It was also time for her nerve blocker. A Percocet wouldn’t be a bad idea either. Anything to put her back to sleep, where she’d stop feeling like this.

She just hoped that evil chipmunk wasn’t waiting for her.

Chapter Eight

Things settled into a pleasant routine by the end of their first week. Kate was still fighting off the strange ‘microwave’ feelings. Andrew thought she had a cold, but she knew better. The fever stopped, but it left her weak as a kitten. She’d had some wicked nightmares, waking him up several times in a panic, but that was to be expected. The meds made her imagine things that would send Stephen King running for his blankie and momma’s breast. Add a fever to the mix and there was no way she could rest easy. This only added to her frustration, because, as naive as it sounded, she’d really thought things would be different up here.

In a way, they were. The bad feels had been replaced by the microwave feels, and her shadow visitor had morphed into nightmares about the wildlife outside the cottage. Just lovely.

* * *

Kate had yet to venture outside. Andrew really wanted to get her down to the dock so they could do some proper lake gazing. The temperature had almost hit eighty a couple of days, warming the lake up a notch.

“Maybe we could light the old fire pit tonight,” Andrew said, slipping on his running shoes.

Kate was on her side, clutching Mooshy to her chest.

“Maybe. That would be nice.”

The tone of her response told him it wasn’t going to happen. He deflated a bit but hid it from her. He’d been dying to light a fire outside and just stare into the flames for an hour, the heat keeping the night’s chill at bay. So far, the pit remained cold and empty.

“Where are you going?” she said. Her eyes were closed, her hair tied in a ponytail.

“Out for a quick run. You need anything? Pine cones? Crusty leaves? A gnarly walking stick?”

“If you see a spare, healthy body lying around, I’ll take it.”

“If I see any bodies in the woods, I’m hauling ass the other way and calling the cops.”

“You know what I’d really like?” she said.

“What’s that?”

“To get my butt well enough for us to lie on our little beach and watch a sunrise.”

“Sounds romantic.”

Her eyes closed and she pulled the sheet around her. “Mmmm. Very. Like something out of a Cary Grant movie.”

“Pretty soon the mornings will be warm enough to do just that.”

“I hope so. For some reason, that’s what I want more than anything.”