Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Wedged between my wonderful husband and our stunning, yes, but also kinda over-staying her welcome host, I can’t help but think this was not how I envisioned our couples getaway.
I consider cuddling up to Ethan, but that would hardly be fair with Juniper sitting right there.
Hmm. We should definitely do something?
Juniper and I heave ourselves up at the same time.
“I’m gonna—” I start.
“Do you mind if I—” Juniper begins.
We both laugh while Ethan looks up at us with a delightfully quizzical expression.
Then my stomach growls and I confess, “Sorry, but I am absolutely famished!”
Juniper cracks up laughing. “You are so English!”
Ethan stands too. “Well, I, for one, am royally ravenous myself.”
I pout. “Oh, ha ha!”
They both grin at me.
“Shall we?” Juniper gestures towards the kitchen.
“Yes.” I roll my eyes. “We shall,” I say, sounding very English indeed.
As we venture up the hallway, I say to Juniper, “So, um … in the photos … on Willow’s PicPost account …” I’ve spent hours, maybe even days, scouring her social media feed, looking at and promptly saving almost all the photos of this place:
Spring does with their tiny fawns, peeking from between these same surrounding firs.
Summer sunlight streaming through the trees, highlighting the expanse of lush green.
Autumnal gold and brown leaf fodder all around, and a couple—maybe even Willow and her husband—leaning out over that balcony.
She wore a long dress, maroon, and he had on some sort of thick cable-knit jumper.
It could have been a stock photo for all I knew.
Maybe it was. But recently, it’s all been like this, with snow outside and warmth within. And the food, oh the food …
“Right. Yeah …” Juniper’s footsteps slow. “I was kinda hoping you wouldn’t have seen those.”
I stop in my tracks. “Why not?” My stomach growls more urgently. Please tell me we are not snowed in here with no food.
Juniper winces. “Well … I don’t exactly do those um … fancy platters …?”
In Willow’s pictures, there were these charcuterie boards. Wide, rustic wooden boards overflowing with cured meats and cheeses. Fresh fruit. Fresh bread. It all looked spectacular—and totally PicPost worthy.
She continues, “Willow did give me a list and asked if I’d seen the photos and that, but …” She picks up her pace again, edging towards the kitchen.
“But?” I follow close behind.
We reach the kitchen, and while Ethan fetches himself a glass of water, Juniper pulls the fridge open and stands back, looking nervous. “I tried?”
I look inside and my jaw hits the floor. “Oh my god, Juniper!”
Her eyebrows rise.
“I could honestly kiss you.”
“Really?” Her shoulders slump in relief. “I so thought you were gonna be mad.”
“Mad? You’re perfect!” I say then catch myself. “It’s perfect, I mean.”
Ethan pads over, glass in hand. “Woah.” He chortles as we share the light of the fridge then he raises his glass to Juniper as if in toast. “I think you might be my wife’s dream come true.”
The fridge is chock-full of pizza. My favourite!
I swallow, actively avoiding Juniper’s piercing blue gaze.
I’m just excited for pizza. That’s all. Christ. Hungry, horny, and now I can add weirdly anxious to the list. What is going on?
At least we have food.
We were told the cabin would be semi-catered.
We’d have a welcome platter—the charcuterie boards—plus some basic necessities like coffee, milk, and a few extras.
Then the guests, i.e. us, were encouraged to venture out to the local bakery or the nearby towns for anything else.
It all seemed so cute and fun. But honestly, Juniper seems to have the place stocked up with enough food to feed an army for a month.
In fact, if we are snowed in this whole time, she’ll have saved us from having to venture out at all!
Juniper offers to put the fire on while Ethan and I cook. And I use the term cook very loosely.
“Sounds like a plan,” I say, and as soon as she disappears we shove as much pizza as we can in the tiny oven, not bothering to pre-heat the thing. Then we set a timer for somewhere between all the different suggestions from each box and hope for the best.
Alone at last, I lean against the counter feeling a flutter in my stomach as a playful smile dances on Ethan’s lips. This man. I sigh. With that beard …
The lumberjack vibes are back on!
The air shifts between us, charged and electric, and before I know it, he’s stepping closer, pressing his body against mine as he leans in for a kiss, slow and deep.
He stiffens, pressed to my centre, as I reach to put my arms around his neck and pull him closer still.
My breath hitches, and I gasp as he presses a hand to my back. I melt into him with a groan. I’m sure Juniper will be fine alone for a while. I grow flustered. Hot and bothered. Wet and warm and wonderful in his arms. Oh my god. I want him so badly.
Maybe we could slip away for a moment? Though I’m not sure we could even make it to the bedroom. The way he’s kissing me right now, I—
My alarm trills, and we break apart, giggling like teenagers as I run a hand through my hair and Ethan readjusts his jeans.
I sigh. Maybe not.
“We’ve got pizza!” I swan back into the living room, placing pizza one of three on the coffee table as Ethan comes up behind me to add the other two beside it.
“One each,” Ethan announces, retaking his same seat. “Unless you guys wanna mix and match?”
I shrug. “I’m happy to share.”
Juniper turns from the fire where one lone log on a stack of what looks like old envelopes stews in black ash. “Yeah. I have no idea how to do this,” she says.
“Let me try.” I cross the room to crouch beside her. “My mum has a log fire,” I say then add shyly, “but she’s only shown me how to do it a couple times.”
I send Juniper to fetch kindling and to see if there are any firelighters.
