I decided I needed to know more about this place and started across the woods, moving sideways in the direction that Snow and the man had come from. They had come from somewhere, and I wanted to know where. I had crept through the woods for a few moments when I noticed that the trees ahead of me seemed to be thinning out. I moved a little faster, grasping the trees and brush on either side of me to keep from slipping on the leaves and dirt that were quickly turning to sludge and mud beneath my feet. When I reached the edge of the trees I saw that I was a few yards away from what looked like a small house. The cottage had the thatched roof and square, shuttered windows of a time long past. I didn’t see anyone around the cottage so I stepped out from the shelter of the trees and ran to the back of the small building. There was a narrow door in the back and I crept up to it to look through the curved window at the top, but I couldn’t see anything but an open room with a desk inside. I stepped back and shielded my eyes from the falling rain to look up at the windows that were several feet above. They didn’t seem high enough to be an actual second floor, as if the cottage was designed so that the back portion was elevated by just a few steps.
Looking around the back of the cottage I noticed a rain barrel positioned to one side. It went along with the rustic, natural surroundings, but it also presented me with a means of hoisting myself up to the window. I gripped the edge of the barrel and tried to pull it. The rain had filled the barrel so much, however, that it was too heavy to pull. I climbed up on it and turned to look at the window so I could gauge how far I was. The barrel brought me to only a few feet from the window and close enough to a tall domed trellis I assumed held a rose bush earlier in the year that I was able to stretch my leg over to it and use it to balance myself as I leaned to the window. My fingers slipped slightly on the windowsill as I tried to grip it, but I was able to keep myself in place enough that I could peer into the window. A darkened bedroom was on the other side, the bed pristinely made and everything neat and clean enough that it looked like a hotel room. There was only one personal item visible, a pair of shoes that I knew to be Snow’s. I looked to the side, wishing that there was a way that I could get to the large bay window several feet away.
I was starting to ease my way down from my position when I heard voices coming in my direction. I jumped down, catching my leg on the trellis as I went. I winced at the pain of the wood scraping my skin through my pants, but made my way as quickly as I could to the other side of the house. Stepping behind the side of the house, I leaned around just enough to peek back to the yard. A woman was coming around the side dragging another barrel. The gesture had the same sickening compassion and tenderness as something that Snow would do, making this woman instantly distasteful to me. As she put the barrel into place a few feet from the other, a man came rushing toward her.
“I told you no,” the woman said without even looking up at him.
“That’s not fair, Fawn.”
“Of course, it is,” the woman said. “Fair and legal. You’ve signed a contract. You know the rules. They were put in place for situations exactly like this.”
“You can’t tell me that you’ve never had this happen with any of the men you’ve brought in.”
“Of course, it has.” The woman he had called Fawn looked at the barrel I had managed to wiggle slightly out of place and cocked her head at it as if she noticed that it had been moved, then looked back at the man. “That’s precisely why I made the rules that I did. This is not the point of the Enchanted Woods. Women come here for relaxation. For fun. To find out about themselves and to improve their lives. This is about them, not the men. I’ll remind you again that you signed a contract. That’s all I have to say about it.”
I was so fascinated by the exchange that I didn’t even care about the rain anymore. Fawn walked away from the man, but he stayed in place, the rain pouring down on him as he stood, now fully soaked, and stared out into the woods behind him. Finally, he turned and walked the same way that Fawn had around the side of the house. I started to follow him, then heard the sound of wet footsteps coming toward me. I ran back to my position on the side of the house and watched as the man reappeared, pulling Snow behind him. I straightened, leaning further to make sure that I didn’t miss anything.
“What are you doing?” Snow asked.
“Shhh,” the man said. “I don’t want Fawn to hear you.”
“It’s raining. I need to get inside.”
“It was raining when you were out here with that guy,” the man said.
Even from my distance I could see Snow take a slight step back from the man and give him a look that bordered on disgust but held a hint of emotion.
“I have to go inside,” she said, her voice low and controlled.
She stepped around the man and jogged around the side of the cottage. The man watched her go, his hands lifting slightly as if reaching for her, then clawed back through his hair as he let out what sounded like a growl of frustration. He turned and as he did, his eyes locked on me. I ducked behind the house and ran into the woods, cutting across the front of the cottage and disappearing behind the trees. I ran until I was confident that he wasn’t following me anymore and slowed, contemplating what I had just seen.
I continued on toward my car for a few moments before I stopped as if I had walked into a wall. A realization had hit me hard and I suddenly felt like the sky was clearing even though the rain was pouring down even harder now. Ducking my head into the rain, I ran back toward the gate, squeezed my way through, and got back to my car. In that moment, I was suddenly grateful for the absurdly in-depth reading into the policies and regulations of the Royal and Company Advertising Agency that Walter had insisted on before he would agree to put me in charge. He had wanted to make sure that I understood the company that he built and the corporate culture that he had intended from the beginning of his dream. What he had actually given me was the insight that I needed to destroy Snow in a way that I would never even be able to imagine.
Enjoy your little fun now, Snow, I thought, it’s about to all be over for you.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Snow
I could feel tears stinging in my eyes when I got into my room and I slammed the door behind me. The sound reverberated through the cottage, but I didn’t care. A torturous blend of emotions was coursing through me and I felt like I couldn’t breathe if I didn’t get it out somehow. I kicked out of my shoes and tore the leather clothing away from my body before stalking across the room and drawing a bath. It was to be my last bath in The Enchanted Woods and I ran the water as hot as I thought that my skin could handle it before pouring in shimmering iridescent bubble bath and a handful of oil beads. I felt suddenly chilled as if my body had just noticed the rain, and my muscles relaxed as I lowered myself into the deep tub. The water rose up to my chin and I leaned back against the side of the tub, wishing that I could disappear into the mounds of bubbles that were building up around me. I had just turned off the faucet when I heard the familiar sound of my room door opening. My body tensed as I waited for the bathroom door to open and to see Noah’s face again. Seconds passed and the door stayed closed. Then I heard the room door close and I realized that he was gone.
When I felt that I had hidden in the bath for as long as I could, I stepped out, dried off, and slipped into the plush bathrobe that I had used every night that I had spent at the retreat. I knew that I would miss the feeling of the fabric against my skin and the warmth and relaxation it represented. I stepped out of the bathroom, expecting to see a tray with dinner on it sitting by the window. Instead, there was only an envelope in the middle of the bed. It had my name across the front, but no other identifying marks. I picked it up, suddenly experiencing a feeling as though I could sense Noah’s touch on it.
I settled onto the bed and held the envelope in my hands for a few moments. These were his final words to me, sentiments that he sent after our clash in the lawn. I didn’t know what it could hold and the emotions that might be expressed through those words. As long as I didn’t open the envelope and read the note inside, I didn’t have to know. I could pretend that it said whatever I wanted it to say, though even as I sat there, crystallizing the moment around me so that I could hover in it, not allowing the potential pain of what the words might say to reach me, I didn’t really know what I might want them to say.