You apparently all expect that they will end up in the same cabin.

Hmmm ... not quite correct. :-)


Chapter 7

The fridge was well stocked, as usual. Elsa always made sure that he wouldn't starve to death when he went up here. Not that he would eat much. He never did.

Killian poured the coffee in a cup and went outside on the patio, slumping down on the rocking chair and planting his feet against the balustrade. The wind was biting in his skin, but this was his ritual, no matter what weather it was. Whenever he came up to the cabin the first thing he did was make himself coffee, and then go out on the patio.

Closing his eyes, he tilted his head and just listened. He needed to get up here more often; the silence surrounding him was soothing for the soul. The only thing you could hear was the nature. The rushing of the small waterfall nearby, the wind in the leaves of the trees, the chirping of the birds, and if you got lucky you could actually watch some wildlife crossing the field behind the cabin come nightfall.

He remembered the first time he'd come here after Milah broke his heart; how the silence had helped him to pick up the pieces of his heart, and put them back together. But it was Liam and Elsa who actually saved him; their constant support helping him over the first dreadful months. Especially since they'd both encouraged him to actually write the novel he always wanted to write. Liam had told him he should give it a try, that he didn't need to worry about money.

One year. Liam had convinced him to give himself one year to write the novel, and find a publisher. And he had succeeded.

But only because he chose to use a pen name, made sure his agent and the publisher knew about the importance of staying anonymous. Forever. So that they never found out, and ruined everything for him.

Sometimes he wished he'd never met Milah, that he hadn't gone to this particular party. It would have made his life a lot easier. But maybe if he hadn't met her, he would have never started writing. Maybe he should be grateful after all.

She'd kicked him to the curb after she was through with him. He thought she loved him as much as he loved her, but of course thinking that had been completely ridiculous. She was ten years older, accustomed to having money to spend as much as she wanted to, and back then he had been nothing else than an accountant, barely making the money to survive on his own.

If Milah ever found out about who Peter Hook really was, he would be in trouble. He wouldn't put it past her to use some well placed blackmail. After all her husband was the Robert Gold, the owner of the famous publisher house, and it was well in his powers to force Killian's writing career to take a nose dive if Milah ever told him that Killian had had an affair with her. He was sure she would make it sound as if he'd been the one seducing her, and not the other way around.

No, it was better for all parties involved if he stayed hidden, and enjoyed being famous in private. And stayed the hell away from women who had the potential to break through the walls he'd built around his heart.

Like his little neighbor.

He still didn't know how it had happened, or when. She had been fun to tease, her body calling to him on a primal level. But one night with her had changed everything. Another reason why going up here had been a very good idea. He had to get away from her, at least for a little while.

Because he wanted to get to know her, wanted to reach behind the layers she was hiding behind, wanted to see the woman she was deep inside. Being an author he knew that every person had them; the walls they hid their real personality behind, deciding how much of the real person they were showing to the world.

There were only two people who really knew him. His brother and his sister-in-law.

He'd been content with his life. He didn't need to worry about money anymore, had enough casual friends for having some fun, and if the need for some female companionship grew too strong, he could always find it in the blink of an eye.

No strings, no heartbreaks.

It was better that way. He would stay up here to finish the first draft of his next novel, and hopefully burying himself in his work would erase the strange feelings he harbored for his new neighbor, so that when he went back she would be nothing more than his neighbor who he enjoyed to tease from time to time.

-/-

Emma was still wondering if coming up here had been a good idea when she stepped out of her car and looked around, taking in her surroundings.

Remote location indeed. She was in the middle of nowhere.

Her eyes fell on a swirl of smoke over the trees at the other side of the field, and she squinted her eyes, making out a chimney and a car parked under the trees. Apparently not that remote. But she was sure whoever lived in that cabin wasn't inclined to have any company.

She reached for her bag and slammed the car door shut behind her, walking briskly towards the cabin. It was freezing cold, and she wanted to take a hot bath and slip into bed. She was eager to get back to her book.

But after she had put the few things she'd taken with her into the dresser, the silence started to press down on her, and she wandered into the kitchen, deciding that a glass of wine might help with the sudden anxiety.

Standing at the window, she closed her hand around the glass, staring out over the lake. She realized that this was the first vacation she'd gone on alone since the whole Neal fiasco.

