Chapter 3 - Episode 4

One day he and Benjamin went for swimming, as he heard screams coming from the house. He took the kid out of the water and ordered it to stay next to the car while he was taking care of some business. He walked to the house and heard Mathew accusing his wife of cheating on him. He stopped and listened to Kate denying the accusations, screaming that she knew that her husband was screwing some bimbo from the office, that she even had prove of it. He turned around, knowing that this wasn’t any of his business and it would be best for Benjamin not to become part of it. He didn’t want the little boy to be screwed up because of his parents and decided to take the boy to the ‘ Small Canyon ’ hoping they would see the deer again. And only as they arrived at the open spot he realized that he perfectly knew the way that they weren’t lost. They waited for 2 hours and he already wanted to return to the cabin, figuring that the fight must have stopped by know as Benjamin pulled on his arm, pointing at the deer on the other side of the canyon. And just like a few days ago, the majestic animal looked at him as if it knew that as long as it stayed out of the reach of his hands, it would be safe. Ten minutes later Benjamin had seen enough of the deer and wanted to go back as he was hungry.

They walked back to the house, were Kate and Mathew were standing by the car. It was obvious that they had been in a fight as Kate’s hair was all messed up and Mathew’s shirt was torn out of his jeans. All the signs were there and he was glad Benjamin hadn’t heard them fight, but then he noticed the smiles of contempt on their faces. They asked him were he’d been and apologized for taking the boy without leaving a message as to where he’d been going, but they ensured him that they hadn’t been worried for a moment as they completely trusted him. He told them that he’d heard them fight, that he overheard the reason for their dispute and didn’t want their son to be confronted with it. Mathew took Benjamin in his arms and hugged the kid, while Kate looked at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, thanking him of being so thoughtful. That evening at the fireplace Kate and Mathew explained that it had all been a misunderstanding. Mathew knew about Kate’s affections for their neighbor, but she’d reassured him that she just liked the neighbor as a very good friend. Kate on the other hand thought she had proof of Mathew having an affair with a girl from his office. She’d found receipts of his credit card showing that he’d bought earrings and a bracelet she never got. But as Mathew had given her the earrings and bracelet, telling her that it was a present for her because he got promoted. They then noticed that both he and their son were gone and decided to make up. Kate told him that she and Mathew wanted Benjamin to have a little sister or brother, and since Benjamin was the result of them staying in the cabin four years ago. He could guess the rest. They wanted to know where he’d taken Ben that afternoon and he told them about the deer. He saw the look in Kate’s eyes but couldn’t quiet figure out what it meant. That night he stayed awake and early in the morning he went to ‘ Small Canyon ’ and climbed to the other side.

To be continued...

Chapter 3 - Episode 3

Two weeks later the four of them were on their way to the cabin, Benjamin was excited from the point he got to sit next to his neighbor and asked him if he had taken hotdogs along.

When they arrived at their destination they unpacked and Benjamin and Mathew took the little boat and went fishing, to catch the first meal of their trip. Half an hour later they returned with their catch, three big trouts. While Kate was preparing dinner the men would start a fire. After dinner Benjamin fell asleep in his lap and he put the little boy to bed. Kate came in the little bedroom while he was tucking in the boy and looked at him. He turned around and she told him it was a shame that he didn't have children of his own, as he was so good with Ben. She couldn't understand why didn't have a woman in his life, as he was a handsome man with a decent amount of money in the bank.

They discussed this further while returning to the living room where Mathew was shuffling the cards. Kate continued to explain to him how attractive the other mothers at Benjamin's kindergarten thought he was. Mathew asked her if she was among these mothers which made her turn red and she went off to get them some more coffee. Mathew was dealing the cards when she came back and they played some poker, he mainly lost that night, but did think that loosing money amongst friends was a bad way of spending your time.

The next few days Mathew took his son on to the lake fishing and they'd set some rabbit traps as well as they liked to eat something else but fish as well. Kate went hiking everyday and he would come along with her. Everyday they would take a different route through the woods and everyday he thought they were lost, but Kate always seemed to find her way back. One day they came to an open spot in the woods, close to a small canyon. Kate instantly named it 'Small Canyon' and they enjoyed the view. They were standing side by side as they saw a deer on the other side of the canyon, staring at them, knowing that they weren't any harm to it. Then they heard a shot and the animal ran away, searching for the safety of the forest. He hoped that the deer would find shelter to whatever wanted to harm it. He felt a warm hand taking his and looked at Kate. She asked him if it was okay that she would hold his hand, as the gunshot had scared her a bit. He didn't mind.


