Page 9 of Protected By the Mountain Man

“That… was incredible,” I say, grinning up at him. “Thank god I waited for you.”

He beams back at me, reaching an arm around the back of my head and running his fingers through my hair. My hair tie must have fallen out during our… escapades. As he fingers the knots, he looks at me with such deep sincerity and says, “I would’ve waited another five years for you.”

With that, I lower my mouth to his and we start round two.

***

A few hours later, I’m in my car, driving back from picking it up at the brewery. Scott had to take care of some things there, and while I wasn’t eager to spend any time away from him, I figured it was a good opportunity to do something I’ve been putting off for a half a decade.

I drive the familiar streets back to where my house used to be. It was burned to the ground in the fire, and my parents ended up selling the land. I’m not sure what’s waiting for me there—whether the new owners have rebuilt, or whether the land is still sitting empty.

I pull onto the tree-lined street, nearly bursting into tears when I see the gravel driveway I spent every summer riding my bike around. I park, stepping out of my jeep and see what used to bemy home. Except, it’s not my home at all. It’s a completely new house, built to look nearly identical to our house that burned down.

The only difference is the color, instead of the dated brown shingles that covered our house, this one is covered in light grey ones that make it look like a house from a Massachusetts island. I don’t hate it, but it makes me realize that nothing is forever.

I’m standing before the front yard when I hear the door open. I quickly move my eyes to see a stunning honey-blonde woman and a little girl, helmet on and scooter next to her, heading out the door. The woman squints at me, and I wave sheepishly. The little girl waves back, before heading to the sidewalk. The woman walks up beside me.

“Hi,” she says simply. “Can I ask who you are?” She looks at me with a mix of confusion and pity in her eyes and I can’t help but laugh, wiping away my tears in front of this poor woman who just wanted to take her kid out to play.

“Sorry,” I say, still laughing. “My name is Ava, I actually grew up here. Well, what used to be here. My house burned down, but it was right on this plot.”

The woman looks at me, green eyes wide, and then breaks into a grin. “Oh my god, it’s so wonderful to meet you. My parents grew up around here and always loved the house that was here. My dad actually completely lost it when your house burned down…” she trails off, looking shocked at her own words, “I… am so sorry, that was so insensitive of me. Obviously, he didn’t know you or what you were going through and—”

I cut her off with a smile. “It’s okay,” I trail off, realizing she never told me her name.

“Tessa,” she says, “and that’s my little sister, Ruby.” She points to the little girl on the scooter.

“I just wanted to come back here, to make peace with what I used to know here. I’m glad you were able to build this place, to make something out of the rubble. And it makes me even happier to see you have a daughter. She’s reminding me of myself when I was her age, always wanting to play outside.” We both look again to Ruby, racing back and forth on her scooter, but always careful to never veer off the sidewalk, she seems like a great kid.

Tessa stands there, staring at her daughter pensively. “She’s like our dad in that way. He was always outside, always making this house as beautiful as he could.” I pause at her use of the past-tense.

“I’m sorry,” I say softly, and suddenly we’re both shedding tears again.

“It’s alright,” Tessa says, softly clearing her eyes. “Me and Ruby girl are doing just fine. And we have this place to remember them by.” She looks around at the house and I’m suddenly filled with nothing but gratitude that I came here, that another family is getting to live in this gorgeous recreation, that it means so much to this woman and her sister.

Tessa and I chat for a few more minutes and I thank her for not being overly creeped out by my appearing in her front yard. She just laughs and I give her my number, it would be nice to have another friend in town, and it seems like she could use one just as much as I could.

We hug and I wave goodbye to Ruby before hopping in my car. I take another glance at the house, so glad that Tessa’s parents rebuilt it, and even happier that they have it to remember it by. I’m not sure what happened to her parents, but I know that their memory lives on in their love for this property and their love for the girls who live there.

Tears stream down my face the entire drive home. Not in sadness, but in relief—relief that the place that meant so much to me can bring joy to others. It makes me even more sure that coming back to Whiskey Mountain was the right call, that everything will work out for me here.

Especially with Scott, I think to myself.

Chapter Six

Scott

After making sure Ava got back to her car, I had to go to work for a few hours. It’s our delivery day and we need all hands on deck to unload the inventory.

Luke, our delivery driver, stops to give me a curious look in the middle of unloading.

“You look happier than normal,” he says, taking the pause to flip his baseball cap backwards on his black hair.

“That’s because he met a woman,” Ethan pipes in from the corner, where he’s marking boxes on his checklist.

I just smile. “I didn’tmeether. Ireconnectedwith her,” I say, helping Luke pull off the next box of supplies.

“Well you sure look smitten,” Luke says.

---