Chapter 14
JULIET
The cabin had started to feel like ours.
It had been a couple of weeks since we arrived, but the days had settled into a rhythm that felt surprisingly natural. Our mornings were quiet. I’d wake up to the sound of Bastian moving around the small kitchen and the smell of coffee drifting into the bedroom.
I would get up, throw on one of his oversized shirts, and walk out of the bedroom, finding a mug waiting for me on the counter, more cream than coffee with just a little sugar. The way I liked it.
We’d then sit at the small table by the window watching the lake wake up. Sometimes we talked, but sometimes we just sat in comfortable silence, his hand resting on my thigh like he needed the contact to believe this was real. Today was one of those quiet mornings.
I sipped my coffee and watched him across the table.
He looked better out here, less haunted, less like he was carrying the weight of the world.
His hair was still messy from sleep, and there was a smear of grease on his forearm from working on the old generator yesterday that wouldn’t come off in the shower.
He caught me staring and raised an eyebrow.
“What?” he asked, his voice still rough with sleep, the corner of his mouth kicking up.
“Nothing,” I said, smiling a little. God, he looked good like this, all relaxed and shirtless. “Just thinking how different life feels. Being here with you, no one watching or waiting for us to mess up… it feels pretty damn good.”
He reached across the table and took my hand, his thumb brushing over my knuckles in that slow, familiar way that always made my stomach flutter.
“Yeah, baby, it feels really fucking perfect.” He paused, his eyes softening as he looked at me.
“I’ve actually been thinking… What if we bought this place and made it ours for real?
It’s small, but it’s got everything we need.
I could fix it up the way we want. No more worrying about who’s watching from the main house. Just you and me.”
He gave me a small, almost shy, smile. “What do you think about that?”
I blinked, surprised, but a warm flutter spread through my chest. “You’re serious?”
“Dead serious.” He leaned back in his chair, still holding my hand, still smirking.
“I’ve got a shit-ton of money saved from my overseas jobs.
I know the owner, of the cabin, and I know he’s willing to sell.
I could keep working at the marina just to stay busy.
There’s always boats that need repairs.”
“I can take online classes and help with the summer rentals at the dock when the season picks up again.” God… I didn’t want to go back to the city.
“We could make it work, baby. We could have a quiet life.”
I looked around the small cabin, stared at the worn wooden floors, the big window overlooking the water, and the tiny kitchen where we’d burned toast twice already this week.
This cabin wasn’t fancy or big, but it had a small patch of land, a lake view, and the idea of it being ours made something settle deep inside me.
“I love it here,” I said softly. “I love waking up with you and that we can just… be. But are you sure? You’ve always talked about how you never stay in one place for long. What if you get that itch again?”
He squeezed my hand tighter, his expression serious.
“I used to run because I didn’t think I deserved anything good. But with you… I don’t want to run anymore. I want to build something. With you. If you’ll have me.”
I felt tears prick at my eyes, but they were the good kind. “I want that, Bastian,” I whispered. “A home with you. Fixing this place up together and figuring out work and life and all of it.”
He smiled, slow and real, the kind of smile that still made my heart skip. “Good. Because I already talked to the owner, and it’s ours if we’re serious.”
I laughed softly and leaned across the table to kiss him. “Of course you did. Always planning.”
We sat at the table for a long time after that talking about practical things like how much work the cabin would need, what kind of budget would be reasonable, and how I’d take business classes online so I could eventually run my own little marina shop during the busy summer months
It felt real, but scary, and exciting all at once because we were building a future together.