Anna pulled into her driveway and cut the truck’s headlights. Snow and the weight of whatever clouds the flakes fell from muffled sound inside the two-seater cab. She rolled her window down halfway and inhaled through her nose. Snow had its own smell. Tonight, that smell mingled with the smoke coming from a neighbor’s fireplace. She closed her eyes and breathed in again.
When she opened her eyes, lights from the MacMasters’ cottage glowed between the trees separating the two properties. The lights had been off for more than two months, since Liam had left for New York. A Wednesday in the middle of February was an odd start to a rental. She’d go over in the morning and introduce herself.
Dropping her bag inside the back door, she fished the phone from a pocket of her canvas coat, toed off her boots, and scrolled through a short stack of messages. Elaine forwarded links to the website she was developing for their floating bed and breakfast idea. Gigi and Gary Jr. wanted her opinion on another renovation project question.
Again. She worried at her lower lip. Daily runs to the other house weren’t part of the deal they’d struck. She’d best nip in the bud this notion she had nothing better to do.
Daniel had left a message too, something about having a big piece of news to share. His insistence on including her in his life surprised her at first, but their continued contact was beginning to feel important. She’d call him in the morning.
Liam’s text was next. “Just wanted to say hi.”
That was all, no explanation about the unfinished message he’d sent after the video deposition, no hint of anything in his voice. She shivered and placed the phone face down on the counter. Her house was cold after a day spent visiting job sites, and there was no one to call for company. Elaine was off-island, looking for sunshine and culinary inspiration somewhere much closer to the equator. The storage pod was close to full, but she wasn’t at all interested in dealing with the half-filled boxes in her living room.
She’d make dinner and take a book to bed, and tomorrow would bring her one day closer to spring.
Stepping to the back door, she reached for the stubby curtain cord the same moment footsteps sounded on the deck. Something between a squeak and a scream left her mouth as a figure peered at her from underneath the bottom of the window shade, waving a mitten-covered hand.
“Anna, it’s me. Liam.”
She’d neglected to leave a porch light on. The tall figure pressing his forehead to the small window on the upper half of the door was, indeed, her one-time neighbor, study buddy, and lover.
“What are you doing here?” Anna wasn’t ready to fling the door open all the way and throw herself at him. But she was close.
“Didn’t you get my messages?” His breath fogged the window. He rubbed an area clear again with the edge of his palm.
“Messages? You mean the one you left after the conference call?”
“I left more than that.”
“Not on my phone. What did your message say?”
“That I was coming to talk. Can I come inside?” Liam waited on the top step, stomping his feet, until she unlocked the door and opened it wide, beckoning him over the threshold. The shoulders of his red, all-weather jacket were dusted with wet patches from melting snow. “When I saw you on the conference call, I had this feeling all my questions would be answered if I could just talk to you again, face to face.”
“What questions?” Anna reached behind her for the edge of the kitchen counter.
“It’s only one question.” He unzipped his jacket, dropped his mittens, and tucked his hands under his armpits. “But before we talk, would you mind if I got a fire going?”
“I’d like that.” Some of the tension dropped from her body. “You know where to find the wood. Don’t take any from the left side of the pile. It’s fresh.”
Anna went into the bedroom and returned, her arms loaded with the quilt from the bed and her heart loaded with questions. She draped the quilt over the back of the couch and lined up what she wanted to know in order of urgency.
“What are you doing here?” she began.
“I needed to talk to you in person,” he answered, chuffing his way to the woodstove.
She placed a stack of newspaper on top of the armful of logs Liam carried and returned to the safety of her kitchen. He had a roaring fire going within minutes. While he was tending to the flames, he sat on the floor and loosened the laces on his boots.
“Do you want some tea, or cocoa?” It wasn’t the second question on her list, but wet snow on a cold night called for a hot drink.
“I’ll have whatever you’re making.”
Anna placed a small, heavy-bottomed pan atop the burner. She opened the refrigerator door, grimacing when she sniffed the carton of milk, and poured the soured liquid down the sink. Herbal tea would have to do, though the image of the last time she and Liam shared food and drink haunted her for a moment. This night didn’t need to follow the same script as that November night in New York.
The backs of her legs bumped against the couch when she bent to place the mugs of tea on the table. She hovered between sitting and standing until Liam patted one of the couch cushions
“Sit,” he said. She stumbled to the side and sat on his hand. He pulled away and busied himself with adding a dollop of honey to his tea. “Daniel and I had a heart to heart a few weeks ago. He seems happy. He also said the two of you have been talking.”
“We did talk. We still talk.” She nudged her mug away from the edge of the table and
