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One

Marley

I'm many, many, many, many ladders in the air

Hiding alonein the Appalachian Mountains sounded like a good idea until I got here. My knees shook. Hell, my knees weren't even there. They were jelly filled noodles that couldn't hold me up. That was why I was leaning against my truck door, sweating in the cool spring air, about to pass out.

"Whoa, you okay there?" A shadow fell over the pavement as someone came to stand in front of me.

"Nope," I managed to gasp out between my feeble attempts to draw air into my lungs.

"What do you need?"

It was such a simple question, but one that very few people bothered to ask me these days, so it hit harder than it should and made it even more difficult to get that precious oxygen into my lungs.

"Hey, I don't know what's going on, but I promise I won't let anything happen to you. Why don't you try bending over, it's easier to breathe that way."

I let this stranger guide me, paying zero attention to anything but air. What was I thinkingdrivingsomeplace completely foreign to me? It didn't even occur to me that I might be getting in over my head.

How very me.

"That's it. Just keep breathing."

I flopped onto my backside, finally able to see straight, and looked up at my rescuer, only to be stunned back into silence. Above me stood a man in a cowboy hat. Agorgeousrough and tumble man. I always thought real life cowboy hats would look ridiculous but this one was perfect. Like it was made for this man. A part of him. He had dark hair, stubble on his square jaw, wore a soft blue t-shirt, worn jeans that molded to his impressive legs, and equally worn boots.

The man looked like he stepped straight off of a ranch.

Which...maybe that was possible? Again, I really didn't know diddly or squat about where I was...or where I was going for that matter. Nothing outside of the books I grew up reading.

When I suddenly needed to escape my life, I had the slightly unhinged idea that Lost Creek was the medicine I needed, picked a cabin, and was in my truck the next day. No planning. No research. I just...went.

"Thanks."

"Not a problem. Are you going to be okay?"

Was I going to be okay? Probably not. But you didn't say things like that to strangers. "I think so."

"Can I ask what's wrong? That looked a lot like a panic attack." His eyes studied me thoroughly, but not in an invasive way. It was careful and concerned.

And it struck me that there was no sense of recognition whatsoever, which was the whole point of coming out here in the first place: blissful anonymity.

"I, uh, I'm not used to heights. Or elevation. I'm from a very flat place where the highest I usually go is the top of a ladder. And right now I'm many, many, many,manyladders in the air."

The stranger gave me a soft smile. "Yes, you are."

"You probably think I'm very silly."

"Not at all." He squatted down in front of me so I didn't have to keep looking up. "I bet if I went to where you're from I'd feel pretty weird, too." He put one knee on the ground while the other stayed up. He propped one arm on top, the other fell to his thigh. An old-fashioned silver watch circled his wrist. He had light eyes, the same color as his shirt.

The old me would probably have flirted with this man. He was in great shape, attractive, kind, and I definitely enjoyed the way it felt to be near him, but the very thought of attempting it exhausted me. "You're good at this. Are you a professional calmer?"

His soft smile widened into a full grin. "I have four sisters. It was either learn to go with the flow or be demolished. I don't like being demolished."

"That's a lot of sisters. I only have one and sometimes that's too much." I truly loved both my brother and my sister, but Elora was a battering ram. She was convinced that if I just put my head down and pushed through, I could fix my problems. She didn't understand that no amount of willpower was going to bring back the voices in my head. They appeared when they wanted to. I had no say over it.

"Wait till you hear how many brothers I have." His eyes glinted with mischief.

I was such a sucker for men with a playful streak. "Please tell me you have more than one mother."