Page 4 of Her Mountain Man Grump

He doesn’t rush me for a response. Instead, he waits quietly, still keeping his distance like he’s trying not to spook me. But I’m not going to run. Brody might be a stranger, but after a few minutes in his presence, I already feel safer. Less alone. Trusting him is a risk, but it’s one I have to take.

“Thank you,” I say, gratitude welling inside me. “I appreciate it more than you know.”

“Don’t mention it.” Brody gives me the shadow of a smile beneath his thick beard, but it slips away almost instantly. “Follow me. It’s not far.”

I do as he says, hurrying to keep up with his enormous strides. Barely a couple of minutes later, we reach a quaint log cabin nestled in the trees.

“This is my place,” Brody says. “The outbuilding is around the back.”

It looks exactly like the kind of place I imagined a mountain man would live, with its weathered wooden exterior and moss-covered slate roof. I smile to myself as we pass it, heading for amuch smaller building several hundred yards away. It’s made of the same dark wood as the cabin, with a sloping roof and a tiny porch.

Brody opens the front door and I follow him inside. The living room is bare, except for a single chair and a ladder up against the wall.

“No shower yet,” he says, opening the door to the bathroom. “But there’s a tub. Water’s all hooked up.”

The kitchen is a little more complete, with a refrigerator, stove, and a rustic oak table. In the bedroom, there’s a mattress on the floor, still in its plastic wrapping.

“That’s it.” Brody looks at me apologetically as we return to the empty living room. “Not much, I know.”

But to me, it feels like a palace.

“It’s perfect,” I tell him, beaming as I look around. “Everything I need is right here.”

Brody grunts, unconvinced. “I have a couple of armchairs in my cabin. I’ll bring them over—should make things a little more comfortable.”

I feel a rush of affection for him as he frowns around the empty living room like he’s trying to figure out how else to improve it. Meeting this man was a seriously lucky break.

“I don’t know how to thank you enough for all this,” I tell him, meeting his gaze. “As soon as I find a job, I promise to pay you back.”

“You don’t owe me a dime.” Brody crosses his arms stubbornly. “I told you—this place is just sitting here empty.”

“But…”

Before I can continue, he changes the subject. “What brings you up here, Emma? You local?”

My stomach knots. I’m not surprised that Brody has questions, but I still haven’t figured out what to tell him. He’s watching me, head cocked, eyes burning with curiosity.

“No, I…well, I had to leave the place where I was staying kind of unexpectedly. So I drove out here looking for somewhere to stay, but I ran out of gas up in the mountains. I had to sleep in my car, and I was on my way down to the nearest town to look for help when you found me.”

It’s the truth—just not all of it.

“Shit,” he mutters. “Good thing that didn’t happen in winter.” He runs a hand over his beard, like the thought agitates him. “Did you drive far?”

“Yeah…all the way from New Mexico.”

I swallow hard. Again, it’s the truth. I just hope my vague responses will be enough to satisfy Brody’s curiosity.

“Damn, hell of a drive.” He’s quiet for a moment, like he’s thinking over everything I just told him. I can tell he wants to know more, but he doesn’t push it. Instead, he says, “I’ll head down to Cherry Hollow and grab some gas for your car. Then you can park it out front.”

God, how is this man real?

He looks like a total grump, with his heavy brows and deep frown lines. Even his voice is gruff. But everything he says is so considerate, so thoughtful that my heart threatens to burst.

“That would be amazing,” I tell him. “Thank you.”

He shrugs off my thanks with a grunt. Clearly Brody isn’t the kind of guy to enjoy praise, but I already owe him so much, and I want him to know what it means to me.

“Do you mind if I come with you?” I ask as he grabs his keys from his pocket. “I want to ask around town, see if anybody’s hiring.”

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