Chapter 1

“Ella Rose! You made it!”

“Hi Aunt Margie!” Ella hugged her aunt as she climbed out of her car.

“Did you have a good trip?” Margie asked, helping Ella with her bag.

“Not too bad. The drive from Ohio to Boston seems to get shorter every time I do it. I hit a bad traffic jam in Connecticut though. Freaking idiots don’t know how to merge in a construction zone.”

“They’re about as stupid as the idiots that take seven years to build the new road!” Margie agreed.

Ella laughed.

“Can I get you anything to eat? You must be starved after spending 13 hours in the car!” Margie offered.

“A sandwich would be lovely!” Ella said as she sat down at the kitchen counter.

“The cabin should be all ready for you. I put clean sheets on the bed the last time we were there, and there’s plenty of propane left for the stove. I’ll give you a set of keys before you leave tomorrow.”

Ella sighed. “I can’t wait to get up there. It’s exactly what I need right now.”

“I was so sorry to hear that your program lost its funding. Is there nothing else you can do?”

“Nope. 33 very talented street kids now have nowhere to go after school and no way to help them develop their musical abilities. There’s no other programs in LA like that. Did you know that I even had one girl get into the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra? She’s one of 3 Latin musicians out of 145. Who knows how many more kids are out there on the streets like her? They have no access to instruments or lessons. Instead of growing up to be famous musicians, they’re going to grow up on the streets, around gangs and poverty.”

“I’m so sorry Ella. You’ll find a way. You always have.” Margie said, patting Ella on the arm.

Ella sighed. “I hope so.”

“I’ve always found great peace up at camp. I’m sure after a few days up in that cabin, you’ll start to see things more clearly. It’s a great chance to get away from everything.”

Ella smiled. “That’s exactly what I’m looking forward to!”

“What’s going on Kevin?” Ann asked. “Why are you storming around here snapping at everyone?”

Kevin sighed. “I’m sorry Mom. I’m just tired.”

Ann crossed her arms. “If you’re tired, you take a nap. You don’t start a fist fight with your brother!”

“I don’t need sleep! Stop treating me like I’m 6! A nap won’t fix anything!” Kevin fired at his mother.

“And what exactly is it that you want to fix?”

“Don’t you get it? EVERYTHING! Everything in my life is wrong right now! Kris left me, I have no work lined up, I have nothing!”

“When are you going to tell me what happened, son?” Ann asked, her voice softening.

Another sigh from Kevin. “Mom, please. You make it seem as if there was one thing. There were too many things wrong between us lately. I left Backstreet for her. We were going to start a family together. Then she starts getting really distant. She doesn’t want kids anymore, she wants to take a role in a movie. I was proud of her, I really was. But for some reason, she didn’t believe me. We were fighting constantly. She started sleeping in the guest room. One morning, she woke up and told me she couldn’t take it anymore and literally threw the divorce papers at me. Is that good enough for you? There was no marriage left to end. Did you know that we haven’t had sex in over a year? We haven’t shared a bed in six months. She just…stopped loving me Mom. What am I supposed to do now?”

Ann tried hard to keep the shock from showing. She had no idea things had been that bad for her son lately. He had always led her to believe things were going great for him.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” she asked.

“I didn’t want you to worry. I thought it was just a phase.” He responded, his voice heavy.

“I’m sorry, Son. I had no idea.” Ann said, pulling her tallest son in for a hug. “I think you need to get away for a bit. Clear your head.”

Kevin gave her a puzzled look. “Isn’t that why I came out here?”

Ann shook her head. “Family isn’t what you need right now, Kevin. You need time to yourself. With the life you’ve chosen, you’ve never had time just to be alone. You need to be where no one can find you and take some time to sort everything out.”

“And where exactly do you think this location is?” Kevin asked, looking skeptical.

“I’ve got a friend whose family has this cabin up in Maine. It’s supposed to be gorgeous up there this time of year. It’s on 68 acres of woods, no electricity, no running water, no phone….”

Kevin smiled at the thought. Not everyone would appreciate the escape from modern conveniences but it was right up his alley. Leave it to his mother to know just what he needed.

