Page 21 of A Very Mountain Man Wooing

“All done!” I tell Myra, spinning her around so she’s facing the mirror.

“You’re a miracle worker, Anise!” She says, and I laugh.

“I’m glad that you like it.”

“My turn!” Snow says, and I sweep up the floor from Myra’s trim and get the chair ready for Snow.

The next hour passes in a blur of laughter and gossip. They want to hear all about Hunter and Grier and Whit and me. I listen as Grier admits that the two of them are together and that she loves him.

“What about you and Whit?” Tilly asks me, and I bite back a dorky grin.

“We’re good. He’s been amazing,” I gush, and the girls squeal.

“He’s so handsome,” Myra says.

“And tall!” Tilly adds, and I nod.

“He’s been really patient and just so sweet. He’s a really good cook and… more,” I say, my face flaming bright red.

“Ohhhhh!” They all say at once, and I laugh.

“Yeah, that has been really good,” I say, and I laugh when Grier wiggles her eyebrows at me.

The girls all leave soon after, and I sweep up the floor while Grier and Mabel spray out the washing tubs.

“I’m going to take out the trash,” I say as I type out a quick message to Whit.

It’s only two pm, but all of our appointments are done for the day, and I don’t think we’ll get that many walk ins. Maybe I can talk Mabel and Grier into letting me leave early so I can have some more free time with Whit.

“Okay, do you want me to give you a hand?” Mabel asks, but I wave her off.

“It’s just the two bags. I’ve got it.”

She nods, and I tuck my phone into my back pocket before I grab the trash and head for the back door.

I make it to the dumpster and toss both of the bags inside. Before I can turn around, though, a pair of strong arms wrap around me, and I yelp as I’m lifted off my feet.

“You’ve added a few pounds there, Annie,” comes a deep voice, and a shiver runs down my spine.

“HELP!” I scream, and a sweaty hand wraps around my mouth, cutting me off.

I try to scream, to claw at his hand as he drags me backward toward the idling van. I fight, kicking and scratching at him but it doesn’t seem to make a difference or slow him down.

Before I know it, I’m being thrown into the back of the windowless van and the doors are slamming closed behind me.

“Thought that you could get away from me, huh, Annie?” Robert asks with a deranged smile on his face.

I don’t have a chance to answer before the van is peeling out of the alley and onto the main street.

NINE

Whit

I hate leavingAnise alone when all of this is going on, but I know that she wants to pretend like everything is fine, and if I’m hanging around, she can’t do that.

I head down the street to the coffee shop and pull in next to Hunter’s truck. I called him after Anise fell asleep last night and caught him up to speed with everything. He’s agreed to help me look into her family and this church cult. I have a feeling that I’m going to need all of the help that I can get.

“Hey,” Hunter greets me when I walk in, and I see that he’s already ordered our coffee.

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