His Whole Family Was in on Our Fake Relationship, Except Him novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: Rule One
It had not been a rule, at the Sunday table.
It had been a question, and the answer was yes, and I stayed for dessert.
The next Saturday, Isak drove us up the shore in the Volvo.
A thermos of coffee sat on the dash and a folder sat on my knees.
The first snow of the year was falling over Lake Superior in small dry flakes.
I had asked him where we were going, and he'd said it was a surprise, and then, immediately, "I'm sorry, is that allowed?"
"I should have asked if you like surprises."
"From you, I do."
"That's the correct answer."
"What's in the folder?"
"Not yet."
We turned into the lodge's long drive.
I knew the pines before I knew the sign.
He parked beside the last cabin at the end of the row, a square of dark logs with a tin roof gone white.
On the little wooden plaque by the door were the words Cabin Four.
"You booked it," I said.
"I booked it myself."
"Alone."
"On the website, with my own credit card."
"I called the front desk and told them I wanted the one with the one bed.
The woman laughed at me for a full minute."
"Isak."
"I'm paying," he said.
"Before you say it."
"I know you won't take my money for gas, and you shouldn't, and this isn't gas."
"It's a cabin I wanted."
"If you want to split it, I'll write you a bill."
"I want to split it."
"Then I'll write you a bill."
I laughed.
The door opened onto a room with a big stone fireplace already laid, and a quilt in blue and white on the bed.
It was the same bed.
The same table, the same chair where my bag had sat, the same rug where he'd knelt.
I stood on the threshold and felt the whole weekend go through me, the porch and the rain and the terrible hope.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of His Whole Family Was in on Our Fake Relationship, Except Him are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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