The Stranger In the Guest Room

by V. K. Lockwood

  I looked at him, perplexed.

  He smirked again.

  “You’ve read my work?” I asked, surprised.

  “Every word.”

  “Every word?” I echoed as my words trailed off.

  “I see we’re going to need a refill to solve this question.” He grinned as he snatched the bottle of whiskey and refilled our glasses. “So?”

  “What makes you think I kept all those feelings out of my books?”

  “Well, you mentioned nothing about us. Our relationship. Nothing. As a writer, aren’t you supposed to write what you know?”

  “I write what I know,” I affirmed.

  “And that is?”

  I hesitated as I took my glass from him. “I write about devastation.”

  “Devastation.”

  “That’s what I know.”

  “And you write it well. Rather, too well,” he added.

  “Whoa, what does that mean? And I didn’t know you were a reader?”

  “I’m not a reader. In fact, I hate reading. But for you, I make an exception.”

  “Well, thank you.”

  “I felt it was the only way I could feel closer to you. Like somehow, reading your words would bring me back to you for a little while. Even if the story was devastating. Somehow, I felt closer to you.”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  “Do you have any with a happy ending?”

  “I’m afraid not,” I chuckled as I took another sip. “I don’t know what a happy ending feels like.”

  “You divorced that scumbag. Isn’t that a happy ending?”

  “Okay. Fair. That one was a happy ending. You are correct. But I’ll never write about him. I won’t ever give him that credit.”

  “You keep in touch with him?”

  I shook my head, and he grinned.

  “So, back to the question that’s being evaded. How have you kept us out of your books?”

  “I haven’t.”

  He peered at me with lifted eyebrows.

  “You’re... we’re in every book. Every single book.”

  “How so? You think we were a devastation?”

  I just winked at him. “Not even close.”

  “Oh, I see. Writer’s secret. We all have secrets that we can’t tell the world. But you, you can tell your secrets and make them visible behind a veil...”

  “Wow,” I laughed. “Whiskey makes you sound like you could write your own book. Listen to you!”

  He grinned. “I love reading your books. I have every single one, and I believe I can say you’re my favorite author because I’ve read no other books. But you should have one with a happy ending. One where no one dies or is murdered.”

  “I wish I could write one of those, but I can’t. Trust me, I’ve tried.”

  “Well, if you need to write what you know, maybe, we can help you write that first book with a happy ending.”

  I stared at him as he wandered around the island towards me. A tap interrupted us from the patio door. Both of us jolted and spun around.

  “Who the...” Brooks said.

  “Oh, geez,” I shrieked. “It’s just my neighbor. Easton. Oh, my heart stopped beating for a second there.”

  “Uh, you and I both,” Brooks said as he followed me towards the patio door.

  “C’mon in,” I said as I unlocked and slid the door open. “Are you insane? It’s blowing snow, dark, and sleeting out. What the heck are you doing out there?”

  “I saw your light on and...” He glimpsed towards Brooks. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you had company. Hi,” he said to Brooks as he extended his hand. “I’m Easton. I live in that cabin over there. Well, right through the woods there. You can kind of see my place from here.”

  “Brooks. Nice to meet you,” Brooks said as he nodded his head and shook Easton’s hand.

  There was an unusual intensity of awkwardness.

  “Well, I was just going to check in to see if you need anything. This storm is going to be a ruthless one.”

  “I’m all set. I have everything I need. Enough to last me two weeks, maybe a little more.” I grinned. “I like to plan ahead.”

  “Okay. Good. Well, if we fall into any issues, Gregory... the older guy who lives about four cabins away from us, he’s still here too. He suggested heading on over to his place if we need anything, or heaven forbid we have an emergency, but his door is open. So just wanted to let you know.”

  “Oh, that’s so nice of him. Tell him thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Good. Okay, well, I’ll let you two get back to your evening. Nice to meet you, Brooks,” he added as he smiled and opened the patio door.

  “Maybe we should shovel a path between our houses!” I hollered after him as he trudged through the growing snow drifts.

  “A little too late for that!” he hollered back as he chuckled. “Have a great night, guys!”

  I locked the patio door as Brooks put his hands on my shoulders and pulled me tight to him. He reached up and tugged the cord to shut the blinds. I didn’t want him to let go. Memories of us from the past filled my mind, and I leaned my head against his chest. This felt so perfect, but it was wrong. So wrong.

  “So, who is he, really?” Brooks whispered in my ear.

  “Who?” His question jarred me back to reality.

  “Mr. Easton. Who is he?”

  “Um, my neighbor?” I responded as a question.

  “Your neighbor,” he reiterated after me.

  “Yes, my neighbor.”

  “Does he always come up here this late at night? It’s almost midnight.”

  “Well, no.”

  “So, just a neighbor?”

  “Brooks.” I tried to turn around to face him, but he held me against him. I didn’t struggle to leave his grasp but leaned back harder against him, wishing he’d change his tone.

  “I just want to know.”

  “He’s just my neighbor.”

  “What’s his last name?”

  “I have no idea.” I shrugged.

  “You don’t know his last name?”

