Page 9 of Heart of the Mountain
“I thought my name was Mr. Mountain Man Moose Wrangler.” I shouldn’t be encouraging this back and forth. I certainly shouldn’t be enjoying it as much as I am.
“You’re multi-talented,” she replies easily. Her eyes light up when they meet mine, and I have to look away. It’s too much, too intense, too… vulnerable, somehow. I don’t deserve to have fun. I don’t deserve her banter or her compliments. I don’t deserve any good thing this woman is so freely giving me.
“Breakfast,” I announce awkwardly. “Omelets sound good?”
“Always,” Sadie answers enthusiastically.
“Gotta go collect the eggs.” I set my mug in the sink, ready to slip on my boots and head to the chicken coop.
“Wait, you mean, like fresh eggs?”
“Laid this morning,” I confirm. Her eyes grow wide with excitement, and I know she’s about to ask a million questions.
“How many chickens do you have? How many eggs do they lay per day? Does it take long for the eggs to… be birthed? Is that the right term? Do you ever have too many? Why are some eggs brown and others are white?” She sucks on her lips to keep more questions from spilling out. Her curiosity and eagerness are contagious.
“Want to come with me and see?” I offer instead of telling her to stay put. I should be telling her to pack what little belongings she has with her so I can load her up into my truck as soon as we’re done with breakfast.
“Yes!” Sadie gingerly steps off the barstool, reminding me of the reason she’s here in the first place. She hurt her ankle. “I’m feeling a lot better this morning,” she says, as if reading my mind.
I grunt, then kneel in front of her to inspect the swollen joint. It’s not nearly as red and puffy today, but I see the faint outline of a bruise forming beneath her skin.
“See? Just a bruise. No biggie.”
I look up at her as she shrugs. I wonder how many times she’s said that to herself and others over the years. A piece of my heart chips away at her words as well as the fake smile she has plastered on her face.
Nodding once, I head to my room and grab a pair of socks along with an extra pair of work boots for her to wear. They might be huge on her, but there’s no way in hell she’s wearing those high heels I found her in.
Five minutes later, we’re walking across the South side of my property, where the chicken coop is. I look over my shoulder, noticing that Sadie has fallen behind. I realize that she has to take two steps for every one of my longer strides. And, of course, she’s walking more slowly due to her injury.
I’m already fucking this up.
Stopping abruptly, I wait for Sadie to catch up. She steps up next to me, and I brace myself to look at her. She’s that distracting. She’s also getting my feelings all tangled up, which is shocking considering I didn’t think I had any of those left.
“Cutter, your home and land are incredible,” she whispers. I don’t know if I’m ready to see her face, but her hushed, awed tone draws my attention to her anyway.
Sadie’s lips are slightly parted, her dark green eyes taking in the field of wildflowers to our right before panning over to the greenhouse to the left. My chest puffs out in pride, knowing shelikes what she sees. I’ve never had anyone in my cabin before, and I’ve definitely never given a tour of my property.
“I do okay for myself.”
“Uh,yeahyou do.” Sadie looks up at me with her signature sassy smile. “You raise chickens, you grow veggies, you wrangle moose, what else is there to this mountain man life?”
“You lookin’ to become a mountain man?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at her.
Sadie’s eyes twinkle. “Just curious. I could see why someone might give up hazelnut coffee to live out here.”
She takes a few steps forward, wanting to explore more of my land. Her words settle deep down in my gut, even though my instinct is to fight them. She can’t possibly mean that. And even if she does, it’s not like she’s picturing spending her life with me up here on the mountain.
“I sell canned vegetables, herbs, spices, and special seasoning blends,” I blurt out in a rush.
“Really? Cutter, I’m so impressed. I had no idea. You’re like… kind of amazing.” She turns around, letting me see the surprise and delight in her eyes. It’s too much.
“It’s nothing,” I say with a shrug. “Besides, I might not be at it for much longer,” I mutter. She furrows her brow at my response. “The vultures at Top Spot Realty have been trying to buy my land for years, and now they’ve trained their sights on the town as well.”
“Would it be so bad to have fresh money in the town and a bit of tourism?”
“Yes,” I spit out. “They want to take everything good and unique about this place and turn it into some master planned community. They’re soulless, selfish, money-hungry bastards, each and every one.”
After a moment of silence, I look at Sadie, who is expressionless. Can’t say I’ve ever seen her like that, and I wonder what she’s thinking.
