Page 92 of The One With the Mountain Man

Cristobal flashed through my mind again and I was relieved that I couldn't picture him here. This town and the people here had become my safe haven. "Lost Creek is pretty special."

She nodded in agreement, then took a breath like she'd been going through pleasantries just so she could plunge into what she really wanted to talk about. "How is Huk? He hasn't spoken to any of us in days." She tucked a short lock of hair behind her ear.

"Since that dinner?"

She nodded. "It was a shit show. To be fair, they all are."

"He's good," I said tentatively. Jackson's family dynamic was delicate, and I didn't want to say too much until I could gauge where Eve fell in the hierarchy. "He went out of town with me for a couple of days. I had a work thing I couldn't miss."

"Ah. Makes sense. Look Marley, I love my brother. I hate that we drive him away, but I can't control my siblings any more than he can. If you wouldn't mind telling him that I miss him and would really love to catch up away from the rest of the family, I would appreciate it."

I really didn't want to get involved in family politics if I didn't have to. "Why can'tyoutell him that?"

"Have you met my brother?" she grinned. "I've texted him a bunch of times but it's alwayssoonormaybe next week.I just thought maybe coming from you...never mind. I shouldn't have put you in that position. I'm sorry. I'll nail my brother down at the next family dinner and not let him leave until he commits to a day and time." Her eyes danced just like Jackson's.

Which made me like her even if I didn't really know her. "If it comes up, I'll give him a push." After all, he was probably putting her off so he could spend more time with me, which wasn't fair to Eve.

"Thank you. Shit." Her eyes darted up as someone else came into the store. "Fuck. Damn it."

The store was tiny. There was no hiding if you wanted to avoid someone. The woman who walked in was familiar, but I didn't know her. She had very long brown hair and eyes and a frown on her face that froze me in my tracks. I might not know her, but she sure knew me.

"Well, isn't this wholesome?" the woman drawled as she came to stop in front of us. "The sister and the new girlfriend shopping together for...toilet paper?" She arched an eyebrow as she examined me from head to toe.

I instantly disliked her. Mostly because it was hard to like someone who clearly hated you, but also because how could she hate me when she'd never met me before?

"Are you judging our need for a basic commodity?” Eve bit back. “Come on, Anastasia, that's low even for you."

Anastasia. The non-ex-girlfriend. The one Jackson’s mother wished was dating Jackson instead of me.

"I'm not judging," Anastasia said in a way that made it clear she was absolutely judging, "I just wanted a closer look at Huk's new girlfriend. He works awfully hard at keeping her far away from me for some reason."

I remembered Digger throwing himself between Anastasia and us. But it wasn’t because Jackson wanted to keep her away from me. It was because Jackson wanted nothing to do with her.

Eve snorted. "I doubt it has anything to do with you and everything to do with how wildly in love Huk is with Marley."

Anastasia blanched.

"Have a lovely day, Ana." Eve gave her a finger wave as she pulled me around the woman. I was more than happy to get out of there, with or without toilet paper. Did we even need toilet paper?

Anastasia turned with us. "He won't stay."

And fuck.My shoulders tensed up. Eve kept pulling me as she turned her head and tossed back, "For you. He won't stayfor you.Because he never has and never will be in love with you."

Oh shit. No, no, no. Not here. Not now.

Anastasia stomped after us. "You were a child when we dated, Eve. You know nothing."

She snorted. "Yes, I was a child, which is why I know quite a lot actually. It's amazing what people say around kids because they think they don't understand or aren't listening. But," she cocked her head to the side and scrunched her nose, "I listened and I understood. Huk wanted to break up with you a year before he left town, but Mom kept guilting him into staying with you."

Anastasia's mouth dropped open. "How dare you! We were in love! He was with me because we were happy and planning a future!"

"Are you sure about that?" Eve shot back. "Or were you and mymomplanning that future, Huk be damned?"

I was starting to see why Jackson had issues with his family.

Anastasia blinked in shock. "I... we..." The color drained from her face, clearly flustered as she tried to shove Eve's words around until they fit back into the box Anastasia lived in.

When she couldn't, she switched streams. "That's rich coming from you. Your longest relationship was what? Two weeks with Gary Lee? Or was it the two weeks you dated Sandra Rothchild? Let's see, there was the week you were infatuated with Sean Greenblat. And didn't I see your car parked in front of Aviana's house the last few nights?"

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