  “No, I don’t know his last name. Why would I?”

  “Just asking.”

  He continued to hold me tight against him as he took several deep breaths. “You smell so good,” he whispered. “Just like I remember.”

  “I think we should go to bed,” I replied. “I can’t believe it’s almost midnight. I can’t remember the last time I stayed up this late. I’m in bed most nights by nine.”

  “Must be the good company,” Brooks said.

  “Yes. That has to be it,” I encouraged him.

  “Okay. Show me this master suite you have all arranged for me,” he said with a laugh. “Does it come with room service and all the bells and whistles?”

  I giggled at him. “You wish.”

  “I do wish,” he replied as he let me go and followed me around as I turned out all the lights and made sure I bolted the doors.

  “Both bedrooms are up here,” I said as we walked upstairs. “The one thing I admired about this place was the view from up here.”

  “I don’t know,” Brooks answered. “The view I have right in front of me is pretty stunning.” He seized hold of my waist and pulled me against him once we entered the top landing.

  “My room is the one on the left, and yours is the one on the right.” I pointed to the guest bedroom.

  “Okay. I’ll take that as a hint. I’m off to bed. I am off to bed,” he sang as he strolled towards the guest bedroom. Once he got to the door, he spun around, “Erika?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thank you. Sorry if I became a little impatient or something down there. I didn’t mean to. It’s just been nice to see you, and I didn’t expect someone else to come visiting so late.”

  I smiled at him. “Like I said, he’s just one of the neighbors up here. Once you get to know him, you might actually like him.” I shrugged as I walked towards my room.

  “I’ll see you in th
e morning,” he replied as he closed the door behind him.

  I closed my door and nestled myself under my comforter for the night, neglecting to close my bedroom blinds. The exhaustion got the best of me, and I didn’t want to get out of bed to close them. I could see the roofline of Easton’s cabin from my bedroom window. Even though I couldn’t see inside, I sometimes stared towards his place for no specific reason. I saw nothing, but now I wondered if maybe he could see into my bedroom from his cabin. Brooks was right; it was strange for him to be stopping by so late at night. And it was. But I supposed having my lights on that late was unusual, and it drew more attention to my home. I guess that’s a good thing to have neighbors watching out for you.

  When I first moved up here, the welcome wagon arrived on my doorstep. It was unexpected and nice. They briefed me of all the happenings in the neighborhood. I learned of the few that toughed out the winters up here and when the others packed up and headed south for the season. One thing I found interesting was the red-light alert system that had been in place up here for years. Since our neighborhood was so remote, and cell and internet service were spotty, we relied on each other more than other neighborhoods. The county equipped each cabin with outdoor LED flood lights attached to the sides of the homes and viewable to the others. In an emergency, the lights all turned on with the flip of one switch, and the neighbors knew there was an emergency.

  Before I moved in, I also had a surveillance system installed on my property. There were cameras outside my home and garage. I opted out of having cameras placed inside my home, but after being alone up here for a few months, it’d be wise to get some installed. Of course, that was on my never-ending to-do list.

  I closed my eyes and felt comforted knowing Brooks was here tonight. That made me feel safer, having someone else here, especially him. A part of me wanted to walk into his room, but the other part of me knew I shouldn’t escalate anything. After all, he was leaving in the morning. I didn’t want to cause any issues or taunt the feelings of the past.

  Chapter Four

  “Holy shit!” Brooks shouted as he stepped back inside the cabin. He shook snow from his coat and stomped his boots before removing them. “It must’ve snowed three times the amount it did last night before we went to bed. I can’t even shovel this stuff.”

  I laughed at him. “I warned you. I told you just to leave it—that you’re wasting your time.”

  “No one will be able to go anywhere. It will be weeks before this all melts.”

  “That’s what they’ve been saying. They’ve been tracking this storm for a while now. It sounds like it’s supposed to hover over us for a few days.”

  “And you chose to live up here?” Brooks responded.

  “Well, in all honesty, I am stocked up and fine being in my house. Besides, I have work to keep me busy. I have a deadline to meet in two weeks. So, this snowstorm was just another excuse to stay inside and write.”

  He draped his coat on the hook by the door, set his boots off to the side on the rug, and brushed his hands to warm them up as he strode towards me. “I guess I should try to dig my truck out so I can get a head start before the worst comes in.”

  “You’re going to drive in this? You’re insane!” I laughed at him. “You can’t go driving in this. You’ll never make it out of the area. You’ll end up in the ditch before you even hit the county line.”

  “Well, I do need to get going.”

  “You have to get back to Jaden?”

  He just smiled at me.

  “You can stay here until the storm passes if you’d like. If that’s okay with you. I just don’t see you safely getting back home to Jaden in this.”

  “I don’t want to interfere. I know you have work to do, and I only planned on stopping by to say hi. That’s it.”

  “Well, the weather had other plans.”

  “That’s obvious,” he replied. “Are you positive you don’t mind me crashing here another night, then?”

  “Well, it might be more like three or four nights. And yes, I’m perfectly fine with it. It was nice having someone else here last night. It was nice having you here.”

