The moon sat in the middle of the sky. Clouds blurred out the stars. When the wind blew, it rattled the last of the leaves and sounded almost like gentle surf.
“I never thought it would be like this,” Jennifer said.
Amber glanced over and offered the bottle again. Jennifer waved it off.
“Marriage, I mean. I thought it wasn’t a big deal. A couple of my friends got married way too young. Stephanie was one.”
“The Stephanie from downstairs?”
“Yeah. She got married right after high school. She and—what was his name? I don’t remember. Anyway, they got married and immediately went to different colleges. She went to Dartmouth and he stayed here and went to SMCC.”
“They didn’t last?”
“While they were apart, everything was fine. As soon as she graduated and came back, it was different. Tony! That was his name. Anyway, Tony didn’t finish school. He took a job as a welder and he was making really good money. It seemed like with each new accomplishment that she had—her first job, her first promotion, and then a raise—he couldn’t be happy for her. It was like his potential was already realized. A year later, the money he was making didn’t seem like so much because she was catching up. Everyone knew that she was going to be successful and he was still going to be a welder.”
“I don’t understand why people get competitive with their spouses,” Amber said.
“You know, now that I’m saying it out loud, I’m not so sure it’s true,” Jennifer shivered and readjusted her blankets. “Maybe I just assumed that was the case. I mean, I guess I heard about all her accomplishments from him, technically.”
“How does Aaron feel about your work?”
“How do you mean?”
“I mean, is he supportive when you have to work long hours? I know you put in a bunch of time on the Miller case. Didn’t you say that he had to do more than his share of planning for the wedding?”
“Yeah. He was great. I think he would have done it all if I had let him. If his taste wasn’t so bad, I probably would have.”
Both women stifled their laughter when they heard the sliding door from the next balcony.
Amber leaned out and saw the silhouette of the woman who was leaning out to take in the night air.
“Ms. Tyler-Harper?” Amber asked.
“Who is that?” Liz asked. “It’s too dark out here.”
“Amber Engel. I work for Mr. Bernier.”
“Oh—Amber! Can’t sleep?” Liz asked. “That’s my problem. Alan is out like a light and I can’t… Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you weren’t alone.”
Jennifer laughed. “It’s just me.”
# # #
Liz brought her own blanket and sat in the chair near the railing.
“It really is a beautiful night,” she said. Amber offered the bottle and Liz took a small sip. “That is not good, but it was perfect.”
Jennifer and Amber laughed.
“It’s snowing harder,” Jennifer said.
“I thought it was just going to be a dusting,” Amber said.
“It will be gone by morning,” Liz said. “Trust me.”
Amber nodded and blew out a long breath between pursed lips. The fog from her breath swirled in the moonlight.
“This will be your first winter up here, right?” Liz asked.
“Yeah,” Amber said.
“What’s your commute like?” Liz asked.
“Twenty-five minutes, maybe? My house is off of Prescott Road.”
“Oh, that’s not bad. I used to take that road into work when they were doing the repairs on Route Twenty-Seven. They keep that road very well plowed. You just have to worry about black ice.”
“Black ice?” Amber asked. She tried, unsuccessfully, to hide the worry in her voice.
“You’ll be fine,” Jennifer said. “You said that you bought studded tires with your car, right? Get those put on around Thanksgiving and you’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, okay,” Amber said. She sighed. “Can I tell you guys something just between us?”
“Of course,” Jennifer said.
“Give me another sip of whatever is in that bottle and we’ll call it a retainer,” Liz said.
Amber smiled and handed it over. “Honestly, I didn’t think I would still be here. I came up here to take care of my uncle’s place—you know, get everything divided up and then put it on the market—but then I just stayed. The family wanted to keep the house for a little while. My uncle already paid for the taxes and my cousin thinks that the market is going to go up. Plus, there was a stigma about the house because of what happened to the neighbor.”
“Oh!” Liz said. “Amber, of course. I’m just putting everything together. Forgive me, Miller occupied my entire brain this year.”
“Yeah. Anyway, I was upfront with Mr. Bernier about my intentions when he offered me the job. For the first couple of months, I liked the way I felt up here, so I really began to imagine that I might stay.”
“So why don’t you?” Jennifer asked.
“I’m…” Amber took a deep breath and held it for a moment. “I guess I’m afraid.”
“Of being alone?” Jennifer asked.
“No,” Amber said. “That’s the part that I really like. I really feel independent in a way that I never really have before. I don’t have expectations boxing me in up here. It’s like I’m free to write whatever future I want.”
“Then what is it?” Liz asked.
Amber took several seconds to figure out what she was going to say before she finally came out with it.
“I’m afraid of what’s up here. It’s all so mysterious and it feels dangerous.”
Her words hung in the still air until the wind picked up again and blew fresh flakes of snow onto their blankets.
“Amber,” Liz said, “before you continue, tell me precisely where you live.”
To the best of her ability, Amber did. The road that her uncle’s house sat on didn’t have a name, just a number. There wasn’t even a mailbox.
“And you don’t live near any streams or bodies of water?” Liz asked.
“No.”
“And did you see something strange in October?”
“No,” Amber said. “It was last summer.”
“Okay,” Liz said, letting out a relieved sigh. “Continue.”
Amber looked at Liz’s dark shape
