Page 31 of Call Off the Dark

“You don’t get many visitors?” Isaac asked.

She shook her head. Feeling a sudden flush of shame, she turned to the cupboard to get three water glasses. For some reason, she didn’t want Isaac to see the loneliness in her. She busied herself filling the glasses and delivering them to the table, feeling his eyes on her the entire time.

Wade reappeared with a green woven place mat and brown napkin in one hand and a large wooden frame in the other hand. Inside the frame was a black-and-white photograph of Wade’s mom in her twenties, a beautiful but somber-looking woman. It usually hung on the wall in their hallway. The first time Helen had seen the photo, she’d assumed it was his grandmother or great-grandmother, perhaps Depression-era because there was something hungry and haunted in the woman’s eyes. But no, it was just a studio portrait, printed in black and white as an artistic choice, and whatever was starving his mother had nothing to do with food.

Wade set the extra place mat and napkin on the table and laid the framed photo next to it. Isaac sat down, studying the portrait, and Wade took a seat at the head of the table.

“Ma always looked so sad in old photos,” Isaac said. “Even when she was young.”

“She loved us.”

Isaac looked up at Wade, and some kind of silent communication passed between them. The lights flickered in the house.

“Tough love though, wouldn’t you say?” Isaac said. His voice had a harsh edge to it, and Helen couldn’t tell if it was anger or pain she was detecting. Maybe both. She lingered by the stove, not wanting to intrude.

“She raised us the way she knew,” Wade said. “But she wanted us to be good brothers.”

Isaac made a noise deep in his throat. “What about Dad? His photo hanging up around here?”

Wade shook his head no.

The whole exchange showed Helen how little she knew about Wade’s parents. He’d made them sound like simple, straightforward farm folks. There was clearly some deeper history.

Wade took the framed portrait and leaned it against the leg of the table, out of sight. Whatever he’d been hoping to accomplish with the conversation, it hadn’t appeared to go his way, but Helen was impressed he’d tried.

Isaac looked over at her expectantly, the warmth back in his face, the moment between the brothers seemingly now over.

So she settled at the table across from Wade. She didn’t know why he hadn’t gotten a matching place mat and napkin. The green and brown of Isaac’s setting clashed with the pretty blue, gray, and creams of the other two place settings. She considered going to the hall closet and finding the correct one, but she didn’t want to seem fussy, so instead, she dipped her spoon into the stew and tested the temperature with her lips. “Oh, careful, it’s hot.”

Isaac dug in and took a bite without hesitation.

Wade made no move to eat. He just watched Isaac.

Again, that annoying flickering of the lights.

Isaac said, “What’s up with your lights?”

Wade said, “The battery’s getting low. The generator should kick in.”

Helen blew on a spoonful of stew and caught Isaac looking at her. His face was neutral but his eyes smiled. She put the bite in her mouth, trying to do so delicately. She hadn’t eaten in front of anyone other than Wade in a year and a half. What a weird thing it was to put a bite of food in your mouth and chew while another person watched you do it. She could hear her jaw moving in her eardrum. Was it always that loud?

Helen swallowed and asked, “Isaac, where do you live?”

Isaac took another bite and talked around it, managing to keep his mouth closed enough to conceal the food within. “Wade and I grew up in a small town in central Oregon. Capichon.” He swallowed and gulped down some water. He probably wasn’t worried about the sound of his own jaw in his ear.

“Wade told me a little about it,” Helen said. “Are you still living there?”

“I was. I’m passing through now.”

“Where are you off to?”

“Not sure yet. I’m up for an adventure.”

Something shimmered in Helen’s face. Adventure. She and Tyler had used that word often. Plans to go to Europe. Specifically Italy, Greece, and Spain.

Suddenly, she realized Isaac was staring at her. He must have said something to her while she was remembering lost plans. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I was just commenting on how peaceful the woods are.”