Page 54 of Snowed In with her Mountain Men
“We never had reason to before,” he shrugged. “We laughed at the stories and accused him halfheartedly, but when he grunted a bunch of denials we’d always believed him. Up until the day he was laying there, dying atop a whole mountain of shredded enemies.”
“And then what?”
“He grabbed us, just before the morphine took hold, and pulled us close,” said Oakley. “He was bleeding out. It only tookone glance to know there was no saving him. And his last words, rather thanfinallytell us he loved us, was to ‘get the diamonds.’”
“Wow,” I swore.
“Beneath the tree,” Ryder took over. “That’s what he said. When we asked him which tree, he gripped us tighter and spoke his very last words.”
“The tree at the cabin,” breathed Jaxon.
Just imagining the scene gave me goosebumps. Full of wine, bathed by the warmth of the fire, I felt them ripple over every inch of my exposed skin.
“The morphine took hold of him after that, thank God,” said Ryder. “He never woke up, and we thanked God for that, too. His wounds were horrific. It was a miracle we even got to say goodbye to him.”
He sniffed and averted his eyes. I could feel the pain in his heart.
“But you did,” I broke in. “Get to say goodbye, I mean. You guys were there for him at the end. You held him in your arms. He wasn’t alone.”
“That’s what I keep telling them,” grunted Jaxon. He cradled his whiskey glass in both hands as he stared into the fire. “Sarge was a true warrior who died on the battlefield, surrounded by those he trained and loved. There’s no better death for a man like him.”
He raised his glass, and the others toasted along with him. Somehow, it felt right for me to do the same.
“We didn’t even know about this place until we inherited it,” sighed Oakley. “We got back to the property and there was a giant spruce tree, right out front. It was blatantly obvious, or sowe thought. We dug in a thirty-foot circle around it, down to ten feet. We used excavators, metal detectors, everything we could find — even a pulse induction machine.”
“And nothing?” I asked, incredulous.
Ryder grimaced and shook his head. “There was nothing there. We would’ve found it for sure, if it was. We checked every square centimeter of spoils from that hole.”
Oakley nodded numbly. “That’s where our obsession began,” he said. “We moved in and began fixing up the cabin, and that’s when we noticed two more big trees in the back. They weren’t as tall as the spruce out front, but definitely gigantic. We pulled those, then three more trees, and then a few birches that looked different from the rest. For the past two summers we’ve been widening the clearing around this cabin, trying to find where Sarge hid the diamonds. But… nothing.”
“Damn,” I swore. “No wonder why you have so much firewood!”
The guys stared back at me, sourly. They didn’t look amused.
“Alright,” I said, quickly changing the subject. “So which tree do youthinkhe meant?”
Ryder shrugged. “That’s the million dollar question.”
“Or ten million,” said Oakley. “Or a hundred million. Who really knows?” He drained his whiskey and sighed. “Only some forgotten sultan whose palace got shattered, somewhere back in the 1990’s.”
The room fell silent again, as we quietly finished our drinks. I felt blessed, and not just because I’d been so well taken care of over the past few weeks. The boys had entrusted me witha very big secret. They’d taken me within their own inner circle, and from what I’d seen since they first kicked my door in, that circle was infinitesimally small.
“I think I want to sleep down here,” I said, to no one in particular. “In front of the fire.”
Through my peripheral vision, I could see them exchanging glances. Recently they’d been showing up in my bed, but on a sort of rotational basis. Almost as if they’d agreed to some sort of schedule.
“You can sleep down here with me, if you like,” I smiled coyly.
“Who?” asked Oakley.
“Any of you,” I shrugged, feeling a flush of heat. “All of you.” I smiled wickedly. “The more the merrier. Just bring pillows and blankets.”
They rose, one by one, to their full, imposing height. My stomach rolled, as I realized I’d never been with all three of them at once.
It damn near did somersaults with what I said next.
“And why don’t we move Friday’s itinerary up to tonight?” I sighed, tilting the last of the wine down my throat.
