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  The new neighbor… Lee frowned and took a bite of his own

  sandwich. He wasn’t quite sure how Sally, the realtor, had talked them in to renting out the cottage at the edge of their property. It was a tiny little building that Jack had spent a summer fixing up a few years back. The plan had been to use it for their various family members. Between them they had a slew of sisters, brothers and

  cousins. They tended to head down in big groups, and there was never enough room in the farmhouse for them all. Not because it was small, but because early on they’d pretty much split it in two. They had a wing each, meaning that they were never in one another’s way more than they wanted to.

  The cottage though… Lee took another bite of his sandwich.

  Sally had arrived a month or so ago and demanded to know when they were planning to ‘get some value out of the place’. She’d followed that by saying that she knew someone who was ‘desperate to get away from the city’, and ‘how perfect would this be?’.

  Thinking back, Lee wondered if they’d agreed purely to put an

  end to her visits. Sally had to be in her sixties, had a cloud of bright red hair, and was persistent as hell. Besides, none of their family members were likely to visit during the frigid winter and it made sense to have someone in there. It was a quaint little cottage, but despite Jack’s best efforts was prone to damp. In the summer when their various family members tended to visited they had to re-paint, so this would save them a job at least.

  “How long has she been there?” Lee asked once he was done

  chewing.

  “About two weeks give or take,” Jack said.

  Lee nodded slowly. “Might want to give her a bit more time to

  settle in.”

  Jack snorted. “Don’t be so cantankerous.”

  “Cantankerous?”

  “We’re turning into our grandfathers,” Jack said. “You remember

  when they were in their nineties and they stopped talking to anyone but each other?”

  Lee laughed. Their grandfathers had been friends since they were boys, had run a business together until they were well into their sixties, and after their wives had died had withdrawn from the world together. The two men had died within a few weeks of one another.

  Lee took pleasure in the fact that he and Jack had continued their friendship into a new generation.

  “We did already,” Lee said after a moment. “Years ago. When

  we bought this place. Don’t our folks say so often enough?”

  “Maybe,” Jack agreed. “But they’re probably still convinced

  we’re gay and either in denial, or covering it up.”

  Lee laughed again. He still recalled the time his mother had

  cornered him in his studio to let him know she was perfectly fine with his and Jack’s ‘relationship’. Lee’s mouth had dropped open and he’d shaken his head. Jack was his best friend, very much like a brother, but there was nothing like that between them. There never had been.

  He’d told his mother as much, but Lee wasn’t entirely sure she

  believed him.

  Maybe it was a little odd. Two thirty-something men living together in a platonic relationship. But the set-up suited them. After the things they had seen abroad, the friends they had lost…

  Lee frowned as memories, old memories, attempted to come to

  the fore. He pushed them back, not without some difficulty, and

  focused his attention on his sandwich instead. Jack was doing pretty much the same, and as he looked at him Lee couldn’t help but think, for perhaps the hundredth time since they’d bought the farmhouse, that convention mattered for shit in the end. Both he and Jack lived their lives the way they were comfortable with. The things that made them happy, things like work, time spent outdoors, they were

  appreciated. The things that didn’t? They were quickly ignored. It was the only way to find any kind of peace. To be comfortable with the fact that they were still alive. Still had a future ahead of them when so many did not…

  “Might as well be gay,” Jack said after a moment. “Not like

  there’s much else going on round here in that department.”

  Lee snorted. “You’re not my type, my friend.”

  “I’m everyone’s type.”

  Silence settled for a moment as the two men ate their lunches.

  Once they were finished Jack made another pot of coffee before

  turning the conversation back to their new neighbor.

  “So,” he said. “We should head down and introduce ourselves.

  She’s on our land. She’s going to be here for the entire winter and we should check on her, make sure she’s okay at least.”

  “What’s her name again?” Lee asked.

  “Anna.”

  Anna… how old was she, Lee wondered. Forty? Fifty? “And

  Sally said that she was what?” he asked trying to recall the

  conversation they’d had with the realtor. “Planning to spend the winter here to get over a death?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Who? A husband?”

  Jack shrugged. “Not sure. Didn’t really ask to be honest.”

  It was bound to be a husband. Lee frowned. He had quite a bit of experience in dealing with grief and it was not an area he wanted to visit again any time soon. He imagined a middle-aged lady, teary eyed and in pain, maybe offering them cookies or a homemade meal. The very idea made him wince.

  “Maybe you should head down,” he said. “Take care of it

  yourself.”

  Jack pushed his plate away and took a long swig of his coffee.

  “Maybe getting away from your paints and clay will do you some

  good. We can head to the store first, pick up some supplies.”

  “Jalapeños, you mean.”

  “Yeah that too.” Jack grinned. “We’ll go visit her on the way

  back. Maybe she’ll give you enough of a diversion that you’ll be glad I dragged you along.”

  Lee snorted. “An elderly widow? I doubt that.”

  “Did Sally say she was elderly?” Jack asked.

