I wiped the sweat from my brow as I got out of the car. I looked up to see that the massive cabin had changed little since we last visited. It was still it pristine condition, as dad had insured it would be. I remember when he had the cabin built. I was all of 9 years old. He showed me his plans to have the thing built and assembled in Canada, then disassembled and brought down to our land in northern New York to be reassembled on site. It had cost him a fortune, but my father was never one to spare any expense. He always had to have the best of everything. Including a custom-built cabin as our family's vacation home.
So, here we were. In the middle of nowhere, somewhere in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. We came here every summer for the entire month of July for as long as I could remember. We always arrived a few days before the fourth, so mom and dad could prepare for the big party they through for their friends on the lake. This year was different though. This would likely be one of my last trips up here for quite some time. I would be heading off to college in August. Following in the footsteps of my grandfather and father, I would be headed out west to a prestigious Ivy league school where I would be studying law and likely taking over my dad's law firm one day. Although I was excited to leave for school, I was really looking forward to this time with my family and hopefully getting to see all of my friends on the lake one last time before I had to enter adult world.
"Want me to get your bag Amber?" my father asked.
I looked over at him. He was tall, thin and his hair was greying faster than he would have liked. His gentle brown eyes had always been the calm to my storm. I was a daddy's girl through and through. Leaving him was probably going to be the hardest part of moving out west.
"No dad, I got it," I said, taking my giant bag from him.
"Be careful that thing weighs more than you do!" dad said jokingly.
I giggled as through the bag over my shoulder and headed towards the cabin. Mom had already made her way inside. As I entered she was already barking orders at the cabin's summer staff.
"We've got to get some items in town for the party. I'll make a list," mom barked.
As I tried to squeeze by her she noticed me. "Amber...after you are unpacked I need you to take the boat down to the Ganford's, and see if Alice would allow us to borrow some of her tables for the party."
"Ok mom!" I said as I continued my walk towards my bedroom.
"Amber Amelia!" Mom said rather loudly.
The use of the middle name always stopped me in my tracks. "What?" I quipped, looking at her. She stood in the kitchen, leaning against the massive grey granite island. She had a pen and writing pad in her hands. She looked pained, or anxious I couldn't place it. My mom was a beautiful woman. She was tall, had long blonde curls that went to her shoulders, big dark blue eyes, and a face that had wrinkled little with time. Dad had always joked that she was his "trophy wife," and in a lot of ways he was right. Though, she definitely knew it. She and I didn't have the best relationship. She had pushed me in the direction she thought I should go all of my life. It had always irritated the hell out of her when I chose to go in the other direction most of the time. But, in many ways I was my mother's daughter. At least the mirror often told me so. There was no denying she was my mom.
"Amber..." mom pleaded. I could tell she didn't want any attitude from me. I obliged.
"I got this mom...I wanted to go and see Will anyways," I said.
Mom's eyebrows shot up at this statement. "Really?" she asked.
I gave her a stern look to shut her down. "Yeah mom...Will Ganford...you know...we've been friends since I was about three," I said jokingly.
"No honey, that's great. Have fun and don't forget to ask Alice about the tables!" she said.
I rolled my eyes as I nodded and heading up the massive wooden stairs to my bedroom at the top of the stairs.
*****
My room at the lake was very similar to my room at our house in the city. Purple walls (though accented by one wall made of logs), a queen sized bed with a white comforter and pillow cases, a large white dresser, photos of my friend's from the lake and back home in the city, and it had a bathroom attached to it. It was a perfect room for a perfect princess. Or so people had joked. I tossed my bag on the bed and walked over to the massive window. The view was stunning. My bedroom was one of the two that overlooked the lake. Dad had all of the trees cut back from last summer so now I had an even better view of the lake and all of the people on it. I watched as people fished out of their canoes, jet skis whizzed by, and boats chugged along. They were all out enjoying the beautiful summer day, which I intended to do myself.
But before I went to change into some shorts and a tank top, something caught my eye. I looked off to the left of my window, in the direction of our guest house which sat at the edge of the lake. There among the tall pines that surrounded the guest house I saw a sudden movement. I was even more surprised because the movement was coming from the roof of the building. I watched as a man climbed up a ladder onto the roof. I didn't know anyone was working on the guest house. Dad hadn't mentioned anything on the ride up from the city.
The man was a bit far away, but from what I could see he was very tall. He had his shirt off and was just wearing a pair of beaten up blue jeans. He had a tool belt tied around his thin waist. He reached up to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. He had on a pair of white work gloves. I couldn't tell if he was older or younger from my distance from him. He was covered in sweat. I didn't envy him working in this extreme heat. I watched him for a moment when he suddenly stopped. I froze as he looked in the direction of my bedroom, as if he saw me too. This was quite crazy because I was so far away and hidden by my sheer purple curtains. But, he stood there for the longest moment, observing the house before he turned back to his work.
I felt a shiver run up my spine for some odd reason. What the heck was that?
*****
I had changed into a pair or white short shorts and a pale pink tank, with my red bikini underneath. I wore a bathing suit under my clothes practically every day when I was at the cabin. You never knew when you'd have the chance to take a dip so it was always best to be prepared.
I went down the stairs and entered the massive open concept great room that included the living room, kitchen and dining room. Mom wasn't there anymore. She must've gone to town to pick up things for the party. I didn't see dad either.
As I went over to the massive stainless steel fridge to grab a snack before heading to Will's, my brother came out of the half bath that was next to the kitchen.
"Hey squirt," my brother quipped.
"Hey yourself dorkus," I retaliated.
My brother Tom was about as tall as my dad, standing at six feet. He had the same blonde hair and dark blue eyes as me and my mom. But, he had my dad's features, the long face, strong jawline and high cheekbones. One could definitely tell we were related, but we didn't look as much alike as some other siblings I knew.
He was older than me by three years, but we were pretty close. It was just the two of us growing up, so we tended to gravitate towards one another since we were all each other had. Though, we definitely had our spats like other siblings. He was about to enter his final year of college at prestigious university in New England. He hadn't followed in dad's footsteps, opting instead to go into teaching. After this final year of his undergrad, he was going to enter the Master's program and hoped to teach at the college level after graduation. My parents had been surprised by Tom's decision to become a teacher, but it really wasn't that big of a declaration as both of my mom's parents had retired from the field. Tom was close to both of my parents. He was definitely the apple of my mother's eye though. Where I was a daddy's girl, he was a momma's boy. It worked though. Our family balanced each other out well.
"Where are you headed?" Tom asked as I grabbed an apple from the fridge.
"To Will's. Mom's got me on party duty. Got to beg Mrs. Ganford for some more tables," I said.
"Well, that shouldn't be too hard as she wants you to be her daughter-in-law someday," Tom joked.
I gave a nervous laugh. "Whatever," I said closing the fridge door.
"Hey...who is that down by the guest house?" I asked my brother.
Tom looked at me, "Oh that weird guy?" he asked.
"I don't know. Is he weird? I saw some man on the roof working on it from my bedroom window."
