Page 9 of Two Times the Mountain Men
Chapter 4
Tyler
By the time we pulled up to base camp the storm had taken a severe turn and it had gotten to near white-out conditions. This was going to be one of the worst storms in many, many years; thank God we were well prepared for it.
“Home sweet home for the next little while,” I said over my shoulder to the woman, who I still needed to get the name of. She looked up at me and gave me a sneer. A sneer! What in the hell did I do to deserve that? The woman was pig-headed, that was the problem. “You know you should be thanking us.”
The sneer evaporated as she raised a brow at me. “As I kept trying to tell you two. I’m perfectly fine on my own. And I want my gun back. I have a permit. My right to bear arms is the second amendment in the constitution. You might want to check out the fourth as well while you’re at it.”
I couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped me. She was amusing; I’d give her that. If she dropped the attitude just a smidge she might be fun. “This is for your own good.”
“I’m not a child.”
Brock huffed as he turned the key and shut off the engine. “Diva,” he muttered under his breath.
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at my partner. “I am not a diva.”
Brock got out of the vehicle without answering and walked to the front door, pulling his keys from his pocket and opening up the large cabin. It was close to twice the size of the one the woman in back was staying in. Though we had a lot of search-and-rescue equipment in both the cabin and the adjacent shed.
“Come on. We gotta get settled in.” Getting out of the vehicle, I opened the back door for her and between the two of us. We were able to take her belongings into the cabin in one trip.
I allowed her to enter before me and noticed her shiver as she entered. Things had gotten so heated back at her cabin that I hadn’t even given her a chance to put a jacket on and what she was wearing was hardly suitable against the elements. We hadn’t packed any jackets for her either, but she could borrow one of ours. It would be big on her but would still do the trick.
“There’s only two bedrooms here, so you can have mine and I’ll sleep on the sofa,” I said, walking into the cabin behind her and kicking the door closed with my heel. She didn’t protest, following behind me with her belongings in her arms.
While I placed her belongings on the bed, she placed her computer on my dresser. My room was immaculately clean so there were lots of open spaces.
“There’s a desk that you can use to work if you like. We’ll do our best to keep out of your hair.”
She turned and faced me. “All right. I still want my gun.”
I nodded. “I’ll tell Brock to give it to you as long as you promise to not use it against us.”
Rolling her blue eyes at me, she nodded.
“I want to hear the words.”
A smile cracked on her lips. “Okay. Fine. I promise not to shoot either of you if I can have my weapon back. Are you happy now?”
“Yes. I’m happy now. I’ll be right back.” Leaving her to settle herself in, I left the room and found Brock working on building a fire in the wood stove.
“The storm is pretty severe. We need to be prepared for a possible power outage. Once I’m done with the fire I’ll go outside and make sure the generator is good to go.”
“I’ll do that.”
“No. You won’t.” Seemingly satisfied with the fire, he closed the stove and straightened. “You’re still feeling under the weather. You take my room; I’ll sleep on the sofa. I won’t take no for an answer.”
I knew there was no point in arguing with him and in all truthfulness, I was starting to feel the effects of the long day. I was feeling much better, but certainly not 100%...yet.
“Fine.” Running a hand through my hair, I nodded. “Appreciate it.”
“Don’t mention it.” Brock walked past me, but I stopped him. “She wants her gun back.”
He hesitated, then nodded. “Sure. Yeah.” Reaching behind him, he pulled the gun from his waistband and gave it to me. Stuffing it, barrel down into the back pocket of my jeans I shed my jacket and placed it on a hook behind the cabin door. “Are you sure she’s not going to try to shoot us.”
I chuckled. “I already asked her that.”
Brock smiled. “Then I’m reassured.” Grabbing the door handle he opened the front door allowing a massive gust of wind and snow in that sent a chill through me.
