Page 17 of Mountain Refuge

“I’ll take an inventory and get back to you. I don’t want you coming out in this either if it’s that dangerous.”

“Don’t worry about it, man. I’m used to it. I can get down and back up the mountain just fine, rain, snow, or shine.”

While I was thrilled Corbin seemed to have found his place in life, I still didn’t want to risk his life if we could survive with what we had. Problem was, I didn’t know what we had. “Thanks, man. I’ll let you know. What time are you going to call tomorrow?”

“During storms, Brooke tends to leave her volume on in case anyone else hails through. Conversations aren’t possible, but the occasional SOS can break through. Depending on what this storm decides to do, I’ll try around nine if that won’t bother the kids.”

I didn’t know where the kids or I would be sleeping, so I didn’t know if the volume being on the speaker would bother us. Based on what I’d seen of Brooke’s cabin, she only had one bedroom and the one bathroom. No need for guest rooms when you don’t host guests.

“Thanks. Talk to you tomorrow.” I didn’t know how to hang up, other than to just stop pressing the talk button.

“You’re supposed to say ‘over and out’, dummy.”

I snorted. It had been many years since anyone had called me a dummy. “Over and out, jackass.”

His laugh came across.“Over and out, asshole.”There was a click on the radio. I didn’t touch it otherwise, not wanting to mess up any of Brooke’s settings.

Eighteen years, and it was like no time had passed at all. God, I loved that man. He was the brother I never had. I loved my sister, but it was Corbin I’d been closest to. The fact that we could talk like this, that he’d dropped everything to help me despite the time between our last conversation, only proved that fact. Brothers for life.

It worried me for a moment that I was bringing my problems to Mrs. Mullaney. I didn’t want her mixed up in any of this. But it would be great to see her again, and she would be wonderful with the children.

I’d taken a leap in trusting Brooke and it had paid off. Corbin was on this mountain, and now he knew I was too. Soon, we’d be together again and I couldn’t wait to see my brother.

Chapter Seven

Brooke

How did I not know that Corbin had his mother living up there with him? Mind, I don’t think I’d ever asked if he was married or had anyone living with him. He hadn’t said either. I wondered if anyone else had partners or parents living with them. I had made the assumption we were all alone in our own little slices of heaven.

While eavesdropping had not been my intention, my cabin’s open floor plan made voices echo from the loft more than I ever realized when it was just me. I was also willing to admit that I made no effortsnotto eavesdrop. As capable as I was in defending myself, I was alone in the very literal middle of nowhere with a strange man. I trusted Corbin—as much as any of us who dwelled on this mountain trusted each other anyway—but there was somethingpeculiarabout Adam’s situation that had my hackles standing on end.

I wandered into the kitchen as I heard Adam’s footsteps descend down the stairs. My cabin only had one hallway, which led to my bedroom, the bathroom, and the stairs to the loft. There was little storage space in the cabin because I didn’t need it. My pantry was probably the size of my bedroom to helphouse my winter supplies. My meat stores were outside, kept frozen by solar panels on the roof. Any jerky I made was housed inside, not needing to be kept frozen. After my first winter here, I had invested in a meat grinder so I could make ground meat and patties. Well worth the money for the variety. In addition to learning how to make jerky, I also learned how to make different types of bacon.

I canned all my fruits and vegetables that I didn’t eat right away. I had a veggie garden at the back of my cabin that I kept during the spring, summer, and fall. Most of the fruits I picked grew naturally around and on my land. My favorite was huckleberry, but blackberries were more abundant. I made sure to pick any that grew too near to the house so they didn’t draw bears and prey animals close to home. Learned that one the hard way about five years ago.

My pantry also housed rice, flour, sugar, and baking spices. While I grew most things myself, there were some things that didn’t grow well in this area or were too difficult for me to make on my own. I bought those from Jack at his store and had learned tricks on how to keep them from spoiling.

A good part of the warmer months was spent prepping meals for the winter. I would make stews, roasts, soups, pies, lasagnas, and a variety of other meals, then I would dehydrate them so I didn’t have to freeze them. Dehydrated meals also took up less storage space. Add hot or cold water, maybe some spice later, andvoilà!Dinner is served.

I always make too much food for the winter. First of all, one never knew if winter would last longer than normal. Sometimes, even if it wasn’t actively snowing, it was still too dangerous to journey down to town. Ice was a big concern in these parts, not just packed snow. Also, it didn’t make sense not to. It was better to be over prepared than under prepared.

But I prepped for one mouth to feed. I now had three and ahalf mouths to feed. Henry was going through the baby food Adam had brought with them very quickly. I wasn’t sure if that was normal for a baby to eat so much or if Lydia had been overfeeding him. Maybe I should have stopped her from giving him some of those meals. But how did one tell a child not to feed their baby brother when they were clearly hungry?

Nope, couldn’t do it. While I didn’t know how long Adam and the kids would be with me, it would still dip into my stores faster than I had anticipated. I had plenty, but I might have to do some calculations if they were here longer than a week. I’d have to watch my gas and water levels too. I generally could go a week before needing to refill my water tanks, but with three and a half people showering, eating, drinking, using the toilet, washing their hands… My water stores were going to go down a lot faster.

They shouldn’t be here longer than a week, I predicted. Not that I wanted them gone, but if their plan was to meet up with Corbin, it didn’t make any sense to delay once it was safe for the kids to travel.

Having heard bits of their conversation, I understood now why Adam was on the mountain in the middle of a storm. Corbin, and it sounded like Jack too, had lost communication with Adam. It had been their intention to tell him to wait to reach the mountain but they couldn’t reach him to relay the message. I felt better knowing that fact. Adam being stuck in that storm had been a freak accident. No one had put Adam in specific danger and Adam had not been reckless in his need to get onto the mountain.

What I didn’t understand was why Jack would keep it a secret that Adam and the kids were coming. As far as I knew, he’d always told us when one of his special guests was coming to the mountain before. We helped look out for them and offered supplieswhen needed.

The terminology Corbin had used was telling. Somewhat, anyway. He hadn’t said that Adam and the kids had left or even mentioned a leisure vacation exit. No, Corbin had said that Adam had gotten the kidsout of there. Out of where? He’d also used the wordcaught. As in captured and taken against his will?

What if Adamwasmarried? What if his wife or someone else in their family was abusive to him and/or the children? That would explain his running, but not why he needed to come all the way to a Montana mountain to escape. Abusive spouses could be cruel and manipulative, especially when kids were involved. But he must have family who could have helped him? Parents, siblings…?

Except when my life had fallen apart, my family hadn’t lifted a finger to help me. Even my mother, who claimed to love all her children equally, had chosen a side, and it wasn’t mine. Maybe his family hadn’t supported him either.

I hated that for him and those kids. No child should have to live life in a constant state of fear.

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