Page 10 of Single Mom for the Mountain Men (Mountain Men Why Choose #3)

T his morning, I wake up in my bed, disoriented. Didn’t I fall asleep on the sofa? How did I end up here?

Then, I recall what happened last night. Aiden and I had a very serious talk about my past, about the fears that weigh me down every day. I was finally honest with someone and talked to him about the horrible things I had been through in my marriage.

Aiden took it in stride, holding me tightly through the flashbacks to my past. I must have fallen asleep while we watched the end of the movie, and I’m assuming Aiden carried me to bed before heading home himself.

Feeling lighter than I have in years, I decide to go out on a walk, hoping to see Aiden and thank him for his kind words. I knew Aiden had this protective side to him, though it isn’t as obvious with him as it is with his brothers. Seeing it in action made me feel immensely safe.

Putting on my leg warmers, I check on a sleeping Sophie.

Wanting her to accompany me, I quickly wake her up.

She’s grumpy as I help her put her clothes on, but a promise of warm pancakes with extra syrup gets her to comply.

I unlock the front door and put my boots on.

Cold wind brushes against my face immediately, and I take in a deep breath.

After fixing Sophie’s scarf, I step out of the cabin.

The weather is getting colder as the days pass, but so far, I’m enjoying this level of chill. Sophie shudders against me, her eyes blinking blearily against the faint morning light.

“It’s too early, Mommy,” she whines, the tip of her little nose going pink. I fix her scarf more tightly, so her neck isn’t exposed.

“It’s after eight, sweetheart. I have a secret that you might like to hear. We’re going to meet Aiden, if we’re lucky.”

“Will he make me pancakes?”

I pause, pretending to contemplate. “If he invites you in, yes.”

And there is no way Aiden would see Sophie and not invite her in for a quick bite to eat.

The leaves of the trees flutter as the wind blows, a bit stronger than usual, like an ominous warning. I clutch my hat, pressing my ears inside to protect them from the sudden cold.

I need to stop being as wary as I am. Nothing has happened yet, and nothing will. James has no idea where I am, and he can’t reach me.

Sophie and I walk down the long path that I usually take, which winds down to the left of my cabin, tracing through the trees, littered with pine needles. It’s tidy enough to let me know that it gets groomed on a regular basis.

The air and the sunlight grow on Sophie, and she swings our hands together as we walk side-by-side. She cocks her head here and there, even gasping when we see a rare monarch butterfly. It flutters in front of us, flying by without a worry in the world.

“Mom, catch it!” Sophie whisper-yells at me.

I glance at her, my brows raised. “I can’t, Soph. Do you know hard it is to catch a butterfly?”

“Daddy did it easily,” she comments casually, having moved on from the butterfly with how short her attention span is. She walks forward, not knowing how huge of an effect her words have had on me.

Hiding the shakiness in my legs, I don’t grace her with a reply, walking behind her at a leisurely pace. She still must think about her father, if she can mention him out of the blue like that. The thought makes me nauseous enough to want to retreat to my room and lock myself in it for a few days.

The winding path crosses toward the brothers’ cabin, brushing by their front yard and then connecting to mine. As we walk toward their house, I suck my lower lip into my mouth. My attention is diverted, so when something moves in my peripheral vision, it takes me a moment to register.

It’s like a blip in my vision, darting by sharply.

I glance up, thinking that it must have been a small animal, like a squirrel or a cat. Sophie is walking ahead of me, oblivious as ever. It is then, when I am scanning the bushes and the trees far ahead of me, that I see a figure in all black.

I only catch a glimpse of the person for a second before he or she disappears behind a tall tree, but I know what I saw.

Fear, cold and slimy, crawls down my back as I grab Sophie’s shoulder tightly, pulling her back toward me. She resists, complaining as I manhandle her.

“Mommy, what–”

“Be quiet, Sophie,” I command her firmly, then shield her behind my legs.

I stand there frozen, not knowing what to do.

A thousand scenarios run through my head, none of them with a favorable outcome.

The usually calming morning walk through the greenery has now turned into an experience of dread and terror that mar the pretty scene before me.

Everything now appears intimidating, the net of safety shattered.

Who is that? Why are they hiding in the trees so early in the morning? Are they spying on someone? What if it’s us they are spying on?

My throat closes in terror as I wonder whether to trace my steps back or to make a run for it, since the other cabin is straight ahead. Going back means going back through the trees, and I don’t want to end up in a place where someone could hide easily.

I wouldn’t have been this scared if Sophie wasn’t with me. I don’t care if something happens to me, but with Sophie, I can’t take the risk.

I can’t stand here motionless, either, drawing even more attention to myself.

My cold fingers intertwine with Sophie’s little ones, and that’s when the shadow darts from behind the tree, making a run for it deeper into the line of trees.

It’s a tall and burly man with a ski mask on his head, a menacing shadow even in the unassuming light of the day, as he jumps and maneuvers with trained precision.

I jump into action, turning back and running along the path I had come from, Sophie’s hand crushed in mine. Adrenaline pumps through my body, and the only thought in my head is, Get out of here .

Get out of here, and get Sophie home safely .

My heart pounds loudly in my ears, the cold wind nipping at my ears and my nose.

I have half a mind to halt to a stop and tell Sophie to get on my back so we can run faster.

Her little legs can barely keep up with me.

The minute I have the thought, something solid bumps into me, smacking me in the face.

My body crashes into a wall, my head spinning because of the impact.