“I really don’t want anyone to know I’m there.” He said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll just tell Laurie it’s for one of my sons. She doesn’t really know who you are anyway. She’s a tad on the ditzy side. I’ll go give her a call and see if it’s available.”

Kevin hugged his mom. “Thanks. I’m sorry for causing so much trouble.”

“It’s alright. I love you.”

Ella cruised with the windows down and her music blaring. It was a gorgeous summer day and she was excited to get up to the cabin. It was only another three hours from Boston if the traffic was good. It had been so long since she’d been to Maine that she’d almost forgotten how much she missed it. The solitude, the simplicity of it all. In Maine, it was all about nature. The basics.

Ella knew she was at a crossroads in her life. Hell, she almost sounded like her mother as she went over it all in her head. “I’m 28 years old, suddenly unemployed, I have no relationship, no nest egg as I’ve been working for a non-profit organization that I created myself, no friends because I was always too busy with work, nothing left.

“At least I still have my looks!” she said, checking herself in the rear view mirror. Ella still had a very youthful complexion. She always attributed it to working with youth all the time. They made her feel like a teenager herself sometimes. Her curly brown hair fell just on her shoulders and was blowing wildly in the wind. There was no really good reason why she hadn’t been in any relationships lately. She certainly attracted men with her dark blue eyes, rosy complexion and hourglass figure. She was a tad on the short side standing only at 5 feet 4 inches. Good things come in small packages, she always told herself. She just wasn’t all that interested in dating. It seemed so pointless. Meet a guy, go out a few times to get to know each other, spend time trying to impress each other, and it never works out in the end anyway. Men were stupid and until they created an updated version of Man, she was not interested.

She’d always been ok not dating because she was totally devoted to her work. She helped so many talented kids achieve their dreams and in turn, she was living out one of her dreams. Now, with her funding cut and no money to replace it with, she was forced to shut down her program. So now not only did she not have a man, she didn’t have a job either. Life really sucked sometimes. She had some decisions to make and she just wanted to get away and think before she made them.

“If I could just get away with robbing a bank, I could get my program back on its feet!” she joked to herself.

After only stopping once at the New Hampshire state liquor store for some cheap and tax-free booze, Emily finally made it up to the cabin.

She found everything to be exactly as she remembered it. She didn’t even bother to unload her things before she went over the property, breathing in the fresh mountain air.

There it was. Silence. Nothing but birds chirping and the brook babbling just yards away from her. She couldn’t believe it was the same. The outhouse, which she absolutely hated but decided it was certainly better than hugging a tree, which she was always too scared to do, the two trees to hook the hammock up to, the fire pit, all of it. She grabbed her bag and ran inside to throw on her swimsuit, deciding now was the perfect time to take a dip in the stream. A few years back, her uncles had built up a small damn to make the water deeper. It was only about waist high but it was perfect. She let out a small shriek, forgetting how cold it always was no matter how hot the sun was. Feeling slightly adventurous out in the wild all by herself, Ella decided to throw caution to the wind and do something she’d never ever done before: skinny dipping

She looked around to make sure there were no moose watching her as she threw her suit onto the shore and laughed as she swam around in her birthday suit. It really was a liberating experience.

Kevin enjoyed the ride up to Maine. He rented a car the night before and woke up before the sun to start his drive. He found himself excited at the change of pace.

So what if his wife didn’t love him? So what if he left Backstreet? So what if his agent wasn’t returning any of his calls? He could figure it out, couldn’t he? He was Kevin Richardson, after all. He was the leader. The wise one. The father figure. There had to be a way to turn his life around. He just didn’t know how the hell that was going to happen.

He’d briefly considered drowning his sorrows in booze until he remembered how well that had worked for AJ. Then he thought maybe what he needed was just a wild night of sex. Lots of sex. It had been a year, after all. A man could only take so much! Unfortunately, the idea of a hooker wasn’t much of a turn on and he just didn’t feel like going out and meeting women. If his own wife didn’t even want him, why would anyone else? Maybe size wasn’t everything after all…..

Kevin shook his head. He had to stop all this negative thinking. It was time for a positive start. He needed to look at this as his new beginning, not a trip to think about everything that sucked.

