The Valentine Cabin

“The Valentine Cabin”

It sounded like a good idea at the time. A week at Aspen Ridge Ski Lodge would have cost an arm and a leg but when Alex searched VRBO online and found a quaint little cabin in the same area he jumped at the chance to rent it. The website photos showed a rustic wood cabin in a forest clearing and the captions used words like cozy and captivating. It had a big, beautiful stone fireplace, wood-faced walls and floors and a beamed ceiling. There was a great room, small kitchenette, bathroom and a bedroom with a canopy bed. Neither he nor Nicole had ever stayed in a cabin before and the more they talked about it the more romantic it sounded. The best part was that the rent was half of what the lodge asked for. It seemed like a no-brainer and he booked their stay to make it a Valentine celebration. Let those snotty rich people have the lodge, he and Nicole were heading out for a different kind of experience.

Trying to decide what to pack for a week-long stay in a place with no grocery stores or Starbucks within miles was a challenge. They both liked to cook but the kitchenette was not the same as a kitchen so they chose their food supplies accordingly. The fireplace would give enough heat to keep them warm as long as they kept the fire going non-stop. And the overstuffed rustic furniture would make for comfortable hours of relaxing and reading. The wardrobe choices would be simple; sweat suits and slippers indoors and winter garb for the occasional walk outdoors. Everything was in place for a perfect and peaceful week.

They left on Friday morning. The first hour of the trip was uneventful. Despite an overnight snowfall the highway crews had kept the interstate clear and plowed to the bare pavement. The last half hour of the drive was a different story. Nicole’s nervousness was obvious. “Geez, honey, why do you suppose this road hasn’t been plowed?”

“I have no idea. The next exit off the highway is a county road that goes straight up to the lodge so I’m sure it’s perfectly plowed. The VRBO site said this is a private road.”

“So who’s supposed to plow it?”

“It’s probably a private plowing contractor who’s hired by the owner of the cabin.”

Her nervous look seemed frozen on her face. “Well whoever it is it looks like they didn’t show up this morning.”

They drove slowly and carefully. With no road surface or tire tracks to follow they had to try and keep the car in the middle of the space between the trees on both sides. It was when the GPS said they were about a mile from the cabin that the snow really started coming down. Their windshield wipers could barely keep up. If it weren’t for the GPS announcement that they’d reached their destination they would have missed the sign that told them where to turn into the driveway.

They sat in the car for a moment looking around at the forest and the cabin. Alex thought how the VRBO site should have added the word remote to the description. He turned to Nicole. “Babe, you have the key. Grab what you can carry and get the place unlocked. I’ll take care of the unloading.”

It took Alex about fifteen minutes of trudging back and forth through ankle-deep snow to get everything into the cabin. When he closed the door behind him he stood there and took in the view. “Wow, this place is beautiful, just like the website pics.”

“Yeah, it’s like stepping back in time. I love that fireplace. They even have the wood in the grate ready to light.”

“Why don’t you get a fire going while I stash some of this stuff?”

A half hour later they were standing by the fire. The chandelier threw a warm glow across the entire room. They put their arms around each other and Nicole said, “We should think about coming back here next summer. It’s probably a great place to hike.”

Alex smiled. “Let’s wait to see if we’re really cabin people before we think about that.” He walked over to the large, north-facing windows while Nicole went to check out the kitchenette.

“Hey, check it out,” he said excitedly, “you can see the lodge from here. It’s on the other side of that big ravine.”

“And check this out,” she answered. “There’s a mini-bar in the fridge. There are all kinds of little bottles of booze and snacks.”

“That’s probably in case we get bored,” he joked, “but it’s way too early to be bored.”

That was the moment when their Valentine bubble burst. The chandelier flickered then went dark. There was enough daylight coming in to let them see their way around but the warm glow had become a cold one.

Alex looked up. “Damn, I wonder if the power’s off or it’s just that light.

Nicole looked worried. “I’ll check the fridge.” She walked over and opened it. “Nope, the little light didn’t come on.”

Alex walked into the bedroom. A small shelf on the wall over the dresser held the router for the WiFi. “Shit, the router’s dead too. No lights and no internet.”

Nicole took her cellphone from her purse. “I saved the number for the property manager. Maybe she’ll know what’s going on.” A moment later her expression said it all. “Great, there’s no phone service either.”

“The VRBO site said that phone service was spotty around here depending on your carrier. I guess Sprint never put up a tower near here.”

