Page 7 of A Very Mountain Man Wooing

You can’t put him in danger!I remind myself.

“I’m never drinking again,” I sigh as I rest my forehead against the cool glass of the window.

He pulls up in front of Snips, and I debate calling in sick.

“I’m dying.”

“It will get better. I’ll go get you a juice or something.”

I nod, dragging my tired body upright in the seat as Whit climbs out to get my door. He picks me up, lifts me out of the passenger seat, and places me on the sidewalk so I can avoid the puddles by the sidewalk.

“I’ll get you a juice, but here,” he says, passing me a piece of paper.

“What is this?”

“My phone number. I want you to call me if you ever feel like cutting loose again.

I smile to myself as I shove the paper into my purse.

“Thanks, Whit,” I whisper, and he nods.

I look over and see Grier climbing out of Hunter’s truck, and my heart clenches inside my chest. She looks so happy with him, even if she’s trying to hide it, and I feel jealous.

I want that. I want that with Whit.

I head inside, and my phone buzzes as I set my things down at my station. For one second, I wonder if it’s Whit, but I never gave him my phone number. I pull my phone out, and my stomach drops when I see the name on the screen.

Mom.

I haven’t talked to my mom in two years. Yesterday was actually the anniversary of the day that I left, and it’s why I was in such a bad mood.

I grew up in a religious cult just outside of Las Vegas. It was small and completely cut off from civilization. It was the typical patriarchal society where women were treated more as servants. We were meant to be seen, not heard. We didn’t have a say in anything. When I turned nineteen, I started to leave the compound. I had managed to convince them that I wanted to learn a trade to be more useful, so they allowed me to go to cosmetology school.

After I graduated, they tried to marry me off, and that’s when I left. I knew that I couldn’t stay there anymore. If I did, they would have beaten me into submission and married me off to the first man who asked.

It was terrifying to leave and heartbreaking to walk away from my family, but they never really understood or respected me. I know they wouldn’t have cared if I was miserable or being abused like so many other women in the cult were.

It still sucks to be all alone now, though.

I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to start living my life. I want to make some bad decisions, to be wild and free. When I realized it was the two-year anniversary yesterday, I was upset that I had still been living in a little bubble and was determined to make some bad decisions. That was why I went to the bar and got drunk. I’m just glad that Whit was there to look out for me.

What does her calling me now mean? How did they even get my new phone number? Are they still looking for me? Did they leave the cult and want to apologize? Are they close to finding me?

A million different questions race through my mind, and I swallow hard. I can’t worry about that right now. I can’t think about any of this right now. I need to focus on the positive.

As I shove my phone back into my purse, I see Whit’s phone number and I smile as I wonder if it’s time for me to finally take a risk. If they’re close to finding me, this could be my last chance to be with Whit.

Maybe it’s time I give in to how I feel instead of bottling it up.

I can’t resist him anymore.

THREE

Whit

When my phonerings and it’s Anise, I almost fall out of my chair.

I had been hoping she would call me, but I didn’t think it would happen anytime soon.

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