“So he saved your dog and you hugged him in the snowfall?!” Linda squeals and I cringe when she begins to clap her hands. “How romantic!”

I give her an exasperated look. “It wasn’t even like that!” I mumble between bites of my oatmeal. I’m still in my PJs, sitting cross legged on the couch and eating breakfast. The town had called a snow day early in the morning and sent out snowplows to clear the roads. I was glad for the day off, as my mind had been fully consumed with thoughts of Brian all night. I couldn’t shake him. And it was beginning to bother me.

“You have to admit, that was a pretty … genuinely nice gesture of him,” Linda says, beaming at me. “Maybe he’s not so bad after all. Maybe my theory is right.” She stretches out her impeccably toned legs which are clad in black tights underneath a light grey oversized sweater.

“Yeah,” I sigh. “It was and I’m more than grateful. But I’m not about to look too far into it. I appreciate what he did, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s just a distant, otherwise unfriendly neighbour.” I stand up to put my empty bowl into the sink and Linda follows.

“Well, whatever it is, he is one good looking son of a bitch.” She giggles and I roll my eyes at her. “Well, I’m off. Going to head down to Calgary to see Renald.”

Renald is her boyfriend of three years. He is super outgoing, works as a chef at the Calgary Tower restaurant, and absolutely adores Linda. He’s always trying to convince her to move to the city, but I think Linda is very much attached to Banff. I would give it another couple of years before she caves in and moves out. As for myself, I don’t think I can picture moving out of Banff anytime soon. It’s home - at least for now.

I walk Linda to the door and sigh when I see how thick the snow is on the ground. “Come on, Bronx,” I murmur to my canine friend beside me. “Let’s get shoveling.”

I’m about halfway done shoveling through my walkway, my arms already feeling stiff and my back beginning to ache, when Bronx suddenly lets out a bark and runs across the street. I look up, startled. This wasn’t normal of Bronx to do. I realize that he has gone to greet Brian who is walking down the porch steps of his house. He bends down to pet Bronx and I see a rare grin on his face that I’ve never seen before. My heart does a funny flip. Oh God, get a grip London! I scold myself and take a deep breath. Dropping the shovel, I walk across the street towards them and he looks up at me, eyes squinting against the bright sun.

“Hey,” I greet, trying to sound as cheerful as I can but for some odd reason, I’m extremely nervous and I can feel the flush on my cheeks.

He stands up and gives me a half smile. “Hey,” he replies, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.

“Listen, I just wanted to thank you again for what you did yesterday,” I start and I feel my cheeks burn hotter. “I mean, it’s not like you had to do something about it, but I really do appreciate the fact that you did.”

He shrugs. “It’s no problem.” There’s a small pause and he bends down to pet Bronx again. “Did you train him yourself?”

I smile as a fond memory enters my mind. “My Dad and I, it was kind of our thing.”

“Really impressive. Smart dog.” Then, as if he just remembered something, he stands up swiftly and shoves his hands back into his pocket. I frown slightly, but decide not to think anything of it.

“Well, thanks again. I don’t know how to even repay you, if ever I could. But…” I pause. “If you like snowboarding, I have access to all ski resorts in the Banff area.” He raises his eyebrows and I somehow feel lame. “Or you know… a cup of sugar or something.”

I could see a hint of a smile on his face now. He’s amused. “I’ll keep that in mind, London.”

That was the first time I’ve ever heard my name come out of his mouth and my stomach does those funny flips again. I turn around, not wanting to make a fool of myself, and head back across the street to finish shoveling. But before I could bend down to grab the shovel on the ground, a hand behind me picks it up and I swivel around, startled.            

“Brian!” I exclaim, my heart quickening. “What are you doing?”

“You took my garbage out for me,” he says matter-of-factly as he digs the shovel into the snow and begins to work his way down the walkway. “Just returning the favour.”

I sit on the couch in front of the fireplace later that night, absentmindedly running a hand over Bronx’s body. I was still trying to grasp what had happened earlier in the day. Brian had shoveled my walkway. That was unexpected. In fact, he not only shoveled my front walkway but the back too, and the sidewalk in front of the house. I had sat on the porch half supervising half playing with Bronx who had been all too happy to see Brian. I must’ve said a million times that he didn’t have to do that for me, but all I got was a quiet reply, just barely audible, “A lady shouldn’t have to break her back when there’s a man right here who’s capable of it.”

Once he had finished, I offered him a drink but he declined. He simply placed the shovel against the side of the house, gave me one last look, turned, and disappeared back into his house before I could thank him. He is so… I couldn’t put my finger on it. One minute, he’s the biggest jerk I’ve ever met and the next, he’s saving my dog and shoveling my walkway. I don’t know who this man is or what he’s about, but there’s something more to him. His kind gestures the past couple of days have opened up a whole new light on him, but there’s something else there. It’s like he puts on a front for the world to think of him as nothing more than the devil’s child. At the same time, I can see a kind heart through the crinkles of his eyes when he smiles. His eyes. They give him away. Deep down, Brian Littrell is really not the Asshole-Neighbour I had labeled him to be. Why come to Banff all the way from southern United States of America, out of reach of fame, attention, or the lavish lifestyle of a celebrity? Why isolate yourself from your family and friends? There’s something that he’s hiding… or maybe someone that he’s hiding from. My heart does that weird flip again and it vibrates down to my stomach when I realize that we may have one thing in common. Perhaps Asshole-Neighbour is really just a kind soul who’s had his heart broken.

