Page 9 of My Mountain Man Stalker
“And the storm?” I ask. “When they come?”
He stands slowly, walking over to the window and staring out into the thickening dark.
“Let them come,” he says. “We’ll handle it together.”
Something breaks open in my chest. A dam I didn’t realize I’d built.
Trust. Fear. Relief. It all tangles up, messy and real.
I shift gears before I drown in it.
“What happened in the war?” I ask softly.
His whole body tenses.
He doesn’t answer.
“You and my dad… were you close?”
“He saved my life,” he says after a long pause. “Took a bullet meant for me. I owed him everything after that.”
I wait for more, but it doesn’t come.
“What about you?” I press. “What happened toyou?”
He turns his back to the window.
“There are things I did I don’t talk about. Things I’ve seen that don’t go away just because the war ends.”
That’s all he gives me.
And somehow, I know it’s more than he’s given anyone in years.
I nod slowly. “Okay.”
I don’t push.
Because maybe I’m not the only one running from ghosts.
And maybe the two of us fit together better than we should.
I crawl under the quilt without another word. He pulls a second blanket from the trunk, settles onto the floor with his back against the door.
Like a shield.
Like a guard.
And for the first time in a long time, I fall asleep before the sun rises.
Not because the fear is gone.
But becausehe’shere.
5
Hale
It’s been four days since I brought Wren here, and somehow, it’s both the easiest and hardest thing I’ve ever lived through.
