“The rooms are all full, Connor. I don’t know what to tell you.” My cousin Natalie goes back to typing on her phone, but my sigh is loud enough to distract her. “This was your idea.”
“Well, it wasn’t a good one.”
Mountain View Lodge has been in our family for generations, and after my uncle died two years ago, I’ve been helping my cousin settle into her role here. We’ve lived on the property our whole lives, but now she’s running the office, and I can tell she’s just a bit overwhelmed with the big weekend coming up.
After she took over, she had some of the cabins renovated and put them up as rentals. We haven’t rented them in years, so it was a bit of a learning curve. I offhandedly mentioned that she should do a vacation package for weekend skiers, and they sold like hot cakes. Since last year, she’s had the cabins booked solid, but I’m not sure how I feel about it anymore. This place has always been my quiet refuge, but having tourists come around makes it feel less special. If it was up to me, I’d lock the gate and throw away the key, but Natalie can’t be alone. She’s said her whole life it’s too quiet up here, so I was surprised she wanted to take over after her dad died.
I’d made a bet with her brother that the second she could get off this mountain, we wouldn’t see her again, but the day she moved back in, I had to slap a hundred-dollar bill in his hand. Bastard.
My mom and dad passed when I was younger, and I was raised by my aunt and uncle. So even though Natalie is my cousin, she’s always been more like a little sister. Mostly because she loves annoying the shit out of me.
“How much money would it take to cancel their reservations?” I hedge, and she narrows her eyes at me.
“Shut up, Connor. We both know neither of us needs the money.”
“Then explain to me why you’re letting all these strangers up here for New Year’s Eve. I thought we agreed to rent the cabins until the end of the year then take a break.”
“Technically, it’s the end of the year.”
I roll my eyes and hear the front door close. “Wilder!” I shout. “Come in here and tell your sister to kick everyone off the mountain.”
“No way, then we’ll be stuck with her over New Year’s, and I’m not kissing my sister at midnight.”
“You wish,” Natalie says without looking up from her phone.
Wilder comes and plops down on the sofa next me and tosses me a bag. “Mom made you some cookies.”
Before I reach out to grab them, Natalie snatches them up. “Hey, those are for me!”
“My mama made them, so technically they’re for me too.” My Aunt Paula still lives up here with us as the resident grandmother with no grandchildren. Which she loves to remind us of. She does most of the cooking even though we have a staff in the lodge where the guests stay that does all the cooking and cleaning for the cabins that are rented.
“Easy, Connor,” Wilder says and tosses me another bag. “Those were the broken ones anyway.”
“Asshole,” Natalie murmurs while stuffing broken cookies in her mouth.
“What’s got you all twisted up about this weekend? All you have to do is stay here in the big house, and you won’t even know anyone is here,” Wilder says as he takes a cookie from his own bag.
“I don’t know. I think I’m just missing the quiet.” Wilder and Natalie share a glance, and I get annoyed. They have that weird twin thing they do where they talk without using words. “Either say it out loud or don’t do that. You know I hate it.”
“Wilder thinks you need to get laid,” Natalie says and shrugs.
“I could say the same about the both of you,” I grumble and eat another cookie.
“And how are we supposed to give Mom all those grandbabies she wants if you lock the gates?” Wilder says as he goes to grab a drink.
“Sorry, but that’s up to the two of you. I’m not getting married.” I cross my arms over my chest and stare out the window at the snowy mountaintop. “After this weekend is over, either you shut the cabins down or I’m out of here.”
“Connor,” both Natalie and Wilder say at the same time.
“I just need a break, okay?” Deciding I need a break from the conversation too, I stand up and head toward the front door.
“Hey, wait. Let’s talk about this,” Natalie says, and I can hear her come up behind me as I grab my coat and boots. There’s about three feet of snow already covering the ground outside, and it’s well below freezing.
“I don’t need to talk, Natalie. You’ve got this place packed for the next few days, and there’s work to be done until then. I’m gonna go chop some wood.”
“I’ll come help,” Wilder offers, and I don’t protest.
“Fine, but we’ll talk about this later. Okay?” When I turn around, Natalie’s big brown eyes are pleading, and damn it, I can’t stay mad at her.
“Fine” is all I say as Wilder and I head out into the snow.
The only sound is our boots crunching in snow as we make our way out to the woodshed. “You know we probably don’t need to chop wood for the next three years or so.”
“It’s therapeutic,” I mumble, grabbing one of the axes hanging inside and then going out to the chopping block.
“Whatever you say, cousin.”
We’re outside for several hours while I chop and Wilder stacks up the pieces. It’s calming and keeps me warm in the icy cold, even though my anger would probably do that too. I don’t know why I’m so pissed about sharing this place, but it feels like the more people we let in, the more it loses its magic. Natalie and Wilder talk about having families and raising their kids here. That’s well and good for them, but all I want to do is hunt in the winter, fish in the summer, and read when it’s dark. I’m a simple man, and I don’t need much, including a woman. Especially one that might drag me away from my home here.
“That must be the rest of them,” Wilder says and nods to the line of SUVs coming up the road in the distance.
“Great.” My voice sounds sour even to my own ears.
I’m ready for this weekend to be over, and it hasn’t even started. I know deep down that there’s no way anything good can come from letting outsiders on our land. No matter how pretty they might be.