Page 3 of The Mountain Man's Unexpected Bride
"Should I come back later?"
"Just get out of my sight. I'm going to rest my eyes for a few minutes."
I grab my gear and start going down the stairs. The girls are in the hallway, smirking.
"What did you steal now, Nooni?" Dima says.
"I think it's that necklace mother loves so much," Masha says.
I stop in front of them, head high, and shoulders back.
"I do not steal."
"No, you just borrow. Thinking mother won't find out."
"Stop lying."
"When she realizes what you've taken, she's going to throw you out on the streets."
A chill runs down my spine. Have they set me up? I need to go check my room right now. I run down the stairs with all my cleaning gear in tow and leave it in the laundry room, then I go to my room at the back of the house and search it.
There's nothing here, but they can sneak something in at any time. Veronika took my door down when I turned thirteen, claiming that teenagers do disgusting things if they have privacy. So there is always someone watching me, including the staff.
She's changed the staff over the years, and she makes sure they all hate me or at least fear her wrath and do her bidding. So I have no friends in this household. I sit down on my bed, deep in my thoughts. I feel the tears going down my face, but I do nothing to stop them.
One of my sisters is getting picked to be a bride. I am so jealous. I hate feeling this way. Just when I've resigned myself to this life, there's that whiff of hope. I mean, I'm one of the Ivanov sisters, right? I shouldn't let that information drive me crazy, but it does.
About thirty minutes pass when the butler shows up with a rake and some garbage bags, meaning I need to go clean the yard. I make a face for his benefit, but tending the garden and the backyard is one of my favorite things to do.
Today, the sky is clear, the grass is green, and I was able to fantasize for a bit about a hero who saved the day for me. All in all, a good day, even if my stepsisters are probably going to try to ruin it again later on at dinner.
Chapter 2
Brock
Iplace a piece of wood on the chopping block, and I swing the axe down. It splinters in the middle, sending the two halves of wood flying to the sides. I do this a few more times, aware that my uncle is sitting there on the front porch of my cabin, waiting for an answer from me.
Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I take in a big breath and let it out slowly, hoping that it will calm me. My father died a year ago, and they read the will about a week after his passing. The outrageous demands he made for me and my uncle to receive our inheritance made me angry, and I burst out of that lawyer's office and came home to Hunter's Peak and the cabin I had built with my own two hands, without looking back.
The problem is, my uncle can't get his part of the inheritance unless I comply with some of the demands. I don't need the money. I'm a self-made millionaire. I patented several medical devices I invented during my residency in Chicago. Now I'm a field doctor with the search and rescue team here in Hunter's Peak.
My uncle, however, wants to be CEO of the company he built with my father, and the only way he can do that is if I agree to the terms of the will. Which I don't think I'll ever do. I keep chopping wood for a good half hour more and sense more than see my uncle approaching.
"Are you about done with that now?"
I toss the axe down and pull off my suspenders. My t-shirt is drenched in sweat, and I’m in dire need of a shower. I take my t-shirt off and rub it against my face, then toss it to the side. Archie is much closer to my age than my dad, but he got involved in the business as soon as he finished high school.
"I'll get cleaned up and we can talk."
I'm stalling, and my uncle knows it. He gives me a nod and follows me into my cabin. It's summer and the heat is scorching, but I've got the inside climate-controlled with a cooling system. I get into the shower and let the cool water run down my body.
My uncle and I are close because of our ages, and I've always admired his passion for my father's business. I'm surprised Dad didn't leave the whole thing to him, but my father was a stubborn bastard and would not let go of his dream of me taking up the business after him.
He was bothered when I chose to study engineering and insulted when I pursued medicine afterwards. He just didn't see how those degrees would help me run his business. The thing is, I've never wanted his business, and I don't want it now either.
I put on my sweatpants and another t-shirt and start to dry my hair with a towel. I need to turn my uncle down, but I don't knowthe best way to do it. I run my fingers through my damp hair and toss the towel on the bathroom floor.
Uncle Archie is waiting in the living room, a drink in one hand and his cellphone in the other. I sit in the chair across from him. He's sitting on my favorite recliner, and I'm close to snapping at him.
