"What do you supposed Stetler hopes to accomplish from this? It's not as if we can be an even stronger team than we already are." Calleigh stared out the window, their mountain destination loomed in front of them.
"Calleigh!" Eric threw her an exasperated glance "A team can always be stronger. Besides, just look at as a company paid vacation."
Calleigh continued staring out the window, she made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a harrumph. Eric tried to lighten her mood, "Hey, at least you got to ride with me." His teasing smile beamed and he waggled his eyebrows.
She glanced over and tried to fight the grin forming, by pursing her lips, but the grin won out. "How did I get so lucky?"
"Well... Ryan and Natalia are testifying in court, so they won't be up til' later."
"How'd Walter end up riding with Horatio?"
Eric shot her another grin. "I got first pick"
Light snow started to fall when they reached the base of the mountain. They stopped at a grocery store and stocked up on supplies for the weekend. Eric double checked the directions to the cabin, and was told to 'turn right at the old tucker place'. The CSI's exchanged amused glances.
Half an hour later, groceries tucked in the back of the Humber, next to the packed duffel bags. After about ten minutes, they'd made a right at what they hoped was 'the old tucker place'. Eric pulled the Humber in front of something neither of them suspected. The snowfall had picked up drastically and the ground crunched under their feet ad they exited the Humber.
"Wow!" To say they were surprised was an under-statement.
"I'll say" They were speechless
They stood next to the back of the Humber, looking up at the structure whose only resemblance to a cabin is the fact that it was made of wood.
Two storey's tall, with windows galore. A porch wrapped around the entire house, and each of the upstairs bedrooms had french doors that lead out to it's own balcony. There was a path to the right of the house, which Calleigh discovered led to a lake a quarter of a mile away. A couple of chimney's sprouted from the roof.
"Shall we go inside? It's freezing. I'm certainly already missing the Miami weather." Calleigh smiled at Eric as she rubbed her hands together to create some warmth.
"Let's go." Eric replied as he chuckled, thinking Calleigh looked adorable with her rosy red cheeks from the cold. She hurried up the steps to the front door, turned the handle when she realised it was locked. She turned around to find Eric taking his time coming up the steps with the key.
When he got there, the slipped the key in the lock and turned the door handle. He let the door swing open. the inside looked nothing like any of the cabins Eric had been in with his family, when they went of family vacations when he was little. A deep-set living room greeted them to the left and at the end of the entryway, a wide staircase led up to the bedrooms. They made their way through the house.
"Are you sure we're at the right place?" Calleigh asked as she peered around a corner and found a games room, with a pool table, over-stuffed red sectional sofa faced a huge fire place.
"The key wouldn't have worked, if we weren't" Eric stated from just behind her.
"I can't imagine Stetler paying for all of this"
"Me neither, Lets go pick out the best bedroom" He turned and headed back towards the front door.
"Rooms" Calleigh said exaggerating the plural.
"What?" Eric asked, sounding like we was already back in the front hall.
"Bed Rooms." Calleigh repeated, again emphasising the 'S' on the end of the word.
"Wow!"
"You can say that again"
"Wow!" Eric smiled at his own joke, Calleigh moved her eyes over towards him, then rolled them.
They each stepped further into the bedroom that had amazed them. A king-size sleigh bed was nestled against the furthest wall from the door. A peacock coloured comforter draped the bed, looking very comfortable and inviting. A mound of throw pillows topped the bed. Calleigh looked around, and noticed this room too had its own fire place and television. A door next to the balcony's french doors, lead to the bathroom, and Calleigh walked in to find to sunken tub with Jacuzzi jets, and large, very soft towels that was just a shade lighter than the comforter. She left the bathroom and returned to the bedroom just in time to see Eric heft his duffel bag of clothes and toss it on the mattress.
"Mine" He claimed.
"Just like that?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Yep" He followed the duffel bag and dove on to the bed. Rolling on to his side, he propped his head up with one arm. "What? You'd rather someone else have this room?"
She relented. "No. Guess not."
"Come on" He sat up, then stood. "Let's go claim your bedroom."
Calleigh looked at her watch "Shouldn't the others be getting here soon?"
"You missing Ryan?"
"Actually" She thought about it for a moment. "No. No I'm not."
The next bedroom was done in Eggplant and Cream. While it was a double-sized, not a king. it did have it's own fire place, balcony and private bathroom. Calleigh didn't need to look any further. She set her bag down just inside the bedroom door. "Mine" she repeated Eric's declaration.
Eric smiled in the doorway. "OK" He glanced at his watch, then ran one hand over his stomach. "It's getting a little late. Let's get dinner started, have it ready when everyone else gets here."
They went back down stairs and out the front door to retrieve the groceries. During their tour of the house, the snowfall had doubled, the Humber was nearly covered.
Calleigh hugged herself as she hurried to the Humber and tugged out the bag of groceries. "What?" she asked as she loaded his arms with bags.