  “No, I just assumed.”

  “Not many elderly women would live here for a winter,” Jack

  said slowly. “You know how brutal they are.” He paused. “I think she might just surprise us.”

  “I never liked surprises.”

  Jack laughed. “Me and you both, my friend, me and you both.”

  .

  Chapter Three

  The woods next to her little cottage were something special.

  Anna had spent the past fortnight exploring them, and every time she had found something different to captivate her. Trees that had lost all their leaves, wrapped in an early frost. Old nests, once full of eggs and flapping things, now nothing more than a bundle of lifeless sticks.

  She’d walked from one end to the other, maybe fifteen miles or

  so in all, and each time Anna had found a peace in herself that had been absent ever since Grand’s death. Alone in the woods, no one to be seen for miles, just the odd shuffle and rustle from an animal, she could be comfortable with her grief in a way that she hadn’t been before now.

  She sighed as she rounded the corner of one huge tree she had

  named Mary. It had been her way of keeping a track on where she

  was. One after the other the trees had been given the names of the women she had grown up with in her life. Grand’s tree was at the very far end of the forest. That made sense to Anna. Grand should be the hardest to reach. The one sitting above it all.

  She smiled slightly and started the walk that would lead her all the way to the Sally tree. It was the one closest to the house and had a lovely russet-red trunk. It kind of reminded Anna of the realtor, so why not name it after her?

  Anna’s smile widened as she imagined telling her city friends

  about her jaunts through the forest. They’d been shocked enough

 
when she’d told them she was moving to the cottage for the winter, but she doubted they’d realized just how remote it was or how little there was to do. In the past week Anna had explored the local area, including the small grouping of stores in the town. There was a

  general store that sold groceries, a gas station with a small coffee bar, and that was about it. If Anna wanted anything that those two places did not sell then she would have to drive for a good few hours to make it to the nearest town. Luckily, she didn’t, and in truth, she couldn’t see herself needing to for the entire winter. She had brought enough stuff with her for entertainment. The general store sold

  enough food to keep her happy, and the small outbuilding next to the cottage was overflowing with logs to make fires. Anna planned to call Sally before using any of them, but she was sure they must be there for her use.

  Yes. All in all Anna wasn’t worried that she would run out of

  things to do or eat. Just as she’d first thought, the cottage was perfect.

  She passed the Sally tree and walked out of the forest. The weak winter sun shone down on her as she made her way across the dirt road and over to her cottage. She’d left a lamp on in the sitting room, and it gave a welcoming glow that cheered Anna in a way that even now, two weeks since she’d moved into the cottage, still shocked her a little. When she’d left the city she’d been so confused, hurting so bad, but the main thing that had surprised her was the lack of

  direction in her life. Throughout Grand’s long illness Anna had

  something to focus on. Before that she’d sort of just strolled through life. High school was followed by college, followed by a job in a comfortable office, and then another. Anna hadn’t really ever had anything that demanded her undivided attention, and she’d never

  really made any long-term plans.

  Grand’s illness changed all of that. There was never any question in Anna’s mind that Grand would go into a hospice. She’d cared for Anna for years, and Anna never felt a moment’s hesitation in doing the same. And though it had been hard, Anna had gotten through it.

  For the first time in her life she had to think about someone more than she thought about her own wants and needs. Day after day spent with Grand, nursing her and entertaining her, had given Anna a new

  perspective on life. She’d discovered a love of knitting and

  crocheting, turning that love into a small business that gave her a great deal of satisfaction. She’d discovered new books, old favorites, and she’d appreciated every single moment she got to spend with the woman she had loved so very dearly.

  Now though? Well, now that lack of focus was back. It came

  hand in hand with the grief and left her feeling confused. Anna wasn’t even sure what she was going to do with herself now. In some way she hoped that the winter would help her to figure it out. Time to heal.

  Time to find herself again.

  With that thought in mind, Anna started to think about what she

  might do this evening. She had three DVD box sets ready and

  waiting. She might surf the net for a few hours, maybe look over some of her favorite news sites. Maybe she would even do some

  baking. She nodded, the possibilities buzzing away, and hummed to herself as she turned the corner of the cottage to get to the back door.

  She halted a second later, because Anna was no longer alone.

  Two men were sat on the hood of their parked truck, laughing

  and talking. Two extremely young, attractive men…

  Anna frowned and took an automatic step back. Not because she

  was alarmed in any way, just because she had not expected to see anyone like them here. Who were they? What were they doing parked up outside her home?

  She looked around, trying to understand where they’d come

  from. The cottage was situated in such a way that only someone who knew it was there would think to come look for it. And yet these men seemed comfortable enough, suggesting they knew the area well.

  That, along with the boxes she could see in the back of the truck, boxes that bore the name of the general store, had Anna’s mind

  putting two and two together at quick speed. Could these men be her neighbors? She thought they must be. Who else could they possibly be? And yet…

  “Anna?”

