Here's a bit of fluff in honor of the beloved, highly commercialized, excuse to eat sweets Valentine's Day. A little something to help with my highly romantic thoughts, seeing as other stories aren't quite so... well, fluffy. Each section will be short and sweet.
1
The road climbed the side of the mountain like a giant side wider snake. Sarah maneuvered the car through the switchbacks at a steady fort miles an hour. Slow enough to see the scenery yet fast enough not to waste the day light. She glanced at the horizon: the mid afternoon sun was setting the fall leaves aflame, the entire hillside burned as a light breeze rippled through. It was incredibly beautiful. She eased into another turn.
Her Aunt Gladys had lent her the family log cabin for a whole week of seclusion. It would be good for. Complete isolation in the great outdoors with no distractions was what her career needed right now. Last year Sarah had experienced a substantial amount of success as a young adult romance writer. There had a mini book tour, several hundred autographed copies, and then a whole lot of pressure from the publishing company to succeed their expectations on book number two. Her deadline was fast approaching to turn in at least a first draft of something. Cautiously she glanced at the satchel on the passenger seat. It contained a lap top with an empty hard drive. Sarah Williams was facing sudden doom as a failed author if this week proved fruitless.
The switchbacks stretched out to smooth road as she crested a hill. Up a head a small village came into view. Under Hill was only civilization around for miles, and it lived up to its Tolkien reference with a few cottages surrounded with seasonal gardens and a stable offering pony rides. It was as quaint and romantic as her Aunt Gladys had promised. Out of the handful of buildings one was a service station, offering two gasoline pumps and inside a variety of dry goods. It was there with the store's owner, a Mr. Gaudfrey, that Sarah would pick up the key to the cabin.
A bell jingled as she pushed the door open. Inside there was the lingering scent of burned wood and fresh baked bread. A man with silver grey hair was handling a bakery display. "Hello there," he said his voice as warm as the fresh bread. "What can I do for you today?"
"I'm looking for Mr. Gaudfrey. I'm Gladys Williams' niece."
"Ah," he said in understanding. "I'm Ike Gaudfrey. Pleasure. So you must Sarah Williams?"
She nodded.
"Yes. Gladys said we should be expecting you some time today. Just a moment, the key is behind the counter."
Mr. Gaudfrey moved away from the baked goods and walked further into the store. Sarah followed him while glancing around. At a long counter Mr. Gaudfrey opened a register and retrieved a set of keys. "The silver one is for the front door," he explained. "The copper one is for the wood shed. I do hope Gladys told you to come prepared: food, necessities?"
"I have a cooler with some meat and vegetables in the car," said Sarah. "But that bread smells amazing. I would love a loaf."
"I'll convey the compliments to my wife then," said Mr. Gaudfrey with a smile. "Won't be any good without butter." He opened a near by cold case and brought out a white Tupperware container. "You should like this. Comes from one of the near by dairy farms. Not that this is Amish country," he hastened to add while obtaining a hefty looking loaf of bread. "You'll have working electricity and running water up at the cabin. I do believe Gladys even had Wi-Fi installed last year."
"Thank you."
Having paid for the food and picked up the brown paper bag she turned to leave. Mr. Gaudfrey called after her, "Oh and be sure to stock up the wood inside the cabin now. There's a possibility of a storm moving in."