She comes back with a whole basketful of stuff, and once I weed out the good from the not-so-good, we build the fire together. Juniper strikes a long match and lights it right where I say to, and voila! It burns. It burns good.
We sit back on the floor grinning at each other, then I look away, my cheeks heating from the fire. We actually make a pretty good team?
“Good work, ladies!” Ethan says, reaching for his—
“Ethan! Is that your fifth slice?”
“Sixth actually!” he garbles, his mouth full of warm cheese.
“You rotten bastard!” I giggle, pouncing on him. We wrestle, and as I give in, squirming back into my seat, we find Juniper standing there watching us, eyebrows raised.
Oops.
“Honeymooners.” She rolls her eyes, retaking her seat the other side of me. “Remind me to find some earplugs if I have to stay the night.” She winks at me and I’m sure my cheeks must now be crimson.
Stay the night?
“Sorry.” I wince. “We’re so cringey!”
“I just wanted pizza,” Ethan says jokingly, his greasy hands raised. “You were the one getting all—”
“Saucy?” Juniper offers, and I can’t help laughing.
“Punny.” I say, pointing to her. “Very punny.”
Juniper grins. “What can I say? I’m a punny gal.”
Ethan sighs, and dammit, I just know he’s gonna say something ridiculous like—
“Well, I’d say it’s more of a double entendre…”
—and there it is. “You just had to say it, didn’t you?” I turn my back to him, facing Juniper. “Once an English teacher”—I roll my eyes—“always an English teacher.”
“What?” Ethan squirms beside me as Juniper chuckles.
“Well, I do like a good double entendre. Ooh, and an innuendo!” she adds with a wink.
“In your end-o!” I giggle then clap my hand over my mouth. “Sorry!” I squeak, but she only laughs more.
Juniper grabs a slice of pizza and sits back, eyeing us both. “You guys are a hoot.”
I can’t help beaming back at her.
Okay, fine. Maybe having this particular third wheel won’t be so bad, if only for a little while.
Once we’ve eaten our collective weight in pizza, I suggest watching a film, and Juniper tells us she’s not sure if there’s Netflix or whatever, but there is a DVD player.
My eyebrows rise. “Well that’s a blast from the past.”
“Yup,” Juniper agrees. We both look at Ethan, who is clearly the oldest of all of us.
“What?” he asks defensively. “I’m far too young to know what one of those is.”
I swear we both give him the exact same teasing look.
“Okay. Okay. I’ll have a look and see if I can work whatever ancient doodad you two are talking about.”
Juniper and I share a grin.
“You do that,” I say. Then I turn to Juniper, lowering my voice. “I’m only thirty-two.”
Her eyes light up. “Same!”
“But Ethan there,” I say in a stage whisper, cupping a hand beside my mouth, “is just a wee bit older.”
Juniper chuckles, and Ethan narrows his eyes at us playfully.
“I heard that!” He turns back to the TV and continues fiddling with the DVD player. “Anyway, what’s a few years when you’re our age?”
“But you’re not our age!” I retort. “He’s a bit sensitive now he’s in his forties.”
“I’m only forty-one!” he cries out.
Juniper nods mock-sympathetically and puts a hand to her heart. “Bless him.”
“Yeah,” I join in. “Poor love.”
Ethan manages to get the DVD player to work, but the DVD collection itself is a little underwhelming. After rummaging, though, we discover a couple of hidden gems.
Juniper and I outvote Ethan in choosing Moulin Rouge, which, as it happens, is in both of our top five films of all time.
“Actually, I think this might be my DVD?” Juniper flips the box over in her hand then places it back on the table with our empty plates. “That little thief.” She shakes her head as the movie starts, and we settle down to watch.
“Sisters.” I groan. “Who’d have ‘em?”
Juniper chuckles beside me.
I stretch out, scanning the room around us as the movie starts.
The fire crackles and pops, bathing the room in a gorgeous golden warmth I can’t get enough of.
There’s a second Christmas tree inside, but unlike its potted brother on the top deck out there, this one is dusted with artificial snow and is adorned only in large red and green baubles.
Striking, yet classy. I can’t tell which I like more.
A thick garland of winter green wraps lazily around the wooden beams above, and fairy lights criss-cross the ceiling like stars.
I sigh, completely and utterly content. There’s only one thing which could make this an absolutely perfect cinematic experience …
“Wish we had some popcorn,” I say.
“Shall I go out and get some?” Juniper asks, and we both giggle as the snow lashes unabated at the window.
“On second thought, I think we’ll be all right.”
Juniper and I whisper excitedly to each other as the opening credits roll. Then Ethan shushes us, pointing at the screen like he’s our teacher and we’re two of his cheeky college students. This of course makes us giggle more, but we try our best to stay quiet … at least until the next song starts.
Much to Ethan’s dismay, Juniper and I sing along to every song, including my personal favourite—The Elephant Love Medley—where Juniper takes on the role of Christian to my Satine.
We dance around the room, taking turns, with her singing me snippets of love songs while I coyly turn her down again and again.
It’s fun. She’s fun. We’re kinda fun together …
Ethan huffs and sighs as we obscure the screen with our dancing and whirling until we both collapse, red-faced and beaming, back on the sofa again at the end of the song.
I straighten in my seat, the realisation hitting me suddenly like a snowstorm sent straight from blue skies. Turns out, I don’t need popcorn to enjoy a film to its fullest; I just need Juniper.