By the end of the week, the snow had melted and Alberta is met with unusually warm weather for the end of October. I had grown accustomed to Mother Nature’s unpredictable moods living in this town. My friendship, if you could even call it that, with Brian slowly began to develop though he became more hesitant as it did. Instead of completely ignoring each other as we had, he would nod a greet to me when we happened to pass by each other in the neighborhood. He’d finally taken his bear-safe bin out and I joked about it to him. He had given me a small smile and steered the conversation to Bronx. They’d grown quite fond of each other and, somehow, Bronx ended up in Brian’s care during the day when I went to work.

On the night before Halloween, I got off work early to head to the Rocky Mountain candy shop to buy some fudge. Since moving to Banff, I would buy fudge for the kids and cut them into small pieces, wrap them up in Halloween themed cellophane and hand them out. I love the delighted reactions I received and promised the kids they can expect them every year on Halloween. It was a fairly nice day out with a few scattered clouds. It was warm enough for me to just wear a beige cardigan over black jeans, a light pink pashmina, and black knee high riding boots. I picked up some clear cellophane wrap decorated with little pumpkins, bats, and ghosts and some orange and black ribbon at an arts and crafts store first before heading over to Rocky Mountain. After purchasing a good chunk of cookies n’ cream fudge and maple flavoured fudge, I step out of the shop with my purchases and head homeward bound.

“Hey!” a surprised voice calls out and I turn around to see who it belonged to. Brian. My stomach jumps to my throat, though I ignore it.

“Hi!” I greet, genuinely glad to see him. He’s holding onto Bronx’s leash who is by his side as they walk towards me. “Wow, I think this is the first time I’ve seen you around town.” I bend down to pet Bronx who licks my hand in reply.

“Yeah, I needed to pick up some stuff at the grocery store.” He looks at the bags in my hand. “You’re off work early.”

“Oh! Yeah, I picked up some stuff for tomorrow.” I tell him about my yearly project for Halloween and he smiles that rare smile that always catches me off guard. There’s a pause and I can tell he’s going over a thought in his head.

Finally, he speaks up. “Have you eaten?”

I’m taken back by the question and reply, “No, I was actually going to head home and cook dinner before I start wrapping up the fudge.”

“Wanna grab an early dinner with me?” He grins and it’s so unlike him that I can’t help but grin back.

“Sure. I’m starved!”

We choose a restaurant called Earl’s and are seated right by the window. I’m glad because I can keep an eye on Bronx, whose leash is looped onto a pole just outside. Brian is quiet as he looks over the menu and I look up at him, not sure whether to say anything.

“Thank you for taking care of Bronx while I’m at work,” I finally speak up. “You really don’t have to. He’s usually fine on his own.”

“I enjoy taking care of him,” he replies, glancing at me quickly then back down at the menu. “Besides, it gives me some company.”

Feeling brave, I decide to ask him the question that’s been nagging at me since he moved across the street. “Why don’t you have company? You just decided to live in Banff on your own?”

He doesn’t answer right away. Then, he places the menu down neatly and rests his elbows on the table, his arms outstretched and hands clasped together.

“I don’t really like talking about it,” he says quietly. “But, I just needed to get away from some stuff.”

I nod and place my menu down too. “Fair enough.”

The server comes and takes our order. She is a bumbling mess when she sees Brian and I’m suddenly aware of his celebrity status that I had completely forgotten about. Being recognized everywhere, the attention, fans crying at his feet. I push the thought out of my head. It doesn’t matter and I don’t want to bring it up, appreciating instead that he wants some sort of normalcy and privacy during his stay here.

“What about you?” he asks once our flustered server has left. “You live on your own here too.”

I shrug. “Work.” I don’t like getting into my personal life either.

“So what exactly is it that you do?” His blue eyes are fixed onto mine and I’m momentarily distracted by their intensity. I suddenly feel shy, exposed. Those eyes. His auburn hair falls in small curls across his forehead and his chiseled jaw is strong, tensed.

I swallow and cast my eyes downward to my hands. “Well, from May to October, I do mountain bike tours and, during the winter months, I’m a snowboard instructor.”

“Wow, the outdoorsy type.”

I raise my eyebrows. “I live in Banff.”

A slight laugh escapes his lips and he presses them together as if to stop himself. “Good point.” The server comes back with our drinks; hot water with lemon for me, and an iced tea for him. “How long have you lived here?”

“Two years now,” I reply, swirling the lemon into the hot water with a spoon. “I’m originally from Vancouver.”

“Beautiful city,” he murmurs. “Have you been back since?”

“Christmas holidays, yeah.” I pause and glance up at him, suddenly feeling like I could spill my entire life. “But I have no reason to go back and, frankly, I really don’t want to.”

He frowns. “How come?”

“Ex-boyfriend,” I say quietly and his eyes darken for a fraction of a second.

“I know how that feels.” His voice had gone so quiet that I could barely hear him and I’m pretty sure that comment was meant more for himself than to me. I realize that this is a rare moment, being out with Brian like this and him speaking more than a few sentences at a time. I decide to lighten the mood a little.

“So, exactly how does an ex-boyfriend feel like?”

His eyes shoot up and a small amused smile immediately lights up his face. “Well, from what I recall… feels kind of like when someone lectures you in the middle of the street about a bear-safe bin.”

I open my mouth to say something but my words get caught and I end up in a fit of giggles instead. He stares and his smile expands until he’s laughing with me. Just then, our server comes with our food and the moment is interrupted as she places hot plates in front of us. The smell of steak and potatoes fill my nostrils and my stomach grumbles. I hadn’t realized just how hungry I was and grab a fork to dig in.

“I’m starving!” I exclaim before cutting into the steak.

“You surprise me, London,” was his reply and I look up, not expecting something like that coming from him.

“How?”

He shakes his head and looks down at his food, his smile gone and followed by a frown. “Eat up. The bears you so care about would love that kind of food.” I sigh. And just like that, Asshole-Neighbour is back.