Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Emery
Iclosed the last box of my classroom supplies and taped it shut.
Looking around the room, I took mental note of all the boxes of classroom materials that belonged to me, gave myself a few moments to remember the best—and worst—times I’d had in the room.
A month ago, I’d applied for a prestigious teaching position across the state and if I got the job, I’d only be back in this room to gather my belongings and get the hell out of Dodge.
My last step before leaving for the summer was to sign out in the front office.
After that, I’d be free until August. The moment it was done, I hurried to the parking lot and slid into the driver’s seat of my SUV.
Naturally, as soon as I sat down, my phone rang.
I turned on the ignition for the air conditioning and answered. "Hello?"
"Oh, I'm so glad I caught you," my mom’s voice said over the speaker, sounding harried.
"What’s up?"
Mom sighed deeply. "Your dad went up north to open the cabin for the season. He said when he got there, there was a little tree that had fallen on the roof. He says it’s a mess. The roof has a hole in it and two windows are broken. There’s some water damage, too."
"Oh no." I sat up straighter. “That sounds awful.”
She sighed softly. “It’s not good, but it’s not catastrophic, thank goodness. Your dad says it would probably take a handyman a few weeks of work.”
"Well, at least there’s that. What can I do?"
"Do you think you can ask Mason to come take a look?"
"Yeah. Of course." Mason was my best friend of twenty years—though we’d known each other much longer than that—who worked as a general contractor in our small Virginia town. "I’ll call him as soon as I get a chance."
"Thanks, honey. Let me know what he says."
Immediately after we hung up, I swiped on Mason’s number and put the SUV into gear to head home.
"Hey, Emery," he said as he answered. "Bored of summer break already?"
I snorted. "Hardly. I just left the building."
"You headed up to the cabin or do you have time to hang out after I finish work tomorrow?"
I chuckled darkly. "That’s why I’m calling, actually. Mom called. A tree fell on the cabin."
"Yikes."
"Yeah. She was wondering if I could sweet-talk you into putting them on your schedule. It sounds like it’s going to need a few weeks of work."
Mason sighed. I could picture him rubbing the back of his neck or running his fingers through his dark, shaggy hair and frowning. "I mean, yeah, of course. But… It sounds like a big job."
"You don’t think you can fit the repairs into your schedule? Because it’s fine if not. We can call someone else.”
"No," he said in a hurry. "That’s not what I mean at all. You know I'll always make time for your parents. They’re practically my parents too at this point. I just meant that I can’t do it alone."
"What about Tommy?" I asked. Tommy was his right-hand man when it came to contract work.
Another sigh. “Tommy broke his ankle roller skating with his kids last weekend. He’s out of commission most of the summer.”
"Yikes,” I said, an echo of his reaction.
"Yeah."
We were both quiet for a moment. "I could help," I blurted.
Mason snorted. "You’re not exactly handy with a wrench."
“No… but I’m good at taking direction. You know I can follow a manual or instruction videos, so doing it with a real contractor in person is going to be way easier. It’ll bring down the cost some, too, won’t it?”
"Yeah, probably. It wouldn’t hurt to have you along. Most likely."
"Thanks," I deadpanned. Another quiet moment passed. "So what’s the plan?"
"Let’s head up there this weekend. It’ll give me a couple of days to assess the damage, make a plan, and get an estimate to your folks. We’ll go from there."
"Deal."
A few days later, I was packing for a long weekend at the cabin, including throwing a tent and tarp in my SUV, since it didn’t sound like the cabin would be livable.
We’d need to be prepared to camp out if we couldn’t make the cabin work, at least partially.
Mason was supposed to be at my place in a few minutes and I wanted to make sure I was as ready to go as possible.
I hoped the pipes would be good, but just in case, I’d packed a case of water bottles to drink and cook with.
Anything else we’d need water for would have to wait.
The last thing I hauled to the car was a huge cooler full of food and snacks.
There hadn’t been anyone at the cabin for months, besides my dad’s visit, and there was sure to be nothing edible in the fridge, if there was even power at the cabin.
No more than five minutes after I closed the trunk, Mason pulled into my driveway. "Hey, man," I greeted him as he climbed out of his truck.
His smile was wide and easy, happy as always to see me. "What’s up, buddy?" He reached out and pulled me into a hug.
I rolled my eyes affectionately at the greeting.
Mason had always been touchy-feely, but I’d never minded.
When we were college-aged, our girlfriends had been bothered by it, but Mason had been single for a while and even though I dated some these days, I found myself more focused on work, which didn’t leave me with a lot of free time.
Besides, any potential partner who had an issue with us hugging or whatever had bigger issues than my friendship with Mason.
"You look ready to go," he said.
"Nearly. Just need to pack your stuff." I grabbed the duffel on the passenger seat of his truck while he pulled his tent and sleeping bag from the bed of the truck.
A moment later, he hauled a giant cooler from his truck and shoved it into my SUV alongside everything else.
"You really don’t need to bring a tent," I said. "I’ve got one."
He winked at me. "Just in case."
"It was one time." I knew he was thinking of the time I'd forgotten the tent poles on an overnight hiking trip that had been just the two of us. He’d been responsible for water and snacks. I’d been responsible for the first aid kit and the tent.
"Look, I'm not saying I minded sleeping under the stars next to you, I’m just saying that the millipedes didn’t mind either and those things are freaky." Mason was not a fan of bugs. When we’d awoken early that next morning to discover the trees were covered in them, he’d nearly had a panic attack.
"Your issue with bugs isn’t my fault," I said with a laugh.
"But the fact that we couldn’t zip up a tent and hide from them was."
"Fine," I muttered.
Mason laughed. "Checkmate."
The drive to the cabin passed quickly. It took nearly ninety minutes, at least thirty of which were on ever-more-remote back roads, taking us farther and farther from civilization.
As we pulled onto the long, tree-lined driveway, we fell quiet, both of us anxious about what we’d find.
Once we rounded the final corner, the trees gave way to a big clearing, the charming, single-story cabin coming into view.
There was a small tree lying on the house, with a hole in the roof clearly visible. A couple of windows were broken and would need to be replaced. I wondered if the cabin was livable while we worked, or if we’d be stuck in our tents.
“What do you think?” I asked as I put the car into park.
Mason hopped out and headed to investigate. He strode across the small lawn and made his way up to assess the damage as I hurried to follow behind. When he stopped short and let out a low whistle, I grimaced.
"Bad?"
Mason rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s not bad but it’s definitely not good. Can you grab my work bag? Just in case.”
I nodded and did as he’d asked, hurrying to my SUV and hauling his bag out. When I returned to his side, he was peering into an intact front window, hands cupped to his face to shield the light.
"Here." I dropped the bag at his feet.
"Thanks."
The front door was undamaged and Mason left it standing open as he began to make his way around.
To the left was the kitchen, a large bedroom, and a bathroom.
They all seemed to have avoided the damage.
Straight ahead was the family room, and to the other side were two bedrooms and another bathroom.
Mason cautiously made his way into the two small bedrooms. The bedroom in the rear of the cabin wasn’t in terrible shape, but the front bedroom would definitely need some work. Drywall repair and a new window at least.
"What are you thinking?" I asked eventually.
He sighed and shook his head. “We can probably do most of the work, but it’s going to take us at least three weeks.”
I nodded. "Got it. We can make this work.”
“Alright then. Let’s do this.”