Chapter 2

Heath went up the stairs. Aunt Hazel used the big bedroom right above the front doors. The few times he had stayed here as a kid, he and his mom had shared the big master bedroom on the top floor. It was a four bedroom house, and when the basement had been finished it had become a five bedroom. It had been a good 12 years since all of the family had been here.

More importantly, Aunt Hazel wasn’t here. Her bed wasn’t made. Her dresser drawers were still open. Heath shook with growing panic. He raced all the way to the top of the house and practically flew back down the stairs to the basement. His voice was growing hoarse from calling out. She wasn’t home. She was nearly always home. It was a pain in the ass to get her to come out to dinner if it was her birthday.

He slogged back up to the ground floor. Something at the front doors caught his eyes. He rushed out onto the front step. His socks were immediately soaked in the hard rain and rivulets running down the concrete steps.

There were deep tire treads on the front lawn, like a truck had backed up to the--

He whipped out his phone to call his mom. No bars. Of course.

The boom of thunder was synchronous with the flash of lightning. He frowned and rushed back in.

“We took some yogurt!” Tabitha squealed guiltily as Heath rushed into the back of the house.

“Oh my god!” Aislin worried, running up to Heath. “Did you go out in that?”

“It’s fine.” He walked around her without even looking at her. Everyone noticed but him. He pulled the house phone from its cradle. No dial tone. Shit.

“Oh, crap,” he muttered and left the room. The girls looked at him with wonder and anxiety as he jogged away and up the stairs.

“Wow,” Aislin said, tugging her hair. Tabitha frowned, looking displeased at Aislin. Nadine tapped her foot impatiently.

Uly laughed, half out of nervousness. “Think we can open one bottle of wine?”

The trouble with the old home was that the shape of the hill meant that if you wanted to ping the nearest cell phone tower, you needed to be up on the second or third floor at the backside of the house. The cold rain had started to bother his toes. He stomped his heels on the tip of his sock and yanked them off as he wandered back and forth near the window until he connected.

“Mom!”

“Heath! Baby! Where are you?”

“At Aunt Hazel’s,” he answered.

“Why?”

“Uh, I guess I wasn’t thinking. I wanted to check in on Aunt Hazel.”

“Yeah, you said. We figured -- it’s Heath, Karen -- that’s your aunt Karen. We’re on our way to Halifax. We were going to meet you at the hospital.”

“What?”

“Yeah, they don’t have the ventilators or whatever at the clinic. So they took her up to Halifax.”

“That ... She has--”

“She has symptoms ... Oh my! You’re at the house! Oh my! Oh my god...”

“Mom, what--”

“You might catch it! You have to stay! You have to get out of there and--”

“I’ll be fine, Mom,” Heath said. “We’ll leave as soon as my socks are dry.”

Heath breathed a sigh of relief and headed down to talk to the girls.

“I don’t have a signal!” Nadine was zigzagging around the kitchen holding Tabitha’s phone in various places.

“Just wait for Heath, he’ll give you the wi-fi password or something,” Tabitha said. She was sitting on the kitchen counter licking the last of her yogurt off of her spoon.

“I’m not seeing a wi-fi signal at all,” Uly said, and tossed her phone on the counter.

“What?” Nadine stopped and started tapping madly to confirm things. “Fuck!”

“Whatever, someone wanna help me find the washroom?” Aislin asked.

“I’ll come with,” Uly said.

Tabitha regretted not going on the hunt for a toilet the moment she was left alone with Nadine. Aislin and Uly started by trying all of the doors on the ground floor. Nothing. There was a big open sitting room to the east with three large sofas in front of a well stocked fireplace. There was a large ornate dining room between the stairs and the garage with window doored cabinets filled with crystal and silver. There was the kitchen in the back, and a final gallery room to the front with musical paraphernalia and all kinds of family pictures.

“Hey,” Aislin pointed out. “That’s Heath.”

“Oh, he was so adorable!” Uly laughed. Clearly there was a lot of love in this house and Heath must’ve felt at home because it looked like he had been here every summer of his life.

“Glad his zits cleared up,” Aislin said, finding a candid shot of fourteen year old Heath fishing, probably somewhere near in the woods.

“Yeah?” Uly said. “He was still kinda cute back then.”

Aislin smiled softly. “C’mon, I still gotta pee.”

“Right, must be upstairs,” Uly said. “You know, you’d think an older woman wouldn’t want to live somewhere where she had to climb stairs everyday.”

“Or she would if she was capable of it,” Aislin shrugged. “It’s a beautiful house.”

“You think it’ll be Heath’s eventually?” Uly asked, running her finger around on some gold inlay on the stairway bannister.

Aislin cast a baleful look at Uly.

“What?” Uly asked.

“He doesn’t need a gold digger.”

“Then why’d he pick up Nadine?” Uly smirked. Aislin grinned back.

