Heart of the Woods Read online

The sounds of the wilderness were broken by the stranger’s voice asking, “Why are you chasing me? What do you want? Who are you?”

  Levi couldn’t remember anyone ever seeing him as threatening in his life. The position of surrender made him feel strong in a way that he’d never experienced. Levi was always the skinny gay kid with glasses. Now, an athletic, handsome, blonde man acknowledged Levi’s dominance.

  Levi was at a loss for an appropriate response, but he knew that he wanted to know more about the stranger. Grandma said to avoid strangers as much as possible, but Levi’d already broken that rule. She also told tales of Grandpa Daley ready to defend his new homestead in the first days on the lake. Levi didn’t speak and stuck his paddles back in the water while slowly approaching the dock.

  Finally, he put together coherent words. “I’m not used to seeing anyone else up here. I come here for time alone. If someone goes to all the trouble to make it up here, I want to find out why. You’re the first I’ve seen in almost two years.”

  “Do you live here?” asked the stranger. “Is this your dock?”

  Alarm bells rang through Levi’s skull. That wasn’t what he meant to imply at all. He shook his head, and he struggled to figure out what to say to throw the other man off track. “I..no, I don’t. There’s great fishing here. The walleye practically jump onto the hook. It’s like prehistoric times. I like to have it to myself.” Levi grinned uneasily.

  While he waited for a response, Levi let his canoe glide up to the dock alongside the other boat.

  “You’re very well packed for just a fishing trip.” The stranger stared down at Levi’s oversized hiking backpack and over-the-shoulder bag.

  “It never hurts to be prepared.” Levi knew that he sounded ridiculous. He began to climb out of his canoe, and he attempted to appear powerful and dangerous. He knew that his bare chest and muscular biceps were clearly visible, but the stranger was perhaps two inches taller. They were fairly evenly matched in body size. “Anyway, why don’t you just go back where you came from. There’s nothing you need here.”

  The blonde man canted his head to the side. “Are you threatening me? What the hell? There’s plenty of space on this lake for two of us.”

  Levi knew that an unexpected visitor posed a threat to his grandmother’s way of life on Lone Cedar Lake. If someone discovered the cabin and started to talk about it, curiosity seekers would come poking around, and soon local authorities would, too. It was essential to keep everyone away except the select few who could already be trusted.

  He stepped up close to the stranger and did his best to flex his pectoral muscles and set his jaw. Deep inside, Levi still felt like the four-eyed kid from high school, but he was trying to channel the tough guys and bullies he’d always feared.

  “C’mon, man, tell me why you’re so protective. I don’t believe that story about fishing for walleye. That’s a bunch of bull.”

  Levi lowered his head and charged at the stranger. He knew that he was taking a calculated risk. The blonde man could be carrying a weapon, but Levi saw no signs of a shotgun or a pistol. He was more worried about the presence of a blade. Levi’s own knife was buried inside his backpack still resting in the bottom of the canoe.

  “What the fuck?” growled the man as Levi knocked him backward off the dock. He fell onto his back, and his head barely missed one of the stones in Levi’s carefully laid path. They wrestled each other in a nest of pine needles and weeds.

  Despite Levi’s toned body, the other man was bigger and stronger. Within minutes, Levi found himself writhing on his back while the stranger straddled his waist. He tried to grip the man’s shirt and use it as leverage to reverse their positions. He only succeeded in tearing a gash in the fabric of the T-Shirt.

  The blonde man pinned Levi’s shoulders to the ground. “Damn, calm down, buddy. Just tell me what’s really up, and maybe I’ll go home and leave you alone. You’ve either got a massive chip on that shoulder of yours, or you’re trying to hide something.”

  “Let me up!” Levi blinked, and he tried to squirm away, but the stranger held his shoulders firm. Looking up, Levi saw up close the man’s incredibly handsome face. His skin was clean and smooth, and he broke into a smile when he realized Levi’s situation was hopeless.

  “Hey, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re kinda cute, too. Now, tell me what the fuck is going on. I won’t let you up until you do.” To emphasize the statement, muscular thighs clamped tighter together, and fingertips dug deep into Levi’s shoulders. There was something distinctly erotic about the impromptu wrestling match on the shore of the lake. Levi was aroused, and he hoped the stronger man didn’t notice.

  He tried to deepen his voice. Inside, he wanted to melt after he heard the compliment about his appearance, but he feared caving into the words. He had to find a way to fight back. “Cute? Stop it! What the hell are you doing looking at me that way?”

  “You know. You protest a little much. I can see it in your eyes. You’re checking me out, too.”

