How convenient, I thought to myself. What are the odds they’re in the very first box I open?
I hurried back to my bedroom and struggled to get the binoculars to fixate on Easton. He looked highly engaged in whatever he was doing, and I had a hard time trying to keep an eye on him. Once I could catch him in focus and watch him, I paid attention to him the entire time Brooks was in the shower. When the water turned off, I watched Easton a few more seconds. Then, I watched as he stopped what he was doing and shifted his head to stare at me, or at least in my direction. He maintained his gaze on me like he knew he was being watched. I dropped the binoculars and moved my hand to my mouth to hold in my screams. When I heard Brooks open his bedroom door, I kicked the binoculars under my bed and dashed out of my room, meeting him halfway in the loft.
“What’s wrong?” Brooks asked. “You look like you just saw a ghost?”
Chapter Seven
The next few days were a blur. The snow arrived like they had predicted, and the wind was awful. Brooks attempted to shovel the front porch as best he could. We maintained a part of the patio until the drifts became exceptionally steep. The power turned back on later Sunday evening.
“Good morning,” Brooks said as he strolled downstairs.
“Good morning.” I smiled back at him.
“Getting some work done, are ya?”
“Yes. The book is due next week. I must’ve typed and retyped these last few chapters over a dozen times. I just can’t get it to jibe with the ending.”
He smiled. “I’ll leave you to your work today. Have you been able to get in touch with your editor?”
“No. The power came back on, but the internet is still out.”
“Well, hopefully you can get in touch with her soon before she gets worried and issues out an army to search for you.”
“There’s that too,” I chuckled.
“It looks like the storm has somewhat died down right now,” he added as he topped off his glass of ice water. “If you had a TV, I could check the weather.”
“Well, on your nightstand, I have an alarm clock with a radio.”
“I’m going to head up there and see what I can find out. I’ll leave you to your work. And I won’t disturb you.” He smirked. “Promise.”
I watched him go upstairs. It had been nice having him here. I waited so many years to see him again. Everything seemed perfect, and it was easy to pick up right where we left off.
I had been writing for a few hours and just ending a scene, when I thought I heard Brooks talking. Who would he be talking to? Does his cell phone work up here? Mine worked, but I had to stand out by my garage to pick up any sort of service. And I wasn’t heading out there in this weather.
I closed my laptop and went upstairs. When I came to the loft, I hesitated and listened. He wasn’t speaking on the phone. He didn’t have the radio on, but was he crying? I stepped closer to the door. Yes. He was crying.
I walked inside, lay on the bed next to him, and draped my arm over his back. He seemed to sob harder.
“You miss Jaden?”
No reply. Just him struggling to quiet his cries.
“I’m so sorry you got snowed in here and can’t go see him. I wish the cell service were better so you could at least call him.”
“Stop. Just stop,” he snarled.
Stunned, I held my breath. Okay, I thought to myself. Stop. Change the topic or be silent.
His cries lessened when he dried his eyes and turned to face away from me. I didn’t know if I should stay or leave to give him some time alone. I had only seen him cry one other time in my life. That was when he was first getting separated, and his soon-to-be ex-wife took Jaden to her hometown two states away. It took Brooks close to six months to get Jaden back, and then he still had to share custody with her. She got a pat on the wrist after all was said and done. I held him until his cries stopped. There wasn’t much more I could do. I wasn’t sure what to even talk to him about. It felt like he didn’t want to talk at all.
“Thanks,” he mumbled after an hour of us lying there in silence.
“You know I’m here for you,” I replied. “I just want everything to be okay. I don’t like to see you like this.”
Silence.
“Do you want to talk about anything?”
Silence.
I kept quiet for a little longer until I had to move because my side was hurting from lying in one position for too long. He turned his face towards me and smirked.
“I don’t like to see you hurting,” I said with a smile as I kissed him on the forehead.
He quickly got up out of bed, which caught me off guard.
“You don’t want to see me hurting? You of all people don’t want to see me hurting?”
I nodded in disbelief. It was like his demeanor changed on the flip of a switch.
“I will always hurt!” he shot back at me with piercing eyes.
I perched up in bed and stared at him, wanting to leave the room but too afraid to move.
“You have no idea what hurt is!” he continued. “NO IDEA! None. Your petty divorce hurt you, yes, but you have no idea what hurt is!” He raised his voice as he paced the room.
I despised his ex-wife with my entire being at that moment. Look what she’d done to him. Look what she’d put him through. She had no idea, or maybe she did. Maybe this was her goal—to make him so furious, he created an unstable environment for Jaden, and then