  He smiled. “Well, since you have me here, anything you need done? Anything you need a strong, sexy man to take care of?”

  I laughed at him. “Well, I do have one project I wanted to do but haven’t had the time to do.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “My pantry. It needs a major upgrade. I have all the wood shelves and brackets on the floor. They’ve been there since the first week I moved in. I was going to do it, but then the publisher needed to push the deadline up for this book. So, my focus has been on the book, and my poor pantry has been ignored.”

  “I’ll get right on that.” He smiled as he straightened up and stretched. “Hey, wait. Is this like my first honey-do list from you?”

  “I think you have to be married to have a honey-do list.”

  “Hmm. Maybe just wishful thinking on my part.” He winked as he headed towards the pantry.

  I disappeared into my manuscript for the rest of the morning. Hours passed before I realized it was four o‘clock in the afternoon. I saved my work, shut down the laptop, and headed upstairs to take a shower. About an hour later, I headed back downstairs to see Brooks sitting up to the island drinking an ice water.

  He smiled as I stepped into the kitchen. “Well, ready for a surprise.”

  “Yes,” I beamed. I never told him how I had envisioned the pantry. I just wanted shelves up, so I didn’t have to pile so much on the floor.

  “Close your eyes,” he said as he stood behind me and escorted me towards the pantry with his hands on my hips. “Keep them closed.”

  “I’m keeping them closed.”

  “Still, keep them closed,” he repeated after we went a few more steps.

  “Still closed.” I laughed.

  A few more steps, and he reminded me again.

  “Just tell me when to open them,” I roared.

  He stopped and told me to remain still. I heard him open the pantry door and step back behind me. “Okay,” he said. “Open them.”

  “Oh my gosh, Brooks! Thank you! This is perfect!”

  “You like it?”

  “I love it! I love it! It’s perfect.”

  I turned to him and threw my arms around him. He caught me off guard when he picked me up with a firm embrace.

  “I’m glad you like it,” he whispered.

  I raised my head from his shoulder and assumed he would set me down. Instead, he leaned me against the wall and kissed me, hard. I couldn’t hold back and returned his kiss with all the regrets I had overflowing inside me. Something had to erase those from my mind. I craved him more with each kiss, and he noticed it.

  He set me down and placed his finger over my lips. “We’ll finish this later.”

  “Brooks,” I whispered.

  “Erika,” he whispered back. “You always do this to me.”

  “Do what?”

  “You drive me crazy. So crazy. So damn crazy.” He kissed me on the lips harder this time. “I’ve been fantasizing about kissing you again. I was hoping we’d get another chance to...” He paused and ran his fingertips down both sides of my face. “I’ve just missed this.” He kissed me again. Another longer kiss. “Us.” He bit my lower lip and leaned his forehead against mine. “These feelings,” he whispered. “I wish I could’ve done more back then. I wish I would’ve known the words to make you stay.” He kissed me again.

  He fixed his left hand against the wall next to my head and ran his other hand down my left arm, gripped my hand, drew it up to his lips, and kissed my fingers as he stared me in the eyes. “Sometimes, it’s so hard to tell what’s going on in that mind of yours. You’re like a mystery to me, even though I’ve read enough of your books to think I know you, I don’t feel like I know you anymore. It was tough to handle the aftermath. I begged for you to come back to me. I begged you, and you left me alone to deal with everything.”
<
br />   “Brooks,” I whispered as I reached up to touch his face. “I’m sorry for how I left. It was wrong of me. But...”

  He raised his voice. “Did you love me then?”

  I nodded.

  He let my hand fall out of his as he poked my chest. “Did you? Cause I’m having a hard time believing you loved me, Erika...” He stepped away from me and paced the entryway. “I feel like I was your rebound. Your little boy toy that you could get to do anything for you. And I would’ve done everything for you. Everything, Erika. I loved you that much. I loved you so much.”

  He raised his tone with every sentence.

  “Hell, I even divorced my wife for you. I assumed we were serious. You made me feel like the future would be ours, so I divorced my wife for you. Did you even realize that?”

  “Brooks, I’m...”

  “And then... Then, you...” He paused and held his hands to his head. “We were never supposed to happen, but we did. You were broken from your relationship with him, and I was there to pick up your pieces. I carried your pain, felt your pain day after day. You cried on my shoulder. You remember that?” He peered straight at me.

  I nodded as tears rose to well in my eyes.

  “You laid on my chest so many nights, and you cried. I was there for you. I held you together and then little by little, you gained your strength back, and then what did you do?”

  Tears spilled down both sides of my face.

  “You left,” he whispered. “You moved. No word from you. No goodbye. You just disappeared.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat.

  “You know how much it stings when you don’t get to say goodbye to someone? You know how that feels? To have them ripped from your life without warning. It’s like being jabbed with a blade of salt in an open wound over and over. The pain is agonizing. The thoughts that run rampant through your mind is... is... they’re fucking scary.”

  “Brooks, please...” I pleaded with him, but it was like he didn’t hear me. He was off in his own world. I earned every dagger he sent my way. I did this to him. I caused him all this pain. I caused this.