Page 155 of The Outsider
He laughed. “Obviously. I like seeing you all hot and bothered. Now come on.”
“Tease,” I grumbled.
The rest of the hike was mostly uphill, and by the end of it, I was covered in a thin, unpleasant coat of sweat. Finally, we reached the summit of a cliff, where a small log cabin was mostly concealed amongst the brush. It blended into the scenery, with ivy snaking over its worn walls and trees looming overhead.
John went ahead and unlocked the door with a key he’d brought. Inside was a simple, one-room cabin with a stone fireplace, a woodstove, a small kitchenette, a dining table and two chairs, a sagging sofa, and a big, comfortable-looking bed that dominated the space. It was sparse but had a homey feel to it, with a few framed photos on the walls of places I’d never seen: a leaning tower; a large, red canyon; and a massive, horseshoe-shaped waterfall.
“Granny and Granddad built it, back during Old World times,” John explained. “A place for them to get away from Summerhurst every now and then. We visited in the summers as kids. They eventually started letting anyone in the Valley use it, and over time, it became tradition for new married couples to come here for their honeymoons. I thought it’d be nice for us to do that, too.”
He gave me a somewhat apprehensive look, as though he somehow thought I might not like holing up alone with him in a beautiful, isolated spot for a few days.
“That’s a great tradition,” I said with a smile, touching his arm. “If it’s empty most of the time, how’s it so clean?”
He chuckled. “Danny and I rode here a couple days ago to give it a good clean-out while you were at school. Put clean sheets on the bed, chopped some firewood. I wanted to make it nice for you.”
My heart squeezed, and I kissed him.
“Thank you, darling. I love it.”
He beamed. “And you haven’t even seen the best part yet.”
We dropped off our bags before John led me back outside and through a small copse of trees, to the edge of the cliff. My breath caught as a large lake came into view, forest sloping all around it, crisp blue sky against greenery. The cliff jutted out over the pristine blue water, and in the distance, I could see a narrow swath of sand that met the water’s edge. It was breathtaking.
John grinned at my awestruck expression. “Pretty great view, huh?”
“You can say that again,” I replied, blinking. “Might be even prettier than the Valley.”
“With the lake here, we can go fishing and swimming if you like. You’ve never been to a beach, have you?”
I shook my head.
“It’s a small one here, but we can hike down and picnic there tomorrow.”
I smiled at him. “Sounds perfect.”
We stared out over the water for a moment, enjoying the afternoon sun.
“And now,” John continued, “we can get back to what’s really important.”
Without warning, he hauled me up over his shoulder just like the night before and carried me back toward the cabin as I squeaked and laughed.
“You can’t just throw me over your shoulder anytime you want!”
“Oh, really? Because it seems like I just did, princess.”
He gave my backside a swat, and I laughed as he walked through the door of the cabin.
“Put me down!”
He flopped me onto the bed with a big, goofy smile, then covered my body with his.
“Should I make it up to you now?” he murmured.
“Nothing to make up for,” I replied breathlessly, and the world fell away as he kissed me senseless and slid his warm hands into my shirt.
I stood at the edge of the cliff the next day, staring out over the lake as I waited for John to finish packing for our hike down to the beach. The steady chorus of birdsong and the gentle swooshing of the breeze made me feel more peaceful than I’d felt in a long time, erasing the chaos of the last few months. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.
For the first time in a long time, I felt safe. I’d escaped the cult’s clutches, and with Asha gone, they had no way to find me again. Even if Asha’s betrayal had been a setback in the Valley’s acceptance of outsiders, I’d proven myself to them. I’d earned my place there, and now I was finally home. I had friends. I had a family. I had everything I’d been looking for my whole life.