  Levi muttered, “No,” and he tried to shake his head, but he only succeeded in sweeping small piles of dry pine needles from side to side.

  “You don’t get to get up until you explain. My name’s Brandon, and I run a wilderness outfitter down in Arrowhead Falls. There you have it. I went first. Now you know me. What’s your story?”

  Levi knew that he was weakening every second that he stared into Brandon’s blue eyes. They were mesmerizing. They reminded Levi of the blue in the deepest part of the lake. “Okay, yeah, I live around here. So what? Now it’s time for you to go. You know now. I’m a neighbor. Leave this lake behind. It’s not safe. It’s best that you leave.”

  Brandon wrinkled his nose like he smelled a rat. He continued to grip Levi’s shoulders tight and glanced over his shoulders. “It seems safe enough to me, and it’s beautiful, too. I wanted to check out the possibility of bringing small tour groups up here. I’ll only bring the best, and they are sensitive to the environment. You’ll barely even know we’re here.” Brandon lowered his face closer to Levi’s and asked, “Where exactly do you live?”

  “No,” growled Levi. “Keep your tours to yourself.” He felt a shudder race through his body thinking about groups of strangers poking around in the woods ringing Lone Cedar Lake. “Please, don’t bring them here.”

  He watched Brandon’s expression soften. There was real fear in Levi’s voice. “It’s important to you. Why? I don’t understand? Nobody is living on this lake. It’s wilderness. How could it be so important? You’re not part of one of the tribes. At least you don’t look like you are.”

  Levi breathed deep. One part of him sensed that Brandon might be someone who could be trusted. He sounded sincere, but Grandma Daley taught Levi to be wary of anyone involved in the Northwoods tourist trade. She said that deep in their gut, they were all there to make money off of nature, not protect it. Still, those blue eyes, and Brandon thought he was cute. Levi’s defenses began to fade.

  Levi whispered, “I live here. On the lake.”

  Brandon loosened his tight grip on Levi’s shoulders, but he maintained his position straddling the body of his new acquaintance. “Where? There’s no sign of any human inhabitants around here except for this dock.” Brandon reached up and scratched his head. “Surely, you don’t sleep out here on the dock every night. How long have you been here?”

  Levi growled. Another wave of defiance welled up inside. He knew that he couldn’t do much of anything if he couldn’t get away. “It’s none of your fucking business. I already told you more than I should. Let me up. I’ll go my way. You go yours.”

  “Good try, bud. I’m not letting you up until you tell me more. I’m not going to bring people up here when you could be some crazy ass sniper lurking in the woods.”

  Levi laughed, and the force of Brandon’s legs made him cough. “Sorry, damn, me with a gun? That’s a good one.” Levi blinked his eyes and felt the defenses slip further. “Can I trust you? Give me a reason t
o trust you.”

  Brandon slowly pulled one hand away from Levi’s shoulder. He dug into his jeans pocket and pulled out his wallet. “I can give you this.” Brandon removed his driver’s license and laid it on Levi’s bare chest.

  “What the hell would I do with that?” He laughed and started to cough again. “Fuck, I can barely breathe.”

  Brandon sighed. “I don’t know. I”m not in the habit of tackling guys in the woods. I’ve got something, and yeah, I can be trusted. I’ll show you that I trust you.”

  Reaching into his pocket again, Brandon pulled out a multi-purpose utility knife. He released the blade and leaned forward pushing it into Levi’s right hand. Levi blinked. “Damn, that’s serious risk there. I could skin you like a deer.”

  “Now tell me your story.”

  “It would be easier to show you. I live in a cabin a little deeper in the woods.”

  “No funny stuff?”

  As he looked into Brandon’s eyes, Levi felt a flutter in his gut. There was some sort of connection, but he couldn’t identify it yet. He thought it wouldn’t hurt to have a new trusted friend. One in Arrowhead Falls could be useful in emergencies. The town had a small clinic, and Grandma Daley was getting more frail.

  Levi dropped the blade to the ground. “No funny stuff. Now let me up? I’ll hold up my end of the deal.”

  Brandon rolled off to the side. From a squatting position, he reached for the knife, but Levi was too quick. He grabbed the weapon and bounded to his feet. “Hey, give me my knife. It’s a deal, right?”

  Levi folded the blade away and stuffed it into his pocket. It slipped deep inside and came to rest against the swollen cock that created a visible bulge in his jeans. Levi self-consciously hitched the jeans up further on his waist. Brandon wouldn’t have to be a genius to notice the arousal.

  Levi said, “You’ll get it back when you’re ready to head home. Do you think I’ll risk you stabbing me in the back?”

  5

  Brandon

  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.”

  Bra
ndon 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.”