Before I was halfway up the path I caught sight of Jesse on his way inside, and unfortunately he caught sight of me too.

"Hey, doc. Hear I was in town? Come to see me?" he winked.

"Not a chance. I came to talk to Earl actually. Is he here?"

Jesse shook his head sadly, "Still keepin out of people's business? Visitors don't count you know."

I rolled my eyes as I finished crossing the distance. "Doesn't matter! Is Earl here?"

He acted wounded for a moment before gesturing toward the door. "Right inside."

The interior of the cabin was lighter than usual and I realized I'd only ever been inside during the evening. Even so, it felt like Earl had more shutters open than usual and though the dusty smell and appearance remained, it seemed a lot more cheery than I remembered.

"Hey Zoe, what brings you all the way out here?" a voice said from the kitchen doorway.

"Earl! Perfect; I came to check in on you actually."

He nodded thoughtfully and we moved over to sit on the musty couches as Jesse took a chair at the small wooden table that adorned the right wall after snagging a beer like the one in Earl's hand. Lighter – like what Wade drank. I hoped that meant he was less drunk today.

"So," he opened lightly, "What brings a pretty lady out to see me?"

I glanced hesitantly at Jesse, unsure if Earl would be as open to talking about whatever it was that had him so bothered at the hospital. "Just wanted to talk; figure out where you're at, how you're doing. That was rough there for a while."

Earl shrugged. "You have no idea. I don't do hospitals normally – bad memories – but that was an… unusual situation."

"You're talking about Wade?" Jesse asked for confirmation, to which Earl nodded. I could tell he was uncomfortable with his son's presence, but he didn't look much more squirrely than usual so I figured Jesse probably wouldn't notice.

"Did you know what was going on or did it come out of nowhere?"

"No, I knew he was freaking out. He was in bad shape when we talked, but I didn't figure he'd do anything that crazy. What about you? I'd heard you left."

"I did." It felt so distant now, even though it was only a few days. "I went back to New York."

"Fer life?" Earl asked, somewhat stunned.

I didn't know how to answer that. "I don't know. I hadn't planned that far ahead to be honest. I was sort of just running. I'd only been there a day and a half when I got the call; took the first plane I could catch and got here as fast as I could."

"Wait, wait…" Jesse stopped us. "You'd fly all the way back out for a patient? You've got to fill me in here. I mean I thought I knew what was going on, but this is like a whole 'nother story."

Suddenly I felt abashed. How exactly I was supposed to tell him I was crazy attached to his brother, who I'd had an all-out fight with in the middle of the woods while on a date with him instead, I had no idea. How do you even relay how much had gone down between us in the last year, much less last night?

Earl scratched his head and grinned ruefully at me, like he was about to expose a secret he was very proud of and knew I was self-conscious about.

"It's not nearly that simple…" I cut in, but stumbling over where to start, I paused again.

"It's a little more than a doctor-patient relationship, wouldn't you say, Doc?" I could feel a little heat rising up my neck, but he continued, "You tried the very friendly neighbors thing for a while, right?" He was smiling from deep in his soul, despite the teasing, and I couldn't keep a straight face with the awkwardness.

Jesse looked shocked. "Whoa, whoa, so you and Wade…? I thought you guys were at each other's throats the last time I was here…"

"We were. He drives me crazy. And definitely vice versa. You caught us at our worst."

"But you're talking like… serious tension kinda crazy. I probably should have seen that coming. I guess it wouldn't be that weird for him." He laughed. It was a mocking laugh that rubbed me the wrong way.

"No, this isn't that." Earl threw out there. "This is…"

"Something we were… are… very invested in."