Chapter 2

With things as they were, Josh was surprised when his dad announced that his boss offered them a week at a cabin somewhere up north, and that they were actually going.

“Sounds like it’s more of a house than cabin. It has three bedrooms, and it’s right on the lake.”

While his mom was right there, it was clear to Josh that his dad was talking only to him. That was how things were now.

His mom was not a camping person, so Josh realized that the only reason his mom was willing to go was because of him. The summer was proving to have little prospects, so for Josh, a week in a cabin on a lake had potential for a lot of fun.

The drive to the cabin took five hours. Luckily, Josh had his music because there was limited conversation. Josh and his mom would talk or Josh and his dad, but that was rare and only out of necessity.

While the ‘cabin’ was made from logs, it was nothing what Josh envisioned when he thought cabin. Josh figured that their whole house could fit inside the main interior.

The cabin was designed so that you walk in and first thing you see is a huge open pit fireplace five feet across, and to the right of that, a huge windowed wall that overlooks the lake. The windows reached 12 feet high and 20 feet across.

The large open beams supporting the high ceiling stretched from above the windowed wall up to a mezzanine, where the bedrooms and bathrooms were. A large spiral stair case connected the two levels.

Except for the bedrooms and baths, the rest of the cabin was all open. The full kitchen, complete with island, was tucked under the mezzanine. The main bathroom was around the corner, near a side opening.

Lisa found the kitchen to have been recently stocked, complete with steaks and fancy cheeses and what she could only guess was expensive wine. For a moment, Lisa pictured a romantic night with just her and her husband, sitting around the fire, drinking wine. But then a mist of darkness swept in and caste the image from her mind.

Lisa looked over to her husband as he and Josh brought in suitcases from the car and scowled. There would be no romance this week, she told herself.

Lisa made sandwiches for everyone and they all sat out on the patio and ate. It was clear to Josh, this ‘family time’ was for his benefit only. There was minimal conversation, but at least the view was nice.

“All I can see is trees. Doesn’t anyone else have a cabin on this lake?” Josh had directed the question at his dad, who simply shrugged. He didn’t know either.

When his mom finally got up to clear the dishes, Josh turned to his dad, “Can we go exploring?”

Ben’s face grew sad, “Sorry, Josh. Not tonight.”

Josh looked to his mom.

Lisa was putting the lid back on the pickle jar, “No, Josh. Not tonight. It’s going to be dark soon. We still need to get settled.” Lisa sat the jar down, “We’ll be here all week. Now help me put this away.”

Lisa was up in the main bedroom when Josh brought up the last of her luggage. Josh noticed that none of his dad’s bag were in the bedroom yet, but he didn’t mention it.

Lisa was wiping out the top drawer in one of the dressers. She looked up at Josh and pointed, “Sit it on the bed. And if you would, take that little one into the bathroom. Sit it on the counter.”

When he came back out, his mom was putting her stuff away. Leaned over as she was, Josh saw lots of cleavage jiggling about as she carefully pulled each item of clothing out of the suitcase and placed it on its appropriate spot on the bed. Once empty, Lisa picked up one of the piles and placed it in the top drawer.

That’s when they heard voices. Voices coming from downstairs. Josh peeked out the door before turning back to his mom, “I think dad’s boss is here. And he has some kid with him.”

Josh watched as the color faded from his mom’s face. “Are you alright, Mom?”

Lisa slowly backed up to the bed and sat. Josh moved towards her, “Mom?!”

Still looking like she might feint, Lisa took her son’s hand, “I’m fine. Just the long trip catching up to me.”

Lisa was still slightly shaking when they made their way downstairs. Josh noticed that his mom wouldn’t even look at Mr. Cox. She did take his son’s hand when he introduced himself to the two of them, “Hello, Mrs. Stevens. My name is Blake. Blake Cox.”

“Didn’t your husband tell you we were coming up this week?” Josh noticed how small his dad looked next to Mr. Cox. It wasn’t just his stature, but it was his demeanor as well.

“No”, Lisa glanced quickly over to her husband. “No, he did not.” Josh noticed that his mom would not look directly at Mr. Cox. Josh also noticed that his dad was looking very uncomfortable.

Blake wasted no time in preparing a fire, when Mr. Cox asked Lisa if she could maybe ‘whip up’ some food. Without responding, Lisa made her way to the kitchen area.

“Josh”, it was his dad, “could you come help me with something outside?”

Josh followed his dad outside. It was now dark, and the only light came from the front porch. His dad looked around, and then spoke almost in a whisper, “Your mom cheated on me.”

Josh wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he chose to say nothing.

“About a year ago. I just thought you should know. I’ll see you in a week.”

With that, his dad pulled him in and hugged him. It had been years since his dad had hugged him.

And then, without saying any more, his dad got in their car and drove away, leaving Josh standing there, wondering, ‘What the fuck?’

When Josh came back in, Blake had made a little tepee out of firewood. Inside he had wadded up newspaper. When he lit the paper, flames quickly took off.

Mr. Cox sat out at the kitchen island, watching as Lisa busied herself with more of the same of what she had made earlier. She had decided to ignore him, but that wasn’t going well. Visions of sweaty bodies between her legs kept popping into her head.