“Oh, hey girls,” Heath said coming out of the backroom. Aislin jumped and blushed. “You OK?”

“We need to find a bathroom,” Uly said. Aislin stared at her wondering how the girl wasn’t caught up in that they had been talking about him.

“Oh, um, yeah, each of the bedrooms has a little one on the side, plus there’s the big one in the basement next to the wine cellar.” He gestured to the doors.

“Cool, well Nadine’s freaking out without a cell signal and I need to get to my flight,” Uly reminded him.

“In that case, use that bathroom.” he pointed to the room over the kitchen. “You can ping the nearest cell tower from the window.”

“Oh, thanks!” Uly said. She climbed the rest of the stairs and rubbed Heath’s arm as she walked by.

“Have you heard about your Aunt?”

“They, uh, actually rushed her off to Halifax. Mom was calling to get me to meet her at the hospital.”

“Well she didn’t communicate that very well,” Aislin frowned. “Any word on why?”

“She had symptoms. Coronavirus symptoms,” he said.

“I hope she’s OK,” Aislin said.

“Me too,” he said. “Oh, sorry, I’m in your way to the bathroom.”

He stepped away from the top of the stairs. Aislin climbed up, passed him, and smiled.

“Drive safe,” he said.

She turned around at the bedroom door, but he had already rushed down the stairs. “Drive safe, what the fuck?”

“Hey girls,” Heath entered the kitchen. “Second floor bathroom if you need to check your phone, Nadine.”

“Oh thank god!” She ran past him and up the stairs.

“Hey! She took my phone...” Tabitha frowned. “I missed the ferry today.”

“I’m so sorry,” Heath said. “And it was all for nothing too. They moved Aunt Hazel before Mom even called.”

“I wouldn’t say for family is all for nothing,” Tabitha said. “But I do need a place to sleep tonight, so you gotta take care of me.”

“Of course,” he nodded. “Though I kinda hope Aislin will let us crash at her mom’s place and let us drive off in the morning.”

“So we’re going?” Tabitha asked.

“As soon as my socks are dry,” Heath nodded. “I put them on a radiator.”

“Wanna make lunch with me?” Tabitha asked. “Might as well leave with full stomachs, right?”

“I like the way you think,” Heath said. Tabitha smiled, he was looking up from her tits again. She had her shoulders back and her chest out. Her thumb worried around on the tip of her other thumb. Thunder boomed.

“Power might go out,” Heath said.

“It’s a gas stove,” Tabitha nodded. “We’ll at least be able to eat.”

“True enough.” Heath walked over to the pantry. Tabitha hopped off to the fridge.

“Can you cook?” They asked each other in tandem.

“Uh, almost.” Heath picked a couple of Kraft Dinner boxes out of the pantry.

“Yeah, same as me.” Tabitha had a pack of hot dogs.

“Classic,” Heath agreed, smiling as big as she did.

Aislin was sitting on the toilet and screamed when Nadine busted in with her phone out.

“Oh fuck off.” Nadine flipped off the peeing girl.

“What’s that?” Aislin said, “and close the fucking door.”

“Jesus, Heath’s downstairs. Don’t get your panties in a twist.” Nadine waved her phone around. “What’s what?”

“The thing around your hand?” Aislin said.

“I don’t know, Tabitha left it in the car,” Nadine said.

“Don’t point your phone at me! I’m peeing!” Aislin flinched.

“I’m not. Heath said phones worked up here.” Nadine ignored Aislin’s complaint.

“The other bedroom, back of the house!” Aislin shouted.

“I’m going. I’m going.” Nadine shook her head. “Psycho.”

Nadine walked out and, soon, in on Uly who was leaning against the window with her smartphone in hand.

“They cancelled my flight,” Uly said.

“Cool,” Nadine said, without listening. She was waving her phone around. “Jesus, do I have to stand exactly where you are?”

“What?” Uly looked up and found Nadine a centimeter from touching her skin. “Holy fuck girl.”

“Oh ease off,” Nadine said, she was still moving though and Uly didn’t budge a millimeter from place, until Nadine’s wrist crossed Uly’s.

“Ow, what the fuck was that!” Uly pulled back her arm and sucked a cut on the bump of her ulna.

“Oh, sorry. Finally!” Tabitha said. She called her dad and set it to speaker. She looked up to Uly while it rang. “Can you, uh, give me some privacy? I don’t want to move and lose the signal.”

“Right, whatever.” Uly rolled her eyes and stalked out of the bathroom.

“Hello?” A man answered.

“Hi Daddy, it’s me! I had to use a--another girl’s phone,” Nadine said.

“Honey?” Nadine’s father replied with palpable relief. “Where are you? They’re saying they closed down the dorms. Why haven’t you called until now? Do you have a place to stay tonight?”

