Chapter 21：Neighbors

The following morning Hazel woke up to an empty bed and a note on her dresser. 'Hazel, I went to work. Feel free to do whatever you want. Relax or explore the area a bit. I'll text you on my lunch break. Love, Will'

Love, Will? Was this a note signing habit or was he trying to be cheesy? You most definitely could not love someone you had only known for a day and a half. She was probably being too literal. It was a common sign off, similar to 'sincerely.'

She couldn't have cereal because there wasn't any milk—she would have to find a way to go grocery shopping later—but there were some packets of instant oatmeal in the pantry. She only needed water and a microwave for that.

After breakfast Hazel parked herself on the beanbag and devoted four hours to working on those character designs before her wrist got a little sore. It was time to do something else.

She put on a pair of yoga pants and a gray tee shirt so she could go on a walk in comfort. Her hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail. She barely managed to squeeze her phone into the tight pocket on her pants and headed out the front door, being sure to lock it behind her.

Will had left the spare key on the counter for her. She could transfer it over to her usual keychain later.

Heading out into the great unknown seemed like a fun adventure to give her hand a break. She headed down the winding dirt road for a while, marveling at how much land Will owned. It was more than twenty minutes before she even saw another building in the distance.

A woman in her thirties came from the direction of that building, leading a small girl by the hand. She seemed surprised to see someone else walking on the road.

"Hi there! Are you lost?" she asked in a friendly tone.

"No, my house is a way down the road in the opposite direction."

The woman frowned, perplexed. "The only house I know of for miles down that way is Will Sheffield's. How far have you been walking?"

Hazel was a bit embarrassed. This must be the neighbor he had mentioned last night. It would probably come as a shock to her that he was suddenly married.

"I'm his wife, Hazel. Nice to meet you."

"Well I'll be; I had no idea Will was married! I saw him a few months ago and he didn't even mention he was dating anyone. I'm Marissa Lansing and this is my daughter Cara. My husband Doug owns a ski lodge not far from here."

Hazel shook her hand, relieved she didn't have to explain the situation further. Then she waved to Cara, who was staring at her openly.

"You have pink hair," the little girl said in awe. "You must be a mermaid!"

"Cara!" Marissa chided.

It really wasn't necessary. Hazel got reactions like this a lot from kids. Every time she dyed her hair a new color the little boy who lived across from her uncle's house had gotten so excited.

"You'll keep my secret, won't you?" Hazel whispered conspiratorially with a wink.

Cara nodded firmly. "Of course I will Miss Mermaid!"

"Be polite. Call her Mrs. Sheffield, sweetie," her mother reminded her.

"Sorry, Mrs. Sheffield," she said though she didn't seem too repentant. She still had stars in her eyes from supposedly meeting a real live mermaid.

Hazel thought it was cute. She didn't interact with little kids that often because she didn't really have the chance but every time she did, it put a smile on her face.

There was a whole lot of imagination stuffed into those little heads. She could respect that. Children, like artists, saw the world in a different way.

"So what brings you this far down the road?" Marissa asked conversationally. "I've only seen Will a handful of times since he moved here. Most of them were because he was snowmobiling further down the mountain to reach where he parked his car during particularly bad weather."

Hazel was slightly alarmed hearing that. "It gets that bad?"

"Oh yeah, that's pretty normal. There are a few of us who live higher up the mountain that do it. We all usually park in the same little clearing that's further down. The roads aren't as winding or steep after that."

She bit her lip. Driving in the snow sounded terrifying. Not that she even had a car to drive in the snow. Will only had one and he had taken it to work.

Suddenly Hazel recalled the original question and decided to address that rather than continue talking about the snow. She would deal with that problem come winter.

"Interesting. I work from home so I was taking a break to check out the area. The scenery is beautiful."

Marissa smiled. "It sure is. I try to take Cara on a nature walk every day. My sons Benji and Nathan are in school but they usually join us on the weekends. At least Benji does. Nathan is more interesting in zooming ahead on his mountain bike."

This completely normal description of family life was a foreign concept to Hazel. Her parents had died before they could give her any siblings. Now that her uncle was dead she didn't have any relatives to speak of. She had never known what it was like to have a busy house full of life.

"Is there a school bus that travels all the way up here?" she asked curiously.

"No," Marissa sighed. "They drop the kids off towards the base of the mountain. I have to drive down to get them."

Hazel really didn't want to impose but Will's fridge was in desperate need of restocking. There was no other way she could get down the mountain herself until he got home.

She hadn't even remembered to eat lunch before she left, not that there was much she could have made herself anyway. She set aside her pride and asked for help.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about a thing like that! I would be happy to help. Have you ever ordered groceries for pickup before? It's a lifesaver out here. I choose what I need online and set a time to pick it up and they have it ready for me! It saves so much time when I make it into town," Marissa confided.

Hazel had never even heard of such a thing. She shook her head and Marissa immediately pulled out her phone to show her how to do it. She watched intently, being sure to take note of the name of the website.

Cara was getting impatient and tugged on her mother's leg.

"I know, sweetie, we're going." Marissa looked back up at Hazel and smiled. "Sorry, she's getting antsy. I'll come pick you up around 2:30 so make sure you set your pickup time for 3:15. It was so nice meeting you!"

"Yeah, you too. Thanks!" Hazel said gratefully.