Brandon marveled in astonishment as he watched Levi load up his packs. They must have weighed at least 40 lbs. as they hung from his body. The canoe would add another 40 to 50 lbs. Levi took it all in stride while he prepared for the trek into the woods. He asked, “Do you see those stones? They are the path to the cabin. You never noticed. You wouldn’t make a good Indian.”

As he stared down toward the ground, Brandon realized that smooth stones were laid at a consistent distance apart from each other, but they were nearly obscured by the undergrowth. Levi was right about his failure at being a skilled tracker. He never noticed some of the most obvious clues to the passage of others in the woods. Brandon hoisted his canoe onto his shoulders and said, “Lead the way.”

His first glimpse of the cabin made his jaw drop. It was like something out of a storybook. As Levi gently lowered his canoe to the ground at the head of the path, Brandon followed suit. He rotated his arms to stretch out his shoulders and took in the astounding sight.

A clearing appeared in the woods, and it was barely noticeable less than twenty yards away. The pine trees grew dense and tall. A rough-hewn cabin filled most of the cleared space, and the mid-morning sun filtered through the canopy bathing the small home in soft rays of light.

Brandon walked toward a dense patch of flowers blooming in wild abandon clustered next to a side wall of the cabin. A small shed stood near the rear of the structure. Brandon asked, “Did you plant all of these flowers? They’re amazing.”

Levi shrugged one of his bags off his shoulder, opened it, and reached for a T-Shirt. As he pulled it over his head, he said, “I live with my grandmother.”

“An old woman lives way out here in the woods? That’s crazy. How do you do this? Where’s your electricity? Where’s your water?”

“There’s a generator out back, and we put in a couple of solar panels, too. Grandma says that if she was doing it new today, she wouldn’t use the generator. She would clear out a few more trees and make everything solar. People are doing that, you know.”

“People as crazy as the loons, yeah.”

Levi asked, “Do you think I’m crazy? That’s insulting, isn’t it?”

Brandon smirked. “I haven’t figured that out yet. What about water?”

Levi shrugged. Brandon was impressed by the nonchalant attitude in the answers to his questions. “Most of the time we boil what we drink, but the water is pretty clean up here. When I’m out in the canoe, I’ll fill my bottles with deep water in the middle of the lakes. It’s safe. One thing that we won’t run out of here is water. I don’t worry about that.”

Brandon reached up and raked his fingers through his hair. “What do you worry about?”

“Nosy strangers like you.”

Brandon laughed and said, “I guess that’s fair.” He peered over Levi’s shoulder when he heard the creaking sound of a door opening. A diminutive older woman appeared on the front porch of the cabin.

She called in a voice stronger and louder than Brandon expected. “Levi! I thought you would be in Iron Crossing by now! Why did you come back?” She took a step forward. “Who is that with you?”

Levi turned. Brandon watched his body tense as he replied to the comment and question. “I can go tomorrow. There’s not a rush. The weather will be nice again.” He gestured backward in Brandon’s direction. “This is Brandon. He surprised me out on the lake. He’s from Arrowhead Falls.”

The woman stepped up to an upright log supporting one corner of the porch. “Well, bring him up here so I can take a look. He’s not some kind of county inspector or something, is he?”

Brandon laughed, and he didn’t wait for Levi before walking up to the porch. The woman’s face was deeply riven with a network of wrinkles. The skin was leathery and tan. It contrasted with the papery texture of membrane covering the back of the hand that gripped the log for balance. He held out a hand in greeting. “My name is Brandon, Miss…”

She smiled, and her eyes shone from within. “I do like polite young men, and it would be Mrs. I’m Mrs. Daley, Levi’s grandmother. I suppose he already mentioned that.”

Brandon’s mouth fell open in shock, but he tried to quickly cover his surprise and closed it again. Daley was the name of the man mysteriously drowned a decade earlier. He glanced back over his shoulder at Levi and then focused his attention on the woman again as he shook a hand that felt like a bundle of sticks gathered from the underbrush.

Brandon’s mouth was suddenly dry, but he battled hoarseness to pay a compliment. “The cabin is beautiful. My grandmother grows flowers, too.”

“I shouldn’t claim all the credit. Levi is a good boy. He plows up the beds every spring, and he does the weeding. I scatter seeds and cut blossoms for inside.” She turned back toward the front door and wobbled slightly unsteady on her feet.

