Chasing Leah (Journey #1)

We drive a little further away and I take in the desolate surroundings as we get further and further from civilization. Chase turns off onto a long dirt road surrounded by trees and stops the car at the end. “Well what do you think?” He asks as he motions towards a small log cabin nestled between a thick forest of trees.

“This is where we’re staying? By ourselves?” I say as I look up at the dark cabin. Chase snorts, “Well yeah, did you think we would get separate rooms? I can sleep on the porch if you want.”

I wave my hands at him and shake my head. “That’s not what I meant, I just figured we were staying at a hotel. Where there would be other people.”

He jumps out of the car and jogs over to my side pulling the door open. “C’mon, let’s go check the place out. I found it online and it looked pretty nice,” he says as he grabs my hand pulling me out. “We’ll come back for Caleb in a minute. I don’t think he’s going anywhere.” He places his hands under my knees and throws me over his shoulder as he runs towards the cabin. “Jeez Chase,” I say as I pound on his back. “I can walk ya know?”

“I know that Leah but that way was more fun, right? Besides you weigh about as much as my 10 year old sister, we need to pack some pounds on you.”

“Um, that’s ok. Didn’t your mother ever teach you never to comment on a ladies weight?” I ask as he sets me down on the porch and roots around the top of the door frame. “What are you…”

“Aha I got it,” he says as he brings his hand down, showing me the key he found. “The guy I rented this from lives a few hours away so after I gave him all of my credit card info he let me know where the key was hidden.” He slides the key in and holds the door open for me. “I’m gonna go grab our stuff and the little dude.”

I feel around and find a switch that lights the tiny cabin up. There’s just one wide room with an open concept and I can see the small kitchen, living room with a fireplace in the corner and a small dining area with a table for two all from the front door. There’s a set of stairs sitting in the middle of the room that leads up to a loft where the bathroom and bedroom must be. The whole place is decorated in an Americana theme I notice as I look around and it feels very homey.

“Here we go. I think this is everything,” Chase says as he comes in loaded down with bags and sets Caleb down who looks around at his strange surroundings while rubbing at his eyes. “Wow this place is pretty great, huh?” I grab bags from him and haul them towards the kitchen. “Yeah it really is. You’re a good planner,” I say as I empty out the bags. Chase bought all the basic provisions for us and some simple meals for the next two days. “You still tired buddy?” Caleb shakes his head at me and Chase helps me get him ready for bed. The couch in the living room has a pull out bed and after changing him into his jammies and pulling out his favorite blanket, he immediately crashes. “Don’t worry I made sure the doors are locked, he’s not going anywhere.” Chase says as if he can read my mind. I’m not used to being somewhere that’s not baby proof but I guess my little guy isn’t so much of a baby anymore.

He grabs my hand as I put the last of the things away. “And I know you’ll like this,” he says as he drags me to the back sliding door off of the living room. We walk out onto the back porch where the fireplace from the living room is double sided and can be seen from the back. There’s a small pond with the moon reflecting off of it that we can see from the porch as I lean against the rails. Chase wraps his arms around my waist and places a kiss under my ear as he snuggles me closer. I let out a small shiver and he wraps me even tighter, “You cold?” He whispers in my ear with his hot breath sending more shivers running through my body. “Nope I’m good,” I say as I lean back into him.

“Oh I guess you don’t want to check that out then,” he says as he motions with his head towards the opposite end of the porch. I turn and see a small hot tub that looks just big enough for the two of us. “Well I suppose we could check it out, if you want,” I say with a shrug of my shoulders. He grabs me around the waist and throws me over his shoulder again as he runs inside. “Anything to see you in a bikini again baby.” I laugh as he sets me down and I rifle through my bag for my suit. “I’ll be right back,” I say as I jog up the stairs to the loft.