The Cabin (The Cabin Novellas (Book One)) by Natalie Stark Read Free Book Online Page B

in mine. Instead, I shoved my hands into my coat pocket. Brushing past him, I said, “You can show me where the cabin is, but don’t think I’m talking to you. I have nothing to say.”
    Quinn led me through the fog, which seemed to grow thicker and thicker with every passing second. At times he seemed no more than a dark blur as he walked silently beside me. What was he doing here? What were the chances of me coming to such a remote place, and the very church I seek out to make my confession is where the very man who I need to confess about is the parish priest? Thinking about it made my head and heart thump. When I had finally found the courage to show my husband my scars and tell him how I got them, the man who was responsible for my hurt freaking appears out of the fog. Maybe someone or something was trying to tell me that my secret should never be told. But I had to. If I were to ever have a life with Nathan, he had to know the truth. How could I tell it now, knowing that the man who had, up until this point, prevented me from moving on with my life had just reappeared back in it? Quinn Nolan had lingered in my life like a shadow – in the basement where I’d tried to hide everything with the light switched off. Tonight of all nights, he had switched the light back on and crept out of the basement. How could that be? Why would that be? It wasn’t fair. I didn’t want to be reminded of what we once had. I didn’t want to think about the secret love we had shared. I didn’t want to awaken those illicit feelings our secret relationship had once stirred in me – moved me to become his lover. That was done with now. I had a new man – a good man. I had found love with another...but not the kind of love I’d felt for Quinn. And that’s why I just wanted him to go. Why awaken those raw feelings? It would be just too freaking painful.
    Quinn slowed.
    “Be careful,” he warned over the howl of the wind. “There are some steps.”
    I looked down and could just make out a set of wooden steps. I slowly climbed them, finding myself standing on the porch outside the cabin. Quinn stood next to me and my heart was racing. We had reached the cabin.
    “You should go now,” I said, my head bowed, so as not to look into his eyes again. I didn’t want to be caught in his stare.
    “Mia, we should talk,” he said.
    “My husband’s inside,” I said back.
    “There are no lights on,” he pointed out, inching nearer to me. I didn’t move; I felt rooted to the spot.
    I kept looking away from him and said, “He’ll be here any moment. I don’t want him to see you.”
    “Have you told him about me?” he asked.
    “There is nothing to tell,” I breathed sharply.
    “You know that’s not true, Mia,” he said, inching closer across the porch and through the fog.
    “If Nathan should arrive...” I started.
    “Your husband won’t be back tonight,” Quinn said.
    “How do you know?” I asked, fighting the urge to turn and face him. Even though he had to raise the level of his voice to be heard over the roar of the wind, it still sounded as soft as it always had.
    “I met your husband on the path before I found you,” Quinn started to explain. “I pointed him in the wrong direction...”
    “You did what!” I snapped at him, now lifting my head to stare straight back at him. “What a dangerous and stupid thing to do!”
    “Don’t worry, he isn’t in any danger,” Quinn said, his eyes meeting mine. “I pointed him back down the mountain. He would have reached the road again by now. There is no fog that low. He will make his way back into the village. He’ll be perfectly safe.”
    “But he will be worried about me!” I shouted.
    “He doesn’t have to worry, you’re perfectly safe,” Quinn said.
    “Nathan doesn’t know that,” I said in disbelief. “For all he knows, I could have fallen...”
    “Why don’t you call him?” Quinn suggested.
    “I can’t get a signal,” I snapped.
    “The fog will