Page 8 of Her Mountain Man Giant

It’s none of my business, but I’m desperate to know.

“Did you move because of the accident?” I ask gently.

His gaze snaps up to meet mine. “What?”

“The accident. You mentioned it yesterday…”

I instantly regret bringing it up. He looks down at his plate, brow furrowed.

“Yes. It was because of the accident.” Before I can say another word, he changes the subject. “I noticed your faucet leaking while we were in the kitchen. Can fix that for you before I go.”

“Oh…thank you. I’d appreciate that.”

I try to smile at him, but he still looks troubled by my question, and I silently curse my big mouth. My curiosity is always getting me into trouble—making me ask awkward questions. Heck, maybe I should have been a journalist after all.

When we’ve finished our pancakes, Tanner clears the plates before I can do it. On his way back into the living room, I see him frown down at the floor. “Got a loose floorboard here. I’ll fix that too.”

“Oh, I barely even notice it,” I say. “You don’t have to?—”

“I want to,” he says firmly. “Hell, probably my fault it’s loose in the first place. I helped Brody fix this place up. Least I can do is fix our mistakes.”

His words surprise me. I had no idea he’d worked on my cabin, and it makes me love the place even more.

“Thanks, Tanner,” I say with a smile. “That would be awesome.”

“Just need to grab my tools.” He heads for the front door, looking back at me over his shoulder. “I’ll be back soon.”

He steps outside, closing the door behind him. I hurry to the window, watching as he stalks into the woods, and once he’s out of sight, I feel weirdly deflated.

You can’t miss him already!

That’s nuts.

I let out a deep sigh and grab my laptop, figuring I might as well try to get some writing done. But as the startup screen flashes up, another idea strikes me instead. I open my browser, biting my lip as I start typing in the search bar.

Tanner Cherry Mountain accident

I shouldn’t snoop, but I can’t help it. I hit search and scroll through the results, eyes scanning the screen. Nothing relevant pops up. This would be a lot easier if I knew his surname or the location of the accident. It obviously didn’t happen on Cherry Mountain if he came here to get away from it. Still, it was worth a try.

I exit the browser and lean back in my chair. I already know I’m not going to concentrate with Tanner in the cabin. He might have provided me with inspiration for my next hero, but writingwhen he’s around feels impossible. When he’s near, I can’t focus on anything but him. Heck, it’s the same even when he’s not here. I don’t know how it happened, but in less than twenty-four hours, this man has taken over every inch of my brain…and I have absolutely no idea what to do about it.

6

TANNER

I grabmy toolkit from my cabin before heading to Wyatt’s. I lent him an adjustable wrench a few days back, and I’m going to need it to fix Violet’s faucet. Clouds are swirling overhead, casting a gray film over the sky as I walk through the trees. My mind is replaying breakfast with Violet, remembering every detail, every word she said, and I feel a stab of guilt when I think back to how I acted when she mentioned the accident. I wasn’t expecting it. As soon as she asked about it, I instinctively shut her down and changed the subject. Eighteen years later and I still can’t talk about it.

What does that say about me?

Hell, surely nothing good.

My mind is so full of Violet that I almost walk straight past Wyatt’s cabin, and I mentally pull myself together before knocking on his door, hoping he’s at home and not out in the woods. I hear his dog barking from inside, and a moment later Wyatt opens the door with a mug of coffee in his hand.

“Morning,” I say.

“Tanner.” He nods in greeting. “What can I do for you?”

“You got that wrench handy?”

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