She sat down and asked him to join her. As soon as he was with her on the ground, she asked him if he would be honest when she would ask a personal question. He replied that he always tried to be honest, and would only not tell the truth when he thought it would hurt somebody. She then asked him why he was still single. He told her he was to occupied with his business and that the right woman hadn't crossed his path. He told that in high school there had been a girl, Carla, that he liked a lot, they even went out a couple of times. He hadn't had a serious relationship after that, mainly because he had always found a good reason to break up with a girl. Kate started laughing, explaining that men always found a perfectly good reason to break up. But he explained that he actually did have perfectly good reasons and told her that if she knew them, she would agree. She dared him to give an example and he told her that once he had a Jewish girl he dated for 4 months, but once they started talking about moving her in with him, she insisted that he would convert to become Jewish as well. Another girl turned out to be homophobic, and refused to go anywhere she thought there would be gay men or women. He told Kate that all together, he had dated 7 girls that were marriage material but turned out to be just the opposite. And ever since he started his own business he didn't look at women anymore. After his confessions, Kate agreed that these sounded like very legitimate reasons to break up. She then asked him if she could ask another personal question, and he agreed but demanded that he was allowed to ask her a personal question as well, and she had to be completely honest, just like he had been. She told him it was a deal and asked him if he thought she was attractive. The question startled him and he told her that he didn't want to answer her, because of his friendship with her husband. She replied by calling their deal off, and got on her feet. While she was brushing the sand of her jeans, he told her that he thought that she was very attractive and that were she still single he would probably make a pass at her. She turned around, visibly flattered and told him that she was among the mothers at Benjamin's kindergarten that thought he was very attractive. She turned around and walked back to where they came from. He stayed for a while, but realizing that he would get lost without her, he went after her. That night they played poker again, and he won most of his lost money back.

The next few days all four of them stayed around the cabin, he was spending most of his time playing with Benjamin, babysitting the boy while Kate and Mathew were preparing dinner, although he found that they were making strange noises while cooking. He guessed that the stove wasn't the only thing that heated up while they were in the kitchen. Every now and then he caught Kate staring at him and every now and then he caught himself staring at Kate.

To be continued...

Chapter 3 - Episode 2

He was 25 at the time, and had his own small grocery shop, selling microwave food. A business that had worked out very well and 5 months he had started it, he could afford to buy his own house. The house that had made him the neighbor of Kate, Mathew and their 3-year-old son Benjamin. They were nice people, as he moved in it was the day before Benjamin’s third birthday and they were busy with the preparations of it as Mathew saw him struggle with his king-size bed. Without hesitation he’d come outside and helped him carrying the bed inside. Both Mathew and his wife had helped him the rest of the day moving and offered him dinner, as they had put it, going to the cafeteria around the corner was no way to start a life in a new home. That night he heard them continue the preparations of the birthday of their son.

Benjamin was a chubby little boy, probably a bit overweight, but always laughing. And in the months that passed he was babysitting the little boy every now and then, when none of the grandparents were able to do the honours. Benjamin liked it when the neighbor was babysitting as it would mean that he could eat all the hotdogs he wanted, watch Disney movies on video and they would play hide and seek. But that fall something changed.

Kate and Mathew noticed that their friendly neighbor was in trouble of some sort as they didn’t see him that often anymore, and he didn’t offer to baby-sit their son. One day they saw him sit on the front porch, hands covering his face and they heard him sob. Mathew went over to their neighbor and asked him if he would like to have dinner with them. But he knew what was going on and thanked him, but he had to take a rain check. But Mathew insisted and told him he and Kate wanted to discuss something with him. He agreed to come over later that night, but dinner was out of the question as he had to take care of some business. Later that night he went over and was greeted by Kate, who offered him a piece of cranberry pie, casually asking him what was wrong as she had seen him crying that afternoon. She was genuinely worried. Mathew came in just when he was starting to explain his grief. He told them about the dog he had when he was a kid, about that a car had killed his pet and that he just a few days back had seen a dog just like it getting hit by a car, his young master crying over the dead animal. He told him how his suppressed memories surfaced and he didn’t know how to deal with it. Today he had cried for the first time since he could remember and later that afternoon he went to his doctor. He now had Prozac, but he was reluctant to take them. Both Kate and Mathew were touched by his story, and offered him to join them on their holiday into the mountains. Mathew was going to teach Benjamin fishing and hunting and Kate would go hiking in the forest, taking home mushrooms and berries which would make a great meal together with the caught fish. He at first refused to take their offered as he explained that neither fishing nor hunting were his thing, but Mathew insisted that he would come along, he could stay in the cabin or accompany Kate hiking. He agreed after Kate had described to him how lovely the cabin and scenery were.

To be continued...