Page 9 of Scarred Mountain Man
Moving here did not happen in a single day. My brother and I sold all our parents’ assets and divided them equally. We both dealt with our grief differently. While he joined the military as a means of coping, I used my money to buy three acres of land where I started building my permanent home. There was deep anger and resentment in me that pushed me into building a home up here and to start living in solitary.
“You have a brother? Does he live here too?” Jean’s voice snaps me to the present and I turn back to her.
“No, he lives on the other side of the mountain, a more habitable part of the forest.”
“Oh, do you guys meet often?”
“No.” We are both lone wolves who prefer to keep to ourselves and only meet up when it’s necessary.
Jean doesn’t ask me to explain myself, which I appreciate. I turn around to look at the garden, mentally thinking of what to make tonight for dinner. Of course, I could go back to the forest to check up on the traps I left to catch rabbits for meat, but thethought of leaving Jean alone is not something I am willing to entertain.
Vegetable stew it is.
I start picking at the tomatoes and other greens, surprised when she joins me. She mostly does a poor job at picking the vegetables and accidentally steps on quite a few plants, but I can’t bring myself to find fault in her actions. Anyone else and I would be raising hell but Jean…
She’s mine.
She can do no wrong.
“I’ve lived in the city all my life. I’ve never picked vegetables before. Everything I use is store bought,” she says as she follows me to the cabin, hugging the tomatoes to her chest.
“And where do you live?”
“San Francisco,” she says. “I know, it’s a long way from Sweetheart Falls but my friends were adamant I make the trip. They promised me a camping trip I will never forget. I had no idea how true that would turn out to be,” she adds, muttering the last part but I catch it.
“And where are your friends? Did they leave you–”
“Oh no, nothing like that,” she hurries to say, placing the tomatoes on the kitchen counter. “You see, we all went to college together and after graduation, some of them moved to different cities. We were supposed to meet up in town and head up together but when my flight got delayed, I told them to send me the directions and that I would make it up to the campsite myself.”
I gather the vegetables into a bowl and place them in the sink to wash them. “And then you got lost?”
“Well, yeah. That’s the short version of the story.”
“What’s the long version?”
She offers to chop up the onions and tomatoes when I grab the cutting board so I pass them to her, not missing how homey and comfortable all this feels with her around.
“Well, the long version is that I rented an old car from a charming little guy in rainbow suspenders, and it broke down halfway up the mountain. I got out of the car to try and catch a phone signal but got lost in the forest instead and now… here I am.” She keeps her eyes locked on her hands as she works, carefully slicing the tomatoes. “I guess, I came here looking to find something? San Franscisco is nice but it’s loud and always so busy. My job is frustrating sometimes too, I don’t even think the manager knows my name and I’ve been there for a while.” She smiles solemnly at herself before handing me the knife, “So when my friends called asking me to join them, I jumped at the chance for a break.”
And now she’s here… with me and I am not letting her go.
She leaves me to finish up making dinner as she grabs a shower and comes back just in time to eat. By the time we’re done, Jean seems visibly exhausted and doesn’t argue when I guide her to my room. I offer her the bed and wait until she’s fallen asleep before I leave the room to sleep on the couch.
Soon, she and I will be sharing my bed, but for tonight, I will settle for the couch and listen to the sounds of the night while my angel rests.
Chapter Five
Jean
The distant sounds of a loud howl jolts me awake. My heart drums in my chest as I try to make sense of where I am.
“Shaw,” his name is out of my lips before my mind can catch up. I look around the small bedroom, taking in the unfamiliar space that looks nothing like my bedroom back in the city. The only light in the room comes from the two windows with curtains drawn to allow moonlight to filter in.
I hug the blankets close to me when a rush of cold brushes against my skin. It’s way too cold up here and the bedding does little to beat the chill chewing at my bones.
“Shaw,” I call out again, my voice coming out a little husky. I wrap the covers around my body and climb out of the bed, heading to the door, but it swings open before I can reach it. I find myself standing face to face with a huge man dressed only in boxers. God, he’s so big the top of my head barely makes it to his shoulder.
“Hey, what’s wrong Angel?” he whispers, cupping my cheeks and I shudder at the warmth of his touch. My eyes lock with his gray ones, and unlike me, he doesn’t look like he just woke up. Did he even go to sleep? Guilt at the thought of taking this man’s space and leaving him to cramp himself on the small couch overwhelms me.