Lovers Mountain

We drove up the snowy, winding road towards the cozy A-frame cabin. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. Everything was covered in white, as far as the eye could see-the trees, the rocks, the road. It felt like being inside a Dr. Seuss book. I had always thought of myself as a city girl who loved the beach. Boy, was I wrong. Because here I was, at the top of a mountain covered in layers and layers of soft, fresh powder and I had never been happier. My heart swelled with every turn we took, the road wrapping its arms around us, each curve revealing a more beautiful sight than the last. There was nowhere else I’d rather be.

I could see him glancing over at me in the corner of my eye. I realized he had never seen me like this. His face stretched into a wide grin as I inched my eyes to meet his. “What do you think?” he asked rhetorically. I couldn’t speak. Because even with the Christmas card setting around us, his smile was still my favorite thing to look at.

With my heart thumping from the glimmer in his eye and the rest of my body tingling from the energy outside, we rounded one last turn. And there it was. A castle of a cabin nestled into the evergreens, like a perfectly placed snow-globe. My breath caught in my mouth at the sheer size of the cabin. It was an absolute dream.

The compound began with a stacked 2 story, A-frame cabin that had a climbing peak and warm yellow pine columns facing the north and east side. Stone steps carved their way through the front yard leading up to a set of wide double doors. On the north side, a broad, plateau of cement sprawled out over the yard, encased in rigid gray stone and held a cozy fireplace atop. I could already see us out there, roasting marshmallows, giggling as the white puff became charred.

To the west side of the stone plateau sat two more buildings, looking nothing more than nice wooden sheds with triangular roofs, the kind my dad may have kept an old 1968 Mustang in that he never actually worked on.

I looked questionably at my partner, not knowing where to start first. Waiting for his lead, he nodded towards the main cabin and I began grabbing the hard shell suitcases from the trunk, more eager than ever to be alone in the cabin with him.

The harsh wind whipped around us as we waddled up the stone walkway, trying to carry as much luggage as we could in one trip. We swung open the double doors and my eyes attempted to take in everything at once. The warm house welcomed us, with open arms and a cozy invite. The walls were covered in more yellow pine, and the ceiling of the main room expanded all the way to the top of the peak. A staircase sat firmly on the south side, with one large treated tree branch stretched from end to end in place of a handrail. The staircase led to a loft wrapping around the west side, fit for royalty to look down on her subjects-or maybe whoever is cooking in the kitchen.

It was cozy, it was elegant and a bit extravagant. Coming from someone who never took family vacations or trips growing up, it was more than I could have ever asked for. I smiled at him and he smiled back. “It’s perfect!” we exclaimed simultaneously.

Anxious to check out the rest of the house, we abandoned our luggage at the front door and set off to explore. He went straight to the kitchen, while I paced around the perimeter, making my way to the staircase. Lofts were always my favorite part about a house if it had one. It gave me a sense of child wonderment, even in my late 20’s.

As I rounded the back side of the living room, I heard a quiet thumping to my right. I turned just as a gust of wind hit my face, blasting cold air and sending my hair into a frenzy. Startled, I turned towards the sound and found a small entryway leading to a back door. The door had been swung open, and it was tapping on the outside of the house in the wind. Thump, thump, thump.

That’s odd, I thought. There shouldn’t be anyone else here. The rental said “whole house.”

“Honey?” I called, a little frantic. Maybe he had sneaked around me and went to check out the other two buildings. “Honey, are you out here?” I called again, a little louder this time. Silence.

I scanned the back of the yard, unable to focus on the beautiful ice covered trees. The two sheds were quite a few feet away. There was no way he could have made it inside before I got to the door. The hairs stood on my arm and I couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or my paranoia. I pulled my coat around me tighter, and reached out to shut the door. As I turned back inside, a figure caught me in the entryway and I let out a gasp.

“Babe, did you say something?” he asked, eyeing me worriedly from my reaction.

“Sorry, you scared me,” I breathed out. “This back door was open, I thought maybe you had gone outside.”

