Chapter Nine
Moira grabbed another bite of mashed potatoes off Cam’s plate and leaned back, hiding her cards from him as best as she could. He was sitting right next to her, his outer thigh touching hers.
She drew her knees up into crisscross applesauce and was grateful she’d taken the time to change into her oversized sweatpants and baggy hoodie before she and Cam had made their way to the big lodge.
The feeling in here was hard to describe. It was like they were high school kids sneaking into the library and spending the night there giggling and breaking rules.
Brock owned this place, so he was the boss man.
He’d pulled a couple of bottles of champagne from behind the bar and the boys had rearranged all the worn leather couches in front of a roaring fire in the hearth.
Ava had heated up mountains of leftovers that Brock’s Gran had cooked for a grand dinner earlier tonight.
Moira had missed it to be with Cam, but this was even better than a stiff dinner where she sat alone with a bunch of strangers inhabiting the other cabins for UnValentine’s Day week.
This was warm.
Avery was sitting on the other side of her, throwing down Uno cards and talking trash. Moira kept giggling. She was a monster with no filter.
Cam was having fun chatting with Brock and Lance about mutual friends they hadn’t even known they had. They’d probably orbited each other at bars and hangouts for years, but Cam hadn’t officially met Brock until he started booking his company for ATV tours.
The sound of the men’s laughter was something to behold.
It was unbridled joy just being around each other.
Cam turned and gave the bite he’d forked for himself to Moira.
It was a huge bite of pot roast and potatoes.
He didn’t even skip a beat. Just fed her and kept talking, then made a bite for himself.
She loved this.
Moira couldn’t recall ever feeling so comfortable with anyone on the planet, much less someone she’d just met.
Another 90’s rock song sounded over the speakers, and Birdie lit up. “I know this one!”
They’d discovered she was terrible at memorizing lyrics and had sung every single song she recognized so far with the wrong words.
Birdie started rapping and it was truly atrocious.
Moira was trying not to laugh, but good Lord, Birdie wasn’t giving up.
She wasn’t even speaking words that made sense in English by the chorus.
Lance was looking at her like she’d hung the moon, but the rest of them were cracking up.
Birdie threw down a yellow seven without missing a single wrong word.
The whole night was like that. It was full of moments that Moira took mental pictures of so that she would be sure to remember them later, when she went back to her lonely life.
She’d meant to come here and enjoy being bitter about Valentine’s Day with a bunch of other bitter people, but she’s found something completely different.
She found quirky, fun-loving, hilarious people who each had a story with working their way through Valentine’s Day.
Brock had told the story about how he and Ava had met at last year’s first annual UnValentine’s Day celebration here at the Woodpecker Inn. Now, Lance and Birdie had met this week and already had plans to fly back and forth between their homes and visit each other. And Moira had met Cam.
When she looked over at him, he was leaned forward, elbows on his knees, looking at her with those glowing gold eyes over his shoulder.
She thought Brock really had something here with this UnValentine’s Day theme.
He was bringing people together who had been hurt by the holiday, and who could understand each other and perhaps find a match.
It hadn’t been Moira’s plan. Not even close.
She hadn’t even thought about meeting anyone here during this week.
Cam had just happened, and she thought even in the moments she was back home and missing this feeling of belonging, she wouldn’t regret him.
She wouldn’t regret any of this.
The game ended. Cam won.
Birdie stood and sighed and looked sad. “I have an early flight tomorrow morning.”
“Boooo,” Avery said, throwing a card at her.
Birdie caught it and tossed it back. “I know, I know. I’m a party pooper. I wish we had twelve more nights in a row just like this.”
Moira looked down at her lap so Birdie wouldn’t see the longing on her face for the same.
“I’ve got to get Avery back home,” Cam rumbled from beside Moira.
“She can stay in Lodge Four if you aren’t wanting to drive all the way out tonight,” Brock said. “The cabin is empty. The guest there checked out this evening.”
“Why yes I would love a free night in a fancy cabin,” Avery volunteered. “I bet you guys have the fancy brand miniature shampoo bottles in each cabin, don’t you?”
