Twisted Flame (Ironcliff Falls #1)

CHAPTER 1 Jessica

Jessica

Ifeel like it’s always the same damn thing with Camden.

He goes to work, then comes home complaining every single day.

I’m really getting tired of it. We’ve been married for five years now, but I feel regret creeping in every time I look at him.

The last six months have been rough. I often put up this front that everything is fine and dandy around others, so I don’t have to show the weakness between the two of us.

Maybe having a sit-down conversation with him would be best, but it never feels like the right time to do it.

In town and among our friends, we’re always deemed the couple of the year.

If only people knew how boring our relationship is behind closed doors, then maybe they would remove that title from us.

It’s been two months since we’ve had meaningful sex, too.

Most times, he’s down for a quick fuck, then wants to go to bed.

At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s out there sleeping with someone else.

There are nights when I get this slight smell of perfume on his clothes.

I push it aside because I hope it's just a client and not him cheating on me.

I wish there were something we could do to make things better between the two of us.

It’s almost as if the universe is speaking to me when I receive a text from my friend Ana.

Ana: Hey girl, have you heard about Ironcliff Falls?

Hmm, that name doesn’t ring a bell to me.

Me: Enlighten me.

Ana: Well, they have an upcoming retreat for couples. It's supposed to help relationships out. I remember you telling me about how things with Camden have been recently.

It’s so crazy that she decides to bring this up when I’m stuck between whether our relationship is worth it or not.

There are moments where I feel like things are going well, then others where it feels the complete opposite.

Everything seems so twisted, but I need that flame between us to spark again.

Me: I’ll have to check it out. You know we need it.

Ana: I hope he’s on board to do something like that.

I have this feeling it’s going to take some convincing, but hopefully I can get him to understand the importance of going to this retreat and spending some time together.

I pull up the website for Ironcliff Falls, and it looks like an ordinary campground. I can see the list of events they have scheduled over the Fourth of July weekend, and they actually seem to be good.

Fourth of July Parade

Bonfire

Fireworks

Vision and purpose workshop

Exploring love languages workshop

Communication and conflict resolution workshop

Couples’ intimacy workshop

Relationship stability and financial management workshop

All of these look like they would be interesting to do.

Of course, with us being go-with-the-flow kinds of people, we’ll use the schedule as a reference, but probably won’t go to many, if any, of the sessions.

Camden is the type of guy who pushes back on doing workshops together.

It makes everything hard because these could help strengthen our relationship, but it takes two to be successful at these things.

Over the past couple of years we’ve been together, it’s been very rare that we’ve taken the time to do anything together to better our relationship.

We might go on a trip here or there, but nothing too exciting.

I really hope he’ll be on board with us going for the week to the campground because it allows us to be together with no outsider worries.

This will be a mini-vacation, but also an opportunity to get closer after some distance between the two of us.

A few hours later, Camden walks through the front door.

“Hey, babe, how was your day?” He questions.

I’m shocked he’s actually being nice and asking me about my day.

It seems like he never cares anymore. There must have been something that happened at work that made him want to be in my presence.

He comes and pulls me in for a kiss, and to my surprise, that smell of women’s perfume isn’t on him today.

“It’s the same as ever. I’ve just been seeing clients and trying to read in my downtime. Ana texted me today and mentioned this campground called Ironcliff Falls that’s hosting a Fourth of July week-long festival. Do you think this is something we could go to?”

He looks at me, contemplating whether this is the right decision or not.

“I’d be down. Tell me we aren’t staying in some dumb tent. I don’t think we would have a good time if we did that.”

I’m happy we’re on the same page because I was thinking about a cabin or camper. The thought of sleeping on the ground doesn’t sound fun at all.

“They have a camper we can rent. From what I saw on the website, they’re pretty spacious—we would only need to bring linens and towels. At the campground, they have different couple workshops. Maybe we can check one out?”

“We can do a workshop. Go ahead and book the trip, though.”

I do as he says and get us booked before I start to make dinner for the night.