Neither of them spoke for a moment. Their romantic getaway was only two hours old and neither of them knew what to expect next. They did a quick check of their situation. By five o’clock it would be dark outside. They had brought food but there was no way to heat it. They had two flashlights in the car that would supplement the meager light from the fireplace. There seemed to be plenty of firewood stacked outside to keep them warm. And of course there was the minibar.

Alex looked at Nicole. “Okay, let’s not panic here.” He said, hoping it would offer her some small comfort. “When power goes off it always comes back on. We’ll just have to make the best of the situation and wait it out.”

Nicole managed a weak and not very believable smile. She walked over to the small window beside the entry door and looked out. “Breaking news, the car is covered with snow and you can’t see the tracks from where we drove in.” She turned back to Alex. “Suddenly I don’t think it’s too early for the mini-bar.”

The afternoon dragged by. Their iPads were almost useless without a router. Peanut butter sandwiches and apples, washed down with little bottles of vodka served as lunch. Any attempts at normal conversation lasted just minutes at a time.

About four o’clock Alex went outside to clear off and start up the car. He wanted to charge their iPads before it got too dark to see. When he came back indoors he muttered, “Unfreaking believable. The snow is halfway to my knees and still coming down.”

As bad as it was to have no power or phones, the deepening snow had added a feeling of entrapment that changed their moods from annoyed to frightened.

It was when Alex had unplugged the second iPad from the charger and turned off the engine that he’d noticed the glow in the sky. He walked back toward the cabin and looked north. The lodge was fully lit up. The parking lot, guest room windows and even the chair lifts looked like they did on any normal night. He’d guessed the cabin was less than a mile from the lodge. They had power and he didn’t.

When he opened the cabin door Nicole was standing by the north windows. “I saw it too. What the hell is going on?”

“All I can figure is they’ve got emergency generators.”

They stood in the darkened cabin, in front of those windows as if they were frozen in place. After a few silent minutes Nicole walked away. When she came back she was carrying two little bottles of whisky. “Here, you probably need one of these as much as I do.”

Their evening meal was nothing close to what could be called dinner. A fireplace isn’t the best place to cook. Without a working oven or cook top they had to settle for lunchmeat sandwiches with cheese and crackers. Even popping the cork on a bottle of wine they’d brought with them couldn’t make the food taste any better.

It wasn’t just the lack of a kitchen that presented problems. Without electricity the rest of the cabin was just barely livable. The fireplace kept the great room warm and comfortable but the bedroom and bathroom were cold and uninviting. Sitting on the toilet was like sitting on a block of ice and if they were going to go into the cold bedroom and sleep in the big canopy bed they’d be relying only on a blanket and comforter to keep them warm. Even if they could stay warm they’d be in darkness until the morning. It was their Valentine vacation but the light from two flashlights wasn’t anything close to romantic.

They’d decided to sleep in front of the fireplace with the bedroom pillows and blankets for extra warmth. Nicole took the sofa and Alex chose the large armchair and ottoman. When they turned off their flashlights the glow of the fire cast a soft light on the room. They also couldn’t help but notice the faint glow of light coming through the north window. The people staying at the lodge were having a very different kind of evening.

Except for about ten minutes to get up and re-stoke the fire Alex had spent the entire night tossing and turning in the chair. Nicole had slept a little better on the sofa but it still had left her tired the next morning. When they got up their morning routine was far from normal.

Nicole yawned and rubbed her eyes. “I’d give anything for a hot bath or shower.”

“Sorry, babe, it appears that hot water isn’t in our rental package.” His sarcasm matched her feelings exactly.

“You can have the bathroom first. I’m going to see if I can figure out how to make coffee in the fireplace.”

His bathroom routine was over in a matter of minutes and it happened in a room where he could see his breath. He took over the coffee project and Nicole was gone and back beside the fireplace in the same few minutes. Their fireplace coffee wasn’t a Starbucks but given their mood and the way they felt it was a welcome start to their Saturday, their Valentine’s Day. In the afternoon they exchanged cards, small gifts and raided the minibar again. Those little bottles had become a kind of painkiller.

While he was outside getting more firewood Alex thought that there must be some kind of electrical box or meter somewhere on the cabin exterior but a quick walk around didn’t reveal anything. That seemed strange to him but all he could do was carry the wood back inside and wait again for the power to come back on.

Every day, all day they tried over and over to get a phone signal but never got through. Every day, all day, they stood at the door searching for a snowplow but one never appeared. Every day, all day they wondered when the power would come back on but it never did. Meals were either cold or charred. They couldn’t shower and each day that passed made them feel more grimy and unkempt.