Brandon instinctively gripped Grandma Daley’s elbow to steady her while Levi rushed forward. He waved his free hand. “I’ve got her.”

“As an old lady, my balance isn’t the same as it was in younger days, but I do okay. Please, come inside. I have a pitcher of lemonade, and there are biscuits and cookies in the cupboard. Levi barely eats enough to keep himself going.”

As he reached for the door, Brandon glanced at Levi again. He was doing much more than barely keeping himself going. Bulging veins rippled down his forearms, and a generous supply of muscle stretched the T-shirt tight across his chest.

Levi’s tone was defensive when he spoke. “I didn’t invite him here. I’m as surprised as you, Grandma. I told him to go away, but he insisted on staying. He wants to bring tourists to the lake. I told him that wasn’t a good idea.”

Grandma Daley stepped into the living room. She said, “I’ll be okay now,” and gently tugged her elbow away from Brandon’s grip. “Walter wouldn’t think it was a good idea, but let’s get to know our new friend first. He has a good face. I think it might be one we can trust. Something like this often happens for an important reason.”

Brandon glanced around the cabin. It was designed as one large open space with two doors to other rooms in the rear. He presumed those were the bedrooms. Grandma Daley entered the kitchen area to the right and stood staring at the cabinets for a moment. Brandon said, “This cabin is gorgeous, Mrs. Daley.”

Turning in a full circle taking in the paintings mounted on walls and small sculptures on end tables and the coffee table, Brandon said, “The art is amazing.”

“Young man, would you like something to drink? This morning, I made…” Her voice trailed off, and she turned toward Levi. “What did I make this morning?”

“Lemonade, Grandma.”

A sheepish smile spread across her face. “That’s right. I’ll fix both of you tall glasses of lemonade. I hope you don’t mind that I made it with a mix. It would take some effort for Levi to get enough real lemons here.”

Levi gestured toward a comfortable chair. He said, “Have a seat. It looks like you’re welcome here. I don’t think I should expect fresh fruit all the way from California and Florida.”

“How long have you been living in the woods like this?”

Levi said, “I joined Grandma three years ago, but she was here on her own for seven years before that.”

Brandon quickly added the numbers together in his head, and a prickly sensation crawled up his spine. The unexplained drowning took place ten years earlier. In all of the stories he could remember, the old man’s wife high-tailed it for the Twin Cities, and she went into seclusion. He recalled that she was famous for something, but he couldn’t put a finger on it. Was it possible she never left?

As Levi sat on the sofa, Brandon asked, “Are you here all year round? Winter can be brutal up north.”

“The entire year. I’ve snowshoed to Iron Crossing from here for supplies. Of course, I have to stay overnight when I do that. I worry about Grandma now if she’s here alone at night.”

“Wow, yes. No telephone either?”

“Not even a cell phone. Have you tried using yours? I assume you have it with you.”

Brandon pulled the cell phone out of his pocket again. “I always bring it along for the GPS. I scramble up rocks and hills to get reception, but it doesn’t seem to work here.”

Levi chuckled softly. “Grandma calls it living free of data pollution.”

As if she was cued to move, Grandma Daley joined them with tall glasses of lemonade in each hand. “There are coasters there for each of you. Liquid can damage the finish on those tables.”

Levi dutifully passed a coaster to Brandon. He sipped the lemonade and smiled before setting it down. “Who built this cabin?”

Grandma Daley seated herself next to Levi. “My late husband. He also had assistance from two good friends. They had experience with off-the-grid homes in California. Oh, it was a grand time during the construction. We had the best party afterward. I must have fried almost 20 lbs. of walleye that weekend! We sang by the campfire. If only we could bring those days back.”

Brandon raised an eyebrow as he looked at Levi. “Is the fishing half as good as you insisted?”

Levi laughed softly. “I grew up fishing with Dad down in Missouri on lakes. It’s a whole lot better than that. I don’t think we’ll ever go hungry for lack of fish.”

Grandma said, “Speaking of fish. I know that it’s early in the day, but will you stay for dinner, young man?”

Levi nearly jumped on the last of his grandmother’s words. “Or do you need to be getting back to your camp. Surely, you’re camped nearby and didn’t come all the way from Arrowhead Falls so early in the morning.”

“Please don’t be rude to our guest, Levi.” She leaned forward to look around Levi and focus her attention on Brandon. “And you live in Arrowhead Falls? It was such a pretty little resort town. Is it still like that?”