He looked over my shoulder, to the backyard with a new worry painting his face and mumbled something about being in the kitchen the whole time. It looked as if he was about to go outside but changed his mind. He grabbed my hand, tugging me back towards the staircase. “Let’s just check everything in here first.”

We rounded the rest of the cabin cautiously, looking in every nook and cranny. I wasn’t sure what we were looking for-an intruder or a weapon maybe. But after a few minutes we deemed the bottom floor clear.

We headed up the stairs and I was a little disappointed that my excitement had been replaced with fear and ruining my wonder of the loft. I hoped that, when we realized there was nothing-or no one-here, I’d be able to shake the skin-crawl feeling. This cabin was too perfect to spend the next few days jumpy.

After a quick scan of the loft-it was spacious and didn’t give much opportunity to hide in-we decided to take off to the back yard. This scared me more than anything, my suspicions being that whoever was in this house fled out the back when we arrived. But I mustered up a deep breath and told myself there was nothing to worry about. Maybe whoever cleans the cabin between rentals didn’t shut the door all the way. The winds are pretty unforgiving up here…

The snow crunched below with every unwilling step we took through the seemingly large back yard. I couldn’t tell if he was scared too and masking it well or if he was really fearless. Either way, he was my rock and I was appreciative.

We reached the front of shed number one. It had just one small yellow pine door with a window pane cut into 4 on the top half. My heart was pounding against my chest hard enough that I could almost hear it. Any predator would. He put his hand on the door knob and wiggled it. Unlocked. Our eyes met for just a moment before he shoved the wood door open. It clanked against the wall with a loud THUD that echoed through the dark.

The shed was tiny, not too much to it, and my eyes struggled to adjust to the lightless room. I fished my hand on the left wall closest to me, internally begging for a light switch. My fingers traced what felt like plastic protruding out of the wall and sure enough, and with one flick, there was light.

Inside, it was bright. The walls lined with plywood and two rectangles of fluorescents attached to the ceiling allowed us to see. Skinny blue lockers took up the back wall and a metal shelf with wheels stood empty to the right.

“A utility room?” I barely whispered. He nodded. “Those are for storing skis and snowboards,” he said, pointing to the lockers and more hooks hanging from the left side.

Nothing looked out of place. Nothing seemed scary. No chainsaws or rusty tools were stuffed in a corner. I started to breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe it really was just the door not shut properly. The mountains must be getting to me, I thought.

But just as I turned around, a thought occurred to me.

The house was warm.

It was warm when we walked in. If that door had been open for even a few hours, the cabin would have been affected.

A chill ran through me, and I headed for the door. I was planning to go back to the house, lock every single door and wrap myself in as many blankets as I could find, but something shiny caught my eye.

I looked down, and right by the door was a glossy knife.

“Babe…” my voice was shaky just like my body as I squatted down. I wrapped my hand around the cold metal handle, the blade staring back at me. I twisted and stood back up, holding it out. He looked at me with wide shocked eyes, and neither one of us said a word.

I probably looked like a serial killer myself, standing in this unknown cabin in the woods with a knife in my hand. But whatever this was, whoever it came from and whatever their intentions, it was my weapon now.

My boyfriend parted his lips, never taking his eye off the door behind me. “Do you want to check out the last shed?”

I nodded, and said nothing.

Feeling a little safer with my makeshift sword, I had a new found determination. I decided that we were either going to catch and confront this person, or find absolutely nothing. Either way, I was not going to let my perfect, snowy cabin weekend be ruined by a few strange, but completely explainable, things. It wasn’t like there was blood on the knife or anything.

I marched ahead towards the last looming shed, the farthest one behind the main house. I heard my darling’s footsteps behind me as he struggled to keep up. “Slow down there, slugger!” He called after me. If I hadn’t been on such high alert, I would have laughed.

Slamming my boots down, one my one, I made it to the final doorstep. I planted my feet and sucked in a deep breath, not really sure what I was prepared for but blade in hand, ready. Ready for…something. I hoped my flight or fight responses would have my back if needed.