  Pulled from her racing thoughts Anna nodded quickly. “Yes?”

  The man who had spoken jumped down from the truck. His

  friend quickly followed. Anna looked from one to the other, taking in their features, gathering an impression. Her first coherent thought was that if these really were her neighbors Sally had not described them well at all. They were nothing like she had expected. Both dark

  haired, both tanned, both lean and rangy. They were maybe in their early thirties, not much older than her. Anna had expected men in their fifties, older even.

  She swallowed unsteadily, surprised when a hot sweep of color

  warmed her face.

  “I’m Jack Sheldon,” the first man said. He waved a hand to his

  right. “This is Lee Carson.”

  “You are my neighbors,” Anna said slowly.

  Jack grinned. “Yep.”

  She took a step forward, confusion thrumming through her. Anna

  hadn’t expected to see them so soon, if at all. Worse, when she had considered them dropping by she’d imagined two taciturn, grumpy

  old men, who would stay for a few minutes then be on their way.

  These men, however…

  “I didn’t expect to see you both so soon,” Anna blurted. “If at

  all.”

  “And why’s that?”

  It was Lee who spoke. Anna turned towards him and felt her face

  warm further. He was slightly taller than his friend, his eyes an odd shade of green. Anna opened her mouth but closed it a moment later.

  She was not entirely sure that admitting that Sally had told her they were reclusive was either polite, or the right thing to say. “Erm…”

  “Where have you been?”

  Jack’s words saved Anna from a response, and she jumped on

  them. “Walking.” She waved a hand behind her. “I love the woods.

  I’ve spent a lot of time in them over the past few days.”

  Jack frowned. “They’re easy to get lost in.”

  Anna thought of the trees, the ones she had named. “I have a

  really good sense of direction.”

  “There’s a cabin about a half way in,” Lee said. “Before getting over towards the other side of town. Sometimes we have people come up to hunt and they use it. It’s been there for years, long before we bought this place.”

  “Hunt?”

  He smiled. “Don’t worry. It’s not hunting season. But the cabin

  acts as a good marker in terms of direction.”

  Anna nodded even as she felt her stomach clench. Lee’s smile

  was…devastating…that was the only word she could think of. It

  turned a merely handsome face into a stunning one. And Jack? She turned her head to look at him and had to concede that he was equally as attractive as his friend. Fact of the matter was, both men were the sort that any woman in the city would stop to take a closer look at.

  “I didn’t know there was a town close by,” she said quickly,

  more in an effort to shake of her totally inappropriate thoughts than anything else.

  Jack snorted. “It’s the general store and the gas station. That’s pretty much our entire town.”

  “Oh, yes, I’ve been there. I thought you meant a real town.”

  “You’ll need to drive a couple of hours to find one of them,” Lee said.

  “I know. It’s where Sally’s office is.”

  “How do you know Sally?” he asked. “I’m assuming you know

  her personally.”

  “Yes,” Anna said slowly. “She was a friend of my

  grandmother’s.”

>   She paused. Mentioning Grand made Anna realize that her

  manners seemed to have deserted her. It was not warm outside and whilst she was wrapped in a thick fleece and a raincoat, Jack and Lee wore only thin jackets. The polite thing to do would be to ask them inside. Not only were they her neighbors but they were her landlords too. It was more than polite, it was almost necessary…and yet…

  Anna felt her face heat up again. She was suddenly confused by

  the thought of these men in her home, and that meant that she really didn’t have a choice. Confusion in her current state of mind was almost to be expected, it was not an excuse to be rude.

  “Can I get either of you a drink?” she asked. “Something hot?

  The temperature really seems to have dropped.”

  Both men nodded.

  Anna opened up the door and gestured them inside. A wall of

  warmth hit, making her heat up immediately under her many layers.

  She unzipped her raincoat as she filled the coffee pot.

  “Is coffee okay?” she asked. “I have tea too.”

  “Coffee is fine,” Jack said.

  Lee nodded. “For me too.”

  In no time at all Anna had the machine going. The smell of coffee beans filled the air mingling with the warmth and making the cottage seem more homely than ever. Despite her racing thoughts and the

  confusion thrumming through her, Anna appreciated it as much as she ever did.

  “Go through,” she said once the machine started to gurgle. “I’ll bring this in.”

  She felt rather than saw the two men make their way into the

  sitting room. Their absence gave Anna a moment of much needed

  space. She shucked off her layers, raincoat first followed by the thick fleece, and took a deep breath.

  Jack and Lee…

  She swallowed around the lump again. They were nothing at all

  like she had expected, and she wasn’t sure how to handle her reaction to them. Grand would have called them hunks.

  And what will you call them, Anna?

  She frowned as she poured milk into three sizeable, spotty mugs, both because she felt uncomfortable even thinking in that way right now, and because she was sure that Jack and Lee would not

  appreciate it. Hadn’t Sally said they were reclusive? That they liked their own company? Probably they had just come to make sure she