16 Chapter 16

I return a text to him that reads: Leaving today. Joey has a cabin outside Rochester. Plan to stay a few days. I think there’s a key hidden above the door. Hope I can start a fire and keep warm. I’ll bring food. Don’t want to starve to death.

Carter replies with a short and sweet comment: Starving not good. Away time is good. Be careful. Be brave. Miss ya.

* * * *

Six hours later I arrive at the cabin. I bring in a bag of clothes (extra boots, sweaters, thick socks, thermal underwear) and a bag of food (cereal, milk, lunchmeat, rye bread, canned soup, canned beans). I spend a half hour making the most ass-warming fire in the universe. I roast marshmallows and eat them with graham crackers and those miniature Hershey’s bars. The wind kicks up and snow begins to fly past the windows. I don’t care how bad the weather gets. Instead, I curl up on the sofa bed with a half-dozen blankets, a paperback by Wayne Mansfield, and I enjoy a few of the night’s hours reading.