Page 10 of Shelter for the Mountain Man
“Tie breaker.”
She wins.
Dinner is down home cooking at it’s best. Thick, rich and chock full of meat and vegetables. I eat two bowls then insist on doing the dishes. By the time she does her final barn check and comes in I’m fading.
“Time for bed,” she announces. She insists I get ready first. I grab my dopp kit from my pack and head to the bathroom and change back into what I slept in last night.
She’s already built up the fire. But I notice the electric heater as well. “You have free standing solar panels. You’ve got an integrated system?”
“Yes. I grew up cooking on the wood stove, so I default to it most of the time. But I have most of the same conveniences as people in town. Mom came into some money a few years before she got sick and we upgraded to an integrated system at that time. Mom was so excited about the stove and washer/dryer combo. Ringer washers and line drying is not fun in winter.”
“How about you?”
“I like them. They make life easier. In hindsight we would have been better off paving the road to the house. It would have helped more when Mom got sick. We got lucky that we’d gottena satellite phone before winter hit that year. The damage to her heart ultimately forced her to move to town.
“Me… I like living on the mountain. I like my animals. Not because they provide my income. I just like them. They…they’re my family, too. Could you imagine Marble and Brownie in town? The neighbors would be terrified. You should see how they act when I have them in the truck when picking up supplies.”
“What about living alone?” I ask.
“This is how I grew up. What I’m used to. I go to town to help at the shop in the summers. I go to see Mom and John and they come to visit me. I—I’m not a big people person. I like the simplicity. The honesty of living here.”
There it is again. The hurt. Someone lied to her, broke her trust. I hope someone kicked their ass. Or better yet, I hope I find out who and do it myself.
This woman is a rare gem in a world that honors the loud and manipulative. The ‘see me’ people who belittle the average. She’s honest, hardworking, willing to risk herself for someone else. Something tightens in my chest. I push it aside. Too soon.
When she comes out of the bathroom, she grabs a pillow and heads toward the couch. Oh no, that’s not gonna happen. She is not giving her bed up for me. “Please sleep with me again. The bed is big enough. I’ll know where you are if I need you in the night.”
She hesitates then nods.
Brownie has already settled on the floor beside me after nuzzling my face and getting a brief cuddle.
Fawn checks the bolt on the door and climbs in beside me her back to me. Marble follows her getting his last bit of attention before lying down.
Wide awake I lie there listening to her breath until I sense she’s drifted to sleep. Just her presence, her nearness is enough for now. For now… Not for long.
CHAPTER 6
Fawn
I wake to a gentle breath whispering over my shoulder and a warmth snuggled along my back, a paw draped around my chest…. No, that’s not a paw, it’s an arm and a hand is clasping mine to my chest between my breasts.
Spade. Spade is snuggled against me. I should move. I should push him away.
He feels so good. He’s warm and fits around me like my most comfortable blanket. I feel secure. Cherished. Wanted.
No. Never wanted. Not the odd duck.
The right one will come, Mom promised. Fifty years it took her to find the right one after almost twenty-five years of heartache. I’m not that strong. It’s safer to be on my own.
I already know no one stays in a remote place like this. John couldn’t and he grew up in Kennedy.
Spade will be gone as soon as the snow passes, and he’s healed. If I give in, this time the heartbreak will be the real thing. He’s the one man I’ll use to judge everyone else. The one I won’t get over.
Romance book handsome, real, thoughtful, brave. No, he’d never stay with someone like me. Not the strange one. I don’tdrink, dance, dress up. I don’t put on airs or fancy clothes. Don’t put out.
Just animal loving, mountain wandering me. It’s easier to be alone with my animals and nature. Hope is too devastating.
I try to shift. He hugs me tighter and whispers near my ear, “Don’t leave me. I need you.”