On Saturday, while Alex packed up for their departure and Nicole worked on making their last taste of fireplace coffee, he heard a vehicle outside. He went to the window and saw a snowplow just as it passed the driveway.

“It’s about freaking time” he growled. “I guess that guy just works one day a week.”

“At least now we can get the hell out of this place without getting stuck.”

They watched the plow turn around and head back, plowing the other side of the road. Alex was tempted to run outside and flag it down. He had a few nasty comments to share with the guy but he let it go. Being able to leave and go home was its own reward.

They felt a mix of emotions as they packed to leave. Anger at the circumstances that had ruined their vacation. Regret that they hadn’t been able to get out and enjoy the forest. And elation that they’d be home in less than two hours.

Alex was doing a quick walk-through to make sure nothing would be left behind when there was a knock on the door. When he opened it a grinning man in a parka asked, “Good morning, are you Mr. Weldon?”

“Yes, and you are?”

“I’m Bill Cass. I’m the property manager for the owner. According to my work order you’re vacating today and after you leave I’ll be getting the place ready for the next renter. I made sure our plowing contractor cleared the road first.”

Alex stood there unsure of how he should respond. Nicole had heard the man’s introduction and hurried over to join the conversation. The anger on her face told Alex that Cass was in for an earful. “So you’re the property manager,” she snarled. “We’ve been here for a week with an impassible road, no power so no hot water, no cooking and no comfort whatsoever. Tell me, exactly what in the hell do you manage?”

Cass was caught totally off-guard. “Uh, I’m sorry, ma’am, did you have a problem with the power? No one from my office mentioned it.”

Alex chimed in, “That’s because you can’t get any phone service around here.”

Cass looked puzzled. “Really? I’m head of maintenance at the lodge and when they bought up all the cabins around here we just assumed you’d all get the same clear signal the lodge gets.”

“Well, we didn’t. This place is like a black hole for cell service.” He glared at Cass, trying hard to keep his temper in check.

Nicole didn’t even try. “What about the power? Ours went out the day we got here but we saw your lodge lit up non-stop all week:

Cass hesitated, trying to get his head around their angry comments. “Mr. Weldon, did you check the electrical panel?”

Alex was dumfounded. “No, I didn’t. I didn’t even see a panel. The power just went out on its own. We didn’t plug anything in or do anything to flip a breaker.”

“Let’s go check the panel. I might be able to solve this.”

Alex and Nicole quickly donned their boots and coats then followed Cass through the snow to the back wall of the cabin. He tugged on the edge of the wood siding and a small door swung open revealing an electrical panel, an electrical meter and a small box for a landline phone that had been disconnected. Cass opened the panel door. “Ah, see, here it is. The main breaker was thrown. All you had to do was flip at back to the ON position.”

Alex was angry. “I would have done that myself if I could have found the panel. Why in hell is it hidden behind the siding like that?”

Cass could tell that Alex was upset but didn’t seem to care. “When the company that owns the lodge bought the cabins they did some upgrades. We framed out around the panel and sided over it like this to sort of hide it. We did it because we get occasional break-ins and vandalism.”

“So you hid it away so the bad guy couldn’t find it and now the good guy couldn’t find it either. We read the welcome note and information guide when we got here and there was no mention of how to find the panel.”

“I’m sorry, we just never had any kind of problem with the electrical so I guess management didn’t think that was necessary.”

Nicole shook her head. “I’m going back inside, it’s cold out here.”

They trudged back through the snow and when they were back inside Cass looked around and said, “Well, the lights are back on so I guess things are back to normal.”

Nicole wasn’t having it. “That’s nice. At least the last forty-five minutes of our stay will be normal.”

Cass had a sheepish look on his face as he turned to leave. He stopped at the door, turned back toward her and said, “Oh, one last thing. There are minibar charges to take care of. Would you like us to just put them on the same card you did the rental with?”

Alex had never seen his petite, easy-going wife move so fast. She took one step toward Cass and slapped his face so hard his glasses almost fell to the floor. “Our week in your cabin was absolutely miserable and now you want even more of our money?”

Cass was in total shock as he fumbled to put his glasses back on. Nicole didn’t give him time to respond. “You tell your company we’ll expect to get a full refund on our rental fees.” She paused and then added, “And you know where you can stick all those little bottles.”

There was nothing else to say and Cass knew it. He walked out the door, got into his car and disappeared down the road. Nicole turned to Alex and saw the look on his face. “What?”

“Wow, my Valentine is bad ass!”