” she says, still inspecting them.

These particular ones are pretty fancy. The finished product turned out neat; each coaster looks like little cuts of wood floating in vibrant pools of blue and pink. I used resin to give them a little color. They’re a gift for Bri, actually, but given Alyssa was just upset about Bri’s worthless husband, I don’t bring my sister up.

“I’m planning to make a cutting board to match. I won’t put the resin on the main part where you’d actually cut the food, but I figured I could make a nice little handle,” I tell her, glancing up to see if I’m boring her.

She seems genuinely interested, though, nodding her head and looking thoughtful. “I bet that would look awesome. Do you sell this stuff?”

“Nah.” I shake my head, tucking my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “I usually just make things for people if I have the time. Obviously you’ve taken up my free time this weekend, but generally if I’m not working or out hiking with Scout, I’ve got some time to kill.”

Looking over the coasters again, she says, “Well, consider it time well killed. These are beautiful. It looks like you do really good work.”

I can’t help puffing up with pride. I didn’t think Alyssa would much care about my workshop or any of the stuff I do out here, but I like her approval, even if it is just over a set of coasters.

“Wanna move on to the next part of the tour?” I ask her.

She walks over and gently puts the coasters back where she found them, then she flashes me a smile and follows me to the door. “Let’s see the cellar beneath the shed where you keep the bodies.”

I crack a smile at her insistence that I’m some kind of psycho. “Jesus, a man shows up in your bedroom with a gun one time and you think he’s nuts.”

Shaking her head in mock agreement, she says, “Right? I’m such a hardass.”

I’m glad to see her smiling again. She can make all the cracks about me she wants as long as she’s smiling instead of crying.

I’m a little worried about how she might take the next thing, given the breakdown she had in my workshop. I don’t want to make her sad again, but I don’t know all the places I might step that will accidentally trigger that landmine. I have a hunch the next thing might be one of them. I have such a hunch, I almost consider telling her we’ll check out everything else later and just taking her on a hike instead. Then later I can bring her to the cabin.

The place doesn’t currently have any lights, though, so if I get carried away and it starts to get late before we head back to the house, she won’t be able to see it as well as she would now.

I guess I’ll chance it. If she gets upset, I’ll just let her get it all out, and then we’ll move on to more pleasant activities once she feels better.

“Is this the cabin where you come to premeditate all your murders?” she teases as we walk up the little stone pathway to the small cabin on the edge of the woods behind my house.

“I would never premeditate,” I joke. “That adds years to my sentence.”

“Only if you get caught,” she states, like she believes I wouldn’t.

“Ignore all the maps and red string you see pinned in various spots on the wall when we get inside, all right?”

Alyssa grins, following me into the cabin. I don’t even keep it locked right now since I’ve never used the damn thing. I don’t know anyone with the balls to trespass on my property, let alone squat in any of my buildings, but I walk in first, just to be safe.

“What is this?” she asks seriously, once we’re inside.

Right when we walk in, there’s a kitchenette ahead of us, a laundry nook just beyond that, and a dated, round kitchen table with two chairs. As we step farther inside, there’s a living area to our right, then stairs leading up to two tiny bedrooms and a small but functional bathroom.

“When I bought the property, it had this guest cabin out here, but I’ve never really had any use for it. It’s obviously on the small side, but it’s nice enough for what it is. It needs some cleaning and updating to make it more livable. I’ve never had a reason to do anything to it, which is why it doesn’t match my house on the inside. The house I did work on, but this… well, I haven’t. Not yet.”