“Dad, shut up,” Nadine said. “You remember Heath? He has a car. We made a stop to check in on his aunt or something and I should be home soon.”

“Heath MacTavish? Jesus, his aunt might have the coronavirus! What the hell baby? Can you even leave where you are? Have you checked in with the hospital people or anything?”

“Dad it’s just some fucking flu, I’ll be fine,” Nadine rolled her eyes, “and home before you know it.”

“Sweetheart, this is a pandemic! We can’t take this lightly and--”

“See you soon. Love you. Bye.” Nadine huffed and hung up the phone. Oh god. She had six weeks of that to look forward to? Maybe it’d be better to try and hook up with Heath?

She watched the lightning flash. She looked down at the phone. The bar was gone.

Hell fucking no.

“What’s going on?” Aislin asked as she walked into the kitchen.

“Well, uh,” Heath muttered, frowned, and stepped a little further away from Tabitha. “Tabby wanted to eat and then we’d get back on the road. My socks are still a little wet from going out and finding the ambulance tracks.”

Tabitha looked miserable and then back to the pot she was stirring with a wooden spatula.

“Oh,” Aislin said. “Can I help?”

“Can we open a bottle of wine?” Uly suggested.

“You girls probably can,” Heath said. “One of the ones over on the counter there. There’s probably a corkscrew in the small drawer by the sink.”

“I don’t really want to sit drunk in a car for seven hours,” Aislin said.

“There’s juice and a water pitcher in the fridge,” Tabitha suggested.

“Well, it is miserable out, and for some reason they cancelled the plane. Something about contamination from Ohio,” Uly said.

“Really?” Tabitha said. “We’re already too late to get me home.”

“I don’t have a clock on me, but I’ve got the furthest to go. Why don’t we wait out the storm and head out in the morning?” Aislin suggested.

“The morning? What the fuck is going on?” Nadine raged. She tossed Tabitha the phone.

“Yeah, we could open some wine.” Uly gestured. “It’ll be like a slumber party.”

“I’d like that,” Tabitha said, picking her phone up from the kitchen floor.

“Dude, I’m just forty minutes down the street,” Nadine said.

“Well, I could drive you--”

Thunder rocked the house. The lights flickered. Uly walked up to the window. The hammering of winter rain on the back step and window was even heavier than it had been on the road.

“Don’t be so selfish. He can’t go out in that.”

The power flickered.

“You guys can come to my place, at least. That way we’re not in the woods and--” Nadine stopped when thunder boomed.

“It’s OK girls. I’ve driven in weather before,” Heath said. “Do you mind waiting until after we eat, Nadine?”

“I’m not waiting all day,” Nadine countered. If she stayed, if the authorities got involved, if his aunt had the coronavirus ... She might not be allowed to leave. One look at Aislin, Uly, or Tabitha was enough to confirm that wasn’t a good idea.

“Oh fuck off,” Aislin said, yanking the cork out of a bottle of white. “Have a glass and calm down.”

“What’s for dinner?” Tabitha asked, as she accepted her glass.

“Kraft Dinner and hot dogs,” Heath answered. His eyes dropped when Nadine scrunched her nose. “I’m not really a cook.”

“You don’t have to be,” Uly said. “You don’t even have to be a driver tonight.”

“She’ll feel better if I do though,” Heath said.

“Thank you,” Nadine said. She took a large gulp of wine.

Dinner was quiet. They all gathered around the dining room table. Aislin’s fork clattered the plate as she speared her macaroni and drove Nadine a little mad. Uly loved the wine and moved her chair close against Heath’s. Tabitha hunched forward in her seat and her bangs covered her face as she ate quietly.

This was the only room on the first floor without a window so they had all of the thunder and none of the lightning. Nadine tossed her fork down onto her half cleared plate.

“Take me home,” she erupted. “Please.”

“Alright, I’m sure my socks are dry by now,” Heath said. He put down his glass of juice and edged his chair back out. Uly grabbed his sleeve.

“You are not going out on that road. You’re not getting yourself hurt and you’re not getting Nadine hurt.”

“I’m going home tonight.” Nadine challenged Uly.

“I wouldn’t mind if you got rid of her,” Aislin said.

“That’s three votes for drive me home, majority rules,” Nadine said.

“I don’t want him driving you. I want him to get rid of you.” Aislin smiled and dragged her finger across her throat.

“Please don’t fight,” Heath said.

“Whatever, I’m getting your socks.” Nadine stomped away from the table.

“Oh, she’s fetching your socks?” Uly leaned in on Heath’s shoulder. “Good little bitch.”

“I better check on her,” Heath said. He pulled himself away from the table and climbed up the stairs.

Nadine was in the bathroom failing to get bars. She all but slammed down Heath’s phone. He walked in next to her and grabbed his phone off the bathroom counter. He looked at the semi-solid rain cracking off the window.