Page 114 of Beneath the Mountain Sky

I snort and roll my eyes, even though he’s right.

Liam will be better company.

Somehow, he avoided picking up his older brothers’ attitudes. Maybe the age difference and time he spent alone with their mother while Killian and Connor were off getting into trouble helped temper that gruffness.

Whatever it was, it’s good that they have him around to keep them in check.

“Or…” Connor points to where Killian stands in the middle of the yard, deep in conversation with one of the foremen. “You could always go out into the yard with Killian.”

I scowl. “And watch him tear into the employees? I don’t think so.”

“Oh, come on. He’s not that bad.”

“Really?” I raise a brow. “You know I read the backlog of Raven’s stories from while I was gone.”

He winces—either because of the content of the stories or his deep mistrust and hatred of Raven. Maybe both.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I twirl a strand of my hair around my finger. “Quite a few in there about avoiding Killian McBride because he was on the rampage again.”

His broad shoulders rise and fall. “I wouldn’t call it ‘going on rampages’…”

“What would you call it?”

He issues another slow shrug. “Trying to run a business. And to be fair, he wasn’t really mad at them. He was mostly pissed off because you were gone…and he realized it was his fault.”

My chest tightens imagining what a mess he must have been. If how anguished he appeared last night coming clean with me and reliving what he said was any indication, Killian was likely impossible to deal with. “Do you think it was his fault?”

From what Raven has told me, most of her hostility with Connor has come from his defense of his brother over the last year and frustration with her not giving him any information about where I might be.

Connor drums his fingers on his desk. “I will always defend my brother until the day I die, but what he said to you?” He shakes his head. “I’m surprised you’re so sure you came back after that. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you hadn’t.”

Because Connor understands just as well as Killian what my shitty relationship with Mom did to me and how much those words hurt.

“He didn’t mean it. You and I both know that.”

If I had truly believed he meant what he said, I never would have turned around. I would have left McBride Mountain—at least for a while—to think about my next steps. But I doubt I could have stayed away forever. Not when Raven is here. That’s what makes me even more certain I was on my way back. Not the memory or the feeling deep in my soul that I didn’t give up on Killian, but the fact that the only people I love in this world are all here.

And I would never want to leave them.

Even if I couldn’t have forgiven Killian, I would have stayed for Raven. For all the other people in town whom I care for so deeply. Jenny and her kids, Claire, the Wilsons, Tony and Tonya, and everyone else who has been a part of my life.

No matter what, I wouldn’t have left McBride Mountain forever.

I push myself out of the chair, unable to sit anymore, and walk over to the wall containing various photographs of McBride Mountain and the timber yard over the years.

The one of Killian’s father draws my attention, even though I’ve seen it probably hundreds of times over the years.

He’s the spitting image of the man I love, standing next to a towering pine with the same axe that Killian still carries in his hand, ready to take it down with expert precision.

“Did Killian’s dad really do all the felling by hand?”

Connor follows my gaze and shrugs. “Back then, yeah. Mostly. The really advanced equipment didn’t come around until closer to when Killian was born. Before then, they would hike in on foot to the more remote areas, fell everything by hand, break it down into manageable loads, and drag it down the mountain using chains and sledges.”

I raise my brows at him. “Seriously?”

Prior to our hike over the last couple of days, I never gave much thought to how much work truly went into this business before the modern technology we take for granted today.

He nods and lowers his feet from the desk to make his way over. Standing next to me, he points to another picture, this one of his mom. “When Mom took over, she really pushed the advancements, putting money into it because she knew what the future was demanding. I don’t know that Killian’s father ever would have done it if he had lived. He was kind of stuck in the old ways, believed it was always how it was done, so he should keep doing it that way—at least, that’s what Mom always said.”