Her work as a sports agent was demanding most of the times, and kept her thoughts well occupied. She loved her job, and even Neal couldn't change that.

She'd met him through Cole, the linebacker of the Dolphins. Neal had been charming, and she'd been still new at the job, still dazzled by all those famous athletes she met in her line of work.

Looking back at it, he had totally taken advantage of that fact. Loved her adoration. Loved that she'd put him on a pedestal. She had fallen head over heels in love with him, but he'd just used her and threw her away like a used Kleenex when he found a better hunting ground.

He had broken her heart, and without the support of her friends she might have broken down completely. But they stood by her side, supporting her in any way possible, and thanks to them she still had her job. A job she really enjoyed, despite her bad experiences with Neal.

Now she just looked at all her clients with kind of a sisterly affection, shaking her head most of the times about their silly antics, and her huge egos.

As long as she didn't let anyone near her heart she was fine.

So she had to stay the hell away from her neighbor. She knew that type too damn well, and she would not repeat the same mistakes. Ever again.

He was devastatingly handsome, and amazing in bed. But she didn't want to get to know him better, afraid that she might fall for him. Because she wasn't sure if she could keep her heart safe if he turned his charm on.

She didn't know what happened that night, but something happened. Somehow he'd stirred something deep inside of her, and she didn't want him to get close to her in any way.

Hence her escape to this cabin, in hopes that when she went back he would just be her annoying neighbor again, and nothing more.

-/-

She had hardly noticed the snow starting to fall in fat flakes from the sky, completely immersed in her book. She'd been too tired the day before to read anything, but after waking up more rested than she'd been in months, she'd made herself a big breakfast before curling up onto the couch to read.

Only when she had to squint her eyes to read the text she finally realized the snow storm outside. The room was as dark as if it was early evening, and not the middle of the day, but she decided to just ignore it for the time being, and turned back to the book in her lap.

When it was time to go to bed she glanced out of the window again. The storm had calmed down considerably, but the flakes were still falling down from the sky. Her car was already half buried in the snow, and she just hoped that she wouldn't get snowed in completely. There wasn't much she could do either way, and she crawled into bed to read a few more pages before she settled down to sleep.

She woke up in the middle of the night because she was shivering, wondering why it was so ice cold in the room. When she fumbled for the switch of the bedside lamp nothing happened, and she cursed under her breath as she slipped out of bed to stumble into the living room.

Goosebumps ran over her skin as she walked from room to room, trying light switches and fumbling with the radiators, but still nothing.

"Fucking great," she hissed as she realized that the power must have gone out over night, and after a look out of the window she knew why.

Everything was buried under snow. She couldn't even see her car anymore, and she leaned her head against the cold window, closing her eyes for a second.

What was she supposed to do now?

There was no cell reception out here, the land line didn't work anymore, she couldn't drive into town, and the cabin would turn into a freezer in a few hours.

Before panic could overwhelm her she remembered the smoke she'd seen when she arrived yesterday. She wasn't completely alone out here. Help was only a few minutes away. She just had to get to the other cabin.

She tried to keep herself warm until the sun finally started to rise - she hadn't been that delusional to think that she could find her way to the cabin in complete darkness - and she could leave the house.

She'd seen some snowshoes the day before, and it took her a while until she managed to put them on. Zipping up her coat, she slipped her hands into the gloves and pulled her beanie further down over her forehead, before she opened the door and went out into the snow.

It was exhausting to walk with the snowshoes, and more than once she contemplated if she should just give up and turn around. But she knew staying at her own cabin wasn't an option. She would freeze to death eventually. So she trudged forward, her legs becoming unbearably heavy, and her muscles starting to tremble the closer she got to the other cabin.

But finally she reached it, pulling the snowshoes off her feet, and stepping onto the patio. She lifted her hand to knock but hesitated. What if her neighbor was an axe murderer? Or a crazed serial killer?

"You are watching too many horror movies, Swan," she whispered to herself as she hunched her shoulders, and buried her face deeper into her jacket, knocking at the doorframe before she could change her mind.

She stomped her feet on the doormat, waiting for someone to open the door already, before she would lose all her courage, and flee back to her cabin. But when the door finally opened she wished she'd never come over here in the first place, her mouth dropping to the floor as she stared at the person standing in front of her.

"You've got to be kidding me."