Page 2 of Protected By the Mountain Man

I’m overwhelmed. The town has changed so much. What used to be a strip with a diner, a post office, and a grocery store is now alive with shops and dining options. I don’t hate it, it’s justso different.

I park and hop out of the car, taking a moment to take in everything that’s changed—and decided where to eat. As I’m looking, I spot a sign that says “Whiskey Mountain Brewing” with an arrow pointing around the corner.

I’ve tried their cider before, and it’s absolutely to die for. I decide I could go for one now and cross my fingers that they have food.

I enter the warehouse-style space, not surprised to see that it is also packed with people. There are plenty of spots open at the bar, so I take one and am quickly passed a menu by a man with kind green eyes and deep brown hair. I thank him and take a moment to look everything over. They have food and it looksgood.

“What can I get for you?” the bartender asks, standing over the kiosk to enter my order into.

“It’s my first time here,” I say, shyly, “what do you recommend?”

The man’s eyes light up and he runs through my options, “If you’re a burger person you can do no wrong with the double bacon and cheddar burger, it might clog your arteries, but it’ll beworth it. If you want something lighter, the Southwest salad with blackened salmon is my girlfriend’s favorite,” he says, pointing to a woman with stunning silver-blonde hair working at the other end of the bar.

“I think my arteries could survive, let’s do the bacon burger with fries and ranch on the side. And a cider,” I add, passing the menu back.

“Gotcha,” the man says, before turning and pouring my cider. “So, what brings you to Whiskey Mountain?”

“I used to spend a lot of time here as a kid actually…” I say, not sure how much to say to this complete stranger. “Ready to be back.”

He looks at me with a kind smile and places my cider on the coaster in front of me. “Well, I hope you love it just as much as you used to. I’m Ethan, by the way,” he says, reaching out his hand. I return the shake and say, “Ava.”

His eyes go wide. “Ava as in the owner of Ava’s Airbnb? The hunting cabin?”

“Uh, yes,” I say with a nervous laugh.

“Oh my god, this is so funny, my girlfriend was your last renter! Lu, come here!” he shouts to the woman at the end of the bar.

“Lu, this is Ava, the owner of the cabin,” he says, and the woman’s blue eyes go wide.

“Oh Ava! It’s so nice to meet you. Your cabin was where we fell in love, so I have a lot to thank you for,” she says, wrapping her arm around Ethan’s waist.

I smile looking at the two of them, wondering if I’ll be lucky enough to find a love like that one day. “I’m glad to meet you both,” I say. “Do you own this place? It’s so cool, such a good addition to the town.”

“I do,” Ethan says, “with my buddy…” he points to a man rounding the corner, holding what looks to be my burger. The man approaches my spot at the bar and sets it down.

“Ava, this is my business partner,” he starts, “Scott,” we say at the same time.

I can’t believe it’s him.

Chapter Two

Scott

It’s her.

Ava. The girl I pulled out of a burning house five years ago and have thought about often since. She was so scared, trembling in my arms as I pulled her from her home as it crumbled around her. When I set her in the back of the ambulance, she looked up at me with tear-filled hazel eyes like the world had just ended. In a way, hers had. But mine was just beginning.

That was my first week on the job. I was freshly back from six years in the military, twenty-five and not sure how to adjust back to civilian life. My mentor had suggested I join the fire department as a way to ease back in after years spent on deployment. I had just finished my training and was settling in at the firehouse when we got the call that a house had gone up in smoke and a girl needed to be rescued.

So, for the first time, I threw on all of my gear, jumped on the truck, and took the call that changed my life. When I got up to that window and saw the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, long brown hair and freckled cheeks, gorgeous despite the terror she was facing, I knew I was meant to be at the fire department that day.

As I brought her down to the ground, I knew I had to walk away. I could already tell I was too old for her, that she was going through the worst night of her life, now wasn’t the time to pursue something more. So, I made sure she was okay and headed back to my team, but not before she stopped me, yelling out her thanks.

I never forgot her name, or how she made sure to thankmein the midst of the biggest tragedy of her life. I checked around for her for a few months after that, but found out her family only summered in Whiskey Mountain and had decided not to rebuild. I caught wind of when her parents would visit their small cabin, but never her.Until now.

When she says my name, something lights up inside of me.She remembers.I can’t help but hope she thought of me as often as I thought of her these last few years.

“Ava,” I say, dropping her burger in front of her. Ethan and Luna are looking back and forth at us like they can’t believe what they’re hearing. After a slightly awkward silence, Ava continues.

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