A knock on the front door startled me, I dropped the glass of ice water I was holding.
Who would knock on my front door this early on a Sunday morning?
I walked over to peek through the glass.
“Easton,” I said as I opened the door. “C’mon in. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Are you without power too?”
“Yes. We are. It went out around one thirty this morning.”
“Oh, wow. I must have been in a deep sleep. I always sleep with a fan, and I never noticed the power go out.”
“Okay, just checking to make sure it wasn’t only my place.” He turned to leave.
“Easton?”
“Yes?”
“So, when we call, how long do you think it might take them to get the power back on?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Might depend on their schedule. If you’d like, I can call when I get back to my place.”
“Sure. That would be great. So, um... Mr. ...” I paused. “I can’t think of his name. The guy who lives a few cabins down.”
“Gregory.”
“Yes, Gregory. How’s he doing? Have you been checking up on him too?”
“He’s good. Yeah, I like to get out of my cabin once in a while. A blizzard like this doesn’t slow me down. Even if it’s five minutes, at least I can get out and get in a little exercise. He’s doing well. I was going to check on him next to make sure he’s doing good after last night. There was a lot of ice that fell, and the snow was heavy. We’re due for another band of that heavy snow tonight. Wouldn’t doubt they wait to fix the power until a day or two has passed.”
“That long. Wow.” Okay.
“Most of us up here have backup generators. You might want to look into getting one of those for next winter. Or if you’re lucky, get one installed as soon as you can here. These storms like to show up out of nowhere.”
“What’s going on?”
I spun around, almost losing my balance. Easton reached out to steady me. “Jesus! Brooks! You scared the-you-know-what out of me!”
Easton laughed. “He got you good.”
Brooks didn’t smile but stared at Easton and me.
Easton noticed the demeanor Brooks displayed and took it upon himself to break the tension. “So, Brooks, how long are you staying for?”
“Do I have a deadline I have to be out by?”
I glanced at Brooks.
“No. Not at all,” Easton replied. “Just nice to have another handy-person up here during this season.”
Books nodded once and continued staring at both of us, expressionless.
“You guys doing fine on wood for your fireplace?”
“We’re doing fine. We have everything covered.”
“That’s good. You two are a few steps ahead of all the other newcomers that have tried to weather out the winter up here,” Easton said. “Well, I was thinking, if you two are free this evening...”
“We’re busy,” Brooks shot out before Easton could finish.
Stunned, I turned to look at him.
“Right, Erika. You didn’t already forget, did you?”
I looked back at Easton, who just stared at me.
“Well, we should get back to our list of things,” Brooks began. “As always, thank you for stopping by, Easton.”
“I’ll call them when I get back to my place,” Easton said as he pulled his hood over his head and reached for the door handle. “You two have a good day, and if you get everything done, maybe head on over. We can play some cards or cribbage of some sort. It’s always nice to have something fun to do when time permits.”
“Absolutely,” I said as he walked out the door. “And thank you very much for contacting them.” I closed the door and spun around to face Brooks. “What the hell was that?” I questioned him.
“What the hell was what? I should ask you that. I come down here after an amazing time with you to see you chalking it up with the neighbor.”
“Really? Is that what you think was happening?”
“That’s what I think was happening.”
“Well, you’re so wrong in that. And how you treated him was uncalled for. He was checking in to see if we were also without power. He was hoping it wasn’t just his house.”
Brooks just stood straighter and stretched his arms above his head. He walked towards the front door and locked it. “He doesn’t need to be coming over here like that. There’s something off with him.”
I wanted to shout out and tell Brooks he had something wrong with himself, that Easton was fine, but I couldn’t. Something was bothering him, and I couldn’t put my finger on just what it was. I knew he wasn’t fond of Easton, but there had to be a reason. Brooks always got along with anyone.
“What is it you think is off about him?” I asked Brooks. “Seriously. What do you see? Because I don’t see it, and maybe I’m blind to whatever it is. So please, tell me what you see.”
Brooks stared at me. “He’s not coming over here to just check up on you. He’s wanting more than that. I’m a guy. I can see this stuff from a mile away. Men are like that, and women just don’t see it as quick.”
“Okay.”
“How old is he? Late forties? We’re in our mid-forties, so he’s right in our age bracket. It’s not like you’re decades older or younger than him. He’s probably a lonely man wanting to get...”
“We don’t know his full story. For all we know, he could be married, have a wife and kids.” I shrugged. “We don’t know.”
“Well, there’s something off about him. I’m just going to say that. It’s almost like he’s lurking around here and knows just the
