Page 37 of Beneath the Mountain Sky

Rain continues to pelt the roof and windows, blown by the blustering wind.

Raven may appear relaxed, but being in this cabin has always put her on edge—because of the man who lives here. “Did you two argue again when you got here?”

She sputters slightly, then clears her throat. “Umm. I plead the fifth.”

Which means they did.

“Why do you two always have to be at each other’s throats?”

Even in school, as children, they were always going at it, trying to one-up the other when verbally sparring. And when Killian and I evolved from friends to something more, it only seemed to get worse.

Killian’s protectiveness of the mountain and everyone on it never jibed with Raven’s desire to expose details of people’s private lives she considers important enough to broadcast. For her, it’s news. Information essential for everyone to know. But to him, it’s personal attacks.

She smirks. “You have no idea. It’s ten times worse since you left.”

My hand tightens on the book, and I swallow through the nerves. “How come?”

Anything to do with why I left?

An annoyed sigh slips from her lips as she closes the book, clearly seeing through my attempt to get the deets from her since she won’t spill, and neither will Killian. “Because he was pissed I wouldn’t tell him where you were. And…” Raven glances up at me, looking sheepish. “I may have published an article on the site—well, a few of them—about what a dick he is and how people should avoid him.”

“You what?”

It’s no wonder his animosity toward her rolled off him in waves at the hospital.

Raven holds up her hands defensively. “I don’t know exactly what happened between you two, so don’t even ask, but whatever it was, it was bad enough that you left. I lost my best friend for a year, so he isn’t my favorite person on the fucking mountain.”

The unsteadiness in her normally level voice bears the weight of the time I’ve been gone and how much she’s missed me.

“I guess that’s fair…” I fiddle with the book, turning it over in my hands. “I really didn’t tell you what happened between us?”

I’ve been dreading asking her all day, putting it off while we sat and chatted over tea and dinner, and she caught me up on what she’s been doing the last year since I left.

But I have to know what she does—what Killian clearly doesn’t want to tell me.

Raven’s gaze softens, and she shakes her head. “You really didn’t. You called me up here, and you were in tears. I asked where Killian was and what happened. You said he stormed out and that you were leaving and going to Asheville. I thought you meant just a trip, but then you started packing everything…and I couldn’t convince you otherwise.” She releases a little sardonic snort. “Believe me, I tried, begged you to stay with me, to give yourself some space from whatever happened between the two of you, but it was like you had made up your mind and there was nothing I could do or say to get you to stay.”

I tighten my grip on the book, her words settling over me heavily. “So, it must have been really bad…”

Because I tell Raven everything.

Always have.

She knew the moment I started looking at Killian and seeing him as more than the gruff, grumpy eldest McBride brother. She knew the first time he kissed me. She knew when I finally fell—hard. She knew when he proposed and that I said yes without even thinking about it.

Yet, I wouldn’t or couldn’t tell her whatever happened with the man who was my life and future that would make me leave him and my home forever.

“Yeah.” She nods, her blond hair spilling over her shoulder. “I’d say so. I’m worried about you being up here with him. Whatever happened wasn’t good, and you don’t have any memory of it, which means that, to you, it feels like the two of you are together, that everything is hunky dory, and it sure as hell isn’t. I don’t know what that man did to you.”

I scowl at her. “You’ve known Killian your entire life. Do you honestly think he would ever do anything to hurt me?”

She shakes her head. “Of course not, but he’s a man.”

Thunder cracks again, almost as if in warning.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She snorts. “Oh, come on. You know damn well how inconsiderate they can be. How oblivious they can be to how what they say and do can affect us. You need to be recovering. You need peace and quiet. You need to be comfortable?—”