As he drove into Maine, he smiled as he took in the sight of the scenery around him. Green mountains ahead of him and blue, sparkling lakes all over the place. After passing it about three times, he finally managed to find the dirt path they called a road on his map that led to the cabin. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t driving a truck. It wasn’t a road at all he was trying to drive on. It was just a clearing. There were big rocks and holes everywhere. He tried his best but wasn’t it just his luck that he didn’t see the biggest hole yet as his car drove right over it.

“FUCK!” Kevin shouted, stopping to check on the car.

“DAMMIT! How can I get a flat tire in the middle of fucking nowhere Maine?” Kevin yelled, kicking the now flat tire.

“You know what?” he told himself. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll just hike the rest of the way. It’s only another half mile. It’ll do me some good!”

Kevin grabbed his bag, locked his car even though he knew there would be no one around, and began following the “road” to the cabin. Eventually, he could see the cabin through the trees just up the hill. Off to his right, he saw a stream running and decided to go check it out before he got to the cabin. He was not at all prepared for the gorgeous sight he would see.

Bathing in a sunny spot of water was a gorgeous young woman, naked. It had been so long since Kevin had seen a naked woman that he felt himself getting aroused at just the sight of her. She was gorgeous, the way the sun was hitting her body, the way she was smiling as she bathed, and he could have sworn he even heard her giggle. It was as if she was some type of Nymph sent for the sole purpose of tempting him and only him.

He shook his head to clear the haze that had formed and realized that it was in fact strange that he was supposed to be in this very secluded place and yet there was a person just yards from the cabin. What was she doing here? His mom said that there was a man named Dennis who looked after the place, maybe she was with him? He decided to continue up to the cabin before she saw him and thought he was some sort of pervert. Although, with the thoughts that were running inside his head, he was starting to wonder about that himself.

He noticed a car parked next to the cabin when he got there and decided it must belong to the Nymph in the stream. Maybe she was the town welcome wagon? One could only hope…..

He found the cabin unlocked and stepped inside. For a cabin in the middle of nowhere, it sure was nice. It had a screened in porch he thought would be just perfect for sipping hot coffee on in the mornings. Inside the walls were wood paneled and the windows had been opened to air out the must. The kitchen was small and he was surprised to see a refrigerator that ran on propane there along with a gas stove and a sink with no running water but with plenty of full water jugs next to it for washing dishes. He continued back and found a supply room stocked with bug spray, flashlights, lanterns, propane tanks, all the basic supplies. And in the back corner was a bedroom with a huge king size bed in the middle. There were also some stairs that led up into a loft room that was sweltering in the sun on the roof and held nothing but extra beds. He would definitely not be sleeping up here. Way too hot. He threw his bag on the bed and changed out of his jeans into some shorts and took off his shirt wearing only his wife beater. He was now ready to take on the great outdoors!

Ella finished up her dip in the stream and decided that since no one was around, she wasn’t going to bother struggling to put on her wet bathing suit. She gathered up her things and walked back to the cabin in nothing but her birthday suit. Just as she was walking up the steps to the porch, Kevin was coming out the door.

Ella shrieked. “Who the hell are you?” she yelled, realizing she was completely naked and there was a very large, very strong man coming out of her cabin. She struggled to cover herself up.

Kevin froze. She was still naked!

“What do you want?” Ella asked her voice trembling.

Kevin realized she thought he was going to hurt her.

“Shit, relax; I’m not going to hurt you. I’m Kevin. I’m staying here.”

“No, I’m staying here. My aunt owns this place. Now who are you?”

“Really. I’m Kevin. My Mom’s friends with your aunt Laurie. She said it was ok if I stayed her a few weeks.”

“Your mom’s friends with Laurie? Margie didn’t say anything about this…” Ella started. “When did you talk to Laurie?”

“Just last night. Look, do you want to go put some clothes on so we can talk like adults and I can look you in the eye?” Kevin said, totally noticing Ella’s hands had slipped from covering her breasts to resting on her hips in a defensive pose.

Ella’s hands shot back up. “Jesus, like you’ve never seen breasts before! I swear, all you men can ever think about is boobs!” she said, trying to hide her embarrassment. “Be a freaking gentleman and turn your back while I get my bag out of the car and go get dressed.”

