Page 72 of The One With the Mountain Man

I've been hiding in a house in Florida.

I'd had it wrong this whole time, hadn't I? I thought tomorrow was going to be a nice trip with a busy couple of hours and maybe some cranky fans I'd have to glare at. But it wasn't going to be like that at all.

When Marley said her life was complicated, she meant it with a capital C, didn't she? The kind of complicated that usually sent me packing. No wonder she was so wary to believe we had a future.

"Okay, so she's famous. What's the big deal?" I wanted to get in my truck and get back to Marley as fast as possible. I wanted to go back to it just being the two of us at Golden Hour, the rest of the world be damned. If my own sister was acting this strangely about Marley, I didn't want to be here a minute longer.

"The big deal is that she's also the most hated author on the planet. Some of her fans have absolutely lost the plot. They stalk her, Huk. She gets death threats. They're demanding the last book like it's the second coming."

I wanted to puke. Marley didn't just come here to work. She came here to escape. And what had I said to all her warnings?We'll figure it out. I won't let anything happen to you.

No wonder my words didn't stop that tension from rippling through her over and over again. How could I protect her from something I didn't understand?

"Don't get me wrong, she has just as many fans who love her...also in mostly unhealthy ways. Most people just love those books so much and want to know how the story ends. They've been waiting over two years and word on the street is that she hasn't written a chapter."

That's why Marley sat at the makeshift desk staring at the trees every day. She'd write a little bit, slam the laptop shut, and hold that damned photograph before giving up. The only time she seemed to make any real progress was when she escaped into the TBR Pile.

"She's written lots of words. She just doesn't like any of them." What the hell were we walking into? And why the hell was she putting herself through it if it was this bad?

Karis dropped onto the arm of my chair and gave my shoulder a nudge. "Be careful big brother."

"Her fans don't scare me." Although I was deeply concerned about these death threats. What the actual fuck?

"I'm not talking about her fans. I'm talking abouther. She came here to escape it all, but that's her world, Huk. She's going back to it."

And I don't belong there.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Karis didn't know Marley any better than those fans did. They read some facts and made up a version they wished was real.

But I had the real Marley. I took her hiking and dancing; we cooked dinners together and she slept curled beside me each night. If they knew her like I did, they wouldn't be hounding her. They'd know she needed space and inspiration and that what they were doing was the opposite of what she needed.

"Maybe," Karis shrugged. "But I like having you around again. So don't let a woman drive you away, okay?"

She didn't realize Marley might be the reason I actually stayed.

Mom bustled into the room, drying her hands on a dishtowel. Her gaze dropped to the book and she frowned. "You two. Always with your noses stuck in books instead of participating in family dinners."

Karis let out the heaviest sigh. "Mom, you do realize most people think reading is a good thing, right?"

"Reading at bedtime is perfectly healthy. Hiding from your family to play imaginary games with fictional people is not. Dinner is almost ready. Can you get Gus cleaned up?"

Karis started to stand, but I stopped her with a hand on her thigh. "I got him. You go make a drink or something."

She dropped a kiss on the top of my head. "You're the best!"

I left the book tucked away with my phone and wallet near the door, then made my way to the back of the house. All the kids were corralled on the porch playing with toys. Gus had built a tower of blocks that my niece Addy was building a wall around. Her big brother Tyler played with cars while the babies took turns seeing what they could shove in their mouths.

"Who's ready for spaghetti?" I asked the crowd.

All their heads whipped around. Gus shot straight to me, wrapping his arms around my right leg. Addy followed right behind, taking my left leg. The babies stared at me. Tyler shot me a wary look.

Of all the kids, he was the one who hadn't warmed to me at all. He was also the oldest, the most aware that I hadn't been around, so I didn't really blame the kid.

"Hold on!"

Addy and Gus giggled as I stomped my way to the closest bathroom. They squeezed my legs tight, but Gus still slipped a time or two. I kept a hand on his shirt just to be safe. Then I lifted Addy onto the stool and turned on the water.

"You don't have to do that." Nora appeared behind me. We were the closest in age, which should have meant we were close as siblings, but we weren't. In fact, of all my siblings, we got along the least.

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