She wasn’t sending me away because she hated me.
She was sending me away because she wanted the house.
And suddenly, I wondered how long she had been waiting for this day.
The drive to the mountains took nearly three hours.
Neither of us spoke.
The driver didn’t look at me.
The city disappeared.
Then the highways.
Then the villages.
Eventually, there were only trees, steep hills, and a narrow road disappearing into the mountains.
My phone lost its signal.
I looked at the screen.
Nothing.
No service.
I turned toward the driver.
“How much farther?”
“About twenty minutes.”
Vanessa had not come with us.
She had sent me alone.
That frightened me more than I wanted to admit.
When we finally reached the cabin, I understood why.
The place looked abandoned.
The windows were dirty.
One shutter hung crookedly from a hinge.
The wooden walls were dark with age.
Moss covered the steps.
The garden had disappeared beneath weeds.
The driver carried my suitcases inside.
I stood in the doorway.
“Who has been maintaining this place?”
“Nobody.”
He put down the last suitcase.
“Mrs. Vanessa said you would be staying here permanently.”
Permanently.
The word echoed in my head.