Walking back inside, he said "Worried about them making it up the hill. Come on. I got the stuff for my world famous spaghetti."
Eric dumped a box of pasta into the pot of boiling water, then stirred the tomato sauce. Calleigh slipped the salad into the fridge to chill. "Eric, I'm starting to get a little worried." Calleigh sipped from her glass of red wine.
"Me too, maybe..." He stopped when Calleigh's phone rang.
She removed it from her pocket and glanced at the screen. "It's Horatio." She told him before she answered it. "Horatio" Static filled her ear, with broken bits of clear signal that cut his words in half. Putting her finger in her other ear, Calleigh stepped closer to the back door. "You're breaking up"
Eric stirred the sauce and leaned against the counter, sipping his own glass of wine.
"Yeah, It's snowing here too." She listened for a moment "A hotel? You're in a hotel?" Another pause "Yeah. OK." She moved her phone away from her ear and walked back into the kitchen. "They're stuck about 30 miles from here. Snow's made the roads impassable."
Eric nodded. "I was afraid of that. If they checked the weather before they left, Ryan and Natalia probably haven't even left Miami."
"This is really good, Eric" Calleigh wound spaghetti round her fork "How'd you ever learn to cook like this?"
"My mom taught me. She said I needed to know to cook, so she taught me. I gotta tell ya, I've never made it without meat before."
She smiled, as she chewed and swallowed the bit. "It's a good skill to have."
Once they finished, Calleigh started stacking the dishes and carried them into the kitchen.
With only two of them for dinner, not the six they'd cooked for, there were plenty of left-overs. Calleigh found a plastic wrap and packed up the food, while Eric loaded the dishwasher. They were quiet as they worked, each lost in their own thoughts.
When the kitchen was clean, Eric tossed a dish towel on to the counter. "I think I saw a DVD player in the games room, up for a movie?"
Calleigh nodded. "A comedy, I think."
"Sounds good."
The Games room had a chill in the air, and Calleigh grabbed a knitted wool throw off the couch, wrapping it round her shoulders. "Go ahead and pick out a movie, I'll get a fire going." Eric told her as he kneeled down in front of the large fire place and started piling twigs for kindling.
Calleigh perused the titles. "How 'bout The Philadelphia Story?"
Eric struck a match and held it up to some crumpled newspaper. "That would be OK. I don't think I've seen that one."
"Really?" Calleigh smiled widely. "It's a wonderful movie." She opened the case and pulled the disc out. "You know... I've always though you resembled Cary Grant a little."
Eric looked at her stunned, then cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Sure" Calleigh walked over and sunk herself into the sofa. "Suave, gentlemanly, although different accent."
"Hey, lay off my Cuban accent" He laid it on more thickly than usual and sat next to her on the couch. She took the throw from around her shoulders and laid it over both of their laps. It wasn't long before the combination of the wine, the fire and the cinematic equivalent of comfort food. Calleigh soon became warm and very cosy, she found herself snuggling up to Eric, resting her head on his shoulder.
With the closing credits rolling, Calleigh reached for the remote and turned off the TV. "Did you like it?"
"Yeah, I did" he said in a decent Cary Grant imitation, then stretched, and looked at his watch. "wow, past my bedtime."
"Your bedtime is 9 o'clock in the morning?" Calleigh teased "But it is late"
"Come on" He stood and held his hand out for her to take. "I'll walk you home" Eric smirked.
Calleigh woke suddenly, disorientation overcame her for just a moment, she wasn't sure where she was, or why she'd woken up. Then she remembered, she was in a cabin. Eric was in the next room, but what had woken her up. Then she heard it again, Eric screamed.
She tossed the covers aside and jumped out of bed, nearly stumbling from how quickly she moved. She threw the bedroom door open and running to his bedroom door, she didn't bother to knock. When she saw him tossing and turning, covered in sweat. she had no doubt, what his nightmares were about.
"Eric!" She called out, trying to wake him up. He was tossing around on the bed, clutching the comforter in his tightly clenched fists. She crawled up on the bed next to him, still calling his name, grabbed his shoulders and began to shake him. "Eric, Honey, wake up, you've got to wake up!" He suddenly settled and slowly opened his eyes. Calleigh stopped shaking him, she sat back on her heels, and swallowed hard. She recognised the same disorientation she'd just experienced in his eyes as he glanced around the room. "It's OK, you're alright." He sat up, rested against the headboard, and rubbed his hands over his face. After a few moments, she asked "Do you dream about it a lot?"
He sighed heavily and dropped his hands in his lap. "I did for a while. They kind of faded away. They just started coming back again. He buried his face in his hands, and cried.
"Oh, Sweetie." Calleigh whispered and scooted up the bed, gathering him in her arms. She rocked him gently, rested her chin on his head, trying to soothe him. Kissed his forehead. His skin was warm and her lips were soft. Calleigh was as surprised at herself as Eric was. His crying stopped and he pulled away from her just enough to be able to look at her.
Their eyes locked, and then suddenly their lips were on each others.