Healing Haven - Book 2 in Haven Series [Complete]

6| - Second Impressions

Alyssa woke to the dark. To the bone-rattling chill and cursed. Cleo, equally displeased about the cold, pawed around the pillow, stepping on and over Alyssa's head to wake her. Sitting up in bed, clutching covers to her body, she shimmed out and almost shrieked when her bare feet hit the floor. Fucking thing felt like an ice rink.

Tiptoeing as quickly as possible to living room, Alyssa fumbled around in the dark until she found the light switch and the thermostat. With the internal temperature reading somewhere around absurdly low, she wiggled the knob and only then discovered—hah!—she'd failed turn the damn thing on.   

Flicking the on switch, she heard a gurgling hum as air kicked in through the vents. It was cool at first but didn't take long before warm air streamed through, warming her numb fingers. Jesus, if this was hold cold the cabin could get during the first week of October, she shuddered to think how bad it would be in December. Or even January.

Wide awake and still partially frozen, Alyssa shuffled into the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker. Unlike the rest of the appliances, this was top of the line with freshly ground beans and a milk-frother for cappuccinos or lattes. Deciding a cappuccino sounded pretty damn good, Alyssa poured ground coffee into the filter, flipped a few buttons and let the little beauty work its magic.

Within a minute flat, she had a steaming coffee with just enough foam to make her smile.

Curling up on the couch, the little cabin well on its way to toasty, Alyssa sipped and enjoyed the fresh brew. The time was somewhere in the neighborhood of four thirty, an early start considering she didn't have a desk job to race to anymore. Not that her body seemed to care. She was used to rising before the sun and doubted that would change anytime soon.

Last night, after her incredibly awkward face-to-face with Eva, Alyssa had done her level best to distract herself with wine and movies streamed on her iPad, eventually passing out somewhere around ten thanks to sheer, freaking exhaustion. But now, sitting here in the quiet, sipping her coffee, there were no distractions to pull her away from more depressing thoughts.

Yesterday had been a far cry from what she had hoped or expected. In fact, as far as disappointment went, that was definitely top of her list.

Frowning Alyssa drummed her nails against the side of the white ceramic mug. Everything about her life right now felt so off balance. Beyond her control. And so, she'd learned a long time ago, whenever she felt so out of her depth, there was only one thing she could do and that was to tackle something she could control.

After the cancer and chemo had eroded her health to a fragile edge, Alyssa had dedicated herself to living a healthy lifestyle. She'd learned about nutrition and how it affected the body, she'd joined a gym and hired an accomplished trainer who put her through her paces. Six days out of the week she was working out. Without fail. Without question.

Her weekly routine consisting of a combination of HIIT cardio, yoga and weight training, with eighty percent of efforts centered on clean eating and exercising and the other twenty allotted for the occasional indulgence because, after all, life should be lived and experienced. She couldn't change what had been done to her body, and what had been done to it to beat the vile disease, but she could try and heal it. Appreciate it. Give it the best that the world had to offer so that, maybe, she could live long enough to see her golden years.

To see her nieces grow up and have babies of their own...

And, Jesus, she was so not going there right now.

Finished with her brief pity-party, Alyssa set down her mug and decided that was enough moping. Times were tough but that didn't excuse her lax in standards. With the heat properly working—thank god, she dressed in her workout gear. Kissing Cleo goodbye on the way out—her majesty stretched lazily across the pillows, Alyssa drove into the quiet streets of Salt Springs.