Leo studied Phoebe, trying to imagine her shoulders stooped with age and her beautiful skin lined with wrinkles. She would be lovely still at sixty, and even seventy. But closing in on a hundredth birthday? Could any couple plan on spending 85 percent of an entire life looking at the same face across the breakfast table every morning? It boggled the mind.
Somehow, though, when he really thought about it, he was able see Phoebe in that scenario. She was strong and adaptable and willing to step outside her comfort zone. He couldn’t imagine ever being bored by her. She had a sharp mind and an entertaining sense of humor. Not to mention a body that wouldn’t quit.
Leo, himself, had never fallen in love even once. Relationships, good ones, took time and effort. Until now, he’d never met a woman capable of making him think long term.
Phoebe was another story altogether. He still didn’t fully understand the decision that had brought her to the mountains, but he planned on sticking around at least long enough to find out. She intrigued him, entertained him and aroused him. Perhaps it was their isolation, but he felt a connection that transcended common sense and entered the realm of the heart. He was hazy about what he wanted from her in the long run. But tonight’s agenda was crystal clear.
He desired Phoebe. Deeply. As much and as painfully as a man could hunger for a woman. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, she was going to be his.
* * *
To Phoebe’s eyes, Leo seemed to zone out for a moment. She didn’t feel comfortable demanding an explanation, not even a joking “Penny for your thoughts.” Instead, she tried a distraction. “Teddy is fed and dry and rested at the moment. If we’re going to get a tree, the time is right.”
Leo snapped out of his fog and nodded, staring at the baby. “You don’t think it will be too cold?”
“I have a snowsuit to put on him. That should be plenty of insulation for today. I’ll get the two of us ready. If you don’t mind going out to the shed, you can get the ax. It’s just inside the door.”
“You have an ax?” He was clearly taken aback.
“Well, yes. How else would we cut down a tree?”
“But you told me you haven’t had a Christmas tree since you’ve been here. Why do you need an ax?”
She shrugged. “I split my own wood. Or at least I did in the pre-Teddy days. Now I can’t take the chance that something might happen to me and he’d be in the house helpless. So I pay a high school boy to do it.”
“I’m not sure how wise it is for you to be so isolated and alone. What if you needed help in an emergency?”
“We have 911 access. And I have the landline phone in addition to my cell. Besides, the neighbors aren’t all that far away.”
“But a woman on her own is vulnerable in ways a man isn’t.”
She understood what he wasn’t saying. And she’d had those same conversations with herself in the beginning. Sleeping had been difficult for a few months. Her imagination had run wild, conjuring up rapists and murderers and deviants like the Unabomber looking for places to hide out in her neck of the woods.
Eventually, she had begun to accept that living in the city carried the same risks. The only difference being that they were packaged differently.
“I understand what you’re saying,” Phoebe said. “And yes, there have been nights, like the recent storm for instance, when I’ve questioned my decision to live here. But I decided over time that the benefits outweigh the negatives, so I’ve stayed.”
Leo looked as if he wanted to argue the point, but in the end, he shook his head, donned his gear and left.
It took longer than she expected to get the baby and herself ready to brave the outdoors. That had been the biggest surprise about keeping Teddy. Everything about caring for him was twice as complicated and time-consuming as she had imagined. Finally, though, she was getting the hang of things, and already, she could barely remember her life without the little boy.
Eleven
It was the perfect day for an excursion. Since men were still working at the cabin removing the last of the tree debris and getting ready to cover the whole structure with a heavy tarp, Phoebe turned in the opposite direction, walking side by side with Leo back down the road to a small lane which turned off to the left and meandered into the forest.
She had fastened Teddy into a sturdy canvas carrier with straps that crisscrossed at her back. Walking was her favorite form of exercise, but it took a quarter mile to get used to the extra weight on her chest. She kept her hand under Teddy’s bottom. His body was comfortable and warm nestled against her.
Leo carried the large ax like it weighed nothing at all, when Phoebe knew for a fact that the wooden-handled implement was plenty heavy. He seemed pleased to be out of the house, whistling an off-key tune as they strode in amicable silence.