An “oof” leaves my mouth, as I feel a hand sneaking around my waist to keep me from falling. Trepidation courses through my body as I realize that it’s a man.

Images of a strange man getting his hands on me and Sophie, hurting us in ways I can’t even imagine, flash before my eyes.

My spine locks, my mouth opening to let out a scream.

Before I can, though, my eyes land on the man’s face, and I recognize the dark eyes and the dark hair, the hooked nose, and the five o’clock shadow.

Brody .

My body trembles in his hold, and Sophie lets go of my hand to hug Brody’s leg.

He sees my lower lip trembling and Sophie’s shiny eyes, and his brows furrow in confusion. The bag he had over his shoulder falls behind him, crashing down on the ground with a thud.

His other hand comes up to my face, tracing my cheeks with his thumb.

“Lena? What happened? Are you all right?”

“Someone is after us, Brody!” I say. “I saw someone hiding in the trees and–”

“Shh, Lena, breathe,” he commands me softly, his eyes locked on me. “Come on, breathe with me. That’s right, deep breaths.”

I take a few deep breaths like he says, trying my best to let the panic subside.

“I’m here, you’re safe. Nothing will hurt you,” he reassures me roughly.

“Sophie,” I croak, and he nods.

“She’s right here, with us. She’s fine. Nothing is after you. I’m here,” he repeats.

I close my eyes for a moment, listening to just Brody’s voice and smelling his cedarwood scent.

Brody is here. I’m safe. Sophie is safe. Nothing is going to hurt us.

When my breathing returns to normal and I’m not shaking anymore, I open my eyes and see Brody still focused on me. His other hand is wrapped around Sophie’s back, holding her close to his body.

“You good?” he asks me, and I nod slowly. Subconsciously, my hands had curled into fists in his shirt, and I loosen them, leaving the fabric wrinkled.

“I’m better now.” I exhale, putting a little distance between us. In my panic, I had glued my body to his, the hard planes of his chest pressed right against me. The tension in his muscles, their shadow visible under the shirt, is exactly like a panther waiting to strike. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, swee—Lena. You did nothing wrong.”

What was he going to say?

“Come with me,” he instructs me lowly. “Let’s go to the cabin and discuss what happened.”

Not feeling like putting up an act of resistance or a fake smile to pretend that I’m all right, I concede for once, letting him take the reins. My mind has started trusting this man, and I would like nothing more than to be in his cabin, safe and protected.

Brody’s palm stays on the small of my back, a reassuring and protective force. The blood rushing to my face makes it even redder than it already is. Sophie is holding his pinky finger tightly, clearly freaked out as she walks with us.

Once we make it inside the boys’ cabin, I can relax. My muscles loosen as the familiar smell of Tanner’s cooking wafts around us.

“Brody, did you—oh, Lena,” Aiden says in surprise as he walks in, a mini screwdriver tucked behind his ear. Sophie rushes to Aiden and clutches his leg tightly. He pets her head, eyeing the three of us with a confused stare. “Did something happen? Why is everyone so tense?”

“Let her take a breath first, for fuck’s sake,” Brody snaps as he walks into the kitchen, his palm slowly disappearing from my back.

I wobble over to their sofa to sit down, inhaling deeply.

“There was a man. He was spying on us from behind the trees, the ones right beside your fence. He saw me and then made a run for it, deeper into the tree line,” I confess once Tanner and Brody are back in the room.

Brody hands me a glass of water. Sophie is curled halfway in Aiden’s lap as he sits down on their other sofa.

He combs his fingers through her hair, and her eyes close.

“A man?” Tanner repeats as Brody’s jaw clenches.

“He was wearing all black and had a ski mask on, so I couldn’t see his face. I got scared and Sophie was with me—”

“Hey, hey, you’re all right,” Tanner says gently, rubbing my shoulder. “He ran back into the tree line, you say?”

The fear I felt at that moment returns as I recall the event. The fear that he might have found us, after all, that no matter what I do or where I run away to, that man will always find me, slams back into me full-force.

“There is no escape route from there,” Tanner points out. “The thicker trees are hard to pass through, and they extend down to the base of the mountain.”

“How could he come so close to the trees in the pathway without coming across you, Brody?” Aiden mutters.

“Is there any way he could reach my cabin?” I ask fearfully, my mind working overtime at the thought.

“Not a chance,” Brody counters roughly. “To reach your house through the trees is impossible geographically. The only way he will reach you without being spotted is if he uses our backyard to sneak into yours.”

The three brothers lock eyes immediately. “And that isn’t happening.”

The conviction in their voices calms me down a bit as Brody ponders the technicalities of this man’s movements. His predictions of this stranger’s movements seem calculated and precise, like this is a stimulation he has been through many times.

“All right, Mr. ex-SEAL.” Tanner claps him on the back as Brody moves to get a large sheet of paper and a pencil to sketch out his predictions. “You might be right about him moving southward, but you do know the lay of the land at this time of the year?”

“It should be even harder to move through the trees during this time of the year,” Brody counters. “There’s so much snow underneath the trees right now.”

The brothers discuss the technicalities, each offering their own insight. It’s clear that they all have a different expert opinion. Tanner can track the man’s movements, Aiden can help set up a way to monitor all the entrances and exits of my cabin and theirs.

It’s Brody, though, who takes charge and directs the other two brothers during the conversation. He has one question clear in his eyes as he glances at me, though, which is why this man would be after me. I don’t know how to tell him that James is insane enough to pull off something like this.