Levi frowned.

“I’m afraid it is having some difficulty at the moment, Mrs. Daley. I understand that you don’t watch television out here, but we gained financial benefits from a locally filmed show for a few years. Now, it has been canceled, and a few businesses have decided to move to greener pastures. It was like our own little boom and bust.”

“Oh, that is unfortunate. I’m sure you will all bounce back. People always do.”

Brandon watched as Grandma Daley took a deep breath, and he heard a slight rattling in her throat. She said, “Oh my, I know it is early, but I must go lay down for a few minutes. Levi, please wake me for lunch.”

She rose from the couch and soon disappeared through one of the doors in the rear of the cabin. Brandon asked, “Is she okay?”

“She’s growing old, but she’s fine. She usually takes two naps a day, in the late morning and the late afternoon. She is at her best for a couple of hours after dinner.”

“This is an amazing place. I think half of Arrowhead Falls wishes they could live like this. Most of us would never have the energy and commitment to actually do it.”

Levi shrugged. “I guess I settled into it. I’m happier here than battling the bastards back home.” He hung his head.

The sudden expression of vulnerability struck Brandon. He debated in his thoughts whether to pursue the topic. After a few moments of silence, he asked, “Was there something bad there?”

A scornful laugh erupted from Eli. He said, “I was the 98 lb. weakling with glasses.”

Brandon gazed at Levi again. He realized that he must be wearing contact lenses. That would be one of the few contemporary conveniences in the deep woods. Levi’s face was handsome, and his body was fit and toned. Despite at least a 20 lb. deficit, Levi was an admirable adversary in their brief scuffle. Brandon said, “It’s hard to imagine you like that. You could hold your own these days.”

“Yeah, but it’s just as well that I don’t have to anymore.” Levi looked up to see Brandon’s deep blue eyes staring back at him. “As long as you’re here for dinner, why don’t you help me out with some of the chores. Do you know how to chop wood? Summer is the best time to start preparing for winter.”

“Do you ever relax? You’ve been in almost constant motion since you came at me from across the lake.”

“I don’t slow down when there’s work to be done. That’s how I keep from getting bored. Finish up that lemonade, and then I’ll join you at the woodpile.”

Brandon had more endurance than most people he knew when it came to physical adventures and exploration. However, he hated formal manual labor. He grew up spending weekends following the orders of his strict father who was forever making “improvements” to their home and yard. Chopping wood was not on his list of fun, exciting tasks.

As Levi headed for the kitchen, Brandon asked, “Why don’t we go out and catch some fish? Does your grandmother have enough for dinner? I could help out that way.”

“That was yesterday. We have a small refrigerated chest wired to the generator. It has almost 10 lbs. of fish from the lake. Are you scared of a little work?”

Brandon sighed and chugged down the rest of the lemonade. He knew that the only way he would get out of chopping the wood was to leave and return to Arrowhead Falls. He wasn’t ready to do that yet. “A little hard work never hurt anybody, right? Lead the way?”

It didn’t take long for Brandon to realize one of the benefits of helping out with the pile of wood. Levi peeled off his T-Shirt and laid it on one end of a stack of timber chopped at an earlier time. He said, “If it was up to me, I would go without a shirt for most of the summer, but Grandma is a little formal about clothes. I don’t understand why it matters.”

In a soft voice, Brandon said, “I meant it before when I complimented you.”

“You? A compliment?” Levi pulled the ax over his head and swung it downward perfectly slicing a log section in half. “Oh, that I’m cute?”

Brandon detected a slight blush. “Yeah, that. I’ll tell you something if you promise not to freak out on me.”

“What? And turn into that deep woods sniper you talked about? You never know. I might suddenly snap.” Levi smirked as he raised the ax again. “I guess you don’t have to worry. You won’t find any guns around here. Grandpa didn’t allow them. I brought a deer down once with a bow and arrow, but it’s hard work. Outside of the fish, I buy our meat at the grocery store like everybody else.”

Brandon winced when the next chunk of wood split in two and one piece was propelled nearly ten feet to come and rest next to his toes. Levi didn’t need a gun. He could down a small army with his ax.

“Cat got your tongue?” asked Levi. “I won’t freak out. I don’t do that anymore. Doing that surrounded by all of these trees is hard. There’s no one to appreciate the drama.”

“I’m gay. I like guys, and I think you’re seriously handsome.”