Kevin had to stifle his laughter as he turned his back. Ella flew past him into the cabin with her bag and returned a few minutes later wearing jean capris and a purple tank top.

“Ok. You can look now.” She said, taking a seat on the porch.

“Good. And for the record, I do think of other things besides boobs.” Kevin replied, sitting down across from her.

“Let me guess. Ass?” she shot back.

“I’m sorry, have I done something to offend you?” Kevin asked, really starting to get irritated with her attitude towards him.

“You mean other than being here, ruining my peace and quite? No.”

“Look, I didn’t know you were going to be here. I came here for the same things you did. I was promised I could be alone out here.” He said.

“Well find someplace else to be alone. This one’s taken.”

“Yeah, because there are SO many places to stay here in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! Besides, my car got a flat driving up that thing you call a road. I’m stuck at least until tomorrow when I’ll have enough light left in the day to get it changed. Why don’t you go somewhere else?”

“ME? You’re kicking me out of my family’s cabin? You don’t even know Laurie! I have way more right to be here than you, buddy!”

“Well how is it then that Laurie didn’t know you were staying here?” Kevin fired back.

“Because I made my plans through Aunt Margie. She’s the one with the calendar for who’s staying when. Laurie never could keep that stuff straight. She must have forgotten I was coming up here.”

“Well, that’s just great, isn’t it? I guess we’ll be spending the night together!”

“Like hell we are! Look, it seems pretty clear to me that both of us came up here to escape, which explains our shitty moods. It’s also pretty clear that I don’t like you and you’re starting not to like me, am I right?”

“Gee, what ever gave you that impression? My sparkling manners?” he said, sarcastically.

“No, I think it was more your cocky ‘I am God’ attitude seeping through your skin.” Ella replied.

“What’s your point?”

“My point is,” Ella started, “That I have no intentions of sharing this cabin with you tonight. You can sleep in your car.”

“I don’t think so. You’ll just have to deal with it. I’m sleeping here. You can sleep all by yourself up in the loft.” Kevin said.

“I’m not sleeping up there, it’s too fucking hot! You can take your happy ass up there and sleep!”

“Yeah, right. You said it yourself. It’s too hot. How about we flip a coin?”

“Kevin, I am not flipping a coin over this!” Ella said, not backing down. “I was here first!”

“So? I was here second!” Kevin replied.

Ella huffed. “You are IMPOSSIBLE! Where are you from? Because it sounds like you’re from the south, and I was always under the impression that men from the south were supposed to be courteous towards women. You know, treat them with respect?”

“Yes, that’s very true. We are taught to treat a lady with respect. But I don’t see any ladies here, do I?”

Ella stood up. “What, you’re saying I’m not a lady? You saw me naked, how can you dispute that?”

“I’m not saying you’re not a woman, I’m saying you are not behaving like a lady. A lady would not be so rude to a guest. A lady would compromise. A lady wouldn’t be rude to a total stranger. Didn’t your mother teach you anything?”

“You know what, Kevin? I’ll settle this right now. I’m going to bed.”

“It’s only 7:00. You must be exhausted from all that swimming.”

Ella sighed. “No, I’m exhausted from all the idiots in this world I have to deal with every damn day.” She said, as she slammed the door behind her.

Ella did in fact stay in bed the rest of the evening, leaving Kevin to enjoy a bit of peace and quiet on the porch. He made a small fire outside in the fire pit and found some hotdogs to roast for dinner. He sat around and did a little bit of thinking, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the woman in the stream.

He didn’t like her. She had an attitude problem. But there was something about her that made him unable to stop thinking about her. He liked a feisty woman, that was for sure. And she certainly was attractive, leaving nothing left to the imagination. Maybe if she just didn’t talk and he could just stare at her…..

Around ten, he decided it was time to go to bed. He just hoped his own personal Nymph was ready. He realized she never even told him her name, and so since he first saw her bathing nude, tempting him, he would simply think of her that way. He just hoped she was ready for him to come to bed, because she was about to learn one thing about Kevin Richardson: he never backed down on a fight. Instead, he crawled into bed right next to it.

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