The Cabin at the End of Herrick Road. Derek Wachter

      Chapter 2

      Mr. and Mrs. Carter

      “Honey, have you seen my red-and-blue striped tie? The one that goes along with this shirt?” asked Matt.

      “Isn’t it hanging up in the closet on your tie rack by the wall?” replied Christina.

      “No. I can’t find it anywhere.”

      “When did you wear it last?”

      “Friday of last week. I remember I got home around 6:00 p.m., we had date night, we came back home.”

      Matt walked to the back of the bed and found his red-and-blue striped tie tied to the bed post.

      “I wonder what you used that for.” smirked his wife, Christina.

      “Shut up,” said Matt, smiling back with a sheepish grin on his face.

      “So what are your plans for today at work?” asked Christina.

      “Just survive another day here in the city, Chris. There is just something about living here that I don’t enjoy. I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to be in the city, have certain amenities available when I need them. I don’t know though, Chris. Maybe someday we can finally get that log cabin you and I have been talking about for the longest time.”

      “Yeah, wouldn’t that be the American dream right there,” said Christina, brushing her hair with a hair comb in the bathroom.

      “What are you up to today?” asked Matt.

      “Well, I have a meeting this morning with the accounting department and Mr. Klemme. The older one. Then followed by a luncheon with a new company that we’re trying to convince to come to our accounting agency to let us do their accounting and payroll for them. After that just paperwork this afternoon. Try and get caught up, even though that’s almost always impossible.”

      “Oh nice, who is the company you’re having the lunch with?”

      “It’s a smaller company here in Olympia. I thought I heard it’s called Star something.”

      “Starbucks?”

      “No, I would remember that. I can’t remember. I think it’s Star Wear something. I know they specialize in fancy cutlery and silverware. They ship all around the world, so for a smaller business they’ve really done good for themselves.”

      “Well, good luck in getting their services. Hope everything works out for you.”

      Matt Carter left the bathroom after he finished tying his necktie, while Christina started to brush her teeth at the sink. He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he made a pot of coffee for himself and Christina. Matt would always make a little extra coffee to take with him to work in the mornings. Matt grabbed a thermos from the cupboard while the coffee was brewing still. Once the coffee had finished brewing Matt poured some from the pot into his thermos and then poured some coffee into a mug and sat at the table for a brief moment to relax and enjoy the morning. A realtor magazine was lying on the table, near the centerpiece, and Matt grabbed it. Opening the magazine Matt began to look through properties in the suburbs of Olympia—South Capitol, Cain Road, East Bay Drive, Lakemoor, as well as cabin homes in the nearby Olympic mountains. Matt and his wife had lived in downtown Olympia for the past few years. But over the years, Matt grew tired of living in the large city of Olympia, the capital of Washington state. The traffic was terrible, and the people were rude. Common courtesy was lacking in the community. What he wouldn’t give to just have a nice little log cabin, living off the grid. Maybe hook up some solar panels for power to the roof of the cabin, but beyond that, completely living off the grid. Matt always respected his wife’s wishes though and chose to live in the city so that the commuting to work was easier on her. Granted it was easier on him too, so Matt felt it was a win-win in going with what she wanted in this sense. Although Matt always dreamed of the mountains and the forest and living in the log cabin away from civilization, where he could be his own man.

      After finishing with her teeth and hair in the bathroom, Christina Carter came down the stairs. She was a woman in her late twenties but looked like she just turned twenty. She was a bright woman with a degree from the University of Washington in accounting, where she met her husband, Matt, in business accounting class who also majored in business management. They were both graduates of the class of 2011 and both married in the same summer of graduation, on July 27, 2011, in a nice backyard wedding ceremony at Christina’s parents’ cabin home in Packwood, Washington—a nice backyard overlooking the waters of the Cowlitz River and the mountains.

      Christina didn’t own the accounting firm that she worked at, but over the past eight years of being out of college and in the workforce, she had proven to her management team that she could handle responsibility and handle it efficiently. Christina smashed through many glass ceilings in the accounting firm and set the tone for women behind her to follow. She was very proud of her work and how far she had come in just eight years’ time, but equally proud of her marriage too. Their marriage to one another has had its ups and downs just like anyone else’s marriage, but more ups than downs. Really their only argument that ever got truly heated was how Matt wanted to move from the apartment they are in now to a home with a two-car garage—something that Christina couldn’t imagine spending the extra money on, simply just to park another car in the garage. Christina grabbed a mug from the pantry and filled up her mug with coffee from the coffee pot. She walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of Irish cream creamer from the refrigerator door. She put some creamer in her coffee, then put the bottle back in the fridge, grabbed a small spoon from the utensil drawer, and then sat down at the table next to her husband who was still occupied with flipping through the pages of the real estate magazine. Christina looked at Matt, then looked at the magazine.

      “I see you’re still on the moving to the mountains thing, aren’t you?” asked Christina.

      “I sure am. I don’t know why you don’t think the same way about it either. What about maybe looking into getting a vacation home log cabin in the mountains? Ease into the idea of living in the mountains and not make such a big jump all at once in moving there?”

      “I suppose we could look into that, or we could look into paying the mortgage on our condo first, along with all our other bills and your student loan.”

      “Babe, why do you have to bring that up?” asked Matt.

      “I’m just saying, who was the one that got the scholarship at U-Dub?” replied Christina with a smile.

      Matt continued to flip through the pages of the magazine.

      “Oh come on, honey. This could be something that we can do together in a couple years when we get the two cars paid off, knock your student loan down some, and then we can look into the possibility of getting a vacation cabin up in the woods,” said Christina

      “Yes, but at the very least why couldn’t we just look and see what is available? Maybe there is something affordable right now. Like a fixer upper cabin.”

      “So that we could pour even more money into fixing it up to use once or twice a year?”

      Matt set the real estate magazine down on the table in frustration.

      “I’m hungry. You want a bowl of cereal before work?” asked Matt.

      Matt stood up from the table and walked into the kitchen. Christina sighed with a deep breath when he stood up and left the table.

      “Matt, I’m sorry. I just don’t see how we cannot only afford that right now, but put something like a log cabin in the middle of the forest to good use right now. I think that would require