Page 18 of Her Mountain Man Grump

One look from those pretty brown eyes calms my rage. I drop my fist, looking back to her father. He’s sprawled on the ground, watching me fearfully, blood streaming from his broken nose.

“You’re lucky your daughter is a better person than I am,” I tell him. “If it were up to me, I’d bury you in these woods. Now get the hell off my property.”

Her father shakily gets to his feet, shooting me a look of pure loathing. Then he ambles toward the front door and into the woods. I follow, with Emma close behind. I won’t believe he’s gone until I see the asshole leave.

We watch as he walks away, heading toward a red truck hidden in the trees nearby. He says a few words to the driver, then walks back toward us. I feel my muscles tense again, readyto fight. But he doesn’t approach. He stops at Emma’s green Honda and lets himself into the driver’s seat.

“The fuck is he doing?” I mutter angrily.

“I gave him back the keys.”

I look at her, then back at the car, scowling. “You deserve the damn car after everything you went through.”

She sighs, melting against me as I wrap an arm around her shoulders. “I don’t want it. It’s a link to him…to Scourfield. He can have it.”

I give her a squeeze, and together we watch as both vehicles disappear down the dirt track leading away from my cabin. Once they’re out of sight, all my adrenaline melts away and I let out a deep breath, pulling Emma into a tight hug.

“You’re okay now, sugar,” I tell her. “They’re gone. You’re safe.”

She nods, resting her head against my chest. “Thank you, Brody.”

“Don’t thank me. Bet you were doing a great job all by yourself before I walked in.” I press a kiss on her head. “Still, I should have gotten there sooner.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s nobody’s fault but his.” She pulls back from my arms and takes my hand, inspecting my knuckles. “Does it hurt?”

I shrug. When I first hit him, I was so furious that I barely even felt it. But now my knuckles are throbbing, smeared with blood.

“It was worth it,” I tell her. “He deserved much worse.”

She nods, deep in thought as she looks at my hand. I watch her, trying to read her expression.

“Are you okay, Emma?”

She meets my gaze and smiles sadly. “Yeah. I was just thinking that…well, it might sound strange, but after so many years of my father being our leader, I stopped seeing him ashuman. In Scourfield, he was more like a god. But seeing him like that, scared and bleeding…I guess it reminded me that he’s just a man…That I don’t need to be so afraid of him. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah. It does.” I lean in and press a kiss on her forehead, twirling a lock of her red hair around my finger. “You’re right. And you’re brave as hell for realizing that.”

She presses her lips together, and I can tell there’s still something on her mind. I don’t push her. Instead, I guide her back to my cabin and shut the door behind us, pulling her onto the couch beside me.

“I need to do something about this,” she says eventually.

“What do you mean, sugar?”

“Scourfield…I need to help the people I left behind. There are children there. Sick people who need to be treated.” She closes her eyes, her voice lowering to a whisper. “But I’m scared. I’ve tried really hard to untangle myself from Father’s beliefs, but I guess there are some things that are hard to let go of. He always taught us the authorities were evil.”

I feel another surge of anger thinking about her father. Of course he wants people to believe the authorities are evil—so they’re too damn scared to report him.

“Look at me, Emma.” I cup her cheek, meeting her gaze. “I know you’re scared. But you don’t have to do this alone, okay? If you want to go to the cops, I’ll be with you every step of the way. We can get social services involved—get those vulnerable people safe. Whatever you want to do, I’ll make it happen.”

Determination buzzes through me as I look at her. It would be easy for her to turn her back on Scourfield and move on with her life. Hell, that’s what I’d do. But my girl is better than that. She has a heart of gold, and if taking down Scourfield will make her happy, then that’s what we’re going to do.

“Thank you, Brody.” She beams at me, her eyes glimmering with unshed tears. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Then she throws her arms around my neck, clinging to me like she never wants to let go. I hug her back, breathing her in, losing myself in her sweet scent.

This is where she belongs.

Here with me.

---