Page 4 of Saving the Mountain Man

He paused at a door leading into the house. “Oh yeah. Sorry about that. I’m Shane.”

And then he pushed the door open and stepped through it, leaving me and Max to follow. I looked back over my shoulder. Should we shut the garage door?

Shane answered that question a few seconds later when he appeared and pressed a button next to the door. The garage door started closing behind me, which of course brought a fresh round of barks from Max.

“I guess he doesn’t like garage doors,” I said.

Shane paused in the doorway, staring at me. He had a puzzled look on his face, like he couldn’t quite make sense of me.

I couldn’t blame him for that. I’d yet to make sense of myself.

“I’m Meredith,” I said. “And you’ve already met Max.”

Shane nodded, then disappeared through the door again. The door finished its descent and Max promptly stopped barking. He returned his attention to his owner.

I smiled at him and said, “Let’s just go with it.”

3

SHANE

The power was out. I knew the instant I stepped past the laundry room and into my tiny kitchen. Something just seemed off. And then my gaze landed on the clock on the microwave. The screen was pitch dark.

“Oh, no!” Meredith said from behind me.

I turned to look at her. I’d left her suitcase by the door, figuring we’d end up taking it back out as soon as it was safe to get her to Bo’s house.

“It must have just gone out,” I said. “It’s still warm in here.”

Plus, I’d only left a half hour or so ago. Had it even been that long?

“What?” she asked, clearly confused.

“The power,” I said.

Wasn’t it obvious? She’d just said, “Oh, no.” Had I imagined that?

“The power’s out?” she asked.

“What were you talking about?” I asked.

“I left Max’s food and water in my car. It was in the backseat on the floorboard.”

That was certainly an “oh, no” situation.

“If we get stuck here for long, I’ll go grab it,” I said. “I mostly want to get the two of you settled in. In fact, why don’t I get the fire going, and I’ll head right back out?”

Meredith’s eyes widened. “It’s coming down harder out there.” She glanced toward the window. “I don’t think you should be out on the road.”

Touched at the concern in her voice, I pulled my phone from my coat pocket. “Let me take a look at the forecast. Maybe it’ll lighten up in a little while. You can set him down if you want.”

I looked at the dog, who was squirming in her arms. He obviously wanted to explore. I just hoped he wasn’t the type of dog that urinated on every surface.

“Are you sure?” Meredith asked.

Judging by her expression, Max was definitely the type of dog who would pee on every surface. It was fine, though. A little soap and water would take care of it.

Within a few minutes, I had fresh logs on the fireplace and a pretty decent flame going. Max might be weird about garage doors, but he didn’t seem bothered by fire in the slightest. He followed me back and forth as I worked, reminding me what I missed most about having a furry companion in my life.

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