The Mountain Man’s Sweet Treat by Mia Brody

Author:Mia Brody [Brody, Mia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Sophie

“And that’s the last one,” I give Whiskey a triumphant grin as we finish the final jar of carrots. We spent all morning working in his garden, harvesting various plants and vegetables. As soon as we were done, we started the canning process.

I’ve barely had time to think we’ve been so busy, which is kind of nice. The show we were watching last night was about a bank robbery.

I thought I was going to be OK. I mean, it’s fiction. It’s not real. No one was actually in danger, but the entire time it was playing, I wanted to throw up. I should have asked Whiskey to turn it off.

I promised myself when I came here that I was going to be different. A stronger version of myself. Instead, the show started my nightmares again. I should probably call my therapist or my mom. But I don’t want to burden them with this. It’s time that I overcome this. I am strong. I just have to believe that.

“Good. We’ll split the firewood next,” he says as if we haven’t been working all day.

“Is this a typical day for you?” I ask, exhausted. I want to stop and get a pizza. Plus, maybe another one of those cookies from Courage Cookies.

“One of them.” He shrugs. “The beauty of nature I’m surrounded by, the peace of not having other people around, the self-sufficiency I’ve achieved here—it all comes at a cost. The cost is hard, grueling work day after day.”

“You love this life,” I point out. It’s obvious from the way he talks to his plants to the way he helped an injured baby bunny we came across that he prefers to be outdoors in nature. “I don’t think civilization really suits you.”

He grunts in his agreement, and I follow him out to a clearing behind the cabin. I’ve seen this area before, circled it a couple of times on my runs, but I’ve never seen him out here working with his axe.

He’s got a large tree trunk that’s already been turned into smaller pieces, but even those small pieces are huge. “How many trees does it take you to get through the winter?”

“This isn’t for me. This is for Kringle Christmas Tree Ranch. I cut down the trees, turn it into firewood, and deliver it to them. They mix it with a proprietary blend of spices that make it smell like Christmas magic then sell it to their holiday visitors.”

“That sounds magical,” I tell him, and suddenly, I’m feeling sad that I won’t be here for the holidays. It would be fun to celebrate with Whiskey. I could get Bella a big rawhide bone for Christmas, and Tobias some new catnip toys.

“You’ll need this.” He holds out an axe. It’s heavier than I anticipated.

Before we left, he made me change my clothes. I’m wearing his long-sleeved flannel shirt that I absolutely did not spend a moment sniffing before I changed into it. Besides that, he also insisted on heavy-duty work gloves that don’t let me feel his touch when he passes it to me.

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