“Who’s that?” Parker asked, already halfway through his breakfast.
“It’s Lizzie,” I said. “You eat – I’ll say hi.”
With another muss of Parker’s hair, I grabbed my mug of coffee and headed to the front door just in time to watch Lizzie pull the car to a stop, kill the engine, and hop out.
“Goo-oood morning!” she sang, waving her hand as she sauntered toward me.
Lizzie McMillian was my best friend since the two of us were kids going to school at Tillman Elementary in town. But our lives had taken very different directions over the years. While I’d gone off to LA to go to school, getting hitched and moving to San Diego soon after, she’d stayed in town, putting down some serious roots, opening her own boutique, and playing the field when it came to men.
And with one look at her, it was easy to see why she never had any trouble catching the eye of whatever guy tickled her fancy – and even ones that didn’t. She was tall and blonde, with long legs that stretched for miles out of the bottoms of her jean shorts. Her smile was sunny, her eyes a watery blue, and her figure like something out of a pin-up magazine.
“Morning!” I chimed, noting how thick the air was with moisture from the latest drizzle.
“How’s life in the middle of nowhere?” she asked, coming over to me, her boots plopping in the soft earth.
“Quiet,” I said, leaning against the door frame. “That’s for damn sure.”
“You know,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “When I told you to come back to Silver Pines, I meant, like, actually coming back to Silver Pines – not living in the woods like a dang hermit.”
“Well, I don’t currently have a job, so a free cabin my mom left me sounded pretty good.”
She looked around, gazing at the little cabin Parker and I now called home. “Just as long as you’re not going too kooky out here.”
“So far, so good.”
“Well, it’s only been a few days. Let’s see how you fare when it’s been a month and you and Parker are starting to have conversations with the elks.” She grinned, and I laughed. “So!” she said, clapping her hands. “You going to invite me in for coffee or what?”
I stepped aside. “Come on in. You might be here in time for waffles, too.”
“You know just how to win a girl over,” she said with a wink as she walked into the house. Once inside, she stopped and looked around. “Wow,” she said. “You know, for a cabin in the middle of the woods, this is actually a pretty nice little pad.”
I smiled at her observation. The cabin wasn’t huge – two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and combined kitchen and dining area – but it was pretty spacious for two people. It was small and cozy, filled with furniture my father had hand-carved out of wood and thick blankets my mom had made herself draped over the backs of the chairs and couches. There was a fireplace and plenty of bookshelves just waiting to be packed with new books. Solar panels on the roof gave us all the electricity we’d need.
“It’s great,” I said, leading her to the kitchen. “And most importantly, it’s quiet.”
She smirked. “Have you been to Silver Pines before? It’s not exactly Tribeca.”
“Silver Pines is regular small-town quiet. I need monk-quiet.”
“Well, you’ve got it.”
We stepped into the kitchen. Parker’s plate was already clean, only a few small pools of syrup remaining. He looked up and said, “Mom, can I have some more?”
“And hello to you too, big man,” Lizzie said with a smile.
“Parker, say hi,” I said, stepping over to the coffee pot to pour Lizzie a mug.
“Hi, Aunt Lizzie,” he said, clearly more interested in his next serving of waffles.
“You gonna share those waffles with me?” Lizzie asked. Parker looked shocked, as if the idea of sharing the next serving was totally unimaginable. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” she said. “As if I’d make a handsome little dude like you wait for more waffles.” She picked up the mostly burnt one from the counter and took a bite. “Perfect,” she said between chews. “Charred to perfection.”
Parker laughed, and I poured another ladle of batter into the machine before passing Lizzie her mug.
“Anyway,” she said. “I stopped by for two reasons. First was to see if you wanted some help shopping this afternoon.”
“I’d love it,” I said. “And we can get some lunch in town.”
“Perfect. I would say you could pick up some Halloween candy for trick-or-treaters, but something tells me you’re not going to have too many up here,” Lizzie joked, chuckling at herself.
“The other thing?”
She sipped her mug, her face going blank as if trying to figure out how to say what was on her mind. “So, you came up here for quiet, right?”
“Right.”
“Well…you’ve got a new neighbor.”
I looked around at her, unhappy about the prospect. “Wait, what?”
“You know the place down the road? A quarter mile or so west and up in the hills? Some guy bought it.”
I sighed, hoping this person was of the same mind as me: solitude. “Are you serious? When did you hear about this?”
“I was at Marley’s last night.” Marley’s was one of the local watering holes. “And this…guy came in.” She said the word as if guy wasn’t sufficient. “He was tall, big shoulders, looked like a cross between a lumberjack and a Navy SEAL. He sat down by himself, ordered a beer and drank in silence.”
“And let me guess, you started hitting on him.”
“If you saw him, you wouldn’t blame me a bit.”
“Why would you hit a stranger?” Parker asked.
Lizzie and I shared a look and giggled. “It’s not like hitting. It means when adults talk to someone they like,” I said, trying to find the best way to describe it.
“I won’t be hitting any girls. They’re annoying.”
Lizzie and I both laughed before she continued. “Anyway, he’s kinda-sorta hot, in that rugged way. But when I tried to get him into conversation, he was not having it. I got his name – Hunter – and that he just bought a cabin near town. And on my way here I spotted a truck driving up the road toward the place.”
“So I have a new neighbor,” I said, not thrilled.
“A very, very attractive new neighbor,” she said, raising a finger.
“I don’t care if he’s the hottest guy on the planet – that’s the last thing I’m thinking about right now.”
“Wait until you see him,” she said with a glint in her eye. “And that’s not all. I stopped for coffee at the Red Roast and people were already talking about him.”
“Are you serious?” I asked. “Guy’s in town for less than a day and the gossip mills are already going?”
“It’s Silver Pines!” she exclaimed. “People have to pass the time somehow.”
“I’ll bite then,” I said. “What were they saying?”
“They’re not a fan so far. He’s pretty gruff.”