Page 1 of The Mountain Man's Hunted Bride

CHAPTER 1

Gray Thorne

I climb in my 4runner and make my way down the mountain. My phone’s been pinging for the last twenty minutes. I’m sure it’s the guys and they’re already at the bar for our two-month check in. They also know I won’t answer till I get to town.

I grew up outside of Cogburn, Oregon in an isolated mountain cabin that my mom got from her dad and I now own. I know two of the five men I’m meeting up with from school. The other three were also Rangers from Oregon and we served together.

Cogburn’s a small town by all standards, only about thirty-five hundred. People know each other’s business but tend to look the other way if they feel personally threatened or if you don’t fit their cookie cutter standards.

Even as a child I was the quiet, intense bastard who came down the mountain with his Ma. The only thing going for either of us was that Pops was a fixture in the town having been the police chief then mayor most of his life. Not to mention he owned a good portion of the mountain outside of town.

The town’s been a little shakier since the new police chief—an outsider—came in and took over. They say he’s got main character syndrome and spends a lot of time flexing but doing nothing. Not my problem since I don’t hang out in town.

I live on the mountain and work for the national parks. I have my own antenna and satellite dish, take classes on what interests me and avoid my stressors—too many people.

Except once every couple months...

Pulling into the parking lot behind the Hungry Saloon, I scan the lot. There’s a car parked in the shadows of the trash bins with two kids making out. Next, I register all the vehicles that belong to my friends who will be waiting inside.

Two older pick-ups pull into the lot. An older man with a beer gut hanging well below his waist staggers out of one. His shirt is stained and his jeans are dirty. He pauses, waiting for the occupants of the second vehicle. Four younger men pile out. I remember the three older ones as his sons. I think the last one came with his second wife.

Millard was a few years older than Mom. By virtue of Pops being a prominent town fixture with good business sense and me being younger, Millard tried to put me in my place a couple times. Not that successfully, but he tried.

I wait until they’re inside before climbing out of my own vehicle. Might be a short night depending on how drunk the Stumps get.

Entering from the back door, I see my guys already seated at our favorite table. My chair, where my back is to the wall, is waiting. The Stumps are seated across the room but in clear sight. The younger one seems uncomfortable.

“Hey Sarge,” Landon greets me. I nod, shaking hands and backslapping all the guys before sitting.

They fill my glass from the pitcher of beer as the young waitress comes and takes our orders. We spend the next twenty minutes catching up.

Smiling, Beck pulls a paper from his pocket. “Hey Sarge, we found something you might be interested in. This here’s a mail order bride application for the men in town looking for a woman. Since you spend all your time up on the mountain we though this might be the way for you to meet someone besides Rosey Palm.”

Mercer shakes his head and gives Beck a slap on the back of the head. We all laugh.

“What’s so funny? Just trying to help the old man out. Even filled it out for him.”

That earns him a slap from me. Our food comes and we all dig in.

Continually scanning the room, I’m aware of who’s where, who’s moving, potential issues... the parts I can’t shut off. Tactical conditioning. Mitigating loss of control. Sensory overload.

It isn’t helping that the four of the Stump clan are loud, demanding and arrogant. It’s not just me that’s having an issue. My friends are also tense and on guard.

A couple of other tables left shortly after the Stumps arrived, taking what looked like most of their food to go. I watch Hannie, the owner, throw her towel on the bar when the loudest of the Stump men puts his hand on the twenty-ish waitress’s hip.

“Get out,” Hannie snaps as she approaches the table. “I won’t have you intimidating and assaulting my staff.”

I stand to follow her, as do the rest at my table.

“Ain’t fucking assaulting anybody, bitch. She was flirting with me and I just responded,” Stump’s son snarls.

“Bullshit. Get out of my restaurant and don’t ever come back. You’re all banned.”

Millard puffs out his chest. “Public place. You can’t stop us from coming in here.”

“Got a problem, Hannie?” I ask, walking up behind her.

She glances over her shoulder. “Might, if they don’t listen to me. But then again, I already placed a call to the police chief. Since this isn’t the first time they’ve harassed my staff, I already have the restraining order ready to file. Now I have witnesses and film to prove it.”