Malachi picked up his glass of whiskey and walked around the cabin, the front door still open. He was glad the real estate office offered to clean the place up for him. His fingers touched the flowers on the kitchen table. Nice touch.




The cabin was one floor, two bedrooms on one side with a bathroom in between them, the kitchen and living room on the other. Malachi looked in the bedrooms. Everything was neat, just like the pictures on the internet. Bed, table, dresser, and chair in each, just the essentials. The walls were stained wood and polished. Each bedroom had a view of the forest from an old-fashioned window. He walked to the bathroom and was pleased. “Thank God Murphy liked have 20th-century essentials,” he said as he took in the white tile, the clawfoot tub with a basic shower, and the small sink with a medicine cabinet. “No outhouse in the woods for me,” he said to nobody as he took in the sturdy toilet. 




The kitchen appliances were new, the stove was gas from propane behind the house. A table and four chairs separated the kitchen from the living room. Malachi ran his fingers down it, “My office until I make an office in that second bedroom.” The living room had a comfortable plaid couch, two high back chairs, a braided rug, and a small coffee table, the essentials again. Malachi held up his phone and was rewarded with a signal.




“Thank you Verizon, I can work here.” He made a mental list to think about satellite and maybe a TV, but at least he could use his phone until he set it up. He sat and composed a text to Layla.




Sorry about the wedding thing. I need time to think. If I think we should be together, I’ll come back to you. Malachi sighed and hit send. He put his phone on the table.




She moved quickly, he didn’t see her as she looked through his backpack. Computer, several novels, some notebooks. She moved to the phone on the table. She tripped on the phone, and it called his mother. She hid in the corner of the living room.




Malachi looked down at the phone on the floor as he heard it ring. He picked it up.




“Mother?”




“Malachi, where are you? Honey, this is not funny. Come back in time for your own wedding.” Instead, Malachi found he was enjoying the view of the forest outside the window rather than talking about his wedding.




“Why are you calling me?” He asked.




“I didn’t call you. You called me,” she said, “Are you calling to say you are coming back? Layla called me today. She is beside herself.”




He looked at the phone. She watched from behind the pie safe, “No, mother. I’m at a piece of property I thought I’d develop, and here for a little while, I’m becoming a hermit.”




The faerie frowned. How long? She knocked over a piece of pottery, and Malachi looked over to the shelves. “Yes, mother, I’m planning the next move. There’s a phone signal, so I’m not totally off the planet. I’m still working. I’ve got the satellite scheduled for tomorrow. I’ll keep you in the loop.”




“Malachi, there’s so many people and things involved in this wedding. You are disappointing so many people. What will Layla do? You’re lucky she went to the Bahamas to get away from the press. Call her and talk to her honey,” Malachi felt himself switch a little bit with his mother’s plea. He then turned to steel again.




“Mother, this is the decision of a lifetime. I think both of us need time to sort things out before we make this huge decision,” he said with a sigh.




“Darling, we only want you to be happy,” she replied, “And Layla is a good choice. She’s beautiful, outgoing, and from a good family. Make the right decision, son,” he heard her sniff.




“I will, mother,” he replied as the picture of her with the sheet over her breasts surprised to see her. He wasn’t getting married, and the longer he stayed away, the more they would accept it.




He went and brought his computer out of his backpack and set it on the rustic table. He was still talking on the other contraption, “I’ll let you know what I decide.”




“Malachi, you take all the time you need,” Peggy said to her only son, “I feel this is something you need to do, and I feel good things coming out of it. You’ll come back refreshed to Layla. I’ll tell her that you called.”




“Don’t worry about telling her I called. If all else fails,” he looked at the woodstove, “I’m going to learn how to survive.”




“I’m holding onto you, Malachi, make the right choices,” his mother said and cut the line.




He went to the stove and found a decrepit tea kettle. She watched as he turned a burner and almost took his eyebrows off as he went at it with a match. She laughed, and he tilted his head. She was quiet as she watched him fumble with the kettle. He dug into the cabinet and found some tea, throwing a bag into a cup. She went and smelled the tea, her nose burning from the smell. He went to open his suitcase in the bedroom. The kettle sputtered, and she hid behind the cups as he poured the boiling water over the teabag. 




She watched as he brought the tea to his lips then cursed at the burn on his tongue. Arianna laughed again. Malachi cocked his head. He took the tea through the cabin, sat in an old chair, and stared out the window. He left the chair and walked to the porch in front of the cabin. Arianna moved back to the other rocking chair and watched him. She felt a stirring in her body but pushed it away.




“So here we are,” he said and sipped the tea, “Time to regroup and see what we want to do.” She liked that he talked like Murphy. Maybe after some time, he would speak to her.




Malachi sipped his tea. He was by himself and had plenty of time to think. He was able to separate himself from Layla. He was able to tell everyone that he was taking some time and working remotely, even if the truth was running away from everything. Malachi felt restless already, he felt like something was waiting for him, but he wasn’t sure what. Everything in Memphis told him to run, and now that he was sitting on a front porch with tea, everything seemed to fall into place. He felt relaxed for the first time in a long time. He rocked as Arianna watched from the edge. Yes, he was beautiful, she told herself. Yes, he was lost at the moment. Yes, she was attracted to him. But, could he be the one?




She turned into a small yellow butterfly and flew over in front of his face. He sloshed tea on his shirt as he swatted her away. She landed in his hair, it was as soft as she imagined. She moved out of his reach as he danced away from the rocker trying to move her out of his hair. “Jeez! Don’t dive bomb me!” He said and danced out of her way. She laughed.




Malachi Mulvaney, she thought and perched on a porch column. Malachi watched her. The spider snatched out at her, but Malachi was quick to swat at it as she pushed at the spider with her mind. It scurried back up to the corner of the roof and apologized to her.




“Looks like I am already making friends,” he said as she perched on his finger.




Yes, he intrigued her, Arianna thought. This stranger out in the middle of nowhere and his casual laugh as he brought his finger closer.




His eyes were an intense blue as he brought her close to his face. She felt lost in them as she flapped her wings. His breath was fresh, smelled of tea as he examined her. She flapped and felt warmth move over her as he brought her close, as his fingers moved to touch her wings.




He let her fly off and off into the woods, moved to take his soiled shirt off, and toss it on the porch. Arianna felt her mouth go dry. Yes, he was intriguing. But, looking at his bare chest, she also thought, beautiful.




Later, she watched him fumble around with a can of soup he brought for dinner. She felt sorry for him and didn’t let the soup burn from the too-high flame of the stove. Although he’d let his tea go cold, she went ahead and warmed it for him. He sat at the table and ate the soup. Arianna took a small taste and turned her nose in disgust.




He left the dishes on the table, took the now warm tea to a large chair, and sat in front of the fire he spent 45 minutes trying to build. “I built that,” he murmured, and Arianna added, “I helped.”




He got up and moved through the house, set the tea on the counter. He poured water from the tap and took a long sip, it was cold and tasted great. “Yeah, spring water,” he said. They’d told him He took the water back to the bedroom and set it beside the bed. The quilt was clean and colorful. He stripped to his boxers, and she blushed. He moved under the covers and picked up the book he’d sat on the table. She watched from the corner, wondered what he was reading.




He opened the book, a thriller, and read a few pages. Then, he looked around the quiet room, “I’m going to get to bed early and start early.”




She waited until she heard his breathing even out. She came out from the corner and looked at him as he slept. He looked peaceful, she mused. She reached out and ran her fingers down his cheek, and watched him frown. 




She couldn’t help herself. She slipped into his dreams and watched.