Page 2 of The Mountain Man's Determined Bride
Luke recounted the packing of his saddle bags from earlier in the afternoon, realizing he didn’t pack any extra batteries either which wasn’t the smartest thing. He would be in sorry shape if things got bad or he had an emergency. He’d have to stick around till the weather cleared and if he didn’t check in with dispatch in Holly, they might send an unnecessary search party out after him. And what if he didn’t find Morgan where he thought she’d gone?
“If she isn’t there, it’ll be a wasted trip.” Luke’s horse neighed loud shaking her massive head back and forth vigorously.
“I know girl. I hope she’s there too but if not, we’ll just have to deal with it.” He patted his mare along the neck; thankful he had such a reliable animal.
“Come on, we still have a little ways to go.” Luke spurred her in what he hoped was the direction of the Masters family hideaway.
Chapter Two
After making sure Pepper was good for the night, Morgan built a raging fire to heat the cabin walls.
“It’s obvious no one’s been up here in a long time. By the look of these outdated canned goods, the last person was probably me.” She dusted spider webs off the cabinets and talked aloud as she unpacked the food and supplies from her saddle bags into the small kitchen and made herself supper. Retreating to the comfy sofa, she ate a steaming bowl full of Elsie’s famous beef and vegetable stew, warming her from the inside out. She couldn’t remember a time when her heart hadn’t felt peace at being in the mountain sanctuary. She could stay forever with no regrets. No television, no phone, or any other electronics. Granted, no bathroom but it was a small price to pay for peace of mind.
Looking back on her reason for where she was now, running wasn’t the right thing to do but hadn’t she been running all her life? First there was her parents’ death which brought her to this mountain to begin with when she was a child. Then she ran from a man she’d so easily and wholeheartedly loved and thought she was loved by, only to have been betrayed. Give or take, a couple brief encounters in between there, She really tried to avoid any romantic encounters for herself. Kind of ironic she would be back in the place where she felt it all started. For a couple nights, she’d push it all out of her head and enjoy the quiet.
She practically had to roll herself off the couch. “Good lord, I never should have eaten all that food.”
With a stuffed belly and a warm cabin, Morgan changed into her bed clothes and grabbed the novel from the dresser. She lit the oil lamp on the small end table next to the couch. The fire was putting out an extreme amount of heat but there was a blanket over the back of the couch for once the embers died down. Inevitably that would be the place she’d fall asleep, and it wouldn’t be the first time. Her portable two-way lay next to the oil lamp just in case there was a call from Uncle Bill.
At some point in the last couple hours, Morgan tucked the soft fleece blanket around her bare legs but shifted restlessly as the words of the romance novel heated her from the inside the more she read.
“Whew, I have got to search the internet for more books by this author when I get back to town.”
She fanned herself with the bookmark as she turned page after page. Not realizing how involved she’d gotten in the story, she jumped the better part of ten feet where she sat, accidentally tossing the book to the floor in front of her when she heard Uncle Bill’s voice echo through the cabin.
“What in the world?” Morgan scrambled to get untangled, throwing the blanket to the floor as she reached for the two-way.
“Uncle Bill? Is everything okay?” He wouldn’t call her otherwise so something must be wrong.
“Hi sugar. Sorry to bother you but we got a lost hiker out on the mountain. Dispatch in Holly just called looking for you. They couldn’t raise you on the radio.”
“No, I’m sure they couldn’t. I turned it to your frequency. Why do they wantme? I’m supposed to be on an extended leave. Do they know who’s out there?”
“Well, I guess just because they know you’re up there and you know that mountain better than anyone.”
Morgan’s uncle gave a vague description of the man, saying dispatch didn’t know much else only that they were getting weakly transmitted messages and then nothing at all. They believed his location to be a half mile from the cabin.
Great! This is not how I wanted to spend my night. I just wanted to finish my book and fall asleep on the couch. Not go hiking out in a blizzard in the middle of the night searching for some idiot that shouldn’t be out there in the first place.
Of course, down in town, they were probably enjoying a warmer night. All thanks to the damn mountain elevation.
Harper pushed up from the warm couch, dreading the bitter cold hours ahead.
* * * *
“Well, its official Duchess, we’re lost. I could have sworn we were going in the right direction though.” He’d been up on that mountain more times than he
could count on two hands and both his feet.
“Problem is,” Luke continued to talk to his horse, “I was twenty-five years old the last time I was here. Same reason but different circumstances.” He could only shake his head. “Man, I’m getting old.” If one could call thirty old.
The closer Luke thought he was to his destination, the less familiar his surroundings got. The more the wind increased in strength, the colder it seemed to be. He was seriously wonderingif all this was really worth risking his life. If he didn’t find that cabin real soon, he would freeze to death. Wracking his memory banks, maybe there was a cave he could hunker down in to get away from the bitter cold. Luke’s thoughts shifted to the leather bags resting behind the saddle and whether he’d put anything in there he could light a fire with. If his fingers weren’t frozen closed around the reigns, he might risk removing a glove to dig in the bags. At least he had his blanket roll, not that that would keep him warm for long on the cold ground.
All along he’d been watching out in the distance toward the sky for smoke roiling out from a chimney. If she were at the cabin, the first thing she would have done was build a fire. She may be stubborn and hard-headed as all get out, but she knew how to take care of herself. That was the only reason he’d risked making the trip. Come hell or high water, she’d have gotten to where she was going.
Just then Duchess unexpectedly stumbled, going down on her knees. It was just enough of a tilt and a surprise that it sent Luke and some of his belongings tumbling to the ground hard, with him still holding onto the reigns. The horse immediately got her footing again, but her owner wasn’t so lucky. He pulled hard to get loose of the leather straps before his mare snapped his frozen fingers from his hands.
“Ah Duchess, are you alright?” The horse whinnied and nudged the back of his head a couple times.