Mountain Man by Sherilee Gray

Author:Sherilee Gray [Gray, Sherilee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-11-07T05:00:00+00:00

Hank walked in with an armful of firewood and dumped it in the wood bin by the fire.

I watched him, the way he moved, the sounds he made, the intense look in his eyes. Always intense.

Always searching.

When he looked at me sometimes, I thought he was trying to get inside my head, that he wanted to read my thoughts. I was obviously imagining it. The fact that he hadn’t asked to know more, to learn more about me and my life, said it all really. He didn’t want to know more because there was no point. I hated the way that stung.

Hank wasn’t some player, some jerk using me to get his rocks off. He was a good man, a man used to being on his own. And he liked it that way. At least he’d been honest.

I’d just finished making the bed, so I moved toward him, stopping on the other side of the table. “It looks good outside. Clear.”

His back was to me and he stilled like he often did, in that unnatural way, like if he was still enough no one would notice him. Did he know he did that, that he froze when he was out of his comfort zone?

He grunted in response.

“It hasn’t snowed in three days,” I said, pointing out the obvious, trying to get him to talk to me. There was a reason he hadn’t taken me home as soon as it cleared. Would he admit it? The real reason he hadn’t taken me home yet?

He still wasn’t looking at me. “Yeah,” he said.

I forced myself to say the words I’d been dreading all night. “I was wondering if maybe…if the trails were clear…if it was time to go home?”

He turned to me, his eyes not meeting mine. “Your ankle…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “You think it’s strong enough?”

I took him in, his posture, the way the muscle at the side of his jaw jumped, the way his fingers curled and uncurled at his sides.

Hank knew as well as I did that my ankle was fine. It had been fine for days. I’d even gone to check traps with him. Was this…

My eyes shot up to his. He still wasn’t looking at me.

He didn’t want me to go.

This was his way of asking me if I felt the same, if I wanted to stay up there, with him, for longer. My heart started to race. God, I did, so much, more than anything in the world. But prolonging this would only prolong the pain. The end.

I had to get back to the real world and stop living in this fantasy one.

“Hank,” I called, and his eyes finally landed on mine. I felt my lower lip tremble, but I made myself say what needed to be said. “Yes, it’s…it’s strong enough.”

He flinched, and I felt it, like someone reaching into my chest and squeezing until I couldn’t breathe.

Finally, he dipped his chin. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

He didn’t say much after that.

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