I scraped open this door slowly. The hinges needed some oil and the loud creeeeaaaaak echoed through the walls. This building was bigger than the last, and colder. I heard a rustle coming from the back of the room and my hairs stood on edge. I froze, not making a single sound, and heard the rustle again. There was definitely someone-or something-in here.

I took one step forward and the floor groaned under the weight of my foot. I reached out my hand holding the knife as steady as I could, though I knew it was shaking. My breath cut off completely and my eyes darted back and forth. I couldn’t see much, but shapes were starting to appear in the darkness. I could make out another loft coming from the top of the south side.

And there, on the top floor, stood a figure in the darkness.

There’s someone here, I panicked but I couldn’t speak. I wanted to look behind me, to see if he saw it too but I couldn’t move. I froze, knowing that the figure saw me. I could feel its eyes.

I finally flicked my brain on enough to turn around, locking eyes with my lover. I wondered if this was it, if this would be how we go out. Would we fight? Or would we run?

I know he saw the figure, but he stood there for a moment, completely calm. How is he not freaking out right now? I turned back to face the rest of the room, and the figure was gone. A gasp caught in my throat. We no longer had the upper hand.

Just as I was about to shout something, anything threatening, into the void, the lights clicked on without warning. I blinked, my heart racing now that everything was bright. But what I saw didn’t make any sense.

Garlands of flowers hung from the banister up on the loft and poured down along the railing of a staircase I didn’t see before. A living room setting seemed to be shoved out of the way, couches and chairs pushed to the side while rose petals lead from the door to the middle of the room, in a perfect heart shape. I stepped forward, not totally understanding, but drawn to the center anyway. I think I was supposed to be there.

“SURPRISE!” voices shouted from up above, from all around, and then I saw. My best friend, standing on the top of the stairs, a grin painting her face. My mom and brother off to the left side of the living room area, seemed to have appeared from behind a couch. More faces I couldn’t even register dotted the room. And there I was, standing in the middle of all my loved ones, with a sharp shiny blade in my hands.

My jaw dropped to the floor as I turned around and he was there, on his knee. Knife still in hand, I finally understood and my eyes welled up with tears.

Someone must have taken the blade from my hand at some point, because before I realized it, I was in his arms, mine slung around his neck with a gorgeous, heavy diamond placed perfectly on my left hand. We held each other in tears and laughter as I said “yes, yes, yes!” over and over again. The room erupted in applause and cheers and he grabbed my face, pulling my lips to his as we sealed our promise to forever.

The next few hours blew by in a blur, with family and friends hugging me and laughing at my knife ordeal. “Only you would get engaged like that!” They cackled. And it was true. I secretly hoped someone snapped a photo before it was snatched from my hand.

We drank, we ate, and I listened to all the stories about the plan leading up to this moment. I couldn’t believe how many people were here, how they all got up the mountain and hid their vehicles. And now the size of the compound made a little bit more sense.

Turned out it was my brother who left the door wide open, and my best friend forgot the knife in the utility room after using it to trim flowers.

“You couldn’t have used scissors?” I teased.

“Your mom was using them for the ribbon, I had to improvise!” She poked me in the ribs and I giggled as she gathered me into a hug. This was a day we had both been waiting for since we were little girls.

With the love and laughter, the night was turning out to be like the perfect Christmas card I had imagined earlier. I pulled myself away from the banter for a moment to stand by the back window. Snow had begun to fall, just as the sun was going down.

I sighed, sipping pinot noir from a stemmed glass and watching the flakes flutter to the ground. The window overlooked the backyard, and evergreens lined the edge, thick as night. I was just about to look away and rejoin the party, when I saw something move in the trees. Was it an animal? Were those footsteps in the snow?

I focused harder, squinting through the window pane. But the snow was falling faster now and whatever I saw was long gone.

My fiancée came up behind me, weaving his arms around my waist and placing his chin on my shoulder. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” he murmured in my ear. I smiled, looking into his eyes for a moment. My nerves melted away and in that moment, I knew I was just seeing things. We brushed our lips softly and then he motioned me to come back to the living room. I took his hand and followed, taking one last glance out the window.

Just before turning back, I saw a figure with a jacket, looming right on the edge of the trees.