Eachtra

Up to Snow Good

"Here we are!"

Liam looks up from the GPS on his phone to the tiny--I mean Tiny House Hunters on HGTV tiny--logged cabin. It sits at the end of the gravel road we've been on for the last ten minutes. A single light attached outside the man door casts a faint glow over the snowy driveway. A faded wreath hangs from the front door, but other than that, there's nothing decorative about the miniature cabin.

I put my Jeep in park and turn to look at Liam. "This is where we're staying tonight?"

He told me he would book us a place to stay on Airbnb, but I expected a cute little cottage. This looks like the place where a serial killer would hide his victims so they'd never be found.

Liam grins at me. "I know it's not much, but it beats a dingy motel, eh?"
At least the dingy motel had hot water and a working toilet. If I have to pee in an outhouse, I'm done.

"It has a bathroom and everything, don't worry," he says as if he can read my thoughts. "Come on, let's eat and relax. I'm a bit tired."

He lifts up the white Chinese take-out boxes from his lap and I catch a sniff of Sesame Chicken. On cue, my stomach rumbles audibly. "Fine," I say with a frown. "But if there's a bed in this place, I call it." I turn and look at him as he scans through his phone for something. "How did you find this place? It's in the middle of nowhere." I eye the forest of pine trees around us--I'll be back for you later, my darlings.

Liam shrugs. "It's a log cabin in the middle of the woods. It's just like Christmas to spend the end of December here with the snow and the trees. Pure magic."

Magic. There's that word again. A tiny part of me wants to believe it's real, but I've spent all of my life trusting in myself and science, not some tingling feeling you get standing beside a cute boy. "You sound like you're in a Hallmark movie."

"Not all Christmas magic is forced and artificial, Keidy. The real magic is being with the people you care about."

I avoid his gaze. There aren't too many people on that list for me, and I'm not about to go visit my parents. I guess I'll have to settle for Liam although that hardly seems like settling.

"Well, I'm sorry you don't get to spend it with your dad, then."

"It's alright," he says with a quick smile in my direction. Liam opens the door and as he steps into the snow, I hear him mumble. "Spending it with you is almost as good."

My cheeks flush red as I get out of the Jeep, but I blame it on the cold. I shouldn't listen to Liam's sappy compliments, but they seem so genuine that I want to believe them. Liam tosses me my bags and we go to the front door where he enters a key code sent on his phone to unlock the door. The lock flashes green and the door opens, revealing a rustic living room with a multicolored rug and a brown leather couch. A huge map of the northeast covers the wall where a television should be just above an old fireplace with a blackened chimney. A gas range and mini refrigerator sit in one corner of the room with a wooden table and two stools along with a queen bed with a faded green comforter. To top it off, the main light that hangs from the ceiling is made out of deer antler.

I suck in a deep breath. I feel like I'm on the Pony Express and me and my cowboy pal have just stopped for the night in an old cabin. "Wow."

Liam drops his bag and explores the room, checking out a few atlases on a bookshelf. Then he opens a door on the far end of the room. "Bathroom!" he calls out with a cheeky grin.

Maybe Christmas magic is real. At least I won't have to freeze to death in an outhouse with Smokey the Bear to keep me company. I shed my coat but a chill washes over me. "Are you sure this place has heat?"
Liam frowns and opens the thermostat on the wall. "It does, but it looks like...it's set at 60."