Chapter 5: The Unwanted Guest
1292 Words
I woke to silence.
Not the kind of silence I'd been craving. This was different. Heavy. Uncomfortable.
The kind that made you aware of every breath. Every movement.
I opened my eyes. Unfamiliar ceiling. Unfamiliar room. For a second, panic flared.
Then it all came rushing back. The storm. The crash. Ethan.
I sat up. My body ached everywhere. Muscles stiff from shivering. Feet tender and raw.
The sweatpants had twisted around my legs during the night. The t-shirt hung loose, the neckline sliding off one shoulder. I pulled it back up.
Sunlight filtered through the curtains. Weak. Gray. But sunlight.
The storm had stopped.
Which meant I could leave.
Relief should have flooded through me. Instead, something else settled in my chest. Something I didn't want to examine too closely.
I stood. Tested my weight on my feet. They hurt but not unbearably.
My dress lay crumpled on the floor. Ruined. I picked it up. Silk torn along the hem. Stains that would never come out.
Two hundred dollars I couldn't afford. Gone.
I folded it anyway. Set it on the dresser.
Voices drifted from somewhere in the cabin. Low. Muffled.
I opened the door. Peeked out.
The hallway was empty. Morning light spilled through windows I hadn't noticed last night. The cabin looked different in daylight. Still cozy. Still warm. But somehow colder too.
I followed the voices to the kitchen.
Ethan stood at the stove, his back to me. Broad shoulders. Dark hair slightly mussed. He wore jeans and a flannel shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows.
Lily sat at the table. Still in her snowflake pajamas. A bowl of cereal in front of her.
She saw me first.
"Daddy, she's awake!"
Ethan turned. His eyes met mine.
Whatever softness I'd imagined last night was gone. His expression was carefully neutral. Polite. The face of someone dealing with an obligation.
"Morning." His voice matched his expression. Flat. Professional.
"Morning." I stepped into the kitchen. Felt immediately like I was intruding.
Lily kicked her feet under the table. "Are you feeling better? Daddy said you were really cold last night. He said you almost turned into a popsicle."
Despite everything, I almost smiled. "I'm better. Thank you."
"Do you want cereal? We have the kind with marshmallows but Daddy says I can only have it on weekends. Today's Saturday so it's okay."
"Lily." Ethan's tone held a warning. "Let her wake up first."
Lily deflated slightly. Went back to her cereal.
The silence stretched again. Awkward. Painful.
I shifted my weight. "I should probably get going. If the roads are clear."
"They're not." Ethan moved to the coffee pot. Poured a cup without asking if I wanted any. Set it on the counter. Slid it toward me. "Checked this morning. Main roads are still closed. They're saying maybe this afternoon."
This afternoon. Not morning. Not soon.
Hours more of this uncomfortable tension.
"Oh." I wrapped my hands around the mug. The warmth felt good. "I'm sorry. For the inconvenience."
His jaw tightened. That familiar motion. "It's fine."
It wasn't fine. I could see it in the way he held himself. Stiff. Guarded. Like having me here physically hurt.
I took a sip of coffee. It was good. Strong. Black.
"There's milk and sugar if you need it."
"This is fine."
Another silence.
Lily looked between us. Her little forehead creased. Like she could sense the tension even if she didn't understand it.
"Are you staying for Christmas?" she asked suddenly.
"No." Ethan and I said it at the same time.
Lily's face fell.
"She has somewhere else to be, sweetheart," Ethan added. Softer. For her benefit, not mine.
I stared into my coffee. Didn't correct him.
Where did I have to be? My apartment I couldn't afford? My job I didn't have? My family who thought I was a failure?
Nowhere. The answer was nowhere.
But I wasn't about to tell him that.
"You should eat something." Ethan gestured toward the stove. "There's eggs. Toast."
"I'm not hungry."
"You haven't eaten since yesterday."
"I'm fine."
His eyes narrowed slightly. "You keep saying that."
"Because it's true."
"Is it?"
The question hung between us. Loaded. Dangerous.
I looked away first. "Thank you for the coffee."
He nodded. Turned back to the stove.
I sat at the table. As far from Lily as I could get without being obvious. Sipped my coffee and tried to disappear into the chair.
Lily swung her legs. Hummed to herself. Occasionally glanced at me with those wide gray eyes.
"Why were you wearing a fancy dress?" she asked finally.
"Lily," Ethan warned.
"I'm just asking. It's a pretty dress. Well, it was pretty. Before it got all torn up."
I set down my mug. "I was at a party."
"Was it fun?"
"No."
"Then why did you go?"
Good question.
"I had to. For work."
"What kind of work?"
"I plan events. Parties. Weddings. Things like that."
"That sounds fun."
"It's not."
Lily tilted her head. Studying me. "Then why do you do it?"
Because I thought it was what I wanted. Because I'd sacrificed everything for it. Because admitting it was a mistake meant admitting I'd wasted years of my life.
"I don't know anymore," I said quietly.
Ethan's shoulders tensed. He cracked eggs into a pan with more force than necessary.
Lily seemed satisfied with my answer. Went back to her cereal.
I finished my coffee. Set the empty mug on the table.
"I should check my car. See if it'll start."
"It won't." Ethan didn't turn around. "Battery's dead. Even if it wasn't, you drove it into a three foot snowbank. You're not driving anywhere until a tow truck can get to it."
My stomach sank. "When will that be?"
"Monday. Maybe Tuesday. Roads need to be clear first. Then they have to dig out everyone else who got stuck."
Monday. Tuesday.
Three days. Four days.
I couldn't stay here that long. Couldn't impose on someone who so clearly didn't want me here.
"There has to be a hotel. Or somewhere else I can—"
"Roads are closed," he repeated. Slowly. Like I was dense. "Nothing's open. Nothing's accessible. You're stuck."
The word landed like a punch.
Stuck.
Here. In this cabin. With this man who looked at me like I was a problem he couldn't solve.
"I'm sorry." The words came out smaller than I intended. "I'll stay out of your way. I promise."
He finally turned. Looked at me.
Something flickered in his expression. Too quick to read.
"Guest room is yours until the roads clear. There's a lock on the door if you want privacy."
A lock. To keep me in or him out?
"Thank you."
He nodded. Turned back to his eggs.
Lily finished her cereal. Hopped down from her chair. "Can I show her my room?"
"No."
"But—"
"Ava needs to rest. And you need to get dressed."
Lily pouted but trudged down the hallway.
Leaving me alone with Ethan.
The silence was worse without her. Suffocating.
I stood. "I'll just... I'll be in my room."
"It's the guest room." His voice was cold. Correcting. "Not your room."
The distinction stung.
"Right. The guest room."
I walked away before he could see my face. Before the humiliation could show.
Behind me, I heard him sigh. Heavy. Frustrated.
Then the sound of his phone. Low voice. "Yeah. She's still here. I know. I know. She'll be gone as soon as the roads clear. I promise."
I closed the guest room door. Leaned against it.
Trapped. That's what I was.
Trapped in a stranger's house. With a man who couldn't wait to be rid of me.
I'd wanted to escape my life.
Careful what you wish for.
- Writer
