Page 6 of The Mountain Man's Hunted Bride

I’m still behind about a year from kids my age. I’ve had a lot of support from a couple of the teachers who are helping me try to catch up. I’d really like to have a diploma. Then I could get a job, be independent, and not need anyone.

A job. If you don’t have money or an income, you can’t pay for a place to live. If you don’t have a place to live it’s hard to find a job. I understand Mom’s struggles better, but the drinking and drugs were not the way out.

Russett trots up with the stick and I throw it again. After a while he loses interest and wanders round the cabin. I follow. Behind the cabin is a hen house that needs a little TLC but could be easily restored. There’s also an overgrown garden and an impressive wood stack. A satellite dish sits in a clearing and there’s an antenna on the cabin roof.

Gerdie says he’s a war hero and a good man. She’s known him since he was a boy. She says he’ll keep me safe from my stepfather and brothers.

He’s bigger than they are: taller, broader. If he hit me, he could do some real damage. He didn’t raise his voice to Gerdie although it was clear he was shocked we’d come to his home unannounced. But he’d reached down and scratched Russett’s ears and the dog leaned into him. Familiarity and trust.

Would he really keep me safe? Or would he turn me over to Millard for a little cash? Will Millard be able to find me here? It’s not that far from town.

I kick at a clump of dirt. It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. I have no real choice. If this mail order marriage doesn’t work, I’m on the street just like Mom and I were when I was little. I don’t even have enough money to get out of this town.

I could end up with someone else just as bad as Millard. If this guy is nice and doesn’t hit me, at least it’s only one man hanging around, not four.

I know Joey would try to protect me. He’s a step-sibling, too. But the Stumps are all big men. I hope he’s ok.

Crossing to the remnant of a garden, I squat down and start weeding a patch. If this were my home, I’d have tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, green beans, and lettuce. The plot is big enough I could grow enough vegetables in each season for this garden to feed two people and have leftovers to can for winter.

At the front of the cabin, I’d have flowers growing everywhere. In front of the porch and a trellis at the end with Star Jasmine and a couple hanging plants on the porch overhang.

Instead of the lone straight back chair, I’d have two rockers where we’d sit to watch the stars at night. The old tree stump he obviously uses as a table would stay.

What’s wrong with me? Shifting position, I peruse the yard and back of the rough-hewn house. This isn’t a hallmark movie where little miss nobody finds true love with the prince. This is survival. At best the lesser of two evils.

That’s not fair. Gerdie keeps reassuring me he’s a good man. He comes to check on her every couple weeks and they aren’t even related.

Who am I to even try to judge? I don’t even know what true love looks or feels like. I think Mom loved me in her way. All her male examples were men who used her for sex, her sometimes paychecks, to clean, or nanny their children. She never got a say or input. She was never loved.

Here I am being forced down the same path. Yes, from my view from the truck, he’s the best-looking man I’ve ever seen. Isn’t that a sure sign something must be wrong with him that he’s not married or in a relationship? I’m going to have to be careful.

Russett runs over to me and gives my face a lick. Gerdie laughs behind me.

Standing, I turn to see Gerdie smiling with the man beside her. He glances down at the pile of weeds I’ve pulled.

“The garden’s a mess. If we clean it up, we still have time to plant for a fall crop. Do you have any seeds?” I ask.

Gerdie laughs. “Come help me set up the lunch we brought. Gray’s going to check the chicken coop to see if we can leave the chickens. While we eat, we can brainstorm the most important things we need to get done today. I got a feeling there’s a lot of little chores the two of you will be tackling together.

“We also need to go over the paperwork before I leave since I’m the witness to this marriage,” she adds casually.

I feel his gaze on me but can read nothing in his expression. He nods once. “Whistle when you’re ready for me. Gonna check the chicken coop.”

CHAPTER 5

Gray

The coop isn’t in as bad shape as it looks from the house. I’d already done some work. I just need to finish it up and can have it fixed by night fall.

What I don’t know what to do with is the woman. She clutched the hem of her shirt like it was a lifeline and balanced on her toes as if prepared to bolt. I don’t like how she won’t meet my eyes and drops her gaze when I look at her or talk to her. How she keeps conversations to a minimum. Snorting, I shake my head. Gerdie’s right. She’s a lot like me.

Abuse, mental and physical, leaves a mark. My mom was guilty of both. She got pregnant with me to trap a rich husband. He walked away when I was three and she blamed me. Pops stepped in, but he and Mom fought all the time. Her relationship with the bottle didn’t help.

By the time I was four, she was leaving me alone while she partied. When she lost her house in town, she moved us to the cabin. I liked that since I could wander the mountain. I felt safer than when she had friends over to party.

By the time I was twelve I was practically living alone. Books became my companions, thanks to Gerdie. I’d read anything and everything. Practically lived at the library. Once Pops figured out Mom’s lies and what was really going on, he disowned her and put everything in my name. She took off and never came back. I lived with him until I went into the service.

I had a reputation for being quiet and watchful. Seeing and anticipating things others missed. That followed me to the army. My call sign was Rock. Those qualities served me and my team well. After too many war zones, too many lost men, I found it was getting harder and harder to shut down the watchful tendencies. I’d somehow lost my balance. It was time to retire.