“You can take as many as you want,” Brock teased.
Avery let off this hilarious cackle of a laugh and followed Brock to the front room to get her key.
“Want to stay at my cabin tonight?” Moira asked Cam.
“Yep,” he answered immediately.
She wrapped her arms around his strong bicep and nuzzled her face against him, first one cheek and then the other.
“Is that what you do when you’re happy?” he asked softly.
Moira dropped her gaze and couldn’t answer. She hadn’t realized she was doing that.
“That’s a yes,” he said, slipping his hand over hers at his bicep.
Birdie hugged Ava goodbye and then turned to Moira. “I would hug you, but I’m pretty sure you hate me, so in my imagination, we are best friends and hugging.”
Moira narrowed her eyes at her and considered saying something scathing, but Birdie, for all her annoyances, she had good intentions for people. Moira could tell.
Moira sighed and said, “I have no interest in a hug, so keep that in your imagination.”
Birdie’s shoulders slumped and the hope died from her eyes.
“But,” Moira said. “If I really hated you, I wouldn’t insult you at all. Loser.” She allowed the corners of her lips to curve up into a smile.
Birdie’s spine straightened right up. “Is insulting people your love language?” she said at a too-loud volume.
“Go catch your flight already,” Moira muttered.
But Birdie did something atrocious and rushed her, yanked her off the couch and gave her a back-cracking hug. Moira stood there with her arms out to the sides, and a scrunched-up expression on her face.
When Birdie released her, she whispered, “That was my favorite hug.”
“Why are you breathing heavy?” Moira asked.
“Because I was a little scared,” Birdie admitted.
Moira bit back a smile and recited her phone number fast.
“Is that your phone number?” Birdie asked, her eyes wide as dinner plates.
“Maybe. I’m not repeating it. Hope you got it.”
Birdie repeated all the wrong numbers and Moira rolled her eyes heavenward.
“I’ve got it,” Lance said as he offered Moira a wave. “I’ll save it into her phone.”
They left and Moira helped Ava clean up the leftovers, soda cans, and the pack of disheveled cards. The boys moved the furniture back to the right place, and Brock was back to throw away the empty champagne bottles and turn off lights as they all made their way outside.
“Hey,” Ava said to her as she made her way down the snowy stairs behind Cam.
“What?” Moira demanded.
“If you want to come back next year for UnValentine’s Day week? We’ll give you a twenty percent off discount.”
Behind Ava, Brock wore a soft smile.
Moira was invited back? At a discount? She blinked hard a couple times, then nodded stiffly. “Goodnight. Bye bye now.”
She dared one glance back and Brock and Ava were still standing on the porch of the main lodge, waving them off as she and Cam walked back to her cabin.
“Everyone is so different here,” Moira murmured.
“Maybe it’s you who is different here,” Cam said mysteriously.
Moira frowned and thought about it. Perhaps he was right. She didn’t feel like burning everyone so badly that they turned away from her and left her alone. She didn’t mind being seen tonight, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt like that.
“Maybe it’s because I’ll never see these people again. Maybe it’s easier to relax. There’s no risk.”
“Of ruining friendships that mean something to you?” he guessed.
Clever man.
“I suppose.”
“Maybe you could work hard and keep them instead.”
Cam was a hopeful boy. He was a positive person and saw the good in people. She could tell. She liked that about him, and didn’t want to change it, so she didn’t come up with a scathing remark back. Instead, she just nodded in agreement.
He unlocked the cabin door and held it open for her. She didn’t balk against it or insult him. She just let him because she knew he was a man who liked taking care of her, even if it was as small as opening doors for her.
She liked it.
She liked him.
Tomorrow would be hard, but for tonight, she had a little plan. A tiny one. A little kernel of a plan that her inner animal was asking of her. Would it bond them farther? Probably. Did she care?
Not at this moment, when she still felt the buzz of being with him all night and being included in such a fun evening.
He smoothed everything over.
She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek as she passed into the cabin.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“For being my favorite Valentine’s Day date.”